More information on this "development" at the link
Shoppers face rising prices if the European Union's "bra wars" with China is not quickly resolved, a major British retailer warned yesterday as Brussels admitted it had blundered in the way it imposed emergency quotas.
UK retailers, including Marks & Spencer, Philip Green's BHS and Arcadia Group, Debenhams and John Lewis, in addition to Next, are reported to have been badly hit since the introduction of EU textile quotas in June, restricting imports of cheap, Chinese-made trousers, sweaters, bras and T-shirts.
Currently, there are 48 million sweaters, 17 million pairs of men's trousers, three million bras and four million T-shirts stranded in ports and warehouses.
David Keens, the finance director of fashion retailer Next, said: "There is a real possibility that prices will go up for customers. The longer that the Government takes to sort this out, the more likely it is that prices will rise."
Peter Mandelson, the European Union trade commissioner, yesterday said there had been a "serious glitch" in the way the import curbs had been drawn up and implemented, as retailers and importers accused the European Commission of wreaking havoc on business.
The stand-off has led to widespread fears that shops may run short of autumn clothing, or that prices may have to rise. Mr Keens warned that the crisis could become particularly acute by Christmas if the items remained blocked in warehouses and ports.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/24/2005 20:42 ||
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U.S. military computer networks are under constant attack. And the rate of attack is skyrocketing, from 300 in 2003 to more than 75,000 last year. "Our adversaries are able to inflict a substantial amount of harassment and a measurable amount of damage upon DOD communications networks at practically no cost to themselves," says the director of technology for the military group responsible for defending networks.
So who is our adversary? Who is checking constantly for ways to breach Defense systems and learn about classified military plans? Al Qaeda? China, according to an article today on FCW.com. The article quotes former Army chief of staff Jack Keane:
"The Chinese were doing this on a regular basis. Thatâs a given. Theyâre very aggressively getting capability. Itâs common knowledge in the Pentagon."
One Army officer says a Trojan horse virus was used to breach a system and download information about the capabilities of a future Army command and control system "for eight months before the service detected a security breach."
DOD officials think can contain 90% of the attacks through better procedures but as many as 10% of attacks may get through because of advanced hacking procedures.
#1
Advanced hacking procedures, my ass. More like the natural result when you put Windows systems in a mission-critical environment.
Of course, the fact that the attacks are coming from Chinese IP ranges means that the Chinese are behind it. It is trivial to cloak one's identity on the internet. I do it all the time, myself.
Bangkok - Thailand's prime minister is trying to ferret out a government minister who allegedly had a penis enlargement procedure, saying news of it is affecting the cabinet's reputation, a news report said on Wednesday.
"Who did it? Tell me," Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told his ministers at Tuesday's cabinet meeting, triggering a round of banter and causing some to squirm in their chairs, The Nation newspaper said.
Last week, a woman - being sued for defamation by a clinic after she claimed it gave her a face-disfiguring silicon injection - said a cabinet member had received a penis-enlargement injection at the same clinic and urged him to come forward as a witness in her defence.
Calling on the official through reporters on the steps of Government House on Tuesday, the woman, Rawiwan Setharat, said, "The problem of my face is bigger than the problem of your penis."
"This has affected the reputation of the cabinet, because the news went around the world. I don't want the people to think the cabinet members are obsessed with this kind of thing," the newspaper quoted Thaksin as telling his ministers.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Agriculture Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said no one had admitted to the enlargement procedure. Other ministers joked about various suggestions on how he could be identified.
The General Confederation of Peruvian Workers (CGTP) has announced that it will hold a demonstration march on 25 August 2005 to protest against the appointment of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski as prime minister, alleging that he represents the continuation of neo-liberal economic policies. Demonstrators will reportedly march to the congressional building in downtown Lima. Thousands of people are expected to take part in the demonstration. They seem to have this odd habit of selecting leaders based on ability, rather than ethnic group.
#4
Ok, guys. When you get your GDP per capita up with the US, we will listen to you. Until then, have a cookie and go play with your toy soldiers. Play nice or we will break 'em and put you in time out.
#5
I know it's a bit much to ask for this in addition to your already generous offer, but how about including airfare in there so we can send the "poor" over to you?
Posted by: Dar ||
08/24/2005 9:47 Comments ||
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#6
Pleave Chavez/Castro, good idea. I'd love to see how the capitalist poor in the US make a big profit reselling your handout gas and proving that commies have no grasp of economics at all.
#10
In the old days, a lot of the oil producing countries would be able to sell gasoline much more cheaply domestically than overseas; part of this was because of the way OPEC's quotas were set up. In many of these countries, the cheap gas was being sold at cost, and in others, it was being sold at below costs. The former was formerly the case in Venezuela, but more recently the latter is the case, since Chavez has raided first PDVSA's recapitalization funds and more recently its foreign exchange funds, both of which have caused production to drop and production costs to go up.
This not a off the wall statement from Chavez. Citgo Gas is a Venezuelan company. When Chavez came to power, he replaced all of the Citgo US board members with people sympathetic to him. He can deliver what he is saying. We need to take him serious, he is not a nut job.
His strategy is to create split sympathy within the US. The way the gas prices are going, there are plenty of ignorant/uninformed people that will put themselves first and their country second.
Also, Chavez's other strategy will be make a deal before the 2008 elections with Democratic Party. The plan is: The Democratic front runner will promise the American people lower gas prices. Remember, the deal all has already been cut. Chavez will dramatically increase the oil output once a Democrat President is elected, as part of the pre-determined deal. The combination of increased oil output from Chavez and releasing strategic oil revenue's from Louisiana, it would seem on the surface that the Democrats have reduced gas prices.
What's in it for Chavez, well, Chavez gets to continue his dictatorship and allow the Iranians to continue to build terrorist bases in his country.
The truth is that the Democrats will have sold this country down the river, once again, all because of their never ending lust for power.
This is why I go out of my way NOT to fill my tank with Citgo Gas.
#16
Poison Reverse
very imaganative conspiracy theory?
Posted by: bk ||
08/24/2005 11:15 Comments ||
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#17
bk,
Not so imaginative my liberal opponent. There is documented proof that Clinton sold advanced gyro technology to China for campaign contributions. BTW, you may want to use spell check, next time.
Your fellow Democrats will exploit anything for power and that's a fact.
In a way, it is imaginative, due to, that there won't be a Democratic President for a long time.
#18
PR, if you have documentation for the allegation that Democrats will/have made a deal with Chavez, that being cheap gasoline in exchange for a Democrat in 2008, I'd like to see it. Provide me with a link, etc.
Otherwise I'm pretty skeptical. Such a deal, made public (..."Dr. White, I have a Mr. K. Rove holding on line 4 ...") would skewer the Dems. Howard Dean is a nut but neither he nor the rest of the DNC is that stupid.
Documentation?
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/24/2005 11:37 Comments ||
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#19
Besides, the Dems stole the idea from Karl in the '04 election. Except Kerry figgered it out, so the Bush/Saudi plan for lower prices was never implemented. Never needed, either, to re-elect W.
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/24/2005 12:08 Comments ||
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#20
Such a deal, made public...
Would instantly disappear down the memory hole along with all the reports of Iraq cooperating with terrorism, insane comments made by lefty favorites, and the Democrats' history on race.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/24/2005 12:11 Comments ||
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#21
Right now. I only have circumstantial evidence. I know in the past that Clinton sold top secret technology to China, Clinton released oil reserves while he was President, and the Democrats will do exploit anything to get power back.
Even if my theory were to take place, we won't find out until many years afterwards. Remember, the Gorelick wall was just recently made public. I won't have documentation for many, many years.
My theory is based on current and past actions Anti-American Left, my theory, although I do not have docs, is not exaclty pie in the sky. You say that the Dems can't be that stupid. Oh, I think they can because they feel they can get away with it, everytime. The MSM will protect them. Most of the public can care less how the gas prices went low, they just want it low.
If the Democrats can be caught red handed selling missile tech to China, stealing from originals from top secret archives, and could have prevented 9/11 by not putting up a wall and NOT one indictment, then my theory is really not all that off base.
#22
For those who think PR's theory is crazy, just remember that Chavez is, in no small part, president of Venezuela due to the certification of his election as "free and fair" by the Carter Center. Without their certification, he could well have been considered as untouchable as Kimmie or the Mullahs, but the Carter Center gave him international legitimacy in the eyes of libs (and govs)everywhere.
In effect, our Democratic Party put him in power, in 2008 he will return the favor.
#23
The following are facts about persons defined as "poor" by the Census Bureau, taken from various government reports:
â Forty-six percent of all poor households own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and porch or patio.
â Seventy-six percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, 30 years ago, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.
â Only 6 percent of poor households are overcrowded. More than two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.
â The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens and other European cities. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)
â Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 30 percent own two or more cars.
â Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television. Over half own two or more color televisions.
â Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.
â Seventy-three percent own a microwave oven, more than half have a stereo, and a third have an automatic dishwasher.
Overall, the typical American defined as poor by the government has a car, air conditioning, a refrigerator, a stove, a clothes washer and dryer, and a microwave. He has two color televisions, cable or satellite TV reception, a VCR or DVD player, and a stereo. He is able to obtain medical care. His home is in good repair and is not overcrowded. By his own report, his family isn't hungry, and he had sufficient funds in the past year to meet his family's essential needs. While this individual's life is not opulent, it is equally far from the popular images of dire poverty conveyed by the press, activists and politicians.
#24
Oil is a global comodity. If Chavez tries to sell it to the US it will just be resold where the price is greatest. When Clinton released heating oil from the reserves it ended up in Europe. That is the way things go.
