U.S. Congressman Dennis Kucinich is running for president yes -- of the United States.
Hell make it official Tuesday from Cleveland City Hall, the site of his political birth and his biggest public embarrassment. For those who don't remember: As mayor, KooKoolAidnich ran Cleveland into default, the only major American city to default since the Great Depression.
Kucinich, who was easily re-elected to Congress in last month, ran unsuccessfully for president in the 2004 presidential primary. He was among the last to drop out despite winning only a handful of delegates.
Although Democratic Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton are sucking up media attention, Kucinich is sure to grab some because he becomes only the second Democrat to officially declare his presidential bid. Iowas outgoing governor Tom Vilsack announced earlier this month that wants to live in the White House. Kucinich, who began his political career as a city councilman in 1970 and later watched the city slide into default as mayor, has earned a national reputation for his anti-war stance and a proposal to create a cabinet level department of peace.
Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph laments in a series of letters to a newspaper that the maximum-security federal prison where he is spending the rest of his life is designed to drive him insane. All together now..."Awwwwwww" Where's my femtoviolin?
Rudolph wrote that he spends 23 hours a day in his 7-by-12-foot cell, his only exercise confined to an enclosed area he described as a "large empty swimming pool" divided into "dog-kennel style cages." Yup, that's Supermax. Make the U.S. government your enemy, and the U.S. government might just take you up on your offer.
The newspaper reported today that it has corresponded by mail with Rudolph for more than a year, and prison officials have refused the paper's request to interview Rudolph. The Gazette refused Rudolph's request that it publish his writings in their entirety. The newspaper said if it published any articles, it would print portions of the letters as long as they were not hate literature or libelous. What is this where newspapers fall all over themselves to publish the works of murderers?
Rudolph, an anti-government extremist, pleaded guilty in April 2005 to setting the bomb that killed one person and wounded more than 100 at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and three other bombings, including a fatal explosion at a Birmingham clinic. It's good that that fat security guard who lived with his mother got what he deserved...wait, was that fake news?
#1
What is this where newspapers fall all over themselves to publish the works of murderers?
The press loves nutjobs, malcontents, murderers, and thugs because they get to express their true opinions without needing to write it themselves and while hiding behind a (thin) veil of deniability.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
12/11/2006 7:53 Comments ||
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#2
They want to make him into another Mumia.
Mumia BTW murdered a cop in cold blood during a routine traffic stop. Then he played the 'race card' which the media lapdogs ran with.
Five people including a four-year old girl died while thousands fled to evacuation centres set up mostly in public schools as typhoon Utor ravaged southern Philippines, downing power lines, radio reports said yesterday.
Utor reaching 136 kilometres per hour, killed a four-year-old girl in Tacloban City and four others in Capiz while injuring six in the Visayas region. Tacloban police identified the four-year-old girl as April Felicen who was pinned to death by a falling tree that hit her home and also injured her six-year-old brother John Rey.
66,787 people, mostly in Albay province, fled their damaged homes and are now staying in evacuation centres.
Most of the fatalities were hit by falling trees, reports from the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said.
The NDCC said more than 66,787 people, mostly in Albay province, fled their damaged homes and are now staying in evacuation centres. Albay was the hardest hit by a previous typhoon that buried villages and left more than 1,000 people dead or missing. Utor displaced 3,000 families and destroyed infrastructure estimated at $653,061 in different parts of eastern Visayas alone, according to initial reports.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2006 00:00 ||
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136 kilometers per hour? Wow. That's nearly .... ummm... lemme see... 85 miles per hour!
One foot = 0.3048 meters; 1 km = 3,280.839895 feet; 1 km = 0.6213711922 miles, more or less....
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/11/2006 6:11 Comments ||
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ENTHUSED BY India's remarkable success in emerging as the second fastest growing economy globally in recent years, Morocco is keen to emulate the Indian experience in reforms and development of human capital so as to be on track for sustained growth in the medium and long term. It comes as no surprise that India has been designated as the `Country of Honour' at Morocco's ongoing fourth international conference on `Fundamentals of Investment,' having selected it as the role model for its giant strides in the services industry, the information technology sector in particular.
Morocco, the kingdom in northern Africa with a population of about 30 million, has come to realise that the best bet to usher in investment is the development of human capital in keeping with market needs. In this regard, education, training and employment remain a prime challenge, as the country's literacy rate is at a low of 40 per cent. However, what comes as a boon is its vast French-speaking population which can cater to the needs of IT-enabled services such as call centres and BPO (business process outsourcing) for France and other countries.
Alongside, what comes as an incentive for Indian corporates is that Morocco also presents itself as an export gateway, the country having entered into free trade agreements (FTAs) with the US, the European Union, and several other countries such as Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey. In the event, this makes joint ventures in the manufacturing and other sectors quite attractive. Besides, Morocco offers a number of fiscal incentives, the most important one being a five-year tax holiday and corporate taxation at the marginal rate of 35 per cent on 50 per cent of the revenue earned thereafter.
Stressing the urgent need for development of human capital as the major challenge while inaugurating the conference here, the Moroccan Prime Minister, Driss Jettou, noted that such a strategy alone could help the African state in staying ahead of the competition. Just as the large pool of English-speaking manpower in India has put the country on top with regard to IT services and software development for the world at large, Morocco, he said, could cater in a big way to the French-speaking nations.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2006 00:00 ||
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I lived in Rabat, Morocco for six months in 1976. I liked it. A lot of Europeans come to the beaches at Agadir. About half the ladies wore veils, but many of the younger generation wore jeans.
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/11/2006 6:18 Comments ||
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ZIMBABWE has the highest inflation and lowest life expectancy in the world, not to mention the highest percentage of orphans. So desperate is the shortage of food that President Robert Mugabe's guards have been spotted shooting squirrels in Harare's botanical gardens.
Mugabe has done "so many wonderful things" for Zimbabwe it was likely delegates to the conference would appoint him for president for life.
However, Mr Mugabe, 82, may be rewarded by being made president for life at his party's annual conference this week.
The very idea kinda takes your breath away, doesn't it?
Could always root for another case of intestinal cancer ...
