Want to keep abreast of the latest in male fashion? Well, the message from Milan is to say goodbye to Mr Macho and hello to Mr Androgyny. The provocative direction — featuring male models with fake breasts under figure-hugging knitwear — was sent down the catwalk by outrageous British designer Vivienne Westwood in the mens' autumn winter 2003 shows held this week. And while the effect may look outrageous today, fashion commentators reckon Sydney men may just end up adopting it — in a few years' time.
"How many years?"
"About 9,000, I think..."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/14/2004 2:37:45 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
That fella's going to need a bro!
"Hey, Charlie. Wanna go to the game?"
"Naw, I'm just gonna stay home and feel myself up."
A Councillor who sparked a row by linking Muslims and suicide bombers may face a standards board. The ET published a letter from Conservative Corby borough councillor Sally Hogston last Thursday stating: "Many people are saying that in 20 years' time Britain will be a Muslim country because Islam is a very focused religion and will be determined to overrule the normal religions in the UK. "You only have to know why the suicide bombers do what they do to know how determined they are." Calls were made last week for her resignation and now Corby Council leader Willie Smith has confirmed the matter will be dealt with by higher powers.
Corby Council received a complaint from Northamptonshire Racial Equality Council and now will be referred to the National Standards Board, an organisation which deals with the behaviour of councillors. Cllr Smith said: "I am very unhappy and disgusted about the recent letter. This is not the comment from the council and I cannot stress that enough. "We take a very open view about people wanting to live in the town and judge everyone only on merit. There is no need to bring in race issues." Mrs Hogston defended her comments and claims she was responding to a story in the ET on October 2 concerning Tories allegedly "playing the race card". She said: "I am very surprised that people are calling for my resignation and they should contact me. I am not prepared to resign for responding to an article. "I have no more comment to make other than people are making a mountain out of a molehill."
#2
It's not really a religion after all. It's a Cult. It it is a religion as we understand religion is meant to be, adherents would have a right to leave. So, are you Englishmen nuts to let 'em determine what is sensitive and what isn't?
Police in North Ossetia, the Russian region traumatized by the Beslan school siege, played down reprisal fears as mourning drew to a close, while locals thought the shattered community was too exhausted for revenge.
As the North Ossetian town of Beslan ends 40 days of mourning for more than 330 hostages killed after Chechen and Ingush rebels seized a school, fears have grown that retribution against their ethnic neighbours is around the corner.
But the region's deputy interior minister, Batyrbek Dzutsev, said police had no evidence of any planned revenge and security had been stepped up "significantly" since the siege. "At the moment there hasn't been any information about revenge attacks," he told Reuters on Wednesday. "Of course people are waiting for something after the events."
Experts and residents have predicted that a settling of scores, a long-embedded tradition in the region, could escalate into full-scale war. Dzutsev disagreed: "I don't think there will be a war. No one has said they will kill Ingush."
He said police were monitoring Ingush settlements in North Ossetia for any signs of trouble and had reinforced checkpoints at the borders with Ingushetia and Chechnya.
Ethnic Ingush, around 5 percent of North Ossetia's population, said they were not afraid of being attacked despite a history of bloodshed between the two peoples, which fought a brief conflict over land after the fall of the Soviet Union.
"What is there to be afraid of?" said Aishet Aliyeva, who lives with her four children in Kartsa, an Ingush village near Vladikavkaz which still bore scars from the 1992 fighting. "I worry about things like the fact my gas has been cut off. I go into town (Vladikavkaz) as normal —- no one has treated me any differently since Beslan."
Historian Peter Kozayev said some sort of retribution was inevitable, but it would not be immediate. "Sooner or later there has to be revenge. I don't think it will be in the next few days or months. The Ossetians are so demoralised that they can't raise themselves to it."
Beslan, silent apart from the sound of women wailing for their lost families, marked the end of the traditional 40 days of mourning with services in the newly-dug cemetery and visits to the burnt-out school. Revenge was far from the minds of the mourners.
"We should avoid war at all costs because thousands will be like me, without wives and children," said Sergei Urmanov, who lost his family in the siege. Others said those responsible —- the rebels —- had been killed at the end of the siege. "I think we should use our common sense," 17-year-old schoolboy Alik Sardi told Reuters. "Revenge? Who on? There is no one (left alive) to take revenge on and it is not their families' fault."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/14/2004 5:00:09 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
40 days of crying and tears abound, would exhaust anyone! Woa tho, when they eventually get their second wind.
#2
Civilized people generally don't rant and rave at the end of a period of mourning. I wouldn't take this Rooters article too seriously. Looks like they were digging for a story.