A Democrat could try to play off that they have the ability to change the laws of supply and demand but only fools would believe them and those fools tend to vote Democrat already.
WASHINGTON - The United States on Tuesday distanced itself from a call by prominent religious broadcaster Pat Robertson for Washington to assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
The conservative televangelistâs comments outraged Venezuelan authorities, who expressed concern about Chavezâs safety when he travels to the UN General Assembly in New York next month.
Speaking from Cuba, Chavez downplayed the remarks, saying he had more important things to deal with. âI donât know who this person is, and I donât know him. In my view, it is neither here nor there,â he said. âWe take care of ourselves when we have to. I am here to talk about life, there are more important things,â said the normally effusive Chavez.
âI would say that Pat Robertson is a private citizen and that his views do not represent the policy of the United States,â State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters, describing the TV preacherâs comments as âinappropriate.â
âAs we have said before, any allegations that we are planning to take hostile action against the Venezuelan government are completely baseless and without fact,â McCormack added.
"But we wouldn't mind watching the little bastard squirm," he muttered under his breath.
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld denied that the Pentagon has considered assassinating the leftist president. âOur department doesnât do that type of thing,â Rumsfeld said.
"We have more ... direct ... ways," he added.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez called Robertsonâs comments a âpublic crimeâ that should be investigated by US authorities. âPat Robertsonâs statement must be condemned in the strongest term by the Bush administration and we are concerned about the safety of our president,â Venezuelaâs ambassador to Washington, Bernardo Alvarez Herrera, said in a news conference.
âIt is essential that the US government guarantees his safety when he visits this country in the future, including his scheduled visit to the United Nations in New York,â Alvarez Herrera said.
We do that as a matter of course. But perhaps we could induce some of the visiting party to defect. That's always fun.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/24/2005 00:20 ||
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#1
âAs we have said before, any allegations that we are planning to take hostile action against the Venezuelan government are completely baseless and without fact,â McCormack added.
So does the denial mean that we are already taking hostile actions against the Venezuelan government as we speak [or type]? Execution of a plan occurs after the planning stage.
#2
Anyone notice the press is more interested in an idiot on the right calling for the assassination of a third-world dictator than in leftist idiots calling for the assassination of the president?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/24/2005 7:26 Comments ||
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#3
Hear, hear, RC! All that was missing in that article was the standard "right-wing, religious right."
Posted by: BA ||
08/24/2005 8:25 Comments ||
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#4
Would I be in trouble if I add "works for me" like a certain Leftist radio network?
#8
Pat forgot to include the big puppet[tm] of Chavez in his speech. Top that with not doing it in Spanish [thus excluding most of the MSM covering it] and not having useful agents hold signs in Spanish proclaiming the act, Pat loses big point both in style and execution. 3/3.
Looks like the PLA is building up its force projection capabilities. For the doubters out there, the Japanese economy was about 1/10 the US economy when WWII broke out. But the Imperial Japanese Navy blasted the combined European and American navies in East Asia out of the water at the outset of WWII. This bears watching.
China has taken another step toward seeking to project maritime power far beyond its shores, by painting naval markings on a former Soviet aircraft carrier that it originally purchased as a floating casino. According to a report in a recent issue of Jane's Defence Weekly, shipyard workers in the northeastern city of Dalian have been repairing the badly damaged Varyag in a fresh sign that the Chinese navy is once again pursuing its goal of developing a working aircraft carrier.
That is further evidence that China's leaders are miscalculating, by wanting too much too soon and pursuing a muddled maritime strategy that is likely to backfire. China's former paramount leader, Deng Xiaoping, must be spinning in his grave. Comprehending that the Soviet Union could not sustain vast military spending on the basis of a command economy, he set China on a different course. Deng intended to build up China's wealth and power by means of engagement with market forces, while ensuring that the Communist Party remained in control.
But Deng intended to do so gradually, since he was astute enough to realize that moving too quickly in this direction would only frighten other countries into forming a counterbalancing coalition. As a veteran political commissar in the military, and Long March veteran, Deng was able to insist that military modernization be the last of China's "four modernizations." But his successors, engineer-bureaucrats lacking military experience, do not possess Deng's wisdom or his cachet with the military. And now the rebuilding of the Varyag will set alarm bells ringing that it could become the first in a fleet of Chinese aircraft carriers.
The Varyag was one of two full-deck aircraft carriers the Soviet Union was building when the Cold War ended. It was designed to carry the naval variant of the Sukhoi-27 fighter aircraft (which China now produces under license). Sold to China ostensibly for use as a floating casino, the Varyag soon ended up in its present location -- a naval shipyard in Dalian.
China has been showing signs of interest in aircraft carriers for some time. In 1985, it bought the old Australian carrier Melbourne, ostensibly for scrap. The Melbourne was eventually broken up, but not until it had been extensively studied, and a replica flight deck built for Chinese pilots to practice carrier take offs and landings. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, China bought two Kiev-class carriers, Minsk and Kiev. Although kept in amusement parks in Chinese ports, these are sure to have been scrutinized by Chinese military experts.
Judging from the latest activity in Dalian, China now seems bent on repeating the mistakes of the "risk fleets" of Germany's Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz before World War I, and Soviet Admiral Sergei Gorshkov in the 1970s. Neither Tirpitz nor Gorshkov sought to match ship for ship the fleets of the then-dominant maritime power, respectively Britain and the United States. Rather, as continental powers with huge land armies, Germany and the Soviet Union sought to achieve hegemony over the Eurasian land mass by depriving the dominant maritime power of the ability to play its historic role of global offshore balancer. But Germany and then Russia succeeded only in provoking the formation of a counterbalancing coalition led by the dominant maritime power of the time.
Today China is seeking hegemony on a smaller scale, over the southeastern edge of Eurasia. But even that is a threat that the United States, as the dominant maritime power, cannot afford to ignore. Neither can Japan, an archipelago that needs maritime protection and which has been alarmed by more aggressive Chinese nuclear submarine activity, including an intrusion into its territorial waters and activity off Guam last November.
China's new assertiveness is already showing signs of provoking the formation of a balancing coalition led by the United States, the current dominant maritime power. Straws in the wind include the rapid improvement in strategic connections among the United States, Japan and India. Australia, another U.S. ally, has a new fleet of capable conventional submarines as well as strike aircraft.
Until recently, Chinese naval strategy has focused on the more modest goal of seeking to deter the U.S. navy from intervening in a Taiwan crisis. This sea-denial strategy involved building (and buying from Russia) more conventional submarines, which are better suited than nuclear submarines for operations in the shallow waters of the Taiwan Straits, while developing anti-ship cruise missile platforms and ballistic missiles with maneuverable warheads to deter the U.S.
Now by showing fresh signs of also trying to develop a carrier battle fleet capable of projecting Chinese power over great distances, something which not even the Soviet Union managed to do, Beijing is pursuing an expensive and risky goal that only serves to muddle its maritime strategy in a way that will prove counterproductive.
The best strategy for the U.S. is to stand back and let China make such a strategic error. For example, there is no need for America to counter China's more aggressive submarine activity by increasing its deployment of surface ships and nuclear submarines in the region. Rather, America should concentrate on remaining forward deployed with the right force structure to respond to the real threat -- a Chinese attempt to seize Taiwan. That includes, for example, the U.S. marines in Okinawa, who are only a 90-minute flight away from Taiwan. The best way for the U.S. to deter a Chinese attack is to show it has the capability to respond by rapidly putting forces on the ground in Taiwan and the Marine Corps., which specializes in combined-arms tactics, are ideal for this purpose.
China is also posing a maritime challenge that Japan cannot afford to ignore and which can best be met by further strengthening the U.S.-Japan alliance, with much greater emphasis on interoperability. By once again raising the specter of using aircraft carriers to deploy its power over a greater distance, China's muddled maritime strategy only serves to accelerate the development of a counterbalancing coalition to curb its military ambitions.
#1
China has taken another step toward seeking to project maritime power far beyond its shores, by painting naval markings
on a former Soviet aircraft carrier
WonTon Super Dragon..Kung poo in yr face class
Chineese Sea Noodle..Chow Mein class
SUN TZU Parte...Wot ever Floats Yer Boat class
Posted by: 500 tons of pot stickers togo ||
08/24/2005 3:22 Comments ||
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#2
TPT: WonTon Super Dragon..Kung poo in yr face class
Chineese Sea Noodle..Chow Mein class
SUN TZU Parte...Wot ever Floats Yer Boat class
Well - Robyn Lim used to be a China watcher for the Australian government (and presumably has contacts in Australian intelligence and in East Asia) and now lectures at Nagoya University. She knows the significance of naval markings and is credible enough as an authority on China to be quoted in both academic journals and major newspapers across the globe. TPT is an occasional diner at Chinese restaurants. He is presumably an expert on chow mein, noodles and wontons.
#3
I hope the ChiComs are working on their ASW skills if they plan on ever moving this thing out of port. I'd imagine there would be one or two L.A.s or a Seawolf waiting for it.
#4
Every addition to the PLAN helps nudge the US, Japan, and India together. Wouldn't it be cool to see a join CV task force of the Ronald Reagan, Akagi, and Shiva?
#5
I've always thought that a news story about US and Japanese Marines landing someplace would be something. :)
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
08/24/2005 9:26 Comments ||
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#6
China has almost no ASW skills. I would expect to see them importing Russian/Ukrainian experts in the very near future. The subs are still a hudge problem for any future Chinese power expansion since we hold all the Aces in that department.
