#1
Faked? Good! The totten bastards. Fake some more.
All 243 passengers and 16 crew members were killed. A Scottish Fatal Accident Inquiry, which opened on October 1, 1990, heard that, when the cockpit broke off, tornado-force winds tore through the fuselage, tearing clothes off passengers and turning objects like drink carts into lethal pieces of shrapnel. Because of the sudden change in air pressure, the gases inside the passengers' bodies would have expanded to four times their normal volume, causing their lungs to swell and then collapse. People and objects not fixed down would have been blown out of the aircraft at an air temperature of −46 °C (−50 °F), their 6-mile (9 km) fall lasting about two minutes (Cox and Foster 1992). Some passengers remained attached to the fuselage by their seat belts, landing in Lockerbie strapped to their seats.
#2
I have to agree with Besoeker. The purpose of punishment is to deter future crimes. Logically it can have no other purpose. The purpose was fulfilled in this case and I can't get excited about one of Ghadaffi's henchmen carrying the can for a crime someone else may have committed. I am sure he is guilty of lots of other stuff.
#3
'I was shown fragments of a brown circuit board which matched our prototype. But when the MST-13 went into production, the timers contained green boards. I knew that the timers sold to Libya had green boards. I told the investigators this.'
Gee, they found his company's product in the plane's wreckage, he admits this, and now he's quibbling about the color of the boards? Phhttt.
#4
The different color means they were replaced with other boards, NOT "insignificant"
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/02/2007 10:24 Comments ||
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#5
Which only points once again to the absurdity of treating an act of war as a crime. Tripoli should have been razed but instead we have this decades long kabuki.
#6
Nowhere in the article does Bollier dispute that the timer, whether built on a brown or green board, was manufactured by Mebo. Nor does the article mention that Libya paid out more than $2 billion in compensation to the families of Pan Am 103.
#7
Well, yeah, but that doesn't mean they're guilty.
Although it does seem unlikely they were framed....
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/02/2007 15:09 Comments ||
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#8
Which only points once again to the absurdity of treating an act of war as a crime. Tripoli should have been razed but instead we have this decades long kabuki
And Ghadafi Duck still steals oxygen as well. My only comment about Lockerbie is to praise the forensic investigators who were able to locate and trace the timer chip fragment. That was simply some stupendous detective work.
#2
How stable is Mexico? I still think there is considerable danger that it could evolve a long and bloody civil war. Not even for a particular reason, but for a dozen of them. Fueled by the drug trade and the bitter economic disparity, it might begin like the struggle for Nuevo Laredo, and grow from there, into a regional then national conflict.
#3
I still think there is considerable danger that it could evolve a long and bloody civil war
It's long overdue. It's been held off by the actions of the American bureaucracy to allow 10 million of the disenfranchised and unemployed of Mexico to shift their discontent and trouble into their own border, much to the delight and retention of power by the Mexican ruling caste. Who needs long over due and much needed reform when the chumps cross the border will provide an indefinite pressure release. The Trunks still haven't figured out yet, there's going to be social upheaval. It's either going to happen in Mexico, were it should have happened already, or here. They got a taste of what's brewing, but ignored the warning signs.
Panama's lawmakers on Saturday elected as head of the National Assembly a man wanted by the United States in the murder of a U.S. soldier, a move Washington said was deeply disappointing. Legislator Pedro Miguel Gonzalez, 42, has been indicted in the United States on charges he shot and killed U.S. Army Sgt. Zak Hernandez in June 1992, a day before a visit by then-President George Bush.
Gonzalez was nominated by Panama's ruling Revolutionary Democratic Party, which has a majority in the legislature. Before the vote, he received applause as he entered the assembly chamber, where he was described by colleagues as "distinguished" and a "great patriot."
The U.S. State Department said in a statement it was "deeply disappointed" by Gonzalez's election, noting there was an outstanding arrest warrant out for him. The United States is Panama's top trading partner and built its famed canal. At a tense time after the 1989 U.S. invasion and capture of Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega, the soldier was killed when the Humvee he was driving was ambushed north of Panama City.
Gonzalez said he was at a demonstration miles away to protest the Bush visit at the time of the shooting. He was acquitted at a 1997 trial in Panama. Washington says the trial was marred by jury-rigging, witness intimidation and government harassment. Panama has refused to extradite him and warned Washington not to try to influence the parliamentary vote.
#1
perhaps a well-aimed .50 bullet in the dark would be the best response. Time to remind our enemies that we have long and vivid memories, and excellent capabilities when the will exists. Nasrallah next....
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/02/2007 18:45 Comments ||
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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has agreed to invite Colombian rebels to discuss a hostage release deal. Mr Chavez announced the plan after talks with Colombian leader Alvaro Uribe on his role as mediator sponsor of between Colombia's government and the rebels.
Mr Chavez hopes to secure the release of hostages by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) in exchange for rebels held by the authorities.
The two sides disagree on key issues, including a demilitarised zone. Farc wants the government to create a such a zone to conduct the hostage exchange but Mr Uribe has refused to do so.