Revenge is sweet, and tradition strong. We'll see what happens.
#4
But think of the possibilities: Lileks representing Minnesota; Peggy Noonan defeating Hillary in the same year; Mark Steyn as the junior senator from NH; Victor Davis Hanson representing California . . . hey, a guy can dream a little, can't he?
Posted by: Mike ||
10/14/2004 11:35 Comments ||
Top||
#5
This is not a for-real, but . . . oh, if it were so!
Real enough for Mr. Lileks to write: If nominated, I will not run. If elected, I will not serve. If mailed the paychecks nevertheless, I will cash them with a heavy heart: really, the people of Minnesota deserve so much better. (You have to get past the Bounty towel stuff first)
Whistleblowers disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars given candidate
Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been given to Kerry from the pro-Iranian lobby, possibly influencing the presidential candidate's startling call to provide Tehran with the nuclear fuel it seeks, according to Iran's Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy chairman Aryo Pirouznia. With top Iranian officials openly calling for the development of nuclear weapons within the next four months and overwhelming intelligence indicating Iran is seeking to create a nuclear arsenal, Kerry has been insisting as president he would provide Tehran with nuclear fuel as long as it is used for peaceful purposes only, a position that has many Middle East analysts baffled. During the first presidential debate, Kerry said, "I think the United States should have offered the opportunity to provide the nuclear fuel, test them, see whether or not they were actually looking for it for peaceful purposes."
#4
"Kerry has embraced the political agenda of Akbarpour and other wealthy Iranian-Americans lobbying for Tehran. Aside from nuclear accommodation, other key positions include ending the finger printing of Iranian visitors to the U.S; expanding "family reunion" visas to allow extended family members of Iranians living in the U.S. to immigrate here legally and in large numbers; offering a "dialogue" with the hard-line, terrorist-supporting clerics in Tehran; and help Iran join the World Trade Organization. "
I got so much grief a while back for complaining that something about John Kerry reminded me of Hitler (after I had heard Kerry speak for the first time). His now-revealed ties to the Socialist Workers Party, his advocating for bilateral talks with N. Korea, his Vietnam record, his dissing the WOT, and this kind of stuff makes it pretty doggone clear that he's really weird and has much larger aspirations than one might think, at first glance. And I still think he sounds like Hitler. (so there, all you nay-sayers) Kerry works real hard on his visual presentations, too--just like Adolf did.
I guess his totalitarian leanings, coupled with his communication style, were what I was noticing as being similar.
Although this popcorn is somewhat stale, and smells faintly of rotting fish...
Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Wednesday said the United Nations will use $30 million in revenue from the U.N. oil-for-food program for Iraq to pay the initial bill for the independent investigation of corruption allegations in the program. In a letter to the U.N. Security Council, Annan said money for the probe _ headed by former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker _ would come from an account earmarked to pay U.N. administrative and operational costs for the humanitarian program. Volcker said in August he doesn't know how long it would take to complete the investigation, but estimated it would cost at least $30 million in the next year. The United Nations paid several million dollars in the investigation's initial costs from its regular budget, to which all 191 U.N. member states contribute. But U.N. associate spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the regular budget, now about $1.4 billion annually, couldn't absorb the inquiry's cost. Since voluntary contributions were unlikely to pay for the Volcker panel, Annan decided to tap the oil-for-food account for administrative and operational costs. Dujarric said the account contains $300 million.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/14/2004 12:05:41 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#2
$30 million in ill gotten gains to find out about the ill gotten gains. HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!
This is like moving a pile of shit to find out where the big turds are. Sorry, folks. Aside from the tragedy, this one is funny.
..............
Except that it was a fund to enable a murderer.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/14/2004 1:15 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Nawww... tell me this isn't really a redirect from Scrappleface.
#4
French government's reaction to being bagged over Iraqi Oil-for-Cash deals!
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/14/2004 5:55 Comments ||
Top||
#5
hopefully it's more like making the family pay for the executioners' bullets
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/14/2004 9:43 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Why is there any OFF money still at the UN in the first place? Do they think it's theirs?
OK, that was a dumb question. They have the attitude of the Assembly Democrat arguing against Governor Reagan's tax cut: "I oppose this spending of public funds."
#7
Volcker said in August he doesn't know how long it would take to complete the investigation, but estimated it would cost at least $30 million in the next year.
...and all over New York City, the owners of five star restaurants broke out in broad grins.
