...in August 1945 most Americans had a much different take on Hiroshima, a decision that cannot be fathomed without appreciation of the recently concluded Okinawa campaign (April 1-July 2) that had cost 50,000 American casualties and 200,000 Japanese and Okinawa dead. Okinawa saw the worst losses in the history of the U.S. Navy. Over 300 ships were damaged, more than 30 sunk, as about 5,000 sailors perished under a barrage of some 2,000 Kamikaze attacks.
And it was believed at least 10,000 more suicide planes were waiting on Kyushu and Honshu. Those who were asked to continue such fighting on the Japanese mainland â as we learn from the memoirs of Paul Fussell, William Manchester, and E. B. Sledge â were relieved at the idea of encountering a shell-shocked defeated enemy rather than a defiant Japanese nation in arms.
About a month after Okinawa was finally declared secure came Hiroshima. Americans of that age were more likely to wonder not that the bomb had been dropped too early, but perhaps too late in not avoiding the carnage on Okinawa â especially when by Spring 1945 there was optimism among the scientists in New Mexico that the successful completion of the bomb was not far away...
Hiroshima, then, was not the worst single-day loss of life in military history. The Tokyo fire raid on the night of March 9/10, five months earlier, was far worse, incinerating somewhere around 150,000 civilians, and burning out over 15 acres of the downtown. Indeed, âLittle Boy,â the initial nuclear device that was dropped 60 years ago, was understood as the continuance of that policy of unrestricted bombing â its morality already decided by the ongoing attacks on the German and Japanese cities begun at least three years earlier.
The White House has failed to turn over any of the information requested by the 10 members of the disbanded Sept. 11 commission in their renewed, unofficial investigation into whether the government is doing enough to prevent terrorist attacks on American soil, commission members said.
The members said that the Bush administration's lack of cooperation was hindering a project that was otherwise nearly complete.
Thomas H. Kean, the former Republican governor of New Jersey who led the bipartisan Sept. 11 commission, said he was surprised and disappointed that the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and several other executive branch agencies had failed to respond to requests made two months ago for updated information on the government's antiterrorism programs.
The requests came not from the disbanded commission, which was created by Congress, and had subpoena powers, but from its shadow group, which the members call the 9/11 Public Discourse Project. It was established by the members of the Sept. 11 commission when the panel formally went out of business last August, shortly after releasing a unanimous report that called for an overhaul of the nation's counterterrorism agencies.
"It's very disappointing," Mr. Kean said of the administration's failure to cooperate with the group. "All we're trying to do is make the public safer."
Mr. Kean said there had been no response of any sort to interview requests for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld; Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; Porter J. Goss, the C.I.A. director; Robert S. Mueller III, the F.B.I. director, and Andrew H. Card Jr., the White House chief of staff, among others.
A White House spokeswoman, Dana Perino, would not answer directly when asked if the administration intended to respond to the project's requests for information before next month, when the group is scheduled to publish an updated report that assesses the progress of the government's counterterrorism.
Ms. Perino said that much of the information sought by the private group was available from public sources.
"We welcome their interest in seeing their recommendations implemented," Ms. Perino said. "There is ample public information available for them to review about all of the actions we continue to take to better protect the American people."
She said that the administration had provided "unprecedented" cooperation to the commission during the official investigation, including access to more than two million documents.
Several executive branch agencies had no immediate comment when asked Friday whether they intended to provide additional information to the project, but the Department of Homeland Security said it intended to provide a package of information.
In telephone interviews in which he repeatedly expressed his frustration with the White House, Mr. Kean said the Public Discourse Project intended to publish its "report card" next month with or without the administration's assistance, although he said that "obviously it's most helpful to have the information from the agencies that are trying to implement the reforms."
"Honestly, I thought they would want to cooperate," he said of the White House and the agencies. "I thought it would give them a chance to tell their story. They have made some progress."
Mr. Kean would not forecast the conclusions of the new report, except to say it would be "tough but fair" in assessing the work of government agencies involved in counterterrorism.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/06/2005
19:56 ||
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"You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go."
Oliver Cromwell
Posted by: Mark E. ||
08/06/2005 20:29
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"I beseech ye, in the bowels of Christ think ye that ye may be mistaken"
OC
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/06/2005 22:02
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I think it's a power deal.
Yes let it go, if you want to work on homeland security, call them and see what you can do to help if anything. Don't waste their time having to report to you Mr. Kean.
Posted by: Jan ||
08/06/2005 22:15
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A BRITISH undersea robot began cutting cables early this morning that have been pinning a Russian naval mini-submarine to the ocean floor, a Russian naval official was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying.
"It reached the AS-28 submarine at 3:05 a.m. Moscow time and began to cut the main cable pinning the submarine under water," Captain Alexander Kosolapov was quoted by the agency as saying.
Kosolapov said earlier that the British "Scorpio" remotely operated undersea vehicle would work to cut the Russian submarine free from parts of a underwater coastal surveillance antenna system in which it has been stuck since Thursday.
The unmanned British vehicle was equipped with heavy-duty cutting tools able to cut through steel cable.
The Russian mini-submarine was stuck at a depth of around 190 meters (620 feet) off the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia's far east region.
Efforts by the Russian navy to attach cables to the mini-submarine and tow it to shallower water have so far failed.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
08/06/2005
19:48 ||
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Hollywood actor-director Mel Gibson has been asked to recreate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in the streets of Sydney if the city is selected to host a major Catholic gathering in 2008, a newspaper reported Saturday.
Gibson's staging of the Stations of the Cross, a live interpretation of Christ's final hours, would be part of a bid by the city to secure the Catholic Church's World Youth Day in 2008, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
The crucifixion reenactment -- similar to scenes from Gibson's hugely successful film "The Passion of the Christ" -- would begin with the Last Supper staged at Sydney's landmark Opera House at sunset, and would end with the crucifixion of Christ at St. Mary's Cathedral, according to bid documents the newspaper said it obtained.
The Archbishop of Sydney, George Pell, told the newspaper that intermediaries had "started approaches" to Gibson to stage the event. Gibson's involvement with World Youth Day was on the city's "wish list," Pell said.
"He might well be attracted. I think his devotion to Christ is very real," he said.
The venue for the 2008 gathering, expected to attract an estimated 400,000 young Catholics from 160 countries, will be announced by Pope Benedict XVI on August 21, in Cologne, Germany, the newspaper said. If he makes it extra gory, they might triple their crowd.
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Saturday he would consider holding Jewish extremists bent on derailing Israel's upcoming Gaza Strip withdrawal without charge or trial, after a Jewish army deserter opposed to the pullout shot four Israeli Arabs to death.
Israel has frequently employed the procedure, known as administrative detention, against Palestinians, but rarely uses it against Jews.
Mofaz acknowledged in an interview with Channel 2 TV that an intelligence desk set up to deal with the withdrawal "didn't operate well" in the case of Thursday's attack, when the soldier opened fire on a bus in a northern Arab town.
"We will also consider something that I oppose but the Shin Bet (security service) recommends: We will consider administrative detentions ... of all those the Shin Bet recommends," he said.
He would not estimate how many people might be detained under such circumstances, but said the detentions would be "pinpointed."
Soldiers went to the extremist West Bank settlement of Tapuah, where 19-year-old Eden Natan-Zada fled after he deserted, but did not find him there, Mofaz said.
"That doesn't mean that everything was done," he said. "When you have a deserter missing for 45 days, gun in hand, in the Tapuah area, and parents who cautioned (the military) about him, that should have set off alarm bells."
The boy's father told The Associated Press he had asked the army to find his son. He said he was concerned his son's weapons would fall into the hands of fanatics in Tapuah.
Israeli Arab leaders meeting in Nazareth criticized the government for failing to intercept Natan-Zada before he attacked. The soldier, who was wearing the skullcap, beard and sidelocks of an ultra-Orthodox Jew, opened fire on the driver then killed three other passengers before he was subdued and beaten to death by an angry crowd.
"This man's name was known to the Shin Bet, and the army didn't let police know he had deserted. ... He had a uniform and a gun, and was wandering free," said Mohammed Barakeh, a lawmaker.
"Just as they go after act against Palestinian 'ticking bombs,' so should they act against Jewish 'ticking bombs,'" the Haaretz newspaper cited Ibrahim Sarsur, a leader of Israel's Islamic Movement, as saying.
The two were among hundreds of Arab leaders who met to discuss how their angry community should respond to the slayings. They agreed to hold a mass protest, but did not set a date.
Somebody throw the monkeys a banana.SPAN>
Although the mood among Israeli Arabs is grim, they "don't want to respond in an incendiary way," Barakeh said.
Sarsur called on the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which has threatened retaliation for the attack, to "mind its own business and let the (Israeli) Arab public handle the matter," Haaretz reported.
Although meeting participants advocated nonviolence, the potential for friction was inherent in the Islamic Movement's call for a mass turnout at a Jerusalem shrine that is a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Barakeh said the Islamic Movement issued a statement urging Israeli Muslims to turn out in force at the Temple Mount, or Haram as-Sharif, compound on Aug. 14, a Jewish holy day when many observant Jews are expected to visit the site to pray for the cancellation of the withdrawal.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
08/06/2005
19:43 ||
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"compound on Aug. 14, a Jewish holy day when many observant Jews are expected to visit the site to pray for the cancellation of the withdrawal.
"
For the non observant jewish RBers, the holiday is Tisha B'Av. A day of mourning commemorating the losses of both the first and second temples. All them yids will be fasting from the previous sundown, so I doubt it will be they who will start any rioting.
I think the latest message from Alqaeda that was sent through Ayman Al Zawahiri did not carry anything that new to us but it did confirm, in my opinion, what many of us believed regarding the relation between terrorism and the war in Iraq. Read the rest
From Thursday, but still interesting. Some highlights:
Making it harder for the enemy to move around while making it easier for US units has the effect of lowering apparent enemy numbers while correspondingly increasing apparent American troop strength; but this is only a means to an end. Another LA Times report on the Rawah operation, Rebels on the Run, Locals Too describes some of its effects as observed by the correspondent.
Since arriving in mid-July, the 2nd Infantry Division's 2nd Squadron of the 14th Cavalry Regiment has defeated the fighters here and will now spread out to seal the border with Syria, said Lt. Col. Mark Davis, the unit's commander. ... Having wrested control of Rawah, the division's Stryker Brigade Combat Team now hopes to press westward toward the border and, for the first time, gain control of a broad swath of the land north of the Euphrates that has eluded the U.S.-led coalition for more than two years. On Thursday and Friday, soldiers searched every one of the town's estimated 3,000 to 5,000 homes, capturing some suspected insurgents and a bounty of weapons, including mines, rocket-propelled grenades, mortars, bomb-making equipment, sniper rifles and rockets.
"Since then, there has been no enemy attack, no explosions, nobody shooting at us in Rawah," Davis said. The town might be quiet now, but it's not necessarily friendly. On an outer school wall, spray painted in Arabic, is a note of defiance: "Praise the people of Fallouja" â a former insurgent stronghold where U.S. and Iraqi forces prevailed in November. Davis acknowledged that most Iraqis had left town but said they didn't leave under instructions from U.S. troops. The insurgents apparently had held the town hostage, American officials said. There were no police, a dormant city council, a compound of schools with no children and no teachers inside.
italics mine - pgf
(Speculation alert) There are probably many similar operations that are taking place along the river and to its north, as per the Di Rita briefing. One of them may have been undertaken by the US Marines at Haditha, during which 21 Marines were killed. One possible reason why this operation has been kept low key, despite its size, is that it may be literally ripping up the insurgent base of support along the upper Euphrates. If the LA Times article is accurate, the insurgents essentially took the whole population of Rawah with them; if the phenomenon is being repeated elsewhere, the displacement of the Sunni population must be huge. To the north there is the unsustaining desert; to the south across the river there is the sweep of the Marines; for the insurgents to leave the population in place would risk leaving intelligence in the hands of the Americans. This has got to hurt and it is only the beginning. The LA Times notes the abandonment of RPGs, sniper rifles, mortars -- stuff you wouldn't leave behind -- not willingly. The whole point of strangling the enemy lines of communication while building support bases is to set up the stage for pursuit. And they will be pursued. The focus of newspaper coverage in the coming days may abruptly shift from 'poor helpless Marines from Ohio' to 'we're slaughtering them! We're killers!' These are the hard choices of war, and as Hemingway once wrote "all stories, if continued far enough, end in death, and he is no true-story teller who would keep that from you."
