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Algerian deported from San Diego
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-Short Attention Span Theater-
Holiday tips from Ethel...
Posted by: Fred || 01/01/2005 7:59:22 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Magazine Toasts Unabashed Alcoholism
Modern Drunkard magazine. Get a subscription for the O Club.
Posted by: tu3031 || 01/01/2005 3:00:06 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Alcohol is the great socializer. Can you imagine a world without it? Well, I guess you can — it's called the Middle East."

Gotta admit, he does have a point there...
Posted by: Dave D. || 01/01/2005 15:19 Comments || Top||

#2  He has more than a point there. It is the starkest difference between the west and the Middle East. It is the difference between the conviviality of our Western civilization and barbarity of the Middle East.
Posted by: badanov || 01/01/2005 15:27 Comments || Top||

#3  "It is the starkest difference between the west and the Middle East."

My son's been over in Iraq for the last year; according to him, there's some other pretty damn stark differences, mostly to do with personal hygiene.

This may be the final, apocalyptic showdown between the dark forces of bare-left-handed asswipeism, and people who use toilet paper.
Posted by: Dave D. || 01/01/2005 16:59 Comments || Top||

#4  "shake?"
"er....no...."
Posted by: Frank G || 01/01/2005 17:06 Comments || Top||

#5  "Here's to alcohol. The cause of ... and solution to all mankind's problems."

- Homer J. Simpson -
Posted by: Zenster || 01/01/2005 17:44 Comments || Top||

#6  Don't miss the web site.

Includes such (ahem) interesting items as "Vive La Tequila!: Matt Turner went to Tijuana looking for kicks -- instead he found La Revolucion!" Nice illustrations, too.
Posted by: Angie Schultz || 01/01/2005 18:50 Comments || Top||

#7  Angie - I've lived within 5-25 miles of Tijuana all my life (45 yrs old0 in San Diego. You have no idea how much Tijuana's changed - for better and worse...
Posted by: Frank G || 01/01/2005 18:56 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
6.5 Magnitude Aftershock Hits Indonesia
Posted by: Fred || 01/01/2005 1:03:00 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Saudi Arabia Beheads 2 More, Neither of them Holy Men
Two men, a Pakistani and an Iraqi, were beheaded Saturday for smuggling drugs into Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Interior Ministry announced. The Pakistani, Mohammed Amin Abdullah Jan, was convicted of smuggling an undisclosed amount of heroin into the kingdom and was beheaded in the Red Sea port city of Jiddah, the ministry statement said. Mattar bin Hussein bin Bakhit al-Khazaali, an Iraqi, was convicted of smuggling hashish into the kingdom and was beheaded in the northern town of Arar, close to the Iraqi border, according to the ministry.

Al-Khazaali is the second Iraqi to be executed in this border town in the past 10 days. Qaied bin Kamal bin Mohammed al-Zayadi, an Iraqi, was convicted of smuggling an undisclosed quantity of hashish into the kingdom and was beheaded in Arar on Dec. 22. At least 35 people were beheaded in the kingdom in 2004 compared with 52 people in 2003, most of whom were convicted of drug smuggling.
Posted by: Fred || 01/01/2005 12:54:57 PM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Not Holy Men, just severed men? Okay, as you were.
Posted by: Capt America || 01/01/2005 13:28 Comments || Top||


Saudi fund for development supports financing Saudi exports for Tunisia
Tunisian official sources said today that the Saudi fund for development allocated a line of credit at a cost of three million dollars as a first payment at the disposal of the Saudi-Tunisian financing bank to finance imports operations from Saudi Arabia. The sources added that this agreement aims at strengthening trade exchange between Tunisia and Saudi Arabia. This agreement authorizes buying commodities or services from Saudi Arabia for importers from Tunisia.

The Tunisian-Saudi financing bank was established at the participation of the Tunisian public sector at a rate 20% and the Saudi Dallet al-Baraka group by Sheikh saleh Abdullah Kamel at a rate of 80%. Worthy mentioning that the value of industrial investments in Tunisia during the 11 first months of the current year reached 635 million Dinars, estimated at $ 529 million. The strategy of the Tunisian government is based on supporting sectors attracting for foreign investment in addition to supporting traditional industries like textiles and food industries and to attract new investors and to support exports. The government's plan by the end of 2004 aims at achieving investments at a rate of one billion Tunisian Dinars, estimated at $ 833 million.
Posted by: Fred || 01/01/2005 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What do Saudis get in exchange?
Posted by: gromgorru || 01/01/2005 6:54 Comments || Top||


Europe
Man Wielding Tripod Strikes Berlusconi
A man struck Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi with a camera tripod Friday in a Rome piazza, giving him a slight bruise but no major injuries, his office said. The premier's bodyguards and police quickly blocked the assailant after the attack in Piazza Navona, a large bustling square at the heart of the capital. Police were questioning the assailant, who was a tourist from the northern town of Mantua, the ANSA news agency said. Berlusconi, who had a slight bruise between his right ear and neck, saw a doctor as a precaution, the report said. The prime minister was "saddened" by the attack, his office said, adding it had no information on the motive.
"Not as saddened as I woulda been if the somonabitch woulda taken my ear off, though!"
The conservative premier's allies immediately spoke out against the attack and offered their support. Reforms Minister Roberto Calderoli suggested it was politically motivated, saying the assailant was "crazy, but also a member of the political opposition," according to ANSA.
Posted by: Fred || 01/01/2005 1:29:41 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hey just your typical left end wack job. Politically inspired, you bet. I am sure he will be turned loose by the leftist dominated Italian justice system.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 01/01/2005 13:42 Comments || Top||

#2  "'crazy, but also a member of the political opposition,'"

Something lost in translation? It ought to read:

"'crazy: a member of the political opposition,'"
Posted by: Bulldog || 01/01/2005 14:12 Comments || Top||


Ukraine Guards Glad to Work for Yushchenko
Among the orange ribbons, rabbit ears and dyed hair of the Ukrainian students who have become the happy face of the Orange Revolution, a darker color has become more prominent: the green camouflage uniforms of a far-right nationalist group. "We are soldiers on an assignment," said one of them, Roman Dubynevych. "We are here to guard the revolution and to prevent Russia's interference."

He commands a unit of the Ukrainian National Assembly-Self Defense Organization, which says it has provided much of the muscle behind the weeks of protests in support of opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko — who preliminary results show won last Sunday's rerun of the presidential runoff. Although the protests have not been violent and Yushchenko promises to bring Western-style reforms to Ukraine, the presence of the group, known by its Ukrainian acronym UNA-UNSO, underlines concerns of Yushchenko's foes that his leadership will enflame nationalism and intense anti-Russian sentiment. As the number of orange-wearing protesters declined in recent weeks, UNA-UNSO's dark green uniforms and Iron Cross-like insignia got increasing notice.
Posted by: Fred || 01/01/2005 1:01:00 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
"We are here to guard the revolution and to prevent Russia’s interference."
Cool.

You go, Ukraine! :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 01/01/2005 15:21 Comments || Top||


Yanukovych to Pursue Ukraine Presidency
Viktor Yanukovych vowed to fight on for Ukraine's presidency, despite handing the opposition of this ex-Soviet Republic a begrudging victory by announcing his resignation as prime minister. His opponent, Western-leaning opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko, soundly won last weekend's court-ordered presidential revote, but Yanukovych has refused to concede, vowing to challenge the results in the Supreme Court. Under Ukrainian election law, Yushchenko cannot be declared president until all appeals against the voting are exhausted. The pro-Russian Yanukovych announced his resignation as prime minister on Friday in a televised address, his first significant concession since losing Sunday's vote, but said he will maintain his claim to the presidency. "I have made the decision to submit my formal resignation," Yanukovych told the nation. "We are still fighting, but I don't have much hope," he said. "I will act as an independent politician, as the rightful winner of the legitimate Nov. 21 election."
Posted by: Fred || 01/01/2005 12:42:49 PM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Ukraine's PM resigns
Ukraine's Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich resigned from his post on Friday and admitted his appeals over a presidential rerun vote were unlikely to be granted, but he stopped short of conceding the poll to opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko. "I have made a decision and am formally submitting my resignation," he said in a televised address. "I find it impossible to occupy any post in a government headed by these authorities," he said. "Concerning the election results, we are keeping up the fight but I don't have much hope for a just decision from the central election commission and the supreme court," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 01/01/2005 12:14:34 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Fifth Column
False friends -- France-led Europe re-arming China
Chiraq: "a necessary rebalancing of the 'grand triangle' formed by America, Europe and Asia."

During the recent presidential campaign, Sen. John Kerry assailed President Bush for alienating key U.S. allies, evidence he maintained of the incumbent's lack of foreign policy acumen and an arena in which the challenger insisted he could "do better." Implicit in this critique was the belief that such allies — notably, the French — were anxious to be our friends, if they were not mistreated by America's leader.

