KUWAIT CITY: Although Sharia scholars have their differences on granting political rights to women they have agreed to approve what is presented by the rulers in the interest of Kuwait, says Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Abdullah Al-Matouq. Sources say this is an attempt by the minister to pave the way for the government to pass the draft law on women's political rights. Meanwhile, many MPs strongly reacted against Al-Matouq and warned him against involving Sharia with politics. One of the prominent MPs said, "Al-Matouq's statement is a lifeline for MPs, who are hesitant and have linked their approval of this issue to the Fatwa issued by the ministry earlier."
MP Dr Daifallah Buramiya said, "we won't accept any new fatwa which they are planning to issue on women's political rights. It will be considered an attempt to tamper with Sharia, which should be independent like the judiciary." He said the government and Al-Matouq should be aware any attempt to alter or tamper with fatwa is unacceptable to MPs and citizens, adding "the Fatwa Department should resist such pressures." We are against any reshuffle of the members of this department, which will be construed as an attempt to pass this draft law, he continued.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2005 4:41:55 PM ||
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Kuwaiti liberal activists met Saturday with Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah who assured them the government is serious about granting women political rights, an activist said. "He told us the government is working very hard to garner the support needed in Parliament to approve women's rights," Khaled Al-Mutairi, leader of the liberal National Democratic Alliance, told AFP. "This time the government is more determined. It has begun a campaign for women's rights in state-run media and Cabinet ministers are trying to convince undecided lawmakers," he said. The government last month asked Parliament to hold a special session to debate a draft law that calls for amending article one of the 1962 electoral law which limits voting and candidacy to male citizens.
The request is scheduled to be debated by Parliament on Monday amid sharp divisions between an Islamist-tribal alliance opposed to women's rights and pro-women liberal MPs backed by the government. Kuwait's hardline Islamists and their conservative allies have embarked on a counter-offensive with the aim of thwarting the bill, citing religious justifications. "They are not opposing women's rights for religious reasons, but purely for electoral purposes," Mutairi charged. Both camps are organizing rallies to win public support with Kuwaiti women activists planning to demonstrate outside Parliament on Monday to press MPs to support their rights. Kuwait's next parliamentary elections are scheduled for July 2007.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2005 4:33:04 PM ||
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#1
Is that Mrs. Davis?
Posted by: Matt ||
03/06/2005 17:52 Comments ||
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Don't be silly. Our Mrs. Davis is a handsome and knowledgeable Western woman of a certain age. Mr. Davis is an idiot who clearly is going through some sort of midlife crisis. We saw the initial explosion here on Rantburg, before he disappeared.
#2
As expected, Visual Route identifies these wankers as UK Looneys... Last 2 hops:
212.84.160.51 | h51-160.no1isp.net | London, UK Skymarket Ltd
212.84.175.146 | www.how-safe-are-we.com | Namesco Ltd Telehouse Network
#3
Obviously fake, but what point are the tinfoil brigade trying to make? I'm sure there's an entertaining/stupid conspiracy theory!
Posted by: Sheik Abu Bin Ali Al-Yahood ||
03/06/2005 21:27 Comments ||
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I can't get to the file to view it. It has HTML some kind of coding that mplayer will not play the file once the page is open . Usually I can just dl the file and view it with a right click but these wankers are not allowing that.
Former home secretary David Blunkett, who resigned last year amid a scandal linked to his former lover, is not the father of her second son, a spokesman for Blunkett said, confirming a report in the Sun tabloid newspaper Saturday. "The test was undertaken shortly after the birth. This has established that Mr Blunkett is not the child's father," the spokesman for the Labour MP said.
"The mother now thinks it might have been the guy with the hat."
"He is pleased that this has been clarified and wishes to make clear that as far as he is concerned, there have never been, despite inaccurate press reports several weeks ago, any legal proceedings in relation to that child," he added. In its report the Sun quoted a source as saying "This is a bombshell that Mr Blunkett is not Lorcan's father". The paper said that Lorcan, born on February 2 to Kimberly Quinn, may also not be the son of Quinn's husband.
"... and there's some doubt she's the mother."
Quinn's husband Stephen, publisher of the British edition of Vogue magazine, said from his London home late Friday: "We are making no comment whatsoever." The newborn and his two-year-old brother William are at the centre of a public row between Blunkett, 57, and Quinn, the 44-year-old publisher of The Spectator magazine.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Amazing that Blunkett actually lost his job over that woman and the child born of her adulterous ways. What was he thinking?
The United States will buy crude from another country if Venezuela follows through on President Hugo Chavez's threat to cut off supplies, the US ambassador to Caracas said in interviews with local media. This is the blessing I have been waiting from to get rid of that asshole!!!!
Why don't we start now? Why wait for Hugo to do something stoopid?
Venezuela supplies the US market with 1.5 million barrels of crude a day -- about 15 percent of its crude needs, or nearly as much as Saudi Arabia supplies to the United States. Chavez has threatened to cut off that supply if there is any US "aggression," such as a military invasion or an attempt on his life. "If the United States does not buy oil from Venezuela, it will buy it from another country," US Ambassador William Brownfield said in an interview with Globovision television news. He gave a similar assessment in interviews with local newspapers that were published on Saturday.
Chavez, traveling in India , renewed charges on Saturday that Washington was trying to kill him. "There is in the US ... a plan to assassinate me," Chavez said in New Delhi, where he signed a major oil agreement under which India will take a 49 percent stake in a Venezuelan oil field. "If anything happens to me, the responsibility will be with the president of the United States (George W. Bush)," said Chavez, on the second day of a four-day visit to India . The leftist-populist president has warned that any bid to kill him would result in the halting of Venezuela's oil shipments to the United States. In Caracas, Brownfield acknowledged that a suspension of Venezuelan imports would initially "distort" the US economy, but dismissed it as a minor blip. "In the end, a free market can accommodate such a distortion," he said. Washington wants to maintain its current relationship with Caracas, Brownfield said, adding that the White House is "analyzing options" in the event that there is a cut in supplies. Venezuela is the lone South American member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
"Okay, Dick. What are our options in the event there's a cut in Venezuelan oil supplies?"
"Well, we can kill him. We can arrest him. Or we can accomodate him. Or we can ignore it."
"What're the odds on each?"
"I'd say 60, 40, 0 and 0. What do you think, George?"
"I'd say more like 70, 30, 0 and 0."
Posted by: TMH ||
03/06/2005 9:45:22 AM ||
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#1
well start on the other sourcing now, then remind El Presidente that there's now no reason not to put the target on his back. Kill him
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/06/2005 11:08 Comments ||
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"There is in the US ... a plan to assassinate me,"
A plan? That's gotta be Kerry; he had lots of plans a few months ago. Bush and Rove are more into insidious plots and nefarious schemes.
#3
You do not want to make a martyr out of this asshole by killing him. By looking for other providers, the US will put a serious dent in his budget. The useless social programs and subsidies that up to now have kept him in power will be cut down or eliminated all together.
Hugo can still sell his oil but at a huge discount, not enough to keep his propaganda machine well oiled.
#6
Someone will buy his oil, but that means other oil which the buyer would have bought becomes available for American companies to procure. Its all a movement on paper. But enough to scare idiots to drive prices up [of course faster than they ever come down with the same spot prices]. Regardless of what Hugo does, the refinery capacity of the US is still a fixed ceiling which hasn't changed for over a decade.
#7
I thought the issue was that they have funky high sulfur crude and that we have the refineries set up to deal with. That binds us whether we like it our not.
#8
CL: I thought the issue was that they have funky high sulfur crude and that we have the refineries set up to deal with. That binds us whether we like it our not.
No - it binds *Venezuela*. Our refineries can deal with the good stuff and the crap (Venezuela's product). Foreign refineries cannot deal with Venezuela's low grade stuff - yet.
#10
North Slope, CF. It will take some time to get it literally into the pipeline. The crime of it all is that the so-called environmentalists have been making it a big emotional issue and have stalled the legislation for years.