October 14, 2004: The U.S. Army's new Stryker armored vehicles have taken a lot of criticism because of their cost, susceptibility to rollovers, and not being much different, in terms of combat capability than the older (and much cheaper) M-113 tracked vehicle, or the newer (and more expensive) M-2 Bradley. But in one area, the Strykers have proven much superior. Since they run on rubber tires, not metal tracks, the Strykers are a lot quieter, and faster. This has proven scary for hostile Iraqis, and very useful for American troops out on night operations. U.S. soldiers prefer to operate at night, mainly because of very effective night vision devices, because it's cooler, and the very quiet Strykers allow American troops to literally sneak up on the enemy. The Strykers have another advantage, which has little to do with the vehicle itself. The Stryker brigades are being used to try out new communications gear, and some new weapons. The Stryker troops like this, because the new stuff works. As a result, communications between the Stryker vehicles is better than in other units.Â
The Stryker brigades have a big edge in night time operations. Moving at high speed at night, with their lights off, multiple columns of Strykers surround buildings suspected of holding hostile gunmen or bomb making materials. The surprise is often total, and the enemy troops captured without a shot being fired. Silence and speed saves lives.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
10/14/2004 9:48:15 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I need one. I'm getting tired of Hummer arrogance.
#6
I've heard comments that they are not that reliable, but that is anecdotal not based on any comprehensive combat assessment report. I'd like to hear more specifics about the effectiveness of their remote weapon systems. Of course, that should come as no surprise to anyone.
Posted by: remote man ||
10/14/2004 12:42 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Hackworth reminds me of a kid who wants to play the game by his rules. Its why he didn't make the bird and why he left the army. He is still complaining about everything and anything.
Posted by: Old Fogey ||
10/14/2004 12:53 Comments ||
Top||
An international military team monitoring a ceasefire here between the Philippines and Muslim separatists has been asked by local officials to establish their headquarters elsewhere. The government of this port said Thursday the city council feared the presence of the monitors, who started arriving last weekend, would bring Muslim rebels into the city of more than 600,000 people. Zamboanga Mayor Celso Lobregat also warned that authorities would arrest Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrilla members who entered the city with arms. President Gloria Arroyo asked neighboring Malaysia and other Asian members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference to provide troops to serve as international monitors to a ceasefire with the rebels as part of confidence-building measures ahead of planned peace talks.
More than 50 Malaysian security officials deployed in the southern Philippines' Mindanao region last weekend, with more foreign monitors expected. Lobregat said he told the Malaysians he objected to their establishing a base in Zamboanga City because it was not a site of conflict between the government and the rebels. He also said the presence of the monitoring team would hurt the city's image as a peaceful place. Lobregat also cited a provision in the monitoring accord that the rebels should provide armed security along with the military, to the Malaysian monitors. This would violate a city policy allowing only police and soldiers to carry firearms. ``We are going to arrest the MILF. We have been implementing here the gun ban and the law does not excuse and exempt anybody,'' Lobregat told reporters in this city which is about 70 percent Christian and 30 percent Muslim.
Lobregat said he asked the monitoring team to establish their offices in the areas affected by fighting. Government peace advisor Teresita Deles said Manila had yet to decide whether to establish the ceasefire monitoring office in Zamboanga, a city which has previously been rocked by bombings and kidnappings carried out by armed Muslim groups. The nearly-12,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front has been waging a guerrilla campaign to set up a separate Islamic state in the southern third of this largely-Roman Catholic nation. The rebels signed the ceasefire in 2002 to pave the way for the opening of formal peace talks with the government, hosted by Malaysia, but sporadic and deadly clashes in the south have slowed the progress of the talks.
The European Union cannot force Iran to give up its right to enrich uranium, Iran's foreign minister said, dealing a blow to EU efforts to halt the process and ease fears Tehran is seeking a nuclear bomb.
"Nope. Nope. You can't make us if we don't wanna, an' we don't wanna, so there!"
"It is wrong for them (the EU) to think they can, through negotiations, force Iran to stop enrichment," foreign minister Kamal Kharrazi told a conference in Tehran on Tuesday. "Iran will never give up its right to enrichment."
Hokay. So much for the negotiations idea...
Diplomats said EU had agreed on Monday to prepare a package of "carrots and sticks" to get Iran to comply with demands by the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to suspend enrichment activities — a process which can be used to make material for atomic bombs.
They just told you, that's not going to work. Sounds like military action is called for. I'm sure the European forces are mobilizing even as we speak blog...
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/14/2004 12:53:24 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
1. âIt is wrong for them (the EU) to think they can, through negotiations, force Iran to stop enrichment,â
Dang, this guy nailed it in one! Shame he came at the problem from the wrong direction though...