In fact, it is increasingly clear the French government under President Jacques Chirac is bent on policies antithetical to U.S. interests. They are not simply anti-Bush, they are anti-American and anti-Atlaniticist. The latest example is Mr. Chirac's determination to have French and other European weapons manufacturers arm Communist China as part of what he has called "a necessary rebalancing of the 'grand triangle' formed by America, Europe and Asia."

France's unfriendly history:
This is, of course, hardly the first time that French policy toward the United States has been defined by balance-of-power considerations. Indeed, the decisive assistance of France to the American Revolution did not reflect affection for those bent on ending royal misrule — a phenomenon its own king would be murderously subjected to soon after. Rather, the motivation was to weaken France's age-old rival, Britain, by helping to cut loose her American Colonies and sapping her wealth in a costly war to bring them to heel.

Just a few years later, though, weakening the United States seemed in France's interest. France engaged in predatory acts against American shipping and backed subversion here at home, culminating in the so-called XYZ Affair that roiled Franco-American relations in this country's earliest days. In the 19th century, the French helped Southern secessionists and would have recognized their independent Confederacy had timely and decisive Union victories not made it clear which side would prevail.

Nearly a hundred years later, President Charles de Gaulle repaid U.S. help in the liberation of France by cultivating close ties with the Soviet Union and expelling NATO headquarters from Paris. Jacques Chirac was no less troubled by notions of alliance solidarity when the French government reportedly assured Saddam Hussein it would oppose any U.N. authorization of the use of force against his regime.

Seen against this backdrop, Mr. Chirac's calculation that Europe must strengthen China militarily at America's expense is not just a one-off betrayal of an ally. It is part of a geostrategic tradition that renders France, at best, an unreliable partner in international affairs and, at worst, what the French call a "faux ami," or false friend.

Unfortunately, as this column has noted repeatedly in recent months, France is striving to impose its strain of anti-Americanism on other European states that have traditionally preferred the trans-Atlantic partnership to French or Franco-German domination of their Continent's affairs. The principal vehicle for enforcing the latter over unwilling states — notably, Great Britain and nations Don Rumsfeld has described as "New Europe" — is the new European Constitution.

If this draft constitution is ratified by voters in Britain, France and a half-dozen other countries, the European Union will have authority to "define and implement a common foreign and security policy, including the progressive framing of a common defense policy." The U.S. can forget about "special relationships" and strong bilateral ties, let alone "coalitions of the willing," with states bound by such a compact.
Thoughts from Rantburg's European correspondents would be valuable on this.
Even before such an authority gets conferred upon unaccountable bureaucrats in Brussels, Paris is working on a dress rehearsal: its bid to "rebalance" American power by augmenting that of Communist China. France and the EU's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, are pushing hard for lifting an embargo on arms sales to Communist China imposed after the Tiananmen Square massacre. All other things being equal, the French and Germans expect, with help from a double-dealing British government, to dispense by next spring with opposition to such a step from the Netherlands, New European states like Lithuania and the European Parliament.

The implications of European weapons manufacturers joining Russia in arming China to the teeth are quite worrisome. Thoughtful observers, like acclaimed author Mark Helprin, warn of China's rising application of its immense accumulated wealth to strategic advantage.

Details of China's recent moves:
The latter include: neutralizing U.S. dominance in space and information technology (Chinese acquisition of IBM's personal computer division is not an accident); moving aggressively to dominate the world's critical minerals and other resources (especially those relevant to its burgeoning energy needs); establishing forward operations in choke-points and other sensitive areas around the globe (including, in our own hemisphere, in Cuba, the Bahamas, the Panama Canal, Brazil and Venezuela); and acquiring financial leverage by purchasing vast quantities of U.S. debt instruments.

Retaking Taiwan is an immediate target of such power. Dominance of Asia and the Western Pacific are in prospect. And China aspires to exercise global superpower status in due course, if not short order.

For years, Washington has paid lip service to — and often actively promoted — European unification. If, however, the upshot of unity is to be, as seems likely, a Continent whose policies are dominated by anti-Atlanticist France and Germany and contribute to emerging threats elsewhere, the United States must make discouraging such developments an explicit part of its foreign policy.

Mr. Chirac's determination to provide weapons that may be used to kill Americans in the event China decides to attack Taiwan should be a wake-up call. False friends are not allies. They should not be entitled to the preferential treatment accorded the latter. Mr. Bush is right that democracies traditionally don't fight democracies. But when they equip authoritarian regimes to do so, they must pay a real cost.

Frank J. Gaffney Jr. is president of the Center for Security Policy and a columnist for The Washington Times.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/01/2005 2:59:13 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Interesting article. I hardly consider peddling commodity PCs as a source of competitive advantage. Clinton and Gore gave away more intelligence in one overnight at the White House than IBM is giving away with their PC loss leader.
Posted by: Capt America || 01/01/2005 19:45 Comments || Top||

#2  "define and implement a common foreign and security policy, including the progressive framing of a common defense policy."

These are the *exact same words* that appear in the existing treaties, so if this article is presenting them as new, this article is lying.

The U.S. can forget about "special relationships" and strong bilateral ties, let alone "coalitions of the willing," with states bound by such a compact.

AFAIK the European Constitution still retains the need for unanimous agreement on matters of common foreign and security policy, as is the case in the current treaties. So one wonders why should the relationship between the US and European states be any different after the Constitution than it is currently?

On other matters, I'm annoyed at the false title. "France-led Europe rearming China" should atleast be followed by a question mark, as Europe is neither France-led, nor is it rearming China, indeed the opposite the EU structures (like the European Parliament) have stopped France from rearming China.

That the EU's embargo has *prevented* double-dealing France, Germany, UK from rearming China is the real newsitem.

"If, however, the upshot of unity is to be, as seems likely, a Continent whose policies are dominated by anti-Atlanticist France and Germany and contribute to emerging threats elsewhere,"

Yeah, let's call black white and let's call day night, while we're at it.

How about a "Thank you very much, EU, for preventing Chirac and Shroeder from rearming China?" instead?

So much for gratitude.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 01/01/2005 20:00 Comments || Top||

#3  Yet no one here has the least problem with Bush's administration being asleep at the wheel while American importers funnel untold BILLIONS into China's gaping industrial maw. The money China is using to buy all these modern weapons isn't coming from their trade with Europe. Capiche?

France, in their insignificance, is merely playing two sides against the middle, as they have for centuries.

For America to fight the war on terrorism and simultaneously be China's biggest trading partner, as the politburo goes about proliferating weapons technology to both North Korea and Iran, is worse than stupid. Bush is simply betraying the American people in the name of commercialism.

France's incredible stupidity only makes the White House's look all the worse.

Posted by: Zenster || 01/01/2005 20:04 Comments || Top||

#4  It's not about France arming China -- the Chinese are quite capable of arming themselves, and they can do it with or without our WalMart purchases. It's also not about Bush betraying anyone -- what is the perceived act of betrayal? Allowing trade? Seriously, Zenster, what was the White House supposed to do differently in your opinion?
Posted by: Tom || 01/01/2005 20:48 Comments || Top||

#5  We'll get the chance to arm both sides when civil war breaks out between the French and muslim immigrants.
Posted by: ed || 01/01/2005 21:01 Comments || Top||

#6  At that point we can just nuke 'em and be done with a whole bunch of issues...
Posted by: Tom || 01/01/2005 21:05 Comments || Top||

#7  So, Aris, if the EU is not "France-led", why does Chirac come off as a spokesman for Europe? What has your Greek leader (the name escapes me) had to say recently on these matters, and why does Chirac get all the press?
Posted by: Tom || 01/01/2005 21:13 Comments || Top||

#8  Seriously, Zenster, what was the White House supposed to do differently in your opinion?

Let's start with connecting the dots between China and North Korea. How about tracing another path over to America's enemy, Iran? The same Iran that we may have to spend untold millions upon when we bomb out their nuclear facilities. All being built with money from oil sales to China. That way the American people might be more disposed to boycott China's products themselves, even if the White House can't bear to wean itself from all those campaign contributions coming from importers of Chinese goods.

Wouldn't it make more sense to rebuild America's industrial base and force China to pay more dearly for all that Iranian oil instead of facilitating proliferation to Iran that we will be obliged to finally interdict anyway?

Another good move would have been not adopting the "One China" stance that has effectively given the politburo carte blanch to threaten Taiwan, as in the incredibly waffle-infested "status quo" White House speech prior to the Taiwanese elections.

Finally, there is a definite need to begin leveling the playing field between China and the United States. How is it possible to continue with the $127 BILLION Sino-US trade deficit? This is economic poison (to both sides actually - just faster acting upon America) for US industrial capacity. It is precisely this vast imbalance in the flow of capital that is permitting China to procure their modernized weapons. Don't we owe it to ourselves to avert another arms race?

