#3
Buses -- it's all about buses. Dallas sent 200 school buses to San Antonio on Saturday.
I commute IH-35 from about 30 south of Austin. This morning, going south was first, probably about 30 charter buses, then about 25-35 Austin school buses.... then I looked up, sorta on a hilly portion, and there must have been another 75 Austin school buses in the center lane, headed south. Awesome sight!
Buses from the city, state, and military were on standby for possible evacuations, including a fleet of 700 sent by the governor's office. Another 600 buses were on standby in San Antonio.(or, at least heading to San Antonio)
This is what they are preparing for -- San Antonio is ready for 40,000 already. In Washington, R. David Paulison, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said up to 100,000 people might have to be evacuated from the state's southeastern coast and its immigrant shantytowns near the Mexican border. The storm is on course for northern Mexico, but could shift and hit the region around Brownsville, Texas, Paulison said.
KABUL - President Hamid Karzai led Afghanistans Independence Day celebrations on Sunday with a call to the countrys young people to educate themselves to preserve their freedom.
Karzai told tens of thousands of people gathered in the capitals sports stadium that Afghanistans youth should spend every second of their lives in learning to maintain the countrys cherished independence. "To maintain Afghanistans independence the youth of the country the youngsters must spend every second of their lives in learning, and better learning, Karzai told the gathering.
An enthusiastic Karzai asked the crowd to repeat after him we want to learn and live better. Do you want to learn, become engineers, doctors and experts?, Karzai asked the crowd. Say yes, loudly, Yes, Karzai exhorted. The crowd applauded and shouted: yes, yes, we do.
Reiterating condemnation of Taliban attacks on the 88th anniversary of full sovereignty from Britain, he warned there were still plots against our independence by the enemies of this land. Karzai denounced the killing of innocent people -- men, women and children, referring to the 15 victims, including 11 civilians, killed in a Taliban-linked suicide bombing in southern Afghanistan on Saturday.
Although Afghanistan was never a full colony of Britain, London under a treaty controlled its foreign affairs until agreeing to allow full independence on August 19, 1919. Afghans had earlier fought three wars against the British, the first starting in 1838 and the last ending months before the 1919 agreement.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/20/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
I wonder where they'd be today if they had just gone along with it.
#2
Had they been absorbed into the Raj, they would be part of Pakistan now.
You need to go back more than two thousand years, to the time when that region was recaptured from Selucius Nicator (Satrap of Alexander the Great) by the Indian Emperor Chandragupta Maurya.
His grandson the emperor Ashoka converted to Buddhism and sent missionaries to China, Japan, SE Asia to spread the word of the Buddha.
Afghanistan was full of centers of learning, full of Buddhist monasteries and libraries. It was actually civilized.
Nothing remained after the Muslim conquests. The Buddhist monks (who believed in non-violence) were slaughtered and their libraries burnt. All Buddhists were forcibly converted to Islam.
The Bamiyan Buddhas, one of the last remnants of the Buddhist presence were blown up by the Taliban.
Posted by: john frum ||
08/20/2007 8:03 Comments ||
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#3
Good commentary, john frum. Churchill wrote a passage in one of his books along the same line.
But now, if Karzai is speaking about the virtue of education, isn't that apostasy?
#4
Edict of the Indian Emperor Ashoka, at Kandahar, Afghanistan
Inscription is in both Greek and Aramaic
"Ten years (of reign) having been completed, King Piodasses (Ashoka) made known (the doctrine of) Piety to men; and from this moment he has made men more pious, and everything thrives throughout the whole world. And the king abstains from (killing) living beings, and other men and those who (are) huntsmen and fishermen of the king have desisted from hunting. And if some (were) intemperate, they have ceased from their intemperance as was in their power; and obedient to their father and mother and to the elders, in opposition to the past also in the future, by so acting on every occasion, they will live better and more happily."
Posted by: john frum ||
08/20/2007 11:49 Comments ||
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#5
"All religions should reside everywhere, for all of them desire self-control and purity of heart."
"Here (in my domain) no living beings are to be slaughtered or offered in sacrifice."
"Contact (between religions) is good. One should listen to and respect the doctrines professed by others. Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi, desires that all should be well-learned in the good doctrines of other religions."