As far as Hugo the Crude goes, he needs the cash flow to keep his gig going. If his economy goes down, people will be pissed off and will eventually deal with him.
We need to get out of the blatant olde CIA manipulation mode. Not that we would not give covert help to groups that could take back their country. I am sure that we are giving some kind of assistance to pro-democracy types in Lebanon. We need to assist other groups like that in Venezuela. Let them do the heavy lifting. Sorta taking the high ground, if you get my drift. Goes along with President Bush's Inauguration speech theme.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/06/2005 13:08 Comments ||
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Thanks for the clarification ZF. Hugo's new friends in China better get busy retooling some refineries.
#12
Hugo's new friends in China better get busy retooling some refineries
especially if they wanna meet their Kyoto quota.....oh, wait....shit
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/06/2005 14:11 Comments ||
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Just stop shopping at Citgo, and see how fast Hugo sinks into the sunset. A friend of mine was telling me about a new injection process that can be used here at home to "revive" several sluggish or non-producing fields. It's only competetive when oil's over $45 a barrel at the moment, but that may change. We might want to help Colombia out, both with its guerilla problem and with its oil program. With directional drilling, I'm sure we can tap a few good fields...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/06/2005 14:12 Comments ||
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Good idea OP, there's a lot of historical knowledge and knowhow in directional drlling. There's a reason Arkansas never became a rich oil producing centre.... Texans. :)
Around Hennessey, Oklahoma, several companies have been working on that process since before 1995. There are other places in Oklahoma as well, but that it the one the pipeyard I was threading pipe for was into supplying.
#16
OP---We have a stainless fabricator and panel shop up here that makes solar-powered wellhead controls for BP Colombia's oil fields. I've nicknamed them the Medienne Control system, heh heh. They are pretty robust units, but about 7 of them have taken serious bullet hits. Oh, well, just fire up the production line again....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/06/2005 16:24 Comments ||
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Everyone needs to say a great big Fuck Thank You to Jimmy Carter for endorsing this hooligan and thug, and propping him up.
Next time, shoot Jimmy before he does more harm. North Korea, Cuba, Venzuela...
#18
"Hugo's new friends in China better get busy retooling some refineries.."
I do not know if China is doing it but India is!
"On Friday, Aiyar said India would also offer Venezuela equity in Mangarlore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL), the refining subsidiary of ONGC.
........Indiaâs sole private refiner, Reliance Industries has imported Venezuelan crude in recent years but state-run firms have not processed oil from the country. Aiyar said MRPLâs refinery could process Venezuelan crude and other oil firms were assessing which grades of oil from the country they could refine. "
Posted by: ed ||
03/06/2005 18:04 Comments ||
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So how about we give Jimmy to Iran Old Spook? I'm sure he's a big hero to them over there and they'll be happy to take him...course, I was thinking an involuntary covert insertion for him since I don't think we want to give him the choice.
#22
From thirty thousand feet, Silentbrick? Pretty please! And as he is one of God's chosen, at least according to his own assessment, I'm sure he won't want a parachute. The angels will guide his feet where they should go, y'know.
#24
Directional Drilling is big stuff around the Midway Sunset field right here where I live badanov.
That heavy crude is not a popular type of oil and doesn't command the top price either. Those per bbl prices are for light sweet not heavy sour skanky oil.
#25
I was thinking more along the lines of a specially fitted casing, and dropping him from whatever altitude the B-2 flies way up there at. And while there won't be a parachute, there would be a laser guidence system so we can ensure he lands right where he's supposed to...through the bedroom window of the Revolutionary Guard leader.
#26
TMH's article: Indiaâs sole private refiner, Reliance Industries has imported Venezuelan crude in recent years but state-run firms have not processed oil from the country.
They're going to ship something halfway around the world that by weight, costs about the same as mineral water. There's a reason why oil producers tend to sell oil to countries that are close to them. Chavez will get less for Venezuela's oil. Uncle Sam will pay a little more to get oil from further away. On balance, Uncle Sam's additional cost will probably be about the same as Venezuela's reduction in revenue. Who do you think is in a better position to take the hit - the US or the Venezuelan economy?
President Hugo Chavez informed his United States counterpart, George W. Bush, that if he invaded Venezuela, "there would be wider war."
I don't have any plans to invade Venezuela. Do you have any plans to invade Venezuela?
Yes, yes I do. I confess! I dunnit! I've been scheming, planning, plotting deep plots, I ...*thwwwiff* ... *thoink* ... I'm, I'm getting very sleepy now I ... *thump*
He denounced what he called a new conspiracy against him, saying that "the United States thinks that the solution is to kill Chavez." He made the comments during a speech of almost three hours in Montevideo, Uruguay, DPA said. "Bush is a man without scruples, capable of anything", he said, and he quickly added, "He has no one but himself to blame if there is a mistake. We do not want a war, but if the U.S. launches an aggression against Venezuela, a 21st century revolutionary war will begin in the mountains and valleys of South America."
Whoopdy doo. A 21st century revolutionary war remarkably like a 20th century revolutionary war.
"It would not be a war of a day nor of a year, but of one hundred years," he said, and he promised that other pockets of resistance around the continent would emerge. He said that if the invasion took place, "they would also have to invade Cuba," just as if the U.S. commits an aggression against Cuba, "they will have to invade Venezuela."
Ahah. An axis of mini-evils. Shall we call it the Havana Pact? Or the Caracas Pact? Or the Pact Full of Nuts?
Montevideo's Municipal conference center was filled with representatives of local Uruguayan authorities and social organizations, with which the Venezuelan government promises to deepen relations.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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He sounds more and more like a Black Hat every day... think he's taking "lessons" from them?
#2
.com---LOL! Hugo dusted off ye olde External conspiracy playbook.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/06/2005 3:30 Comments ||
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I think he will have to take a ticket and wait in line like all the other despots. He just isn't important enough to jump the queue. I'm sure he'll be notified when his ticket comes to the top.
#8
com, that turban looks like a really, really bad toupee.
Hey! Who stole my rug?
Posted by: William Shatner ||
03/06/2005 12:52 Comments ||
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As Fidel is getting old and feeble, someone else will have to step up to rant and rail against the Evil Yankee Imperialists. Hugo is looking like a first round choice.
Wouldn't surprise me if some Venezuelan shot him just to get him to shut up.
#10
Doesn't all this crap from NK, Venezuela,Iran, etc. remind you a Peter Sellers movie? I have a very poor memory for that kind of stuff but if I remember right the idea was for a small irrelevant nation to declare war on Britian and lose to claim rebuilding aid. What the hell was that movie?
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
03/06/2005 14:09 Comments ||
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the mouse that roared
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/06/2005 14:17 Comments ||
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The difference is that the Duchy of Grand Fenwick had some class.
#13
It was war against the U.S. But nobody noticed their official declaration, and they invaded during a practice nuclear alert so nobody saw them, and then they captured the Bomb and the bomb's inventor. Chaos of course ensued. And everybody lived happily ever after... except the man detailed to guard the Bomb stored in the deepest cell in the castle dungeon. The End.
Organizations of Moslem women in Kyrgyzstan went public with what they call their problems on the eve of the International Women's Day. They demand that wearing a scarf be required by the law and advocate polygamy.
Zhamal Frontbek kyzy, leader of the Organization of Islamic women of Kyrgyzstan, says that numerous believers encounter problems trying to wear scarves for work. Since scarves are not the officially accepted clothing, this practice is frowned on. Some jobs have become off bounds because of that - like those of flight attendants or managers. "If that's not encroachment on the rights of women, then I do not know what is," Frontbek kyzy said and demanded a law permitting women to have their photos for documents taken in scarves.
Women also demand legalization of polygamy. They claim that very many men in Kyrgyzstan have several wives anyway and do not feel in any way responsible to them. Women want official marriage for polygamists so that they will take care of all their wives and children. "And beatings! How will we know our husbands love us if they don't beat us? And honor killings, too!"