Should we permit our internal production capacity to dwindle to the point where our nation cannot sustain itself in a time of war? We are rapidly approaching that point. There is a limit to the number of manufacturing jobs and various other careers that can be outsourced before we are left with a nation of burger-flippers.
Posted by: Zenster || 01/01/2005 22:25 Comments || Top||

#9  I see. So we should have blockaded oil sales to China and stopped all trade with China. Yeah, I guess that would have made things different. You're an idiot.
Posted by: Tom || 01/01/2005 22:29 Comments || Top||

#10  Zenster: Yet no one here has the least problem with Bush's administration being asleep at the wheel while American importers funnel untold BILLIONS into China's gaping industrial maw.

Can't be helped. Most of those imports are items that started being imported from China during the Clinton administration. PC components started being made in China during the early 90's, as Taiwanese and Korean subcontractors started dipping their toes in the water. China's industrial base is being strengthened not by domestic manufacturers, but foreign subcontractors.

To ban imports from China might have meant initiating a trade war with all of our major trading partners. In the 1980's, Reagan wanted to impose sanctions on European companies that had anything to do with the building of the natural gas pipeline from the Soviet Union or with purchasing natural gas from that pipeline. Margaret Thatcher herself stood up against Reagan on that issue.

People talk about how Walmart imports tens of billions of dollars of Chinese goods, as if most of those goods were made up of nail clippers or T-shirts. But the fact is that a significant chunk of it consists of American or third-country non-Chinese brands that are manufactured in China. Walmart had nothing to do with the fact that many of these things are made in China. The sheer magnitude of Walmart's purchases has nothing to do with Walmart choosing to buy Chinese-made goods over other goods. All the subcontractors are manufacturing in China and all of the major retailers are sourcing in China. Some are confusing cause and effect. Walmart did not become the largest retailer around by selling a lot of goods manufactured in China - it is because Walmart is the largest retailer in the world that it sells a lot of goods assembled in China.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 01/01/2005 22:46 Comments || Top||

#11  Save your typing finger from osteoarthritis -- Zen would have had Bush blockade China from ME oil. WWIII. He's an idiot.
Posted by: Tom || 01/01/2005 22:50 Comments || Top||

#12  At that point we can just nuke 'em and be done with a whole bunch of issues...

Suggesting the use of nuclear weapons as a first resort against a European country takes a lot of the starch out of your insults, Tom. A complete and total lack of any constructive counter-argument is just icing on the cake.

If you bothered to actually read my post, I said how we should curtail our trade with China so that their rampant oil purchasing would impact them a lot more seriously. As it is, we facilitate their explosive growth (pun intended) and are still obliged to stick around and clean up the mess in Iran. Why should we screw ourselves into having to do all the heavy lifting?

Why not short circuit those imports with reconstituted internal manufacturing, force China to spend hard earned currency on their massive oil imports and set about leveling the ridiculously skewed trade imbalance?

Do you have any non-nuclear suggestions as how we should change our trade deficit with China, Tom?
Posted by: Zenster || 01/01/2005 22:52 Comments || Top||

#13  Zen would have had Bush blockade China from ME oil.

I'll request that you either provide a cite or a retraction, Tom. Intentionally misrepresenting another person's own position is something more often associated with trolls.
Posted by: Zenster || 01/01/2005 22:59 Comments || Top||

#14  So, Aris, if the EU is not "France-led", why does Chirac come off as a spokesman for Europe?

Won't accept the assumption, here, Tom. He may come off as a spokesman for Europe to *you*, he does not come off as a spokesman for Europe to me.

He may even wish to present himself as a spokesman for Europe, but what do his wishes have to do with reality?

What has your Greek leader (the name escapes me) had to say recently on these matters,

Karamanlis is a political midget. I hardly know what he has to say on Greek matters as he rarely dares take a stand even on internal issues, so I somehow doubt he'll look beyond his nose to comment on EU-China relations. Certainly not to act with integrity anyway.

If I had to guess a wild guess he'd be on the side of "good relations" with China, even like he pledged allegiance to Putin, even as the whole rest of Europe was seeing Putin revealed for what he was.

and why does Chirac get all the press?

That's like asking why do I know who the governor of California is but not who the governor of New Connecticut. Or for that matter why I know the name of the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and UK, but not the leaders of Slovenia, Slovakia, and Lithuania.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 01/01/2005 22:59 Comments || Top||

#15  Walmart did not become the largest retailer around by selling a lot of goods manufactured in China - it is because Walmart is the largest retailer in the world that it sells a lot of goods assembled in China.

While true, none of this should prevent American consumers from realizing that shopping at Wal-Mart is neither good for the United States' industrial base or it's national security.
Posted by: Zenster || 01/01/2005 23:02 Comments || Top||

#16  Well, Zenster, I'm doing my reading based on Wikipedia read-ups of "Chinese strategic thought," the "revolution in military affairs (RMA)" as perceived by both the US and China, "comprehensive national power (CNP)" and even the concept of "protracted people's war," Mao Zedong's own war doctrine.

Call you all back in a few? :)

(I want to argue from a pro-American perspective that also sees that the most effective changes Zenster suggests would actually be antithetical to the American raison d'etre.)
Posted by: Edward Yee || 01/01/2005 23:04 Comments || Top||

#17  By the way, Zenster, an analogy I read on Yahoo! News was that when offered the option to outsource cheap or have the work done in America for more cost to the consumer, 5 out of 6 customers chose outsourcing ...
Posted by: Edward Yee || 01/01/2005 23:07 Comments || Top||

#18  an analogy I read on Yahoo! News was that when offered the option to outsource cheap or have the work done in America for more cost to the consumer, 5 out of 6 customers chose outsourcing ...

In the same way that no one has ever lost money underestimating the intelligence of the average American buying public; Wal-Mart's popularity is stark testimony to the short-sightedness of American consumers.
Posted by: Zenster || 01/01/2005 23:35 Comments || Top||

#19  And, for the fifteenth year running, Aristople AutoKraptcrisis goes on to win the Walter Duranty Apologist for Tyranny Award, which among other things, includes an all expense paid date with Jacques Chirap's lap ...at the alley of his (own, you know, individual choosing, etc
Posted by: an dalusian dog || 01/01/2005 23:43 Comments || Top||


Induhmedia crud-puppies tell lies
Whites-only 'aid' to tsunami disaster areas.
I can already see that these beauzeaux have had their lips fall off.
Perhaps 2% to 4% of the victims of the tsunami are European tourists, and that is far higher than in most 'third-world disasters'. (Often these disasters are in remote and very poor areas, with no tourism of any kind). The tsunami killed disproportionately large numbers of tourists, for the simple reason that they were concentrated on the beach, and at beachside hotels. The immediate response of EU governments has been very slow, but not only that. It has also been thoroughly racist, and that is much more visible than in a 'normal' overseas disaster. The German government and military operated probably the worst racist policy. Military planes with medical teams were sent to Thailand to treat Germans only, and fly them back to Germany. Everyone else - including apparently citizens of other EU countries - were to be left to die, if no-one else helped them.
"Walks like a duck, lives by the lake, says quack, must be a honeyguide.
However Britain, France, and the Netherlands are operating similar policies - aid to own nationals only, including medical aid and flights home for the injured. All of them are therefore turning away local people, and excluding them from medical treatment. In Thailand, the medical services are apparently able to cope with the injured. However that is definitely not the case in Sri Lanka, where there are still large numbers of untraced western tourists, along with hundreds of thousands of displaced coastal inhabitants. There will probably be a repeat of the racist policies there. There is a deafening silence from NGO's and anti-racist organisations, and the media, on this issue. Apart from the ethical aspects, it is simply absurd to go 'digging in the wreckage' on the basis of national origin, Swedish teams to dig out Swedish bodies, German teams to dig out Germans, British teams to dig out British bodies, and so on. It is absurd that medical disaster help is being segregated, on racial and ethnic and national lines. Worst of all, it is only going to places where there were western tourists.
Posted by: Korora || 01/01/2005 12:33:02 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I am shocked! Shocked!
The faster they get the foreigners out of dodge ther better. It only makes sense.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 01/01/2005 13:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Did they have any more new info on the Halliburton Earthquake/Tsunami machine?
Posted by: tu3031 || 01/01/2005 14:24 Comments || Top||

#3  However that is definitely not the case in Sri Lanka, where there are still large numbers of untraced western tourists, along with hundreds of thousands of displaced coastal inhabitants. There will probably be a repeat of the racist policies there.

Gosh, you mean the same Sri Lanka that refused all aid from Jewish Israel? Nope, nope, no racism here at all in this equatorial paradise.
Posted by: Zenster || 01/01/2005 18:05 Comments || Top||

#4  Looks like they've charged most of the EU.

I'm not saying this is credible, but it is probably worth investigating. If it's true, then the EUros look like real assholes. Particularly if they're counting this in their "aid".
Posted by: Dishman || 01/01/2005 19:19 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
The Interrugnum Ends: The Right Ascends in 2004
Severely edited for length
Very long article, but very clear in its analysis about what 2004 means in political terms.
The formula works with voters: Lower taxes, strong national defense, receding government and personal responsibility...