Posted by: john frum ||
08/20/2007 11:54 Comments ||
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#6
Of course, it helps when you have a big army...
"But this last combat with Porus took off the edge of the Macedonians' courage, and stayed their further progress into India. For having found it hard enough to defeat an enemy who brought but twenty thousand men and two thousand horse into the field, they thought they had reason to oppose Alexander's design of leading them on to pass the Ganges, too, which they were told was thirty-two furlongs broad and a fathoms deep, and the banks on the further side covered with multitudes of enemies. For they were told the kings of the Gandaritans and Praesians expected them there with eighty thousand horse, two hundred thousand men, eight thousand armed chariots, and six thousand fighting elephants. Nor was this a mere vain report, spread to discourage them. For Androcottus, who not long after reigned in those parts, made a present of five hundred elephants at once to Seleucus, and with an army of six hundred thousand men subdued all India.
Vita Alexandri by Plutarch
And he was pretty mean before he converted and embraced Buddhist Dharma...
"Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi, conquered the Kalingas eight years after his coronation. One hundred and fifty thousand were deported, one hundred thousand were killed and many more died (from other causes). After the Kalingas had been conquered, Beloved-of-the-Gods came to feel a strong inclination towards the Dhamma, a love for the Dhamma and for instruction in Dhamma. Now Beloved-of-the-Gods feels deep remorse for having conquered the Kalingas." Rock Edict Nb13
Posted by: john frum ||
08/20/2007 12:45 Comments ||
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#7
Map of the Maurya Empire under Ashoka's rule.
Posted by: john frum ||
08/20/2007 18:36 Comments ||
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Saudi Arabia's veteran foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal has undergone neck surgery in New York, the official news agency said late on Saturday. The report from the Saudi Press Agency said the senior member of the ruling Al Saud family, who has been foreign minister since 1975, was treated successfully on Friday to remove bone calcification. It said the prince would return to Saudi Arabia after a convalescence period. He could head the Saudi delegation to a Middle East peace conference including Israel later this year, if the leading Arab-Muslim power agrees to attend. The Saudi Foreign Ministry says Prince Saud was born in 1940 making him one of the younger figures among the key players in the royal family.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2007 00:38 ||
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#1
ROFL! I wanted to post the same pic when seeing the headline!
The man who stabbed head teacher Philip Lawrence to death is to be allowed to stay in the UK after his lawyers argued deporting him would breach his human rights.
Learco Chindamo was 15 years old when he knifed Mr Lawrence in an attack outside St George's Roman Catholic School in Maida Vale, west London, in December 1995. Italian-born Chindamo, now 26 and currently serving a life sentence, won his appeal at the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal to stay in Britain. The Government today said it was "disappointed" that it cannot deport the killer.
Mr Lawrence, 48, was attacked when a gang of 12 youths led by Chindamo went to attack a boy who had quarrelled with a pupil of Filipino origin. The father of four was punched and stabbed by Chindamo as he tried to protect the boy and died the same evening.
A Home Office spokesman said: "We believe that foreign prisoners who have committed serious crimes should face automatic deportation from the UK at the end of their sentence. "We will study the judgment and make a decision as to whether to appeal in due course.
"We are disappointed that the courts have not upheld our decision to pursue deportation in this case."
The Home Office argued in the central London tribunal that deporting Chindamo, whose father is Italian and mother is Filipino, was conducive to the public good and was not disproportionate.
Chindamo's lawyers argued he no longer has strong links or family ties with Italy because he has been living in Britain since he was five years old.
Alan Gordon, vice-chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, branded the decision as "absolute madness".
He said: "We trust the Home Office will appeal against this ludicrous decision by the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal to allow convicted killer, Learco Chindamo, the right to stay in the UK when he is released.
"The fact that he may be paroled and back on our the streets as early as next year is in itself disgusting. Life should mean life."
#1
The man is serving a "life" sentence for murder. Apparently he is being paroled after only twelve years. The Brits want to deport him.
My take would be to let him serve out his life sentence - in prison. After he dies, it doesn't matter if his remains are deported, shipped back to Italy or dumped in the garbage.
