A village of Birofeld in Russiaâs Jewish autonomous area was partially hit by a power outage, after a missile accidentally launched from the backyard of a local residentâs house destroyed a power line and flew into a barn where it killed a bull, the Interfax news agency reported Friday. Local police said in a report the rocket was launched from the yard of a man who earned his living by collecting scrap metal. The man claimed the missile went off as he was sawing a piece of metal and a spark fell on the rocket.
The rocket first ploughed through the manâs vegetable garden and hit the barn killing a bull before flying over the village, destroying a TV antenna on the roof of a one-story building and hitting a power line. It fell in woods near pasture where goats were grazing. As a result, electricity supplies to the village were disrupted for 24 hours. Shortly afterwards, the metal wires from the destroyed power lines were stolen by scrap metal hunters, the agency said in a report.
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A federal judge ruled on Friday that the Pentagon had broken the law in seeking to close down the 111th Fighter Wing of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard without first obtaining the governor's approval. Can a law truly be broken if it (the list of closures) hasn't been finalized yet? Or does Rummy have to get approval just to make his suggestion list?
The ruling was a victory for Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell, who challenged the Pentagon's plan to close the fighter wing at a naval base near Philadelphia. The disputed closure, which would cost more than 1,200 jobs, is part of round of planned domestic military base reductions. I always love it when the MSM says it would "cost xxxx jobs." No, it doesn't. Generally, those jobs are moved elsewhere or were redundant in the first place, which means a more lean/mean/fightin' machine!
The case was closely watched by other U.S states affected by the program because it could set a precedent for other governors unhappy with Washington's plans. Especially, when it involves money!
Illinois has also sued the Pentagon over the plan and Missouri has threatened similar action, saying Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had "run roughshod" over states' Constitutional rights to run militias. Is it just me, but technically, if it was a truly State run militia, they'd have no need of DoD money, eh?
The Pennsylvania case was filed against Rumsfeld by Rendell with Pennsylvania's Republican Sens. Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum. Boy, and I thought the joining of Sheehan, Rev. Al and the Aryan Nation goons was weird! I realize the DoD makes recommendations, but technically, doesn't Congress and the President make the final decision? Then why name Rummy as a Defendant?
The 111th Fighter Wing is based at Willow Grove Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Air Base, which is slated for closure.
Rendell had argued the air wing must be "available to me as governor to perform state active-duty missions dealing with homeland security, natural disasters and other state missions." "Like flying me up in that nifty F-18 or something," he added.
He also argued that Willow Grove was in a strategically important location between New York and Washington, so its forces can respond quickly to future attacks on those cities. What's a Democrat doing making sense?
Posted by: BA ||
08/26/2005 14:50 ||
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#1
I just heard on the radio that uncle Teddy's gonna 'consider' using the courts to challenge the proposed closure of Otis ANGB in Sandwich, which means he will use the courts.
#4
I think it is true the Feds can't dis-band a State National Guard unit but they most certainly can take all equipment and do not have to fund it. All the yelling about the National Guard being tha Militia is absolute bullshit. ALL the weapons, equipment, and training facilities belong to the Federal Government and if the Feds decide to with-hold funding and reposes all the equipment there isn't a thing the National Guard can do about it. The Army just repo'd all the Bradleys and M-1's of a unit near hear and relagated them to support troops. Not a damn thing the Governor could do. The State doesn't own the equipment. The 11th may still exist but they won't have any equipment unless the State buys it. Rotsa Ruck.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/26/2005 20:35 Comments ||
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Just heard a sample on the local oldies station, I was LMAO.
George Bush has been keeping musical company with John Lennon this year and it's been entertaining thousands. Yes, it's true, the former Beatle is long dead and the US President, unlike his sax-honking predecessor, confined his "tooting" to wild parties during his youth. But thanks to the efforts of a Sydney musician-cum-political activist, this unlikely duo has had one of the most requested tracks on radio for several months, here and overseas.
The song, Imagine This, features the cut-and-spliced voice of Mr Bush seemingly repeating segments of Imagine, Lennon's 1971 plea for secular harmony. Over modern dance beats and the original Lennon piano, Bush can be heard saying things such as "imagine there's no countries, it is not hard to do, nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too, and that's a good thing".
IT'S not a sight one would expect to come across in the chimpanzee enclosure. But visitors to a zoo in China are having to get used to the sight of its resident primate puffing away on a cigarette. Ai Ai formed the habit after watching visitors and her keepers smoking at Qinling Zoo, in central Shaanxi province.
It is thought the 26-year-old had been struggling to cope with the death of her second mate and one of her offspring. She began picking up butts near her cage and now is given whole cigarettes from time to time to keep her calm. Keepers are trying to gradually reduce her daily intake. Ai Ai is not the only smoking chimp in China - home to one in three of the world's smokers. In Zhengzhou Zoo 13year-old Feili took up the habit because her mate 28 years her senior was unable to keep up with her amorous demands.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
08/26/2005 12:12 ||
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Somebody better give this chimp the patch!
Posted by: Dar ||
08/26/2005 15:00 Comments ||
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...the 26-year-old had been struggling to cope with the death of her second mate and one of her offspring.
Have they blamed them on second hand smoke yet?
In Zhengzhou Zoo 13year-old Feili took up the habit because her mate 28 years her senior was unable to keep up with her amorous demands.
London Zoo unveiled a new exhibition -- eight humans prowling around wearing little more than fig leaves to cover their modesty. The "Human Zoo" is intended to show the basic nature of human beings as they frolick throughout the August bank holiday weekend. "We have set up this exhibit to highlight the spread of man as a plague species and to communicate the importance of man's place in the planet's ecosystem," London Zoo said. Wow...that's some self-hating homo sapiens there...
Um. The London Zoo thinks of humans as a plague species. I wonder if that label applies to the Zoo director and other officials, or is that just for the commons?
The scantily-clad volunteers will be treated as animals and kept amused at the central London zoo with games and music. PETA will be happy to hear that.
"I actually think the fig leaves will be enough to cover us up, it's no worse than a swimming pool," said volunteer Simon Spiro, 19, from New Malden, south of the British capital. Spiro, selected from dozens of hopefuls in an Internet competition, said he was excited by the prospect of monkeying around on the zoo's Bear Mountain. "I'm a veterinary student so the idea of working for a zoo was something that appealed to me. I thought it would be fun and interesting because I'm an outdoorsy kind of person," he said. Brendan Carr, 25, from Aylesbury, southern England, wrote a poem in his bid to get on the mountain. "I'm funky like a monkey and as cool as a cat, talk more than a parrot, up all night like a bat," it went. "I got a laugh like a hyena but get the hump like a camel, so cover me in fig leaves as I'm the ultimate mammal."
