Death could become a thing of the past by the mid-21st century as computer technology becomes sophisticated enough for the contents of a brain to be "downloaded" onto a supercomputer, according to a leading British futurologist.
Y'know, I read about an idea like this in a science fiction novel once. I don't remember what happened, though, since it wasn't a very good novel... How does one get a degree in futurology, by the way?
However, he told the Observer newspaper on Sunday, this technology might be expensive enough to remain the preserve of the rich for a decade or two more.
Cue welling strains of The International...
Among other eyebrow-raising predictions by Ian Pearson, head of the futurology unit at British telecommunications giant BT, is the prospect of computer systems being able to feel emotions.
"[BZDEEP!] ME-SO-RONERY!"
This could eventually involve such things as aeroplanes being programmed to be even more terrified of crashing than their passengers, meaning they would do whatever possible to stay airborne.
"Margaret, I think we may be in trouble! The aircraft is flapping its wings and screaming!"
While the predictions might sound outlandish, they were merely the product of extrapolations drawn from the current rate at which computers are evolving, Pearson said in an interview with the newspaper. "If you draw the timelines, realistically by 2050 we would expect to be able to download your mind into a machine, so when you die it's not a major career problem," he said.
I've never thought of dying as a career problem. Once I'm gone, running whatever business I'm in becomes somebody else's problem.
"If you're rich enough then by 2050 it's feasible. If you're poor you'll probably have to wait until 2075 or 2080 when it's routine.
Longer if you're black or Hispanic. Even longer if you're a homosexual. There's a schedule for these things, y'know...
"We are very serious about it. That's how fast this technology is moving: 45 years is a hell of a long time in IT." As an example of the advances being made, Pearson noted that Sony's new PlayStation 3 computer games console is 35 times as powerful as the model it replaced, and in terms of processing is "one percent as powerful as a human brain".
So you could just download Grandmaw to a hundred playstations and she could... ummm... play games?
In views which those of a religious persuasion might find hard to handle, Pearson said the next computing goal would be to replicate consciousness. "Consciousness is just another sense, effectively, and that's what we're trying to design on a computer," he said. "Not everyone agrees, but it's my conclusion that it's possible to make a conscious computer with superhuman levels of intelligence before 2020."
Saw that in a number of Arnold Schwarzeneggar movies. Didn't like it.
One of the "primary reasons" for such work would be to give computers emotions, Pearson said. "If I'm on an aeroplane I want the computer to be more terrified of crashing than I am so it does everything to stay in the air until it's supposed to be on the ground."
#3
"This could eventually involve such things as aeroplanes being programmed to be even more terrified of crashing than their passengers, meaning they would do whatever possible to stay airborne..."
...or, once they REALLY catch on, refuse to take off at all.
Tower: "UA429 Heavy, you are cleared for takeoff on runway 27R."
Airplane: "What the fuck do you think you're doing??? You expect me to do WHAT???? Look, asshole, you wanna go to Duluth why don't you just get out and fuckin' WALK-- I ain't goin' NOWHERE! I ain't stupid, you know!!!" (abrupt brake lock and engine shutdown)
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/22/2005 11:05 Comments ||
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#4
That'll be too late for Paris Hilton.
On the other hand her brain would fit on a floppy disk.
#7
On the first day I'd download Marilyn Monroe's brain (25 year old model) and spend the whole day mind f*cking myself.....On the second day I'd down.......
#13
120 years should be enough for anybody. Besides, so few are equipped to live a life of the mind (certainly not me!), they'd likely go mad on short order. And measured in human terms, those many nanomoments probably will look like a few minutes to mental self-destruction. I don't think I'll invest the retirement money in this technology.
Not sure this is "non-WoT" but it's definitely not page one news.
From Brokenewz...
An American toilet manufacturer is currently designing a new model that will "flush the bulkiest of Korans," sources said yesterday. A spokesman for Krap King, Inc. said the company would have the new "Islamoflusher" model in stores for the spring, when Americans do their most flushing — sacred religious texts included. The new toilet would "help prevent and possibly eliminate" situations like the recent Newsweek story, which reported that American interrogators at Guantanamo Bay flushed a Koran down the toilet to "intimidate" suspected terrorists. "The toilet backed up when the Koran clogged it," said an anonymous Krap King employee. "A detainee witnessed the whole thing, and...BAM! Next thing you know, there's 17 dead and hundreds injured during anti-American rioting. Our toilet will prevent such incidents. If an interrogator puts a Koran in, that sucker ain't coming back up."
Newsweek has since retracted the story, but Krap King is proceeding nonetheless. "Preventative measures," said an anonymous employee. "Plus, this is the toilet industry's big chance to shed its aura of obscurity and really make a splash." The ACLU released a statement denouncing the toilet. "This toilet shall accommodate Talmuds and Bibles," the statement read. "And we're checking into sacred Hindu and Buddhist texts, too. We will not have the toilet industry marketing their product for the sole purpose of humiliating Muslims. We've gone after Big Tobacco and Big Oil before. There's no reason why we won't confront Big Toilets on this issue."
"If Krap King can make an extra buck by being able to flush all the major religious books," said another employee, "get ready for our Atheist 4000 model." I smell a fatwa coming against Brokenewz
Armed gunmen stole a government-owned helicopter before dawn on Saturday after taking three security guards hostage at an airport in eastern Venezuela, the local governor said. The Bell helicopter is the second to be stolen from the airport located in Ciudad Bolivar, about 270 miles east of Caracas, in less than a year, Francisco Rangel told the Union Radio broadcaster. Rangel said "seven to 10 people with assault rifles" boarded the helicopter and flew off after they had taken one of three security guards hostage. The gunmen released the security guards, who also stole three revolvers and two shotguns before fleeing, Rangel said. Rangel said authorities had not spotted the helicopter since it was seized, nor did they have any leads regarding suspects.
Obviously there are parts of this story that haven't been reported yet...
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2005 00:00 ||
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Lawmakers from Spain, Italy and Germany urged their governments on Saturday take to a tougher line with Cuba after the communist government expelled a number of Europeans ahead of an opposition rally in Havana. Spanish officials demanded that Cuba explain why two Spanish politicians were told to leave the country and a third threatened with expulsion before the rare opposition demonstration, the Foreign Ministry said Saturday. Two former Spanish senators, Isabel San Baldomero and Rosa Lopez Garnica, were expelled, as were lawmakers from Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic.