Among the main proposals to be discussed is postponing the next presidential elections from 2008 until 2010. The powerful National Security Minister and secretary for administration in the ruling Zanu-PF party, Didymus Mutasa, said last week Mr Mugabe had done "so many wonderful things" for Zimbabwe it was likely delegates to the conference would appoint him for president for life.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2006 00:00 ||
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So, somebody there show some balls and help him end his presidency on his terms... (^8
From the CIA World Factbook, updated 30 November, '06:
Transnational Issues Zimbabwe
.......
Trafficking in persons:
current situation: Zimbabwe is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for forced labor and sexual exploitation; children may be trafficked internally for forced agricultural labor, domestic servitude, and sexual exploitation; women and girls are lured out of the country to South Africa, China, Egypt(????, WTF?), and Zambia with false job or scholarship promises that result in domestic servitude or commercial sexual exploitation; there are reports of South African employers demanding sex from undocumented Zimbabwean workers under threat of deportation; women and children from Malawi, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo transit Zimbabwe en route to South Africa; small numbers of South African girls are trafficked to Zimbabwe for domestic labor.
btw, a big thank you for your welcome to my friend RPG, she has seen a lot. Appreciated, and I'm sure she can illuminate the subject probably better than I.
#6
rhodesiafever, Zenster was speaking for all of us; we like new voices... when they have intelligent and useful things to say, as she does. Please tell RPG so.
#7
Wow! Thank u one and all for your warm welcome to the site, and I will endeavour to do my utmost to keep up with the high standard of postings that I have seen on this site since my first post.
Fever u actually had me blushing buddy - so I am now going to return the compliment by saying - it was thru guys such as yourself, and many others, some sadly who lost their lives for what they believed in, you are the ones that kept us safe and secure for so many years, so that we could be here today to give our side of the story - so for that I can only salute u, and to all who lost their lives - "AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN, AND IN THE MORNING WE WILL REMEMBER THEM"
"Once in lifetime
a light shines so bright,
so pure That darkness is defeated in its presence.
Once in a lifetime
will an individual,
beyond all odds,
rise to meet the challenge.
Once in a lifetime
we will be given the opportunity
to honour them.
Let it not pass us by
Let us shine brightly
Once in a lifetime.
Let us help all to remember
That within the human spirit lives the ability to rise up and overcome all odds
if but once in a lifetime"
(Author unknown)
I left Zim in 2001 & have seen my beloved country reduced to wrack and ruin - and left behind numerous family and friends, who through no fault of their own - either have no financial means of leaving or are just unable to get out! and it is all thanks to one man and his rabid followers!
Now I have to read that he could be there for life - omg! - my blood pressure is rising rapidly, so best I end off.
#8
"all thanks to one man and his rabid followers"
Well, you can thank the UN, too, rpg7... Such Thugocracies are sanctified and protected by the General Assembly - and the Secretariat.
Thanks for your comments. It's impossible to imagine the pain. We may find out when we find ourselves in CW-II. Since you're nearby, now, we'd be happy if you lent us a hand, so we can give Zim a hand... and a future. Regards.
The United Nations' top food aid official arrived Sunday in the former breadbasket of Africa Zimbabwe where close to two million people are in need of emergency aid, a spokesman said. James Morris, the head of the World Food Programme (WFP), is scheduled to meet Monday with the heads of UN agencies, non- governmental organizations and government ministers in Harare. He will assess the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe, said Michael Huggins, the WFP's public affairs officer for southern Africa.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2006 00:00 ||
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Zimbabwe will insist that the food be distributed through the government and hence not to any of the opposition that he is currently trying to starve.
Bangladeshs president has deployed army troops throughout the country in order to control escalating political violence after his interim government failed to end a continuing political standoff over electoral reforms, the home ministry said.
President Iajuddin Ahmed "has ordered deployment of army in aid of the civil administration to protect public life and property," the ministry said in a statement late on Saturday. The order came after days of often violent street protests by an alliance of 14 political parties demanding electoral reforms ahead of next month's general elections. The order for the deployment of troops was made even though the 14-party political alliance pushing for electoral reforms postponed its planned protests around the presidential palace to give the government more time to make the changes, an alliance spokesman said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2006 00:00 ||
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Posted by: ed ||
12/11/2006 9:30 Comments ||
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#10
cheap , quality , countryside housing , good food produce , and french women combined with sun
French women are an attraction? I never knew so many British men hated themselves. Good god man! I would think the British women are bad enough! I
Posted by: Mike N. ||
12/11/2006 9:30 Comments ||
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#11
I see that more than half have gone to former British colonies. Makes sense -- English language, common law, etc. With the exception of Australia (whose "colonists" didn't have much choice in the matter), I wonder if Brits go to those former colonies with any sense of storied tradition -- i.e., bugging out when things become intolerable. It's hard to tell from the numbers why they're leaving, but I sure would be interested to know.
#12
One of the factors has to be the recent relative prosperity of the UK. Some of the ex-pats have moved away on business. Some have moved because they can finally afford it -- many weren't wealthy enough to go anywhere during the times of the World Wars. Some may be moving because the UK is going nuts.
#14
I have noticed In London Whites are moving out of the city in record numbers as 1.Housing too expensive.2.Crime level is high.3Poor schools.4.Poor transportation.5.Too much stress
6.High levels of Immigration.
Overall better quality of life outside the big cities/Country!!!!
#16
French women are an attraction? I never knew so many British men hated themselves. Good god man! I would think the British women are bad enough!
The loss of the French woman to Eurabia will be the most painful and sorest loss Western Civilization will experience. Don't rag on the French women then it's the men who are all screwed up!
I remember laborously translating and reading an article in a prominent French magazine of the French equivalent of the head of the Women's movement there. She said, in effect, that the French women already had it made when it came to the romance and male/female relationship aspects, and labelled her American counterpart as crazy if they were going to ape the American war between the sexes in France. Their biggest beef was equality of wages and promotion opportunities for equal/similar work. I can't remember the adjective she used, because the distinction is important, but I DO remember thinking, "More power to ya, sister!"
The FrenchMEN should STFU, stop the car, get into the back seat, and let the Frenchwomen drive.