#3
For the good of the planet, any human who considers themselves part of a "plague species" should be made to kill themselves immediately to help alleviate the problem.
Put your money where your mouth is, boys and girls...
#5
"We have set up this exhibit to highlight the spread of man as a plague species and to communicate the importance of man's place in the planet's ecosystem," London Zoo said.
Isn't this taking the guilt over their past colonization history juuuuust a bit too far?
#6
The zoo is primarily a place for young children and their parents to enjoy together. It is a unique and very special experience. It shouldn't be used for half-baked activists to get a free venue to inflict their beliefs upon children.
#8
Yeah humans and animals are all the same. When I see a zoo built by any other animal I'll by that one. I'd settle for a reasonable work of art that didn't remind me of something created with NEA funds. Were is the monkey Mona Lisa? All the same my butt.
Visitors stopped to point and laugh, and several children could be heard asking "why are there people in there?" London Zoo spokeswoman Polly Wills said that's exactly the question the zoo wants to answer."Seeing people in a different environment, among other animals ... teaches members of the public that the human is just another primate," Wills said.
Wonder if she's the author of the "plague species" quote which has curiously been omitted here.
Chemist Tom Mahoney, 26, decided to participate after his friend sent him an e-mail about the contest as a joke. Anything that draws attention to apes, he said, has his support."A lot of people think humans are above other animals," he said. "When they see humans as animals, here, it kind of reminds us that we're not that special."
Well maybe you aren't...
The human captives were kept well-fed and watered by zoo staff, who took care to ensure they did not grow bored. A supply of board games was on hand, and some said they were looking forward to tuning into the England-Australia cricket match on the radio. Unlike the zoo's non-human inhabitants, they are allowed to go home each night at closing time.
...and spread their human plague!
And, by the way, Sept 18th is "Gay Day" at London Zoo. God knows what they do for that.
#11
I once got into an argument with a very right-wing "christtian" who told me he wasn't an animal, he was a human being. I asked him if he wasn't a member of the animal kingdom was he a mineral or a vegetable and that I suspected vegetable because he didn't exhibit much brain function.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/26/2005 20:43 Comments ||
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Silicone boost for a cabinet member?
Thailand's prime minister is searching for the cabinet colleague who has had a silicone injection to enlarge his penis, according to reports yesterday.
"Hey! Put that thing away! You're scaring the horses!"
Ahead of a parliamentary debate on an emergency powers decree passed by the government, Thaksin Shinawatra turned instead to a topic of fevered speculation in the country. "Who did it? Tell me," Mr Thaksin was quoted as asking his ministers. "This has affected the reputation of the cabinet, because the news went round the world. I don't want people to think cabinet members are obsessed with this kind of thing." What has "affected the reputation of the cabinet" is the insane, impotent (no pun intended) response to Islamist violence in the southern provinces."
According to the Nation newspaper no one present said anything, although a number of male cabinet ministers squirmed in their seats and looked down at the floor. Mr Thaksin then suggested, tongue in cheek, that the public health minister make inquiries. "The next room is empty," he told him. "Can you use it to check the ministers right now?"
"Awright, Mr. Minister! Lessee whatcha got there... Whoa! Hey, Mr. President! I think we found him!... You need some help putting that thing back?"
The question has arisen because a woman who claims a plastic surgeon disfigured her face with a silicone injection, and is in turn being sued by the clinic for defamation, asserts that a government minister has had a similar treatment to increase his manhood. Ahem ... and how, pray tell this she come by this information?
Posted by: The Angry Fliegerabwehrkanonen ||
08/26/2005 00:00 ||
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Is there a pole vaulter in the room?
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/26/2005 2:11 Comments ||
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Goin' downtown,
Gonna see my gal,
Gnna sing her a song,
Gonna show her my ding-dong.
The giant iron ball at the centre of the Earth appears to be spinning a bit faster than the rest of the planet.
"Professor! I can't hold her much longer! She's gonna blow!"
"We'll have to evacuate!"
The solid core that measures about 2,400 kilometres in diameter is spinning about one-quarter to one-half degree faster, per year, than the rest of the world, scientists from Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign report in the journal Science.
It's probably Bush's fault... In fact, I'm sure of it.
The spin of the Earth's core is an important part of the dynamo that created the planet's magnetic field, and researcher Xiaodong Song said he believes magnetic interaction is responsible for the different rates of spin. The faster spin of the core was proposed in 1996 by two of the current study's authors, Paul Richards of Lamont-Doherty and Song, now an associate professor at Illinois. The researchers studied the travel times of earthquake waves through the Earth, analysing what are called couplets. Those are earthquakes that originate within a 880 metres or so of one another but at different times. They analysed 30 quakes occurring in the South Atlantic and measured at 58 seismic stations in Alaska and found differences in the travel times and shape of the waves, indicating differences in the core as the waves passed through the centre of the Earth. Analysing those differences, they calculated that the core is spinning slightly faster than the rest of the planet and is a bit lumpy.
It's the drilling in ANWR that did that...
... or was it the melting of the Greenland glacier ...
You sure it wasn't the Halliburton Zionist Earthquake Machine Division?
That solid inner core is surrounded by a fluid outer core about 6,760 kilometres across. Since the planet is divided into 360 degrees of longitude, a core spinning one-quarter to one-half degree faster than the outer surface could take between 700 and 1,400 years to get one full revolution ahead.
And once that happens... Well, you can guess the rest...
But Song said in a telephone interview that he expected that rate to vary over time and sometimes the core might be spinning slower than the rest of the planet. "What we see right now is a snapshot of a long time process between the magnetic field and the inner core," he said. "I do expect to see this rate change with time."
#3
And to think it only took 25 years to be confirmed - will my University prof change my grade to "A" from C + for proving him wrong, AGAIN FOR Nth TIME!? Why next thing you know Condi and Blair were at Penn State, along with the Burqua Boyz!?
#12
The Haliburton Zionist Earthquake Machune hit my place 2 nights ago. Scared the beejeebers out of the dogs, chickens, horses, and me and Connie the Short Bus Lady. I guess it was a test, only 3.8
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/26/2005 20:26 Comments ||
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US civil rights activist Jesse Jackson will reportedly begin a three-day visit to Venezuela on Saturday, to meet President Hugo Chavez, politicians and community leaders.
Jackson and his delegation will meet Chavez, Venezuelan religious leaders and will attend a special session of Venezuela's National Assembly convened Sunday.
Jackson will also meet leaders of African-descended communities in Caracas, the ABN state news agency said...
Russians, whose lives are shorter and poorer than they were under communism, have more abortions than births to avoid the costs of raising children, Bloomberg.com reported Tuesday quoting the countryâs highest-ranking obstetrician.
