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Major Joint Offensive South of Baghdad, 8,000 troops
Today's Headlines
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
66 in Spain arrested for child porn - 48 million images found
Scum.

Do what you like as adults, but child porn is inexcusable IMNSHO.
Posted by: lotp || 07/16/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Too bad Spain doesn't have a death penalty.
Posted by: Mike || 07/16/2007 6:05 Comments || Top||

#2  See what can happen when a once-powerful nation capitulates and allows itself to be taken over by mooslum scum? May God help us all. In Jesus' name, AMEN.
Posted by: Asymmetrical T || 07/16/2007 21:11 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
John Edwards Vows To End All Bad Things By 2011
The Onion. It's a parody . . . for now.

AMES, IA—In an effort to jump-start a presidential campaign that still has not broken into the top Democratic tier, former Sen. John Edwards made his most ambitious policy announcement yet at a campaign event in Iowa Monday: a promise to eliminate all unpleasant, disagreeable, or otherwise bad things from all aspects of American life by the end of his second year in office.

"Many bad things are not just bad—they're terrible," said a beaming Edwards, whose "Only the Good Things" proposal builds upon previous efforts to end poverty, outlaw startlingly loud noises, and offer tax breaks to those who smile frequently. "Other candidates have plans that would reduce some of the bad things, but I want all of them gone completely." . . .

Though some Democrats are applauding the positivity of Edwards' pro-good agenda, critics say that the wealthy former trial lawyer is, at best, paying lip service to the issue.

"This is certainly a step in the right direction, but it's not enough," Daily Kos contributor BitchingPoints wrote hours after Edwards' announcement. "Where in Mr. Edwards' list of bad things does it mention poisonous snakes, nasty red wine stains on rugs, trolls, and noisy neighbors? Edwards has left the door wide open for a rival candidate to outflank him on his own issue by introducing a comprehensive plan that fills these gaping holes." . . .
Posted by: Mike || 07/16/2007 10:45 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
His campaign song can be the Cany Man..

who can make sunrise...etc
Posted by: macofromoc || 07/16/2007 12:43 Comments || Top||

#2  I figure the guy is getting desperate--he is promising everything. Hey Johnny Boy, I'll take some of your ill-gotten wealth. There is probably some donk idiots out there that will buy this B.S. hook, line, and sinker.
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/16/2007 13:00 Comments || Top||

#3  Pirate booty for everybody!
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/16/2007 13:10 Comments || Top||

#4  Speaking of booty, I'm glad to see Grace gracing this website again.
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/16/2007 13:23 Comments || Top||

#5  Why not promise like Mugabe to slash in half all prices?
Posted by: ed || 07/16/2007 13:25 Comments || Top||

#6  No more Lawyers in politics, they have pretty much single handedly wrecked the US of A. Screw John Edwards, all lawyers and their whole greedy nepotistic guild.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 07/16/2007 18:02 Comments || Top||

#7  The Breck Girl Vows To End All Bad Things By 2011

wow, that means a comb-over of his whole life then..
Posted by: RD || 07/16/2007 19:57 Comments || Top||

#8  Dubya has circa 17 months to continue to strengthen the US position in the ME and around the world; while the Dems have the same to prove themselves to US voters. I don't believe, however, that Moud + Radical Islam can wait for 2011 unless Dubya's successor come Jan 2009 is publicly willing to make some mighty big Big BIG B-I-G BBBBBBBIIIIIIIIGGGGGGG concessions to Amer's enemies to the detriment of the USA.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/16/2007 23:54 Comments || Top||


Bin Laden's son angry at publicity over marriage
You wouldn't like a bin Laden when he's angry.
Posted by: lotp || 07/16/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Even Osama is not immune from the competition amongst his own children, espec when its time for someone to take over from Dad + Zawi.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/16/2007 0:49 Comments || Top||

#2  Read the whole article. YJCMTSU!
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 07/16/2007 10:26 Comments || Top||

#3  Never heard of the English tabloids, eh?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 07/16/2007 15:51 Comments || Top||

#4  When the son of the world's most wanted terrorist decided to marry a British grandmother nearly twice his age, he had hoped the union would pass unnoticed.

Sounds like a sitcom on Fox...
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/16/2007 16:38 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Quake Hits Japan, Injuring at Least 150
A strong earthquake jolted northwestern Japan on Monday morning, flattening dozens of wooden houses and triggering small tsunamis. News media reports said at least 150 people were injured. The United States Geological Survey said the magnitude of the quake was 6.7. It was centered off the coast of Niigata, 160 miles northwest of Tokyo, where buildings swayed during the tremor.