This scenario is not making sense to me. Assuming two people per home, you're talking about something like 8000 people, being moved against their will? And not being picked up by whatever surveillance the town was under?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
08/06/2005
19:41 ||
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âWe are here to project combat power into an area where there hasnât been much in the past,â said Lt. Col. Mark Davis, commander of 2-14âs taskforce.
#2
Phil, most likely the townspeople faded away themselves ... went to stay with relatives, maybe some of the men and boys held essentially as captives by the insurgents but not the women, kids, older people. They wouldn't want to be burdened with them.
Posted by: leader of the pack ||
08/06/2005 21:32
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Thanks, LotP; that makes more sense.
It also makes sense that maybe it didn't happen just yesterday, but over a longer time period.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
08/06/2005 22:16
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"avis acknowledged that most Iraqis had left town but said they didn't leave under instructions from U.S. troops."/I>
the fact that it wasn't american driven them leaving, and that they found so many weapons left behind is curious.
Were most of the folks living in this town sympathetic to the insurgents? It's hard to follow the logic that the town was held hostage, that's alot of people. I don't think the insurgents are that organized, are they?
I think not.
Posted by: Jan ||
08/06/2005 22:33
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Also, it kind of boggles the mind, that they could take the civilians with them, but not the weapons?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
08/06/2005 22:52
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SO in other words, LotP is probably right, as I said earlier.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
08/06/2005 22:52
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Instant comment from a friend: This is like if we were able to take and hold the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
#8
just a wild thought, what if "all the weapons" was really only a small percentage of what they did take with them.
That in their minds the few weapons left weren't that many.
Posted by: Jan ||
08/06/2005 23:33
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Prime Minister John Howard will host a meeting of Australia's senior Muslims to discuss ways of dealing with those who encourage violence.
Mr Howard is this week expected to write to the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC) and other senior Muslims, inviting them to a summit on the issue.
The move comes after the London bombings and after concerns were raised about a Melbourne cleric, who says he would be betraying his faith if he advised his students not to attend terrorist training camps.
Mr Howard announced on Friday plans for a summit on terrorism with the state and territory leaders.
The meeting will consider measures including identity cards, transport security and tougher anti-terror laws to curb the threat of terrorism.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
08/06/2005
19:40 ||
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THE Federal Government has ordered an urgent ASIO report into a radical Islamic organisation in Sydney.
The Hizb ut-Tahir group which has been banned in Britain describes suicide bombers as martyrs and denounces Western values.
A Sydney newspaper has reported that Attorney-General Philip Ruddock asked for the investigation into the group, which has been meeting secretly in western Sydney.
Islamic community leaders have already complained the group, known also as the Party of Islamic Liberation distributes anti-Western literature.
The paper reports the group will be banned in Australia if the ASIO report finds it poses a threat to security or encourages terrorist behaviour.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
08/06/2005
19:37 ||
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It looks like the London attacks were the straw that broke the camel's back ... at least for the Anglosphere. This is good!
SAUDI officials alerted Britain several weeks before the deadly July 7 bombings in London that a terror attack was being planned, two Sunday newspapers reported.
The Observer quoted a security official in the Saudi capital Riyadh as saying that information was passed to MI5 and MI6, Britain's domestic and foreign intelligence agencies respectively.
The Sunday Telegraph quoted the Saudi ambassador to Britain, Prince Turki al-Faisal, as saying that details of a possible conspiracy to attack London -- apparently extracted from terrorism suspects in Saudi Arabia -- had been given to British intelligence.
"There were reports passed on to your authorities several months ago (in April-May) in general terms of a heightened expectancy of attacks on London," said the ambassador, a former chief of Saudi intelligence.
Security sources played down the reports. The Observer quoted one source as "categorically" denying that any specific information had been received that could have averted the July 7 attacks.
The source said they "did not recognise" the details of the Saudi claims, which came to light one month to the day after the attacks.
There was no immediate comment from the Foreign Office or the Home Office, but Prime Minister Tony Blair has previously rejected suggestions of an intelligence failure.
Fifty-six people were killed, including four apparent suicide bombers, in the July 7 morning rush-hour bombing of three Underground subway trains and a double-decker bus.
It was the deadliest attack ever in the British capital, and was followed two weeks later by an attempted copycat attack in which the explosives, stuffed into rucksacks, failed to go off.
Saudi security sources were reported Sunday to be investigating whether two al-Qaeda operatives were in phone contact with a British ringleader of the plotters of the July 7 bombings.
Money transfers were thought to have been made from Saudi Arabia to Britain in the first six months of the year through businesses in the two countries, it was reported.
The Observer and the Sunday Telegraph said the investigations revolve around two Moroccans, identified as Kareem al-Majati and Younes al-Hayari, both alleged to have been senior figures in Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
The two were killed in separate shoot-outs in Saudi Arabia in the weeks before July 7.
The Observer quoted a Saudi official as saying: "It was clear to us that there was a terror group planning an attack in the United Kingdom. We passed on all this information to both MI5 and MI6."
The official was quoted as saying that investigations were underway into whether calls made by the two Moroccans to Britain were directly to the London bombers.
"It is our conclusion that either these were linked or that a completely different terror network is still at large in Britain," he added.
Prince Turki was quoted in The Observer as saying in a statement: "There was certainly close liaison between the Saudi Arabian intelligence authorities and the British intelligence authorities some time ago, when information was passed to Britain about a heightened terrorist threat to London."
To the Sunday Telegraph, he said: "In the course of an exchange of information between the kingdom and the UK, there were reports passed on to your authorities several months ago (in April-May) in general terms of a heightened expectancy of attacks on London."
"This information came in the form of statements made under interrogation from terrorists who had been arrested in the kingdom and other places," he said, without indicating where the "other places" were.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
08/06/2005
19:35 ||
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in general terms of a heightened expectancy of attacks on London Not exactly specific enough to be actionable, is it. Not even specific enough for MI5/6 to even do follow-on investigations of their own.
FINNISH police sealed off ports in Helsinki and searched heavy vehicles on board ferries from Estonia today after receiving a tip-off that a truck loaded with explosives might be on its way to the capital.
Police said their search found nothing suspicious.
"We came here to make sure that there is no threat and now we've done what we came here for, and now we are leaving," Helsinki police sergeant Ari Eskola said.
Helsinki is on the south coast of Finland 80 kilometres across the Baltic Sea from the former Soviet republic of Estonia.
"We received a tip-off that a truck on a ferry that should be on its way here from Estonia has been loaded with explosives," Helsinki police chief inspector Mika Poyry said earlier.
Finland has stepped up security amid the athletics world championships, which began in Helsinki today and continues until August 14.
About 3,000 athletes and officials from almost 200 countries are taking part in the championships.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
08/06/2005
19:33 ||
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NUGGET (Neutron/Gamma Ray Geologic Tomography), an instrument containing a neutron generator, a neutron lens and a gamma-ray detector, could be used to investigate important biological indicators of life on distant worlds - just like Star Trek's tricorder.
The system provides a three-dimensional scanning instrument that focuses a beam of neutrons into an object. When the nucleus of an atom inside the rock captures the neutrons, it produces a gamma-ray signal for that element, which the gamma-ray detector then analyzes. The location of the elements can also be plotted; nformation can then be turned into an image of the elements within the rock. Scientists could then tell whether a certain type of bacteria had become fossilized inside the rock... Or, what happens when science writers have to write a story about some rather dull technical thingy.
#1
Why does every tech nerd feel compelled to reference everything to Star Trek or Star Wars? I just shake my head when I hear stuff like that.... reminds me of an ex-gfriend who talked about tv characters like they were real...
Posted by: Mark E. ||
08/06/2005 20:01
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We are real Mark, but it's a different universe. It's the one on the lower LeftNorth -2. BTW I killed StarTrek personally. I didn't realize there were so many dorks there, else I would have cancelled Seasame St. too.
#3
Because they ideas were invernted or made more public by Star Trek. It puts it in a frame of refernce for the non techie.
I don't know what the hell is up with the "Star Wars" references unless they are talking about a species like Wookies or Endorians. Not much "new" ideas exposed by any of those movies.
A large firework was detonated in the northern grandstand of Telstra Stadium in the 69th minute of the round 20 clash, sparking a security crackdown by both the club and the stadium on Bulldogs fans.
Police yesterday stopped a Pantech truck at Flemington markets containing 1,500 individual fireworks, as part of a covert operation.
The 30-year-old driver, from Guildford, was arrested and charged with numerous explosives offences.
He will appear in Burwood Local Court on August 29.
Police said their investigation into the incident â including the search for crowd members who detonated the device â was continuing.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
08/06/2005
19:17 ||
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BRITISH police charged a 24-year-old man overnight with conspiracy to murder on London's public transit system on July 21, and possession of an explosive substance.
Yassin Hassan Omar, 24, from north London, will appear in court on Monday over the charges -- the first stemming directly from a failed attempt on July 21 to repeat the July 7 bombings, which left 56 people dead.
In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said Omar was charged with conspiring with others unknown, on or before July 21, "to murder passengers on the transport for London system".
Posted by: God Save The World ||
08/06/2005
19:16 ||
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FORMER British foreign secretary Robin Cook, who quit Prime Minister Tony Blair's government in protest over the Iraq war, died Saturday after collapsing on a Scottish mountain.
His death was announced by the Northern Constabulary police force after Cook, 59, was airlifted by helicopter from Ben Stack mountain in the Scottish Highlands after collapsing near the summit whilst out walking.
Mr Cook was taken to hospital in "serious condition" overnight after he collapsed whilst hiking in his native Scotland, Sky News and BBC News 24 television reported.
Cook, 59, was with a group near the summit of Ben Stack mountain in the Highlands when he collapsed, they said. He was taken to a hospital near Inverness by helicopter after a call to the coastguard.
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, standing in for Prime Minister Tony Blair who departed Saturday for a holiday abroad, was to make a statement later Saturday evening, BBC News 24 said.
Cook, foreign secretary under Blair from 1997 to 2001, resigned from Blair's government -- in which he was House of Commons leader, in charge of the legislative agenda -- in March 2003 protest over the Iraq war.
Last weekend Blair's former Northern Ireland secretary Mo Mowlam, 55, who resigned from parliament at the 2001 election, was admitted to a London hospital where she was reported to be in "critical but stable" condition.
It was unclear as to whether her illness was a recurrence of a brain tumour.
Ben Stack is a cone-shaped mountain, 721 metres (2,365 feet) high, next to Loch More in the north of the rugged Highlands, and would have been a natural destination for Cook, a keen country walker.
During his four years at the Foreign Office, Cook forged an "ethical" foreign policy for Britain, and supported NATO's intervention in Kosovo in 1999 to wrest the mainly ethnic Albanian province from Serbian repression.
But he chose to resign Blair's government two days before the US and British invasion that led to Saddam Hussein's downfall, telling parliament: "I cannot support a war without international agreement or domestic support."
He won re-election in his central Scotland constituency of Livingstone in the May general election that put Blair and Labour back in power for a third straight term.
No longer a cabinet minister, he was a prolific commentator in the press, and many political analysts expected him to make a comeback once Blair steps down to make way for Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown.
Cook's former parliamentary private secretary Ken Purchase told Sky News that he had heard conflicting reports that his erstwhile boss had collapsed while out walking, or had been involved in an accident.
"Whatever it is, if Robin is ill in hospital, we all want to see him up and fit and back again when parliament assembles," likely in September when it returns to debate special anti-terrorist measures, Purchase said.
"When I last saw him, he looked very fit and well. His wife Gaynor has been keeping him fit and keeping the pounds off. I have no idea why he might be ill."
He described Cook as "without question one of the best parliamentary performers in the Commons at the present time and one of the leading thinkers in the whole Parliamentary Labour Party".
Posted by: God Save The World ||
08/06/2005
19:13 ||
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Speaking of wasted space. Here is a sample diary that he kept which gives insight into the way his brain operates. This diary starts from Dec. 2001.