#17
I moved out of the UK in 1998, its not that its a bad place ok the food sucks, its just there is no brits left . I not being racist but its really spot the white man now, if you are in london you have to go to a friends house to find someone who speaks english. The indians we are happy to keep they put some spice in the food and have 24 hour shops the rest can get the hell out. I give it 20 years all those that can afford to leave will have gone by then and the name will change to UNITED ASYLUM KINGDOM
Posted by: alex ||
12/11/2006 12:12 Comments ||
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#19
The loss of the French woman to Eurabia will be the most painful and sorest loss Western Civilization will experience. Don't rag on the French women then it's the men who are all screwed up!
My comment was in reference to them being just as plain Jane (read: ugly) as they're English counterparts. They're even worse if you consider the non shaving thingy.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
12/11/2006 15:25 Comments ||
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#20
Mike N--Well, considering such gems as Sophie Marceau, Melissa Theuriau, and other fine mademoiselles (such as the girl from La Frette sur Seine I met when I was 19, who helped me...um..."re-enact" the American invasion of French territory in a beachhouse in Normandy), if you don't want them I'll take them!
Posted by: Dar ||
12/11/2006 16:05 Comments ||
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#21
Mike N
Now I am sorry to shatter your dreams about hairy women but in fact French women not only shave (I can testify for it) but are between the most self-conscious in world.
Now I will tell you the origins of the myth: after D-DAY and specially when Paris was liberated (wheree Hemingway told that no GI slept alone that night) a number of French woma=en were say... a bit enthousiastic about American soldiers who a) were unconceably rich in French terms b) had fabled goods the half starving French women had forgotten about the existence like chocolate or nylon stockings c) were young and physically fit (America was not scrapping the bottom of her manpool) d) had a quality of naivete, or innocence or straightforwrdness who was welcome change (*) e) last but not least the joy of liberation who incites to do a number of folish things.
Now do you think that when Gis returned to America they told to their wives/fiancees: French girls where the prettiest I have ever seen and just at the night Paris was liberated I cheated you with three different women?" Of course no, the girl would have torn his eyeballs! He will tell something like: "French women are butt ugly and don't shave legs I was never tempted by them you are sooooo much prettier."
(*) From the autobiographic "Diary with four hands" from Benoite and Flora Groult where one of the sisters tell after accepting a GI having a shower in her house: "he just had his shower and left, a Frenchman would have understood I was offering him my bed". She is troubled by the GIs "purity", she manages to meet him a second time and they become lovers but she doesn't accept his proposal of marriage: mostly due to the fear of being despised by American women.
#23
Okay, I'll bite, iff the French State can't afford to bury French dead, as been reported by various sources, shouldn't it be the other way, i.e. French traveling to Britannia???
FIJI'S military rulers are cracking down on dissent, making house calls on those who dare criticise the new regime. Only a night after their illegal takeover last Tuesday, the army was flexing its muscles -- well before yesterday's declaration it would interrogate anyone suspected of inciting opposition to the new regime.
Former minister Kenneth Zinck, who called Commodore Frank Bainimarama a coward in a roomful of people on Wednesday night, was arrested shortly after and forced at gunpoint to jog around the parade ground at Suva's Queen Elizabeth Barracks. Mr Zinck said he was also made to stand under a bright light while his interrogators stood behind him so he could not see their faces, before being released with a warning. "(They) warned me not to speak out against their commander again and for me to watch out," he said.
Critical letter writers to the country's main newspaper, The Fiji Times, have found soldiers knocking on their doors, warning them not to criticise the new regime. "They picked me up from work and took me down to the base here in Nadi," one letter writer told The Fiji Times. "They asked me about my letters and said that this was a verbal warning." The man said that the soldiers were courteous and told him they were acting under orders from Suva.
On Saturday night a house just outside Suva, strung with pro-democracy banners, had its windows smashed and the signs torn down. "We had some eyewitnesses who said they were in civilian clothing," said democracy campaigner Petrina Zinck, the daughter of Kenneth Zinck. The young pro-democracy campaigners had been told by the military to pull down the banners but had refused. The military have denied having anything to do with the attack. That's how you know when a coup has failed: when the coup plotters deny committing acts of terror on those who oppose them. Talk to Pinochet (ooops, can't now) about this; when he staged his coup, his boyz went door to door, kicked ass, rounded up the opposition and tossed them into soccer stadiums for further processing. And he didn't care one whit who knew it.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2006 00:00 ||
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Don't mess with Commodore Frank.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/11/2006 11:44 Comments ||
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he'll mess you up!
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/11/2006 16:44 Comments ||
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#1
We need tougher laws, but that directly contradicts our open society,"
Your open society, based on a civil, homogenous population has been shattered forever. Your nirvana has disappered. You had better get with it, or you will just become another hell hole playground for these barbarians. Wake up.
#4
He was extradited to Sweden, where he finished his sentence he served no extra time for the escape and was released June 17, 2005.
This isn't lenience, it's naiveté on a grand scale. Scandahoovia should be proud of their heritage as an open society. It has produced some great minds and important contributions to science, art, music and a host of other cultural treasures. That said, they have brewed up a recipe for disaster by not controlling immigration or tightening up law enforcement.
In many ways it is a real pity to see the end of such innocence. Anyone who has even been to Copenhagen during the last century found an idyllic metropolis of enchanting beauty filled with cordial honest folk. Sadly, Europe's own steadfast refusal to envision the darker side of reality is now coming back to bite it rather hard.
This century will be far less kind to those who cannot adequately cope with the elements of darkness that threaten to wash over defenseless shores. There is simply too much evil afoot for such blithe mentalities to go on unharmed. Islamic terrorism and Eastern European gangsterism will either teach this lesson or ascend to power over those unable to learn it.
MUNICH: Helga Schandl says she has nothing against Muslims. For three decades, she worked in Munich's wholesale food market, where many of her colleagues were immigrants from Turkey. "I have experienced integration first hand," she said. They were faking it; Muslims want Shariah, not Schnitzel.
Yet Schandl, a 67-year-old Bavarian, is leading a fierce campaign to halt plans to build a mosque in a working- class district here. "It is a provocation," she said of the mosque, which would sit across a graceful square from her Roman Catholic church - its minarets an exotic counterpoint to the church's neo-baroque steeples. "The mosque doesn't have anything to do with religion," she said. "It is a power play."