The national broadcasting station NHK showed images of the collapsed homes, along with damaged bridges and roads. Sirens from fire engines could be heard in Kashiwazaki city, where the homes collapsed. Flames and black smoke were seen pouring from the Kashiwazaki nuclear plant, which was automatically shut down in the quake. NHK reported the fire was in an electrical transformer, and that no radioactivity had been released.
Posted by: ryuge || 07/16/2007 01:01 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Four dead, 400 injured in Japan earthquake
Posted by: Oztralian || 07/16/2007 2:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Plus a typhoon. Statistics are a bitch.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/16/2007 8:29 Comments || Top||

#3  And the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuke plant is leaking Radioactive Water.
Posted by: Charles || 07/16/2007 10:00 Comments || Top||

#4  They had a 6.8 earthquake and all they had was an electrical fire and 315 gallons of what appears to be controlled pure water. I think that is pretty significant. The fact they delayed several hours to report the leak was the right thing to do. They had to take care of the electrical fire, with possible toxic fumes besides just checking to make sure everything was safe.

I think it's impressive.
Posted by: Penguin || 07/16/2007 15:41 Comments || Top||


Tremors hit Peshawar, Swat
An earthquake of mild intensity was felt in Peshawar and Swat districts on Sunday at 1724 hours. According to Peshawar Meteorological Station, magnitude of the earthquake on the Richter scale was recorded at 4.8. The epicenter of the tremor was about 300 kilometres north of Peshawar in the Hindukush Range, it said.
Posted by: Fred || 07/16/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Typhoon hits Japanese coast, 3 dead
Posted by: lotp || 07/16/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  FREEREPUBLIC/SPACEWAR > 6.6 earthquake also, to the NW. Felt a very short but intense tremor here on Guam.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/16/2007 0:23 Comments || Top||

#2  6.8 according to the radio an hour ago.

Quakes AND typhoons! Why can't Halliburton get the coordinates correct?
Posted by: Bobby || 07/16/2007 6:41 Comments || Top||

#3  I hope nothing important or precious was broken, JosephM, and that your dear mother was not disturbed.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/16/2007 8:27 Comments || Top||

#4  talked to my son at Camp Zama (so. of Tokyo) last night - he says it's pouring there
Posted by: Frank G || 07/16/2007 11:18 Comments || Top||

#5  He's over there already, Frank? Isn't that awfully fast?
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/16/2007 19:17 Comments || Top||

#6  TW - he graduated Thursday 9 AM in AZ; Sun at 11AM I was putting him on a flight at LAX. Too damn fast. I miss him
Posted by: Frank G || 07/16/2007 20:43 Comments || Top||

#7  We'll keep him in our thoughts and prayers, Frank.
Posted by: lotp || 07/16/2007 20:45 Comments || Top||

#8  We will, indeed. He's the one who used to read Rantburg when you weren't looking, right?
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/16/2007 21:06 Comments || Top||

#9  yep...I think he still does :-)
Posted by: Frank G || 07/16/2007 21:19 Comments || Top||

#10  Drinks in the club on Frank! Woohoo!
Posted by: Mike N. || 07/16/2007 21:25 Comments || Top||

#11  ty for your prayers, TW and LOTP. I'd rather share them with the boys who are in more closely harm's way though. IIUC, He will more likely be moving around the So. Pacific areas of concern (Thai, PI, Malaysia, et al), pending any deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan. I pray
Posted by: Frank G || 07/16/2007 21:27 Comments || Top||

#12  Let us know Frank if you or your son needs something plz.
Posted by: RD || 07/16/2007 22:17 Comments || Top||

#13  thx RD
Posted by: Frank G || 07/16/2007 22:46 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Attention Shoppers - Mugabe's price cuts set to rebound
Zimbabweans are shopping like there's no tomorrow.
Because there isn't.
With police patrolling the aisles of Harare's electrical shops to enforce massive government-ordered price cuts, the widescreen TVs were the first things to go, for as little as R283 ($40). Across the country, shoes, clothes, toiletries and different kinds of food were all swept from the shelves as a nation with the world's fastest shrinking economy gorged itself on one last spending spree.

Car dealers said officials were trying to force them to sell vehicles at the official exchange rate, effectively meaning that a car costing R212 000 ($30 000) could be had for R425 ($61) by changing money on the black market. The owners of several dealerships have been arrested.

President Robert Mugabe's order that all shop prices be cut by at least half, and sometimes several times more, has forced stores to open to hordes of customers waving thick blocks of near worthless money given new value by the price cuts.