Arnold Vaatz, a German lawmaker who was expelled from Cuba on Friday, called for the European Union to take a stronger stand against Cuba. "With its decision to lift (diplomatic) sanctions against Cuba, the European Union has made itself the accomplice of Fidel Castro's government," Vaatz was quoted as saying by the Leipziger Volkszeitung daily. Six Poles — three journalists, a human rights worker and two students — and an Italian journalist also were ordered to leave the country. Spain said a deputy for the regional Catalan Convergence and Unity party also was threatened with expulsion and was at the Havana airport Saturday. The diverse dissident groups debated pro-democracy projects on Saturday, the second and final day of the meeting.
Whoopdy doo. They do this every time Fidel acts like what he is, which is a Commie dictator. Then their collective attention span deficit kicks in and a few months later the dory is all back to being hunky.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Perfect Fred. It's their wounded pride, this time. Yawn.
#4
Shouldn't this be filed under "Short Attention Span Theater?" Heh.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/22/2005 10:54 Comments ||
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--Spanish officials demanded that Cuba explain why two Spanish politicians were told to leave the country and a third threatened with expulsion before the rare opposition demonstration,---
tsk, tsk, tsk, after all the groundwork and ass-kissing Mr. Bean did, too.
Thousands of Venezuelans demonstrated nationwide Saturday as the government demanded the extradition of a Cuban exile accused of plotting the 1976 bombing of a Cuban jet that killed 73 people. State-run television reported that thousands joined rallies at city plazas across the country to demand Washington turn over Luis Posada Carriles, now being held by U.S. immigration authorities. The state-run channel did not show images of demonstrations in other cities, and more precise crowd estimates were not available. Hundreds of President Hugo Chavez's supporters gathered in the historic Plaza Bolivar in Caracas, dancing to a band that sang one song urging the crowd to "fight against the protection of Luis Posada Carriles" by the United States. "Legally, the United States must extradite Posada Carriles, a terrorist who committed crimes in Venezuela by planning the bombing here, then escaping from jail," said Carlos Bracamente, a 48-year-old shopkeeper.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
What a load of shit! But it is expected from that Chavez's ass kisser Christopher Toothtaker.
There were no hundreds of Venezuelan out demanding the extradition of a total unknown. I come from a city of 500,000 people and there was no a single protester.
TWO teenagers accused of robbing a US bank will plead guilty and ask to serve their time in an Australian prison.
"Please, sah! I wanna go back to Alice Springs!"
Lawyers for Luke Carroll and Anthony Prince said they were hoping for a plea bargain to have their sentence reduced from the maximum 25 years in jail to five. The teenagers are then expected to be transferred to Australia to serve their sentences, under a US-Australia prisoner transfer agreement. Carroll and Prince have been in jail since March after being charged in relation to a $171,000 US bank heist. The 19-year-old dim-witted robbers from the NSW north coast were caught after a teller in the ski village of Vail, Colorado recognised them during their ill-fated hold-up.
"We're sorry, yer honor! We wuz drinkin' beer, an' get the idea we wuz Ned Kelly. Or one of us wuz, anyway. I ain't sure which one..."
Prince's lawyer Warren Williamson said while the evidence the two teens committed the robbery was "overwhelming", he would argue for reduced sentences based on Prince's lack of prior bank-robbing offences, his age and quick confession and continued remorse.
Yeah, right. I have a lack of prior bank robbing offenses, too. Does that mean I get to pull one, and only one, robbery of Bank of America? "Careful now, lad! Youse only gets one crack at this!" For that matter, how do they know they have a lack of prior bank robbing offenses? Or do they mean only bank robbing offenses they've been jugged for?
Mr Williamson would not reveal why the teens committed the robbery but did say they were not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the offence.
"He thought he was Ned Kelly!"
"Did not! It was you as thought you wuz Ned Kelly!"
"Huh huh! He said 'Ned Kelly'!"
"Did not! You said it first!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Bailiff! Whack their pee-pees!"
"Owwww!"
"Owwww!"
The Denver-based public defence lawyer said he spoke with Prince every day and the former Lismore local was "making the best out of a difficult situation".
"He was an educated man, an alligator wrestler..."
"He is corresponding with friends and family," he said. "He's doing some growing up."
Give him the whole 25 years. Then he can grow up all the way.
Luke Carroll's lawyer, Dan Smith, said he was also plea-bargaining for his client. He said the Byron Bay teen was "doing pretty good under the circumstances". Prince's plea hearing is set for June 15 at the Denver Federal Court, while Carroll's plea will be heard on June 21.
Think I'm gonna hurl! Remember the old days, when I used to walk to school, barefoot and in snow, eight miles each way, uphill both ways remorse wouldn't get you two cents?
#3
we had to wrap our feet with barbwire to get traction on the icy pavement. 5 yrs is too little, make it 10 and let Oz pay for their incarceration?
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/22/2005 10:35 Comments ||
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Bank robbery...is punishable by...twenty years...in federal prison...
(with apologies to Philip Glass)
They weren't recognized by a bank teller, they were recognized by a cop at the security checkpoint at Denver airport. More journalistic accuracy.
They had purchased, with cash, a one-way ticket to Mexico. Actually, they purchased a round-trip ticket, after the gate agent informed them that a one-way ticket was not available.
To me, they should be given the same sentence as a poor black boy who robbed a bank. That is, a long, long sentence. Hey, 39 isn't a bad age to start a life!
German Christian Democrats and Free Democrats win North Rhine-Westphalia. Last red-green coalition in a German Land ended.
Next stop Berlin. Only German link yet.
Posted by: True German Ally ||
05/22/2005 11:57 ||
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#1
NEWSFLASH
SPD chairman Müntefering just announced that he's pushing for anticipated national elections in fall 2005, one year before scheduled.
So... in 6 months Schroeder will be just a bad memory.
#3
National elections right now would mean an almost certain win of the opposition.
I suppose Angela Merkel will run... and my take is that Schroeder will not.
I wouldn't be surprised if Schroeder stepped down in the next days.
#5
German TV just called the SPD's push for anticipated elections a "suicide commando".
Truth is, Schroeder cannot go on... all he could hope for is 18 months of agony. He also has to fear that a leftist faction of the SPD splits off (if only three defect his majority is gone). New elections will probably discipline the SPD and catch the CDU a bit off guard. But that won't save him.
#6
Umm... so this is what schadenfreude feels like. Not bad.
Go get 'em, TGA.
Posted by: Matt ||
05/22/2005 14:11 Comments ||
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Ah then Germany can join our Axis of Evil! I don't know german politics well enough to comment to much. My question is will the new Government dispell with the Franco-German aliance and become a more friendly Nation towards the U.S.? Or are they simply a less confrontation but not supportive government?