Lol. I love the ChiComs. They make the MMs and Chavez look almost normal, at times.
China will not tolerate the US and Japan including Taiwan in a security alliance, Chinese foreign minister Li Zhaoxing has said. Heh.
Speaking to reporters at the annual National People's Congress, Mr Li said any co-operation between the three would encroach on China's sovereignty. China sees Taiwan as its territory, and says it is committed to reunification. Somebody's stealing memos from their "IN" box. They still don't realize Taiwan is like a country thingy, democratic, successful, dynamic... all those things the ChiComs aren't. In spades.
Mr Li also called for an end to the EU's arms embargo, but said China did not need to buy any of its weapons. Mr Li said the embargo should be lifted primarily because it was a jarring note in the partnership between the Beijing and the EU. We don't want them, but yeah, the embargo's like a really bad idea, y'know? Jarring and everything.
Controversial law
The relationship between the US, Japan and Taiwan should be "strictly restricted to a bilateral nature", Mr Li said. "Any practice of putting Taiwan directly or indirectly into the scope of Japan-US security co-operation constitutes an encroachment on China's sovereignty and interference in China's internal affairs," he said. "The Chinese government and people are firmly against such activities." Heh. So good of them to stipulate the limits of US Foreign Policy. Thanks. Noted.
US and Japanese officials said last month that the peaceful resolution of the Taiwan issue was a common strategic objective - a move that angered China. They're also cheesed off by almost everything else that happens on the planet, too. I'm thinking Anger Management, perhaps?
The annual Congress meeting is due to approve a controversial "anti-secession" law on Tuesday, which would not allow Taiwan to separate from China. The legislation has been criticised by Taiwanese politicians who say it will set out a legal basis for a possible Chinese invasion of the island, and tens of thousands of people have been protesting in Taiwan against the law. China has insisted that the law is aimed at moving towards a peaceful reunification with Taiwan, but it regularly threatens to use force if Taiwan declares independence. Yewbetcha.
Posted by: .com ||
03/06/2005 5:57:12 AM ||
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Have the ChiComs always been this obnoxious or are they getting more spun up by the day?
#2
JM, how old are you? Yeah, they've actually gotten rational from the days for Chariman Mao's Little Red Book. Now the thousand dingbats are blooming.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/06/2005 9:46 Comments ||
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In '68, when I used to listen to Radio Peking almost every day, they had a lady news reader who was specially selected for her snotty tone. I think they had a special course at the community college called Logic Convolution 111, but you couldn't take it without having taken Polysyllables 101.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2005 10:22 Comments ||
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They were so spun up on shortwave in the 60's it was crazy. They seem almost sane today.
#5
Yes Radio Pk made the Norks look like right wing deviationist wreckers. Weird.... 3 people on 1 thread who used to listen to Mao's main bitch... Had an olde Hallicrafters my dad gave me. :)
#6
oh my god Fred is hilarious, seriously... They are such trouble its amazing we ever got into bed this far with them in the first place. They make Arabs seem like truth sayers.
#7
Ship,
Make it 4, and on a Halicrafters, yet...My Dad would spend Friday nights with us getting that old monster warmed up and we would listen to Radio Moscow, the Beeb, and Radio PK. One hell of an education, I'll tell ya.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
03/06/2005 12:17 Comments ||
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#8
Mine was on an FM clear channel. I'd listen in while we were flying to our target area.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2005 14:22 Comments ||
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#9
for real fred , was it in veitnam? sounds cool if not im fckn gullible lol
Posted by: Shep UK ||
03/06/2005 15:39 Comments ||
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Shep he didn't say Vietnam. Coulda been the Plain of Bars. :)
#11
I used to listen to them and all the other Communist nutcase programs on a military surplus big assed rack mounted tube receiver. Damn radio waves would line up to be sucked into its tuned circuits. Something like a couple of hundred kilocycles (no hertz then) to 30 megacycles.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/06/2005 23:07 Comments ||
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Pyongyang, March 4 (KCNA) -- A folk dish competition among members of the Democratic Women's Union from across the country was held on SSuk Islet in the Taedong River flowing through Pyongyang on March 3. It was sponsored by its central committee. Entries for the competition were mainly a variety of traditional favorite food prepared by Koreans for their feasts on the 15th of lunar January from their ancestors.
They included scores of traditional Korean dishes including Kuksu (Korean noodle), a dish prepared with five grains, nutritious boiled rice, dishes made with various sorts of edible herbs, rice-jelly, and fruit punch made of honey. These dishes drew interest of the visitors for their peculiar taste and special flavour.
Specially appreciated at the competition were Pyongyang cold noodle, boiled aralia shoots prepared with been paste in agalmatolite pot, leopard plant dish, dishes prepared with five wild vegetables from Mt. Chilbo, etc. presented by members of the Pyongyang, North Phyongan, Kangwon, North Hamgyong provincial committees of the union on the occasion of the above-said festival.
Also popular were a variety of dishes presented by women from South Hwanghae Province and Kaesong City. And for protein, Soylent Slag?
Posted by: .com ||
03/06/2005 5:44:16 AM ||
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#1
for their peculiar taste and special flavour
Hee hee, 5 wild vegetables from Mt. Chilbo, is pretty good too, reminder me of wild hickory Nutz.
Posted by: Y Gibbons ||
03/06/2005 8:29 Comments ||
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Note that these are PARTY ELITE members and not your average run-of-the mill Koreans. Kind of like Hollywood stars of North Korea. The 'more equal then others' as it were.....
These are the people who have all the food (knowing that the USA will pay to feed the starving millions) while the rest of the country starves.
#9
They included scores of traditional Korean dishes including Kuksu (Korean noodle), a dish prepared with five grains, nutritious boiled rice, dishes made with various sorts of edible herbs, rice-jelly, and fruit punch made of honey
Don't think I can make much with these ingredients...
Posted by: Iron Chef Sakai ||
03/06/2005 13:10 Comments ||
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South Korea could hold large-scale artillery training in the Russian Far East because of lack of space at home, a newspaper reported on Saturday, a move, which may upset North Korea and China. The commander of South Korea's First Army Corps raised the possibility of renting land for training during a recent visit to Russia's Khabarovsk region, the JoongAng Ilbo reported, citing an unnamed Defence Ministry official. Training facilities in South Korea are considered too small for large-scale troop exercises involving tanks and artillery. If an agreement were reached, it would be the first time the South Korean army had rented overseas training grounds, the daily said. The transportation of troops and arms for such training might well upset North Korea and China, however, the paper quoted other anonymous officials as saying.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2005 00:00:00 ||
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perhaps - with the US indicating they intend to move out - that the SK's are making the decision to grow up and take matters into their own hands. Seems like a good idea to me. Much better than the European attitude of just whining.
#7
The SKor civilians may have a distressing habit of electing Chamberlainesque left-leaning politicians, but their military's among the world's toughest and best-disciplined. On one Westpac deployment (late 1970's), I watched ROK sailors aboard one of their old WWII-era tin cans practicing approaches to a USN refueling ship - they'd trot across their decks, in step, dragging the inhaul lines, connect them, then do an emergency breakaway. They'd circle around, do another approach and repeat this drill, staying out on deck for two or more hours despite a windchill that had to be at least -20 degrees Fahrenheit. That's discipline, folks...and that was their squids. Imagine what the ROK Marines are like up close and personal!
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
03/06/2005 16:23 Comments ||
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Six months after the Athens Olympics, all is not well. Around the canoe-kayak course, in the city that hosted the world's 'unforgettable, dream games', lights that illuminated the site now swing, hopelessly, from cords of broken wire. It is hard not to miss the galloping necrosis enveloping so many of the 36 venues either purpose-built or upgraded for the Games. For the neglect does not end here.