The police and groups of ruling party supporters could be seen leading the charge for a bargain.

Mugabe has accused business interests of fuelling inflation, running at about 20 000%, to bring down his government. A hotline is in place to report "overcharging", and retailers who flinch at slashing prices are being dragged before the courts. Several thousand have been arrested for "profiteering" over the past week, including the chief executives of the biggest retailers in the country, some of them foreign-owned.
Balance of this kak can be found at the link.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/16/2007 02:53 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I always thought supply and demand was overrated as a mechanism for setting prices.

The guy who bought the $30K car for $61 will be trying to trade it for a loaf of bread in a couple of weeks.

Posted by: Lanny Ddub || 07/16/2007 7:53 Comments || Top||

#2  And it won't even be worth that if there's no fuel...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 07/16/2007 10:14 Comments || Top||

#3  Do you think the shelves will restock themselves?
Posted by: Skunky Glins5285 || 07/16/2007 15:12 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Former Paraguay bishop wins backing for presidential bid
But not from the Vatican.
More than a dozen leftist labor, farm and political organizations agreed Sunday to back a former Roman Catholic bishop in next year's presidential election.

The groups said they hope to ensure Fernando Lugo, a charismatic leader dubbed the "Bishop of the Poor," will appear on the April 2008 ballot even if he fails to gain the backing of a coalition of opposition parties.

But an alliance of political parties, led by Authentic Radical Liberals, the country's main opposition party, could not agree Sunday on whether to back Lugo. Some members of the alliance said they needed more time to consider options, noting the deadline to register candidates is Nov. 28.

Lugo has gained support from the poor majority, disenfranchised after 60 years of unbroken rule by President Nicanor Duarte's Colorado Party. Polls show he has support from nearly 40 percent of voters, 10 percentage points ahead of his closest rival.

He resigned as bishop in December to sidestep Paraguay's constitutional ban on clergy seeking office. The Vatican, however, has refused to accept Lugo's resignation, saying bishophood is "for life," and the head of the Paraguayan Bishops Conference has suggested Lugo risks excommunication if he keeps up his campaign.

Duarte, who as a sitting president is barred from seeking immediate re-election, has called Lugo's candidacy unconstitutional.
Posted by: lotp || 07/16/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Street protests 'paralyse' Peru
Nationwide protests and a general strike have brought Peru to a near standstill over the last week.

Thousands of people in every major town and city took to the streets, and three people are reported to have been killed in clashes around the country.
Thousands of people in every major town and city took to the streets, and three people are reported to have been killed in clashes around the country. The protests are widely seen as a show of disapproval with the government of President Alan Garcia. They come just a fortnight before President Garcia completes his first year in office.

In a country where street protests are something of a national pastime, this last week has vastly exceeded expectations. It began as a national strike by the left-wing Peruvian education workers' union. But as construction workers, farmers and miners joined, it grew in size and became more widespread.

There have been running battles with the police in the centre of Lima, and the authorities have detained more than 100 union leaders. In the southern region of Puno, protestors stormed an airport and a railway station, and three people have been killed in different clashes across the country.

On Friday, a tourist train on its way to Machu Picchu was pelted with stones, and in the city of Trujillo striking teachers tried to throw eggs and tomatoes at President Garcia and clashed with his supporters. Several police officers were held hostage by angry demonstrators in the same city but later released.

The protesting teachers object to a new law which obliges them to take a proficiency test and says they will be sacked if they repeatedly fail it.
The protesting teachers object to a new law which obliges them to take a proficiency test and says they will be sacked if they repeatedly fail it. The test is part of the government's attempt to reform the appalling standard of Peru's state education. But union leaders say it will mean hundreds of arbitrary sackings.
Because competancy is a plot by the Capitalist running dogs to deny ignorance its due representation on faculties.
President Garcia appears to have inflamed the protests by launching insults at union leaders and dismissing them as left-wing radicals.

But the opposition leader, Ollanta Humala, and several MPs have also joined the demonstrations. They accuse Mr Garcia of reneging on his campaign pledges and say social development and working conditions have not improved, despite Peru's booming economic growth.
Posted by: lotp || 07/16/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  competancy

Ahm... it's competency. ;-)

I would not insert here a gratuitious jab at you for talking about competency and spelling it wrong.