Pay close attention to Feb. 28, 2002 Sept 3, 2002, March 5, 2003 and the "Why Blair, the Clinton buddy, gets on so well with Bush" section towards the bottom. Here is the link...
AUSTRALIA is working with Britain to compile a database of suspected extremists who could be deported from the country.
It will also examine Britain's new laws, which give authorities the power to close places of worship which are being used as centres for inciting extremism.
The move comes ahead of next month's national terrorism summit in Canberra, which will focus on the need to increase security measures.
The Sunday Telegraph can also reveal that the Prime Minister has planned a meeting with Islamic leaders in a further measure to combat hate-preaching.
It is understood the Federal Government wants to enter both meetings with a fresh approach and does not want to be committed to following Britain's lead.
The meeting with Islamic community members will be held in Sydney or Canberra.
Senior ministers will also be invited to attend.
The discussions will focus on ways the Government and the community can counter apologists for terrorism and people who advocate violence as a solution to problems.
In other measures to prevent a terrorist attack, Australia's security agencies are understood to be working closely with Britain to compile a more comprehensive database of suspected extremists from around the world.
The list will include overseas-born extremist Islamic clerics, people inciting terrorism on websites, and those known to have trained in Pakistan or Iraq.
Senior ministers and members of the Islamic Council, in addition to community leaders, will be among those who will be invited to attend the talks.
In the UK yesterday, Tony Blair announced new powers to deport or deny entry to foreign nationals who "foster hatred" and an automatic refusal of asylum to anyone who has participated in terrorist activity.
A spokeswoman for the Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock, said the issue of deporting individuals was complex because of citizenship.
Many people who became citizens of Australia did so after relinquishing their citizenship from their birth country.
Among those who could be at risk are Abu Bakr, a militant Muslim living in Australia since 1989, who describes Osama bin Laden as "a great man".
He has had his passport confiscated by ASIO. [Australian Security Intelligence Organisation]
Sheik Mohammed Omran, who said the US Government, and not the al-Qaeda leader, was responsible for the September 11 attacks will also be a target of authorities.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
08/06/2005
19:12 ||
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A leader at a mosque visited by one of the London July 21 bombing suspects says he warned police that Hamdi Issac was dangerous more than two years ago.
An elder at the Stockwell Mosque in south west London says he wrote to a senior police officer urging him to help deal with a group of young people who had been "harassing" and intimidating the moderate Muslims.
"We believe that this group is trying to undermine both the authority and moderate approach of the center's management, imams and community... " said a copy of the letter shown to Channel 4 News.
"They have an agenda to turn this center into another Finsbury Park Mosque" -- referring to another mosque in north London known for extreme Islamist preaching.
This is excellent news, and I have to give Toaha Qureshi credit for trying. Was he the only one to complain? Did the other trustees support his complaint? Will the police take such complaints seriously in the future?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/06/2005
17:10 ||
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BAGHDAD, Iraq â U.S. and Iraqi troops repelled a series of coordinated insurgent attacks in southern Baghdad, killing six rebels and capturing 12, the U.S. military said Saturday. There were no U.S. casualties.
The fighting began about 8 p.m. Friday when insurgents attacked an Iraqi army position with mortar rounds and small-arms fire, the command said. U.S. attack helicopters engaged the insurgents with rockets and gunfire.
At nearly the same time, a homicide attacker drove a truck loaded with explosives into a nearby Iraqi army checkpoint, killing an Iraqi soldier.
A suicide car bomber tried to attack another Iraqi position in the area, but a U.S. tank fired and hit the car, killing the driver and causing the car bomb to explode prematurely, the U.S. command said. Iraqi police said three bystanders were wounded.
Minutes later, insurgents at a fourth location fired two rocket-propelled grenades and a mortar round at another Iraqi army post in south Baghdad (search). None of the rounds caused any damage, the U.S. statement said.
Over the next two hours, insurgents tried to regroup for further attacks on the two Iraqi army posts but were driven off by U.S. and Iraqi fire, the statement added.
"The enemy came to fight us with no success," said Maj. Listen Edge (search) of Kennesaw, Ga., an operations officer with the 48th Brigade Combat Team.
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/06/2005
15:19 ||
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#4
Especially someone from Kennesaw: the city REQUIRES you keep a gun in the house AND get trained to use it. Guess which city has the lowest break-in rate in the country?
#5
"U.S. tank fired and hit the car, killing the driver and causing the car bomb to explode prematurely"
I hate it when that happens. Although, I think the secondary explosion was not a car bomb. I believe it is the new Zionist Halliburton Induced Time Delay 120mm shell.
three bystanders were wounded"
Bystanders? Riiiiight. Hopefully, a CNN or BBC crew.
Posted by: Jan ||
08/06/2005 22:39
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#7
Going out to get my Sunday paper... just know, this news report will be on the front page!!! with the headline... American GIs Once Again Foil the Terrorists
Okay... so it's bedtime... and I'm attempting to channel my dreams.
EFL
GENEVA -- Resentment of France is growing in Eastern Europe where French policies are perceived to be anti-American and undermining the European Union's cohesion.
Diplomats describe the mood as "Francophobia" and attribute it to various statements by French President Jacques Chirac and to the rejection by French voters of the proposed European constitution.
According to one assessment, "The vast majority of people in Eastern and Central Europe is highly critical of French diplomacy. They consider the United States to be the big winner of the Cold War and the most influential power in the world." "We tend to blame the French for everything -- or almost everything," said Jan Eichler of the Institute of International Relations in the Czech Republic.
According to Polish sources, suggestions have been posited in the former communist countries for a more balanced policy by the EU that would see the United States as a partner, not as a competitor. Some diplomats say French prestige and France's role as one of the union's dominant powers have suffered.
These developments come at a time when there are no clear suggestions as to how the EU should cope with the current situation, with the constitutional project frozen after the "no" votes in the referendums in France and the Netherlands.
According to former Polish Foreign Minister Bronislaw Geremek, "No major European institution has had the courage to analyze the present situation, nor to speak of strategy for the future."
Mr. Eichler, in Prague, said: "The French rejection of the constitution has revived Francophobia whose historic and sociological roots have existed for a number of years. The heritage of Gaullism and of most French decisions of that period are often presented as treason, particularly the French withdrawal from NATO's military structure."
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/06/2005
14:36 ||
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#1
"We tend to blame the French for everything -- or almost everything,"
#3
The eastern Europeans are remembering when Russia's foot was on their back and old Europe just shrugged, but those "arrogant cowboys" of the US just kept at it, always encouraging, always watching, always trying to help them move towards democracy and freedom, always pressuring their oppressors. I even saw a picture a Pole (?) had painted showing Richard Nixon, in a Moses role, leading the artists nation to freedom. Such feelings are long remembered.
#4
The French had a good relationship with the USSR in some respects. The backlash is and will be with France" for sometime. I am also a proud Francophobe. I tell my wife (a teacher of French language) she is preparing her student for intelligence gathering against our open enemy. She agrees.
Political Correctness is a nasty, brutish virus that keeps on spreading. EFL.
Nicknames or mascots deemed "hostile or abusive" would not be allowed on team uniforms or other clothing beginning with any NCAA tournament after Feb. 1, said Harrison, the University of Hartford's president. 'Hostile and abusive' are defined how, and by whom?
Not by you or me. That's obvious.
"What each institution decides to do is really its own business" outside NCAA championship events, Harrison said. If FSU gets to a bowl this year, substitute the Seminole with a large middle finger - works for me!
"What we are trying to say is that we find these mascots to be unacceptable for NCAA championship competition," he added. There's that fuckin' word again! QED.
At least 18 schools have mascots the NCAA deem "hostile or abusive," including Florida State's Seminoles and Illinois' Illini. The full list of schools was not immediately released. Although I'm not a graduate of any of these schools, I'm going to be sending e-mail telling these 'tards how ridiculous they look pulling this crap.
#3
Are Hoosiers being treated in a hostile or abusive fashion? How about Fighting Irish? And what about the disrespect to those no longer able to derfend themselves with lawsuits, like the Spartans and the Trojans? And how about Cornhuskers, Boilermakers and Tarheels? So much abuse and hostility
NCAA should assign teams alphabetic designators based on date the school entered the conference, with tie breakers assigned in alphabetical order based on school name. So we'd have the Ohio State A's, the Michigan B's the Illinois C' and the Penn Stake K's.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/06/2005 10:56
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This just in.... The NCAA has decreed that play off rules will disallow all aggressive behavior on the field. Such conduct as blocking, tackling or attempting to run over, or through, another player will not be tolerated. Also, PETA's lawyers are preparing a plea for an injunction against using animal names for team mascots. So far, nothing in the news about University of Pennsylvania's Quaker mascot being allowed in the post season games.
#9
How about Fighting Irish?
Fighting Irish moniker only perpetuates the sterotype of the drunken Irish brawler.
Hey...wait a sec..I'm Irish. After I finnish this beer I'm gonna kick yer ass!
#10
Isn't the use of the Quaker by Penn a violation of the separation of church and sport?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/06/2005 14:45
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#11
It is not the NCAAs rite to impose restrictions on the behalf of american indians and their nations which have made no complaint. Although their are a few grumblings that parties in question could litigate amongst themselves and on to a court of law if need be and not the dictation of the ASSociations will.
What will be next, NCAA share fundings will not be given to those colleges which choose to wrongly reside in states which derived their names from indians. My apologies to the following:
Alabama-from Choctaw meaning âthicket-clearersâ or âvegetation-gatherersâ
Arizona-Indian âArizonac,â meaning âlittle springâ or âyoung springâ
Arkansas-From the Quapaw Indians
Connecticutt-From an Indian word (Quinnehtukqut) meaning âbeside the long tidal riverâ
Illinois-Algonquin for âtribe of superior menâ
Indiana-Meaning âland of Indiansâ
Iowa-From an Indian word meaning âthis is the placeâ or âthe Beautiful Landâ
Kansas-From Sioux word meaning âpeople of the south windâ
Kentucky-Iroquoian word âKen-tah-tenâ meaning âland of tomorrowâ
Massachusetts-Massachusett tribe of Native Americans, meaning âat or about the great hillâ
Michigan-Indian word âMichiganaâ meaning âgreat or large lakeâ
Minnesota-Dakota Indian word meaning âsky-tinted waterâ
Mississippi-Indian word meaning âFather of Watersâ
Missouri-Missouri Indian tribe. âMissouriâ means âtown of the large canoes.â
Nebraska-Oto Indian word meaning âflat waterâ
North Dakota-Sioux tribe, meaning âalliesâ
Ohio-Iroquoian word meaning âgreat riverâ
Oklahoma-Choctaw Indian words meaning âred peopleâ
Tennessee-Cherokee origin; the exact meaning is unknown
Texas-Indian word meaning âfriendsâ
Utah-Ute tribe, meaning âpeople of the mountainsâ
Wisconsin-French corruption of an Indian word whose meaning is disputed
Wyoming-Delaware Indian word, meaning âmountains and valleys alternatingâ; the same as the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania
#12
I AM a graduate of Illinois and for the last ten years, the students, aided by a PC Chancellor from Michigan tried to kill the Chief. The Chancellor's gone, and we thought the Chief was safe.
I went to the first football game Freshman year and thought, "A dancing indian. How quaint!"
It's AWESOME!
After the dance, I was on my feet screaming and cheering with the other 60,000 in the stadium. Authentic Indian war (oops!) dance in authentic costume, by an athlete.
The INDIANS think it an HONOR. During the fuss at Champaign, several were official representatives were quoted as saying it was not disrespectful (as opposed to the "Tomahawk Chop" with a foam hand). The Chief is a symbol, not a mascot, and there are NO caricatures of him anywhere on or off campus.
Nasty and brutish, for sure - the PC virus, I mean.
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/06/2005 15:36
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#13
Florida State checks with the Chief of the Seminole Nation every other year, the tribal council has always given the okay. Yes, they are brought on board for expert advice, do's and don'ts. Yes the costumes authentic, so is the rifle no, the is horse Nez Perce but even the real Seminole like a fine Apaloosa.
#18
At least 18 schools have mascots the NCAA deem "hostile or abusive," including Florida State's Seminoles and Illinois' Illini. The full list of schools was not immediately released.