Mr Chavez announced his plan to host negotiations after a marathon six-hour session of talks at Mr Uribe's farm near Bogota. "President Uribe has welcomed the idea that I receive Farc representatives in Venezuela," Mr Chavez said.
Oh, I'm sure he's just thrilled.
The BBC's Jeremy McDermott in Bogota says the challenge facing the Venezuelan president is a huge one. The Farc have held some hostages for a decade and have vowed not to free any until hundreds of their comrades in prison are released.
The Colombian government and the Farc have been unable to agree on setting up talks. And the rebels have so far not made contact with the Venezuelan president in his role as facilitator.
But Mr Chavez said that he was confident that he would be able to arbitrate successfully. "I ask God that I can contribute to this matter of a humanitarian swap, to the matter of the search for peace, which is peace for all of us - peace for Venezuela, peace for Colombia, union and integration," he said.
Mr Chavez also said he would also host talks between the government and Colombia's second-largest rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN). Negotiations between the two sides that had been held in Cuba have recently stalled.
Farc rebels currently hold dozens of hostages, including several high-profile figures. Relatives of those held captive are reported to be optimistic about Mr Chavez's involvement. "It's the first time I see there could be a small light at the end of the tunnel," said Juan Carlos Lecompte, husband of French-Colombian Ingrid Betancourt, a former presidential candidate abducted by the Farc in 2002.
In June the Colombian authorities released Farc leader Rodrigo Granda - known as the group's "foreign minister" - as a prelude to freeing another 200 guerrillas from prison. President Uribe said he had been influenced by President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, who was acting in the interests of Ms Betancourt.
MOSCOW, September 1 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Strategic Missile Forces will conduct more tests of new warheads for its intercontinental ballistic missiles later this year, the SMF commander said Saturday. "This year we will continue test and combat-training launches of new types of warheads for the Topol-M and Bulava sea-launched missile complexes," Col. Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov said.
He said previously a second missile battalion, equipped with advanced Topol-M (SS-27) road-mobile ICBMs, will be put on combat duty before the end of the year and that the deployment of silo-based Topol-M systems in the Saratov Region and road-mobile systems in the Ivanovo Region (central Russia) would be completed in 2010. As of December 2006, the Strategic Missile Forces operated 44 silo-based and three mobile missile systems.
The commander said the Topol-M system will be equipped with multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRV) in the next two or three years, adding that the new system would help penetrate missile defenses more effectively.
His statement came against the backdrop of growing tensions between Moscow and the West regarding plans by the United States to deploy elements of its global antiballistic missile defense system in Central Europe. Gen. Solovtsov said the Strategic Missile Forces would factor in the new threats. "If the U.S. proceeds with missile defense plans, despite serious opposition from people in Europe, the Strategic Missile Forces will manage to take adequate measures to counter threats to Russia," he said.
The national defense program envisions the deployment of Bulava-M sea-launched ballistic missiles on nuclear submarines. The missiles are expected to become the mainstay of the Russian Navy's strategic nuclear forces in decades to come.
The Russian Armed Forces commissioned more than 30 new types of advanced weapon systems in the first half of 2007, the defense minister said last month. Anatoly Serdyukov said these weapon systems included the submarine-launched R-29RM Sineva ballistic missiles, the S-400 Triumf air defense complex, and the 120-mm Nona SM-1 towed mortar for Ground Forces.
Serdykov also said Russia conducted test launches of the Yarts land-based ballistic missile, the X-102 airborne missile, and a new version of the Iskander-M ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple warheads, and launched two military reconnaissance and communication satellites.
Malaysia with missiles.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/02/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
What is that third vehicle... mobile command center?
Posted by: john frum ||
09/02/2007 17:53 Comments ||
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#2
from the article
Posted by: john frum ||
09/02/2007 17:54 Comments ||
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#3
#1 What is that third vehicle... mobile command center?
Posted by: john frum 2007-09-02 17:53
Warhead transporter. The missiles aren't transported with their warheads.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/02/2007 22:50 Comments ||
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Protesters threw stones and set cars ablaze. About 25 people were detained as police used tear gas to disperse the rioters in the Noerrebro district. The unrest came as youths demonstrated to mark the six-month anniversary of the closure of a local youth centre.
Squatters running the centre were evicted from the building by an anti-terror squad on 1 March. About 650 people were arrested in clashes between protesters and police before Ungdomshuset, or Youth House, was demolished on 5 March.
Police spokesman Mads Firlings said these latest riots had eased by early Sunday morning. "Der ones doing the rioting haf been beaten senseless eased"
"It's six months since we cleared the house there, and they want to show they've not forgotten," Mr Firlings said. "they want the same beatings, it's like they never learned"
"Almost immediately they started building barricades and throwing rocks through the windows of shops and banks."
Ungdomshuset had been occupied by youth activists since the 1980s. In 2000, the local government sold the building to a Christian group that obtained a court order to evict the squatters. But the activists vowed not to leave, saying the council had no right to sell the building while it was still in use.