In the many ways that Christians and Muslims rub up against each other in this country, the construction of mosques has become one of the most contentious. Symbols of a foreign faith, rising in the middle of German cities, they are stoking anti-foreign sentiment and reinforcing fears that Christianity is under threat.
Why, Schandl asked, do the Turks want to build their mosque right here, on a site opposite St. Korbinian? Like churches everywhere in Germany, it is struggling to survive in a secular society. A few empty churches are being converted into banks or restaurants. Why? Because the Big Mosques will become mini-Reichstags. Then they take Berlin.
For Onder Yildiz, a soft-spoken but intense leader of the Turkish community, the answer is simple: "A mosque next to a church helps intensify dialogue between the religions," he said. Yah, c'mon over for some pork ribs and Shine.
On one level, Yildiz is right: St. Korbinian, and the mayor of Munich, Christian Ude, have welcomed the mosque, which would be the third, and most prominent, in Munich, the heartland of German Catholicism.
But a vocal minority of residents has resisted, holding protest meetings, collecting signatures, and filing a petition with the Bavarian Parliament. "Bavarian life," the petition declares, "is marked by the drinking of beer and the eating of pork. In Muslim faith, both are unclean and forbidden." Already American Muslims have attempted to interfere with Campus drinking. The West is Dar-Harb (House of War) to the slaves of allah.
With the support of Bavaria's conservative state government, the residents have been able to tie up the project in court. Mosques have existed in Germany for decades, but only in recent years has there been a building boom as it were. There are now 150 mosques in Germany, in addition to some 2,000 Muslim prayer rooms in cellars, warehouses and other converted industrial spaces. The Holy Ghost and Yahwah and Krishna disapprove.
#6
Every mosque constructed ourisde a muslim land must fund the construction of an alternate house of worship in a muslim land and pay for its protection and upkeep.
#7
Turkey has waged a relentless attack against Christianity within its borders. Both Orthodox and Catholic congregations have been refused building permits for new structures and have even been denied permission to repair existing buildings. Three Catholic priests have been attacked in the last two years (one of them was shot to death), by assailants screaming Islamic slogans. The Turkish government still refuses to allow the Ecumenical Patriarchate to re-open an Istanbul seminary closed in 1972.
Christian clergy are routinely denied a religious status by Turkish civil authorities; this requires non-Turkish priests to enter and leave the country on tourist visas.
It is time the EU put its foot down hard on Muslim building projects within its jurisdiction. More power to the Bavarians for standing up to "dialogue"-demanding immams whose native lands openly repress Christianity and Judaism.
The same reason there is a mosque opposite, to the side of, or built right on top of Hindu temples throughout India.
Posted by: john ||
12/11/2006 14:49 Comments ||
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#10
My quote vanished Why, Schandl asked, do the Turks want to build their mosque right here, on a site opposite St. Korbinian?
Posted by: john ||
12/11/2006 14:54 Comments ||
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#11
A mosque next to a church helps intensify dialogue between the religions,"
No, it indicates that Islam is supplanting the old region. It is a sign of conquest
Posted by: john ||
12/11/2006 14:56 Comments ||
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#12
Empty churches, secular society equals low birth rate equals Eurabia equals decline of Western Civilization. Germans should go back to church and start making more babies. Maybe if someone threatens to take their beer they'll wake up.
Dateline San Francisco
(Deep in Injun Territory)
Just last week on Mike Medvid I heard BDS sufferer and politburo member of the LLL Mo0b@ts David Swanson opine: There is a definite majority in favor of impeachment. David was also advertising the Impeachment Rallies scheduled for December 10, 2006 around the country. From New York to San Francisco (and damn few places in between) there were rallies scheduled that would hopefully spawn a grass roots effort (I am sure there was plenty of grass at the rallies) that would lead to the impeachment of Bush/Cheney and mark the ascension of Nancy Pelosi to the highest office in the U.S.
Well if the Rally in San Francisco was any indication Bush and Cheney neednt worry. On my morning news show it was reported (with photos) that only a dozen people showed up for a rally slated for hundreds (if not thousands). One ardent protester explained that she was in favor of impeachment because Bush is the most unpopular President ever. I guess the woman still thinks that her opinion is popular? I tried (in vain) to get information on rallies in other cities, but there is nothing. I was wondering if my fellow Ranters had any info on local happenings.
Posted by: Dar ||
12/11/2006 10:40 ||
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Why didn't they try modifying the old Spruance Destroyers or OHP frigates instead of using them for target practice? Wonder if they even considered that
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
12/11/2006 12:22 Comments ||
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#2
Sorry for the dupe post, but I couldn't find this article before posting and I can't find it now. I submitted this yesterday, thinking it was relevant and on-topic, but it never made it onto the site, so I resubmitted it today figuring most admins were enjoying a Sunday off.
Which reminds me, I've frequently noticed a "division by zero" error on the search results page when executing a search that generates no hits. I've never reported it because it's fairly innocuous, but I should mention it.
Posted by: Dar ||
12/11/2006 15:19 Comments ||
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#3
Yosemite Sam,
The article seems to be a little misleading. The ship pictured at the top is the new National Security Cutter, intended to replace the 40-year-old Treasury class high endurance cutters. The Perry would have been an excellent replacement for the Treasuries, but let's face it - one doesn't make a reputation by refitting old ships, you make it by getting NEW ones built. The ship in question is actually the 123-ft patrol cutter (http://www.hazegray.org/worldnav/usa/guard.htm) which is the backbone of the USCG fleet - they serve on every coast. The idea was that a 13-ft extension would be put into the hulls, bringing them to 123 ft - and it appears that the USCG and teh shipbuilders bollizxed this one up from start to finish. My dad was Chief Damage Control Engineer for the USCG's 9th District back in the 80s, I am going to ask him for some further insights as to how ad this is.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/11/2006 16:05 Comments ||
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#4
Why didn't they try modifying the old Spruance Destroyers or OHP frigates instead of using them for target practice? Wonder if they even considered that
It would have been a stop-gap measure in any case.