I always crack up when the ruling class try to take on schools that survive on football. Heck, try to do this at some southern High Schools and you'd have riots in the streets! Remind me again how "Seminoles" is "hostile or abusive," as it's the TRIBAL FREAKIN' NAME (not like "redskin" or some slang term). Give me a break.
Posted by: BA ||
08/06/2005 21:11
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An official, Robert Pape, from the US foreign affairs department said that there is a high possibility of terror attacks in The Netherlands as of the 15th of August. He said that the public transport system in Amsterdam could be at risk. He also said the Dutch terror level should be raised and that Dutch authorities should take the threat more serious then they do right now.
Dutch government officials said they have everything under control and would act when there would be any indication of a real threat.
Nuttin' to see, move along, let's go, move along now, nuttin' to see ...
#1
I wonder what the Dutch will do when (not if, when) they get hit. Their multi-culti experiment is not working as well as they thought, and the Dutch do have rather active football hooligans...
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/06/2005 14:22
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#2
Beware the ides of August.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/06/2005 14:41
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You need to differentiate the Dutch people from the Netherlands government. The Dutch people have had it with multiculti. It is the government that is pushing it and the government that is unresponsive. The reaction of the Dutch people will be brutal. They have had it with young islamic toughs and their crimes. To quote a friend. âWe need to start putting them on trains back to islamland.â
So saturday, Matt, Erin, myself and a few others went to DC to crash a rally held by those loonies that think that 9/11 was caused by the US Gov't in order to steal our freedom. Yeah.
So I covered my hat in tinfoil and drove off to matt's place where he'd constructed two large signs. Mine said "The CIA killed Dumbledore!" and had a picture of a wizard, while his said "Dick Cheney is a Giant Communist Robot!" and had a picture of some sort of crazy queen of france arm'd robot.
Certainly, we thought, we'll be yelled at - people will get angry at us very quickly. Not the case...
They took us seriously... They asked to have their pictures taken with our signs. They invited us to the day's events. They gave us a large sign they'd made too! Oy...
Posted by: Mike ||
08/06/2005
09:24 ||
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#1
For some reason, I keep thinking of a picture of the ghost of Dumbledore standing next to Obi Wan Kenobi, Yoda, and the redeemed Anakin Skywalker.
A Muslim cleric says there are "similarities" between new powers to tackle Islamist extremism and Hitler's demonisation of the Jews. Tony Blair wants measures to exclude foreigners who preach hate and to close places where terrorism is condoned. Dr Mohammed Naseem, chairman of the Birmingham Central Mosque, said: "I see the similarities...I am saying these are dangerous times." Last week Dr Naseem questioned whether Muslims were behind the London bombs.
"Coulda been Lapplanders, y'know. I seen some of 'em around..."
He made the comments after terror suspect Yasin Hassan Omar was arrested in the Small Heath area of the city in connection with 21 July attempted bombings.
Birmingham MP Khalid Mahmood called for Dr Naseem to resign after the comments, insisting the cleric had brought his role into disrepute but the chairman retaliated by saying 4,000 worshippers had voted for him to stay. However, following the anti-terrorism proposals unveiled on Friday Dr Naseem told the BBC's Radio 4 Today programme that he saw "similarities" between Mr Blair's approach to Britain's Muslim community and Hitler's demonisation of Jews early in his time as German Chancellor. "I think he is not very wise in the way he did it. I am saying he is not handling the situation wisely, because he says one thing at one time and another at another," he said. He [Hitler] was democratically elected and gradually he created a bogey identity, that is, the Jewish people, and posed to the Germans that they were a threat to the country. On that basis, he started a process of elimination of Jewish people. I see the similarities. Everything moves step by step. I am saying these are dangerous times and we must take note of this."
Maybe Dr. Naseem should think seriously about moving...
He added that the measures proposed by Mr Blair would be "appropriate" if there was evidence that foreign nationals were in the country fomenting terrorism. "A government is entitled to take measures to safeguard the country and the nation, but the problem is that the government speaks with so many tongues that one is confused. Up to last week, we were given to believe that the terrorists were home-grown, 'clean-skinned' and Muslim. The measures being taken are against those who come to this country who are asylum-seekers and they are supposed to be misusing or abusing hospitality. Mr Blair told the Cabinet last week that people blame anything but faith, including poverty, discrimination and the war on terror for the bombings, so the message seemed to be that they are blaming everything else, but they should be blaming faith."
Dr Naseem stood for the Respect-Unity Coalition in Birmingham Perry Barr during the recent general election in Mr Mahmood's constituency and received 2,173 votes. As part of the anti-terrorism measures unveiled on Friday, Mr Blair announced a ban on two radical Islamist organisations, Hizb ut-Tahrir and al-Muhajiroun, even though their leadership insist that they do not advocate violence in the UK. Stating the obvious but the Jews were not blowing themselves up on tubes and plotting to kill everyone on the planet...
Posted by: Kent Mccord ||
08/06/2005
08:31 ||
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#10
Hitler was evil, therefore everything Hitler did was evil. The logic is clearly fallacious, yet to even suggest that something Hitler did might possibly be justified in certain circumstances is guaranteed to get you howled down.
Sixty years ago today, on August 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, killing approximately 140,000 people in the first use of a nuclear weapon in war. That's a sobering thought with today's Rantburg news being filled with stories on North Korea's nuclear program, Iran's nuclear progran, Pakistan's missile development, etc. Where will we draw the line with this new axis of evil? Will we draw the line? Who will be the victors when the people of 2065 look back to these times? I fear that 2065 -- when my children should be retiring -- will be an ugly, nasty world because we did not have the will halt the creeping menace.
Bogus numbers. If you demand they show where they got them, its usually referencing someone else. Its a long dig and you discover, it was pulled out of someone's ass.
The development group really wanted to know the full effect of the weapons and did a very indepth analysis. They weren't hiding anything. They found the Japanese rice ration allocations which identified everyone in the city. They then conducted a census, not a statistical sample. The census included interviews which asked each interviewee who lived in their neighborhoods and streets. Very systematic, which the big number people can not show similar methodologies. The final number killed outright and immediately following from various causes was around 65,000, the long term radition numbers tracked both by the US and the Japanese government was an additional 5,000.
So why the difference between 70,000 and 140,000, probably to cover the massive slaughter of Chinese as at Nanking and Filipinos at Manilia [Feb '45]. It the big victim game tagged to the anti-American crowd.
Not sure it is a valid comparison; Imho, muslim terror has much deeper roots than a simple secular ideology, and AQ type terror is just one "military" arm of the global jihad, which is also economical, ideological, demographic,... and is not going to wither away all by itself. Still, the nihilist undertone is the same.
Graham Stewart
A bomb on the Underground was only one of the anarchist outrages that shook Europe a century ago
These indiscriminate acts caused widespread alarm. Dark and shadowy bearded figures, with capes concealing orb-shaped bombs with fizzing fuses, stalked the popular imagination. The Times warned its readers of the âanarchist epidemicâ and told the Home Secretary, Herbert Asquith, to quit his âmasterly inactivityâ and get a grip on the problem. For a brief moment in the mid-1890s, the Western world shook before this new enemy within. And yet, where is the anarchist terror network now? Are there lessons in its rise and fall for todayâs war on terror?
The militant atheists of late 19th- century Europe would have found little common intellectual ground with 21st-century Islamists. Yet, both were ascetic movements whose followers were repelled by the decadence and thoughtless exploitation they believed inherent in Western bourgeois society. Both movements turned away from the world as it was in favour of an idealised world as it might be. Like the Islamists, the anarchists rejected the political compromises of the democratic process. The more desperate among them put their point across with dynamite instead.
These sentiments are reminiscent of those believers in American hubris who applauded when the mighty twin towers came tumbling down. Like al-Qaedaâs operatives, anarchists thrived on the cult of death. The 30,000 killed in the suppression of the Paris Commune in 1871, the hanging of four anarchists on flimsy evidence for a Chicago bomb explosion and even the death of three protesters at the hands of the police trying to prevent an illegal demonstration in Trafalgar Square in 1887 (the original âBloody Sundayâ): all were co-opted as martyrs to the cause whose deaths should be avenged.
Unlike nationalist terrorist groups, such as the IRA or ETA, the gripe of anarchists and al-Qaeda was not confined to a specific grievance against a single country and its government. Rather, the grievance was international in reach and fundamental in ideology. Many of the anarchist outrages were committed by terrorists who were not of the same nationality as their target. A high proportion came from immigrant communities, often those who had arrived as political asylum-seekers through Victorian Britainâs open door.
It was widely assumed in Europe that there was a tacit understanding that the anarchist cells could remain unmolested in Britain so long as they carried out their attacks abroad. In an echo of todayâs scathing criticism of âLondonistanâ, such tolerance infuriated European neighbours who believed London was becoming a base for terrorist strikes on the Continent. When the terror came to London, the foreign press could scarcely conceal its relief.
In 1898 the Italian Government called an international conference to address the anarchist threat. The intention was to reach agreement for each country to frame laws that banned anarchist publications and publicity of anarchist trials and that all anarchists should be repatriated to their country of origin. This proved too sweeping at the time, although the US Congress responded to the assassination of President McKinley with a law banning entry to the country to anyone âwho disbelieves in or is opposed to all organised governmentsâ. In Britain, the 1905 Aliens Act allowed for the deportation of undesirable immigrants.
By then, the anarchist terror threat had already abated. Partly, it was because the forces of law and order made life so difficult for the terrorists and their sympathisers. This was not easy. The decentralised nature of anarchism meant that its terrorist cells were small. It could not be decapitated merely by rounding up the ringleaders. Indeed, many of the atrocities were committed by adherents acting on their own initiative.
However, this was not an excuse for doing nothing. Suspected anarchists were watched, their meetings monitored, their clubs closed down. Groups remaining unmolested feared that they had been infiltrated by police informers. This had a corrosive effect on the bonds of trust that underground movements depend upon. Those sent to prison became suspicious on release of those who remained at liberty. Suspicion bred disintegration.
The principal cause, though, was the realisation that while other socialist movements were making gains, the anarchists, by refusing to engage and cooperate, were not. Potential converts joined the radical causes that were succeeding instead. This is the problem for âall-or-nothingâ fundamentalism: it usually ends with nothing.
Terrorists with specific goals and the nous to make tactical compromises can end up in power. But this imperfect world is not good enough for al-Qaeda. And that profound weakness may yet confine it to the same historical irrelevance as the 1890s anarchists.
#1
This is the problem for âall-or-nothingâ fundamentalism: it usually ends with nothing. Ain't that the truth. Despite all of the planning, death and destruction, they have gained nothing and lost much. And with each attack, they lose more. You think at some point they'd get a clue - but they won't.
Just as an aside, I predict that we will soon see a shift in the rhetoric. Instead of "root causes, oil, poverty and the big bad Dick Cheney" we are going to start seeing the handwringers agonizing if Western decadence is to blame. I almost look forward to the day that the Beserkly crowd blames Bush for moral decay and praising the Islamists for saving them from moral decadence. LOL! It all makes sense when you understand that it's really all about hating America for these people.
#2
In Britain, the 1905 Aliens Act allowed for the deportation of undesirable immigrants.
By then, the anarchist terror threat had already abated.
WWI was sparked by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
By an anarchist.
That threat had really "abated", hadn't it?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/06/2005 12:30
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#3
Princip was no anarchist. He was a radical Serbian nationalist. He was not acting alone either, he was one of an organized conspiracy by an irredentist group affiliated with the Serbian secret service, or of a faction therein.
Pretty much the opposite of an anarchist, ideologically.
#4
Really? From what I remember, he's been consistently described as an "anarchist". I could easily be misremembering, though.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/06/2005 13:16
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#5
A good history argument is ensuing. Good because it cannot be resolved absolutely. Princip was a Serb Nationalixt. He was in the Black Hand. Was he an anarchist? I dunno. I doubt 2005 is like 1905 in that the Wahabbist threat has passed like the anarchist one didt, though.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/06/2005 14:07
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#6
The money quote - The principal cause, though, was the realisation that while other socialist movements were making gains, the anarchists, by refusing to engage and cooperate, were not.
The so called anarchists were socialists for the most part - revolutionary socialists. They lost ground becuase socialism was gaining ground without terrorism. The article should logically conclude that we can stop islamic terrorism by ensuring enough people convert to Islam.