2. âIran will never give up its right to enrichment.â
Hmmm, how's about we just take it away?
What would you like served with your GBUs or JDAMs?
Posted by: DanNY ||
10/14/2004 1:13 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Kharrazi got this one right. But in general terms, the EU can't force anyone to do anything. Nothing new or intimidating here from this Iranian leader. He is just stating the obvious WRT the EU.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/14/2004 1:21 Comments ||
Top||
#5
The coward, under the phoney name (Unains Elmeper5354)is disrupting this web-site. This jihad want-to-be has caused the margin to be greatly enlarged.
Those high-tech experts able to trace down this little pest please do so.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/14/2004 1:52 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Fred this troll has been infesting your site for awhile now, I think legal action should be looked into at this point.
#9
NOTICE to YouLove6334: Do not spam the comments with this link (or any link). Spam in this case is defined as posting the same link in multiple threads.
If you feel the link needs its own post, feel free to use the "Post Your Own Article/Link" feature at the top of the page, or email a moderator about it.
#10
MarinesToday.com is a valid and honorable website supporting the Corps. They announce on their home page they've been recently hacked, and I'm assuming this link from "YouLove" is a souvenir the morons left behind. I've emailed their webmaster to inform him.
Posted by: Dar ||
10/14/2004 9:54 Comments ||
Top||
#11
Hmm...the email bounced back, so they may have been hacked something fierce, or his mailbox is overflowing from complaints about the spammer. Go figure...
Posted by: Dar ||
10/14/2004 10:08 Comments ||
Top||
#14
U(seless) N(ations: Stop building nukes!
Iran: Make me!
UN: Stop it, or we'll consider making you stop.
Iran: "You and what army?"
UN: Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Got some Oil?
Rantburg Zionists, stop inciting hate and endangering Americans on US soil!
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Rantburg Zionists, stop inciting hate and endangering Americans on US soil!
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
#20
Rantburg Zionists, stop inciting hate and endangering Americans on US soil!
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Iranian authorities have arrested at least six internet journalists and webloggers in recent days, colleagues and relatives say, in a further blow to limited press freedoms in the Islamic state. News-based internet sites and online journals known as weblogs have flourished in Iran where the disproportionately youthful population often turns to the internet for information and entertainment. The hardline judiciary's muzzling of print media through the closure of some 100 publications in the last four years also meant the internet became a haven for liberal journalists seeking a place to write.
Journalists and relatives named the six arrested journalists and webloggers as Shahram Rafizadeh, Babak Ghafouri-Azar, Rouzbeh Amir-Ebrahimi, Hanif Mazroui, Omid Memarian and Mostafa Derayati. "We do not know where they are being held. We heard they have been kept in solitary confinement," said a relative of one of the detainees, who asked not to be named.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/14/2004 12:39:12 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
disturbing the public mind
When Allan created the universe, one of his main ideas was that anybody who disturbs the public mind should be arrested.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
10/14/2004 1:12 Comments ||
Top||
#2
And I'm pretty sure he singled out the Internet, too, as a particularly troublesome source. Prolly even talked about pajamas at length.
#4
Allan invented the internet, so that its users may worship him. That includes bots. He is especially insistent in the MoRan that all internet bots face east 5 times a day.
Concerns fanned by local talk radio prompted the Union School Board president to assure parents the district has no plans to encourage its students to join the Islamic faith. "Let me be perfectly clear: Union Public Schools is not implementing any new curriculum which would advance any religion," board resident Derek Rader said during a Monday board meeting. "We support the Constitution of this country and understand the First Amendment that protects the religious liberty rights of students of all faiths or none," Rader said.
Concerns began with a brochure distributed to teachers about a workshop titled "The Arab World and Islam." The workshop was being offered to teachers in districts throughout northeast Oklahoma and was presented in Tulsa by the Washington-based Middle East Policy Council. While only three Union teachers attended the workshop, the district's communication director said its availability spawned conspiracy theories that were "blown out of proportion." "People were sure we were going to change our curriculum," Gretchen Haas-Bethell said. Rader said during the board meeting that a "great deal of reckless misinformation" had been spread by the media. He said Union, like all Oklahoma public schools, follows curriculum guidelines set by the Legislature and the state Education Department. "Public schools as governmental institutions do not encourage the practice of any religion," Rader said. "Our students are free to express their personal faiths and beliefs while at school. "But it is left to the family and their faith community to educate young people in religion."
Posted by: TS(vice girl) ||
10/14/2004 11:58:30 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
When they also allow "the Christian World and Christianity" I won't have a problem with it.