Read the whole thing...


One of the most talked about political concepts of the early 21st century was "the emerging Democratic majority." It was supposed to begin emerging in 2002 and 2004, but clearly it didn't. Adherents of the Democratic idea blame the 9/11 terrorist attack for upsetting the Democratic trend temporarily. The truth, of course, is there wasn't a Democratic trend in the first place. The concept assumed that Democratic vote levels in the late 1990s among women, Latinos, African Americans and young, college-educated urbanites was a floor. And since these groups were growing at a fast pace, the Democratic vote would soar and Democrats would emerge as the dominant party again, as they were from the '30s to the '90s.

The floor turned out to be a ceiling. It's Republicans who have gained among these groups (with the possible exception of young metropolitan sophisticates). Take women. Since 1996, the gender gap--the difference between the male vote for Republicans and the female vote for Democrats--has shrunk. President Clinton won women by 16 percentage points in 1996. Al Gore won by 11 points in 2000. But John Kerry's edge in 2004 was a mere three points. And among white women without a college education, a poll by Democracy Corps found Mr. Kerry trailing Mr. Bush by 23 points.

Anna Greenberg, one of the smartest of the younger Democratic consultants, explains the Democratic trouble with women this way: "Despite the economic interests, socially conservative women, white, blue-collar women, have moved increasingly into the Republican camp, primarily around social and cultural issues that include perceived moral decline, abortion and reproductive health, challenges to women's traditional roles in society and family, and gay rights. . . . These voters swung to Bush as he tapped into their social conservatism, their support for his approach to the war on terrorism, and their admiration of his faith."

With Latinos, the story is similar. Traditional values, respect for religious faith, and support for entrepreneurship are tugging them into the Republican Party. The Republican share of the Latino vote grew from 21% in 1996 to 35% in 2000 and to 44% in 2004. The 44% figure in the exit poll is disputed by some Democrats, but if the jump was only to 40%, that's still a significant gain and represents an even more significant trend.

Republican gains among Jews (19% in 2000 to 25% in 2004) and blacks (9% to 13%) were smaller. And Democrats point to the youth vote as predicative of a bright Democratic future. Mr. Kerry prevailed among voters aged 18-29 by nine percentage points. But there's no evidence that younger voters are the wave of the future in presidential contests. Mr. Clinton won them by 19 points in his 1996 re-election. Democrats went on to lose the next two presidential elections.
Posted by: badanov || 01/01/2005 7:20:42 AM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


International-UN-NGOs
The U.N's politics of humanitarianism
Posted by: gromgorru || 01/01/2005 07:03 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Kofi Fiddles Schusses While Asia Drowns
From the UN web site.
EFL - (Hat tip to Cox & Forkum and Edward Yee)
From an interview with Kofi Annan:


Q: Will you go to the [Southeast Asian] region? Are you considering a trip? Can you update your statement at your end-of-the-year news conference regarding what a horrible year it was? And, describe looking at the images, I assume, on vacation, and whether you thought about coming back earlier and just what you were looking at. And the role of the United Nations after being bashed all year: is this, unfortunately on the back of horrible disaster, an opportunity for the United Nations?
"Everything's an opportunity for morally bankrupt individuals like my staff and cadres."
SG: Let me say that at my last press conference, when I said this has been a horrible year, I didn't expect anything like this to happen before the year ended. It was bad enough up to that point. But this has been a real tragedy and disaster for those in that region.
You should know, Kofi. You're one of the key players in making sure so many tragedies happen.
Ever since the disaster struck, as I have indicated, I have been on the line with the leaders of the region, discussing what should be done and also been constantly in touch here with my team and Jan. And, of course, that also explains the reason why I am back now.
You should see the room service tabs he ran up while he was constantly interfacing with all those regional leaders! Obviously a man hard at work.
I think the United Nations has an important role to play, and we are going to play a lead role in this, working with the entire international community. And we have to rely on the generosity of the major donors.
Saddam was good one, wasn't he?
And as I have indicated, so far the response has been very good, and I would want to see it sustained.

I haven't planned an immediate trip, but it is not excluded.

Q: Mr. Secretary, picking up on Richard's question, I think a lot of people are asking exactly why you waited three days on vacation in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, before you decided to fly back to New York in the face of this extraordinary crisis. Could you give us a full explanation of your thinking on that? Secondly, what kind of signal does that 72-hour delay send to the nations to which you are now appealing for greater help?

SG: First of all, there was action. It wasn't inaction. We live in a world where you can operate from wherever you are. You know the world we live in now. You don't have to be physically or mentally all here to be dealing with the leaders and the Governments I have been dealing with.
No truer words were ever spoken. Especially by Kofi.
You don't have to be physically here at all to be discussing with some of the agencies that we have done.
Your absence from every major region of conflict stands in testomony to that.
I came back here because we have reached a level that I wanted to have meetings with all the people that I have met with today. So, we have taken action. And I don't have to be sitting in my office to take action. I think the same goes for you in your profession.

Q: Given the magnitude of this disaster, shouldn't the United Nations, rather the United States, have taken the lead in establishing a coalition of donor and affected countries to deal with this disaster? And following up on the last two questions, shouldn't you, as Secretary-General, possibly be visiting the affected region to show moral support to the affected communities?
"What! And get mud on my Guccis?"
SG: First of all, on the question of how we pool the international community together, I think it is important that an initiative has been taken. We ourselves were discussing our possible initiative, but I applaud what has been done by the United States Government, by the United States Administration and President Bush. As I have said, we have spoken to other countries which are also going to join the group, and that group will be in support of the efforts that the United Nations is leading. So, we are very satisfied with that.

On the question of visits to the region, as I indicated, that is not excluded. But let me also say that we all need to be careful. When you have these sorts of massive emergencies, the urgent need is assistance to the people - shelter, food, water, health and other things. When we sometimes overwhelm them with high-profile visitors, we move people away from their work, and in fact we become more of a problem, an impediment, than actual assistance.
Trust me, it ain't just during the disasters that the UN moves "people away from their work."
So, one should go to the region, but at the right time. Those who go to the region should make sure that they do not detract from the essential work that is being done, because it takes lots of efforts, and they have limited facilities.
No local 18 hole Palmer designed course is such a tribulation, eh Kofi?
In some of these places, you often would not have even accommodation
"Gadfry! I might have to sleep with only one blanket. On the floor, you say?!?"
- and all the essential accommodation should go to those who actually doing it. So, yes, visit the region, but at the right time.
[EMPHASIS ADDED]
In other words, "At the right time. Namely, when I can come in, sprinkle a handful of bluberries over this mess and magically call it a 'dessert.' Thereby absorbing all credit for the strenuous efforts of others."
Posted by: Zenster || 01/01/2005 2:24:21 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Thanks for the accredit! :)
Posted by: Edward Yee || 01/01/2005 3:34 Comments || Top||

#2  First of all, there was action. It wasn’t inaction.

Sorry Asshole - action is doing something it is not talking about doing something. (But I guess the UN hasn't figured that out yet...).

and that group will be in support of the efforts that the United Nations is leading.

This is called 'taking credit for the work of others' boys and girls....

When we sometimes overwhelm them with high-profile visitors, we move people away from their work

Perhaps if you didn't insist on 5-star 7-course lunches? Oh sorry -- this is the UN...

Zenster - Love the blueberry comment! So true!
Posted by: CrazyFool || 01/01/2005 7:58 Comments || Top||

#3  But, Kofi, some of the resorts are open. And it's a helluva lot warmer then Jackson Hole or NYC in January...
Posted by: tu3031 || 01/01/2005 14:28 Comments || Top||

#4  Sorry, guys, you're over the top here. The last thing aid workers need is VIPs underfoot. Should Annan have come back from Jackson Hole sooner? Yes. Should he go to the Bay of Bengal region now? No.
Posted by: mom || 01/01/2005 19:03 Comments || Top||

#5  So Kofi gets a pass for staying in Jackson Hole, while Bush gets chastised for staying in Crawford? Somehow, I think Bush is a lot better connected in Crawford.

Posted by: Dishman || 01/01/2005 19:39 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
U.S. Military Relief Arrives for Victims
But it's stingy and now it's racist, so it doesn't count. Just ignore it...
One of the biggest U.S. military disaster relief missions in history kicked into high gear Saturday as an aircraft carrier battle group arrived off the shores of tsunami-battered Sumatra and began launching helicopters laden with supplies. A flotilla carrying Marines and water purifying equipment was heading for Sri Lanka, meanwhile, and a former staging base for B-52 bombers in Thailand roared with the takeoffs and landings of giant cargo planes. At least nine Seahawk helicopters from the USS Abraham Lincoln began flying badly needed relief missions, supplying material for temporary shelters into villages along Sumatra's devastated northwest coast.