Oh, and a little clarification about the Japanese navy. Japan had been building it for almost 30 years. They withdrew from the battleship treaty in the 20s and were building non-stop until WWII and the US blasted their ship building facilities to hell. Japan had a large, powerful and professional navy. The problem was, they couldn't replace it if they lost it, while the US could launch an aircraft carrier at will once our production rev'ed up. China has the same problem. No real production and no fall back plan if their Navy is sunk.
#7
There are reports of potential sales of Aegis radar system to Indian Navy.
In September, the USS Nimitz will join the Indian carrier INS Viraat (formerly HMS Hermes) for the annual "Malabar" exercises off Goa.
The US is demonstrating the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet which it has offered to sell to India.
Posted by: john ||
08/24/2005 9:43 Comments ||
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#8
Two thoughts (i) in a conflict over Taiwan a carrier is a huge target (ii) when it comes to defending her oil supply lines against anyone but the US a carrier could be a tremendous asset.
I imagine the carrier would be most useful parked in Singapore working with the locals to cut down on Piracy and as a threat in case the Indonesians decide to go attacking their Chinese minority again, and to look good in case of another Tsunami, and to hide in a neutral port in case of war over Taiwan.
After all, the Argie carrier BienteCynco DeMayo never left port for fear it would be sunk and that would be a blow to national prestige. A single carrier is too much of a national treasure to risk. You need a few before you can get beyond that kind of thinking.
#9
mmurray: Oh, and a little clarification about the Japanese navy. Japan had been building it for almost 30 years.
I think the Chinese are easy to underestimate. Based on the work of a single defector who worked on the Manhattan project, they built (1) ballistic missiles and (2) nuclear weapons. If they're being this overt, my feeling is that we are going to see a fleet of aircraft carriers in the next decade or so. They certainly have the cash - the Pentagon estimates that China spent $90B last year on defense. China has 3m men under arms. Assuming average payroll costs of $5,000 per person per year (far above average civilian salaries), that comes to $15B per year. That leaves about $75B for equipment acquisition and maintenance. I read somewhere that the Pentagon's budget for procurement and maintenance is just over $100B. Parts are probably a lot cheaper in China.
#10
rjschwarz: After all, the Argie carrier BienteCynco DeMayo never left port for fear it would be sunk and that would be a blow to national prestige. A single carrier is too much of a national treasure to risk. You need a few before you can get beyond that kind of thinking.
I don't think a single carrier is what China is looking at. On a purchasing power parity basis, China's economy is 15 times Argentina's, which is another way of saying that if Argentina can afford 1 carrier, China can afford 15.
I don't underestimate them. China has the potential to really do some damage to any military that sets foot on her shores. The problem is force projection. Outside of her borders, China can not bring a powerful force to bear on her enemies. This current buildup is looking to fix this deficit. The problem is whom they are buying from. Decrepit and old technology fixed up with cheap knock offs. While China is trying to modernize with imported and stolen technology, having doesn't mean understanding. While I am very sure they have some talented people reverse engineering stuff, the problem is that they are stuck on an old rev, so to speak. Our version is improving and expanding while the Chinese are busy using all their energy on trying to get the stolen stuff to work, and a lot of times the stuff they stole is 10 years old anyway. No power in the history of the world has dominated by using borrowed/stolen/bought technology. They dominate by creating and dominating a new weapon feature and making creative and innovative use of it. The Chinese are definitely creative, but not real innovative. Not much new and great tech has come out of China recently.
China may have advanced planes, ships and missiles, but they are way behind the technology power curve. They will have to rely on quantity vs. quality like all the old communist style government have, and with a wired in and more modernized populace, high body counts donât play well with domestic security.
#13
Militarily this is comic opera. Sure the Chinese Navy would like to have a carrier, and perhaps it will be able to afford one in 30 years and this is a step in that direction. But to think that this is militarily significant in our lifetimes is underestimating the expense and oversestimating the value of such an enterprise to China.
What is of interest is what this says about the internal politics of China. Is this yet another indication that China is seeking to distract the populace from internal problems by directing their atention to external bogeymen and developing the means to do something about it? If so, I hope it is having the internal effect they hope it will, because externally it is driving together an allianc e of the US, Japan and India that will be very difficult for the Chinese to deal with. But they have to do something with all those excess males they will not be able to support in their old age.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/24/2005 10:55 Comments ||
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#14
MD: Militarily this is comic opera. Sure the Chinese Navy would like to have a carrier, and perhaps it will be able to afford one in 30 years and this is a step in that direction.
Argentina can afford a carrier. Its economy is 1/15 of China's. India has two carriers. Its economy is 1/2 of China's. China can afford a fleet of carriers. The Russians will probably sell them all the carriers they need. The only question is whether they want to buy it or build it from scratch. I suspect that China will want to build its own, just like Japan. There are hordes of former unemployed Russians scientists working in China. Some of them might even have worked on the Russian carriers.
In the past, the Chinese economy was too small for the nation to afford a carrier, so they never tried it. Now that it's big enough, they're starting to look at it. (Note that military innovations can significantly outpace the state of a nation's civilian economy - the Mongols and the Soviets are just two of the most prominent examples of that). We laughed when the Chinese put an astronaut in space, forty years after Yuri Gagarin. But only three countries have ever put astronauts in space using national resources - Russia, the US and China. Whether it was based on begged, borrowed or stolen technology*, that was an impressive demonstration of China's ability to get very complex technical projects accomplished. My feeling is that if China can put a man in space, which even Japan hasn't gotten done, in spite of huge amounts of funding, it can build a fleet of aircraft carriers, and soon.
* Note that both the Soviet and American missile programs were based on ripped-off German technology as were jet engines.
#15
MD: What is of interest is what this says about the internal politics of China. Is this yet another indication that China is seeking to distract the populace from internal problems by directing their atention to external bogeymen and developing the means to do something about it?
This point was bogus when Marx and Lenin made it with reference to the capitalist countries trying to suppress revolts by starting imperialist wars, and it is bogus today. Man does not live on bread alone. Individual Chinese have the old-fashioned type of national aspirations that led to WWI and WWII - a desire to recover for China what it views as its rightful place as the center of the world.
Relative to the initial decades of communist rule, China is doing very well, economically. It would have been better if it had not endured about 30 years of communist-style economics (1949 - 1978), but it has now repudiated communism in deed, if not in word. The fact is that internal stability really isn't a problem. Why, then, do we hear about periodic unrest in China? Because in a dictatorship, the only way to get your voice heard is to organize a riot. The major differences between the situation now and the situation during the Maoist era are (1) the Chinese government doesn't simply execute people and put them in mass graves like it used to and (2) it allows large numbers of foreigners to wander about the country without government minders. This is why we now hear about a lot of these things - not because they are new, but because they were never reported before.
Isn't the Chinese government's suppression of dissent an expression of its insecurity? No - any more than your tendency to show up to work on time everyday is an expression of your insecurity about your job. A dictatorship that wants to stay in power must suppress dissent, just as someone who wants to keep his job must show up on time. A dictatorship that is strong is one that can get its troops to do whatever is necessary to crush the opposition. Ukraine's quasi-dictatorship wasn't strong enough to suppress dissent - that is why it fell.
#16
Argentina no longer operates an aircraft carrier, having paid off the 25° de Mayo in January of 1999, at which time she was towed away for scrapping in India by March 2000.
Source here. This source has a graphic, clickable link to all the world's carrier. Notice the proprotion of American carriers (heavy and amphib assault classes) to the rest of the world.
Repeat: Argentina does not have a carrier.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/24/2005 11:47 Comments ||
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#17
India decommisioned the INS Vikrant (formerly HMS Hercules) in 1997.
It has just one carrier (for now).
The Russians are refurbishing the Admiral Gorshkov and India will take posession in a few years of the rechristened INS Vikramiditya and its Mig 29K airwing.
The new Vikrant is being constructed in an Indian shipyard. It won't be launched till 2009.
Posted by: john ||
08/24/2005 12:15 Comments ||
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#18
john: The new Vikrant is being constructed in an Indian shipyard. It won't be launched till 2009.
China is the third largest commercial shipbuilder in the world, right next to Korea and Japan. If India is on the verge of completing its first indigenously-made carrier, I expect the Chinese won't be far behind, considering the huge dollars they're putting in their military.
No doubt China could design and build an aircraft carrier from scratch if they wanted to make it a national priority. Will it actually make them more secure as a nation? Tatically, marginally yes, strategically, hell no.
Strategically They keep blundering with their expansionist policys....Tibet, Butan, Nepal, China seas, Spratley Islands, India, Japan, N. Vietnam, Tiwan, Ozzys, etc. [I'm sure I left some out]
China's neighbors are not deaf dumb and blind.
In spite of it's facinating culture/history, it's our good fortune that China today is doing a pretty good old fashion job of shooting itself in the foot.
No expert on carriers, but it seems to me as guidance and missle "smartness" improves and gets cheaper every year, the stand off distance of a carrier will have to increase, offset of course, to some degree with new more expensive defenses.
Like you said "This bears watching."
>It's even possible that Iran will develope an even greater talent [foot shooting]. ;) to be continued...
Posted by: Red Dog ||
08/24/2005 13:03 Comments ||
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#20
Taking an antiquated Soviet carrier and making it operational is a far cry from a fleet. A fleet of carriers would be a different thing altogether, I agree, but for all we know they'll produce a dozen Charles DeGaul type carriers and take down their government in shame in the process.
#21
I mentioned on Rantburg about six months ago that the United States should decommission the "Kitty Hawk" and give it to the Japanese. That's beginning to look like a better strategy every day. Japan with three or four carriers and the ability to build more would give China a heart attack.