#5
Hmmmmm. Lots of former U.S. ambassadors to... surprise!... Saudi Arabia on the board. Could this be a tiny, tiny hint on who funds this noble endeavor?
And then there's this guy on the Board of Directors:
Dr. Fuad A. Rihani, Director, Research and Development, Saudi Binladin Group.
That one popped right out at me.
#6
good point tu! You know, maybe this Islam education isn't such a bad thing. We should insist that those who sell out to the Suadi's for a nice title of Nonprofit CEO be forced to enroll their wives and daughters in these classes in order for them to see exactly what it is that Daddy is promoting for them.
As an exercise, make them drop out of school, go to the local dance in a burka ...(oh wait...no dance) read the Koran...and visit the Dr. to make sure they are still chaste. Oh, and show the little darlings the zitfaced, braceface that has been selected for their marriage.
Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Muhammad Ijazul Haq has said that there would be no change in the blasphemy law and the Hudood Ordinance. Ijaz said that Pakistan was achieved in the name of Islam and no law would be made which was against the Holy Quran and Sunnah. He said: "We should follow the teachings of the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) as His life is a model not only for the Muslims but also for the entire humanity."
He added: "Our duty towards Islam would be fulfilled only when we devote our energies and resources to project the enlightened message of Islam in the interest of peace and harmony." Ijazul Haq said the Muslim world was going through a difficult situation and it was all because we were not acting upon the laws given to us by the Holy Prophet. He said the recent incidents of bomb blasts and murders in different cities were a result of the machinations of international organizations. He said of all the terrorism cases taking place in the country, 72 per cent "have nothing to do with religious terrorism." He said the enemies' intentions were to provoke sectarianism in the country. He said that all the madaris were run independently and the government would support them in every way.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/14/2004 11:19:23 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
It says right in the Blasphemy Law that it would be against the Blasphemy Law to change the Blasphemy Law.
That's what I like to see! Decisive action! That'll show 'em, by Gum!
The European Union warned Sudan yesterday it would impose sanctions if security in the conflict-torn Darfur region did not improve within two months.
"Youse guys are gonna get it!"
they said, confidently assuming that their younger, stronger, faster brother would help them in a jam ...
Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot, representing the rotating EU presidency, welcomed Sudan's acceptance of up to 4,000 African monitors and a promise of cooperation with a UN investigation into whether genocide has taken place. But he said more action was needed on disarming militias, bringing human rights abusers to justice and returning home an estimated 1.5 million people driven from their villages. "Not sufficient progress has been made on the protection of civilians in Darfur. The situation in the field is not yet satisfactory," Bot told journalists after talks in Khartoum with his Sudanese counterpart Mustafa Osman Ismail. "If it turns out that in the next two months nothing has happened ... the situation is worsening, then there is no other option for us than to apply sanctions and we have made that crystal clear," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/14/2004 11:09:38 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#7
Willis - Sudan has oil. It's all about oil or at least the French oil concessions, just like Iraq. Did Kofi [or his family] and the French profit from the Iraq sanctions and oil?
Posted by: Don ||
10/14/2004 15:55 Comments ||
Top||
#8
plainslow... don't you mean 16 YEARS, so that the Euro's can establish "ties" (or is that bribes) and then TRY to pass the Global test.
#9
i say its about time we (USA) drop a few bombs on the sudan militias who are screwin around. 2 months? how many people have been killed already? 2 months? this isnt the time to say "get your act togather or we'll attack...next year..." this is the time to whoop some A$$!!!!
#12
This is on Europes door step. This is Europes problem. Let Europe solve it. If Europe will not solve it. It is Europes fault. Nothing to get worked up over. Let the UN talk that is what it's for. It's not a problem for the US. Africa is a shit hole due to European colonization, European policies and European neglect. Nothing the US has done is responsible for Sudans problems.
I have no problem with muslims killing each other and don't want the US to get involved at all. US involvement just would feed the islamic myth of US repression of islam. We can do better than get involved in this. In other words FOAD Sudan/Islam/Muslims/Africa and the EU.
#4
Puzzling????? How can Sharon date certain, the pullout, without the concrete addressing of the Iranian threat? His "assurance" is comforting however.
A former soldier, rebel and warlord was sworn in Thursday as the new president of Somalia in the latest attempt to unite the nation under a central government for the first time since 1991. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed took the oath of office from the speaker of the new parliament, Shariif Hassan Sheikh Aden. The heads of government from Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Djibouti, Yemen attended the ceremony and voiced their support for Yusuf.