As many as 100,000 people are feared dead on Sumatra, which was closest to the epicenter of the catastrophic Dec. 26 quake and tsunami. Although aid has been piling up in regional airports, officials have had trouble getting it out to the areas in need and the U.S. military was expected to ease the bottleneck. "The issue really is how do we get help most effectively to those who need," said U.S. Ambassador B. Lynn Pascoe.
Posted by: Fred || 01/01/2005 12:45:22 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Bad Equipment Hurt Tsunami Warning Efforts
I'll leave it to all of you as to just how disgusted I am by this article.
BANGKOK, Thailand - Faulty equipment, poor communications and cumbersome bureaucracy are being blamed for the failure of nations around the Indian Ocean's rim to warn communities about to be hit by one of the world's most devastating natural disasters.
Who'da thunk it?
A sensor system in Indonesia that could have warned of Sunday's huge waves was not working because it had been hit by lightning. In India, bureaucrats faxed a warning of possible disaster to the wrong official. A Thai meteorologist acting on a hunch sent an alert to radio stations, but it doesn't appear the warning was widely relayed. Even if the Indian Ocean had an international tsunami alert system, like one in the Pacific, the warning likely would have come too late for the people of Sumatra, the Indonesian island closest to the epicenter of the magnitude 9 earthquake that set off the killer waves.

Indonesian officials said they do have a bare-bones sensor system to gauge the possibility of a tsunami hitting the nation's main island of Java — but it was knocked out by a lighting strike two weeks before the disaster.
No hurry to fix that balky little item.
Yet, even if had been working, Indonesian officials acknowledge they have no way to alert villages. "Even if we did know about the tsunami, how can we (disseminate) information," said Prih Harjadi of the Indonesian Meteorological & Geophysical Agency. Media reports of the tsunami also didn't prompt any alerts from the agency, he added. "We didn't call anyone because we didn't know who to call."
File that excuse with, "Isn't this the way we always do it?"
Most residents and foreign tourists in southern Thailand's resort region were caught unaware. "There was no warning from the meteorological department or any other agencies," said Phuket Gov. Udomsak Asawarangkul. An alert of some kind got through to some places — at a few beaches officials yelled through bull horns telling tourists to get off the beaches. Most people got no warning.

"The (first) warning was that the ocean went out and people were walking down the beach wondering why there were fish flapping on the sand," said Steve Hall, an Australian who moved to Thailand a decade ago. "By the time they realized, it was too late."
Darwin had already entered the building.
Kathawudhi Marlairojanasiri, a meteorological department weather forecast chief on duty Sunday, said the office did send warnings to radio and television stations an hour before the first waves hit — on a hunch the quake off Sumatra might trigger tsunami waves. Thai authorities apparently didn't relay it, in fear of scaring tourists with a possible false alarm.
"Pesky things those false alarms, always scaring off the rubes."
"Five years ago, the meteorological department issued a warning of possible tidal wave after an earthquake happened in Papua New Guinea but the tourism authority complained that such a warning, if it turned out to be false, would hurt tourism," said Sulamee Prachuab, director of Meteorological Department's Seismological Bureau.
Wouldn't want to hurt tourism now, would we?
"There was a 7.6-magnitude earthquake occurred in the same location in Sumatra five years ago but there was no tsunami," she added. The first word Indians got of the tsunami was on the news after the water roared ashore, even though waves swamped India's Andaman and Nicobar islands north of Sumatra an hour before they reached the southern coast of the Indian mainland.
[Bugs Bunny] Stunning, isn't it? [/BB]
Officials in southern India who had gotten a report from a military base on a Nicobar island mistakenly faxed the news to the home of the government's former science and technology minister, rather than his successor.
"Dag nabbed Rolodexes are so complicated to maintain and operate!"
"It looks like they forgot to update their records," said Ashok Kavdia, an aide of the former minister, who was away from home Sunday.
Something tells me their employee files are about to be updated.
Sri Lanka's president said Thursday that the leaders of a seven-member group of South Asian countries plan to discuss installing a disaster early warning system at a summit Jan. 9. The 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations will discuss the idea next week.
For the Nth time.
Even a high-tech warning system might not help India, a political analyst said.
Nothing else much does.
"In such disasters, we require rapid and specific responses. The Indian bureaucracy by its training and conditioning can't do it," said Balbir Arora, a New Delhi-based professor of public administration.
Just a sidecourse in the recipe for disaster.
Posted by: Zenster || 01/01/2005 2:56:11 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A tragic consequence of human errors and stupidity.
Humans are like that.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 01/01/2005 6:40 Comments || Top||

#2  With perfect hindsight far from the event, and any responsibility, 'tis easy to whip 'em like the curs they are, eh?

Massive Classic Hypocrisy.
Posted by: .com || 01/01/2005 6:52 Comments || Top||

#3  in India, bureaucrats faxed a warning...

So when someone breaks into my house I should fax the former fire chief's home? Right?
Posted by: CrazyFool || 01/01/2005 8:03 Comments || Top||

#4  Being a Desert rat,I haven't been around the ocean.But I know if I was sitting on the beach,looked and the water was quickly disappering it's tie to get the hell out of Dodge.
Posted by: Raptor || 01/01/2005 8:24 Comments || Top||

#5  With perfect hindsight far from the event, and any responsibility, 'tis easy to whip 'em like the curs they are, eh?

Not sure who you're referring to, .com. But out of the entire lot, only Kathawudhi Marlairojanasiri comes across like someone who was supposed to be doing their job. Marlairojanasiri should be promoted to disaster warning chief ahead of all other applicants.

While hindsight may always be 20/20, hearing "for want of a nail, a kingdom was lost" gets a little tiresom after hearing it for the Nth time.

"In such disasters, we require rapid and specific responses. The Indian bureaucracy by its training and conditioning can’t do it," said Balbir Arora, a New Delhi-based professor of public administration.

The top-heavy and bureaucracy fettered Indian government is essentially incapable of providing adequate emergency warning. Yet, India is rejecting all outside help in dealing with this crisis. I don't hear the least shred of change in the wind for that disastrous equation.
Posted by: Zenster || 01/01/2005 16:47 Comments || Top||

#6  Often, the nym chosen by a poster serves as excellent troll-sign. For instance, people calling themselves Peace, Patriot, Love Our Soldiers, Truth, etc are among the most egregious shrieking moonbats and disingenuous trolls. Here in RB we get them. Some of my favorites are Slumming, Gentle, and my current favorite Dodo, Winged Avenger.

So, if I may ask, how did you come to choose Zenster? Was it as vicious parody? Or because it sounds spiffy to you? Or is it something else - such as incredible irony?

Methinks your understanding of Zen maxes out at the cute little wai of the waiter when he delivers room service - or have you ever actually been "over there" amongst the pagans? You know, outside the hotel and everything, rubbing shoulders with the little brown people. Just asking. Of course, your answer to that may or may not be honest, but your in-line commentary in this article leaves no doubt.
Posted by: .com || 01/01/2005 22:20 Comments || Top||

#7  So, if I may ask, how did you come to choose Zenster? Was it as vicious parody? Or because it sounds spiffy to you? Or is it something else - such as incredible irony?

I'm amazed that it took this long for someone to ask.

My handle is Zenster because Zen is the name of the wolf-hybrid that I own. I also enjoy studying Zen because it is one of the few philosophies that doesn't demand blind faith or much of anything else except sharpness of wit and depth of character. Unlike most major religions, Zen actually prizes the "charismatic imperfection" of mankind, instead of reviling it.

As to being out amongst the great unwashed, my travel destinations have included Mexico, Taiwan and Armenia. Going to Mexico, I drove round-trip the entire length of the Baja Peninsula myself and never stayed in a single hotel. Nor did I stay in a hotel in Armenia, during mid-Winter. While in Taiwan, I routinely walked the streets instead of always taking a cab, unlike my colleagues. I made a point of talking to the natives at every opportunity. I also traveled into Tai Pei almost every weekend so that I could learn more about the Taiwanese culture. I've hitch-hiked through Canada in the dead of winter and gone on lots of other uncomfortable treks as well, like a 100 mile canoe trip.

Nice try, .com, but you're not talking to an armchair traveler.

I just happen to be sick and tired of hearing so many third world countries that we dump all these billions into keep telling us that they just don't have the money for minor expenses like a functioning civil alert system or disaster preparedness. The "for want of a nail" excuse wears thin after sending over several truckloads of nail kegs.
Posted by: Zenster || 01/01/2005 23:21 Comments || Top||

#8  No response? Well then, I'll expound to clarify any confusion...