The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) will try to convince Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) chief Maulana Samiul Haq to join the religious alliance in its campaign against the Womens Protection Act (WPA), MMA sources told Daily Times on Sunday.
The sources said that the MMA would contact Haq in a couple of days to seek his partys support against the WPA. They said that after postponing their decision on resignations from the National Assembly, MMA leaders had decided to contact opposition parties against the WPA.
Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl had agreed at an MMA Supreme Council meeting on December 7 to postpone decision on resignations from the assembly to muster maximum support from the opposition parties against the WPA. Now the party will step up its campaign to contact religious and political parties against the WPA, a senior MMA leader said.
MMA Supreme Council Member Qari Gul Rehman said the alliance would try its best to save the sanctity of religion, adding that the opposition was being contacted against the WPA. He said the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) had responded positively to their suggestions.
Samiul Haq said his party always sacrificed for the MMA, but it got nothing from the alliance in return. The MMA has always supported the government through underhand deals, Haq said. He said the JUI-S would start an anti-WPA campaign on its own that would be effective than that of the MMAs.
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12/11/2006 00:00 ||
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Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has left on a six-day visit to Yemen and Saudi Arabia. The visit is part of the government's endeavours to forge closer interaction with brotherly countries in the Middle East. Frequent high-level contacts are the hallmark of the fraternal bonds. During the visit to Yemen, the prime minister will hold extensive talks with his counterpart Ba Jamal and call on President Saleh.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2006 00:00 ||
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#3
He chose the venue, Truman Library, to convey his "A good US is the US that does the UN's bidding..." message. Phony. Panderer. Pilferer. Plunderer. Pirate. Punk. Perv. Prick. Putz. Party-grrl. Prostitute. Politician.
(I hope that last one doesn't get me sink-trapped. It's purdy graphic...)
#8
When the U.S. "appears to abandon its own ideals and objectives, its friends abroad are naturally troubled and confused," he said.
It's the friends abroad part that I'm troubled and confused by. There seems to be precious few of them and it has nothing to do with GWB or Iraq. I think the cancer on Turtle Bay Kofi is in charge of is the root of that problem.
#9
I am very busy today but felt the need to come to Rantburg to say "F** You" to Kofi.
The Secretary General of the UN is basically a functionary atop a bureaucracy constructed along the lines of a corrupt, Third World (sorry for the redundancy) Ministry of Agriculture.
He has no real power as the Security Council, comprised of the victors of WWII (Ghana was not among them), makes the real decisions.
Yet our leftwing, "transnational progressive" media treats this lazy, corrupt functionary as though he is legitimately president of the world and we'd best follow his commands. After all the UN flag is a nice shade of blue and has a dove on it so whatever he says must lead to peace and tranquility.
Ironically, the cover provided by Kofi's corrupt, incompetent bureacracy to the world's tin pot dictators actually increases the likelihood of armed conflict since it is so perfectly incapable of confronting threats before it becomes necessary for us to destroy them.
It's really a damn shame we cannot have a serious, effective multinational organization. I wish the US would just exit the UN and try to form a "League of Democracies" interested in seriously dealing with threats to global security. The Proliferation Security Initiative is about the closest thing on the planet to this ideal. But it was started by Bush and Rumsfeld so it must be a bad idea.
Last year, only about 2,500 foreign visitors came on Christmas, but, he's counting on the usual bus loads of Christians from nearby Palestinian towns to boost turnout.
Before the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising in 2000, Bethlehem drew more than 90,000 pilgrims a month. With just two weeks to Christmas, Bethlehem is only sparsely decorated. A few neon stars are nailed to storefronts on the main streets. The only decoration on the Lutheran Christmas Church in a busy market area is spray-painted graffiti below the pointed steeple that reads 'Islamic Jihad'. Perhaps that's why the town isn't so decorated?
In Manger Square, next to the Church of the Nativity, built over Jesus' traditional birthplace, only two of six souvenir shops and a small cafe were open on a recent afternoon. Many other nearby shops were closed as well. A few tourists who sat outside a cafe, braving the dreary weather, were thronged by peddlers trying to sell bobble head Jesuses olive wood crucifixes. "The wall stopped tourists and Arabs from Israel," a local said, referring to the separation barrier, which is meant to stop Palestinians, but also cuts across Bethlehem's main trade artery. Gee, that's too bad. Gosh. Darn. Golly.
The economic squeeze has driven away growing numbers of Christians, already a minority of 35 percent in this town of 30,000. Sucks to be a dhimmi, huh?
"I appreciate it, because Bethlehem is the symbol of peace," another Palestinian said.
The acting finance minister, Samir Abu Eisha of Hamas, said he'll write dlrs 50,000 check out of his graft money in the coming days. Last year, the outgoing government run by Hamas' archrival, the Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, didn't give Bethlehem any money and the town had to rely mostly on international donations. The year before, it received dlrs 20,000 from the government. The Widows Ammunition Fund, however, was fully funded.
"We don't fund any Islamic celebrations, but we want to fund this Christian festival, which is a special part of Bethlehem," said Abu Eisha. "As a Palestinian government, we hope our Christian brothers have a happy celebration. They are an integral part of Palestinian society." "As long as they remember their place."
#2
The only decoration on the Lutheran Christmas Church in a busy market area is spray-painted graffiti below the pointed steeple that reads 'Islamic Jihad'.
Q. On arrival in the US, I started offering my prayers facing South Eastern direction, but recently I was with a group of people who offered their prayers facing the North East. They argued that it was the more accurate direction to the Kaaba. After some argument, it appeared that both views have some solid argument in support. Please comment.
A. Siddiqui
A. This is a recent problem that started when some people in North America suggested that the shorter distance between their hometown and Makkah is to fly over the North Pole. This may be so, but it seems to be a route with a bend that changes direction.
The question is whether we can draw a straight line that connects Makkah to an American city and passes by the North Pole.
If such a line is shorter than a direct line southward, then it is the better direction. If this is not possible without a curve that changes direction, then the southward way is better. It needs to be looked into very carefully.
An important point that needs to be considered is the route airlines take when they travel from, say, Canada to Jeddah. If they fly over the North Pole, then it could well be the better direction to face in prayer, but if they fly southward, then that is the right direction.