On the other side of the Olympic facility, in the inner sanctum of the world-class basketball hall, the roof is leaking. Buckets, dexterously placed around its carpeted stadium, collect droplets the size of large coins. Across town, on the ancient Marathon route, the drains are clogged. They are also blocked at the multi-million-pound building that served as the press centre during the Games. And, at the rowing centre in Skoinias, the waters have turned stagnant brown. There, officials wonder what to do with a facility now widely decried as an environmental disaster.
One of the smallest nations ever to host the globe's biggest sports event, Greece had hoped the Olympics would transform its citizens' lives as never before. Instead, they are discovering that the 16-day bonanza may have been pure folly. This week, as their government prepares to release a long-awaited bill stipulating the venues' 'post-Olympic usage', many are wondering whether staging the Games was little more than an exercise in economic flagellation.
Last week, the country's Alternate Culture Minister, Fani Palli-Petralia, admitted what Hellenes had feared most. 'We didn't have a reliable post-Olympics plan,' said the politician who headed preparations for the Games. 'Many venues were designed without their post-Olympics use in mind.'
On Tuesday, exactly 205 days after the Games opened in spectacular style, Athens's centre-right government will advertise around two dozen of the installations at one of the world's grandest real-estate fairs in Cannes. 'We've had to work through endless documents to identify what the exact legal position and permissible uses of the facilities are,' sighed Christos Hadjiemmanuil, who heads the state-run company set up to oversee the sites. 'They [the Socialist former administration] were more concerned about not facing resistance during the building process than coming up with a strategy for the post-Olympic Games period.'
Hmmm, Socialist gummint, over-spending, rampant corruption, shoddy construction, no post-Games plan, ... nope, never saw that coming.
'Financially the Games were a disaster,' says Hadjiemmanuil, a 41-year-old finance lawyer seconded from the London School of Economics to oversee the transition. 'We didn't need so many permanent venues; a lot of them could have been temporary. If London wins the [2012] bid, preparations could easily be a lot cheaper.'
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/06/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Don't forget all the bribe money paid to the Olympic Committee to get the games there in the first place.
Would you bring your children to watch a game, knowing what could happen, knowing a member of your family, or yourself, could be struck by a coin, a lighter, or a rocket, or knowing you could find your car destroyed in the parking of the arena?
No, but it seems clubs donât think about that, clubs donât think about the financial damages created by a minority of lawless. Some clubs, like Olympiakos, contribute to exasperate the thoughts: the titles of Protathlitis, for example. And has everyone forgotten what happened 10 years ago, with the CSKA Moscow players poisoned before the 3rd game of the Euroleague quarters of final, and the farce of the Russian team playing with five men the decisive game to advance to the Final Four?
I'd not bring my children to watch a basketball game, mainly because of the profuse amounts of vulgarity in the crowd's shouts.
I believe they nowadays forbid bringing cigarette lighters into basketball games, exactly because of the habit of Greek "fans" to throw them into the court when objecting to referree decisions.
Never heard about the CSKA Moscow thingy.
And as for Olympiakos, it's owned by Kokkalis, a multibillionaire mobster crook and former Stazi spy, the closest thing Greece has to an oligarch.
That's what I would say in general -- did you have a more specific question?
Nah, just an inquiry / confirmation. The Boston Celtics team had players who used to play a few years in Europe once they were done in the NBA Greece was the one place they'd complain about things like getting coins thrown at them. I'd think better keep the coins - you're careers are about to end what the hell's going on? It's nothing on you, man. Thanks for responding.
CHISINAU - Moldova votes for a new parliament Sunday with the election likely to place the impoverished nation firmly on a pro-European path, the third ex-Soviet republic to turn away from Moscow's influence in little over a year. Voters will choose deputies for a 101-seat parliament that will then elect the president of the country sandwiched between Ukraine and Romania, considered to be Europe's poorest, with per capita gross national product barely 600 dollars.
The Communists, who hold 71 seats in the outgoing chamber, are considered the front-runners in a field of nine parties, two blocs and a dozen individual candidates.
Maybe that's why they're the poorest nation in Europe.
Like their main competitors—the centrist Bloc for Democratic Moldova (BDM) and nationalist Popular Christian Democratic Party (PPCD) -- the Communists avow themselves as pro-Western, with voters having a choice between the degrees of Eurocentrism. With BDM in favor of keeping closer ties to Russia and the PPCD favoring Moldovan entry into the NATO alliance, the Communists find themselves in the middle of the road, garnering between 49 and 62 percent of voters' support, according to the latest opinion polls.
Although the Communists came to power in 2001 on a pro-Russia ticket, they have since done an about-face, partly because of disagreements with Moscow over its troop presence in the separatist region of Trandsdniestr, which Russia has tacitly supported ever since it broke away from Chisinau after a short war in 1992.
Tensions between Chisinau and Moscow have increased ahead of the vote, with Moldova refusing entry to dozens of Russians who presented themselves as election observers on the eve of the poll. Moldova has accused Russia of encouraging Transdniestr activists to stage provocations during the election and had expelled dozens of Russians out of the country in the weeks ahead of the vote.
Russia has fumed at the change in its former satellite, which was historically part of Romania and over which Moscow took away from the Romanians assumed influence at the end of World War II. "I can't remember the last time that I heard from Moldova President (Vladimir) Voronin a positive proposal, a positive assessment of relations between Russia and Moldova," Russian parliament speaker Boris Gryzlov said on the eve of the vote.
And you aren't going to, either.
After an "orange revolution" in its eastern neighbor Ukraine late last year, all eyes turned to Moldova, with many wondering if it will become the third ex-Soviet republic to hold a peaceful "people power" revolution. "In 10 days Moldova has the opportunity to place its democratic credentials beyond doubt as its people head to the polls," US President George W. Bush said in late February.
But most observers dismiss such a possibility, saying the Communists have been careful not to give the opposition a reason to launch the mass protests that helped bring down regimes in Georgia and Ukraine.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/06/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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login: tokio@swirvemail.com
password: bugmenot bugmenot.com for all your site registration needs.
Recent international naval developments have been marked by a sense of compromise. In some cases, compromise has been successful; in others, what began as compromise has turned into near disaster as navies scramble to find a workable balance among blue-water and littoral responsibilities, homeland security, counterterrorism, and modernization. This annual review of the world's navies is arranged by region, with maritime nations discussed alphabetically in each subheading.
A good overview of what's hot and what's not, nation by nation.
Posted by: gromky ||
03/06/2005 8:08:55 AM ||
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Crude oil prices could increase to $80 a barrel by 2007. OPEC acting secretary-general Adnan Shihab Eddin said the global oil market could see a major increase in the price of oil over the next two years. Eddin said OPEC members would not welcome such an increase and instead favor stability in oil prices. "I can affirm that the price of a barrel of crude oil rising to $80 in the near future is a low possibility," Eddin told the Kuwaiti daily Al Qabas. "But I cannot rule out oil prices rising to $80 a barrel within the next two years." Eddin said an increase in oil prices could be sparked by interruption of supplies from a producer nation. He said such an interruption could be as little as 1 million barrels per day.
I think they're right on this — a pity Mark Espinola no longer comes around. That kind of price implies considerable hardship for the U.S., which is a much more transportation-driven economy than Europe, which is still more transportation-driven than most of the rest of the world.
It also amounts to the Arab and Moose limbs killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. High prices per barrel make oil extraction from shale and other expensive schemes profitable, and they provide the impetus for alternate fuel sources. Nuclear's already making a comeback. Organics become more cost-effective — the oil from garbage approach. And of course there's always the hydrogen fuel cell approach. Despite the pain we're going to be experiencing at the pumps, there will be a certain amount of satisfaction in watching the oil producers do to their livelihood what the unions did to manufacturing industries in the U.S.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
Fred, the extraction from Alberta sand and shale is already profitable at $30/B. In fact, the extraction cost is at about $15/B. The reserves in Alberta and NE BC are estimated to be 2.3 times of the total KSA reserves. There are other areas in Canada that haven't been taped yet for one reason or another, but in the case of necessity, they would be probably activated and can be factored in. Something to consider in the whole equation.