About 1.6 million women had an abortion last year, a fifth of them under the age of 18, and about 1.5 million gave birth, said Vladimir Kulakov, vice president of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. âMany moreâ abortions werenât reported.
âThe appearance of a first child pushes many families into poverty,â Kulakov said today in the governmentâs official newspaper, Rossiskaya Gazeta. âPotential parents first try to start a career, stand on their feet and so forth.â
The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the ensuing hyperinflation and depression deprived millions of Russians of their incomes and savings and discouraged couples from having children. By 2000, the number of pensioners in Europeâs most populous country outnumbered children and adolescents for the first time.
The increase in poverty and the decline in the quality of health care since the fall of communism have left about six million women and 4 million men â seven percent of Russiaâs 145 million people â incapable of having children.
âThis is a critical level,â Kulakov said.
Part of the problem is a lack of job prospects. Careers traditionally favored by Russian women, such as in education and medicine, no longer pay a decent salary, which leads to fewer births and ultimately a smaller population, Kulakov said.
For every 1,000 Russians there are 16 deaths and just 10.6 births, a gap that isnât being filled by immigrants, leading to a population decline of about 750,000 to 800,000 a year.
Out of every 1,000 Russian newborn babies, more than 12 die before they are one year old, an infant mortality rate five times higher than in Iceland and three to four times higher than in Finland, Sweden, Spain and France, Russiaâs Federal Statistics Service reported last week.
The average Russian man now dies at 58.8, the shortest life expectancy in Europe and five years fewer than 15 years ago, the Statistics Service said. Russian women have the fourth-lowest life expectancy in Europe, 72 years, the service said, citing its own data and figures from the World Health Organization and European Union.
I saw a projection that in 15-20 years, Russia will basically control Moscow and St. Petersburg, Siberia will be controlled by China and the far east will be a seperate nation or controlled by Japan/China. Looks like it may come to pass.
#1
The russian economy is growing at a pretty good clip. They'll be all right unless Putin blows it with his autocratic tendencies and scares away foreign investment.
Everyone who bought the Fox-blocker, here's a country to which you can move. They have subsidized gas and free health care, too.
A plan by Rupert Murdochâs News Corp. to operate a prime-time TV channel in China has fallen prey to a Chinese government crackdown on local and foreign media. News Corp., owner of the Fox broadcast network and media assets across Asia and Europe, is already the largest Western TV company in China. But News Corp. was planning to secure a channel for its content that would extend its reach over a much larger area of China, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Now the Chinese TV channel involved in the venture has confirmed that the deal is off. The Chinese government has said it wonât approve any new foreign TV channels.
News Corp. ran afoul of Chinese officials in 1993 when Murdoch said that satellite TV would undermine totalitarian regimes. Well it undermined the MSM, didn't it?
According to the Journal, the Chinese government fears that foreign investment could undermine its control of the media. I dunno. Corporate ownership of our media hasn't changed their Communist Pary loyalty.
#1
Sure, thats how those fuckers work. They won't let us buy into their quasi-free economy but don't dare block them from buying American companies. They are a bunch of little assholes and they have broken every clause of every agreement they have ever signed with us.
I knew it! Jerkwater, USA is part of the Middle Kingdom - and must be repatriated. The Muzzies will be very angry to hear this, of course, since they believe it to be Ummah land.
It's Thursday night and the JV teams of More Science High and Islamonutz Jihadi High are scrimmaging. Tomorrow we have the varsity match. There's lively debate about whether we should use some of our "special" plays - to save wear 'n tear on our team.
And that matters, cuz next week we take on Golden Dragon High. They are well known for pulling nasty pranks on opponents, doping the Gatorade, bribing the band members to spell out obscene words, stealing playbooks, etc. We must maintain strict security on the campus - they're slickyboyz, awright.
#2
I'm sure those little bastards have designs on our slice of the global pie, but a war? Surely they have to know it wouldnt just be us they would be fighting, for the rest of the world would be next if the U.S. were to fall. The Brits, Australians, Japs, Jews and maybe even the S.Koreans, but I wouldnt hold my breath waiting for them. It would be a true world war III when russia threw in with china and N.Korea. Then the EU might get involved, NATO (Remember them?), Canada, and mexico wouldnt want chinese here either. The world economy would crash and there would be no trade, or money or stability to be found on the entire earth. But that wouldn't matter anyway because we would unload our entire nuclear payload onto china and any other aggressor anyway and that much fallout would probably kill us all anyway, there wouldnt be any uncontaminated surface water on the planet.
HONOLULU -- The new commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, Adm. Gary Roughhead, an interested onlooker of the joint Chinese-Russian military maneuvers during the past eight days, has posed a critical question about the rapidly modernizing Chinese navy: "What do [the Chinese] see as the intended use of that navy?" Rhetorical question for sure.
I think he knows the answer, and I think he has a plan.
"Clearly, the Chinese are developing a very capable modern military, especially the navy," Adm. Roughead said in an interview at his Pearl Harbor headquarters.
If that navy "is to ensure the free flow of commerce, that would not be surprising," he said, nodding toward the sea lanes in the South China and East China seas through which pass the oil and raw materials that feed China's expanding economy, not to mention its soaring exports. The admiral added, however: "What if the intent is not purely to defend the sea lanes?" He left the question open.
Adm. Roughead said his command had been watching the maneuvers centered in China on the Shandong Peninsula across the Yellow Sea from the Korean Peninsula. He was keenly interested in learning what ships and aircraft the Chinese and Russians had sent into the war games, how they operated together, and how they integrated their commands and communications.
The exercise marked another step in a gradual Sino-Russian reconciliation after decades of rivalry during the days of the Soviet Union. It appeared to have had three purposes: Put the United States on notice that it has military competitors in the Western Pacific; show the Taiwanese once again that China would use force if that island nation declared formal independence; and market more Russian weapons to China, which already has bought Russian warships and aircraft.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/26/2005 01:15 ||
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and market more Russian weapons to China, which already has bought Russian warships and aircraft.
Are they anything like those famed Russian GPS jammers? Top notch Russian stuff. Keep the receipt.
Posted by: Rafael ||
08/26/2005 1:31 Comments ||
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#2
Chicom-desired hegemony can be summed up in domination of the PACRIM and INDIAN OCEAN nations. China is also buying modern air assets from Russia for her Airborne Infantry and Mech forces. Right now her focii is econ modernization whilst also destabilizing all the pro-Western or neutral nations such as Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, and India, etc. espec JAPAN as its main competitor in Asia. Russia, whose current population stands at circa 145M +/-, has trad been Euro-centric - however, despite the fact that both Russia's and China's pop are suffering from serious demographic problems, both of them wouldn't mind iff China suffered a pop drawdown by other than natural means!? China's pop is outstripping the ability of the CPC/CCP, State planning, and Chinese-specific natural endowments/comparative advantages to accom it, and the last thing the Chicoms want is higher popul, even iff due to intensified private wealth, i.e to be another, only LARGER STARVING "NORTH KOREA"!? Unlike Russia, whom still has plenty of land space for current pop levels, China definitely needs lebenstraum!