As for China, the carrier fleet they're getting or building is based on Russian designs from the late 1970's/early 1980's. The reason the Russian carriers were never sent to sea and exercised is because they had significant defects in their air operations, as well as difficulties in maintenance. Note that neither of these carriers have a catapult launch system. That means that launched aircraft have to use the "jump ramp", and that they are significantly underweight compared to US aircraft. While launching aircraft can be done fairly quickly, the Russians had a hard time getting them back aboard. China may be able to correct all these errors, but it's going to take a decade to fully integrate their air and naval assets to where they can maintain combat air operations from a carrier.
The "Moskva" class carriers were helicopter carriers with the front of a heavy cruiser and a huge flat area in the rear that was used as a helicopter landing pad. The "Kiev" class is the one with the jump-ramp. I doubt the Chinese are interested in the Moskva class - it dates from the late 1950's.
It'll be interesting to see which technology the Indians use in their carrier: jump-ramp or catapult.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/24/2005 13:37 Comments ||
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#22
You gotta start somewhere, and a start is all this is. If nothing else they can gain naval aviation experience while developing the capabilities they don't currently have.
#23
Henry, the panic button, hit the panic button..
The ChiComs have and will continue to be a threat. In fact, we have been at war with China for over a decade. Not in the classic military sense, but in the information and intelligence warfare.
Strategic alliance formation in preparation for global warfare has been underway in recent years.
Classic military warfare by 2020, a Taiwan invasion or some other equally ChiCom act would accelerate the timeline.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/24/2005 13:52 Comments ||
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#24
ZF are you talking about dedicated wartime carriers of the traditional sense or closer to CVE type of carriers? China doesn't have the lead time OR the infrastructure yet to build a traditional carrier in the 55k ton range unless they want to base it off a freighter/tanker hull. None of their war hulls are above the destroyer level (actually probably lower tonnage than that). As far as Russian carriers go thats considered a joke. The russians never had true carriers but rather "Heavy Assault Carriers" or a true statement would be that they were battlecruisers given some element of flying planes off them. We on the other hand have a fleet of carriers thats more than twice the number of the rest of the worlds current amount
#25
OP: I mentioned on Rantburg about six months ago that the United States should decommission the "Kitty Hawk" and give it to the Japanese. That's beginning to look like a better strategy every day. Japan with three or four carriers and the ability to build more would give China a heart attack.
That would have the benefit of getting the Koreans (North and South) seriously riled up.
#26
This is all well and good for the Chinese, but the real tell-tale sign is in the training of their armed forces. Are they adapting their training techniques in step with their modernization efforts?
If they are modelling themselves after the Russians, then they're going to have a serious problem. The Russian soldier couldn't take a piss without first asking for permission. It's great to have 3 mil men ready to advance when the signal's given. But if that signal never comes...
I'm willing to bet the Chinese have a tight-ass command structure, with little leeway in decision making.
Posted by: Rafael ||
08/24/2005 14:58 Comments ||
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#27
It'll be interesting to see which technology the Indians use in their carrier: jump-ramp or catapult.
jump ramp.
Both the Gorshkov and the ADS will be STOBAR.
Posted by: john ||
08/24/2005 15:55 Comments ||
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#28
Ex-russian weapons? Good for putting down an insurrection, but not much more. Good luck with that.
Posted by: Mark E. ||
08/24/2005 17:08 Comments ||
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#29
Looks like they have a ways to go to catch up.http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/carriers.htm
Now that Lance has retired, all the knives come out... PARIS -- The director of the Tour de France said it was a "proven scientific fact" that Lance Armstrong had a performance-boosting drug in his body during his 1999 Tour win, and that the seven-time champion owed fans an explanation.
In a story Wednesday, Jean-Marie Leblanc who used to kiss Lance's ass every chance he could praised L'Equipe for an investigation that reported that six urine samples provided by Armstrong during the 1999 Tour tested positive for the red blood cell-booster EPO. The French sports daily on Tuesday accused Armstrong of using EPO during his first Tour win in 1999. "For the first time -- and these are no longer rumors or insinuations, these are proven scientific facts -- someone has shown me that in 1999, Armstrong had a banned substance called EPO in his body," Leblanc told the paper. Six year old B samples that were likely illegal and held in the lab without Armstrong's consent. Nope, no agenda here...
"The ball is now in his camp. Why, how, by whom? He owes explanations to us and to everyone who follows the tour," Leblanc said. "What L'Equipe revealed shows me that I was fooled. We were all fooled." What I want to know is this - how many other 1999 B samples were tested, how many of those were also EPO positive and why aren't those names also being released?
Armstrong, a frequent target of L'Equipe, (understatement of the decade - ed.) vehemently denied the allegations on Tuesday. The Austin cycling great called the article "tabloid journalism." "I will simply restate what I have said many times: I have never taken performance-enhancing drugs," he said on his Web site.
L'Equipe reported that six urine samples provided by the cancer-surviving American during the 1999 Tour tested positive for the red blood cell-booster EPO. The drug, formally known as erythropoietin, was on the list of banned substances at the time, but there was no effective test to detect it. Ex post facto testing - what a novel concept. Was this done for Christophe Moreau, Richard Virenque, Jacky Durand, et. al? You know, just to make sure everyone's on the level?
The allegations surfaced six years later because the French elites detest Armstrong EPO tests on the 1999 samples were carried out only last year -- when scientists at a lab outside Paris used them for research to perfect EPO testing. The national anti-doping laboratory in Chatenay-Malabry said it promised to hand its finding to the World Anti-Doping Agency, provided it was never used to penalize riders.
Five-time cycling champion Miguel Indurain said he couldn't understand why scientists would use samples from the 1999 Tour for their tests. "That seems bizarre, and I don't know who would have the authorization to do it," he told L'Equipe. "I don't even know if it's legal to keep these samples." Bingo, Miguel! L'Equipe's investigation was based on the second set of two samples used in doping tests. The first set were used in 1999 for analysis at the time. Without those samples, any disciplinary action against Armstrong would be impossible, French Sports Minister Jean-Francois Lamour said. Forget that both the A and B samples need to be positive in order to suspend a racer; thus test the ancient B sample, say it came up positive = perfect smear. Sure that glass didn't have Virenque's name on it?
Lamour said he was forced to have doubts about L'Equipe's report because he had not seen the originals of some of the documents that appeared in the paper. "I do not confirm it," he told RTL radio. But he added: "If what L'Equipe says is true, I can tell you that it's a serious blow for cycling."
The International Cycling Union did not begin using a urine test for EPO until 2001, though it was banned in 1990. For years, it had been impossible to detect the drug, which builds endurance by boosting the production of oxygen-rich red blood cells. Jacques de Ceaurriz, the head of France's anti-doping laboratory, which developed the EPO urine test, told Europe-1 radio that at least 15 urine samples from the 1999 Tour had tested positive for EPO. Oh, the French developed the EPO test? How, um... convenient!
Separately, the lab said it could not confirm that the positive results were Armstrong's. That didn't stop L'Equipe from saying it was Armstrong's, now did it?
It noted that the samples were anonymous, bearing only a six-digit number to identify the rider, and could not be matched with the name of any one cyclist. However, L'Equipe said it was able to make the match. How so?
On one side of a page Tuesday, it showed what it claimed were the results of EPO tests from anonymous riders used for lab research. On the other, it showed Armstrong's medical certificates, signed by doctors and riders after doping tests -- and bearing the same identifying number printed on the results. Dan Rather, call your office!
L'Equipe is owned by the Amaury Group whose subsidiary, Amaury Sport Organization, organizes the Tour de France and other sporting events. The paper often questioned Armstrong's clean record and frequently took jabs at him -- portraying him as too arrogant, too corporate and too good to be real. I'm sorry, but 'too corporate'? Was he fond of Brooks Brothers suits or something?
No, but he approached the race with a corporate attitude. Every part of the race, his performance, equipment, riding position, teammates, etc. was subjected to careful scrutiny, analysis and modification. That was very "American" of Lance, and the French have never appreciated it.
"Never to such an extent, probably, has the departure of a champion been welcomed with such widespread relief," the paper griped the day after Armstrong won his seventh straight Tour win and retired from cycling. I bet they had this one on the burner for a long, long time.
Leblanc suggested that in the future, urine samples could be stashed away for future testing as detection methods improve -- another possible weapon in the fight against doping. Will you seek the consent of the riders this time?
"We're so tired of doping that all means are good as long as they are morally acceptable," he told L'Equipe. I'm so tired at the hundreds of stab wounds L'Equipe has inflicted on one of the best riders on the planet. How then, L'Equipe, would you explain his other six victories, hmmm?
#1
The race is to the quickest. File a libel case in US Federal court tomarrow forcing these accusers to meet US Federal standards of custody and transfer of evidence.
#2
Time to let the Tour de France sink back into the oblivion that enveloped it pre-Lance. The French are so pathetic that the only way a Frenchman can win the Tour de France is to ban all non-French competitors. This is a step in that direction.
#3
The director of the Tour de France said it was a "proven scientific fact" that Lance Armstrong had a performance-boosting drug in his body during his 1999 Tour win,..
Strange how this stuff is being aired now, SIX YEARS LATER.
#5
The French are so pathetic that the only way a Frenchman can win the Tour de France is to ban all non-French competitors.
Tht's basically what happens with all the major Tours. For this year's TdF, 20 of 21 teams make the cut in various ways (it used to be 18 of 21, but you'll get the point) , leaving the other teams to be selected by the Tour's organizers.
Guess which team got this year's wildcard? That's right, Ag2R, a Division II French team. Back when 3 wildcard teams were selected, French teams would get 2 or all 3 of them. To be fair, the same thing happens for the Italian & Spanish tours.