No, nope. ;-)
Posted by: twobyfour || 07/16/2007 4:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Glad I'm not a teacher. I always get my ants and ents mixed up!
Posted by: Gladys || 07/16/2007 5:34 Comments || Top||

#3  Glad to know you woodn't do it, 2x4.
Posted by: lotp || 07/16/2007 6:26 Comments || Top||

#4  Tiny insects and tree people, Gladys? ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/16/2007 7:22 Comments || Top||

#5  They should privatise ALL the schools. Give parent the money directly and let them choose.

Nothing kills the fake unions of the left like choice.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 07/16/2007 10:37 Comments || Top||

#6  And all us Washingtonians (the state, not the swamp) can tell you how well the WASL is working out........
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 07/16/2007 14:38 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Erdogan confident of victory in Turkish election
Turkey’s general election campaign enters its final stretch on Monday with the outgoing government confident it will increase its share of the vote but facing a much reduced majority in the new parliament.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister and leader of the Justice and Development party (AKP), predicted at the weekend his party would win 40 per cent of the popular vote next Sunday, and get between 310 and 315 seats in the 550-seat parliament. That would be sufficient to allow the AKP, which has its roots in political Islam, to form another single-party administration.

Analysts say this is investors’ preferred outcome. Despite the controversial circumstances in which the election was called, Turkey’s financial markets have remained steady in anticipation of another term for the centre-right, pro-business party.

Mr Erdogan called the election early after he failed to get Abdullah Gul, the foreign minister who has past links to Turkey’s Islamist movement, elected by parliament to the symbolically secular post of president.
That's after the generals let it be known they were growing concerned about the Islamacists.

More on the leftist woman challenging Erdogan for his parliamentary seat here.
Posted by: lotp || 07/16/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
China blames foreign media for food health scares
BEIJING (Rooters) - Foreign media have fuelled unfounded fears about Chinese products, the nation's top quality official has said, as China blocked a U.S. protein powder shipment while the two countries sparred over safety worries.

The deaths of patients in Panama from mislabeled drug ingredients from China, deadly toxins in pet food ingredients and food laced with additives and antibiotics have fanned public anxiety in the United States about the safety of China's surging exports.

But foreign reports about tainted Chinese foods had presented isolated failings as the whole picture, said Li Changjiang, head of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

"Some foreign media, especially those based in the U.S., have wantonly reported on so-called unsafe Chinese products. They are turning white to black," he said, according to the China Daily on Monday.

"One company's problem doesn't make it a country's problem."

Chinese inspectors announced that a protein powder from a U.S. supplier contained too much selenium and was being sent back, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Monday.

Selenium is a trace mineral essential in small amounts, but too much of it can cause stomach upsets, hair loss and other problems.

At the weekend, China also suspended pork and poultry from some U.S. suppliers after finding salmonella-contaminated chicken and meat products with growth agents or other additives.

The bans, widely reported in the Chinese media, appeared to be Beijing's latest reminder that anxieties about product quality could also be directed at U.S. goods.

Companies affected by the meat ban include some of the giants of American agriculture, including a unit of the private Cargill Inc., and Tyson Foods, the leading U.S. producer of fresh beef and No. 2 producer of chicken and pork.

Another official from the Chinese quality inspection agency, Li Chuanqing, said foreign companies had exaggerated public worries about Chinese goods for their own ends.

An editorial in the overseas edition of the People's Daily, the ruling Communist Party's official paper, said it was inevitable that the country's rising exports would face tighter scrutiny from choosy foreign customers.

But it also blamed foreign forces seeking to undermine Chinese industry.

"In recent years those people churning out the theory of a China threat have grabbed hold of this issue and not let go, treating isolated cases as the whole and maliciously attacking 'Made in China'," the paper said.

China's criticisms of foreign media and companies are unlikely to alter widespread U.S. public anxiety about foods, medical ingredients, toys and other goods.

Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced a temporary hold on imports of some Chinese seafood until suppliers could prove they were free of harmful residues.

Poorly regulated food and drug safety standards have been a problem for years in China, which has about half a million food processors. The Chinese government has moved in recent weeks to attack the problem, promising stricter oversight.

Last week it executed the former head of its Food and Drug Administration for corruptly approving unsafe drugs.

The People's Daily overseas edition said the country's manufacturers needed to raise their standards.