The problem for Alberta oilsands and other high cost sources is price over the life of the project. The infrastructure costs billions and everyone in the industry remembers when oil went to 10$/b a few years ago. What is needed for large scale development of these sources is a gauranteed price for say 30 years. I am not a fan of government intervention, but in this case governments are the only ones who can take these big $ long term risks. I.e. the US government should offer to buy oil at a fixed price over a long contract period under the condition it comes from an unconventional source. In principle this is no different to issuing 30 year bonds.
#4
Eddin said an increase in oil prices could be sparked by interruption of supplies from a producer nation. He said such an interruption could be as little as 1 million barrels per day.
Go ahead Mr. Eddin, give the Islamofascists a little assistance in picking targets. Not that terrorists haven't already considered attacking oil facilities, but now there's a known value with regard to quantity and effect.
#5
bar you are falling into the same trap as the MSM. Focusing on the specific event while ignoring the underlying dynamic that makes the event significant. Oil prices will rocket up when the next supply interuption occurs and it does matter what the cause is. That is, there will be a cause and there are may possibilities. It could be as simple as a tanker sinking in the Straits of Hormuz or the Singapore Straits. The problem is reliance on a critical economic resource from a fundamentally unreliable source.
#6
Oil will hit $80 a bbl. So? China and India are growing and have increased demand. Supply and demand is a economic truth. Nothing is going to change that fact much. How will we as a nation respond to it? Will we innovate or stagnate? China is trying to secure as much supply as it can before it becomes a problem. They want to maintain a strategic supply of oil to keep their own economy fueled. There is no diabolical plot happening here. We need to do the same, plan and get our stuff together so it doesn't send our economy into the toilet. Sitting around on our asses and worrying is useless. Staying dependent on ME Oil and seeing China buying up Canadian oil companies and not acting ourselves is stupid.
#7
Hybrid vehicles are still selling faster than they can be produced (12 month wait for a Toyota Prius, I'm told). And production keeps ramping up. How long before India and China start producing their own duel fuel vehicles to meet local demand? The consumption trend is not infinitely upward, no matter how much the Iranians and Saudis and gloomy prognosticators would like it to be.
#8
#2 We can take oil to $80 a barrel right now and make sure it stays up long enough to make Alberta pays off. Impose an oil import fee on all oil that enters the country from a source other than tar sands.
Use the revenue for Social Secuirty reform and reduce taxes.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/06/2005 8:14 Comments ||
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#9
Trailing wife, if you think the demand for oil at a constant price is not constantly upward till everyone in the world lives at an American standard of living (2 billion Chinese and Indians with two cars per family, think about that demand), please share the name of your drug dealer with us. I need some of that good stuff.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/06/2005 8:16 Comments ||
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#10
I wish, Mrs. D. As it is, I'm only good for two glasses of cola, or a glass of wine on the downward side, before I have to stop.
Seriously, and I hope some of our engineers will step in here with hard numbers, it only makes sense that market factors all around the world will respond to the need created by such high petroleum prices. How much of a cost upcharge is there to making a hybrid vehicle, especially if the baseline vehicle cost is on the order of a little Trabant, or those motorcycle powered trucks like those so popular in Italy just after WWII?
And, blue sky-ing a bit here, what about expanding the dual fuel concept to anything with, say, a turbine or any other moving parts that could power the battery part of a dual fuel set-up? Or would that run into the same problems as splitting water for hydrogen fuel -- costing more in energy to produce than would result when used as fuel?
#11
Trailing Wife, I get tired of telling people this, but hybrid cars make the energy supply problem a lot worse. Coverting energy to work as in driving a car or a turbine in a power station has a practical limit around 50%. So you can use oil to drive a car and get 50% of the oils energy to move you car. If you use the oil in a power station at 50% efficiency to create electricity which you then distribute, store and use to drive your hybrid car. You will at best get 20% of the oils energy to drive your car.
Congratulations, you have just consumed 150% more oil to drive your car. PT Barnum must be laughing his head off.
#12
That's why government should not get in the business. It acts more irrationally. Just raise the price through import fees, price volatility will be reduced and everybody will do the right thing.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/06/2005 8:54 Comments ||
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#13
the US government should offer to buy oil at a fixed price over a long contract period under the condition it comes from an unconventional source. In principle this is no different to issuing 30 year bonds.
That's exactly what they did in California. It's the ultimate rip off scam. Have the government buy high and once all of the shysters have made billions - then let the people pick up the tab for an investment idea so bad that no real investor would have been foolish enough to touch.
As for me, I wouldn't be buying futures in shale oil, if I were you. If prices continue to climb - technolgy in 30 years will be waaaaay beyond what it's worth to extract shale oil.
Are you in something related to the oil buisness, phil. Lots of shale stocks, perhaps? Cause it sounds like you are wishful thinking to me.
#14
Phil_b, are you clear on what a hybrid car is? It has a gas engine, and uses that to charge its batteries. At low speeds/accelerations it runs on the batteries, then starts its engine when needed.
There certainly are losses involved, but none of them involve the power grid.
I know a couple of people with hybrids, and they report around 50mpg.
As for $80/bbl oil -- China and India will suffer much, much worse than the US. Likely their usage will collapse at some point before that, slowing the rise in prices.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/06/2005 10:18 Comments ||
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#15
2b, buying oil on long term contracts at $15/b may or may not turn out to be a high price. However my point was that the reason we do not have a bigger supply of 15$ oil is business is unwilling to take the risk in investing to produce it. A gauranteed price would remove that risk and we would as much oil as we want at a predictable price (below $20).
#16
Phil_b, are you clear on what a hybrid car is? It has a gas engine, and uses that to charge its batteries. He screams you have just introduced at least a 50% inefficiency into the system. I.e. you have doubled energy consumption. With current technology its closer to tripled energy consumption.
#18
I was going to apologize for my previous outburst but then I thought this is perpetual motion recycled. People used to come up with perpetual motion machines that anyone with a basic grasp of science realized were nonesense but they persisted amoungst the scientific illiterate. Hybrid cars are just perpetual motion recycled.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/06/2005 10:54 Comments ||
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#20
Phil it's just heat recovery from would what should be braking, like a locomotive with dynamic brakes, essentially it forces/helps the driver to be efficient.
#21
Ok, PhilB, so the hybrid technology that gives my girlfriend's car 50mpg (compared to 25-30 mpg for a similar sized non-hybrid) won't work on something static like a turbine, because the added drag of powering the battery will decrease the efficiency of the turbine more than commensurately. Got it -- essentially the same problem as splitting water to get hydrogen for the hydrogen-fueled vehicles that are supposed to be 10 years in the future -- perpetual motion machine problems. Thank you, you answered that part of my question.
So factories will have to find other sources of additional energy. Siphoning the heat off the gasses going up the chimney, burning waste paper/cardboard for fuel, maybe someone can finally render those massive piles of used tires into a usable fuel source (so that they have an additional function besides mosquito breeding ground and interminable smokey fires, and playground mulch), not to mention continuing the trend of reducing packaging materials and making more concentrated products so that more product can be shipped per truck, which reduces how much gasoline is used to get each unit of product from producer to market. And of course, increasing the percentage of petroleum products such as plastics that are recycled or used as another fuel source. Shoot, at first glance it appears that with some technology development our garbage dumps could be as rich a fuel source as those oil shales.
Ok, PhilB, your turn to introduce some more hard reality to this next round of thoughts. Reality is the part I'm weakest at. ;-)
#22
50%? That's a really rotten motor/generator. I don't know of any commercial ones that are that poor. The IC engine has varying efficiency itself at different loads and speeds. If you can keep it operating in the more efficient areas of its power curve, you more than make up for any losses.
Plus, things like regenerative braking (which don't need to be restricted to hybrids) make up a lot of energy that's otherwise dumped out as heat. All third-party tests show that hybrids do very well in stop-and-go type of operating conditions. Those are actual measurements. UPS trucks would be ideal hybrids.