#1
These tools are a little short on their Euclid. The shortest distance between you and your Temple of Elemental Evil is neither a straight line on a map nor those apparently bendy lines followed by aircraft over the Pole. It is, rather, a straight line through the Earth's crust/mantle. This should be obvious to the average Morlock but they may find they need Eloi tech to get their new compass directions right.
#4
I can't find the article, but I covered this in a sermon a few years ago. I even covered the issue of praying to Mecca from orbit. These guys are amateurs.
#5
You guys think that you know all the answers, try finding the right direction to Mecca when you are at the point diametrically opposed to Mecca on the other side of the world. It is similar to the problem of which south do you pick when at the North Pole, and someone tells you to head south.
#6
Can you attach the picture of the guy in the loincloth standing on his head?
Posted by: James ||
12/11/2006 12:06 Comments ||
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#7
For ed, the Acme Klein Bottle Company. I got one for my baby brother the supercomputer guy for Hanukkah a few years ago, and another for Mr. Wife. Ours still appears embedded in our particular bit of the space-time continuum, but I'd be a bit concerned were we to live in an area with an earthquake problem. ;-)
Earlier this year, bird flu panic was in full swing: The French feared for their foie gras, the Swiss locked their chickens indoors, and Americans enlisted prison inmates in Alaska to help spot infected wild birds.
The H5N1 virus - previously confined to Southeast Asia - was striking birds in places as diverse as Germany, Egypt, and Nigeria, and a flu pandemic seemed inevitable.
Then the virus went quiet. Except for a steady stream of human cases in Indonesia, the current flu epicenter, the past year's worries about a catastrophic global outbreak largely disappeared.
What happened?
Part of the explanation may be seasonal. Bird flu tends to be most active in the colder months, as the virus survives longer at low temperatures. 'Many of us are holding our breath to see what happens in the winter,' said Dr. Malik Peiris, a microbiology professor at Hong Kong University. 'H5N1 spread very rapidly last year,' Peiris said. 'So the question is, was that a one-off incident?'
#2
The assumption that evolution will always produce the most advantageous end result is a commonly held but incorrect understanding of the process.
Biologists sometimes describe this as the wheel problem. Plains animals would be best served (in terms of mobility) by having wheels instead of hooves. It would give them a huge advantage. But that doesn't mean that that is what WILL happen, because mutations are random.
It would certainly advantage the avian flu virus to infect humans more easily and therefore increase its own population, but evolution is random, and that means it may or may not happen.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
12/11/2006 7:26 Comments ||
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#3
Earlier this year, bird flu panic was in full swing
Earlier this year, the Main Stream Media induced faux bird flu panic was in full swing.
See, fixed it. No blood, no guts, no panic, no fear means no sales. Fake but True.
Deimos and Phobos the patron saints gods of yellow journalism.
#4
no mo uro: mutation may be near random, but natural selection isn't. Various strains of avian flu virus compete among themselves for the best characteristics to insure their spread.
Typically, this means lower mortality, longer incubation periods while evading immune response, upper respiratory tract virus density, and a bunch of other things.
To accomplish this, even viruses rely on lots of tricks. Mutation is just one. RNA piracy from related viruses and host cells is another. Different effects with different species is another.
This can be terribly complex. For example, they have just learned that African HIV virus uses the protozoan disease malaria to indirectly spread itself. With malaria infection, HIV blood density skyrockets for a time, making it much easier to spread.
Now whether this is intentional, or just good luck on the part of HIV, the effect is the same, the virus is propagated.
Avian flu is cyclic. Right now, in its "dormant" winter phase, new strains are being generated at an astounding clip throughout Asia. And even when it finally breaks out in a human epidemic, it will begin with a vicious outbreak followed by a pause in which they think they have stopped it somehow.
Then a second wave will hit. And another pause. And only with the third or fourth wave will it suddenly explode.
#5
"And only with the third or fourth wave will it suddenly explode."
Perhaps, and perhaps not.
Look, I'm not trying to say that avian flu cannot mutate to become widespread and dealy in humans, because that is certainly a possible outcome. I'm saying that it isn't a sure thing. Just because a hypothetical mutation would grant great competitive advantage to an organism is no guarantee that it will happen.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
12/11/2006 12:29 Comments ||
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#6
That's "deadly"...........
I WILL use preview..........................
Posted by: no mo uro ||
12/11/2006 12:30 Comments ||
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#7
A'moose - you better bookmark this page so you can say, "I told you so".
I hope you're wrong, but it sure does sound credible!
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/11/2006 12:30 Comments ||
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#9
no mo uro and Bobby: The cyclic waves of flu are typical for influenza. They are purely a product of both spread of the disease and incubation period.
For example, when the major epidemic hits, which it almost has to, eventually, because of the vast number of animals that are acting like small computers to generate the best strain; the progression will go like this:
1) Some small Asian village will almost be wiped out by the disease. However, unlike in the past, there will be a huge government response.
2) The disease will appear to be contained, and two weeks will pass without any new appearance of the disease in the area.
3) A few, sporadic cases will appear in outlying areas, and they will be quickly quarantined. Two more weeks pass.
4) Some larger outbreaks happen in the region, but it appears unlikely they have any relationship with "village zero".
5) A major city in the region gets a massive outbreak. Huge numbers of casualties, with national quarantine and international panic.
The trick of influenza is that it is working two stages ahead of where it *appears* to be working. So any response is already too late.
#11
Mutations are random, yes, but sexual selection - an aspect of natural selection - is not. It is for this reason that hypothetical wheeled charismatic megafauna make a poor analogy for variation in viral strains.
#12
On the plus side, there are several things that can be done to prevent the disease. First and foremost is when you are out in public during an outbreak, to use hand sanitizer about six times a day. This is because it was recently proven that most colds and flus are spread by hand contamination.
Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol) (NOT vitamin D2), has recently been found to cause the body to secrete a chemical that erodes the casings of some viruses, which destroys them. Most people are vitamin D deficient.
Ordinary cranberry juice, taken in considerable quantity, has been proven to strongly limit virus adhesion to human cells, for certain viruses and bacteria. Unknown for the flu.