"If international consumers enjoy high-quality 'Made-in-China,' what do we have to fear from media alarmism?"
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 07/16/2007 09:17 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Nah, you aught to see what happens when the media [starved of Paris Hilton space fillers or bad news from Iraq] splashes across the screens with breaking stories on an isolated incident involving a bad beef patty at Jack in the Box. Just caulk it up to joining the 'Big Boys'. You got to have some sort of recognition to become a player in the media scare spin game.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/16/2007 9:47 Comments || Top||

#2  "It wuz dem 'merkin journos what added dat antifreeze to our toothpaste, that nitrofuran to the fish, da formaldehyde in dat juice, sum floor wax on the fruit, shoe dye in dem shrimp an don' forget how their editors put all that lead in the toy paint either!"
Posted by: Zenster || 07/16/2007 9:58 Comments || Top||

#3  Just wait til they see the gaul of the MSM printing their using rats in their food now (of course, due to global warming and the Yangtze dam) that's linked below, LOL!
Posted by: BA || 07/16/2007 13:31 Comments || Top||

#4  How about some high-quality 'Made-in-China,' cardboard and lye ?
Served with a portion of Rat fried rice?

Yummy!

Posted by: John Frum || 07/16/2007 15:47 Comments || Top||

#5  It's a floor wax. And a desert topping!
Posted by: SteveS || 07/16/2007 17:11 Comments || Top||

#6  Why I like to eat things I've killed myself.
Posted by: no mo uro || 07/16/2007 18:31 Comments || Top||

#7  Including rat?
Posted by: John Frum || 07/16/2007 18:42 Comments || Top||


Europe
Russia''s rejection to Kosovo plan due to "Western provocations" - diplomat
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 07/16/2007 08:51 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Czech castration raises worries
Posted by: lotp || 07/16/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Posted by: Mike || 07/16/2007 10:45 Comments || Top||

#2  I guess they want a society with fewer nuts.
Posted by: Zenster || 07/16/2007 14:28 Comments || Top||

#3  Fine, then. Go back to the death penalty for rape. Especially for rape/murder.
Posted by: Rambler || 07/16/2007 15:16 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Indian forces get foothold in Central Asia
NEW DELHI: Quietly, very quietly, India is preparing to deploy at least one squadron of Mi-17 helicopters at the Ayni airbase in Tajikistan. This will be its 'first real military outpost' on foreign shores and give New Delhi 'strategic reach' in energy-rich Central Asia.

The 'immediate' plan may well be to deploy Mi-17 helicopters, as well as some Kiran trainer aircraft to train Tajik pilots, at the airbase before the end of this year. But sources confirmed that this was just the prelude to 'a larger strategic imprint' in the region, which India sees as crucial to its growing energy needs. The 'eventual aim' is to station even MiG-29 fighter jets at the airbase.

"It may be just a military outpost at the moment but will develop into a full-fledged base in the future," said a source. This will also give India the option to even rapidly 'insert' its special forces into nearby areas if its interests are threatened, as they were during the hijack of IC-814 to Kandahar in December 1999.

Officially, the defence ministry and IAF strongly deny the move to establish an Indian military base at Ayni. But there is also a quiet sense of satisfaction at the unfolding of the Ayni plan, first conceived in 2002, which will see India break out of its self-imposed strategic constraint that rarely extended beyond its immediate neighbourhood.

Sources say the defence ministry has sought the Cabinet Committee on Security's formal approval to begin operations at the Ayni airbase, renovated and upgraded with India's help at a cost of almost Rs 100 crore.

With the help of engineers from Army and Border Roads Organisation, India has extended and relaid the runway at the airbase, around 15 km from Tajik capital Dushanbe. It has also constructed three aircraft hangars and an air-control tower besides implementing perimeter fencing around the base.

This was done under a three-way agreement among India, Tajikistan and Russia. It has gained momentum since the Ayni airbase — lying largely unused since the mid-1980s — has now become 'fully-ready' for operations after four years of hard work.

India, on its part, wants "military presence" in the area to keep tabs on "any anti-Indian activity" in the terrorism-infested Pakistan-Afghanistan region.
Posted by: John Frum || 07/16/2007 17:49 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


International-UN-NGOs
UN warns it cannot afford to feed the world
Rising prices have led the UN programme fighting famine to warn that it can no longer afford to feed the 90m people it has helped for each of the past five years on its budget.
Biofuels are causing serious food price inflation. More at the link.
Posted by: lotp || 07/16/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Why doesn't the UN just take a cut on their vig? That should make up the shortfall.
Posted by: Swamp Blondie || 07/16/2007 0:09 Comments || Top||

#2  I hear rents are way down in France. The UN could work out a deal agreeable to both sides of the Atlantic, and we could convince our congress to fund the move.