"We are extremely surprised that urine samples could have been tested in 2004 and have revealed the presence of EPO," Ayotte said in an interview with VeloNews on Tuesday. "EPO - in its natural state or the synthesized version - is not stable in urine, even if stored at minus 20 degrees."
#8
EPO tests on the 1999 samples were carried out only last year -- when scientists at a lab outside Paris used them for research to perfect EPO testing.
So they tested and tested until they found EPO where there was none? Why not try the tests on his more recent urine, it's not as if he only won once.
#9
From Yahoo Sports:
"Jacques de Ceaurriz, the head of France's anti-doping laboratory, which developed the EPO urine test, told Europe-1 radio that at least 15 urine samples from the 1999 Tour had tested positive for EPO.
Separately, the lab said it could not confirm that the positive results were Armstrong's. It noted that the samples were anonymous, bearing only a six-digit number to identify the rider, and could not be matched with the name of any one cyclist."
Comment: OK, the actual lab states that they cannot confirm the positive results were Armstrong's....However, the Newsletter, L'Equipe can make a match and connection to Armstrong. Say What?...rather...Enough Said!!! Another lawsuit for Lance to file or maybe come out of retirement and crush them all again.
#10
You know, he probably did take EPO—along with the rest of his chemotherapy. Chemotherapy supresses the red blood cell count, and one of the drugs they give patients to improve the situation is EPO.
In other words, he probably did take EPO, to keep him alive.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
08/24/2005 17:51 Comments ||
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#11
Damn whinners, lern to win, live to lern. F**k the FIA.
Posted by: That Jim Hall ||
08/24/2005 17:53 Comments ||
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#12
MArnold!
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/24/2005 18:07 Comments ||
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Assuming that Indurain did it without performance enhancing means, what makes it so much out of the realm of possibility for someone to win it seven times?
Posted by: Rafael ||
08/24/2005 20:49 Comments ||
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#15
because he's American, and Texan, at that. Jealous losers and frauds. Who will watch the Tour next year? Not I
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/24/2005 21:19 Comments ||
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#16
Frank G, that depends on whether Lance is in it or not. Perhaps he'll come out of retirement for this.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/24/2005 21:26 Comments ||
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#17
Lance: why bother responding to the sour grapes of your lessers?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/24/2005 21:44 Comments ||
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#18
I also heard the French found toothpaste, shampoo, some Right Guard, and Dial soap in his hotel room before the final race. A clear violation of French law!
Posted by: 49 pan ||
08/24/2005 21:56 Comments ||
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#19
LâEquipe is owned by the Amaury Group whose subsidiary, Amaury Sport Organization, organizes the Tour de France and other sporting events. The paper often questioned Armstrongâs clean record and frequently took jabs at him â portraying him as too arrogant, too corporate and too good to be real.
âNever to such an extent, probably, has the departure of a champion been welcomed with such widespread relief,â the paper griped the day after Armstrong won his seventh straight Tour win and retired from cycling. source=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9050722/
Seems to me like the Frenchies just couldn't handle those disgusting American beating them in their own race.
Hmmm, could explain their declining wine sales perhaps. Or is it whine.
Posted by: Rafael ||
08/24/2005 22:31 Comments ||
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#21
I know the French are pissed about losing to a Texan, but this is just another piss poor excuse for their pissing away their national athletic event. As far as I'm concerned the French can go piss up a rope.
DENVER (AP) - An Air Force officer accused of vandalizing bumper stickers supporting President Bush has been reassigned to a non-supervisory position, a military spokesman said Tuesday.
Lt. Col. Alexis Fecteau faces criminal mischief charges for allegedly blacking out Bush bumper stickers on cars at Denver International Airport and then spray-painting an expletive over them. Fecteau was reassigned on Aug. 10, said Col. Dave Cannon, a spokesman for the Air Force Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base. Fecteau had been director of operations for reserve forces at the National Security Space Institute at the base.
Is that a plum job or a backwater?
Cannon declined to give any further details, citing privacy laws.
Fecteau's lawyer, Patrick Mulligan, said he was ``a highly decorated colonel in the Air Force with 500 combat hours in the Gulf War, Kosovo and Bosnia. Any allegations have to be viewed in that context.''
Police spokesman Sonny Jackson said Fecteau is suspected of vandalizing at least 10 vehicles at the airport between June and December. Fecteau turned himself in and was released on $5,000 bond. Mulligan declined to answer any questions about his client's possible motives.
Better to leave speculation to the senior NCO's.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/24/2005 00:26 ||
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#1
Fecteau's lawyer, Patrick Mulligan, said he was ``a highly decorated colonel in the Air Force with 500 combat hours in the Gulf War, Kosovo and Bosnia. Any allegations have to be viewed in that context.''
Whoopty friggin doo! Sounds like maybe he pulled one too many g's and loosened a screw it that soft LLL head of his. He has acted like a LLL child and it's on camera, so his actions should be viewed (and will be) in THAT context. I don;t care if he was awarded (and he wasn't) the CMOH you don't vadalize cars because that is a crime. If the lawyer is trying play the PTSD defense he better have more than "My client has shiny medals" for a defense. I bet the military jury and judge will also be highly decorated. T
#2
Benedict Arnold has a distinguished American commander leading from the front in the Montreal Campaign and Saratoga. His personal valor at Saratoga was decisive. Unfortunately, later General Arnold opted for alternate employment. A thousand atta-boys are wiped out by one ah-sh*t.
#4
I just have a sneaking suspicion that those â500 combat hoursâ were less about combat and more about flying in that Area Of Operations. I am not denigrating the fact they he did fly in a deadly dangerous area, but the term is misleading. The DOD sets a geographic AOO that are designated hostile and any aircrew that crosses into that area gets âCombat Creditâ for that time the were airborne. Air Medals and DFCs can be (and are) awarded based on a compilation of these hours. I donât remember the formula, but after say 50 hours you get an Air Medal and after 500 you would get a DFC. No disrespect is intended to those people who are up there guarding the skies, but flying in the AOO is not the same as Air-to-Air Combat like his lawyer is implying. This guy may have indeed flown Air-to-Air Combat but I bet they would have identified him as a Fighter or Bomber pilot if that were the case.
It's 3 pm on a normal weekday in this small town, about 110 kilometers south of the national capital, and Hafsiah, 9, and her brother Badrul, 12, are tearing up the stairs of a three-story shop house to enter a room full of students eager to learn English.
Many of the children are still in regular school uniforms and have not had time to change but they are ready for another session of learning in a scene commonplace these days in rural Malaysia, which is dominated by the country's indigenous Malays.
So keen are Hafsiah and her brother, as are many of the other students, that they have not returned to their homes in nearby villages for lunch but stayed on in Tampin with stomachs growling, so they do not miss their precious English language coaching session.
English, once shunned as the language of colonialism, is now regarded as the passport to success in the modern world and is rapidly replacing Islamic studies and the sciences.
"My parents say English is the key to the future and that we have to master it," Hafsiah said after her session. "But [English] is so strange to the tongue."
Apparently, the difficulties that Malays have in competing in a rapidly globalizing world is being attributed by the older generation to their failure to master English, and even to turning their backs on the language in 1970 in a wave of nationalism.
Malays form slightly more than 50% of Malaysia's 23 million people. The economically dominant ethnic Chinese form 22% and are concentrated in the urban centers where the English language has survived better. Indians, who form another 7% of the population, are also largely urban.
The frenzy to catch up with English in rural Malaysia is more than just palpable and nowadays second only to the craze for English football and the popular "Malaysian Idol" contest, a reality-type TV show.
Signs of the frenzy are everywhere. Bookshops are stacked high with volumes of dry English grammar, and these include familiar reprints from the1960s when English had better status than in the intervening years.
English tuition centers are mushrooming in shop houses, schools and homes - wherever space is available.
Newspapers are promoting English by giving out free copies to schools and businesses are donating millions of dollars to adopt entire schools, picking up the tab so that students can have an English education.
"We should not be shy to say English is a Malaysian language," Education Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said recently while launching a new scholarship program that provides English language resources to 290 rural and semi-urban schools.
English may have been the language of the colonial masters, Hussein said, "but it was also the language which our founding fathers acquired, took to London, and returned as masters of their own land".
"Forty-eight years on we should not be shy to say English is a Malaysian language," he said, giving the all-important official cue for the drive to once again excel in a language that seems to have thrived globally rather than declined in the post-colonial phase.
Earlier, when Malay nationalism was at a high and learning the Malay language considered sacrosanct, such a statement would have quickly ended the minister's political career.
"The standard of written and spoken English has deteriorated in the past 30 years," said Ramasamy Palanisamy, professor of political science at the University Kebangsaan Malaysia. "After the 1969 race riots [between Malays and ethnic Chinese], Malaysia switched to the Malay stream for schools and university in 1971. From then on English as a language declined."
English continued to be taught as a second language in rural Malaysia but its quality declined because of official hostility, the rise of Islam and poor teaching resources.
That climate has now reversed dramatically and the study of English is nowadays being actively promoted by officialdom and receiving a matching response as well.
It all started in 2002 when some Japanese investors told former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad that many Malaysian graduates were so poor in English that they were simply unemployable. There were serious communication problems. While Japanese factory managers had learned English, Malaysian graduates had not.
"You don't expect us to learn Malay language to communicate with our workers," one Japanese manager famously asked of government officials. "Even in China, the Chinese are rushing to learn English."
But that is a situation familiar across Asia where former British colonies such as India are competitively attracting international investors because of significant numbers of English-proficient professionals even with the shortcomings in terms of infrastructure and conducive business environment.