#7
In Terror and Liberalism Paul Berman argues that some of the facist roots of Muslim Brotherhood et al are not just Islamic but European imports, and he makes some links with the anarchist movement. One common theme is that one measure of the validity of a philosophy is how much you are willing to destroy for its sake. Are you willing to die for it? Blow up children for it?
Posted by: James ||
08/06/2005 20:31
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"I summon my blue-eyed slaves anytime it pleases me. I command the Americans to send me their bravest soldiers to die for me. Anytime I clap my hands a stupid genie called the American ambassador appears to do my bidding. When the Americans die in my service their bodies are frozen in metal boxes by the US Embassy and American airplanes carry them away, as if they never existed. Truly, America is my favorite slave."
A reliable source has said selected members of the Jewish community working in or near the WTC were told hours before: "Don't go to work on Tuesday." We surmise Israeli intelligence knew, as they did the US Marine barracks in Beirut...
Which is an indication of how carefully they check the sources of the items they post.
Hat tip Fjordman.
Scientists have found that women`s voices are more difficult for men to listen to than men`s.
Researchers at the University of Sheffield tracked activity in the brains of 12 men while playing recordings of different voices.
There were startling differences in the way the brain responded to male and female sounds.
Men deciphered female voices using the auditory part of the brain that processes music.
Male voices engaged a simpler mechanism at the back of the brain.
Researcher Dr Michael Hunter said today: "The female voice is actually more complex than the male voice, due to differences in the size and shape of the vocal cords and larynx between men and women, and also due to women having greater natural `melody` in their voices. This causes a more complex range of sound frequencies than in a male voice.
"When a man hears a female voice the auditory section of his brain is activated, which analyses the different sounds in order to `read` the voice and determine the auditory face.
"When men hear a male voice the part of the brain that processes the information is towards the back of the brain and is colloquially known as the `mind`s eye`. This is the part of the brain where people compare their experiences to themselves, so the man is comparing his own voice to the new voice to determine gender."
The findings, published in the journal NeuroImage, may help explain why people suffering hallucinations usually hear male voices, say the scientists.
It could be that the brain finds it much harder to conjure up a false female voice accurately than a false male voice.
#3
I love these things. My BS Meter twangs and prangs the peg on some aspect or other every time, lol. Particularly interesting in this one is that they're using 12 guys. Pretty small crowd. And they are volunteers. Who volunteers for medical studies? Heh. And they're likely from a small geographical area somewhere around Sheffield. Okay. How about 12 guys from Berkeley, or Hell's Kitchen, or a Cleveland Steel Mill, or a Montana cattle ranch, or Sunset Strip or Seattle, where the horses are men and the men are, well, they aren't...
Anyone wonder if the results might be different? Lol. Great shit. Throw more money at it.
The part about wymyn's voices being music, well, that might be universal, heh. But where do these dipsy doodles get off saying I don't listen to wymyns - I listen to music and wymyns... Both rock, in fact. I just don't listen to wank-o-matic "researchers". This is a pretty fucking stupid buncha wankers, methinks. No offense intended, of course, heh. Funny post, A5089 - thx!
"When men hear a male voice the part of the brain that processes the information is towards the back of the brain and is colloquially known as the `mind`s eye`."
Or some call it "one eyed response," if you know what I mean.
#10
Sientific Art of listening,
1) men listen men to hear what they saying.
2) men listen women to hear...
"When men hear a male voice the part of the brain that processes the information is towards the back of the brain and is colloquially known as the `mind`s eye`. This is the part of the brain where people compare their experiences to themselves, so the man is comparing his own voice to the new voice to determine gender."
ok, sounds plausible enough. men listen to men to hear what they're saying.
"The female voice is actually more complex than the male voice, due to differences in the size and shape of the vocal cords and larynx between men and women, and also due to women having greater natural `melody` in their voices. This causes a more complex range of sound frequencies than in a male voice.
men do listen to new desirable women with a less complex, basic motive filter> How do I get some...which makes it more difficult to remember what she's sayen when you're only pretending.
/sure .#3 LOL!..I'm gonna apply for a grant.
Posted by: bad hound ||
08/06/2005 11:30
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#11
No, no, no .... you guys are missing the practical application of this research.
Men pay attention to WORDS with an area at the back of their brains. They typically pay attention, sort of, to women's voices elsewhere.
Solution? Whap your guy upside the back of his head before saying anything you need him to actually pay attention to.
Posted by: practical gal ||
08/06/2005 12:23
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#12
This fits my experience.
One danger of employing the usual technique of nodding your head and saying "mmm-hmmm...yesdear" while her voice continues on is that you could find out later you have agreed to any number of things you wouldn't normally agree to.
Happens all the time in my house.
Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
08/06/2005 13:42
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#13
Actually, I've read (or heard in an interview or something) something else on the subject from the "Men Mars/Women Venus" guy, wosshisname... he said something to the effect that at the end of a long day of typical work a woman's brain is typically relatively lower in serotonin while a man's brain is typically lower in dopamine. Allegedly this meant that while the woman might be in a bad mood, she still has the energy to talk, while the guy just wants to sit and veg (or absorb some non-interactive predictable information, like a football game.... or maybe today weblogs would be a better example).
I don't know how true any of that is.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
08/06/2005 15:24
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#14
I have read that people who learn their first foreign language as an adult use the part of the brain related to music; while people who learn foreign languages as children expand the original language part of the brain even if they are learning a new foreign language as an adult.
Since most guys consider wymenspeak as a foreign language, this does make some sense â¦
#16
Darn it, stop talking about sports! You'll blow our cover. We're trying to impress the chyx by pretending to listen!
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
08/06/2005 20:08
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#17
My former spouse was foreign born. Her immediate group was mainly composed of women of similar national origins. One day while she was sitting for one of the gang's children, I spoke with her in her native language. Later the four year old boy of the pair approached me and asked where I learned womantalk. Kid thought it was a special language only to women. How much he had yet to learn.
#18
For centuries Chinese women in the western areas (not ethnic Han) communicated with one another via embroidery motifs. If a woman wanted to warn a sister, for instance, she'd encode the information in a piece of embroidered clothing which the men of the clan obliviously allowed to be passed along. In fact, there were whole tribal customs about gift-giving and ritual observances which the old women zealously guarded precisely because they were a cover for this info passing.
Posted by: practical gal ||
08/06/2005 20:20
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#19
So, think Manny can keep it together after his collision, or are the Red Sox about to start their traditional fade ?
Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
08/06/2005 21:09
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INDONESIA'S supreme court had rejected a final appeal by militant Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir to overturn a 30-month sentence for his role in instigating the Bali bombings, his lawyer said today. "We have not received an official letter of the ruling from the supreme court, but we did receive a verbal confirmation," Muhammad Assegaf said.
In March, a Jakarta court sentenced Bashir for his involvement in a criminal conspiracy that led to the October 2002 Bali bombings, in which 202 people, including 88 Australians, were killed, but cleared him of more serious charges of planning terrorist attacks. In May, the Jakarta High Court upheld the ruling against Bashir, whom some foreign governments accuse of being the spiritual leader of the Southeast Asian extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah, blamed for a series of deadly attacks in recent years. Today, Mr Assegaf said the 66-year-old cleric "flatly rejected" the supreme court ruling and deemed it an "act of injustice".
Ummm... He's the one in jug, not them. He can reject or accept or ignore, the result remains the same...
"Ustad's (teacher) stance is clear. He said he would not sign any paper confirming the ruling and saw it as an intervention by foreign countries on Indonesia's legal system," the lawyer said. "He has been oppressed from the start by this government or the previous one. He said he would not seek a presidential pardon." No immediate confirmation from the supreme court was available.
Bashir's lawyers had argued the guilty verdict against him was solely based on an uncorroborated police statement submitted in his trial that was attributed to a key convicted Bali bomber named Utomo Pamungkas, alias Mubarok. Mubarok appeared in the witness stand at one of Bashir's trial sessions but refused to answer questions.
Judges said Bashir's words to Mubarok and another convicted Bali bomber Amrozi during a meeting in the Java island city of Solo in 2002 constituted conspiracy. Bashir, according to a statement allegedly made by Mubarok during police questioning, told them, "I leave it up to you," when he was notified by Amrozi that he and his friends were planning "a program" in Bali.
Australia and the United States have criticised the sentence as too lenient. They insist Bashir is the spiritual leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah militant group blamed for Bali bombings and other deadly attacks. Bashir was arrested a week after the Bali bombings and was first put on trial the following year, but the terrorism charges were thrown out. However he was found guilty of immigration offences and jailed. Police rearrested him in April last year as he left prison after serving the immigration sentence, citing new evidence of terrorist links and of his Jemaah Islamiyah leadership. He will now be freed from prison in September 2007.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
08/06/2005
06:57 ||
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#1
When this mook is done with his state paid for rest and hospital care, which is what his sentence amounts to, the day he is released should be the last one he breathes.
EFL
The Iraqi prime minister said Friday that the country's leading Shiite Muslim cleric hopes the constitution being drawn up will enshrine Islam as the main source of legislation â something opposed by Kurds and some Iraqi women activists. A younger radical Shiite cleric, meanwhile, urged Iraqis to participate in the constitutional process but added that he personally would not vote in elections planned for year's end because of the presence of foreign troops.
Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari commented on the constitution after spending nearly two hours with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most influential cleric in the Shiite Muslim community, which makes up 60 percent of Iraq's population. The two were believed to have talked about recent developments ahead of Sunday's meeting of political leaders from Iraq's various communities to try to resolve differences over the charter. The proposed constitution is supposed to be presented to the National Assembly by Aug. 15 so legislators can debate its final wording. A referendum on the charter would be held by mid-October, and approval would lead to national elections by mid-December.
Al-Jaafari later met with radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who has toned down his opposition to the U.S.-led coalition since his supporters staged a failed uprising last year, and Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Saeed al-Hakim, one of four Shiite grand ayatollahs but who does not have a high profile politically. After that meeting, al-Jaafari was asked whether al-Sistani wants Islam to be the main source of legislation or one of the sources. "Ayatollah al-Sistani does not want to impose dictation on drafting the constitution, but according to my knowledge he hopes that Islam become the main source of legislation," al-Jaafari replied.
Al-Sadr also told reporters that every Iraqi should be involved in the constitutional process, although he added that he would not participate in the planned Dec. 15 elections. "I will not take part in the presence of occupiers, but I will give the freedom to whoever wants to join," he said. ...
Posted by: ed ||
08/06/2005
02:54 ||
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The Bush administration is considering taking the unprecedented step of preventing a visting head of state from addressing the United Nations in New York by denying a visa to Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, Iran's new elected conservative president. Officials said a decision rested on investigations into whether Mr Ahmadi-Nejad was involved in the 1979 US embassy hostage crisis and the killing of an Iranian-Kurdish dissident leader in Vienna in 1989. Iran denies his involvement in either event.
A top Iranian official confirmed Thursday that Mr Ahmadi-Nejad, who took office on Wednesday, planned to address the UN Millennium Summit and its annual General Assembly next month. Ahmadi-Nejadâs visa application was submitted on Thursday, the Iranian official said. The trip would be âmutually beneficial to the US and Iranâ, the official added.
A White House official said that visa applications were confidential under US law and therefore he could not comment on the outcome. Asked if the presidentâs alleged involvement in the 444-day-long embassy hostage crisis, if proven, would be sufficient reason to deny him a visa, the US official replied: âThat is something we are looking at.â A US official who asked to remain anonymous said agencies were examining whether there was sufficient evidence to deny a visa and how this would be justified under international law.
Stephane Dujarric, UN spokesman, said: âThe host country agreement calls on the US not to impose any impediment to the travel to the UN of any representative of a member state on official business.â Yasser Arafat, Palestine Liberation Organisation chairman, was denied entry in 1988. He addressed the UN in Geneva. Mohammad Khatami, Iran's previous president, spoke at the UN several times, most notably just weeks after the September 2001 attacks, which he condemned. Former US diplomats allege they recognise Mr Ahmadi-Nejad as one of their captors, but the Central Intelligence Agency has found no confirmation of this.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/06/2005
02:18 ||
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#1
The trip would be âmutually beneficial to the US and Iranâ, the official added.