A twofer!
Posted by: badanov || 07/16/2007 0:12 Comments || Top||

#3  I cannot afford to feed the UN any more money.
Posted by: newc || 07/16/2007 0:16 Comments || Top||

#4  What the UNO is trying hard NOT to say is that as a predomin confederatist world body, it needs SSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH more integration and centralism. Global Federalism vs Totalitarian Centralism - D *** ng it, ITS GUBMINT!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/16/2007 0:29 Comments || Top||

#5  "For less than a GDP percentage point per day..."
Posted by: Seafarious || 07/16/2007 0:40 Comments || Top||

#6  Why is it I have a feeling the lawyers and politicians they own in DC are going to make sure this is my problem?
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 07/16/2007 6:44 Comments || Top||

#7  If it can't afford to feed the world, it should have no problem comprehending how the US can't afford to feed the world, either. Nothing like having the heels of your red glitter shoes crack off, is there? No more clicking three times and expecting your dream to materialize...
Posted by: Jules || 07/16/2007 6:51 Comments || Top||

#8  Check out this article on consequences of over-population in Gaza. Look whom gets the blame:

www.ft.com/cms/s/0db3a2b8-1a14-11dc-99c5-000b5df10621.html
Posted by: McZoid || 07/16/2007 7:21 Comments || Top||

#9  If the solar cycle guys are right and we get a couple of degrees cooling over the next decade or so (a little ice age event) then we will see large scale famines, unimanageable as it sounds today.
Posted by: phil_b || 07/16/2007 8:09 Comments || Top||

#10  Once you subtract the kick-backs and skimming, there's nothing left over for the poor.
Posted by: Gary (no Samoyeds in hotel) || 07/16/2007 9:02 Comments || Top||

#11  Oh, no! Does this mean they'll have to cancel the big HQ rehab! C'mon boys, it's for the children!
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/16/2007 9:23 Comments || Top||

#12  Move the UN to Gaza. Real cheap rents there then they can afford it.
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/16/2007 9:52 Comments || Top||

#13  Great point, Darth. The UN can restart all those world class greenhouse complexes the Israelis left for the Gazan farmers. They would also be closer to the starving Africans.
Posted by: wxjames || 07/16/2007 13:20 Comments || Top||

#14  UN warns it cannot afford to feed the world

Well, certainly not in the style that they're accustomed to. Besides, there aren't that many five star caterers anyway. Even if they tried, the first thing they'd have to do is pull caviar off the menu. And we can't have that now, can we?
Posted by: Zenster || 07/16/2007 14:11 Comments || Top||

#15  Mon Dieu, you what costs a Mercedes these day? Mais oui, zey are cheaper if you buy a dozen.....
Posted by: Marilyn Grong5609 || 07/16/2007 14:25 Comments || Top||

#16  Gaza's too good for the UN, send them to Zim-bob-way, on a one-way ticket. That way, they'll be right there when the little people begin to starve in the former "breadbasket of Africa".
Posted by: Old Patriot || 07/16/2007 15:37 Comments || Top||

#17  Gee, they've fed a whole 90 million people in 5 years. Compared to 6 billion, what's that - a paltry percentage point or two?

The United States used to feed the world - or at least a statistically much higher percentage of it alone and without the UN's help. California's Central Valley alone still feeds a significant portion of 300 million people plus in this country alone - and we still export food to every 3rd world hellhole where people can't seem to afford to take the time to put down their guns and stop killing each other long enough to plant crops so they won't starve to death next year.

And the UN cries about being unable to feed less than 20 million people ayear?

Cry me a frakking river. Lead, follow, or get the hell outta' the way already.

Posted by: FOTSGreg || 07/16/2007 19:49 Comments || Top||

#18  SPOT ON, FOTSGreg!
Posted by: Zenster || 07/16/2007 23:04 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Shimon Peres becomes the ninth president of Israel
Posted by: Fred || 07/16/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Science & Technology
Army's Land Warrior System Increases Soldiers' Combat Capabilities
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 07/16/2007 09:52 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  US Army-Marine grunts are looking more and more like ROBOCOP = STAR WAR STORMTROOOPERS every other photo-op.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/16/2007 23:59 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
EU firms 'being used to supply arms to Burma'
European Union and American companies are unwittingly involved in the production of military helicopters likely to be sold to Burma, whose regime is accused of systematic human rights abuse, according to a new report.

Human rights groups say the proposed deal, in which the aircraft are supplied through a third party, India, severely undermines an international embargo on supplying arms to Burma.

Companies from the US, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Sweden, as well as the UK, have been involved in the manufacture of the Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) for the Indian army in conjunction with the Indian conglomerate Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. The British connection, says the study, is through the firms APPH Hydraulics and FPT Industries Ltd, a part of GKN Aerospace Services Ltd.