Zinc gluconate lozenges (Cold-eeze brand only), have been proven to strongly inhibit reproduction of viruses in the sinuses. Ordinary zinc supplements do not produce this effect, because their form of zinc is not readily uptaken by the mucous membranes.
Other ionic metals such as colloidal silver also have a reproductive-inhibition effect, but it has not been determined how they could be used for this purpose.
Weird one: The British recently did a study of how temperature relates to colds and flus, and discovered that only the feet seem to matter. That is, if a person's feet are cold, they have a significantly greater chance of catching colds and flus. No other body part even comes close.
However, the "cytokine storm" effect has been confirmed with the avian flu, so under NO circumstances should you take immune system enhancing chemicals. The storm effect happens when your immune system overreacts in fighting a virus and kills you.
After a fiery ascent that turned night into day, space shuttle Discovery and its crew headed to the international space station yesterday to rewire the orbital outpost. Astronauts were to spend yesterday in orbit inspecting the shuttle for potentially critical heat shield damage.
Discovery will dock with the space station today, and the intricate work will begin. Three complicated spacewalks are planned to rewire the space station from a temporary to a permanent power source. Nasa had to beat the odds to get off the launch pad on Saturday in the first nighttime launch in four years. After only a 30 per cent chance of good weather earlier in the day and a two-hour delay in fuelling, Discovery streaked through a moonless sky at 8:47 pm.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2006 00:00 ||
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Thousands of civilians were on the run on Sunday in Sri Lankas restive northeast after heavy artillery exchanges left over 85 people dead, according to the Tamil rebels and government forces.
Nearly 3,000 people took shelter in schools and Buddhist temples after fleeing rebel artillery fire in northeast Sri Lanka, officials said on Sunday, as a second day of fierce fighting killed and wounded dozens.
Several hundred civilians arrived in the government held town of Kantale southwest of the strategic harbour of Trincomalee in the far northeast on Saturday, and nearly 2,000 more joined them on Sunday, officials said.
They (the Tigers) attacked civilian villages, so these people came to Kantale and we are looking after them, said Trincomalee Government Agent Ranith de Silva, the districts most senior civil servant.
The Defence Ministry said that 40 Tamil Tiger rebels were killed and another 40 were wounded when troops retaliated against Tiger artillery attacks on Saturday. It said government forces lost two soldiers and that another 37 were wounded.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2006 00:00 ||
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(Xinhua) -- At least 12 soldiers were killed and 51 others injured Sunday in clashes between the government troops and the Tamil Tiger rebels in eastern Sri Lanka, defense officials said. Prasad Samarasinghe, the military spokesman said that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels had fired mortars and artillery fire at the military presence at Kajuwatta in the eastern Batticaloa district.
He said the military had retaliated with heavy fire towards the rebels and they may have also suffered heavy casualties. Samarasinghe also said that the LTTE had continued mortar and artillery fire from Vakarai region in the east on the majority Sinhala community villages of Somapura, Sirimangalapura, Serupura and Mahindapura in the multi-ethnic district. More than 2,000 civilians were displaced while two soldiers and a civilian were killed in the attacks on Saturday. The rebel mortar and artillery fire on the villages began on Dec. 7.
The LTTE sources said that the troops advanced well into their territory and the retaliatory fire caused the deaths of at least five soldiers on Saturday with no casualties to them. They claimed that military mortars and artillery had landed on at least two refugee camps in areas under their control killing several civilians. On Thursday the rebel gun fire landed on a school killing at least four civilians including a teacher, which drew a condemnation from the U.S. government.
The international community has been appealing to both sides to stop violence and return to talks. The weekend clashes came after the Norwegian special peace envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer Friday failed to break the deadlock between the warring parties.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2006 00:00 ||
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The questions seemed innocuous. One group of female students was asked about their telephone service, while another group was asked their views on co-ed housing.
Both groups were then asked how pleasant it would be to listen to music for a class assignment, to analyze a poem, to solve an equation or to take a calculus exam -- questions that tested their preference for math or the arts. Students were assigned to the groups at random, so you would expect similar answers from both groups, right?
Wrong.
As tens of thousands of high school, college and university students receive grades for their work in the fall semester this week, there might be more to the grades than whether the students spent the semester partying or studying. A number of experiments show that subtle cues can alter academic preferences -- and test performance -- without anyone being aware of it.
The women in the group who were asked about co-ed housing expressed a greater preference for the arts compared with the women who were asked questions about their telephone service. Researchers believe that reminding the students about their sex -- as a question about co-ed housing would do -- subtly activated an association with the sexual stereotype that the arts are feminine, and math is masculine.
Before we go any further into these troubling waters, let us halt for an important caveat: This phenomenon does not explain all differences in test scores or academic preferences. People clearly do have different temperaments, and talent and application matter greatly. If you spent the last semester tuned out, that provides a simpler explanation for poor grades than the activation of subtle stereotypes.
But the research does raise troubling questions for academicians and parents, not least because the cues we are talking about are so commonplace. Indeed, the research study on the arts-math preferences, conducted by psychologists Jennifer Steele at York University in Toronto and Nalini Ambady of Tufts University in Boston, proved that cues do not have to involve explicit questions.
In another part of the study they recently published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, two groups were told to focus on a plus sign on a computer screen. Periodically, they would see flashes on the right or left.
What the students did not know is that the flashes displayed a word for less than one-tenth of a second, followed by a string of "X's." The word was presented too quickly for the undergraduate women volunteers to be aware of what it said -- but it was enough to make a difference at a subliminal level.
When words with feminine associations such as "doll" or "lipstick" or "skirt" were flashed, students were more likely to express a preference for the arts over math compared with those who were flashed the words "hammer," "suit" or "cigar."
"It is disturbing to think I can show you words outside your awareness and that can influence your preference," Steele said.
Women are not the only ones affected in this way, of course. Reminding white men of the stereotype that Asians are better at math can lower the performance of the white men in math tests.
Again, no one is saying such cues turn brilliant students into dullards, but the cues do cause measurable differences in scores. "Sometimes it is a couple of questions, but when you are talking of acceptance into top universities, one or two questions can make a huge difference," Steele said.