#3
"What do [the Chinese] see as the intended use of that navy?"
My guess is that they finally got around to reading Mahan? Great commerial powers need to protect their lanes of commerce, if there are no other friendly powers to do it for them.
One of the great 'Ifs' of world history was if the Ming Dynasty had continued the explorations started under Admiral Zheng He. If the Chineses had contacted the Europeans first, there would have been little motivation for the Europeans to begin their own exploration and expansion across the globe resulting the world as we know it today. Think that smarts today in Beijing? Playing catch up in the 21st Century because of parochial court politics in the 15th Century.
#4
US3984: One of the great 'Ifs' of world history was if the Ming Dynasty had continued the explorations started under Admiral Zheng He. If the Chineses had contacted the Europeans first, there would have been little motivation for the Europeans to begin their own exploration and expansion across the globe resulting the world as we know it today.
That fleet was huge and ruinously expensive. I don't think it was sustainable. The European fleets ventured abroad to escape the punitive tariffs levied by Muslim sovereigns (Ottomans, Safavids, Mughals, etc) on the overland route vis-a-vis the spice trade. The Chinese had no problem getting to the Moluccas, where the spice trade was centered. European expeditions relied on commerce - i.e. purchases of exotic goods abroad for sale back home - to more than pay for themselves - they were essentially self-financing. The Chinese viewed trade as beneath them, meaning that each expedition was little more than an expensive junket to show the flag.
#5
I just love juxtaposing these two quotes from Wikipedia on Mahan:
widely considered the world's foremost theorist of military sea power.
Despite his success in the Navy, his skills in actual command of a ship were not exemplary[1]; and a number of vessels under his command were piloted into both stationary and moving objects.
An example that the tactical and strategic aspects of war aren't always found together?
Posted by: DO ||
08/26/2005 10:47 Comments ||
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#6
Ok, back to topic.
"If that navy "is to ensure the free flow of commerce, that would not be surprising," he said, nodding toward the sea lanes in the South China and East China seas through which pass the oil and raw materials that feed China's expanding economy, not to mention its soaring exports."
Wrong! Normally, you would provide naval escorts if cargo ships are in danger of being boarded by pirates. I think the pirates know better than to hijack a cargo ship destined for China.
I think there are two reasons for the expanded navy. One is obvious, a solid naval as well as a ground ability in preparedness to one day annex Taiwan, by force. Although, sophisticated Ageis class is not available to the Chinese, at least until a Democrat is in the WH the Chinese assumption is that sheer numbers can overwhelm the highly advanced US Taiwanese navy.
This, is on its face, is foolish thinking by the Chinese, unless the plan is to block US carriers from Japan & others from helping Taiwan. I did some research and I found out that the Chinese have every intention to block the US carriers one day. This can be accomplished by increasing naval escorts to all China destined ports. But as you can tell by reading the article, the US have counter measures. But, every counter measure poses major problems for the US Navy. The US Navy will have to make a decision. Is Taiwan really worth defending? Yes, but not with all our naval might. I hate to say this but, the reality is that eventually, we will say Taiwan is not worth the tactical risk therefore, no longer a strategic asset. This is what the Chinese is hoping to accomplish with the massive buildup. The Chinese really thinks that they can annex Taiwan without a fight. I believe, in the loooong run, China will be proved correct.
Two, the naval escorts will provide cover for illegal weapons shipments to terrorists countries such as Pakistan and Iran. The naval escorts will provide protection until the illegal shipments reach international waters. Once reaching internationl waters, then if the ship has a Chinese flag, then Internationl Maritime Law states that: the boarding country of origin vessel e.g. US, MUST obtain permission from the boardee country of origin e.g. China. If the boardee country of origin does not give permission, then phone calls are made to the e.g US, government officials until strong arm permission is granted from the boardee country of origin, e.g. China. Once, China has finished the massive naval buildup, then they will more bold to deny the e.g. US, permission to board and search. Here is the dangerous part, the first time China gets away with this, you CANNOT put the genie back in the bottle.
#7
I think China is more likely to move into the Stans or even Siberia. I think the Chineese war games are as much about learning the ally/future enemy capabilities as about getting more high tech gear and of course shaking up the tiawaneese at the same time.
Why would the Chineese move on Tiawan a war that will cost them huge in the economy and war with the US will stess chinas weakest areas not to mention the US would very likely win and if nothing else embargo the chineese down even if the chineese suceed they gain not much more than national pride. The US will shift bases to Philipines and renforce Japan to hold the dagger at the china throat. On the other hand the Stans are weak, but with big oil and mineral gains, to far for the US to risk intervention, EU dont care, and Russia is to weak to stop. Siberia is a oil and mineral jackpot that is sparcley populated in a weak russia that after 08' will have a disgruntled populass due to Putin the new pres/dictator for life that wont have the EU or the US to exited about helping out. China will play to thier stong points Army thier weak points Navy and Air Force can probably match the Russian, not to mention the Chineese will be moving short logistics just north while the Russians will have to push far east logistics under constant bombardment from northern chineese bases. The nothern sea passage is seasonal and the current chineese navy is propably capable of embargo of eastern russia.
That would be the smart move for China if they really want empire they need secure oil and mineral resources it will take China decades to be able to dominate or even match the US navy and air force, even then they still will be dependent on other nations to sell the oil and minerals. The US is still good at negotiations and when needed getting nations go along with our way after all china cant protect the sellers from embargo and air assualt by the US. If Siberia or the Stans were taken china could easily build up its military and attack Tiawan without having to build a Navy air force strong enough to break the US naval domination. Not to mention the US when it sees its advantage of the seas going north they will pick up prodoction and a naval arms race will be a hard race for china. China is not stupid they look at history and history says 1st you secure resources.
"Why would the Chineese move on Tiawan a war that will cost them huge in the economy and war with the US"
I agree with all the away, from a present point of view and you are assuming that future US Presidents are going to continue the Bush policy. I am talking about 10-20 years from now.
You have to read my post a little bit more carefully. I am saying that with the massive buildup, China could annex Taiwan without a fight. China can't win a Cold War style build up competition with the US, but it can win one against Taiwan. Years down the road, Taiwan will become an expendable asset to the US.
WoT is draining a lot of resources from the US and the Chinese will wait and see 10-20 years if they have to. But, they will make a well coordintated and overwhelming move against Taiwan. When this happens, the US will throw up some "face saving" hissy fit but, the US Congress will not stomach another war and give it up, WITHOUT a fight.