The government in Delhi is close to agreeing to a Burmese request for the helicopters following the supply of maritime surveillance aircraft.
According to the report, "Indian helicopters for Myanmar (Burma) [are] making a mockery of the EU arms embargo". The report was compiled on behalf of nine human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, Saferworld and Campaign Against Arms Trade (UK). It says the government in Delhi is close to agreeing to a Burmese request for the helicopters following the supply of maritime surveillance aircraft.

The Indian Foreign Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, recently said that there was likely to be a "favourable response" to Burmese requests for further military assistance. Defence analysts say that in addition to the attack helicopter, this may include tanks, artillery, small arms and radar.

The move by the Indian government follows Burma's offer to help in combating insurgency from the country into north-east India.
The move by the Indian government follows Burma's offer to help in combating insurgency from the country into north-east India. Delhi, with the backing of the US and UK, also wants to counter an increasing Chinese strategic presence in Burma.

The closer military co-operation between India and Burma has already led to criticism by Indian human rights groups. Burmese armed forces have been repeatedly accused by the UN and US of engaging in atrocities against civilians including unlawful killings, abductions, torture and rape.

The European Union imposed an arms embargo on Burma in 1988 which has been subsequently renewed on several occasions, the latest in 2006. The sanctions are legally binding and require all EU states to implement and enforce them.

The US imposed an arms embargo on Burma in 1993 and although it is not considered to be as comprehensive as the European one, it contains regulations concerning the movement of military technology from the US through a third country.
Posted by: lotp || 07/16/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran to intensify drive against un-Islamic dress
Iran warned that its police will enforce a drive against clothing deemed unIslamic with renewed vigour this month by doubling the number of forces assigned to check up on lax dressing, local media reported.

Thousands of women have already been warned and hundreds arrested across Iran for failing to adhere to the country’s Islamic dress code since the drive began in April, its toughest such crackdown in years. Ahmad Reza Radan, the head of Tehran’s police force, dismissed any notion that the crackdown was now fizzling out, saying it was “unstoppable”.

“From July 23, the number of police assigned to this mission will be doubled,” he told the student news agency ISNA late on Saturday. “We will multiply the number of patrols from July 23 in such a way that all streets, parks and places of entertainment be covered,” he added. He said the police’s policy will be first to give a verbal warning to those who infringe the law and if necessary they will then be arrested and taken to a centre for “consultation”.

“If their behaviour is not accidental they will then be handed over to the judiciary,” he added. Women in Iran are obliged to cover all bodily contours and their heads but in recent years many have pushed the boundaries by showing off naked ankles and fashionably-styled hair beneath their headscarves.

The dress crackdown is just one part of a major moral drive in Iran dubbed the “plan to increase security in society” that has also seen police act against drug addicts, water pipe smokers and thugs. Many shops have stopped selling skimpy outer garments that the police deem offensive and Radan said the force would act against any remaining outlets “distributing inappropriate clothes.”
Posted by: Fred || 07/16/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  The dude in the picture has shoes to die for (in Iran) Or is that Mayor Nagin?..........
Posted by: Phinater Thraviger || 07/16/2007 0:18 Comments || Top||

#2  Brunomali's?
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/16/2007 2:49 Comments || Top||

#3 

RADAN

Radan said the force would act against any remaining outlets “distributing inappropriate clothes.”

As goes that old Persian saying,
"If da wiener whistle starts to blow, then that nasty bikini has gotta go..."

"We will multiply the number of patrols from July 23 in such a way that all streets, parks and places of entertainment be covered" - Ahmad Reza Radan, Horney about Hair

He went on to say, "We shall go on to the end, we shall fight the harlots with uncovered hair, we shall fight in the salons and botiques, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our hangups, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the parks, we shall fight in the nuclear labs, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender to the 21st century, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this country or a large part of it were invaded by infidels, then our Jihad beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the Magic Mullahs, would carry on the struggle, until, in Allan's good time, the 13the super-dooper secret Imam, with all his power and might, steps forth to the task and smites the infidels..."