Damn, and Seafarious already did the dead parrot routine! Foiled again!
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says Fidel Castro is Stable "writing, and producing," denying rumours circulating on the internet that the Cuban leader had died. Mr Chavez, a close lover ally of Castro, has frequently provided information about the health of the ailing Communist leader who temporarily stepped aside after undergoing emergency abdominal surgery a year ago.
"On the Internet rumours are circulating that Fidel Castro has died," Mr Chavez said during his weekly Sunday broadcast. "Fidel is Stable producing, he is writing."
Mr Chavez said he had spoken to Castro on his 81st birthday on Monday. Ouija boards are nice.
Rumours had surfaced on Friday that Castro had died from complications resulting from his surgery.
I believe they call this "The Carter Plat du Jour"...
KAZAKH president Nursultan Nazarbayev's party won every seat in a new parliament yesterday after a flawed vote that the opposition said turned the clock back to Soviet rule.
The 88.05 per cent margin of victory for Mr Nazarbayev's Nur Otan party in Saturday's vote came in a poll that did not meet international standards, election monitors said. Six other parties in the poll failed to reach a seven per cent hurdle required to enter the lower house, including the main opposition All-National Social Democratic Party (ANSDP) which received 4.62 per cent of the vote. "As an experienced observer I can tell you I have never seen a democratic country with one political party in parliament," Lubomir Kopaj, of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, told a news conference.
Bolat Abilov, one of the ANSDP's leaders, said: "This is absolutely absurd. We're going back to the Soviet Union, back to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union."
OSCE monitors recorded incidents of votes for other parties being counted for Nur Otan, a failure to let observers see ballot papers or move freely during the count, and a failure to comply with correct counting procedures.
A Pakistani man being held in Sydney's Villawood detention centre will take an appeal against the Refugee Review Tribunal to the High Court.
Ali Humayun says he is a homosexual and will face significant persecution if he returns to Pakistan.
But a member of the Tribunal did not believe Mr Humayun is gay, saying his sexuality was "contrived" and only caused by the situation of his detention.
Rachel Evans from Community Action Against Homophobia believes the Tribunal should have taken additional steps to determine Mr Humayun's sexuality.
"I guess the way that you would determine as to whether or not someone is homosexual is by talking to them and talking to their friends and talking to their lovers and not prejudging them in any way," she said.
"And unfortunately that's what the Refugee Review Tribunal has done in this case."
The BBC has said that its Russian-language FM broadcasts have been taken off the air by its Moscow distributor, which said its programs were "foreign propaganda."
The decision by Bolshoye Radio leaves the BBC's Russian-language services available only on medium and shortwave broadcasts, the BBC said in a press release.
So it is Putin vs. the BBC. Talk about a battle of the propagandists. Who do I root for? The bad guys or the bad guys?
Posted by: Mike ||
08/20/2007 06:50 ||
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#1
So the BBC has too much Communist propaganda even for Putin?
#2
It's rather than russia is busy redefining the West as its ennemy (that's why many euros who see the "West" as the ennemy have more than a fondness for putput and his nationalist, anti-US russia, that is true both for some rightwingers and some leftists).
WASHINGTON - A liberal blogger has filed a federal complaint against former Sen. Fred Thompson, the actor and unannounced Republican candidate for president, accusing him of violating election laws as he ponders his entry into the race.
The blogger, Lane Hudson, submitted his complaint to the Federal Election Commission on Monday saying Thompson has raised far more money than he needs to explore whether to run for president.
Federal law allows potential candidates to raise money to travel, conduct polls and pay for other expenses related to "testing the waters" for a political campaign. During that exploratory period, a potential candidate does not have to file financial reports with the FEC.
The law prohibits anyone who is "testing the waters" from hoarding the money for use during his actual campaign. Potential candidates also cannot refer to themselves as candidates, can't run ads that publicize their intention to campaign or take steps to qualify for the ballot in a primary or caucus state.
According to a financial report filed late last month, Thompson had raised nearly $3.5 million and had had spent $625,000. Thompson must raise money within federal contribution limits and must report it to the FEC once he becomes an official candidate.
"We're following the law," Thompson spokesman Jim Mills said in response to the complaint.