Hurrah!
A former colonel in the Somalia army during the 1960s, Yusuf was jailed by former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre when he refused to cooperate in a coup d'etat in 1969. With Ethiopian support, he launched a rebellion against Barre during the 1980s. There have been 13 previous peace efforts and two previous governments were formed, but they never managed to take effective control over most of the country. The new government has no civil service, treasury or even buildings to meet in. Yusuf, 70, has recently led the breakaway Somali region of Puntland, where his regime received support from neighboring Ethiopia. He has opposed past peace efforts and has suppressed any opposition in Puntland. He was elected president on Oct. 10 by a new, clan-based parliament that was the product of two years of peace talks in neighboring Kenya. The 275 lawmakers, who were appointed by their clans, elected Yusuf from 28 candidates in three rounds of balloting. "The cost of 14 years of war have been enormous," Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki told the 4,000 people gathered for the ceremony at a sports stadium in Nairobi. "The task before you is huge. The people of Somalia and the entire international community look upon you to spearhead the process of reconciliation and reconstruction."
This is one of those things that you just assume will never come, then it takes you by surprise. We'll see if they actually manage to run a government or if things go to hell again. I wish them luck.
Yusuf will nominate Somalia's prime minister, who then will name a Cabinet. The members of the transitional parliament have an unwritten agreement to fill key government and legislative posts along clan lines. Yusuf is a member of one of Somalia's four biggest clans, the Darod. He is expected to choose a prime minister from another big clan, the Hawiye, which controls Somalia's capital, Mogadishu.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/14/2004 10:18:33 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
IIRC puntland is one of the few parts of Somalia thats really functioning, so he does have a base to start from. Given that, and some international support, I suspect he has a decent shot.
A new "Palestinian" public opinion poll shows Arabs living in Judea and Samaria — including residents of Jerusalem — are divided on the issue of blowing up Israeli Jews in "suicide" bomb attacks. More than 42 percent of those polled by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion between September 29 and October 3 said they support the continued mass murder of Jewish men, women and children by Islamic homicide bombers. Forty-three percent said they feel such attacks are no longer helpful to the "Palestinian" cause.
Similar polls that include the Arabs of the Gaza Strip typically register up to 80 percent support for "suicide" bomb attacks against Israelis. The "Palestinian" surveys never offer an option to reject terrorism on the grounds that it is morally wrong to murder unarmed innocent civilians. Only half of the respondents said they support efforts to achieve peaceful coexistence with Israel's Jews.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/14/2004 6:41:21 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
life is hard. But life is harder when you are stupid.
#2
interesting how the issue of the morality of indiscriminate mass murder of Jewish men, women and children by Islamic homicide bombers never came up.
that's the fundamental problem, and why cordoning them off and killing their "leaders" is the only option.
#3
I'll say this much, it doesn't matter whether the percentage that is for killing Jewish men, women, and children by suicide/murder bombs keeps dropping steadily - the damage has been done, and nothing short of the death of the current generation and a new way of thinking will be required before things can change. Even the death of Arafart won't be enough.
Posted by: Mike ||
10/14/2004 11:51 Comments ||
Top||
#5
BaR, are you thinking of something like the Children of Israel wandering in the desert for 40 years, so that none who entered the land would have been born a slave?
#8
..are you thinking of something like the Children of Israel wandering in the desert for 40 years, so that none who entered the land would have been born a slave?
Something along that line. The kill-all-the-Jews-by-whatever-means-necessary mentality has got to go.
#9
Actually, the population has been divided for some time, although the tilt to one side or the other does change. Part of the population wants the fun of an all-out terror war; the other part wants to crowd out the Jews by out-breeding them. Arafat pushes both options...sort a dual track war.
Given the improved life expectancy given by Israel resulting from improved health and sanitation, and the significantly improved child survival rate, the Palestinians -- up until the Intifada -- were enjoying something like 7 kids per family vs. the Israeli 2 kids (or thereabout). On the order of 1/2 million Arab refugees left in 1948. Now the Palestinians number themselves at several million.
Terror mastermind Osama bin Laden is assumed to be alive but his whereabouts are unknown, the commander of US-led forces in Afghanistan said on Wednesday. "We have no evidence to suggest that Osama Bin Laden is dead so we have to assume based on that he still is alive," Lieutenant General David Barno told a news conference in Kabul days after the country's landmark presidential elections. "And we don't know where he is so we can't speculate that he may be in Afghanistan or Pakistan or where he could be because we don't have any pinpoint information about his whereabouts or he would be in our custody," he pointed out. Part II in link
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/14/2004 5:29:07 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Bin Ladenâs presence in Afghanistan was the reason for the US-led invasion after the September 11 terror attack...