#12
Interesting. Blair, Bush, Howard - re-elected. Chirac - a near-total failure who can't even push through and EU referendum that should have passed overwhelmingly. Despised across France. Schroder - about to exit in disgrace after having raised German unemployment to the highest level since Weimar. Seems like the voters recognize weasels when they see 'em.
Posted in full since no link available. France and the EU Vote: Oui or Non? Dream On
Summary
French voters decide May 29 whether to approve the proposed EU Constitution.
Public opinion has favored a no vote over the past four weeks. But regardless of how the vote turns out, the French dream of using a united Europe to magnify Paris' influence globally will remain just that: a dream.
Analysis
The French vote May 29 on whether to approve the European Union's new constitution. Far from the easy victory the government -- and France's fellow Europeans -- expected, however, the constitution's naysayers have consistently led in opinion polls over the past four weeks.
In a union of 25 states, there is little that everyone can agree on. But one thing our sources across the Continent seem to be in agreement on is this: if the French reject the constitution, the charter dies.
Unlike previous treaties, this one will not be renegotiated. Not only is the text as integrationist as Denmark, Hungary, Poland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, etc., would allow, the constitution is the best that Paris could possibly hope for -- after all, a Frenchman wrote it. Valery Giscard d'Estaing, the document's author, has campaigned for the constitution in a bit of a fog, stunned that any sane Frenchman might suggest that he could have eked more out of the marathon negotiations.
So a French "non" leaves only one route for the constitution to be salvaged: resubmission in hopes of receiving the "correct" result. Hardly the vote of confidence that France, a founding member of a united Europe, was expected to provide.
Many pundits have attributed the lack of French enthusiasm for the constitution to the love deficit they feel toward the current government. Similar perceptions nearly defeated France's approval of previous EU treaty law and have led many to call the constitution vote a "Raffarindum" on the popularity of Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, which a survey published
May 20 puts at 21 percent.
That is an easy explanation, but it represents a cop out. It also does not explain why French politicians on the left and right -- some even from within the ruling party -- are both campaigning for the "non" forces. In fact, French agonizing is so acute that Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, currently wearing the mantle of the EU presidency, resorted April 19 to saying that the French should vote for the constitution if for no other reason than because the Americans want them to vote no.
What all this misses is that this referendum is fundamentally different from previous EU votes. France stands at a crossroads and quite literally has no idea which path to follow.
France and "Europe"
When the French government first jumped into the European experiment in the early days after World War II, the idea of a "united" Europe was simple: make another European war unthinkable. After France's initial postwar political stability issues were sorted out with the ascendance of Charles de Gaulle, however, the focus quickly changed.
Under Gaullism, the French sense of centrality, extant since the pre-1871 period, returned. Formerly, Paris was for all practical purposes the capital of Europe, even while the British were far more active in global affairs. The reascendance in French political thought of the importance of French power left Paris -- and in particular, de Gaulle -- outraged at the political balance of the Cold War.
Far from calling the shots -- or even having a say -- in Europe, France found itself relegated to the sidelines as just another European state undergoing massive American-funded and -directed reconstruction. Washington created the Bretton Woods system to manage European economic affairs.
Washington created NATO to manage European security affairs. Politics were left to the Europeans so long as they did not clash with either Bretton Woods or NATO. For a Gaullist, such an arrangement was intolerable.
De Gaulle's reaction was twofold. First, France needed to take command of its own security affairs, so in 1966, Paris withdrew from the NATO Military Committee, ordering NATO forces off French soil. Second, it needed a potential counterweight to the United States. Something that could in time ultimately challenge the West's superpower.
That something became "Europe."
At first, everything went blissfully according to plan. France's original five European partners -- Belgium, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands -- perhaps represented the perfect match for France's geopolitical ambitions. The Low Countries -- ravaged in both world wars -- were in no mood to rock the boat and demand much of anything. And given their diminutive size, France had little problem overshadowing them politically.
As for the other two, Western attitudes toward German behavior during the Second World War ensured that Bonn would spend at least a generation apologizing for its actions, allowing Paris to slip into Germany's shoes and speak for Bonn, too. Finally, there was Italy which was, well, Italy.
And so in this little Europe, the French had their first soapbox. Paris wasted no time in working to establish a middle ground between Washington and Moscow. A key policy of the time were efforts to convince their European partners that American security guarantees were meaningless, and that Europe should seek an accommodation with the Soviets under a French-led security partnership.
In retrospect, Americans may find this almost farcical, but one must remember the context and the times.
While pitching itself as the ultimate guarantor of European security, the United States suffered from an unavoidable and equally inconvenient fact: it was on the wrong side of the Atlantic. Any conventional NATO-Russian conflict was destined to end with the Soviets overrunning Western Europe, as the Americans simply could not relocate forces in time. That meant that the core pillar of the American security guarantee was the nuclear option -- which would, of course, result in a Soviet counterstrike annihilating the United States.
Why, the French would ask, should we believe that the Americans would be willing to guarantee their country's destruction to protect us? Countering that argument forced the United States to fight any fight the Soviet Union chose, at the time and place of the Soviet Union's choosing. As such, the United States found itself sucked into conflicts in places such as Korea, Vietnam and Cambodia.
But in time, France's ability to speak for Europe rapidly degraded. The core logic behind Gaullism and French foreign policy in the post-World War II era was that Paris had to matter. Countries should need to come to France for guidance and arbitration. French troops should be needed in strategic locations. For that to happen, France needed a core group of states willing to let France speak and act on the group's behalf. In a Europe of six, that was possible.
But not as Europe expanded.
The key year when France's dream of a French-led Europe began to falter was 1973, the year Denmark, Ireland, and most of all, the United Kingdom, joined the European Community, the forbearer of today's European Union. Unlike France's existing partners, London would neither admit to French centrality nor submit to French authority. The United Kingdom -- a country with a vested interest in being part of Europe so it could prevent the development of a Europe strong enough to threaten its independence -- became Europe's poison pill. It should be no surprise that Paris did not cease vetoing the United Kingdom's membership application until after de Gaulle left office.
Every state that the European Community -- which morphed into the European Union in 1993 -- accepted as a member for the next 22 years complicated France's vision. Greece was in effect a European island with security concerns far from France's; Spain and Portugal enjoyed strong relations with Latin America and ultimately the United States; Austria, Finland and Sweden -- all officially neutral states -- made the idea of a French-led common European security force problematic at best.
Russia and a "Greater Europe"
But what is often missed is the centrality that Moscow played in French plans, and how efforts to broaden and deepen the European Union -- a prerequisite for a stronger Europe capable of countering the United States -- made it impossible for Russia to participate in realizing French ambitions.