I had suspicions, but you've floored me with the true depth, the wicked acidity, and the boiling temperature of the bile in which you stew. Had you only been in charge or been a consultant everyone kow-towed to for the corrupt governments of these peasants... I had no idea you were prescient and would have known - somehow - of the impending disaster and - somehow - would have staved it off by - somehow - getting the broken parts of the warning system in place and - somehow - used the crude but crucial information provided to - somehow - alert those stupid superstitious phoneless remote villagers all across the region. How dare they be less visionary, less savvy, less sanctimonious! It does occur, to me at least, that these aren't murderous barbaric sycophants of a brutal backward 7th century ideology - where you customarily vent your excess internal pressure - and receive little negative feedback, of course. No - these are, reflecting upon your limitless scorn and derision, merely children of a lesser God.

For it's become more than clear you have a religion. It is the Perfect Light of Secular Wisdom. Hubris is its God. Contempt and Scorn are its Archangels. Zenster is its Prophet. Apparently there are no seats left, so all of the remaining aspects of the great good dumb fucking luck of being born where and when you were, charity and compassion among them, must wait outside. Besides, God's busy: the blasphemers of paganistic superstitious backward lesser Gods are getting their due from the One True God, at the moment. It's take a number time at God's Customer Service Counter.

Oracle, thy name is Zenster. Same goes for arrogance, churlish, miserly, parsimonious, and ego maniacal.

Zenless is more accurate.

Lol! I just had a vision of you being born in a poor Thai (or Sri Lankan) fishing village... now you're the "head waiter" at a resort restaurant taking orders and derision and scorn and contempt from some dumb fat German tourist, wealthy beyond your wildest dreams, who thinks his bubbly is below par... now that is zen. Bon apetit!
Posted by: .com || 01/01/2005 23:22 Comments || Top||

#9  Overlapped. But I see nothing that substantiates or justifies the hateful and compassionless attitude.
Posted by: .com || 01/01/2005 23:24 Comments || Top||

#10  I have plenty of compassion for the suffering masses. It's just that at some point, the corrupt governments that are killing off these suffering masses must be brought into line or we will end up facilitating the slaughter of those suffering people. Much like Iraq.

With the advent of 9-11, I've reached my limit for these nations and how they breed up terrorism. The governments that assist or benignly neglect terrorist activity need to be brought down. Their own people will benefit as a result and so will America's security.

Your aspersions are way off target, .com. In light of your own well-known "fry 'em up" attitude, your accusations of me being "compassionless" are nothing short of hilarious.
Posted by: Zenster || 01/01/2005 23:45 Comments || Top||

#11  You think people aren't sick and tired of your self-proclaimed, yet imaginary, perfection - on every topic? Think again.

You think yourself clever, but you're a gutless turd with serious internal issues, as I and others have noticed. Some have even begun to call you out, in spite of agreeing with the anti-Caliphatist spew. It's that "anti-everyone who doesn't acknowledge you're important" thingy that's causing notice. You're not. Must hurt an ego of such grand dimensions and appetite. Nah, you're just a pressure cooker of conflict and bullshit and moonbattery. A faux expert.

Your need for therapy is pathetic and cowardly. Face your fucked up mental issues and demons on your own time, junior. Had you the balls to ever admit you've gone over the top here and there, I'd cut you some slack. But that's not in your makeup, apparently. You are not the worldly or wise connoiseur and expert you pretend to be - ivory-tower hypocritical asshole wannabee cuts far closer to the bone.
Posted by: .com || 01/02/2005 0:00 Comments || Top||


P&G's water-purifying packets shipped as fast as they're made
Chintzy, aren't we?
Procter & Gamble Co. said Thursday that total shipments of its Pur water-purification product to survivors of the Indian Ocean tsunami would eclipse the combined total provided in half a dozen worldwide disasters in the past 12 months. The need for pure water has been identified by relief organizations as one of the top priorities in communities from Malaysia in southeast Asia to the horn of Africa. Greg Allgood, associate director of safe drinking water at P&G, said the company provided 5 million of the four-gram packets during the past year to victims of disasters ranging from last December's earthquake in Iran to Caribbean hurricanes this fall. "It's basically been used in every disaster this year," he said. The small packets are easy to ship and use and were created by P&G in anticipation of markets in developing nations.

At a cost of 8 cents a packet to produce, the more than half-million-dollar donation by P&G is just a slice of the millions of dollars in cash and supplies that U.S. companies are donating to victims of the tsunami. That's in addition to the initial $35 million in aid earmarked by the U.S. government. Allgood, who was in New York City Thursday on vacation, said P&G isn't finished. "All I've been doing is answering phone calls," he said, taking requests from relief groups that want supplies of Pur. "We're committed to provide everything we have available." He estimates that P&G has the capacity to produce another 9 million packets at its plant in Karachi, Pakistan. "We're making it as fast as we can," he said.

P&G, which acquired the Pur name in its 1999 acquisition of Recovery Engineering Inc., had been working with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention since 1995 to develop an easy-to-use water-purification system for crisis situations. A packet, which contains iron sulfate and chlorine as its active ingredients, is dumped into 10 liters of dirty water and stirred. The dirt falls to the bottom, gathering a sort of "dirt magnet." The water is drinkable in 20 minutes after being poured through a cloth.
Indian sari fabric is the best.
"It's really the same technology we use to clean our water in Cincinnati," Allgood said. "We've just reverse-engineered it (for smaller quanities.)" The 6.2 million packets P&G is providing through the non-profit Americares and Samaritan's Purse are enough to clean 62 million liters of water, or about 16.4 million gallons. In addition to cash, donations of everything from diapers, antibiotics and a gel called OdorScreen meant to curb the stench of decaying bodies are on the way to the region in the wake of the disaster.

Among the big corporate givers are Pfizer Inc., which is donating $10 million in cash and $25 million worth of drugs to relief agencies; Coca-Cola Co., which is donating $10 million; Exxon Mobil Corp., which is giving $5 million; and Citigroup Inc., which is contributing $3 million. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has also pledged $3 million. Pharmaceutical and health-care products companies were among the biggest givers. Johnson & Johnson and Abbott Laboratories Inc. are each donating $2 million and sending drugs and other health-care supplies to the region. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. is donating $1 million in cash and $4 million in antibiotics and antifungal drugs. Also, General Electric Co., which has major operations in the Cincinnati area, is giving $1 million.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/01/2005 8:00:06 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Where's that tool Eglund now?

Bastard.
Posted by: Tony (UK) || 01/01/2005 1:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Ummm... Squeezing each and every franc as it passes through his slimy hands, perhaps? Lol, wotta jackoff!
Posted by: .com || 01/01/2005 1:24 Comments || Top||

#3  Once the Islamist rumor mill gets going Pur wil be like polio vaccine in Nigeria.
Posted by: john || 01/01/2005 7:03 Comments || Top||

#4  john - Darwin has many ways to work his wonders...
Posted by: PBMcL || 01/01/2005 10:00 Comments || Top||

#5  Another reason to be proud of America and her people - the most generous on the planet in the face of niggling and ankle-biting by those who pose yet can't measure up
Posted by: Frank G || 01/01/2005 11:50 Comments || Top||

#6  I know, I know, the pharma companies are only pitching in because of the Canadian drug importation and drug product issues of late -- Only one thing wrong with this explanation: The pharma companies ALWAYS pitch in, in both good and bad times. J&J and Pfizer are great companies that come up big in every adverse situation.
Posted by: Capt America || 01/01/2005 13:39 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
San Francisco Considers Handgun Ban
The city that bucked state law and sanctioned gay marriage is now taking aim at the constitutional right to bear arms by proposing a ban in San Francisco on private ownership of all handguns. "When you get guns out of people's homes and off the streets, it means that that gun is not going to be used in a shooting that kills someone, whether a murder or an accidental shooting," said Chris Daly, supervisor of San Francisco.

San Francisco officials are pushing a ballot measure to prohibit just about everyone who isn't a cop, security guard or member of the military from having a handgun in their home or office. Supporters of gun rights, however, say the ban would deny basic rights. "What it's really about, the end game is, taking away civilians' firearms and depriving them of the most effective tool that there is for self-defense," said Chuck Michel, spokesman for the California Rifle and Pistol Association. Despite state laws that prevent local governments from banning handguns, the city believes doing just that will stem a wave of homicides that's left 87 people dead this year.
Hmmm, I guess they figure if they got away with the gay marriage licences for so long, they can do it again on this. It's amazing how they simply ignore the laws they don't like.
Washington, D.C., banned handguns in response to its skyrocketing homicide rate in 1976. But nearly three decades later, it had more murders per capita than any other city its size.
And that little experiment just turned out so well, England and Australia decided that yes, they too could make their own murder rates skyrocket the same way.
Opponents are already planning lawsuits, but argue that even if it does pass, this ban won't stop crime as law-abiding citizens give up their guns while the criminals flock to a city that ensures they won't be shot at by the people they're robbing. "And what's going to happen if this passes is people in San Francisco are going to be deprived of their ability to defend themselves," Michel said.