But, of course, there is the huge extra costs of hybrids. Those costs are not (much) based on energy, so as energy gets more expensive, they become less important. If oil prices really do rise to $80/bbl, then those costs might be recoverable. They are not at $40/bbl.
Even so, a hybrid is merely going to halve fuel consumption in around-town situations and make essentially no difference for a long-haul (don't expect Kenworth to come out with a Hybrid).
The problem is that petroleum-based fuels are simply the best thing we have for cars and trucks. Nothing else comes remotely close to the ease of use and efficiency. It's probably easier to try to reduce any other use of oil first. Building scads of nuclear power plants (including in ships) would help some. Electrifying all the rail lines would help a bunch more. Switching from fuel oil to electric heat would also help. Each of those has massive investment costs, though.
#24
Each of those has massive investment costs, though.
If everything is going to have massive investment costs, doesn't it makes sense to direct the investment money and incentives to projects that show future promise?
The very fact that the this discussion has turned to alternative sources available - is the kiss of death for the oil sheiks. It's not like we can't get energy from other sources - it's just we aren't there yet.
#25
the alternate sources noted above
- tar sands
- oil shale
- heavy oil
all have similar problems
- many years to ramp up production
- uncertain environmental and related costs if production is high
- current technology is clunky and industry is hoping for improvements in the technology before investing huge amounts
#26
There's one way to get a reasonably quick payoff on the alt energy scheme (e.g., 10-15 years): build a number of nuclear-powered electrical generating plants, preferably using the newer pebble-type fuel systems. That would permit us to stop burning oil for electricity, releasing that oil back into our energy grid. Yes, yes, you can't use that oil to power a car (the gasoline was already refined off before the bunker oil was shipped to the utility company), but you can use it for other purposes. It puts some downward pressure on the oil market.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/06/2005 13:35 Comments ||
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#27
Steve the problem with your idea is the NIMBY thought process in the US, no one wants nuke plants built around them. As far as the pebble bed reactor goes, the big problem with them is creating an accurate way of mass producing the pebbles that are atomic grade quality (not something that anyone has even begun to do yet). This is the major action that China is doing currently in regards to wanting to put more nuclear reactors in operation in the mainland, they need this uranium pebble production started up first before they can really begin any large scale production of the reactors themselves.
#29
The immediate way to drop oil prices is to reduce vastly reduce US comsumer imports. With current trends of China growing 9-10% percent a year and oil imports growing twice that (2004 Chinese oil imports +40%?), there is no way oil demand will lessen. The growth of much of the world's economy, and accompanying energy consumption, is funded by the $600 billion US trade deficit. The US-China trade deficit of $160+ billion is 11% of China's GDP (or about 80 million Chinese jobs). The Chinese reliance on US money is even more startling when you when you consider that money and jobs shipped overseas has a multiplier effect of 3-4 on economic activity. Same for trade with other countries like, especially like Germany where we import expensive low gas mileage cars.
At $45/barrel, the US is spending $200 billion on oil imports. But the real cost is double that due to military spending to secure the middle east militarily and politically and to secure trade routes. Without overseas commitments, the US can secure its borders for $100 billion and use the savings for development. Let the world fend for itself.
In the immediate term 0-5 years, drastically reduce US trade deficit to decrease energy intensive manufacturing and energy demand overseas, thereby dropping the price of oil. Americans will have to drive their imported cars a few extra years, fill up one less closet with cheap clothes and junk, and upgrade their electronics a little less often. The upside is to bring some of that industry back to the US and create higher paying US jobs. In addition, less money available to our adversaries means less pressure on our military.
In the medium term 0-10 years, open up all domestic fossil fuel sources for production.
Guarantee price floor, based on cost of production, for long term contracts for easily exploitable energy sources (coal gas, shale, Canadian tar sands). Reduce military spending by half. Take the $200 billion and build energy production and distribution infrastructure. Shift personal autos to electric and hydrogen (longer term) fuel.
In the long term, build nukes. A lot of nukes. Without an inexpensive primary energy source under US control, nothing will be solved. 600 1000MW size reactors are required to replace the raw energy in 12 million barrels of oil imports a day. Less will be required due to higher thermal efficiency (45-50%) of large plants vs. automobiles (25-30%) as well as the possiblity to boost the heat for use in hydrogen cracking or to use the waste heat for secondary generation (to 70%). Assuming $2 billion per mass produced reactor/generator combination, a freed up defense budget can pay for 100 such plants a year. In addition, a power plant generates follow on economic value while an aircraft carrier doesn't.
Some of these actions will be coercive (disallowing so many imports, new wells or fuel production, or building nuclear plants where required), but there comes a point where the survival or health of the nation is a stake. Eminent domain exists for a reason.
Posted by: ed ||
03/06/2005 16:11 Comments ||
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#30
Predicting the price of oil in 2007 is about as useless as predicting the Dow Jones stock average in 2007. It's a great little game if you can use it to attract new investment and/or to increase brokerage commissions.
A major Arab oil problem (price or supply) will have the same effect that it did 30 years ago -- short-term conservation, alternatives will receive more attention, and then equipment efficiency will be increased. But in addition to that, we are in a far, far better position to detect and snuff out anyone who is deliberately trying to do us harm. Richard Nixon was preoccupied with Vietnam and Watergate. George Bush is focused on the Middle East.
Posted by: Tom ||
03/06/2005 16:53 Comments ||
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#31
People realize that import dependence carries risks especially when it comes to energy from unreliable sources. They know it can only end badly. So they grasp at straws when it comes to solutions. Hybrid cars, hydrogen, fuel cells, windmills, solar, etc. etc. are at best incremental improvements that will slow down the increase in dependence. At worst they exacerbate the problem.
The reality is power plants are about 35% efficient in converting oil/gas/coal into electricty. Factor in losses in distribution and storage in any kind of battery, fuel cell etc. extra weight from the battery, and then inefficiences in the engine driven by the electricity and you are looking at perhaps 15% overall efficiency. The reality is that using mains electricity to power a car is horribly inefficient. Put another way its a great way to waste a lot of energy. Yet otherwise intelligent people delude themselves into thinking its a solution, because they want to believe there is a solution that doesn't involve radical changes.
BTW, the term hybrid car was originally used to mean powered by two sources, mains electricty and gas. It now seems to have mutated into meaning more fuel efficient by means of capturing motive energy otherwise lost as heat. Hybrid cars were originally developed as a solution to air pollution and are now being sold as energy saving. When powered solely by gas (oil) they may well be an improvement, but as soon as you plug into mains electricty you have just used a whole lot more energy.
#32
"600 1000MW size reactors are required to replace the raw energy in 12 million barrels of oil imports a day."
Again the problem is...where do you build them? NIMBY has officially killed production of new nuclear power plants in the US unless someone can make a breakthrough in fusion. The actual best way to drop oil prices is open up the US oilfields and if necessary to dump a few subsidies in their production. You'll see oil prices plummet at that point if production were to pick up. Then again you still have the refinery capacity problem.
#33
Phil_b, http://www.uic.com.au/nip08.htm
The operating cost of a nuke plant is about 3-3.5 US cents / kilowatt hour. The fuel cost is 0.35 US cents /kilowatt hour. Total cost of ownership is 4-5 cents/kWh. These figures are with custom built plants. Once standardized and mass produced, the build cost drops a lot and the operating cost will also drop a bit. At that price, it is cheaper to generate electricity, transport it, and store it as chemical energy in batteries than it is to import oil, refine it, and transport it gas stations.
At the price of nuclear power generation, it is cheaper to have lower energy efficiency than to use imported oil. In addition to purchase cost, the cost to the US of protecting world oil supplies doubles the effective cost to the US of imported oil to about $100/barrel.