That's awfully mild for them.
but the Central Intelligence Agency has found no confirmation of this.
The Agency couldn't find its ass with both hands.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/06/2005 2:45
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#2
Can the White House intervene or is it up to State?
#3
Yeah, and while they are denying the visa, blow up the UN building at the same time.
Posted by: Vlad the Muslim Impaler ||
08/06/2005 4:21
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#4
First, the State Dept is part of the Executive Branch and, thus, works for the President - so if the "White House" determines this asshat is persona non grata then that is that.
Second, I see a wonderful opportunity here. Postively Rovian, in fact.
1) Deny the visa.
2) Let the bruhaha develop, egg it on with some followup guaranteed to tweak Tranzi noses, and soon there will be a rolling and rising cry that the US can't deny the visa.
3) Make it crystal clear that, while the UN is in the US, we certainly can and do. End of story.
4) This will lead the brainless dupes to begin screaming about "International Law", blah³. The UN must be moved to a site where "International Law" applies. The UN must be moved out of the US! Officially - the US should only assert US sovereignty.
5) Tease it along, feed the fire, let the mousies roar...
6) Then simply agree with them, yes this would be for the best. Fill the ensuing silence with a 48 hour eviction notice.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/06/2005 11:06
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#9
Leave it to Bolton to come up with a diplomatic copmpromise. No visa but the MM can come to the UN as long as he is under U. S. military custody at all times.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/06/2005 11:08
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#10
Can we route him through King County as a condition of entry? I hear there's a lonely horse there that's in need of .... ummm ... "attention".
#13
I wonder if letting him in is just a ploy too arrest him? If he was among the terrorists who took the embassy in 1979, then he's guilty of invading a sovereign nation. We just might be able to prosecute him...
Posted by: Charles ||
08/06/2005 14:20
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#14
Damn Charles, I like that idea.
Either that or arrange for some of our 'students' to hold him hostage....
Like the ones the diplomats had when they were taken hostage?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
08/06/2005 17:19
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#17
the last few comments stole my thunder. Yeah Chas.
Yes after he gets here proscecute him.
Posted by: Jan ||
08/06/2005 22:46
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#18
prosecute
Posted by: Jan ||
08/06/2005 22:48
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#19
"Iran's new elected conservative president."
Aren't there rules about when reporters can reference someone as "elected" when the "election" was largely staged? Am I missing something that the "reporters" at FT know about the Iranian "election" that included only candidates that were pre-approved by the mullahs?
"Conservative President"
Somehow, we are lacking precision in terminology here. GWB is generally considered a "conservative president" but GWB and this Mahmoud are like day and night with Mahmoud being on the "dark side."
Breaking news story from MSNBC I've heard of hoof in mouth, but....
A Seattle man died after engaging in anal sex with a horse at a farm suspected of being a gathering place for people seeking to have sex with livestock, police said Friday.
The horse involved in the incident was not harmed, and an autopsy of the unnamed man concluded that âthe manner of death was accidental ... due to perforation of the colon,â a police spokesman said. âThe information that we have is that people would find this place via chat rooms on the Web,â said Sgt. John Urquhart of the King County Sheriffâs Department. Although sex with animals is not illegal in Washington state, Urquhart said that investigators were looking into whether the farm, located in Enumclaw, 40 miles southeast of Seattle, allowed sex with smaller animals that resulted in animal cruelty, which is a crime. âIf youâre talking about sheep or goats, there could be some issues,â Urquhart said.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/06/2005
01:56 ||
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#1
âIf youâre talking about sheep or goats, there could be some issues,â Urquhart said.
...I'm thinkin' we've gone past 'issues' to freakin' SUBSCRIPTIONS here...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/06/2005 2:59
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#2
Yet another sign of the coming og the ANTICHRIST?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/06/2005 11:06
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#12
Subtitle: horse rides man
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/06/2005 11:14
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#13
This is indicative of the yawning divide between the moonbats in urban Seattle and the surburban and urban areas of the rest of King County. There have been any number of recent measures coming out of the Seattle dominated King County council that show disdain for rural residents and property owners. The gist of it is that the rural areas need to be "preserved". There is perfect symbolism in this escapade assuming the dude was a downtowner: horses are for f*cking.
It's about time to split up King County and carve most of it out of the people's republic.
#19
Classical Liberal - there has been some effort here for Snohomish County (just north of King) to split into the eastern side (called Skykomish County - mountains, rual) and the western side (Snohomish). But it failed :((.
I also think there is a small effort to do the same in King County - But it nearly impossible.
#22
Imagine the family at this guy's funeral. Will it be in church? What will the minister's demeanor be? I am tempted to write to my son-in-law, a Baptist minister, and ask how he might handle the funeral of someone who died under such exquisitely dishonorable and humiliating circumstances.
Could the director of "Schindler's List" find himself in trouble with some Jews? That's the speculation as Steven Spielberg prepares "Munich," which may become his most controversial film. "Munich" tells the true story of the secret Israeli squad assigned to track down and kill the Palestinian terrorists who planned the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany.
In addition to showing Israel's retaliation, "Munich" depicts the Israeli operatives' doubts about what their mission will achieve -- two factors that could ignite the Jewish community.
Spielberg explained his motive in a statement, saying: "By experiencing how the implacable resolve of these men to succeed in their mission slowly gave way to troubling doubts about what they were doing, I think we can learn something important about the tragic standoff we find ourselves in today." And what "tragic standoff" are you referring to, sir? Good vs. evil? Life vs. death? Do tell us what you mean here, Mr. Spielberg. Are you trying to say that we need to "understand" the terrorists? That murder is acceptable because we understand their "feelings"? Dispensing justice upon cold-blooded murderers does not give way to "troubling doubts", unless you are a lefty moonbat oxygen-thief.
"Munich" is based on several sources but was written by playwright Tony Kushner, who sits on the board of a group that calls for the cutoff of U.S. military aid to Israel. Spielberg's rep claims Kushner was hired for his talent, not his ideology. And several consultants on the film, including former U.S. ambassador Dennis Ross, think the Jewish community will be impressed by the film. "I think when [you] look at responses to terror you also want to be crafting what you do very carefully, and if there is a message from the film that some people will walk away with I think it will be that,â Ross told FOX News. Huh?
For now, Spielberg is far from the debate. He's still shooting the film in Malta and Budapest, racing to meet a Dec. 23 release date in hopes of making next year's Oscars. Until and unless I get a coherent statement regarding Spielberg's idiotic comments, there will be no Spielberg movies playing in my home. This is not the first time in recent years he's taken a lefty posture either; I remember one scene in particular in The Terminal...
N.B.: I changed the name of the poster from 'John Kerry' to his e-mail addy on file. As a general rule, let's not use celeb/famous names for posts. The use of such names in comments is okay if snarky or humorous (I particularly liked the one yesterday from "I. Jones"), but let's not do it for posts. Thx -- AoS
#1
Spielberg has gone way, way off the deep end in the past few years. I refuse to see any movie of his after the spew known as Jurassic Park III and AI. I think they need to investigate him for Altimerzers or something...
I've finished going through 2003 article by article. Thugburg's population is now over 6,000. The list of Classix has grown a bit, too, though I tried to control myself.
I've added in a column for a "formal" name, since once that list of 6441 aliases and mispellings is whittled down the population's considerably lower. I'm still fiddling the format, so suggestions are appreciated.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/06/2005
00:36 ||
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#1
You might want to crossreference/check with this database: Tracking the Threat
#6
A quick question about Thugburg: should it contain "persons of interest" in groups that the US currently isn't at war with, for instance Ramzan Kadyrov?
Also, is there a way to cross-reference all of this with the "who's active" list of old (which seems to only have one member at present)?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
08/06/2005 1:10
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#7
If they're not a member of a bad guy org they don't go on the list.
The "who's active" list looks at everybody who's flagged in the day's Rantburg. I didn't do a lot of flagging last night before I went to bed.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/06/2005 10:16
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#8
I don't know what "flagging" means, but if it means what I think it may mean, then it is very naughty.
#12
If it's got a hyperlink to one of the Rantburg routines it's flagged.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/06/2005 11:15
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#13
And, it's pretty, too! :-)
/end silliness
Fred, I know you started this project way back when for your own amusement, but with each iteration Rantburg becomes more ... anti-Kool-aid isn't a word, but I'm uncertain how to express it properly. Certainly your growing audience, and the number of new posters who start out with, "I used to ___, but now" is a measure of the tremendous service you provide. The new & improved Thugburg is yet another way you enable us all to think more effectively about this war that is being waged against us, and how we can go about winning it. Thank you!
Posted by: Steve ||
08/06/2005 16:21
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#15
I can see how a list like this could really get out of control in a hurry. My first thought was for central and South America, both Islamists and MS-13, which is showing all signs of behaving like a secular al-Qaeda. It then starts to overlap with organized crime and even get into the realm of dangerous religious cults (and the great online cultist databases). Then I thought about threat ratings, like a 1-5 star for how dangerous they were or are. This leads to catagorizing them by wheather they actually commit acts, instigate and train others to act, direct the acts of others, or provide material support.
#16
This is excelent Fred! BTW Abu Sabaya is dead, killed by Phil Seals and is now fish food. I believe it happened in 2002. Thanks for the great links!!!
Posted by: 49 pan ||
08/06/2005 17:54
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Federal agents arrested a Border Patrol agent Thursday in Escondido who is suspected of being an illegal immigrant who was smuggling other illegal immigrants into the United States. Department of Homeland Security agents, assisted by Escondido police, pulled over 28-year-old Oscar Antonio Ortiz of San Diego at about 2:30 p.m. while he was driving on Valley Parkway near Interstate 15 and took him into custody, authorities said... a second Border Patrol agent who lives in Encinitas has also been under investigation.
Ortiz's application to work for the Border Patrol, filed in Oct. 30, 2001, claimed he was born in Chicago, Ill., and he submitted a birth certificate, according to U.S. District Court documents in San Diego.
"However, a records check revealed it was a doctored birth certificate," Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Jennings said. "The records check revealed that he was born in Tijuana."
Ortiz was to appear in federal court today on one charge each of conspiracy to smuggle illegal immigrants into this country and falsely claiming U.S. citizenship, Jennings said. The maximum penalty for conviction could be 10 years for conspiracy and three for falsely claiming citizenship.
A Border Patrol spokesman in San Diego declined to comment, citing further investigation.
The case developed out of a U.S.-Mexico drug smuggling investigation tied to an Encinitas street gang. At least 33 people, 10 of them believed to be members of the gang, were charged during the multi-agency Operation Straight Flush. North County Regional Gang Task Force detectives worked with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, as well as other agents. Officials said Ortiz's home was among those searched in early June when the first arrests in the case were made.
The Border Patrol agent who lives in Encinitas has three cousins in the street gang and he was also under investigation... Cell phone conversations between Ortiz and the other agent as they discussed smuggling illegal immigrants into the United States east of Tecate are noted in the court documents...
#2
Yeah, and these foreign occupiers sell home boiled corn in the streets of LA, just as in the filthy streets of their open sewer homeland. But disobeying food preparation regulations, is the least of the lawbreaking menace of the occupying bean eaters.
Posted by: Vlad the Muslim Impaler ||
08/06/2005 4:08
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#4
Put a sock on it, Vlad. That's not the kind of language we want here.
-- AoS
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/06/2005 12:35
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#5
Actually, I wouldn't mind (legal) immigration, even in very large numbers, if we didn't have a massive welfare state and we didn't have this anti-America multicultural indoctrination.
If people want to come here to work and assimilate and speak English and be Americans, I'm fine with that. I read Mexifornia and the author talks about how foreign children used to be immersed in our classes, speaking only English and being taught American values. The teacher would have the student talk a little about his homeland and then ask "and why did your parents come here?" thus reinforcing this is a better place so don't screw it up like the place you left. Under those conditions, we could have far more legal immigrants.
#6
Jackel, I'm with you on that. But the truth to the matter is that's not what's happening. In Colorado, the schools teach in Spanish, they aren't learning English. They aren't finishing school, instead getting pregnant and dropping out of school because they don't understand English (probably).
I would love that folks are coming to America because they like our way of life and customs. But they are coming here because of all the free services we give them. Emergency medicaid needs to be reworked. More to be said, but it's very late.