"we're not done using it, you can't have it"...wow - that's logic
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/02/2007 18:38 ||
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#1
Aww... they miss their clubhouse cum shooting-gallery / crackhouse. Poor deprived youts...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
09/02/2007 21:24 Comments ||
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#3
We *might* be able to begin to define Bush's legacy 50 years from now.
Or less, depending upon how well we respond to the rising threat of Islam. More than any other thing, I think that Bush's legacy will depend upon his resolve to dismantle Iran's nuclear weapons program. Sadly, no incoming candidate exhibits any noticeable determination to do so. Thereforefairly or notthis pivotal turning point in the Global War on Terrorism will be seen as hinging upon Bush's action or inaction. Should Bush have the courage to take Iran down, it would only require a decade or twoat mostfor his legacy to acquire a deserving luster.
Former Pakistan leader Benazir Bhutto vowed yesterday to return from exile after admitting that power-sharing talks with President Pervez Musharraf had stalled, writes Tracy McVeigh.
Bhutto had been in talks to become Prime Minister again, with the beleaguered Musharraf quitting as army chief but seeking a new term as President. At a news conference in London, Bhutto admitted that no agreement had been reached following opposition from members of the ruling regime who have rejected working with her Pakistan People's Party.
'I will be going back to Pakistan very soon, but the date is going to be announced from the soil of Pakistan,' Bhutto declared. She has yet to win a public commitment from Musharraf that he step down as army chief and give up the power to dismiss the government and parliament.
Musharraf has suffered a number of legal setbacks, including a ruling that former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif can return. At present prime ministers cannot serve more than two terms, disqualifying both him and Bhutto. Bhutto said Sharif had embarked on a 'personal vendetta' against the man who toppled him in 1999.
Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto said on Saturday that she had not yet reached a power-sharing deal with President General Pervez Musharraf, but was planning to return to the country soon. No understanding has been arrived at and we are making our own plans to return, she told a press conference in London, adding that her Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) would announce the precise date of her return on September 14 in Pakistan. I plan to return to Pakistan in the next few weeks to work for a moderate, a democratic Pakistan.
Bhutto said that negotiations with Musharraf had stalled but added they had been 80 percent successful. She believed that a core within the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML) had created a fuss over the negotiations. Asked what the unsuccessful 20 percent of the talks related to, Bhutto said: What was left was one and a half points pertaining to the sovereignty of parliament and the presidential and parliamentary elections.
Musharraf aides who had been in London for talks with her have now gone back to Pakistan, she said.
She later indicated that if a successful deal was agreed, she expected that Musharraf would give up his military uniform. I am definitely under the impression that if there is an understanding with the PPP, General Musharraf would seek re-election as a civilian, she told Sky News television.
Bhutto said at the press conference that Nawaz Sharif had embarked on a personal vendetta against Musharraf.
She added that officials would keep the United States informed of progress in the talks and said she had met British Foreign Secretary David Miliband Friday but did not give further details.
Responding to questions whether her return to Pakistan could destabilise the country, she said: I want the country to be secure and I want my people to be happy so I stayed away five years, but in these five years, I saw my country destabilised by my absence.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/02/2007 00:00 ||
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It has been another torrid week for Barclays, with revelations that it used £1.6bn emergency funding from the Bank of England and speculation that it has made big losses on the fallout from the sub-prime crisis in the US....
Lots of detail at the link.
My worry is that serious trouble at these banks will undermine what little propensity Brown might have to dealing with Islamicist terror, causing him to draw inward even more than some of his cabinet have been lobbying for.
#2
It cracks me up that near where I live, they are still building condos, even though any day now, the bottom could drop out of the market, and the developer would suddenly leave the State.
#3
The problem is not just with the UK & its political leadership. All these banks lend to each other. Barclay's trouble stemmed from an unusual reluctance of other banks to lend them money. The US economy is running on money borrowed overseas & will suffer greatly if the furriners don't keep borrowing US $ at the usual pace. The president of the Swiss National Bank said, "We're certainly not at the end of the story. There are question marks surrounding the development of the American economy. Something unbelievable happened. People who had neither income nor capital got credit with very attractive conditions. Now reality is striking back."
#4
"There are question marks surrounding the development of the American economy. Something unbelievable happened. People who had neither income nor capital got credit with very attractive conditions. Now reality is striking back."
And I'm pretty sure Congress is involved in there someplace....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/02/2007 17:48 Comments ||
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#5
It's not a credit crunch it's a solvency crisis.
No one is lending to anyone else because they know that they are holding bags of sh1te with a negative yield.
There was a PR coverup of the 1.6B GBP BoE loan. Barclay's claimed it was related to a technical problem however the technical problem (with CREST) happened after the loan was taken out.
I'd withdraw any money over 2K GBP(your 100% insured level) from Barclay's. There's lots of anecdotal that a lot of other people are doing so too, i.e. there personal banking website is SLOOOOW.
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.
Protesters threw stones and set cars ablaze. About 25 people were detained as police used tear gas to disperse the rioters in the Noerrebro district. The unrest came as youths demonstrated to mark the six-month anniversary of the closure of a local youth centre. 