Read my research link on #6 and you will see that I am right all the way. It's a long read, but you need to read it before countering my theory. I backing up my viewpoint with facts, please don't insult me with just opinion.
#9
Read my research link on #6 and you will see that I am right all the way. It's a long read, but you need to read it before countering my theory. I backing up my viewpoint with facts, please don't insult me with just opinion.
A RARE stink hung over the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne today.
The garden's foul-smelling Tongue Orchid is flowering for just the second time in 30 years, displaying finger-like red flowers among metre-long tongue-like leaves. The Papua New Guinea native is one of a number of plants that produce flowers smelling of rotting meat to attract blowflies, and thus help pollination. "If you mixed, say, two- or three-day-old rotting flesh with manure you would get pretty close, I think," the garden's Tropical House curator Jeremy Prentice said.
"It's very unusual.
"It is fairly strong and it will get stronger over the next couple of days as more of the flowers fully open."
The tropical plant would not grow naturally in Australia, and it required love, care and attention to coax it into bloom, Mr Prentice said. "They enjoy a fair bit of food, and also a lot of water and high humidity," he said. "It's nice to have your plants flower because it shows they are happy."
Bulbophyllum Fletcherianum plants grow on host rocks in the wild, but the one in the Melbourne gardens has been grown on a piece of cork oak. The plant failed to bloom after it was planted 30 years ago, but it flowered in 2002 following a transplant, Mr Prentice said. He hoped it would now follow its natural life cycle to bloom again in three years.
The tongue orchid is expected to be on public display for around a week.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
08/26/2005 03:46 ||
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#1
I was going to say send one to Crawford, but I guess no one would notice.
#5
lol good one Jackal. They have porta-pottys but I haven't heard of any shower facilities. "If you mixed, say, two- or three-day-old rotting flesh with manure you would get pretty close
too much info
Posted by: Jan ||
08/26/2005 20:41 Comments ||
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A DOCUMENT in which Australian model Michelle Leslie admits to being an ecstasy addict is a fake, her Indonesian lawyer claimed today. "It is a fake document," Mohammad Rifan said of an alleged police record of interview with the Adelaide-born model, who is being held in Bali accused of possessing the party drug ecstasy.
Media reports cited what was purported to be a photocopy of a signed, four-and-a half-page transcript of a Bali police interview with Ms Leslie on Wednesday. According to the alleged transcript, Ms Leslie had told her interrogators that she feared she was hooked on the drug, and had sought treatment for the problem in Australia.
Mr Rifan did not say who might have forged such a document. But a transcript of interview was a confidential document and it "was not possible for Australian journalists to get that statement", he said. "So I am sure it is a fake."
"Lies! All lies!"
The alleged transcript appeared to carry signatures from Ms Leslie and Mr Rifan as well as the police officers who questioned her. Mr Rifan said he had signed many documents, but not that one.
He said anyone could make a forgery. "It is not difficult," he said.
Ms Leslie was detained during a routine drug sweep outside a Bali dance party on Saturday, when police found two ecstasy pills wrapped in tissue paper in her handbag. According to the alleged transcript, Ms Leslie said she could not enjoy parties without taking ecstasy. However, her parents said she did not take drugs, and urine tests after her arrest were negative.
And if you can't believe Mom, who can you believe?
Authorities were waiting today for the results of blood tests.
Mr Rifan also scoffed at separate claims by Bali drug squad chief Colonel Bambang Sugiarto that Ms Leslie had admitted to having an addiction. "Addicted? She's never talked about being addicted," he said.
She didn't have to.
A spokesman for the model's family and Australian lawyer, Ross Hill, also denied the claims of addiction. "Ms Leslie strenuously denies the allegations being made against her and shall vigorously defend any such claims," the spokesman said in a statement.
"Lies! All lies! And I'm paid to say that!"
Ms Leslie made no comment today as she was taken from her holding cell to an office in Bali's sprawling police complex, apparently for more questioning. She was escorted by several officers and a friend identified only as Vera.
Mr Rifan said documents pertaining to a criminal investigation should not be leaked. "Everyone must respect legal procedures that are applied in Indonesia," he said. Mr Rifan also brushed aside suggestions that an admission to being an addict would ensure leniency if Ms Leslie's case went to trial.
Recently, another of Mr Rifan's clients, South Australian John Pyle, was handed a jail term of only five months, for using hashish in Bali, after he said he was addicted and was being treated by a doctor.
No formal charges have been laid against Ms Leslie, but she is being held on suspicion of ecstasy possession, an offence that can carry a maximum term of 15 years in prison. Mr Rifan said he did not yet know whether his client would face that exact charge, and he urged police to conduct their investigation quickly.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
08/26/2005 03:50 ||
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#1
Have Australians ever considered not going to Indonesia for any reason? It seems that 15 years for two pills is a little stiff to me.
#2
As an Australian citizen, i would never consider going to Indonesia, especially after the Bali bomb attacks and the poor penalties handed down to those involved in the mass murder of innocent civilians from numerous countries.
I heard on a radio talk back show this morning that if you get caught with drugs in Indonesia the best thing to do is to say you have a drug addiction problem and are seeking help, regardless if you are innocent or not... And if your a Muslim with a drug addiction, your sentence will be reduced substantially.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
08/26/2005 10:36 Comments ||
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#3
If you get caught with drugs in Indonesia, what you say is "How much does it cost to make this go away?" But be quick- you have about half an hour at most. Once the circus begins...
KARLSRUHE, Germany - Germanyâs highest court removed the final hurdle on Thursday to a Sept. 18 federal election, dismissing complaints that Chancellor Gerhard Schroederâs path to an early vote was unconstitutional.
The Federal Constitutional Court voted 7-1 that President Horst Koehler had been right to dissolve parliament in July and call a national election one year ahead of schedule.
Two rebel deputies in Schroederâs coalition had challenged Koehlerâs decision, arguing that a July 1 confidence vote that the chancellor pushed for and then deliberately lost was at odds with the constitution. Germanyâs constitution, framed after World War Two with the political instability of the pre-war Weimar Republic in mind, makes it difficult to dissolve parliament before the end of a regular four-year term.
Still, with all the countryâs leading political parties in favour of elections and the campaign now in full swing, the court had not been expected to disrupt the early vote. In 1983, the last time the court was called on to make a similar ruling, it upheld the then-presidentâs decision to allow an early election even though the chancellor, Helmut Kohl, had a comfortable majority.
Schroeder shocked the nation on May 22 when he called for an early election following a heavy defeat in a regional poll, saying he needed a fresh mandate to continue his programme of economic non-reforms.