Paris fully understands that the United States' overwhelming economic heft -- at the beginning of 2005 the U.S. economy stood at more than $11 trillion versus the European Union's $7 trillion -- means that successfully challenging the United States requires some flavor of a "greater Europe."
Considering the dearth of options available, such an entity by default required a close strategic partnership with Russia.
In many ways a Franco-Russian partnership is a match made in heaven. The two are far enough removed from each other that they have few points of contact, and therefore few points of friction. That became even more the case with the implosion of Russian influence globally during the 1990s. Both are resentful of what they perceive as the intrusion of American power into
their backyard -- and front yard. Both feel, with considerable justification, that they would be far more powerful both at home and abroad if the United States were taken down a peg or 30.
During the Cold War, European security arrangements with the United States made any broad Franco-Russian alliance impractical. With the end of the Cold War, however, the European security dynamic changed sufficiently enough that it was possible to consider not just a Franco-Russian partnership, but perhaps even a European-Russian grouping. Despite the problems of brokering agreements among a Europe of 12, and as of 1995, 15 members, suddenly the building blocks for a larger "Europe" came tantalizingly within reach.
But two unrelated events directly linked to French efforts to strengthen Europe soon fully killed the French dream to create a rival superpower -- and both had to do with Russia.
The first occurred Jan. 2, 2002, when the European Union formally adopted the euro as the Continent's common currency. Although since that time the financial strictures undergirding the euro have been watered down and creatively interpreted, one thing that all EU states readily agree on is that post-Soviet collapse Russia is incapable of meeting the financial rigors necessary to qualify for euro membership within a human lifetime.
Since meeting those requirements is embedded within EU membership requirements, Russia is barred from EU membership because of technical reasons. In other words, assuming both Paris and Moscow were interested in solidifying an alliance under the aegis of the European Union -- which would constitute the ideal scenario for Paris given its assumption that it would lead an EU with Russia as a member -- the implementation of the common currency regime essentially rendered this economically impossible.
The second discriminating event occurred on May 1, 2004 when the EU expanded to bring in 10 Central European and Mediterranean states. Seven of the 10 states the European Union absorbed in 2004 had been directly occupied by the Russians since World War II, and none of them trust Moscow. The problem
introduced by U.K. membership was suddenly magnified tenfold, and a common Russian-French foreign policy, determined by Paris of course, is now a political impossibility.
Without the population, geographic heft and resources of Russia, Europe remains dependent on the United States for security, markets and -- via American global military commitments -- also on U.S. military force to guarantee European access to global resources and markets alike.
For all practical purposes, from the French viewpoint, the idea of a greater Europe realistically capable of challenging the United States is dead.
Of Constitutions and Betrayal
Which brings us back to the issue at hand: the French Constitution. While Paris continued to attempt to use Europe to further its geopolitical goals, it knew full well that Europe would lack the size and strength to challenge the United States in its current form without Russia's help. The question then became: How does France make due with the building blocks it has on hand?
The constitution was supposed to answer that question. As French thinking went, having a common European constitution would bind the member states into a firm alliance that paid heed to French wisdom, expertise and goals. As such, Paris pulled every string it had to put a Frenchman in charge of
putting the critical document together.
While that process was under way, however, the world threw France a curveball in the form of the 2003 Iraq war. Paris recognized straightaway that a world in which the United States could launch Iraq-style operations without consent or consequence would be a world in which France neither mattered nor was respected. Paris, feeling secure in its position as the leader of "Europe," worked with the Germans and various EU bureaucrats nominally responsible for EU foreign policy and publicly challenged the United States' motives and methods on all things Iraqi.
The result was that nearly all of the rest of Europe broke ranks with the Franco-German (and to a lesser degree, Russian) axis. In January 2003, almost a year after France took it upon itself to represent Europe as a power facing off against the United States, a host of other European countries -- Denmark, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom -- issued an open letter in the world's newspapers applauding the United States' role in Europe. The letter also opposed French efforts regarding Iraq and mocked the idea of a common European foreign policy.
Within days, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia indicated that they also would have signed the letter if asked. The Netherlands chimed in that it had wanted to sign but was concerned that it would create an appearance of European disunity.
Paris perceived the statements as betrayals of European (read: French) values and a (successful) challenge to the idea of French leadership. Suddenly, the entire European experiment had been turned on its head, and instead of Europe meekly allowing France to wax philosophic about the wonders of Parisian culture and statesmanship, a very different "Europe" began to take shape. That Europe became codified into the document the French will consider May 29.
In this Europe, foreign policy would be largely relegated to the hands of each member state. Common European positions could be crafted, but they would first have to receive unanimous support from the 25 EU members. Estonia or Hungary could counter French efforts to ally with Russia. Cyprus or Greece could block French efforts to court Turkey. Bulgaria or the United Kingdom could halt French efforts to isolate the United States. Suddenly, instead of an enabler, the European Union had become a cage.
And the cage has a mind of its own. The French statist/socialist model (still highly popular among the French) always has clashed with Anglo-style capitalism, which more closely resembles American economic practices. Nearly all of the states that joined in 2004, as well as Bulgaria and Romania who will join in 2007, fall on the side of the United Kingdom in thinking. Combined with a European Commission that took office in late 2004, Paris finds its entire economic model under constant criticism. And unlike the realm of foreign policy, EU economic initiatives do not require a unanimous vote -- except in issues of taxation, a category where high French taxes put French business at a permanent disadvantage.
As such, the constitution put before the French populace in the May 29 referendum represents the worst of all worlds for France.
It constitutionally isolates France within a union of broadly pro-American states, it gives other states the potential to impose on France what the French perceive as a hostile economic structure and it essentially destroys any hope France once had for forming a French-led union.
No wonder then that the French are hesitant about voting for the
constitution. Doing so not only would put them on the defensive within Europe, it would consign dreams of global influence to history's proverbial dustbin.
Making matters even worse (yes, it can get worse), rejecting the
constitution would not help. Should any single state -- say, France -- vote no, the constitution will not take effect. This would mean that existing EU treaty law, which the constitution would have superceded, would remain intact. The voting provisions laid out by the Nice Treaty represent the most
important provisions a no vote would preserve.
To be approved, the constitution demands that decisions be approved by 55 percent of the European Union's states representing at least 65 percent of the European Union's population. Under such an arrangement, France and Germany voting together could be overruled, but it would take near EU
unanimity to do so.