That's bullshit. Even it we knew he was no where near Kabul on 9/12/01 the Taliban would have been done.
#2
Cover Story to give "W" some negotiating room with Iran. Can you imagine someone telling Bush at this time..."He's in Iran being sheltered by the Imams!" I'm sure he doesn't want that in his 'Daily Briefing Report', remember what happened over the jet plane issue after the Sept. 11th attacks, he was accused of covering up!
The Defense eststablishment is carefully considering a proposal to severely limit access to the Temple mount mosques during Ramadan, the Moslem holy month due to begin at the end of the week. Proponents of the plan call for limiting access to 50,000 worshippers, instead of the 250,000 that usually come to pray in the Temple Mount mosques on the first day's prayers of Ramadan This is a result of mounting fears that the structural integrity of Solomon's Stables has been compromised. Over the past several months the Waqf (Moslem religious council) has carried out major construction work without adequate supervision, due to its refusal to allow Israeli construction engineers access to the construction site.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/14/2004 1:46:57 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I think I am going to start referring to any event resulting in 10 or more corpses caused by wilful ignorance/disregard for basic science and engineering as a 'Mecca Moment'.
#3
I read that the purpose of all that excavation is to get rid of any buried Jewish artifacts and make it easier to deny Jews have any claim to Temple Mount.
Posted by: ed ||
10/14/2004 2:41 Comments ||
Top||
#4
ed
yes that is one purpose; another is to "islamize" the area by putting in small mosques and the like in the stables
#5
I can understand why the Israielis are doing this. Its b'cause they're Decent Human Beings. But a nasty little part of me wishes that the Iraelis would just let the collapse happen, then close the site to all, for repair permanantly. After all, they're gonna get blamed regardless, and they can't be hated more than they already are...
Posted by: N Guard ||
10/14/2004 13:46 Comments ||
Top||
#6
It's too late to prevent the Temple Mount disaster. It happened in 687 AD, when the Moslems starting building the eyesore in the first place. Everything they've done there since then has been a disaster.
Donor nations wrapped up a two-day meeting Thursday that Iraqi leaders hope will free up much-needed reconstruction funds that were pledged a year ago but have been held up by the country's continuing instability. The meeting, bringing together 57 nations and international organizations, is a follow-up to a conference a year ago in Madrid, where the international community, led by the United States, vowed to contribute $13.6 billion in grants and loans. Only about $1.3 billion has actually been given so far.
"We'd like to see someone a little less competent..."
Personnel from a private U.S. security firm in Afghanistan have engaged in ``aggressive behavior'' while protecting President Hamid Karzai, the State Department said Wednesday. Spokesman Richard Boucher said U.S. concerns about inappropriate activities by some guards from the firm, DynCorp, have been passed on to company officials. Mike Dickerson, of the Computer Sciences Corp., the parent company of DynCorp, said the firm's employees are working closely with State Department officials to do ``the best possible job in a very difficult, dangerous and challenging environment.'' He said the employees will continue to work closely with the State Department to adjust procedures as necessary, ``keeping in mind the utmost importance of the mission.''
"Why don't you -- yeah, you, you skinny, pale, pencil-neck reporter -- why don't you try guarding the man for a day?"
But they're entirely too rough handling attempted assassins!
The State Department's bureau of diplomatic security has been responsible for Karzai's protection since 2002. DynCorp personnel have assisted in that task but the State Department provides overall supervision. ``It's a very difficult mission. It's a very dangerous mission,'' Boucher said. Less than a month ago, Karzai was the target of an assassination attempt when a rocket was fired at his helicopter near the city of Gardez. He escaped injury. Afghan authorities say they have uncovered previous assassination plots against Karzai by an ``international terrorist group.''
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/14/2004 12:29:09 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Boucher was responding to a New York Times article which said the Dyncorp guards, at best, reinforce the stereotype of Americans as ``brawny and boorish.'' The article was titled, ``The Intimidating Face of America.''
Less than a year ago guards hired by the Times were accused of thuggish behavior
My family has a property in the green zone in down town Baghdad on Abi-Nuas street. The New York Times rents the adjacent property. For several weeks now my brother Ali Al Ali has been denied automobile access to our property by security guards. Until two days ago we thought this was a coalition security measure. Now we known these guards are not coalition personal but are instead the private security force employed by your news paper.