Merkelâs conservatives have pledged to further the reform drive in Europeâs largest economy, raising sales tax to fund a lowering of non-wage labour costs, loosening rules on firing people to encourage firms to hire and cutting income tax. On the foreign front, the conservatives and their preferred allies, the liberal Free Democrats, are vowing to improve strained ties with the United States and thwart Turkeyâs bid to join the EU in favour of a âprivileged partnershipâ.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/26/2005 00:00 ||
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The former chairman of Air America Radio, Evan Montvel Cohen - who former colleagues said engineered transfers of more than $800,000 to the liberal radio network from a boys and girls club in the Bronx - is missing, according to a lawyer who is trying to have him served with legal papers.
At least two people have said Mr. Cohen is in Hawaii. He has not responded to a series of e-mail messages in recent weeks from The New York Sun asking him about his role.
Mr. Cohen, 39, helped lead the launch of Air America in March 2004. Less than two months later, Piquant LLC acquired the radio network from Mr. Cohen's Progress Media. Piquant LLC has agreed to pay $875,000 to Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club, without interest, in installments over the next two years.
Mr. Cohen's long, mysterious absence cost him his seat on the board of directors of the National Cancer Center, a nonprofit group based on Long Island that has an annual budget of about $3.5 million and gives grants to cancer research projects.
The executive director of that organization, Regina English, said Mr. Cohen was dropped from the board because he did not attend regularly scheduled board meetings and failed to deliver on his promises to raise funds for the organization. Mr. Cohen - who had told colleagues, including Air America's star host, Al Franken, that he suffered from brain cancer - was notified via e-mail, because the cancer charity had no other effective way of contacting him, she said.
"He came on full of vim and vigor. He said he was going to produce hundreds of thousands of dollars," Ms. English said. "He threw no fund-raisers, made no personal contributions, and never sent letters to friends."
Ms. English said Mr. Cohen had attended only one or two board meetings since the beginning of 2004.
Board members of the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club in the Bronx, where Mr. Cohen was employed as development director at the time he helped launch Air America, have said Mr. Cohen earned their trust through a very successful fund-raising event that he staged in Manhattan for the nonprofit club.
According to Ms. English and the vice president of the board of the cancer center, Franklin Reyner, Mr. Cohen did not transfer any money to Air America or to Gloria Wise from the cancer center.
Ms. English said Mr. Cohen was introduced to the board at the recommendation of an attorney, Seth Perlman, of the New York firm of Perlman & Perlman, which specializes in nonprofit regulation.
"I just knew that he had had cancer and that he had an interest in nonprofit organizations," Mr. Perlman said.
Mr. Perlman said Mr. Cohen had asked him to get involved with Gloria Wise but he did not do so.
Mr. Perlman said he knew Mr. Cohen through Mr. Cohen's brother, Thomas Montvel Cohen. All three men attended Beloit College in Wisconsin.
Despite claims to friends and coworkers that he had graduated from Beloit, however, Evan Cohen never fulfilled his graduation requirements nor did he receive a degree from the school, according to Beloit's registrar, Sherry Sandee.
Ms. Sandee said Mr. Cohen attended Beloit intermittently from 1984 to 1989, missing several semesters. She said he tried to make up the missing credits just before he started the Air America venture in 2003. For those credits, Mr. Cohen, a government major, submitted a project entitled "Examining the role of government in economic development."
It was at Beloit that Mr. Cohen befriended a future White House aide, David Goodfriend.
After serving as deputy staff secretary to President Clinton, Mr. Goodfriend became a leading figure in conceptualizing and launching Air America. It was he who introduced Mr. Cohen to investors.
Mr. Cohen was the first person named in a recent lawsuit filed by an owner of radio stations that is seeking more than $1.5 million it says it is owed by Air America.
But process servers - companies hired by lawyers to find witnesses or parties to lawsuits so they can be served with legal papers - have been unable to serve Mr. Cohen with the lawsuit, according to an attorney, Randy Mastro.
"We are still trying to locate him," Mr. Mastro, a deputy mayor in the Giuliani administration who is representing MultiCultural Radio Broadcasting in its suit against Air America, said yesterday.
A marketing consultant in Brookline, Mass., Abbe Cohen, was mistakenly served a subpoena for his son Evan Michael Cohen, who shares first and last names and middle initial with the former Air America official. According to his father, Evan Michael Cohen is in Europe, studying for a master's in business administration.
After reading the court document and consulting with his son by telephone, Abbe Cohen called the courts and returned the subpoena.
The law firm Stillman & Friedman was initially representing Evan Montvel Cohen but no longer is, according to Mr. Mastro, who is with the firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Julian Friedman, of that firm, did not return phone messages yesterday.
Via Drudge. Steve White - I'm sure you're as shocked as I am...
CBS) CHICAGO With corruption scandals swirling around City Hall, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley announced Friday that he met for two hours with representatives of the U.S. attorney. Daley would not detail what questions he was asked. Wonder if Daley's lawyer was present?
cbs2chicago.com will post the entire news conference shortly because CBS 2 is always on cbs2chicago.com -- Find out about breaking news first by signing up for our Breaking News Alerts.
Mayor Daley's spokeswoman, Jacquelyn Heard, said the mayor met with the federal authorities in his office Friday morning. He was accompanied by an attorney representing the City of Chicago and his own attorney, Heard said. Gotta love legal firepower...
Daley pledged continued cooperation with federal authorities, saying "this probe has caused me to ask many questions of my own and evaluate how and where the system broke down. On my orders, my staff is moving aggressively to address those issues." "Mistakes were made, yadda yadda yadda..."
Asked whether he is a target of federal authorities, Daley said he does not believe he is. Yeah, that's why they questioned you for two hours.
Daley is feeling the heat of the federal government's investigation of bribery and patronage hiring abuses at City Hall. Two city officials were charged last month with allegedly rigging the city's hiring system to flout a court order that bars City Hall from considering politics when filling most city jobs.
The case is an outgrowth of a federal investigation of bribes given in return for jobs in a program in which the city outsourced hauling work. More than 20 people have pleaded guilty in that probe. Bribes for jobs? Should've made 'campaign contributions' instead.
The mayor has not been accused of any wrongdoing. Not yet, anyways.
#3
Daley pledged continued cooperation with federal authorities, saying "this probe has caused me to ask many questions of my own and evaluate how and where the system broke down. On my orders, my staff is moving aggressively to address those issues."
That's good, kid! Find a fall guy! You were payin attention! I'm proud of ya.
Posted by: The Ghost Of Richard J. Daley ||
08/26/2005 15:54 Comments ||
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#4
Damn that is good Ghost, I don't know what I was thinking.
Posted by: Tricky Dick ||
08/26/2005 18:08 Comments ||
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#5
A little background for those unfamiliar:
before he became "Da Mare", Daley was the Cook County State's Attorney (head prosecutor for Cook County, Illinois). If anyone knows how to deal, he does.