Posted by: ed ||
03/06/2005 18:03 Comments ||
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#34
Unnoticed by most folks, the Bush Administration has taken major steps towards revitalizing the US nuclear power industry. IIRC all sites previously certified for plant construction will now remain certified rather than being forced through a complete re-certification process as has been the norm; plant operators can now apply for a combined construction/operating license rather than being forced to first obtain a license for construction and then after spending billions on construction being forced to go back for a separate (and always litigated by the greenie idiotarians) operating license; currently operating plants can now apply for an additional 20 year operating license renewal after 40 years of operation (previously plants were forced to stop operating by the federal bureaucracy after 40 years of operation); etc. All of those are great initial steps and the lengthening of the operating life is a big driver in the now-lower cost of generation.
Now if only we could rid ourselves of Jimmuh Carter's directive that the US not reprocess spent fuel we could address the waste issue and begin making a real dent in our foreign power dependence.
(3rd item)
The "Children's Parliament" in Missan introduced the basic concepts of democracy to Iraqi Kids.
Sponsored by "Friends of Democracy", the "Iraqi novel association" with cooperation with the "orphans cultural club" and the "children's health committee" held a seminar and an open discussion about democracy as part of the "children parliament" project that was adopted since august 2004.
At the beginning of the seminar, novelist Mohammed Rasheed who's the manager of the Iraqi novel association and the father of the "parliament" idea made a short speech in which he described the idea of the "parliament" and welcomed the audience among which there were-in addition to the girls and boys from pre high schools-several journalists and intellectuals from the city.
After the opening speech, came a bunch of activities represented by poems, short stories and speeches prepared by the young students.
These activities were followed by an open discussion that was preceded with explaining basic definitions like freedom, democracy, respecting others' opinion in a simplified way.
After that came the student's turn to voice their understanding of those terms and they expressed their interest in becoming the active nucleus in this project. They (the students) listed their requirements for the project by the following:
1-they suggested that the responsible ministries should take part in such projects and provide further support.
2-they need a gallery where they can practice painting and improve their artistic skills.
3- internet service and pc's for their schools.
4-helping them start their own magazine.
5-paying more attention to sport and physical education.
By the end of the activities, gifts and prizes were distributed among the participating students.
The government of Niger has cancelled at the last minute a special ceremony during which at least 7,000 slaves were to be granted their freedom. A spokesman for the government's human rights commission, which had helped to organise the event, said this was because slavery did not exist.
I'm going to go lie down now.
It is not clear why the government, which was also a co-sponsor of the ceremony, changed its position.
At least 43,000 people across Niger are thought to be in slavery.
Representatives of the slaves, the government and human rights campaigners had been due to attend the event at In Ates, near the border with Mali. A local chief had agreed to the release after the introduction of a new law, which punishes those found guilty of slavery with up to 30 years in jail. Anti-Slavery International had described the ceremony as a historic step forward.
Well, so muuch for that
The British-based campaign group said the people who had been due to be freed made up 95% of the local population. "The government needs to ensure not only that the law is implemented, but that there are the means of support available for former slaves and their children to live their lives in freedom and independence," the group's Africa programme officer, Romana Cacchioli, said before the ceremony was cancelled. According to a local anti-slavery organisation, Timidria, males slaves are forced to work in farms and tender cattle, while women are confined to domestic duties. Acting under pressure, Niger's parliament banned the keeping or trading in slaves in May 2003. In a ceremony in December 2003, dozens of slaves were liberated, many of them shedding tears of joy as they were given certificates showing they were free.
I'm sure we'll be hearing from Reverend's Al and Jesse any day now (crickets).
Posted by: Steve ||
03/06/2005 4:23:42 PM ||
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#1
It can't be slavery unless the slaveowners are white and the slaves black (and non-muslim)....
A stem cell has been found in adults that can turn into every single tissue in the body. It might turn out to be the most important cell ever discovered.
Until now, only stem cells from early embryos were thought to have such properties. If the finding is confirmed, it will mean cells from your own body could one day be turned into all sorts of perfectly matched replacement tissues and even organs.
If so, there would be no need to resort to therapeutic cloning - cloning people to get matching stem cells from the resulting embryos. Nor would you have to genetically engineer embryonic stem cells (ESCs) to create a "one cell fits all" line that does not trigger immune rejection. The discovery of such versatile adult stem cells will also fan the debate about whether embryonic stem cell research is justified.
Remarkable findings
The cells were found in the bone marrow of adults by Catherine Verfaillie at the University of Minnesota. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof, and though the team has so far published little, a patent application seen by New Scientist shows the team has carried out extensive experiments.
These confirm that the cells - dubbed multipotent adult progenitor cells, or MAPCs - have the same potential as ESCs. "It's very dramatic, the kinds of observations [Verfaillie] is reporting," says Irving Weissman of Stanford University. "The findings, if reproducible, are remarkable."
At least two other labs claim to have found similar cells in mice, and one biotech company, MorphoGen Pharmaceuticals of San Diego, says it has found them in skin and muscle as well as human bone marrow. But Verfaillie's team appears to be the first to carry out the key experiments needed to back up the claim that these adult stem cells are as versatile as ESCs.
Verfaillie extracted the MAPCs from the bone marrow of mice, rats and humans in a series of stages. Cells that do not carry certain surface markers, or do not grow under certain conditions, are gradually eliminated, leaving a population rich in MAPCs. Verfaillie says her lab has reliably isolated the cells from about 70 per cent of the 100 or so human volunteers who donated marrow samples.
Indefinite growth
The cells seem to grow indefinitely in culture, like ESCs. Some cell lines have been growing for almost two years and have kept their characteristics, with no signs of ageing, she says.
Given the right conditions, MAPCs can turn into a myriad of tissue types: muscle, cartilage, bone, liver and different types of neurons and brain cells. Crucially, using a technique called retroviral marking, Verfaillie has shown that the descendants of a single cell can turn into all these different cell types - a key experiment in proving that MAPCs are truly versatile.
Also, Verfaillie's group has done the tests that are perhaps the gold standard in assessing a cell's plasticity. She placed single MAPCs from mice into very early mouse embryos, when they are just a ball of cells. Analyses of mice born after the experiment reveal that a single MAPC can contribute to all the body's tissues.
MAPCs have many of the properties of ESCs, but they are not identical. Unlike ESCs, for example, they do not seem to form cancerous masses if you inject them into adults. This would obviously be highly desirable if confirmed. "The data looks very good, it's very hard to find any flaws," says Lemischka. But it still has to be independently confirmed by other groups, he adds.
Fundamental questions
Meanwhile, there are some fundamental questions that must be answered, experts say. One is whether MAPCs really form functioning cells.
Stem cells that differentiate may express markers characteristic of many different cell types, says Freda Miller of McGill University. But simply detecting markers for, say, neural tissue does not prove that a stem cell really has become a working neuron.
Verfaillie's findings also raise questions about the nature of stem cells. Her team thinks that MAPCs are rare cells present in the bone marrow that can be fished out through a series of enriching steps. But others think the selection process actually creates the MAPCs.
"I don't think there is 'a cell' that is lurking there that can do this. I think that Catherine has found a way to produce a cell that can behave this way," says Neil Theise of New York University Medical School.
Posted by: Sobiesky ||
03/06/2005 3:42:44 AM ||
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#1
Her team thinks that MAPCs are rare cells present in the bone marrow that can be fished out through a series of enriching steps. But others think the selection process actually creates the MAPCs.
That is a question for the scientists. Turn the effort of making this useful over to the appropriate engineers.
How wonderful that Bush's challenge should mean that fetal stem cells aren't really necessary -- at the time I really did think he was stifling necessary research.
#2
maybe God works in mysterious ways? These cells were there all along, but it was just too fun to do something so fantastic for human health without dragging abortion ethics and politics into it.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/06/2005 12:09 Comments ||
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#3
trailing wife: âHow wonderful that Bush's challenge should mean that fetal stem cells aren't really necessary -- at the time I really did think he was stifling necessary research.â
This discovery is good news. It has potential for many medical treatments. But it doesnât mean we donât need fetal cell research. Understanding how a fertilized egg becomes a human being is critical for understanding how to prevent and cure problems of fertility, miscarriage, and birth defects. Most of the research can and will be done on mice but some research can only be done on human cells.