Under federal guidelines, the FEC will now give Thompson 15 days to respond to the complaint. Following Thompson's response, election commissioners will decide whether to dismiss the case or investigate further.
Thompson, the "Law & Order" television actor and former Republican Tennessee senator, has been hiring staff, opening a headquarters, holding fundraisers and promoting his credentials as a potential White House contender. But he has not said definitively that he's a candidate for president. He is expected to make an announcement around Labor Day.
By not filing officially as a candidate, Thompson also benefits from continuing reruns of "Law & Order" without broadcasters encountering demands for equal time from his rivals.
Hudson, an activist who gained attention for posting Internet communications between disgraced former Rep. Mark Foley and a congressional page, said Thompson "has been ignoring the letter and the spirit of the federal election law for his own political benefit."
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/20/2007 19:00 ||
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"ignoring the letter and the spirit of the federal election law for his own political benefit"
You mean like the DemocRats?
Oh, the horror!
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/20/2007 21:12 Comments ||
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An illegal immigrant who took refuge in a Chicago church for a year to avoid being separated from her U.S.-born anchor son has been deported to Mexico, the church's pastor said. Elvira Arellano became an activist and a national symbol for illegal immigrant parents as she defied her deportation order and spoke out from her religious sanctuary. She held a news conference last week to announce that she would finally leave the church to try to lobby U.S. lawmakers for change. Hmmmm. I thought it was a crime to harbor a criminal.
Churches get a special pass. Sez so in the U.S. penal code.
She had just spoken at rally Los Angeles rally when she was arrested Sunday outside Our Lady Queen of Angels church and deported, said the Rev. Walter Coleman, pastor of Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago, where Arellano had been living. "She has been deported. She is free and in Tijuana," said Coleman, who said he spoke to her on the phone. "She is in good spirits. She is ready to continue the struggle against the separation of families from the other side of the border." They can all re-unite in Mexico.
A possibility that strangely, no one ever proposes.
Her 8-year-old son, Saul, is now living with Coleman's family. During a news conference in Los Angeles after Arellano's arrest, the boy hid behind the pastor's wife and wiped away tears.
Arellano had said on Saturday that she was not afraid of being taken into custody by immigration agents. "From the time I took sanctuary, the possibility has existed that they arrest me in the place and time they want," she said in Spanish. "I only have two choices. I either go to my country, Mexico, or stay and keep fighting. I decided to stay and fight." Note that "her country" is still Mexico. She's not an immigrant; she's a Mexican who wants to live in the US.
Arellano, 32, arrived in Washington state illegally in 1997. She was deported to Mexico shortly afterward, but returned and moved to Illinois in 2000, taking a job cleaning planes at O'Hare International Airport. She was arrested in 2002 at O'Hare and convicted of working under a false Social Security number. She was to surrender to authorities last August but instead sought refuge at the church on Aug. 15, 2006. A repeat offender.
She had not left the church property until she decided to travel by car to Los Angeles, Coleman said.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed her Sunday arrest. Spokeswoman Gail Montenegro said the agency would have further details on the deportation later Monday.
Arellano is staying with a friend in Tijuana, Coleman said. He said she had brought to light her struggle, and for that, "she has won a victory."
They always dress up 'defeat' as a 'victory'.
"She'll be organizing on the Mexican side of the border while we're organizing in the (United) States," Coleman said Monday. "She'll be talking to organizations throughout Mexico and congressmen in Mexico City."
Coleman said he and other activists will continue Arellano's original plan to go to Washington, D.C., and take part in a prayer meeting and rally for immigration reform at the Capitol on Sept. 12.
CriminalImmigration activists promised protests and vigils to support Arellano. "We are sad, but at the same time we are angry," said Mexican Rage Boy Javier Rodriguez, a Chicago immigration activist who worked with Arellano. "How dare they arrest this multiple criminal offenderwoman?"
Anti-illegal immigrant groups said the arrest was long overdue. "Just because the woman has gone public and made an issue of the fact that she is defying law doesn't mean the government doesn't have to do its job," said Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which favors limits on immigration.