MODEL Michelle Leslie's Indonesian lawyer resigned yesterday, saying he could not meet the family's "target" for her case.
Mohammed Rifan emerged from a meeting with the 24-year-old Australian and a female family member to say they had parted ways.
Asked if the family's objectives were achievable, Mr Rifan said: "It is difficult to answer but actually we resign because it is not possible we guarantee to get that target.
"I am only talking about how to run the case by our system.
"We must follow the Indonesian regulation, we must respect the Indonesian regulation, and we still must be follow our system."
The "target" had been suggested to him by Ms Leslie herself and her Australian lawyer Ross Hill, Mr Rifan said.
The family had wanted "very big things by our system" and "it is impossible, it's not our style", he said.
Mr Rifan's sudden exit from the high-profile case came amid a day of turmoil and denials after her police statement was leaked to the press.
Ms Leslie said in the signed statement she had been taking ecstasy for the past year, was addicted and had been seeking a doctor's treatment.
The model - dubbed Miss Beautiful in the Balinese press - faces 15 years in jail after allegedly being caught with two ecstasy tablets in her bag.
The Leslie family is understood to have been angered to learn the contents of her police statement, and had not agreed with Mr Rifan's strategy.
Earlier, when he was still the retained lawyer, Mr Rifan claimed the leaked document must have been a fake.
Mr Rifan did not deny Ms Leslie had told police she had taken ecstasy in the past, saying: "This is a part of the investigation by the police at this time."
Pressed on this issue, he said he could not explain about the content of the police interrogation, saying it was not a matter for the press.
Ms Leslie was continuing her routine of hiding her face from the press yesterday.
Led from her jail cell to the police building, she had one sarong over her head and another around her waist, and a tight grip on a family member who refused to give her name.
Her attire prompted taunts from Indonesian members of the press.
One asked if she was now a sarong model and another asked if she liked her new catwalk, referring to the prison walk from her cell to the detective's office.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
08/26/2005 10:38 ||
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There are about a half-dozen similar quotes that tech people use all the time. These quotes pop up in speeches, on posters, in PowerPoints, during sales talks and in pitches to raise money. They've practically become articles of faith in the industry.
But how many of them are real?
As it turns out, only one.
Otherwise, they seem to come from the same sources who report Elvis sightings to the Weekly World News staff.
Here are those tech quotes, in chronological order, and a look at their credibility:
⢠"This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication."
â William Orton, president of Western Union, in 1876, when Alexander Graham Bell tried to sell the company his invention.
Well, Orton probably did say something like that, but probably not as a dismissal of the whole concept. First of all, it's reported in some sources that he said, "This electric toy has too many shortcomings ..."
It was more of a way to disrespect Bell's version of the telephone and avoid licensing his patents â because within a year, Western Union had set up a separate company, American Speaking Telephone, to aggressively chase this new market. In fact, Western Union's handset, based on research by Thomas Edison, actually worked better than Bell's, according to The Worldwide History of Telecommunications by Anton Huurdeman.
The problem was that voice calls couldn't travel very well on Western Union's telegraph lines. And then upstart Bell Co. sued the pants off Western Union for patent infringement. By 1879, Western Union was forced to sign an agreement that surrendered the phone business to Bell. Orton didn't underestimate the phone â he underestimated Bell.
⢠"Everything that can be invented has been invented."
â Charles Duell, U.S. Patent Commissioner, 1899.
Total malarkey. This quote has been researched by various organizations as long ago as 1940, and no one has found evidence Duell said such a patently (nyuk-nyuk!) stupid thing. By contrast, he told Congress in 1899 â the same year he supposedly gave up on invention â that America's future success depended on invention.
⢠"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?"
â Harry Warner, Warner Bros., as movies with sound made their debut in 1927.
Context, people! Context! Here was Warner's full comment: "Who the hell wants to hear actors talk? The music â that's the big plus about this."
Warner Bros. was already investing in sound. Harry Warner believed that the sound that would sell movies was music, not prose. His mistake was artistic, not technological.
Thomas Watson, builder of IBM, in 1943: "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
IBM's archives staff has been asked repeatedly to find this quote. They can't. It's not in any of Watson's documented speeches, and this is a company that documented nearly everything Watson ever uttered.
It's true that Watson at the time thought electronic computers would be sold only to research labs, but he was hoping to sell them to a lot of research labs â certainly more than five. But he, and just about everyone else at the time, failed to comprehend why any business would need to do thousands of calculations per second, particularly if it required an expensive, room-size, power-guzzling machine that would break down constantly â which was the state of computer art in 1943.
Hmmmm. I've heard that it was a real quote, but he was talking about particular design, and there was a market for maybe five of that model.
⢠"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
â Ken Olsen, founder of Digital Equipment, in 1977.
At last! A fairly real quote!
I asked Gordon Bell, the legendary computer designer who worked at Olsen's side in those years, who confirmed that Olsen said those words. "It may have been to focus the company away from PCs when people around him were saying that we've got to work on small computers," Bell says.
Bell also sent me a remarkable Digital interoffice memo from 1969, in which Bell and other staffers laid out the potential for a small home computer â including applications like "shopping in the home," "play complex games" and "income tax figuring." So it's not that Olsen didn't know about PCs. He just didn't seem to like them. "No matter what, he could not envision one in HIS home," Bell says.
⢠"640K ought to be enough for anybody."
â Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder, 1981.
Over and over, Gates has denied saying this, and no evidence seems to exist that he did. Microsoft has always been in the business of pushing sales of new and better PCs: A new PC sold means new copies of Microsoft's software sold. So Gates implying that your current PC ought to be good enough would be like the Pope implying there were already enough Catholics.
Again, I've heard that this was because he increased the RAM allocation boundary. IBM's original design was for only 512K for RAM and 512K for devices, and Gates suggested they go to 640/384K. UNIX once ran on 64K machines. Now?
#3
As an ex-DECcie (14 yrs) I can add some to the KO quote. Olson's problem was with a lack of marketing vision as much as the development of the PC. Marketing was always DECs achillies heel.
KOs idea of marketing was engineers selling to engineers.
If you think about what a PC circa 1970 would have looked like, could you, honestly see it being useful in the home? ESPECIALLY with Olson's fanactical thirst for quality. He never understood that the three main factors in PC marketing were price, price and price.
He wanted to build the same sort of indestructible, highly reliable machines as always, and charge accordingly. That "charge accordingly" was the main problem.