In Malaysia, about 20,000 graduates are estimated to be unemployed because of poor communication skills and most of them are from rural backgrounds. The government is even spending millions of dollars to retrain them in various industrial skills.
Rather than remain unemployed, many graduates have begun to hide their degree certificates and take lower-paying jobs for which they are considered overqualified - such as with the fire department.
Mahathir realized that if the trend continued, Malaysia's position as a vibrant, trading economy would be badly affected. So as a technocrat and a believer in social engineering, with a pro-Malay approach, he decided on a fast-track scheme to bring English to rural students.
And without careful preparation and ignoring stiff, all-round opposition, he announced that from 2003 onward all schools must teach key subjects like science and mathematics in English.
Opposition lawmakers, education experts as well as Chinese and Tamil language teachers warned that student performance would drop dramatically if a switch was made in such a sudden manner and without planning.
They argued that teachers, who had been teaching science and mathematics in Malay, Mandarin and Tamil languages for more than 30 years, could not overnight begin to teach in English.
Mahathir was both impatient and adamant. He said modern technology, use of the Internet and special teaching software would be employed to make the overnight switch work.
"English has to be learned as a language, it can't be acquired by learning science and mathematics in English," said a school headmaster then who had opposed the scheme and asked not to be identified. "Mahathir's scheme, now into its second year, is a mess."
As the experts had predicted, the performance of rural Malay students had dropped when they were forced to switch to English as the medium of instruction in science and mathematics. More Malays were not making the grade to enter colleges, polytechnics and universities largely because of the sudden switch.
"It is an alien language and not easily learnt by rural Malay students - you cannot force people to learn," said the headmaster. "It has got to be a gradual process."
The current campaign to learn English seeks to repair somewhat the damage caused by the earlier scheme, by helping students learn the language in gradual stages.
The semi-official New Straits Times newspaper is leading the campaign under the telling slogan, "Build Tomorrow's Malaysia, Learn English, Adopt a Student".
A downside of the infatuation is the arrival of foreigners, tourists and others pretending to be English language teaching experts.
"Teach English on the colorful and exotic island of Borneo in Malaysia," reads one Internet advertisement, inviting foreigners to head to Malaysia to teach English.
It goes on to say: "The flamboyance of Malaysia is breathtaking. This is a country where the sun shines, the sea is crystal clear and there are endless coconut, banana and palm trees! No qualifications required. Before you go - you can enroll in a one-day intensive open teacher, training day [optional] to help you teach if you have no previous experience."
There seems little concern for nuances such as the all too-evident differences in American English and the British variety, with which this former crown colony is more familiar - though as a rapidly receding memory.
For now it is a free for all and rural Malays are too busy learning "English as she is spoke" to worry about who is doing the teaching.
#1
Yeah - English teachers overseas are talentless leeches.
But the one time I was in Kuala Lumpur for a month, I never had any problems being understood in English, even by taxi drivers. Maybe because it's the capital. I was duly impressed, nonetheless.
#2
g: Yeah - English teachers overseas are talentless leeches.
C'mon, don't be modest.
g: But the one time I was in Kuala Lumpur for a month, I never had any problems being understood in English, even by taxi drivers. Maybe because it's the capital. I was duly impressed, nonetheless.
I stopped over in Malaysia a few years ago, and was extremely impressed with the local fluency in English. They spoke with the local accent, but I spoke pretty much the way I speak stateside, and I was understood everywhere, without any gesturing or body English. Malaysia does have the advantage of using the Roman alphabet (based on what I saw of the signage everywhere), so the learning curve isn't quite as steep. A lot of their words appear to be borrowed from English. (Customs was Kastam and Bus was Bas).
#3
Outside the cities and in Borneo it can be difficult to find someone who speaks english. BTW, there is significant resentment in Borneo where Malays are a minority, that people are forced to learn Malay in the schools.
JOHOR BAHARU, Aug 23 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian marine police Tuesday detained a Belize-registered merchant ship and arrested 20 Chinese crew including the captain on suspicion that the vessel was that of MV Natris reportedly hijacked and went missing three years ago.
Marine Police Commander SAC I Abdul Rahman Ahmad from the Bukit Aman police headquarters told reporters that the 567-tonne vessel "MV Paulijing" was stopped at 3.20 am in an operation involving the special operations force about 9 nautical miles off Kukup, Pontian. Police believed that MV Paulijing, laden with soy beans and vinegar, was Panama-registered MV Natris that had been repainted as their shape, weight and other characteristics were the same, he said at the Southern Region Marine Police Headquarters in Tampoi.
MV Natris was reportedly hijacked and went missing in Batam waters, Indonesia on Nov 17, 2002.
Abdul Rahman said the marine police went into action to track down the vessel after being informed of its presence in Malaysian waters at about 9 am last Monday. It was on its journey from Khandra, India to Ho Chi Minh port, Vietnam, and was spotted cruising at 10.8 knots in Port Klang waters at 10.30 am when the marine police ordered the captain to stop.
The captain refused to heed to the order and continued to head south... At 3.20 am Tuesday, the special operations force and special marine unit managed to intercept and boarded the ship. They did not face any resistance when rounding up the crew aged between 20 and 45, who had been taken to the Marine Headquarters in Tampoi for further investigations, Abdul Rahman said.
He said the police had contacted MV Natris owner to identify the ship with the help of the forensics unit.
#1
Oh Shit, following the story about two tug/barge combos being attacked off Indonesia comes this report of a possibly recovered ship also attacked/vanished off indonesia.
What's the old quote? "Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, and three times is enemy action"
I don't believe in coincidences repeating so neatly, enemy action is indicated here.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/24/2005 11:21 Comments ||
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Israel has issued orders to seize Palestinian land to build its separation barrier along a route that would effectively annex the West Bank's largest Jewish settlement to Jerusalem, the Justice Ministry said Wednesday, a day after Israel completed its historic evacuation of 25 settlements in Gaza and the West Bank.
The announcement came on a day that saw a surge in violence after a lull during Israel's withdrawal from the settlements.
A fifth-grade teacher at Sadler Elementary School, accused of making disparaging remarks about Puerto Ricans and immigrants, was removed and suspended without pay Wednesday.
Orange County Superintendent Ron Blocker reacted quickly to growing outrage among Hispanic parents and community activists, saying that discriminatory behavior would not be tolerated.
"For anyone who is not clear on this, Orange County public schools educates all children. We are a diverse community," Blocker said Wednesday. "There is no room for racism and discrimination, and there is no room for not being sensitive to a child and providing a safe and supportive environment." It's unclear whether the teacher, Jan P. Hall, wrote the letter that was translated into Spanish and published Wednesday by Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Dia. District officials said Hall, 59, who had taught at the south Orlando school for five years, told her principal that she had written a letter to an unidentified member of Congress. She could not be reached for comment.
In a published version of the letter that began "Dear Honorable Congressman," the writer said Hispanics and other Caribbean newcomers are taking all the jobs and that "foreigners are the largest users of taxpayers' money." It also charged that Hispanics and immigrants in general were hurting the quality of schools and dragging down educational achievement.
The letter also charged that Puerto Ricans are destroying Orlando, and that laws should be changed so Puerto Ricans -- who are U.S. citizens by birth -- would stop moving to Central Florida. It complained about Mexicans, Middle Easterners and Haitians, adding that Mexicans bring drugs and incurable diseases and that Haitian children are too aggressive. Puerto Rican teachers who work here, the letter went on, have the equivalent of a fifth-grade education.
"If this [letter] is true, she basically has a problem with anyone who doesn't belong to her race," said Marytza Sanz, president of the advocacy group Latino Leadership, adding that the schools should offer sensitivity training to teachers.
School Board attorney Frank Kruppenbacher said that regardless of Hall's protected constitutional right to free speech, discriminatory statements violate the "Code of Ethics and the Principles of Professional Conduct" that all Florida educators must follow. The code states that educators "shall not harass or discriminate against any student" based on race, national origin or ethnicity. Because the letter referred to Sadler and Hall identified herself as a teacher, the code applies, he said.
Kruppenbacher said the schools have had a tough stance against discrimination and brought termination proceedings last year against an unidentified Winter Park High School teacher who wrote what he called "a rather racist" letter.
The Sadler incident fired up controversy among Hispanic community-watchdog groups and led to an immediate school-district investigation. Activists and parents complained that those remarks should not come from an educator -- particularly because she teaches at a school where 58 percent of the students are Hispanic.
The Puerto Rican government office in Orlando also intervened, writing to Blocker that Hall's behavior was "intimidating and repugnant" and a violation of the Civil Rights Act.
"I am very upset about this," said Evelyn Rivera, who leads the Parent Leadership Council that represents parents of bilingual children in Orange schools. "To me, the letter writer is a very ignorant person who doesn't know how valuable it is to know two languages. I wouldn't call this person an educator, because she has a lot to learn and lacks the sensitivity to be a teacher."
David DeMond, who leads the Classroom Teachers Association, said his organization was not ready to elaborate but said the union would provide legal advice for Hall if she is a member.
"Teachers have the right to express an opinion," DeMond said, "but they are aware of the code of ethics and should be able to read and understand what it means."
#2
I'd be very interested to know how a Puerto Rican newspaper got hold of private correspondense to a Congressman. If this member of Congress distributed it with the teacher's name, I'd say he/she has some 'splainin to do.