"I don't feel like I need to own a gun to protect myself. Certainly, I am a high-profile elected official and now a lot of gun owners don't like me individually, but if I'm in a situation where I feel threatened, I'll call the police," Daly said.
Maybe some of us would prefer to survive than have the nice police come identify our corpses. But I guess we should be grateful, as the more of this kind of insanity we see from the Dhimmicrats, the more it helps out come election time.
If approved by voters next year, the ban will take effect in 2006.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 01/01/2005 8:40:49 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa: North
Gadhafi Denies Grooming Son to Succeed Him
"He can stage his own coup when he's old enough. That's what I did, by Gar!"
Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi played down speculation that he is grooming his son to replace him, saying Friday that succession by family members is not part of his North African republic's political makeup. "There is no succession in the (Libyan) republic's regime," the 61-year-old Gadhafi said when asked during an interview on the Arab Al-Jazeera network whether his son, Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, will succeed him. Since staging a 1969 coup, the elder Gadhafi has run Libya with an iron fist, outlawing all forms of opposition under the guise of handing power to his country's 5 million people. But in recent years, speculation has mounted that Gadhafi has been providing his 32-year-old son with highly visible duties, such as negotiating the release of hostages, in a bid to prepare him for leadership. While Seif al-Islam, one of Gadhafi's eight children from two wives, has previously rejected talk of any future succession, his father has rarely gone public to play down the notion.
Posted by: Fred || 01/01/2005 1:05:30 PM || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Did Gadhafi get all his clothes at Studio 54's bankruptcy liquidation sale about 20 years ago?
Posted by: tu3031 || 01/01/2005 13:23 Comments || Top||

#2  Let him recruit his own bodyguards.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 01/01/2005 13:45 Comments || Top||

#3  note the fembot in the background.... :-)
Posted by: Frank G || 01/01/2005 13:47 Comments || Top||

#4  Mmmmmmmm! Fembots!
Posted by: Fred || 01/01/2005 20:21 Comments || Top||

#5  note the fembot in the background.... :-)
Is that the one to his immediate right, with the mustache?
Posted by: ed || 01/01/2005 21:03 Comments || Top||

#6  ed, I think you mean *his* left - our right.

And I think frank means the hardcase to *his* right.... with the hat.

Fred's fembot looks hot tho...
Posted by: CrazyFool || 01/01/2005 21:09 Comments || Top||

#7  Dress advisor: Michael Jackson -- Oowh!
Posted by: Capt America || 01/01/2005 22:06 Comments || Top||

#8  "There is no succession in the (Libyan) republic’s regime,"
Does this mean he thinks he's immortal or that he just doesn't give a hoot about who comes next?
Posted by: Tom || 01/01/2005 22:11 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
9 moonshine drinkers die in December
The moonshine — an American expression for illegal liquor - has caused nine deaths during December in the city, Daily Times learnt on Friday. Muhammad Shakoor and one of his friends were the latest alcohol victim who died in hospital after they took part in a wedding in Raiwind and drunk poisonous liquor. They were followed by Waqas and his friend, Azeem, who died in Sherakot after they took moonshine in another wedding. In another incident in Kot Shahdin, Tanveer and two of his friends who had also drunk the toxic liquor in a wedding, died. Their five other fellows were admitted to hospital, one of whom died later, taking the death tool to seven victims. The eighth prey was Rora Masih who died in Gujjar Pura, leaving behind five children. Arif, A drunken man, ran wild during a wedding and opened fired at random, leaving one man, Basharat Ali, dead and Sobia, Shahzad and another guest injured. The deadly liquor contains less quantity of alcohol and more of spirit that is dangerous for the stomach to digest and results in a painful death.
Posted by: Fred || 01/01/2005 12:16:31 AM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Moonshine deadpool for 2005, anyone?
Posted by: N Guard || 01/01/2005 0:27 Comments || Top||

#2  I am sure there is a moral to this story. They have to keep the moose limbs on the reservation and not imbibing so the press trots out these stories. It's much like the IRS terror stories that appear before April 15th every year.

Yes drinking methanol not ethyl alcohol will kill your stupid ass but thats just Darwins ghost cleaning the shallow end of the gene pool. Don't pay any attention to him.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 01/01/2005 1:41 Comments || Top||

#3  1) No women admitted to hospital with Moonshine-fever?

2) That Arif is one mean hell-raiser ain't he?

3) Presumably Mr. Arif esq. will be (a) dead from Moonshine or (b) soon to be dead through an 'honour' killing from the rellys of Mr Ali and Mssrs. Sobia and Shahzad (presuming they can still see him ;)
Posted by: Tony (UK) || 01/01/2005 1:55 Comments || Top||

#4  SPoD - what on Earth is going on with your website? That penguin??? has some dreadful attachment on his head!

Enquiring minds need to know...
Posted by: Tony (UK) || 01/01/2005 1:59 Comments || Top||

#5  Okay Fred, Ethel gave you an Al Capp book for Christmas, right? Fess up!
Posted by: Steve White || 01/01/2005 2:35 Comments || Top||

#6  Arif, A drunken man, ran wild during a wedding and opened fired at random...

Yeah, so? Sounds like just another wedding over there to me.
Posted by: tu3031 || 01/01/2005 8:23 Comments || Top||

#7  I thought the "Moronic Koranic(TM)" didn't allow the drinking of alcohol. Funny thing, this Moronic Koranic, it does allow the killing of Jews and Christians.
Posted by: Poison Reverse || 01/01/2005 11:27 Comments || Top||

#8  Sounds like we could go a long way toward winning the WOT by just air dropping massive numbers of gin bottles on little parachutes.
Posted by: Tom || 01/01/2005 11:48 Comments || Top||

#9  Arif, A drunken man, ran wild during a wedding and opened fired at random...

Hell, that goes on any given sunday here in JesusLand(tm).
Posted by: N Guard || 01/01/2005 12:00 Comments || Top||

#10  I have to search out those Al Capp images. Between Al Capp and Pogo, all of the human condition is covered...
Posted by: Fred || 01/01/2005 12:53 Comments || Top||

#11  What are the odds that the moonshine was spiked with methanol by some Muslim religious warriors as a way to discourage Muslims from drinking?
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 01/01/2005 13:06 Comments || Top||

#12  Mo' Daisy Dukes, then, Mr. Fred?
Posted by: Frank G || 01/01/2005 13:14 Comments || Top||

#13  Zang Fei, how about it may not have even happened but the story was planted by Muslim Religious leaders for the same purpose?
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 01/01/2005 13:45 Comments || Top||


Musharraf for end to student politics
I agree. Students should concentrate on learning things. Once you know something, then you can have an opinion...
President Pervez Musharraf on Friday empahsied that students should not get involved in politics and that political parties should stay away from educational institutions. "Educational institutions should be free of politics," President Musharraf said in his speech at the concluding session of the 2-day Punjab Students Convention 2004 at Aiwan-e-Iqbal. President Musharraf praised Pervaiz Elahi's decision not to reorganise the Pakistan Muslim League's student wing in Punjab. "All political parties should emulate this and let students concentrate on their studies only," he said.

The president said that the education sector had fallen into a state of neglect in the past but his government gave education the highest priority so far. "The federal government allocated Rs 800 million only to education five years ago. This was too small a sum to benefit the education sector. Therefore we increased this sum to Rs 9.1 billion, registering a phenomenal 900 percent increase," he said. He said the previous government allocated Rs 180 million for science and education, while the present government had allocated a huge sum of Rs 6 billion to science and education. President Musharraf stressed that students should acquire technical education to prepare for modern challenges. He also stressed improving the quality of education by reinforcing faculties at educational institutions. President Musharraf said that he did not believe in westernising society but wanted to make Pakistan an enlightened, moderate and progressive welfare state as envisioned by Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The president said Pakistan had its own culture and tradition and which must be promoted by relinquishing fanaticism.
Posted by: Fred || 01/01/2005 12:11:15 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa: Subsaharan
Mugabe sets up Economic Crimes Court
Link via Daily Pundit. Can you say Government-controlled media outlet? I knew you could...
PRESIDENT Mugabe's announcement that the Government has resolved to set up an Economic Crimes Court to deal with the increasing number of economic crimes is a welcome development that should put a stop to the rot that almost brought the economy to its knees. It is clear that the launch of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)'s Monetary Policy on December 18 last year, and the Government's anti-graft drive have revealed the ugly face of emergent businesses. An increasing number of economic felonies were unearthed which have overwhelmed the courts as currently constituted. We now need to speed up the creation of the Economic Crimes Court as it is evident that the current courts are ill-equipped to deal with the rising economic crimes. Some of the suspects are released on bail and out they go to tamper with evidence. The white-collar misdemeanours -which are partly responsible for the hyper-inflation the country currently faces - involved huge amounts of money, and impacted negatively on the lives of the majority of innocent people who put their trust in the various institutions. Because the economy and politics are inextricably linked as they drive the modern nation-state, the prevalence of criminals in the economic sector can severely undermine the legitimacy and authority of the State as the hardships so generated are always blamed on the State by the populace.