Arellano has repeatedly called for a stop to immigration raids that break up families with some members who are in the U.S. legally and others illegally. She has said her son would be deprived of his rights as a U.S. citizen if he had to go to Mexico simply because she did.
Emma Lozano, Coleman's wife and head of immigration rights group Centro Sin Fronteras in Chicago, said she was Saul's legal guardian. "He's taking it better than we thought he would," Lozano said.
While being arrested, Arellano spoke briefly with her son before submitting to authorities, Lozano said. "She calmed him down, hugged him and gave him a blessing," Lozano said.
Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds ||
08/20/2007 09:16 ||
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#1
Don't let the door hit you on the butt.
And good riddance. You are a prime example of everything wrong with letting illegals over run our country. You want to work legally, fine. You want to immigrate, fine. You want to work but get the free goodies and still maintain a primary loyalty to the old country and make the natives bow to your will and beliefs? Fuck off and die.
#2
I heard this idiot "Rev." Walter Coleman on local (Chicago) TV this morning. Nothing more than a leftist twit masquerading as a pastor. Newsman asked him how he would respond to those who say she should go through the process for legal residency. His answer was to spout unrelated nonsense until interrupted by time constraints.
#3
deported once. Snuck back in. Identity theft of SSN (and what else?). Had an anchor baby. Ordered deported again. Violated that order and became a loud mouthed asshole high profile "victim of the system" while abusing a church as "sanctuary". Went on a highly publicized rant/PR trip to overturn OUR country's policies on illegals.
Doing the jobs Americans won't do. Deporting was too good if she didn't have a cluestick applied hard enough. Bitch'll be back. Next time - prison time
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/20/2007 10:01 Comments ||
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#4
We should return to the pre-1970s term for "activists"--"agitators".
The dictionary definition of "activist":
noun: a militant reformer
The dictionary definition of "agitator":
noun: a political troublemaker
1960s radicals demanded the change, to conceal and soften their purpose. And after the 1968 Democrat convention, when radicals seized the party, both they and the MSM adopted the convention that "agitators" were now "activists", and "radicals" were now "liberals".
If you look at the left, it is still easy to distinguish who are the agitators and who are the activists, and who are the radicals and who are the liberals.
#8
"She has said her son would be deprived of his rights as a U.S. citizen if he had to go to Mexico simply because she did."
Not only did the father not step in to care for his child, I simply can't imagine a loving mother leaving a child behind in another country. This family was separated by their own choices, not US immigration policy.
#13
"She is ready to continue the struggle against the separation of families from the other side of the border."
As others have said, the only one separating the family is the family. The chutzpah of some people is simply breathtaking.
I was on a newsgroup once with a woman who was in the US legally. She was very contemptuous of America and Americans, but she had a job in the US, and two American children (divorced from their father). When someone offhandedly suggested that if she were deported, she'd either have to leave her children or take them back home with her, she was indignant. Indignant, I say! Well! That tells you how deep this administration's commitment to family values runs!
#14
Arellano, 32, arrived in Washington state illegally in 1997. She was deported to Mexico shortly afterward, but returned and moved to Illinois in 2000, taking a job cleaning planes at O'Hare International Airport. She was arrested in 2002 at O'Hare and convicted of working under a false Social Security number. She was to surrender to authorities last August but instead sought refuge at the church on Aug. 15, 2006.
Somehow, these dates do NOT add up to her son (who's said to be 8 years old) being born here in the US. He was born either in 1999 (if he's already had a b'day this year) or 1998 (if he has NOT had a b'day yet this year). Unless, shortly afterwards means 1-2 years in the MSM on her first deportation.
Posted by: BA ||
08/20/2007 13:47 Comments ||
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#15
Of course, there's no mention of who the kid's daddy is.
Serving and retired military personnel dominate nine out of the 12 power distribution companies working under the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), according to official documents procured by Daily Times. According the documents, a total of 3,002 military people are working in the nine companies, three of which they head as well. The highest number of military people is in the Faisalabad Electricity Supply Company (FESCO) where 647 of them work, with a retired colonel and retired major in senior positions. The lowest ratio is in the Tribal Areas Electricity Supply Company (TESCO) where only three junior retired military men serve as security guards.