#4
hell, even Rep John Boehner's (R-Ohio) cell phone calls were intercepted by a couple retired Dems "out for a drive with a scanner and recorder on the front seat". Apparently, anything's possible in Fla, and totally explainable to the right ears
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/24/2005 21:57 Comments ||
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Whatever reason diners have for not adding a tip to their credit-card receipts, they probably wouldn't appreciate finding that the restaurant charged them one anyway. Because of a setting in credit-card terminals distributed by the nation's largest consumer bank, thousands of restaurants, without even knowing it, could be temporarily charging diners an automatic gratuity on top of the agreed-upon bill, reducing the funds or credit available to card users and potentially alienating customers in the process.
A merchant services representative for Bank of America said that most restaurateurs likely don't realize that they are adding an extra 20 percent to the card authorization because it never shows up on the receipt.
Bank of America both issues and processes Visa cards. The credit terminals do not discriminate between credit or debit cards or the brand of card.
Holds on funds are commonplace, so the bank provides merchants with equipment that processes the extra charges, said Sharon King, a merchant services representative for the company. In the case of Thai 65 (restaurant), customers were being charged the 20 percent gratuity, regardless of which bank issued their credit or debit card, until the terminal's settings were changed. King insisted that because such holds are not illegal, merchants should be able to take them. She added that Visa's policy is merely advice to merchants.
In Ross' case, though, not only was an extra 20 percent charge held, most of it was never dropped. The restaurant processed a final tip of 15 percent anyway, though he did not authorize a tip on the receipt. Sawangpob said it appears one of his servers, disappointed at not being left a tip, took one anyway and was able to do so because a tip charge was already authorized. This is a separate problem that the manager said he would fix.
The practice of charging more than an agreed amount is a felony in Washington called "factoring." While technically criminal, factoring is rarely investigated by law enforcement, so consumers are usually left to monitor and investigate their own account irregularities.
Visa's Jones said that consumers should always keep their receipts and reconcile them with the account statements they get in the mail or view online.
#1
The bank sets aside 20% for the tip when they authorize the payment. So far, so good. And that's really most of the story. Some folks are skimming, cheating, "factoring", but that's not what the bank story is about.
Some servers know about the set-aside and steal, so watch your statements! If the server got too ambitious and added a 100% tip, it would not be authorized by the bank.
Slow news day.
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/24/2005 12:15 Comments ||
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LOS ANGELES, Aug. 23 - With the last of the summer blockbusters fading from the multiplex, Hollywood's box office slump has hardened into a reality that is setting the movie industry on edge. The drop in ticket sales from last summer to this summer, the most important moviegoing season, is projected to be 9 percent by Labor Day, and the drop in attendance is expected to be even deeper, 11.5 percent, according to Exhibitor Relations, which tracks the box office. That is 'cus your films suck
Multiples theories for the decline abound: a failure of studio marketing, the rising price of gas, the lure of alternate entertainment, even the prevalence of commercials and pesky cellphones inside once-sacrosanct theaters. But many movie executives and industry experts are beginning to conclude that something more fundamental is at work: Too many Hollywood movies these days, they say, just are not good enough. Sometimes, liberals DO get reality
"Part of this is the fact that the movies may not have lived up to the expectations of the audience, not just in this year, but in years prior," said Michael Lynton, chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which had some flops this summer, including the science fiction action movie "Stealth" and the romantic comedy "Bewitched." "Audiences have gotten smart to the marketing, and they can smell the good ones from the bad ones at a distance." Actually, all I smell is hollywood bullshit, it covers almost all your movies too.
Even Robert Shaye, the studio leader behind "The Wedding Crashers," one of the summer's runaway hits, shares the worry about the industry's ability to connect with audiences. "I believe it's a cumulative thing, a seismic evolution of people's habits," said Mr. Shaye, chairman of New Line Cinema. Yea, our habits not to go see movies that suck.
In previous years, he said, "you could still count on enough people to come whether you failed at entertaining them or not, out of habit, or boredom, or a desire to get out of the house. You had a little bit of backstop." Thank God for cable
With competition from video games, hundreds of television channels and DVD's, that's no longer the case, he said. The problem, these studio leaders and other industry experts seemed to say, was not only that a steady diet of formulaic plots, too-familiar special-effects vehicles and remakes of television shows has, over time, left the average moviegoer hungry for better entertainment.
Marc Shmuger, vice chairman of Universal, said Hollywood has been too focused on short-term box office payoff and not focused enough on what he called "the most elemental factor of all" - the satisfaction of the moviegoing experience.
"It wasn't like the last crop of summer movies were that much better than this summer," said Mr. Shmuger, whose studio's recent releases included the success "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and several disappointments, including "Cinderella Man," "The Perfect Man" and "Kicking and Screaming." "This summer has been as deadening as it has been exciting, and there's a cumulative wearing down effect. We're beginning to witness the results of that. People are just beginning to wake up that what used to pass as summer excitement isn't that exciting, or that entertaining. This is vividly clear in terms of the other choices that consumers have."
The blockbuster hits of last summer, including "Spider-Man 2," "Shrek 2" and "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," performed more or less on the same level as this year's hits, including "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith," "Batman Begins" and "War of the Worlds." But too many big-budget movies, including "The Island" and "Stealth," flopped entirely, while other films, from "Bad News Bears" to "Herbie: Fully Loaded" to "The Great Raid," were disappointing. snip
With the task so large, and so very complex, Hollywood is still grappling with how to find its ass with both hands broach solutions.
Mr. Lynton said he would focus on making "only movies we hope will be really good." Don't hope, asshole. Get better writers/directors. That means looking outside the box for you corporate dickheads. At Fox, executives said they are looking to limit marketing costs. At Universal, Mr. Shmuger said he intends to reassert "time and care and passion" in movie production. Some of his own summer movies, he conceded, should never have been made.
He declined to name them. I will, how about ALL of them?
#1
Anything with Will Ferrell.
"Die Hard in a _______"
Third-string Marvel comic book heroes
NO. MORE. REMAKES. You have nothing to add to Hitchcock, or even Roger Corman.
1. Shut up and act. And sing. And dance. I want my entertainers to ENTERTAIN me, not lecture me on foreign policy. And don't go to Ramallah and put on a keffiyeh.
2. Don't put the entire plot of the movie in the trailer. I have no reason to shell out $20 if I feel that I've already seen the dang thing in previews.
#3
In previous years, he said, "you could still count on enough people to come whether you failed at entertaining them or not, out of habit, or boredom, or a desire to get out of the house. You had a little bit of backstop."
And you clowns used that backstop as an excuse to make whatever kind of trash you wanted.
Lord of the Rings? Hollywierd wouldn't touch it. Dopes. But line up the anti-war, jihadi-hero flicks. Morons.
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/24/2005 12:19 Comments ||
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#4
Anything with Will Ferrell
What's with the endless succession of mildly amusing rubbish from SNL alumni?
Posted by: john ||
08/24/2005 12:30 Comments ||
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#5
Anything with Will Ferrell
What's with the endless succession of mildly amusing rubbish from SNL alumni?
Posted by: john ||
08/24/2005 12:34 Comments ||
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#6
If a movie is mediocre you can wait 6 months and see it on DVD. Naturally movie theaters are slumping. Now Hollywood is talking about cutting movie ads in papers and releasing DVDs on the same day. If cinemas weren't dead before that'll do it.
Drive in movie theaters died, now big cinaplexes will probably die as well. I don't mourn their loss but then again I'm not in the dating scene anymore.
#7
Two nights ago, Fox Movie Channel ran (no pun intended) Kurosawa's "Ran" -- subtitled! -- without commercial interruption. The movie, beautifully filmed and wonderfully acted, was riveting. Watching this film made me realize how poorly served fans of the genre have been served as of late -- not only by Hollywood, but by film studios across the world.
Posted by: Curt Simon ||
08/24/2005 13:24 Comments ||
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#8
Let's see. I can pay through the nose, buy some overpriced food, and watch a mediocre movie usually featuring a bunch of moonbat "stars" I don't want to give any of my money to with a audience that usually consists of a lot of the mangiest yutes this side of Death Row?
I haven't seen a movie in a theatre since Apollo 13...
Lousy films with no imagination. 70's TV? (retch)
$5.00 bag of popcorn with fake(!) butter
$3.00 coke (12 oz.)
sticky floors, covered with trash.
pervert in the back row moaning too much.
can't stand "Metroplex" theatres
hour drive, followed by parking hell.
#11
Naturally you will all buy my DVD when it hits the shelves though, right? Drivetime of the Dead, a zombie comedy that should start shooting this weekend in Orange County.
Any Rantburgers want to be a zombie shoot me an email.
Later shooting will be in San Diego (either at SDSU or hopefully the KGB FM studios). I had considered giving at least one zombie a Che t-shirt. You know, mindless and all.
#18
Just need a large bearded man with a wind breaker and a Detroit Tigers hat right? If someone like that shows up I'll zombify them right away. Send a PA out to get the jacket and hat if I have to.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The NCAA will allow Florida State to use its Seminoles nickname in postseason play, removing the school from a list of colleges with American Indian nicknames that were restricted by an NCAA decision earlier this month.
The NCAA said it was recognizing the relationship Florida State has long enjoyed with the Seminole Tribe of Florida, which assists the university with its pageantry and celebration of its culture and supports the school's use of its name.
Rest at link. I suppose that will now become the only criteria they'll use. Good luck to the other colleges out there.
#3
Yep, one of those self appointed committees showed up at a Michigan University to complain about using the mascot of the Hurons, so the administration bowed and immediately complied. Only a couple weeks later representatives of the real Huron tribe showed up and asked what's going on. The Hurons considered the association with pride. Oooops, but then they never did change back. Its all PC. Its particularly heinous when 'advocates' having absolutely no association with a tribe or group, claim to represent them in their classical 'victim' modus operandi. University administations are active accessories to the fact.