#4
A5032, fetal cells are not the same as fetal stem cells, which were to be used from recently conceived fetuses, as opposed to miscarriages. I agree with you that the other is still very important.
Supporters of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz provincial leaders threw eggs at a central leader during a protest at the nomination of officials in the party's provincial chapter on Saturday. Members of the organisational committee of the PML-N had gathered at the party's provincial secretariat for a meeting to nominate office bearers for Lahore and Gujranwala. Before the meeting began, a group of PML-N workers staged a demonstration outside, demanding that their views be considered in the selection of officials Zulfiqar Ali Khosa, the chief organiser of the PML-N in Punjab, had summoned the meeting. Malik Pervez, Ghulam Dastgir Khan, Rana Tanveer, Yawar Zaman and Sardar Ayaz Sadiq are also on the committee. Dastgir Khan came out of the secretariat to declare that Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the party's acting parliamentary leader in the National Assembly, had authorised the committee to nominate the office bearers and forward their selection to PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif for final approval. These remarks seemed to annoy the protestors even more and they began shouting slogans denouncing the committee members and Nisar Khan.
I can certainly sympathize. Every time I'm displeased about something I start shouting slogans, too — stuff like "54-40 or Fight!" or "Huzzah for Madison!" or "Millions for Defense but Not One Cent for Tribute!". There's nothing like a well-timed "I like Ike!", shouted with the appropriate volume, to bring a planning meeting around, and "Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too" works well at budget discussions.
I'm not sure why, but my co-workers step quietly around me now.
Maybe you should stop using the hard-boiled eggs?
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Participants of an all-parties conference here on Saturday accused the government of pursuing "anti-people policies that have made it the most unpopular government in the history of the country." The conference entitled "Poverty, lawlessness and price hike" was organised by the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi at Idara Noor-e-Haq. It was attended by representatives of all major political and religio-political parties of the country.
The government was not available for comment.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
As a libertarian, there is something about that headline that sounds just fine. Assuming the people reciprocate, of course. That doesn't appear to be the case with the lot in the photo. Looks like they are angling for a handout.
#2
CL, look carefully: rock, paper, scissors.
How that is related to their grievances, I don't know, hopefully the government can interpret it properly.
An anti-terrorism court on Saturday gave death on two counts to Hafiz Arshad Ali of Muridke who had murdered two children for "perfection" in black-magic. The court also fined him Rs 100,000. The court, however, acquitted black-magic master Imdad Hussain by giving him the benefit of doubt.
Imdad's hex worked, and Hafiz' didn't, huh?
Imdad and Hafiz Arshad were accused of killing Muhammad Ramzan and Samina Riaz on April 13, 2004. Samina was killed when she was going for tuition, while Ramzan was kidnapped when he was going to say Friday prayers. Imdad, popularly known as Baba Imdad Hussain, the resident of a village in Faisalabad, had settled in Daokay for last five years. He claimed to be a black magic expert and had many followers in the area. Arshad also joined him to learn black magic. Imdad told him to bring the blood of three children to become a black magician, so he murdered Riaz and Samina while seriously injuring Zainul Abadeen. He also wrote a letter to the area police, warning them of more killings if they tried to arrest him. They were arrested last month.
Coppers. Sometimes they just don't listen.
The court gave death to Imdad on June 22, 2004 on charges of killing another child, six-year-old Tehseen, in Daoke village of Muridke in Sheikhupura district. The court had fined him Rs 200,000 and ordered him to pay Rs 200,000 as compensation to the legal heirs of the deceased. Imdad had confessed to killing Tehseen. According to the prosecution, Imdad killed Tehseen on April 23, 2004. Tehseen's uncle found his body near a tube-well in Daoke. He had wounds with some sharp-edged weapon to the neck, right side of the stomach and the right leg.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Unleash a spirit army! With this knowledge in your arsenal, You'll Learn to Take-Command over the 72 timeless spirits of the Goetia the easy way! Written in plain english that You can understand. Easy to follow with over 150 illustrations and photos, an absolute vital tool in any aspiring sorcerer's collection. academyofsorcery.com
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.
KUWAIT CITY: Although Sharia scholars have their differences on granting political rights to women they have agreed to approve what is presented by the rulers in the interest of Kuwait, says Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Abdullah Al-Matouq. Sources say this is an attempt by the minister to pave the way for the government to pass the draft law on women's political rights. Meanwhile, many MPs strongly reacted against Al-Matouq and warned him against involving Sharia with politics. One of the prominent MPs said, "Al-Matouq's statement is a lifeline for MPs, who are hesitant and have linked their approval of this issue to the Fatwa issued by the ministry earlier." 
Kuwaiti liberal activists met Saturday with Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah who assured them the government is serious about granting women political rights, an activist said. "He told us the government is working very hard to garner the support needed in Parliament to approve women's rights," Khaled Al-Mutairi, leader of the liberal National Democratic Alliance, told AFP. "This time the government is more determined. It has begun a campaign for women's rights in state-run media and Cabinet ministers are trying to convince undecided lawmakers," he said. The government last month asked Parliament to hold a special session to debate a draft law that calls for amending article one of the 1962 electoral law which limits voting and candidacy to male citizens.
Former home secretary 
The United States will buy crude from another country if Venezuela follows through on President Hugo Chavez's threat to cut off supplies, the US ambassador to Caracas said in interviews with local media.
President Hugo Chavez informed his United States counterpart, George W. Bush, that if he invaded Venezuela, "there would be wider war." 
Six months after the Athens Olympics, all is not well. Around the canoe-kayak course, in the city that hosted the world's 'unforgettable, dream games', lights that illuminated the site now swing, hopelessly, from cords of broken wire. It is hard not to miss the galloping necrosis enveloping so many of the 36 venues either purpose-built or upgraded for the Games. For the neglect does not end here.
Crude oil prices could increase to $80 a barrel by 2007. OPEC acting secretary-general Adnan Shihab Eddin said the global oil market could see a major increase in the price of oil over the next two years. Eddin said OPEC members would not welcome such an increase and instead favor stability in oil prices. "I can affirm that the price of a barrel of crude oil rising to $80 in the near future is a low possibility," Eddin told the Kuwaiti daily Al Qabas. "But I cannot rule out oil prices rising to $80 a barrel within the next two years." Eddin said an increase in oil prices could be sparked by interruption of supplies from a producer nation. He said such an interruption could be as little as 1 million barrels per day. 
Supporters of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz provincial leaders threw eggs at a central leader during a protest at the nomination of officials in the party's provincial chapter on Saturday. Members of the organisational committee of the PML-N had gathered at the party's provincial secretariat for a meeting to nominate office bearers for Lahore and Gujranwala. Before the meeting began, a group of PML-N workers staged a demonstration outside, demanding that their views be considered in the selection of officials Zulfiqar Ali Khosa, the chief organiser of the PML-N in Punjab, had summoned the meeting. Malik Pervez, Ghulam Dastgir Khan, Rana Tanveer, Yawar Zaman and Sardar Ayaz Sadiq are also on the committee. Dastgir Khan came out of the secretariat to declare that Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the party's acting parliamentary leader in the National Assembly, had authorised the committee to nominate the office bearers and forward their selection to PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif for final approval. These remarks seemed to annoy the protestors even more and they began shouting slogans denouncing the committee members and Nisar Khan. 
Participants of an all-parties conference here on Saturday accused the government of pursuing "anti-people policies that have made it the most unpopular government in the history of the country." The conference entitled "Poverty, lawlessness and price hike" was organised by the 
An anti-terrorism court on Saturday gave death on two counts to Hafiz Arshad Ali of Muridke who had murdered two children for "perfection" in black-magic. The court also fined him Rs 100,000. The court, however, acquitted black-magic master Imdad Hussain by giving him the benefit of doubt. 