#5
What they need to do is cultivate luxurious, bushy beards (I'm envisioning the stoning scene in Life of Brian), affect native dress, and wait for the testoterone drenched reaction a la that reporter the other day who had tendencies. Its only boorish if one of us acts that way; if its a native, it elicits admiration for his honest, unspoilt nature.
#6
This reminds of the article they ran during the Afghan fight. Apparently some of our soldiers were not PC when they killed or captured Taliban fighters. Some of the combatants were treated roughly even after they surrendered. Now I am no expert on combat arms but I donât know how to capture somebody ânicelyâ and make them fell âcomfortableâ about being a prisoner. Clearly none of these reporters ever laced a boot and walked a post. I canât imagine what the security detail for Kharzai is going through each day. BTW I thought the guards were Seals? When did that change?
#7
I bet each and every one of his guards are former Seals or SF...now they have less red tape and oversight to do their tough job
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/14/2004 12:28 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Everyone is missing the most ironic part of all of this brouhaha. The incident being reported is between one of the bodyguards (complete with "soul tuft") and (warning: PUT YOUR HOT COFFEE DOWN NOW)a couple of French and German officers (with a gaggle of reporters) trying to crash a reception of the French defense minister and Karzai!! At least the German officer had some common sense and told the reporter as they left with their yellow stained tails between their legs that "I am brave but not in front of a man with a machine gun". I am not making this up even if the reporter may be.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
10/14/2004 16:44 Comments ||
Top||
Undeterred by a grenade attack, thousands of Kashmiris turned out to vote on Wednesday in by-elections to the state legislature in the disputed state in northern India and despite a boycott called by separatist groups. Suspected militants fired two rifle grenades near a voting station in Pahalgam in southern Kashmir just before it opened, but no one was injured.
Trained by Hek's boys, no doubt.
Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Syed, who last month escaped an assassination attempt while filing his nomination papers, was contesting from Pahalgam, one of four constituencies where the by-election was taking place in Kashmir. "Polling has been very peaceful in the constituency," police official Barney Fife Abdul Hamid said as soldiers with automatic weapons patrolled the streets in armoured cars and stood guard outside heavily fortified polling booths. Kashmiri terrorists separatists called for a boycott, saying elections in the region could not solve the decades-old conflict that has led to two out of three wars between India and Pakistan.
"Nope. Nope. Ain't gonna happen. So you can't vote. We'll kill yez if yez do!"
US President George W. Bush's special envoy for Iraqi debt, James Baker, is simultaneously working for a commercial concern that is trying to recover money from Iraq, a British newspaper said yesterday. The Guardian said that Baker, a former US secretary of state, has a reported $180 million stake in the merchant bank and defence contractor the Carlyle Group. This consortium, it said, is secretly proposing to collect $27 billion on behalf of Kuwait, one of Iraq's biggest creditors, by using political influence. According to the Guardian, the Carlyle Group claims that Baker will not benefit personally, but the consortium will make millions in fees, retainers, and commission.
The newspaper said that other countries like Britain, which Iraq owes one billion dollars, have been urged by Baker to relieve the new Iraqi regime of its $200 billion debt burden. "Baker is on two sides of this transanction," Kathleen Clark, a law professor from Washington University and an expert on government ethics and regulations, was quoted as saying by the newspaper. "He is supposed to be representing the interests of the US, but he is also a senior counsellor at Carlyle, and Carlyle wants to get paid to help Kuwait recover its debts from Iraq. "Carlyle and the other companies are exploiting Baker's current position to try to land a deal with Kuwait that would undermine the interests of the US government," she said, according to the same source.
Dang it, and I really liked his briefcase.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/14/2004 12:17:10 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
uhm, ive never thought all that much of Jim Baker. I think Ive made that clear, no?
#3
Anyone who thinks that the debt relief or reconstruction funds are going to pipe directly to Kuwait is an idiot. Baker's objective is to get major debt releif for Iraq so that its economy can grow, thereby repaying the remaining debt. Part of that remaining debt will be Kuwait's. Is that really tough for the Guardian to understand? Oh, since they are freaking socialists with no understanding of business, I guess it could be.
Posted by: remote man ||
10/14/2004 12:39 Comments ||
Top||
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.
Want to keep abreast of the latest in male fashion? Well, the message from Milan is to say goodbye to Mr Macho and hello to Mr Androgyny. The provocative direction — featuring male models with fake breasts under figure-hugging knitwear — was sent down the catwalk by outrageous British designer Vivienne Westwood in the mens' autumn winter 2003 shows held this week. And while the effect may look outrageous today, fashion commentators reckon Sydney men may just end up adopting it — in a few years' time.