#4
Now I can see somebody getting their undies in a twist over something like the school in Oklahoma calling its sports teams the Savages. Now that is a little over the top. But complaining about names like the Braves or Warriors is going to far.
#5
Are there any members of the Illini tribe left to complain about the University of Illinois symbol (not a mascot, btw). Chief Illiniwek dances with a feather staff-thingy (I don't think it's a spear), as opposed to the Seminole spear-tossing horse rider.
But if your symbol/mascot is not a specific (and living) group with which you have had a long relationship, I guess you're just SOL (simply outta luck).
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/24/2005 11:10 Comments ||
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#6
Hey! I notice the Huron name is available! Mebbe it could be the University of Illinois Fighting Hurons?
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/24/2005 11:12 Comments ||
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#9
I think they backed because they were reminded of the CFA. It could still happen if the NCAA continues to let PC insanity from university leftists invade collegiate sports.
AIZAWL, India - Tribal Jews in Indiaâs remote northeast said Tuesday they would press ahead with their plans to immigrate to Israel despite the closure of their intended settlement in the Gaza Strip. âWe were planning to go to Gaza. Now we do not know for sure where the Israeli government will put us up but we are determined to migrate,â said Y. Ralte, a youth from Mizoram state who is part of the group preparing to leave for Israel next month.
Around 800 tribals from Mizoram and Manipur states who emigrated to Israel in the past decade have been uprooted from their Gaza settlements under Prime Minister Ariel Sharonâs decision to end Israelâs 38-year old occupation of the Palestinian territory, Indian media reports said. âNobody can stop us from migrating to our holy land,â Rebecca, a young hairdresser in Aizawl, capital of mainly Christian Mizoram, told AFP. âThe evacuation issue in the Gaza Strip will not scare us,â added Rebecca, who uses just one name.
âThe happenings in Israel have no relation to the process of migration of people from here to their Promised Land,â said Rabbi Hannoch Avizedek, an Israeli preacher and representative of the Chief Rabbinate in the northeast. âA small group of people from Mizoram are all set to leave for Israel next month,â he said but declined to disclose numbers.
âWe are praying for all our people in the Gaza area,â said Peer Tlau, a Mizo tribal Jew. âAll the Jews from Mizoram and Manipur are reported to be safe. Some of them were put up in hotels in Jerusalem or in other temporary shelters elsewhere after being evicted from Gaza,â Rabbi Avizedek told AFP.
The Chief Rabbi of the Sephardic Jews, Shlomo Amar, announced in Jerusalem in March that members of the 6,000-strong Bnei Menashe tribe in Mizoram and Manipur were descendants of ancient Israelites or one of the Biblical 10 âLost Tribes.â The recognition by Israel followed applications from locals here seeking to migrate to Israel, which they see as their right to return to their promised land.
A majority of the Jews in both Mizoram and Manipur were Christian by birth and later started practising Judaism. Hundreds of Jews in Mizoram and Manipur were soon to take a holy dip at a âmikvahâ or ritual bath, considered mandatory and the final step towards becoming a complete Jew for any convert. âThe mikvah is nearing completion and probably by end of September the holy bath will begin. We are all waiting eagerly to perform the ritual,â said Jeremia Hnamte, a tribal businessman in Aizawl.
Apart from names, the tribals share many practices in common with traditional Jews -- such as keeping mezuzahs or parchment inscribed with verses of the Torah at the entrance to their homes. The men wear a kippa during prayers.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/24/2005 00:13 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
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#1
Whew! For a sec there I had a vision of rabbi Shlomo Whiteagle dancin' around...
#2
"that members of the 6,000-strong Bnei Menashe tribe in Mizoram and Manipur were descendants of ancient Israelites"
Practiced Judaism for hundreds yet no Indian Muslim ever touched them. Also, no Indian muslim is a member of Al Qaeda.
There's a reason for that, Koranic propaganda will NOT be allowed on Indian television or movies. Any media propaganda is tightly regulated. What is the one common derivative in ALL terrorist countries? Mind-controlling propaganda. Also, everyone has the right to start a small business and vote, including Muslim women. Muslim men maybe able to stop their wife from voting or starting a business. But, no man of any religion is allowed to stop any women from voting or start a business.
In the below statements I am seperating "women" and "wife." there is a difference in the East. Why do I say unmarried women? Asking married women to go outside the will of their Muslim husband is out of the question. Also, this goes against the Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, and Christian religion.
That being said, a husband is supposed to love his wife and if the husband (or Paki tribal leader) is a control freak, then he has a psychological insecurity problem, don't blame it on religion. There are plenty of Muslim men that have no problem with their Muslim wives starting a business, vote, or higher education.
The solution is for single women in the East to accomplish whatever they want before they get married. The seperation of "women" and "wife" is a difficult pill to swallow for the West. You will have to get over it because you can't impose your will on the other side of the world and no amount of America military power will "fix" it. Besides, the a husband that lives in the East will tell you that the pot is calling the kettle black, due to the high divorce rate in the West.
In conclusion kids, what can we learn from India? One, stop all Moranic Koranic propaganda. Two, give women the right to vote, start a business, and/or higher education.
(I didn't mean to get of topic but, I want to state that we can learn from India, how all religion really can, all get along. Besides, I already beat the Gaza situation into the ground yesterday)
Christian leaders say that the claim of Jewish descent of the Mizos and Kukis is not based on historical or anthropological facts.
Nearly 111 years after its advent in Mizoram and Manipur, Christianity has now waken up to the potent threat that the star of David posed to the Cross in the two north-eastern states.
The Christian theologians and researchers have of late launched a campaign to counter the growing affinity of some Mizos and Kukis (a tribe of Manipur) towards Judaism.
The synagogues in Aizawl and Imphal have a number of regulars since ages. But what have alarmed the Christian scholars in the two states are recent media reports from Jerusalem that a team of Rabbis from Israel would soon land in the region to conduct mass conversions.
âSuch mass conversion of people from Christianity to Judaism will destroy the social fabric of both the tribes. It is the need of the hour that we launch a social movement against any such move,â said P C Biaksiama of the Christian Research Centre in Aizawl.
Dr Biaksiama and Rev Chuauthuama of the Aizawl Theological College will take on the proponents of the Mizosâ Jewish descent in a public debate on Friday.
Although almost all Mizos, who earlier practised indigenous faiths, embraced Christianity by mid 1940s, some of them in early 1970s noticed that many of their traditional customs and rituals matched with those of the Jews. This made them believe that their ancestors had been Jews and lived in Israel.
Their belief was later endorsed by Rabbi Eliahu Avichail, an eminent religious leader of Israel, who had set up Amishav, an organisation based in Jerusalem, to trace and help the descendants of Israelâs 10 Lost Tribes to return to the âHoly Landâ, a right that the Constitution of Israel has granted to every Jew.
According to the Amishav, now known as âShavei Israelâ, the Mizos and Kukis are descendants of the âTribe of Manassehâ, which along with nine other tribes had been exiled from Israelâs northern kingdom after the Assiriyan invasion in 721 BC.
Posted by: john ||
08/24/2005 8:44 Comments ||
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#5
"âSuch mass conversion of people from Christianity to Judaism will destroy the social fabric of both the tribes. It is the need of the hour that we launch a social movement against any such move,â said P C Biaksiama of the Christian Research Centre in Aizawl."
It is the ignorance of these type Christians is the reason that Jews don't trust Christians. This moron is claiming, conversion.
The Jewish rabbi's don't convert people. It is not a mandate of the Torah to convert people to Judaism. This is scare mongering at its best. The Torah simply states that all existing tribes will be united in Israel, again. The rabbi's are simply there to verify NOT to convert.
I am a Christian and this ignorant idiot P C Biaksiama does not represent me or the Christian Bible.
Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites to develop orbital version of tourist spacecraft
Orbital vehicle SpaceShipThree (SS3) will be developed by space tourism company Virgin Galactic and Mojave-based SpaceShipTwo (SS2)-developer Scaled Composites, if the planned SS2 suborbitalservice is successful, says Virgin Galactic president Will WhiteÂhorn.
#2
Moss does not grow on these guys. With the injection of DARPA and now Virgin money, these guys should soon be having enough business for bi- tri- and quarter-annual launches.
Years ago, the University of Arizona developed a satellite whose sole purpose was to catch dangerous space garbage in orbit and bring it back to Earth. It was too simple, though important and desireable, to send up at such high prices. But now, it and a hundred other "also-ran" Earth satellites are back in the race.
#3
Years ago, the University of Arizona developed a satellite whose sole purpose was to catch dangerous space garbage in orbit and bring it back to Earth
#4
Not particularly large. About a 3' cube. I gather the idea was to fly in an optimal orbiting lane and get small objects classified as dangerous, based on some unknown criteria. Then I think they intended to melt it if they could to save space. Once full, it would just re-enter the atmosphere and burn up.
Found a Tucson Star article referring to it:
http://tinyurl.com/cp4u3
(2nd item listed)
"A University of Arizona professor has a 15-year old patent for a robot that would collect dangerous space debris but his idea has remained dormant due to a lack of funding and interest."
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.
PARIS -- The director of the Tour de France said it was a "proven scientific fact" that Lance Armstrong had a performance-boosting drug in his body during his 1999 Tour win, and that the seven-time champion owed fans an explanation.
L'Equipe's investigation was based on the second set of two samples used in doping tests. The first set were used in 1999 for analysis at the time. Without those samples, any disciplinary action against Armstrong would be impossible, French Sports Minister Jean-Francois Lamour said.