Posted by: Jan ||
08/06/2005 23:47
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For years, Howard White has advertised his strip club near Los Angeles International Airport with a not too subtle marquee reading "Live Nude Nude Nudes." But some tourists and nearby businesses say White has gone too far with his latest pitch for the Century Lounge: a freshly posted sign proclaiming "Vaginas R' Us."
"We don't appreciate the signage and we're working with the city to make sure this establishment is adhering to all codes," said Laurie Hughes , executive director of Gateway to L.A., an association that promotes businesses along Century Boulevard just east of the airport. Ms. Hughes is also co-chair of the Ticked-Off Broads Association.
White, who posted the new sign Tuesday, says he's simply advertising his business. "In a sort of a naive way, I felt that there was nothing terrible about it since the 'Vagina Monologues' was on Broadway forever," White said. "I didn't feel there was anything terrible about it." Strip club owners taking a few whacks at the libs. Gotta love it.
Los Angeles city officials say White's sign doesn't break the law. "The word 'vagina' is not an obscene word and we're not in a position to question the First Amendment," said City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, whose district includes the airport area. You may remember Officer Rosendahl as the white cop on "Sanford and Son".
But the business association is pursuing another avenue of attack. It contacted the retailer Toys R Us, which aggressively defends its trademark name. Toys R Us spokeswoman Susan McLaughlin said the company knows about White's sign and will be "looking into it immediately." Geoffrey's gonna whip some strip-club ass.
In the meantime, White will have to take his sign down - temporarily. The new sign, which is pasted over a portion of the original marquee, is made of combustible plastic vinyl that violates the municipal code. White was served with a citation Thursday, and has until the close of business Sunday to replace the sign, said David Keim, the city's chief of code enforcement.
#1
I've seen the sign many time in the airport area but the trafic is so nasty with merging and such near there that if your driving you can't take the effort to figure out where his place is without messing up.
#2
Nice try Suzie, but don't hold out hope that Toys R Us will pursue this. Even if they do they can hardly prevail. Google 'R US' minus 'Toys' and you'll find dozens of companys and organizations using 'R US' in their name. Apparently Toys R US hasn't been aggressive in protecting their trade name. Or maybe they already tried and lost.
#7
Toys R' Us doesn't get to treademark R'. It's hard to see how they can argue infringement with a straight face. Are they planning to get into the sex toy business and there is likely confusion? Great publicity too, way to get this in the headlines on all the TV shows instead of just Rantburg.
Between this and the Seattle Slewer story, the Victorian counter-revolution can't start soon enough for me.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/06/2005 11:04
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#8
pshaw, White is probably paying those women to complain so he can get all this free publicity.
Nuclear negotiators said Saturday they had no plans to suspend North Korean disarmament talks despite a lack of progress, and Washington and Pyongyang scheduled a meeting to discuss how to speed up the process. The Americans will stay "as long as we make progress," U.S. envoy Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said as delegates prepared to start a 12th straight day of talks. However, he warned, "If we're not going to make progress we're not going to be here." Hill said the 11th day of talks on Friday was "rather excruciating" and produced little. "We got some things done, but it's not as much as I'd like and it's not going to get us there in the time span that we think we ought to get there," Hill told reporters. He expressed hope that the meeting Saturday with the North and China would help speed up the process.
Read the link for some vintage examples of diplospeak.
YOKOSUKA, Japan (AP) - Masahiko Goto simply does not want a nuclear power plant in his backyard. He says it is dangerous and unnecessary, and over the past year he's collected 324,000 signatures of others who feel the same way. He's also pushed the U.S. Navy into a corner. Goto is spearheading a high-profile movement to squelch the planned replacement of the USS Kitty Hawk with a more up-to-date nuclear-powered vessel. The Kitty Hawk is the oldest active duty ship in the Navy and the only U.S. aircraft carrier permanently deployed abroad.
For the moment, Goto's campaign appears to be winning. The campaign has hit a sympathetic note with the Japanese public, which is often wary of changes in the U.S. military footprint. The country has also been rocked by a string of scandals and accidents that has undermined confidence in the safety of Japan's own nuclear power program.
"People are more concerned than ever before with the safety of nuclear power plants in general," said Goto, who is a lawyer. "So it doesn't take much for them to realize that the idea of having one floating on a military ship in Tokyo Bay, near a huge population center, is really frightening."
We're a little more frightened by concrete things, like an invasion of Taiwan with no ability to respond quickly.
The swell of grass-roots opposition, which has won support from the local mayor and governor, has created a serious quandary for the Navy. Though the aging Kitty Hawk is battle ready, it's something of an anachronism. The Kitty Hawk and the Florida-based USS John F. Kennedy, commissioned respectively in 1961 and 1964, are the only carriers run by steam turbines left in service. Because the diesel-powered carriers are expensive to operate, the Kitty Hawk is due to be decommissioned in 2008.
Diesel? Thought it was steam generated by oil-fired boilers.
The Bush administration had proposed decommissioning the Kennedy this year. Doing so, it argued, would save $1.2 billion over the next six years. But the anti-nuclear movement here - and opposition at home - has forced officials to rethink that plan. Congress reached a deal in May delaying the Bush plan at least until after a review of U.S. forces is completed. Using Japan's opposition as leverage, Florida and Virginia lawmakers introduced the legislation to require the Navy to keep its carrier count at the current level of 12, with one based in Florida.
Can't keep the Kitty Hawk going forever. Eventually they have to work something out. Could always base the replacement carrier at Pearl.
The Kitty Hawk and its battle group are the centerpiece of the 7th Fleet, the largest in the Navy, with 40 to 50 ships, 120 aircraft and about 20,000 sailors and Marines within its command. Roughly 21 of the ships are deployed to Japan and the Pacific island of Guam, while the others rotate out of ports in Hawaii and the U.S. west coast.
Japan's leadership strongly backs the U.S. military presence in this country, and says the more than 50,000 U.S. troops in Japan are a stabilizing force for all of Asia. But activist Goto said the Navy has done little to assuage local safety fears. "They are very secretive," Goto said.
Militaries do tend to be that way.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/06/2005
00:09 ||
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#1
...Base it at Guam. That will drive the PRC nuts without anybody to put political pressure on.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/06/2005 0:22
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#2
Base it at Guam
And Joe Mendiola could write all the press releases!
#3
Soooo, they are afraid of Nuclear subs, but all the nuclear power plants are OK? Anyone else getting the anti-american slant on this, or is it just me?
#5
I wonder if the basing of a carrier in Toyko bay is "not optional" by a treaty stating Japan will allow it in perpetuity. That might prove interesting.
My advise to GoTo & Co. Is it US or Chinese nukes that bother you?
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/06/2005 1:47
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#7
Fish or cut bait. If the Japanese would rather have oil fired carrier protection, build a fleet of their own.
Posted by: ed ||
08/06/2005 2:37
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#8
A Navy PA Officer should inform the Japanese that we don't have clandestine members of Aum Shinrikyo running around the reactor spaces, so there shouldn't be a problem.
#9
A Jewish man sees an oriental enter a bar where he is drinking, and punches him. The sore victim asks, "What was that for?" The Jew answers, "That was for Pearl Harbor." The victim replies, "The Japs bombed Pearl Harbor, and I am Chinese." The Jew came back, "Japanese, Chinese, what's the difference? The Chinaman then belts the Jew, who asks, "What was t?" The Chinaman says, "That was for the Titanic." The Jew responded, "The Titanic was sunk by an iceberg." The Chinaman trumped, "Iceberg, Goldberg, what's the difference?"
If you laugh, then you are a politically incorrect racist who needs to be placed in a re-education camp and fed: Soylent Green (which is_____).
Posted by: Vlad the Muslim Impaler ||
08/06/2005 4:19
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#10
All these Japanese activists need to start campaigning against nuclear power in Japan.
They must demand the dismantlement of Japanese reprocessing plants and arrange for transfer of entire plutonium stocks to USA and Russia.
This will remove the option of weaponization that Japan has carefully nurtured while preaching about disarmament.
Finally Japan must build more fossil fuel plants.
All those nuke power plants should go.
Posted by: john ||
08/06/2005 8:31
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"So it doesn't take much for them to realize that the idea of having one floating on a military ship in Tokyo Bay, near a huge population center, is really frightening."
Japan is one of the most typhoon, earthquake, tsunami, and volcano prone countries that exists in the world. Masahiko Goto's attitude reminds of the lassie-faire attitude that we had before 9-11. The biggest news story in the U.S. before 9-11, was that endangered species were found thriving in California Red Wood trees. Then 9-11 happened.
When a stray Chinese (test) missile or a giant earthquake were to strike Japan in the near future, these signatures will disappear faster than Hillary's friendship with Martha Stewart.
"so sorry, so sorry, so sorry Evil USA- please please park all nuclear vessels you want but please help us, there are thousands dead."
Mr. Goto,
here is a list of some sample research material you can occupy yourself with between your anti-Americanism.
* Collcutt, Martin and Jansen, Marius and Kumakura, Isao. Cultural Atlas Of Japan. New York: Facts On File Publications, 1988
* De Mente, Boye. Everything Japanese The Authoritive Reference On Japan Today. Lincolnwood,Illinois: Passport Books, 1989
* EQE Summary Report."The January 17, 1995 Kobe Earthquake,Executive Summary". Kobe: Kobe University (http://mech.mech.kobe-u.ac.jp/contents/HANSHIN.html), April 1995
* "Geophysical Hazards, Simon Fraser University. Komaga-take, Hokkaido, Japan". Vancouver: Simon Fraser University (http://hoshi.cic.sfu.ca/~hazard/INFORMAT/geophys.html, 1996
* Kubota, Shinya.No title. http://133.91.192.47/research/m- box/jmb/www_docs/students.html, 1995
* L. Angelina. "Powerful Typhoon Hits Japan", Crocker's Fall Trimester Newspaper, October 4,1995
* National Geophysical Data Center/WDC-A for Solid Earth Geophysics. "Images from the Hokkaido Nansei-Oki Tsunami of 12 July 1993". Boulder, Colorado: http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/sag/fliers/japantsu.html,1993
* Osborne, Roger and Tarling, Donald. The Atlas Of The Earth A Visual Exploration Of The Earth's Physical Past.New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1996
* Rikitake,Kenji.Kobe Earthquake Diary.Kobe:Yaseppochi-gumi Home Page, 1995
* "Sakurajima, Southern Kyushu". Tokyo: University of Tokyo,http://hakone.eri.u-tokyo.ac.jp/unzen/sakura/ sakura.html and http://hakone.eri.u- tokyo.ac.jp/vrc/erup/ Sakura.html, 1996
* Terrilon, Jean-Christophe. Private Letter. Osaka February,1997
* Yoshizumi, Sadao. MRI Typhoon Research Department Page. Japan, MRI Typhoon Research Department (http://www.mri- jma.go.jp/Dep/ty/MRI-TRD.html, 1996
* Zimer, R. and Frey W. "Damages to the Forests in Western Part of Japan by Typhoon No.19 in 1991". Kyoto, Japan: Faculty of Agriculture, Kyoto University, 1996
#12
"The biggest news story in the U.S. before 9-11, was that endangered species were found thriving in California Red Wood trees. Then 9-11 happened."
Nah... Chandra Levy and Gary Condit affair, and increasing shark attacks were the big stories the morning of 9-11. I was watching the news live that morning and remember it vividly.
Posted by: Mark E. ||
08/06/2005 19:52
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JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel on Friday ordered four of its cruise ships carrying thousands of tourists not to dock at the Turkish port of Alanya after receiving warnings of a possible terrorist attack, officials said.
Israeli Transportation Minister Meir Sheetrit gave the order to the cruise vessels not to dock at the Turkish port. Army Radio said the ships were carrying 3,500 Israeli tourists.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev confirmed the ships were rerouted, saying, "There was a warning." He declined to discuss the nature of the warning; Israeli media reported there had been information of a possible al-Qaida attack.
Two of the ships arrived in the Cyprus port of Limassol Friday evening and a third vessel was expected to dock at Larnaca, said the Limassol police chief, Antonis Shakalis. He said the ships were expected to stay overnight. He added that extra security and police patrols have been ordered for the port. The destination of the fourth ship was not immediately known.