*Sigh*
BRUSSELS â In the [Belgian] city of Maaseik the first fine for wearing an Islamic burka has been issued. Police booked a young woman of Moroccan origin three weeks ago for wearing the all-concealing Islamic veil, newspaper 'De Standaard' reported on Thursday. The woman will now be required to pay a EUR 125 fine, Maaseik Mayor Jan Creemers said on Wednesday. *BUT*
Ironically, the city will probably end up paying the fine because the woman is receiving social security payments from the OCMW benefits office. The woman will not be the only one fined however. Police have already booked four other women for the same crime, *BUT*
Maaseik will also end up paying their fines because the women are on social security recipients also. On 27 December last year, the Maaseik City Council approved the controversial and so-called 'burka decision'. The decision banned the wearing of a burka â a body-covering garment with veiled holes for the eyes â and a niqab, a face veil covering the lower part of the face up to the eyes.
#5
Might there be something profoundly wrong with this picture that the Belgians might one day recognize when there just isn't enough money to continue supporting people, not native to Belgium, who contribute little to nothing of value to their society.
#7
Is Belgium, if the man of the house is employed and the woman is not, can she still get social benefits?
It's something to think about, but maybe I'm being too generous.
Sweltering heat and the loss of a key transmission line Thursday forced power officials in Southern California to impose rolling blackouts, leaving as many as half a million people without power for about half an hour, officials said.
The California Independent System Operator, which operates the state's electric grid, declared a transmission emergency at 3:57 p.m., said ISO spokeswoman Stephanie McCorkle. About 30 minutes later, power was being restored to people subjected to the blackouts, she said.
The utility scattered the outages to the points east and south of Los Angeles. If the problem had persisted, the blackouts would have been shifted to other areas. The situation was exacerbated by the sudden loss of the transmission line originating in southern Oregon, officials said.
Northern California was not affected by the shutdowns. Pity.
"The people there are of the breed
that don't need electricity."
-- "California," Al Jardine and Mike Love
LAHORE: Dr Robin Haarr, an American expert on violence against women and children, will conduct a one-day workshop regarding violence against women and children at the US Consulate today. NGOs will participate in the workshop and a certificate distribution ceremony will be held at 2.00pm, said a press release.
"Hey, Mahmoud! We oughta go! Maybe we can pick up some tips!"
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2005 00:00 ||
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I wonder if it will be taken seriously in LaWhore?
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/26/2005 2:12 Comments ||
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This headline sounds like participants will be involved in the subtleties of BDSM.
From Rich Galen's Mullings - an update on one from Viet Nam who's done well...
Adrian Cronauer, occasional lunch pal, was standing next to me at the check-in kiosk at Reagan National the other day. Where are you off to? When do you get back? What timeâs your flight? Want to wait with me in the Crown Room? Meet you at security.
He was flying to Salt Lake City to speak at the VFW Convention and his flight didnât leave for a couple of hours so we shared a cup of coffee in the Delta Crown Room. The first time we were scheduled to meet Adrian warned me, âI donât look like Robin Williams. I look like Robert Bork.â
Mr. Cronauer is best known, of course, for the way Robin Williams portrayed him in the movie, âGood Morning, Vietnam.â But that is not the best thing heâs done. The best thing heâs done is what heâs doing now.
Adrian Cronauer, a government lawyer (law school was paid for, in part, by the screenplay he wrote which led to the famous movie) devotes his time and considerable talent as far away from being a wisecracking military disc jockey as one can get: He works with the Pentagon unit charged with locating the remains of American military personnel who are Missing in Action.
Cronauer doesnât do shtick, doesnât do one-liners, isnât manic, and doesnât speak in rapid-fire sentences. He is a serene gentleman who goes to uncomfortable places to meet with sometimes uncooperative people to help bring American heroes home to the families who kissed them goodbye, often, many decades earlier.
Recently, Army Captain David Smith, as reported in the Dayton Daily News by Ismail Turay, Jr. was âburied with military honors at the Dayton National Cemetery, bringing closure for a family which has grieved for more than 36 years.â âHow did you find him,â I asked Adrian? âGood detective work.â The Vietnamese arenât terribly helpful, he said, but neither do they obstruct. âIf you ask the right question, theyâll answer it, but they wonât suggest which question to ask next.â
A part of the process was described by reporter Rod Duren on the Gulf1 website:
The recovery teams go to sites previously identified by investigational teams as having a high likelihood of American service member remains present. Sites are selected from "real-time" Search and Rescue log entries, witness accounts from either U.S. forces in the area at the time of the crash or locals through subsequent interviews.
The Pentagon believes there are some 88,000 service members unaccounted for including 78,000 from World War II; 8,100 from Korea; 1,800 from Vietnam and one from the Gulf War.
Cronauer said that there have been times when the only government-to-government contact between the US and North Korea has been through the work of his unit.
Out of the glare of any media spotlight, Adrian Cronauer and his teammates will go anywhere on the planet to check out any report that the remains of an American service member have been found â or might be found â in a particular spot.
From a piece by reporter Debbie Bryce in the Idaho State Journal: Vickie Stephensen was a 35-year-old mother of four when her husband, Col. Mark L. Stephensen, was listed as missing in action in 1967. She held out hope for more than 20 years that he would be returned to her. In April 1988 she was notified that her husbandâs remains had been identified. âWe were relieved and grateful to get him back,â she said. âI always wondered where he was. Now I know. Heâs in Riverton, Utah. And I stop to see him oftenâ
Ismail Turay wrote, âTwo days before his death, [Cpt.] Smith was scheduled to return home to watch [his] niece, Betty Boisel, graduate from high school. âHe's just a little late,â a teary-eyed Boisel, 54, said after the funeral service. âBut he's finally home.â
The United States will never stop searching for its missing service members, Adrian Cronauer once told me.
Good hunting, my friend.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/26/2005 00:00 ||
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This is one of the most encouraging things I've read in a while. Thanks.
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.
London Zoo unveiled a new exhibition -- eight humans prowling around wearing little more than fig leaves to cover their modesty. The "Human Zoo" is intended to show the basic nature of human beings as they frolick throughout the August bank holiday weekend. "We have set up this exhibit to highlight the spread of man as a plague species and to communicate the importance of man's place in the planet's ecosystem," London Zoo said. 
Ahead of a parliamentary debate on an emergency powers decree passed by the government, Thaksin Shinawatra turned instead to a topic of fevered speculation in the country. "Who did it? Tell me," Mr Thaksin was quoted as asking his ministers. "This has affected the reputation of the cabinet, because the news went round the world. I don't want people to think cabinet members are obsessed with this kind of thing."
The solid core that measures about 2,400 kilometres in diameter is spinning about one-quarter to one-half degree faster, per year, than the rest of the world, scientists from Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign report in the journal Science.
KARLSRUHE, Germany - Germanyâs highest court removed the final hurdle on Thursday to a Sept. 18 federal election, dismissing complaints that Chancellor Gerhard Schroederâs path to an early vote was unconstitutional.