Under Nice, however, the smaller states have far more power in proportion to their populations. Spain, for example, has 27 votes to France's 29, despite only having 41 million people to France's 59 million. As the states get smaller, the distortion grows. The three Baltic states and the Czech Republic -- with a combined population of less than 20 million -- voting together wield as many votes as the proud Fifth Republic.
The European Union has now become too large to be safely controlled, and too hostile to French aspirations to be trusted. The French truly are damned whether they do or do not. *sniff*
#1
Couldn't happen to a more arrogant, deserving country.
Posted by: too true ||
05/22/2005 10:24 Comments ||
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#2
Many pundits have attributed the lack of French enthusiasm for the constitution to the love deficit they feel toward the current government.
Love deficit---That's rich!
In fact, French agonizing is so acute that Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, currently wearing the mantle of the EU presidency, resorted April 19 to saying that the French should vote for the constitution if for no other reason than because the Americans want them to vote no.
Hey, guyz 'n' galz. Vote any way you like. It's your gig. Just think about what you have for glue to hold your little confederation together. It will take more than a multi-hundred page ops manual constitution to do the trick. We in the US had quite the document and we still fought a civil war over it....but we are still here. Welcome to the major leagues.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/22/2005 11:03 Comments ||
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Anybody who thinks Chirac's government will allow a straight, un-fixed referendum hasn't been, y'know' paying attention. They're running scared, and the ballot boxes are looking nervous.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Keeping in mind this is the PakiWaki Daily Times... I think there's a toddler tantrum in progress. So India must repay France for their support for a UNSC seat, the chances of which are extremely small, by buying French products - or else. Nothing subtle or sophisticated about this - pure straightforward unilateral barbarian-style extortion.
So whaddya say, India? Feel like teaming up with this fast-fading light in the rear-view mirror of history? Looking kinda dhim, to me.
#2
And france shows once again that they are a nation to be bought and sold, just like the bar girls in Paris. Literally selling seats at the UN, what next? Will they sell the prime ministers seat to soddies for oil? We would probably all be better off.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
05/22/2005 9:43 Comments ||
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hey, it worked for France wrt Turkey and the invasion of Iraq - why shouldn't they try with India too.
Posted by: too true ||
05/22/2005 10:26 Comments ||
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#4
It really is true that the French will always cut off their nose to spite their face. I find it hilarious that they will sell some country something on day 1, insult them on day 2, sell to their enemy on day 3, the act insulted when on day 4 the first country tells them to kiss off.
ThinkSECURE Pte Ltd, a leading information and communication technology security consultancy in Singapore, is organising a unique tournament this August aimed at highlighting the importance of securing wireless networks. The tournament requires the participant to hack into a purpose-built wireless network that uses the 802.11 and Bluetooth interface, and steal information from the computers connected to it.
Wireless networks using 802.11 and Bluetooth are common in today's corporate environment, said ThinkSECURE chief operating officer Julian Ho. The faster they can conduct a successful penetration against this target infrastructure, the more points they score.
"This is an actual wireless hacking contest against a purpose-built multiple network and server infrastructure, just like what you would find in real world organisations," he said.
The tournament would be held on Aug 19 at Suntec International Convention & Exhibition Centre and participants will have to bring their own laptops and wireless client adapters, as well as a CAT5 cable and a virtual private network (VPN) client. Only 25 teams comprising two members each will be selected for the competition.
#2
Lemme guess...they offer a hack target, which is a machine with all services turned off. Been there, done that...
Hackers aren't what they used to be. The stereotype of the teen in mom's house is outdated. These days, they're underemployed or unemployed IT workers from Russia, China, or India. And they're being paid $200/month by Ivan the organized crime figure, and they love it. And Ivan's best customer is the government.
This looks like it's clipped from another story, the "he" in question is a diplomat ...
He said the KNU, KNPP, SSA-S and the NCGUB have no capability to bomb Rangoon nor would they get any immediate benefit from it, though some of their members who hate the regime or need money have actually joined the extremists there.
According to the diplomat, the Communist Party of Burma (CPB), which announced a few months ago the plan for a nation-wide uprising in Burma called "Demo-2006", can be left out because their Chinese friends wouldn't allow them to commit such an atrocity against innocent citizens or a Thai target. Moreover, a senior cadre of the CPB used to denounce attacks by the VBSW or any other group against civilian targets, branding them "acts of terrorism."
As for the al-Qaeda or any other Middle Eastern terrorist group, those can be eliminated as well, despite a recent report that some Burmese Muslims want to ``hit'' Thai interests in Burma to get revenge for the ``oppressed'' Muslims in southern Thailand. The diplomat concluded that there was also a possibility that a new radical opposition group was responsible.
This view was shared by Pascale Trouillaud, who wrote in an article for Agence France Presse on May 8: "Among the possible explanations proposed by analysts were that the blasts were set by radical ethnic fighters from the border areas."
An article posted on Irrawaddy's website a few days later said: "One theory being advanced is that a new radical group has arisen, with no ties to mainstream movements.''
``This would be an entirely new threat,'' said one veteran journalist in Rangoon. ``Such a new group could have found support and expertise outside Burma and might have planted the bombs as a message to the regime."
One opposition leader also claimed that a new group "like" the VBSW might be responsible for the bombings in Rangoon and in other parts of Burma.
According to several exile sources, a new top-secret group consisting of several anti-SPDC groups' members has quietly established cells inside Burma and is ready to strike anywhere and at anytime. "It is an issue that nobody really wants to talk about, and it will be always denied because of a fear of retaliation from their handlers," said one of the sources.
In his first public comment on the probe into the May 7 bombings, SPDC Information Minister Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan said on May 16 that it is crystal clear that the terrorists who detonated three time bombs in three busy shopping places in Yangon received ``training on explosives conducted with foreigner experts at a place in a neighboring country by a world famous organisation of a certain big nation.''
An exile leader said that he was obviously referring to Thailand, the Central Intelligence Agency and the United States.
He added: "From what Kyaw Hsan said and what I know, it is clear to me that the SPDC intelligence has been terminated after Khin Nyunt's dismissal, when the SPDC abolished his Military Intelligence network and replaced it with the Office of Military Affairs Security."
Kyaw Hsan also claimed that the explosive known as RDX (Research Department Explosives) was found at the blast sites.
"RDX cannot be produced in Myanmar. It is produced in `big power' nations. RDX is the ideal cordite produced in such nations and used by their armies. Moreover, RDX is found to be used in a neighboring country. RDX is not easily available. It can be obtained only through the special assistance of armed organisations."
However, a source familiar with military issues in Burma said that if RDX was really used in the Rangoon blasts, then the culprits were most likely ``from within the military, because Burma has been importing RDX from China to manufacture explosives for its military.''