More so, because criminal elements are usually amoral and devoid of any scruples, leaving the economy in the hands of such a hideous bunch exposes the country to the machinations of those willing to manipulate the economic base for political ends, since to criminals, even the State has a price. The mop-up in the financial services sector revealed that the lack of deterrent measures was responsible for the intransigence of a lot of banks which deviated from their core business and speculated with clients' investments, practices which severely undermined the banks' liquidity positions. The recent arrest of CFX Bank executives on allegations of fraud involving $115 billion makes sad and shocking reading, more so when a lot of innocent families were left to contend with a dry festive season as their funds were locked up when the bank was placed under curatorship.

We welcome the promise by the Governor of the RBZ, Dr Gideon Gono, to reveal to the nation full details of who did what and how at Century and CFX. This is, indeed, a welcome departure from the norm. We also applaud the RBZ for rising to the challenge when its credibility was under attack owing to the CFX fiasco. We hear they worked over Christmas and throughout the night with the Governor calling the shots from afar. The alleged fraud at CFX, which evaded three different firms of auditors, is a reflection of the extent of the greed and deviousness of the perpetrators.

The majority of these institutions are beneficiaries of the Government's indigenisation drive. It is, therefore, akin to biting the hand that feeds one, when such beneficiaries engage in activities that severely undermine the Government's drive for a speedy economic turnaround. Throughout the year, Dr Gono has been accused of killing indigenisation when he moved swiftly against some banks. In the case of CFX, he moved a bit slowly and the chickens came home to roost. The slow pace of trials involving economic crimes is no doubt cause for concern. The greed of a few must never be allowed to deprive the majority. We, thus, hail and call for the speedy establishment of the special court.
Posted by: Seafarious || 01/01/2005 4:12:55 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "death to the Shaktyite-Kulak alliance!"
"death to the Capitalist Oppressors of the Proletariat!"

Yeah, whatever. Still sounds like the Great Terror of 1934. Complete with show trials. I wish the klepto-crats would at least try to find something new, or failing that, at least make it a little less predictable.

Heart of darkness, indeed.
Posted by: N Guard || 01/01/2005 0:26 Comments || Top||

#2  #1
It works (for a time), doesn't it?
Posted by: gromgorru || 01/01/2005 6:51 Comments || Top||

#3  I think you're automatically guilty in Economic Crimes Court if it's found out that Bob never got his cut.
Posted by: tu3031 || 01/01/2005 8:26 Comments || Top||

#4  I'm having a bit of difficulty getting my concern worked up over this anymore. They run the country, they're screwing it up, the people don't run them out of town on a rail. Let them continue to fester. They make me tired.

Posted by: Fred || 01/01/2005 11:12 Comments || Top||

#5  The only economic crime is what Mugabe has done to Rhodesia.
Posted by: RWV || 01/01/2005 12:19 Comments || Top||

#6  How does he expect a 6-toed weed-smoking Batonka to drive a non-existant Tractor anyway? They's the only ones left.

Some history:
http://www.antiwar.com/goldstein/g042500.html
2 posts about Rhodesia are good.
Posted by: rhodesiafever || 01/01/2005 14:06 Comments || Top||

#7  6-toed weed-smoking Batonka? LOL!
Posted by: Frank G || 01/01/2005 14:08 Comments || Top||

#8  Hey! When's whitey coming over here to do my planting on my farm?
Posted by: Farmin B. Hard || 01/01/2005 14:17 Comments || Top||


Africa: North
Mubarak promises educational reforms
Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak promised continued modernisation of the country's educational system, commitment to the Arab identity and better life for teachers.
I'd hold off on that "commitment to the Arab identity" stuff. Things are going to get worse in the Arab world before they get better.
In speech marking the Teachers' Day, delivered on his behalf by Education Minister Ahmad Gamaluddin yesterday, Mubarak said that development of educational system is a national responsibility, adding that it is impossible for the educational institution alone to face such enormous challenges. "Modernisation does not mean throwing away the past, alienating ourselves from our great civilisations and forgetting our deeply-entrenched values and traditions," said Mubarak. The president said one cannot speak about challenges in the country's education policies without addressing the needs of teachers; improvement of their social and work conditions and grooming them for the advancement of the most up-to-date techniques. Offering advanced education to all Egyptians is a noble aim that requires immense resources, Mubarak said. "Hence comes my call upon the civil society to stand by the state in offering not only the moral but also material support to our ambitious educational reform plans.
Posted by: Fred || 01/01/2005 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ya' wanna modernize Egypt's educational system, Hosni-baby?

THEN START TEACHING THE HISTORICAL TRUTH INSTEAD OF THE HATEFUL CRAP YOU TEACH NOW.

It would be a start.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 01/01/2005 0:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Hey! Barb! one step at a time! Your suggestion is a little drastic...First? ..lunch :-)
Posted by: Hosni M || 01/01/2005 0:53 Comments || Top||

#3  "Modernisation does not mean throwing away the past, alienating ourselves from our great civilisations and forgetting our deeply-entrenched values and traditions," said Mubarak.

Sure enough, Hoser. When building pyramids comes back into vogue again, your engineering lads will be in the catbird seat for sure. Until then, you might want to consider dropping some of your stone-age ways like a live grenade.

It sure must be difficult counting all those aid dollars that you get from us while you're trying to lead another rousing cheer of, "America is the Great Satan!"

PS: BIG FREE CLUE.

The only thing that all those Palestinian tunnels really undermine is Egypt's credibility regarding peace with Israel.
Posted by: Zenster || 01/01/2005 1:29 Comments || Top||

#4  Ok, Gedankenexperiment here (that'll piss 'em off straight away) - think about Egypt. What comes to mind....Cleopatra? (she was Greek), Napoleon invading and trying to run the place (until we buggered his Navy - snigger) ?- ok ok, he came away with superb drawings and a whole new line in fashion, Aswan dam? - paid for by the UN, Tutankhamun? (found by Carter - an Englishman).

There's a clue in the last one - the only thing that Egypt means to most people is what happened 4000+ years ago. Ok, lets be generous, 3000+ years ago. Old Kingdom (awesome), New Kingdom (great), Ptolemaic (hanging on), leading to Roman rule. Then the Arabs turned up and ruined it all.

Hmmm.
Posted by: Tony (UK) || 01/01/2005 1:49 Comments || Top||

#5  Hosni has been the Rais (literally head) for 20+ years now --- which, in the Arab world, means he's been surrounded by sycophants (some indigenous; others = visiting Western dignitaries). No wonder his grip on reality is a bit shaky. He really believes that his mismanaged, overpopulated to the edge of collapse, psychotically backward country is a regional superpower AND a factor in world politics.
Posted by: gromgorru || 01/01/2005 6:50 Comments || Top||


Mauritania accuses the opposition of provoking civil war
Mauritania prime minister Saghir Weld Mubarak yesterday accused the opposition of "provoking for a civil war." He also accused each of Libya and Burkina Faso of their attempt to make what he called "conspiracies" against the country.
Doesn't surprise me in Libya's case. I didn't know anybody was awake in Burkina Faso, though.
Mubarak stressed during discussions at the national society (the parliament) that statements by the opposition on non-existing refugees and bringing back to the scene the events of 1989 as well as silence which supports coupes, all constitute "a continued provocation to violence, hatreds and the civil war." Concerning Libya and Burkina Faso, he indicated that conspiracies made against his country by them were reflected in "financing and arming terrorist groups, " stressing that their attempts "will fail in the future and will not be successful." During the session which was dedicated to debate a report on the government's activity in the parliament for 2005, Mubarak's statement were interrupted by denunciation statements by opposition parliamentarians but were met with great applause by the parliamentarians of presidential majority.
Posted by: Fred || 01/01/2005 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:



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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.
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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2005-01-01
  Algerian deported from San Diego
Fri 2004-12-31
  NKors threaten to cut off contact with Japan
Thu 2004-12-30
  Ugandan officials meet rebel commanders near border with Sudan
Wed 2004-12-29
  43 Iraqis killed in renewed violence
Tue 2004-12-28
  Syria calls on US to produce evidence of involvement in Iraq
Mon 2004-12-27
  Car bomb kills 9, al-Hakim escapes injury
Sun 2004-12-26
  8.5 earthquake rocks Aceh, tsunamis swamp Sri Lanka
Sat 2004-12-25
  Herald Angels Sing
Fri 2004-12-24
  Heavy fighting in Fallujah
Thu 2004-12-23
  Palestinians head to polls in landmark local elections
Wed 2004-12-22
  Pak army purge under way?
Tue 2004-12-21
  Allawi Warns Iraqis of Civil War
Mon 2004-12-20
  At Least 67 killed in Iraq bombings - Shiites Targeted
Sun 2004-12-19
  Fazlur Rehman Khalil sprung
Sat 2004-12-18
  Eight Paleos killed, 30 wounded in Gaza raid

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