A total of 496 retired military officers work at IESCO which is headed by a retired brigadier. As many as 493 work at the PESCO, two of them at senior posts. Five hundred and twenty-five work at HESCO, and one of them is at a senior post. MEPCO has two retired brigadiers working at the top posts and three retired officers at less senior ? important nonetheless ? posts. The rest of the 326 retired military men work at junior positions in the company. As many as 218 work at GEPCO, with a retired colonel and major serving at senior posts. In total, 114 retired military officers work at QESCO. A retired colonel with 28 years of experience in power companies and the military works at a senior position. The LESCO employs a total 176 retired military officers, two of them in senior positions.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2007 00:30 ||
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Ownership of the Jefferson version of the Koran would be regarded as prima facia evidence of capital heresy by almost any Sharia court since it crosses out all much of the text.
The Damascus Chamber of Commerce during a meeting here today with a delegation of Belarusian businessmen focused on activation of the role of the Syrian-Belarusian businessmen council and development of economic and trade relations between the two countries.
The two sides held extensive discussion on ways to activate commercial and economic exchange and visits in order to identify the available trade and investment opportunities and exchange of experience in this area. Talks also focussed on encouraging the joint exhibitions in both countries and the establishment of markets for Syrian products in Russia to brief businessmen and consumers on the Syrian goods.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
08/20/2007 00:00 ||
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BRITISH Muslims will hold their own version of the Live 8 concerts to highlight the humanitarian crisis in Sudan's restive Darfur region, organisers announced overnight.
The concert on October 21 will be held at London's Wembley Stadium and is aimed at raising awareness of the situation among Britain's 1.5 million Muslims amid claims of inaction and focus on other areas such as Iraq, they said.
"We are going for our own equivalent of Live 8. We are going for a concert at the end of (the Muslim holy month of) Ramadan to celebrate (the festival of) Eid," said Jehangir Malik, fund-raising manager for charity Islamic Relief.
"It will be people trying to raise funds and raise the profile. We should hopefully see a sell-out and it will be a milestone."
Performers will include singers like the Iranian-born Sami Yusuf.
Live 8 in July 2005 involved a series of worldwide concerts ahead of the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, to highlight the problem of global poverty and call for the world's richest nations to increase aid.
A Muslim delegation, backed by Britain's Foreign Office, recently travelled to Darfur to talk to victims of the violence and refugees as well as tribal leaders and government officials.
The party said that with the exception of Malaysia, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, Muslim countries had been slow to react to the Darfur crisis compared with some Western nations, including the United States and Britain.
The editor of the Muslim magazine Q News, Fareena Alam, said: "It is very shameful that we (Muslims) can get very, very hot and bothered about other issues.
"There is a lot of information about Darfur. There is no doubt this is Muslim-on-Muslim violence. In Iraq the enemy is externalised.
"This is a thorny issue for us and it is clear that we have to do more. It is a challenge for us because people are highly motivated and get highly charged in other areas, and we need to do considerably more."
The United Nations has estimated that at least 200,000 people have been killed and more than two million displaced by the combined effect of war and famine since civil conflict erupted in Darfur four-and-a-half years ago.
#3
After the 95% production salarys/expenses are paid, the Darfurians will see that generous donation (net .01% after deducting the bill for the fatwa on mirth frivolity and restivness.)
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.
KABUL - President Hamid Karzai led Afghanistans Independence Day celebrations on Sunday with a call to the countrys young people to educate themselves to preserve their freedom.
Saudi Arabia's veteran foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal has undergone neck surgery in New York, the official news agency said late on Saturday. The report from the Saudi Press Agency said the senior member of the ruling Al Saud family, who has been foreign minister since 1975, was treated successfully on Friday to remove bone calcification. It said the prince would return to Saudi Arabia after a convalescence period. He could head the Saudi delegation to a Middle East peace conference including Israel later this year, if the leading Arab-Muslim power agrees to attend. The Saudi Foreign Ministry says Prince Saud was born in 1940 making him one of the younger figures among the key players in the royal family.
KAZAKH president Nursultan Nazarbayev's party won every seat in a new parliament yesterday after a flawed vote that the opposition said turned the clock back to Soviet rule. 