A senior editor of a Rangoon-based newspaper shared his insights on the present situation inside Burma on the condition of anonymity:``Whether it is the SPDC themselves, Khin Nyunt's people or extremists from the ranks of the opposition armed or ceasefire groups_all have a strong motive and all have the ability to access war materials to commit the bombings we have witnessed in our country in the past few weeks.
``Therefore, none of these groups should be exempt from a list of potential suspects, and until the wrongdoers are addressed and compelling evidence against them presented, we can only speculate about who are the terrorists.
``I have a message to them, whoever they are: To kill, maim or injure innocent civilians or to destroy their property won't do any good to anyone, but will only prolong the transformation of Burma to democracy and prosperity.''
According to the senior editor , the atmosphere in the capital is quite tense; many shops and businesses are still closed and people are staying at home. People in other parts of the country are also affected, as there have also been bombs outside Rangoon in past weeks.
One such incident widely reported in the international press was the explosion of a time bomb hidden in a polythene bag at the busy Zaygyo Market in Burma's second largest city, Mandalay, shortly after 4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 26. Two women were killed and 15 others, also mostly women, were injured. The state-run media said rebels carried out the attack, but the reports didn't name which group.
And in the latest attack, a bomb exploded in the early morning hours of May 12 at a bridge near Minhla Township, Magwe Division, in central Burma. No casualties were reported and it is still not known what kind of bomb was used or whether it was connected to the blasts in Mandalay and Rangoon.
"No wonder people are scared and there are rumours spreading predicting more attacks," concluded the senior editor.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/22/2005 00:06 ||
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NASA, in collaboration with the Florida Space Research Institute (FSRI), announced Thursday a new Centennial Challenges prize competition.
The MoonROx (Moon Regolith Oxygen) challenge will award $250,000 to the first team that can extract breathable oxygen from simulated lunar soil before the prize expires on June 1, 2008.
For the MoonROx challenge, teams must develop hardware within mass and power limits that can extract at least five kilograms of breathable oxygen from simulated lunar soil during an eight-hour period.
The soil simulant, called JSC-1, is derived from volcanic ash. The oxygen production goals represent technologies that are beyond existing state-of-the-art.
NASA's Centennial Challenges promotes technical innovation through a novel program of prize competitions. It is designed to tap the nation's ingenuity to make revolutionary advances to support the Vision for Space Exploration and NASA goals.
"The use of resources on other worlds is a key element of the Vision for Space Exploration," said NASA's Associate Administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, Craig Steidle.
"This challenge will reach out to inventors who can help us achieve the Vision sooner," he added.
"This is our third prize competition, and the Centennial Challenges program is getting more and more exciting with each new announcement. The innovations from this competition will help support long-duration, human and robotic exploration of the moon and other worlds," said Brant Sponberg, NASA's Centennial Challenges program manager.
"Oxygen extraction technologies will be critical for both robotic and human missions to the moon," said FSRI Executive Director Sam Durrance.
"Like other space-focused prize competitions, the MoonROx challenge will encourage a broad community of innovators to develop technologies that expand our capabilities," he added.
The Centennial Challenges program is managed by NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. FSRI is a state-wide center for space research. It was established by Florida's governor and legislature in 1999.
Thank you for contacting us about Indra Nooyi's recent commencement speech at Columbia University, which has created a difficult situation.
Please know how sorry we are for disappointing you - and how much we appreciate your input. Feedback such as yours has been shared directly with Indra, and she clearly regrets this unfortunate episode. With that in mind, Indra has asked us to share this statement with you:
"Following my remarks to the graduating class of Columbia University's Business School in New York City, I have come to realize that my words and examples about America unintentionally depicted our country negatively and hurt people.
I appreciate the honest comments that have been shared with me since then, and am deeply sorry for offending anyone. I love America unshakably -- without hesitation -- and am extremely grateful for the opportunities and support our great nation has always provided me.
"Over the years I've witnessed and advised others how a thoughtless gesture or comment can hurt good, caring people. Regrettably, I've proven my own point. Please accept my sincere apologies."
-- Indra Nooyi
Thanks once more for taking the time to contact us here at PepsiCo. We truly value your very conscientious point of view, and promise to work just as diligently at regaining your trust and confidence.
Sincerely,
PepsiCo
Posted by: Tom ||
05/22/2005 17:12 ||
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#1
Indra Nooyi, well thats a start...in the future please STFU and keep your moonbat shares to yourself.
#2
"unintentionally depicted our country negatively"
Total bullshit. No one over the age of 15 could construe it otherwise. Disingenuous corporate wagon-circling ass coverage. Fuck off clown. All your products are shit-listed. I hope Pepsico (and all the rest of Corp America, in fact) clears the decks and requires senior management to have some damned native Common Sense, instead of the pointless exercise of sitting through bullshit PC and sensitivity courses. I.E. Declare that Moonbats Need Not Apply. BTW, I particularly enjoyed the bits about loving your adopted country in the other release. That was very touching claptrap. Really top notch.
#5
I got the same e-mail. I don't think they quite get it. Could one of you financial types keep an eye on PepsiCo's sales figures and stock price for this next little while, and report back? Not really WOT stuff, I know, but it would be good to know if this really will have an impact. Thanks! (I'd do it, but you really don't want me trying to figure out things financial -- Mr. Wife despairs of me, poor man.)
#6
tw - Here's a link where you can check Pepsico (NYSE Symbol: PEP) and chick chart to see trend. They're on a nice upswing right now. Wouldn't want to be a shareholder...
A. A type of flu that normally infects only birds. But sometimes the virus changes and jumps to other species, including pigs and humans. Scientists are calling this strain hitting Asia H5N1.
Q. Where and when was H5N1 first detected?
A. In Hong Kong in 1997. But it reappeared in Asia in late 2003.
Q. How many people have been infected with H5N1 since 2003?
A. At least 92, killing 36 Vietnamese, 12 Thais and four Cambodians.
Q. How many birds have died of H5N1 or have been culled?
A. More than 100 million.
Q. How many people have caught H5N1 from other people?
A. Scientists have been able to confirm only two cases — involving an 11-year-old Thai girl who infected her mother and aunt.
Q. Why are officials so worried about H5N1?
A. It is showing signs of mutating into a strain that could cause a worldwide epidemic, or pandemic, in people. It has also been found in pigs, which can carry both human and avian viruses. This means pigs can act as mixing vessels where the two types can swap genes and create virulent new strains.