Ambady is currently studying how to address these issues, which obviously have implications for fairness. It gets very complicated: When 5- to 7-year-old and 11- to 13-year-old Asian girls are subtly reminded of their Asian identity, they do better at math tests; when subtly reminded about their sex, they do worse. In other words, both positive and negative stereotypes have effects, and both can be activated simultaneously-- meaning that people seeking to fight stereotypes are well-advised to be cautious.
Ambady said that drawing attention to the girls' individuality -- by asking about their favorite book or movie, for example, or asking them to list a few things about themselves that they liked and disliked -- caused them to do much better on math tests compared with girls primed with a negative gender stereotype that subtly reminded the girls of their group identity.
In another intriguing study, David Butz, a psychology graduate student at Florida State University, found that displaying the American flag in a room when students are asked to solve math problems or anagrams can influence performance. As with other experiments, the students themselves were not aware that the subtle cue made a difference -- in fact, most said they did not even notice the flag.
Butz designed the study after Florida law mandated that an American flag be hung in public classrooms. He found that the flag boosted the performance of white students but not minorities. White students given a math test in a room without a flag solved 44 percent of the problems. Those shown the flag solved 51 percent. Minorities solved 42 percent of the problems without the flag and 41 percent with it -- no difference.
Makes you wonder, doesn't it, about the hidden power that lies in the ordinary things around you? Gee, is there an application to polling in this study?
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/11/2006 06:55 ||
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The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that spectators at a murder trial were free to wear buttons bearing a picture of the victim in front of the jury that convicted the defendant.
The justices ruled in favor of California prosecutors who said the buttons were a harmless expression of grief by family members at the trial of Mathew Musladin.
It was the first time the justices ruled on whether the conduct of courtroom spectators deprived a defendant of a fair trial, which in this instance resulted in a conviction that was reversed by an appeals court[9th Circuit US Court of Appeals].
Nowadays murder trials seem biased in favor of the defendant, the victim usually doesn't count until sentencing is considered. People are far less rational than they like to pretend.
#2
IOW, once again, in a GENDER-NEUTRAL/NONEXISTENT ENVIRO, yet another survey shows females will pick dolls over tonka trucks = toy soldiers. FILM AT 11.
Again, there's no suitable category, We need History and Science, IMO.
A True American Hero. Well done, Virginia - and Thank You for your bravery. R.I.P.
BALTIMORE - In 1942, the Gestapo circulated posters offering a reward for the capture of "the woman with a limp. She is the most dangerous of all Allied spies and we must find and destroy her."
The dangerous woman was Virginia Hall, a Baltimore native working in France for British intelligence, and the limp was the result of an artificial leg. Her left leg had been amputated below the knee about a decade earlier after she stumbled and blasted her foot with a shotgun while hunting in Turkey.
#1
Another distinguished SOE agent was Noor Inayat Khan, an Indian Princess (born in the Kremlin Palace in Moscow), the great-great-grand-daughter of the legendary muslim king Tipu Sultan (who resisted the British conquest of India).
Her mother was American, the niece of Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science. Her father was a sufi mystic.
Given the code name 'Madeleine' she did poorly in one part of her training, a mock interrogation.
She found it difficult to lie and was terrified throughout the session. The trainer reported that she lost her voice and 'was trembling and quite blanched' He also made a comment: 'Not overburdened with brains but has worked hard and shown keeness, apart from some dislike of the security side of the course. She has an unstable and temperamental personality and it is very doubtful whether she is really suited to the work in the field.'
Betrayed by a member of the resistance, she was held by the Gestapo for over 10 months. Despite brutal torture she didn't reveal a single piece of information, not even her name.
She was shot by the SS at Dachau in 1944 along with three other SOE agents - Madeleine Damerment, Elaine Plewman and Yolande Beekman.
Posted by: john ||
12/11/2006 7:07 Comments ||
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#2
IIRC Virginia Hall's full story can be found in A Man Called Intrepid.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/11/2006 15:51 Comments ||
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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.
Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph laments in a series of letters to a newspaper that the maximum-security federal prison where he is spending the rest of his life is designed to drive him insane.
Five people including a four-year old girl died while thousands fled to evacuation centres set up mostly in public schools as typhoon Utor ravaged southern Philippines, downing power lines, radio reports said yesterday. 
ZIMBABWE has the highest inflation and lowest life expectancy in the world, not to mention the highest percentage of orphans. So desperate is the shortage of food that President Robert Mugabe's guards have been spotted shooting squirrels in Harare's botanical gardens. 
The United Nations' top food aid official arrived Sunday in 
FIJI'S military rulers are cracking down on dissent, making house calls on those who dare criticise the new regime. Only a night after their illegal takeover last Tuesday, the army was flexing its muscles -- well before yesterday's declaration it would interrogate anyone suspected of inciting opposition to the new regime. 
The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) will try to convince Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) chief Maulana Samiul Haq to join the religious alliance in its campaign against the Womens Protection Act (WPA), MMA sources told Daily Times on Sunday. 
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has left on a six-day visit to Yemen and Saudi Arabia. The visit is part of the government's endeavours to forge closer interaction with brotherly countries in the Middle East. Frequent high-level contacts are the hallmark of the fraternal bonds. During the visit to Yemen, the prime minister will hold extensive talks with his counterpart Ba Jamal and call on President Saleh.
Last year, only about 2,500 foreign visitors came on Christmas, but, he's counting on the usual bus loads of Christians from nearby Palestinian towns to boost turnout.
Earlier this year, bird flu panic was in full swing: The French feared for their foie gras, the Swiss locked their chickens indoors, and Americans enlisted prison inmates in Alaska to help spot infected wild birds.
Thousands of civilians were on the run on Sunday in Sri Lankas restive northeast after heavy artillery exchanges left over 85 people dead, according to the Tamil rebels and government forces.
(Xinhua) -- At least 12 soldiers were killed and 51 others injured Sunday in clashes between the government troops and the Tamil Tiger rebels in eastern Sri Lanka, defense officials said. Prasad Samarasinghe, the military spokesman said that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels had fired mortars and artillery fire at the military presence at Kajuwatta in the eastern Batticaloa district. 