He then collapsed and clutched his groin area...
Posted by: Tell D Truth || 07/16/2007 7:38 Comments || Top||

#4  Why we in the West can sell a 768 calorie hamburger and a 500 calorie milkshake to a guy who weighs 440 pounds, but we cannot convince the Iranian people that Western tolerance is preferable to dictatorship.
Posted by: Perfesser || 07/16/2007 9:42 Comments || Top||

#5  Like most governments, the Mullahs unerringly focus on the inconsequential trivia that "just looks bad".
Posted by: Sherelet Oppressor of the Platypi8168 || 07/16/2007 15:12 Comments || Top||

#6  now if they can just refine all those nasty western artifical fibers into gas, thay might be able to save their sorry butts.
Posted by: Slolutch Fillmore5587 || 07/16/2007 15:15 Comments || Top||

#7  "Whoa, the citizens are about to start rioting. We'd better clamp down on them even more harshly. That always makes things more calm."
Posted by: Zenster || 07/16/2007 18:40 Comments || Top||


Home Front Economy
Biofuels Good for Global Warming, Bad for Poor
I heard this on the radio this morning, but it took a Google search to find this, from last week.
The burgeoning use of cereals and other commodities to satisfy appetite for biofuels could keep food prices high for the next decade, says the FAO, impacting developing countries, the urban poor, and farmers' livelihoods.
Drowning from ocean levels, storms, and climate change/global warming or starvation due to higher food prices. Life is choices!
The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) last week published its latest Agricultural Outlook 2007-2016, in partnership with the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD). It said that while the recent price hikes in farm commodity prices are due to temporary factors like drought in wheat growing regions, structural changes, such as increasing demand for biofuels, is casting a cloud over the long-term picture.

The growing use of cereals, sugar, oilseed and vegetable oils to produce fossil fuel substitutes are underpinning both crop prices and, indirectly, livestock product prices due to higher animal feed costs. The changes, says the report, "could well maintain relatively high nominal process for many agricultural products over the coming decade."

The FAO and OECD predict that the impact will be felt most keenly by net food importing countries and the urban poor. And for farmers who need feed for their livestock, it means mounting costs and lower incomes.
Unless, of course, the livestock markets are allowed the freedom to respond to market forces....
Moreover, the belief that high prices are here to stay could spur more policy reforms away from price support, the report predicts, "reducing the need for border protection and [providing] flexibility for tariff reduction".
Does the report think that's bad? I guess so, or it wouldn't be reported!
Last week Nestle chairman Peter Brabeck expressed his fears for the future of food prices in the long-term. Braback was quoted by the Financial Times as saying that "will have a long-lasting impact on food prices".

The FT said the comments were "among the starkest warning that a long period of rising food prices could stoke broader inflationary pressures".
Posted by: Bobby || 07/16/2007 06:12 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Just waiting for the environmental wacko to be the first to say - "Let them eat plastic".
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/16/2007 9:42 Comments || Top||

#2  This is the solution we have needed for quite some time. Less available free food means necessarily less overproduction of third world, malcontnets. Recall that food deprivation was wide spread in the first half of the 20th century and served as nature's monitor on population over growth. It wasn't until Uncle Sugar started passing around freebies in massive amounts that the rat population began to explode. Not only that, moving to other fuel sources will rapidaly diminish Saudi income and will reduce their expanionist methods, due to their needing to allocate much more of their income toward food staples. Definitely heading dowm the right path here. And that is seconded by the squawking from the UN beggars.
Posted by: Woozle Elmeter2970 || 07/16/2007 12:40 Comments || Top||

#3  I find this rather disturbing. Most "solutions" to global warming seem to rely on sticking it to the little guy within the nation state. It doesn't matter that Average Joe American is way far wealthier than Average Juan Mexican: if both are on the same relative rung on the economic ladder, they get screwed equally.

Carbon trading is no help because the poor in the third world countries who supposedly must not develop themselves to provide the carbon offsets for the wealthy will never see the money being offered to help him compensate for his 'sacrifice': it will be intercepted by the rich and the connected aristocrats who, the world over, think themselves as being superior to the average joe in their nation.
Posted by: ptah || 07/16/2007 15:18 Comments || Top||

#4  Well we need a cheap reliable source of food grown here in the US of A. High energy costs will make that not possible. We don't want to be importing all our food any more than we want to be importing all our energy. We need cheap supplies of both. That said the best thing we can do for Africa is cut all aid food and otherwise. Time to tell the UN sorry Charlie we are tapped out.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 07/16/2007 18:08 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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Mon 2007-07-16
  Major Joint Offensive South of Baghdad, 8,000 troops
Sun 2007-07-15
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Sat 2007-07-14
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Fri 2007-07-13
  Hek urges Islamist revolt in Pakistain
Thu 2007-07-12
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Wed 2007-07-11
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Tue 2007-07-10
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Mon 2007-07-09
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Sun 2007-07-08
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Sat 2007-07-07
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Thu 2007-07-05
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Abul Aziz Ghazi nabbed sneaking out in burka
Wed 2007-07-04
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