Q. How many flu pandemics have there been in the past century?
A. Three. The 1918 Spanish flu killed 20 million to 50 million people. The 1957 Asian flu killed 1 million to 4 million. The 1968 Hong Kong flu killed about 1 million. All three pandemics were caused by viruses that originated in birds.
#1
Q. How many people think two confirmed cases is a small number to panic over?
A. Everyone except the people who want more funds.
Q. What is the meaning of the series 20-50 million, 1-4 million, 1 million?
A. It means that most deaths occur due to post-flu complications like bacterial infections that were not treatable in 1918 but are treatable now.
Posted by: Tom ||
05/22/2005 21:23 Comments ||
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#2
Well, the Spanish Flu of 1918-1919 killed people in hours, many documented cases, and targeted the young adults, the healtiest among the populations. Neither of those are indicative of bacteria in the least. I have been fascinated by the Spanish Flu pandemic since I was a kid - and read tons about it. It was the real deal. If there had been common global air travel back then or if it were to break out again, almost no acquired immunities left in the population, as I understand it, the effects would be mind boggling. Beyond horrific. The PBS documentary on it interviewed elderly folks who had been children at the time. This was blood-curdling stuff and the facts published at the time verified their recollections. Just FYI, no dissin' intended, bro. I have no interaction with the other two outbreaks - I was esconced in the Saudi Litter Box on both occasions. Nothing survived the desert, including me... ;-)
Convinced it's only a matter of time before a new flu strain capable of killing millions reaches New York, city health officials have started drawing up a crisis plan, the Daily News has learned.
Infectious-disease experts at the Health Department have been meeting every two weeks to prepare a strategy for protecting the city against diseases such as the Asian bird flu, or H5N1, which many scientists believe is just one crucial mutation away from turning into a monster malady.
The written blueprint, which officials expect to complete before the next flu season starts in late fall, spells out how the agency will tackle potentially controversial measures.
The issues addressed include how to handle quarantines, test virus samples for new strains, cope with overcrowded hospitals and ration lifesaving vaccines and other treatments.
"It's very high on our priority list," said Dr. Isaac Weisfuse, the city's deputy commissioner of disease control who is spearheading New York's pandemic plan. "This is clearly an issue that we're concerned about."
Officials are honing the plan as more and more evidence suggests H5N1 is evolving rapidly since it reappeared in Asia with a vengeance in late 2003.
The World Health Organization unveiled an alarming report Wednesday indicating the virus is becoming more contagious - from birds to people and possibly even among people.
But critics say the city's plan may not go far enough, particularly if it counts on a share of the meager federal stockpile of Tamiflu, the antiviral drug that is the only known treatment against bird flu, also known as avian influenza.
"It's irresponsible that we are not stockpiling more of the antivirals," said Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), a member of the congressional committee that overseas federal health agencies.
"We could really fail to adequately respond if there is a pandemic."
Federal authorities have purchased 2.3 million doses of Tamiflu - barely enough to treat 1% of Americans. Antivirals can reduce the severity of an illness and lower the infectiousness of people with the flu.
Britain, France and New Zealand have ordered enough Tamiflu to cover up to 20% of their populations, with Canada covering about 17%, according to Roche, the Swiss-based maker. Roche plans to open more plants in the United States by this fall and has fulfilled all orders, company spokesman Terence Hurley said.
Even before Britain placed its order, London officials independently bought about 100,000 doses of Tamiflu for its police, fire and transit workers after WHO issued a sobering warning about the growing threat of a pandemic.
New York officials said the city has not decided whether to stockpile Tamiflu, and cited major obstacles to stockpiling.
Because a pandemic can last up to two years, "we would have to buy a tremendous amount of Tamiflu because you would have to continually give it," Weisfuse said. "You're looking at a fairly major investment."
It costs about $2 million for 100,000 doses.
Also, there is no consensus among public health officials on how to use antivirals during a pandemic and who should get priority when supplies are limited, Weisfuse said.
But independent experts said city officials may be walking a fine line - trying not to upstage federal counterparts, whom they have to lean on in times of crisis.
Dr. Martin Blaser, president-elect of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, an association of physicians, agreed that details on how and when to use Tamiflu must be resolved.
"But the bottom line is that it is a good idea to stockpile it in some reasonable amount," he said. "Should New York City have its own supply? Probably so."
Lowey put it more bluntly:
"You can't play nice-nice when it comes to people's health and their lives. States and cities have to take the initiative to protect their own populations."
A pilot bird-flu vaccine is in clinical trials at the National Institutes of Health. But large-scale production of any new vaccine would take at least six months once an epidemic breaks out...
#2
Its a balance of probabilities as to when a pandemic occurs, although probably not if. Every new strain of this type (3 of them) we know about has gone pandemic. In my view it has already started. A couple of things. Tamiflu resistance has already occured in Vietnam and the Tamiflu stockpiles may prove to be useless. H5N1 was present in India in 2001/2002 and was carried by migrating birds to East Asia.
#3
Gleling Greatle9407: Don't jump the gun. They've as much as come out and said it won't be this flu season. They plan to change the method of vaccination when it does hit from the standard "old people, infirm and infants" to "school aged children (the biggest communicators), and blanket vaccinations for outbreak areas"; which is actually the *old* way of doing things, statistically better in an epidemic. However, the US's lead time from Asia for the flu to hit has been radically reduced, so we could get the full-blown epidemic of highly-lethal avian strain almost as soon as it breaks out into the Asian population. As far as "crying wolf", there have been concerns about the next "killer flu" since the 1980s, after the false start with the "swine flu" in the Ford Adminstration, which *didn't* kill around 500,000 Americans *only* because it mutated to a less harmful strain just before it hit the US.
#5
Regardless when (if) a flu pandemic occurs, this kind of planning is good for any kind of mass infection, including terrorist-caused.
One question I haven't seen addressed in posting here, and admittedly I've been lazy and haven't searched out the information, is how long the tamiflu antiviral can be stored without losing its effectiveness. Lots of meds have a one- two- or three-year effectiveness period under ideal storage conditions. And, NYC has an awful lot of running expenses, and very little spare money to throw away if the epidemic doesn't occur.
I guess what I'm asking is, compared to all the other high priority burgeoning emergencies, what is the real risk of a flu pandemic, as compared to risks of something really ugly landing in a shipping container in New York Harbor, or a bomb being set off in the subway?
Federal regulators voted Thursday to require that Internet phone service providers connect their customers to the same emergency 911 capabilities as callers with traditional services. The Federal Communications Commission gave providers four months to comply. It was left up to the providers to determine how to meet the new requirement for the service, known as Voice Over Internet Protocol. Failure to comply would subject companies to FCC enforcement actions, including fines and cease and desist court orders...
ADMIRAL NELSON saw off the mighty Franco-Spanish fleet at the battle of Trafalgar but 200 years on, he has been sunk by a wave of political correctness. Organisers of a re-enactment to mark the bicentenary of the battle next month have decided it should be between "a Red Fleet and a Blue Fleet" not British and French/Spanish forces. Otherwise they fear visiting dignitaries, particularly the French, would be embarrassed at seeing their side routed.
Even the official literature has been toned down. It describes the re-enactment not as the battle of Trafalgar but simply as "an early 19th-century sea battle". A host of French dignitaries will attend the event, which will take place off Southsea near Portsmouth, the home of Nelson's fleet. The aim is to create a spectacular "son et lumiere" re-enactment with pyrotechnics, lights and effects from barges in the Solent. Tall ships will create the illusion of a real battle. But the organisers of the event confirmed last week that there would be no national "sides", a fact that has surprised some of the event's sponsors. One said: "It seems remarkable that we are not saying this is Britain versus France in this re-enactment. Surely 200 years on, we can afford to gloat a bit. Not even the French can try and get snooty about this."
#1
This is crazy. Veterans of Iwo Jima, both Marines and Japanese, have met on the island for a reunion or two without either group getting their nose out of joint or fistfights breaking out. Someone correct me if I am mistaken but we really hated each other then. Actually, 'hate' is putting it mildly. I doesn't get any more brutal or inhuman than it was there.
AFAIK, we didn't refer to the Marines as 'Blue Team' or the Japanese as 'Red Team' either during those reunions.
Apparently, two mature cultures can do it.
Oh, I see the problem now. Grow up France and we might let you sit at the adult table. Or not.
#4
Buying all 20 Patrick O'Brian Aubrey/Maturin books too, Angie?
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
05/22/2005 20:48 Comments ||
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#5
I don't think Angie was hoping to buy them herself LOL
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/22/2005 21:34 Comments ||
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#6
I'm asking my boyfriend for them, is what I meant to say. The "no reason" comment only referred to the title of the second book, Death to the French.
I read O'Brian's The Wine-Dark Sea, and didn't like it; I thought it pretentious. I loved the movie Master and Commander, though, so I'll probably give them another try eventually.
Alexander Kent (real name: Douglas Reeman) also writes naval fiction of that era.
#7
I still love the Horatio Hornblower books. Maybe it's time to make an investment... Thanks for the idea, Angie, and Happy Birthday! in advance. Hope the boyfriend does good ;-)
Authorities have sealed off the town at the centre of an outbreak of the Ebola virus in the Congo in an attempt the stop the disease from spreading. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has placed the town of Etoumbi in north-western Congo under quarantine. Nothing is allowed in or out unless specially treated. Food is expected to be delivered today. Nine people have died so far in the outbreak which began about two weeks ago. It is believed that people became sick after eating a dead monkey that they found in the forest. Such meat remains a delicacy in the area despite warnings from health workers that it can be diseased. In the same region in 2003, 120 people died of Ebola.
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.
Death could become a thing of the past by the mid-21st century as computer technology becomes sophisticated enough for the contents of a brain to be "downloaded" onto a supercomputer, according to a leading British futurologist.
An American toilet manufacturer is currently designing a new model that will "flush the bulkiest of Korans," sources said yesterday. A spokesman for Krap King, Inc. said the company would have the new "Islamoflusher" model in stores for the spring, when Americans do their most flushing — sacred religious texts included. The new toilet would "help prevent and possibly eliminate" situations like the recent Newsweek story, which reported that American interrogators at Guantanamo Bay flushed a Koran down the toilet to "intimidate" suspected terrorists. "The toilet backed up when the Koran clogged it," said an anonymous Krap King employee. "A detainee witnessed the whole thing, and...BAM! Next thing you know, there's 17 dead and hundreds injured during anti-American rioting. Our toilet will prevent such incidents. If an interrogator puts a Koran in, that sucker ain't coming back up." 
Armed gunmen stole a government-owned helicopter before dawn on Saturday after taking three security guards hostage at an airport in eastern Venezuela, the local governor said. The Bell helicopter is the second to be stolen from the airport located in Ciudad Bolivar, about 270 miles east of Caracas, in less than a year, Francisco Rangel told the Union Radio broadcaster. Rangel said "seven to 10 people with assault rifles" boarded the helicopter and flew off after they had taken one of three security guards hostage. The gunmen released the security guards, who also stole three revolvers and two shotguns before fleeing, Rangel said. Rangel said authorities had not spotted the helicopter since it was seized, nor did they have any leads regarding suspects.
Lawmakers from Spain, Italy and Germany urged their governments on Saturday take to a tougher line with Cuba after the communist government expelled a number of Europeans ahead of an opposition rally in Havana. Spanish officials demanded that Cuba explain why two Spanish politicians were told to leave the country and a third threatened with expulsion before the rare opposition demonstration, the Foreign Ministry said Saturday. Two former Spanish senators, Isabel San Baldomero and Rosa Lopez Garnica, were expelled, as were lawmakers from Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic.
Thousands of Venezuelans demonstrated nationwide Saturday as the government demanded the extradition of a Cuban exile accused of plotting the 1976 bombing of a Cuban jet that killed 73 people. State-run television reported that thousands joined rallies at city plazas across the country to demand Washington turn over Luis Posada Carriles, now being held by U.S. immigration authorities. The state-run channel did not show images of demonstrations in other cities, and more precise crowd estimates were not available. Hundreds of President Hugo Chavez's supporters gathered in the historic Plaza Bolivar in Caracas, dancing to a band that sang one song urging the crowd to "fight against the protection of Luis Posada Carriles" by the United States. "Legally, the United States must extradite Posada Carriles, a terrorist who committed crimes in Venezuela by planning the bombing here, then escaping from jail," said Carlos Bracamente, a 48-year-old shopkeeper.
TWO teenagers accused of robbing a US bank will plead guilty and ask to serve their time in an Australian prison.
ADMIRAL NELSON saw off the mighty Franco-Spanish fleet at the battle of Trafalgar but 200 years on, he has been sunk by a wave of political correctness. Organisers of a re-enactment to mark the bicentenary of the battle next month have decided it should be between "a Red Fleet and a Blue Fleet" not British and French/Spanish forces. Otherwise they fear visiting dignitaries, particularly the French, would be embarrassed at seeing their side routed. 
Authorities have sealed off the town at the centre of an outbreak of the Ebola virus in the Congo in an attempt the stop the disease from spreading. The 