Ronit Kitai, a passenger on one of the ships in Limassol, told Israel's Channel 10 television that passengers were informed of the threat by the ship's staff. "Everybody accepted the decision with understanding and happiness," Kitai said.
A spokesman for Turkey's Interior Ministry had no information about ships being diverted or any threats in Alanya.
Islamic militants in Turkey affiliated with al-Qaida bombed two synagogues, a London-based bank and the British Consulate in attacks in November 2003, killing 58 people and wounding hundreds more. More than 60 people currently are being tried in connection with the attacks.
The suspects said they originally planned to attack an Israeli ship in the Mediterranean, according to the indictment.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/06/2005
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#1
I have been to Turkey, and I can tell you that it is full of Seculars who would like nothing better than to conduct a very bloody liquidation of all Islamofascists. The problem is: it is US policy to include these in one-time democratic processes. Twenty years ago the fascists were a marginal group. Now they are close to power everywhere in the Muslim pigpens.
Posted by: Vlad the Muslim Impaler ||
08/06/2005 4:01
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Captain (r) Khalid Sultan, Lahore district coordination officer (DCO), on Friday imposed a ban on the use of loudspeakers in mosques except for Friday sermons. The DCO has also banned wall chalking and graffiti on walls in the city.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/06/2005
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Just have them hand out cheap pagers. A chorus of chirping cheap call contraptions. If that doesn't get Allah's attention...
One of the most senior ministers in the royal Nepalese government said on Friday that the government was ready for talks with Maoists to resolve the decade-old armed insurgency that has claimed over 12,000 lives. Vice-Chairman of the Council of Ministers Kirti Nidhi Bista told a group of civil society leaders that the government also agreed that dialogue was the only way to settle the armed conflict. He said, âThe government knows that the only way to settle the problem is not through guns but through dialogue.â
And I thought the village defense teams were doing a bang-up job.
He also told the civil society leaders to help the government by trying to bring the Maoists to the negotiating table. He added that King Gyanendra who seized all executive powers on February 1 was sincere in his commitment to returning the country to a multi-party democracy for which elections would be held. He appealed to them ânot to doubt King Gyanendraâs commitment to democracyâ.
"No, no! Certainly not!"
Meanwhile, another group of civil society leaders held a mass meeting in the Nepalese capital Friday calling for the âimmediate restoration of democracyâ. With the top leaders of political parties sitting among the audience, the civil society leaders severely criticised them for their mistakes that brought about the present situation in the country. The political leaders listened silently to their criticisms.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/06/2005
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âThe government knows that the only way to settle the problem is not through guns but through dialogue.â
Only true if the dialogue considered is surrender to the Maoists. He who blinks first loses - and the government is blinking.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday declared an all-out war on extremists and foreigners who come to Britain and abuse their responsibilities. In an uncompromising tone and hard-line stance on extremists, the prime minister announced sweeping new powers in the wake of the 7/7 London suicide bombings and the failed 7/21 attacks. And he gave notice that he will recall Parliament early in September to debate the powers and to push them through.
Already he has confirmed that Britain is to ban extremist organizations such as Hizbut Tahrir and Al-Muhajiroon, whose unofficial head is Omar Bakri Mohammed. Omar fears a retrospective application of the new powers, which would mean deporting him to his native Syria, where he is wanted on various charges. The announcement signaled the government's intention to tackle this issue head on and to keep the momentum of the fight against terrorism going, at a time when Blair is poised to go on his annual holiday, and his two senior ministers are already away.
âWe are today signalling a new approach to deportation orders. Let no one be in any doubt, the rules of the game have changed,â stressed Blair. âWe welcome people here who are peaceful and law-abiding. People who want to be British citizens, should share our values and our way of life. But if you come to our country from abroad, donât meddle in extremism. Because if you meddle in it, or get engaged in it, you are going to go back out again. Coming to Britain is not a right. And even when people have come here, staying here carries with it a duty.â
The sweeping new measures include a new law making it an offense to âcondone or glorify violence and extremismâ. There will also be a database of individuals involved in hate and terror, and anyone on the list who is a foreign national will be kept out of the country or deported. There will be a maximum time limit for extraditing terrorist suspects. One Algerian has been held in the maximum-security Belmarsh Prison for 10 years and has still not been extradited to France for trial.
The measures will make it easier for the government to deport foreign nationals who advocate terrorism, and Blair warned that if necessary, he may amend Article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights, which is incorporated into the UK Human Rights Act. Article 3 refers to the Shalal Case in 1996 when the European Courts ruled that where deportees were faced with torture or the death penalty on return to their home countries, this outweighed any national security considerations for the sending countries.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/06/2005
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I watched it on CSPAN. Quite nuanced and interesting. Some say ... but that position would be reprehensible... however ... then he gives the justfication one could have for that position and jumps to the next point. Very very nuanced.
#7
One Algerian has been held in the maximum-security Belmarsh Prison for 10 years and has still not been extradited to France for trial
Tony: I'm not takin' 'em. You take 'em.
Jacques: No, I'm not takin' 'em, you take him.
Tony: No you.
Jacques: No you.
Tony: Wait, I know. We'll get Pervy to take 'em.
Jacques: Naw, he won't take 'em. He hates everything.
--munch, munch, munch--
Tony: Hey Pervy. He likes 'em! He likes 'em!
Jhang police on Friday confiscated copies of a daily and a monthly paper and sealed two printing presses in Rabwa. The papers belong to Ahmadis. The police also arrested two people including the editor of the daily during an operation. According to police spokesman Munawar Shahid, Jhang SSP Hamid Mukhtar Gondal ordered a DSP to seize the papers and the presses. Police sealed the two presses, seized daily newspaper Al-Fazal and a monthly magazine. Offices of both the papers were in the same building however it was not confirmed whether a single person owned the presses and the papers. Gondal told Daily Times that the papers' were publishing objectionable material. A case has been registered.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/06/2005
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Let the plunder begin. When does "taking by the right hand" of their wimmen begin?
Posted by: ed ||
08/06/2005 3:04
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A crucial meeting on Iraqâs constitutional stalemate was put off yesterday by an emergency session of the Kurdish autonomous Parliament as sustained rebel attacks left over a dozen people dead... Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said the meeting to end the deadlock on drafting a new constitution and resolving outstanding questions was postponed for Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani. âThe meeting of leaders was delayed from today to Sunday in order to allow Barzani to attend a meeting Saturday of the Kurdish Parliament before coming to Baghdad as the head of a delegation of Kurdish parliamentary groups,â said a statement from Talabaniâs office. The issues yet to be decided on include federalism, official languages, the relation between religion and state, the name of the republic, the rights of women and the question of the oil-rich center of Kirkuk which Kurds want included in their own autonomous region.
Iraqi leaders have pledged to draft the new basic law by Aug. 15 ahead of a referendum in mid-October, to be followed by national elections in December and possible formation of a new government by early 2006. Mahmud Othman, a Kurdish member of the constitutional committee, told AFP the delay was to give the Kurdish autonomous Parliament time to discuss the charter. âThe leadership in Kurdistan asked for the Kurdish committee members to come back and explain to our Parliament what has been discussed in Baghdad,â said Falah Mustafa, a spokesman for Barzaniâs Kurdistan Democratic Party. âWe are worried about comments from some on the committee regarding federalism, Kurdish rights, democracy and womenâs rights,â Adnan Mufti, head of the Kurdish regional Parliament and senior official of Talabaniâs Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Party told AFP from Arbil. He said the Kurds were ready to endorse the charter âif all parties understand a constitution should be based on rights for all Iraqis, if not we cannot reach an agreement.â
âWe are insisting on federalism, there is no way to have a unified Iraq without federalism.â Mufti said he hoped Baghdad would accept Kurdish federalist demands, but added three issues could be problematic â the future of Kirkuk, the name of Iraq and the role of Islam. âWe want Islam to be a main source of legislation, but not the main source,â Mufti said. âIraq is a country for all â Christians and Yezidis, as well as Sunni and Shiite.â
Iraqi Premier Ibrahim Jaafari said meanwhile the Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali Sistani was ready to accept a federal Iraq. âSistani does not disagree with the principle of federalism if the Iraqi people choose it,â Jaafari told reporters after meeting the reclusive cleric at his home in Najaf. This could boost hopes of an agreement between members of a committee tasked with drafting the constitution by the deadline. The conference is due to report back by Aug. 12 and any matters still unresolved will be put to the full Parliament for decision by majority vote. Iraq will be a parliamentary republic with a strong prime minister and a figurehead president, according to the latest draft of the constitution.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/06/2005
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Let's do this. All the woman who want a voice and not live in the 14th century will move to northern Iraq with the Kurds. Then flush the toilet after them.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/06/2005 1:31
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The Dutch national prosecutorâs office yesterday froze proceedings against a Dutch man of Iraqi origin, Wesam Al-Delaema, accused of planning attacks on US convoys in Fallujah, Iraq with a weapon of mass destruction. Proceedings were stopped pending Washingtonâs decision to extradite him.
Conventional bombs are not weapons of mass destruction. But I repeat myself...
Posted by: Fred ||
08/06/2005
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weapon of mass destruction? In Iraq?
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/06/2005 1:10
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But that just isn't possible, Babs Boxer said so.
The Election Commission rejected yesterday most of the presidential registrations received from independent candidates, saying many of the hopefuls failed to win the approval of at least 250 elected members of Parliament and Municipal Councils. Around a hundred people withdrew registration forms over the past week while only 30 candidates from 16 parties turned in acceptable applications, the commission said. Nine independents, among them four women, did not get the required 250 signatures of elected national or local officials, it said. Applicants have until tomorrow to object in case they were rejected and the commission will publish the final list of candidates on Aug. 13, less than a month before the country's key vote on Sept. 7.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/06/2005
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Ghoos, so many choices
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/06/2005 1:18
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#2
Vote or die
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/06/2005 1:19
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Mauritania was calm Thursday amid signs of national approval of the ousting of President Maaouyia Ould Taya, despite foreign condemnation of the coup in the oil-rich northwest African country. Hospital and military sources said the coup, staged Wednesday while Ould Taya was in Saudi Arabia for King Fahd's funeral, was entirely bloodless, and dismissed firing heard in Nouakchott as warning shots. Officials of all three hospitals in the city said they had received no casualties from bullet wounds or other violent injuries. A police officer who backed the coup told AFP, "we did not face any incident requiring the use of force."
The capital was returning to normal Thursday, with businesses and government offices reopening and traffic resuming, while the presence of troops on the streets was greatly reduced. The airport, closed for several hours Wednesday, was also operating normally, and unlike previous coups in a country which has known long periods of military rule, no curfew was imposed or checkpoints set up. Some residents had spent much of the night driving through the streets in small convoys, sounding their horns in approval of the ousting of Ould Taiya, who had kept Mauritania in a tight grip for more than two decades since seizing power, also in a bloodless coup. Witnesses contacted by telephone said the rest of the country was also calm as it awaited the next moves from the new ruling Military Council for Justice and Democracy, chaired by Colonel Ely Ould Mohammed Vall, the country's police chief, and comprising 16 colonels and a naval commander.
The announcement of the coup, several hours after troops took over key buildings in Nouakchott, said, "The military and the security forces have unanimously decided to put an end to the totalitarian practices of the regime from which our people have suffered so much in the last years." The new junta pledged to "establish favourable conditions for an open and transparent democratic system on which civil society and political players will be able to give their opinions freely. "The military and security forces do not intend to hold power for longer than a period of two years, which is considered essential to prepare and establish true democratic institutions," the statement said. It also vowed to respect all international treaties and conventions already ratified by Mauritania.
The news brought hundreds of people on to the streets of Nouakchott in apparently spontaneous demonstrations of support, but opposition political parties Thursday called for the new rulers to put their promises into effect swiftly. The Union of Forces of Progress called for "respect for the republican framework of the state and the formation of a transitional government of national union, representative of the political spectrum." The Popular Front hailed the stated objectives of the junta and called for rapid changes, including "the opening of an era of tolerance and the release of all prisoners of conscience." But Ould Taya's Republican Democratic and Social Party called on all Mauritanians to reject "anti-constitutional change" and said it supported the former regime. Sources close to the junta said no member of Ould Taya's government had been detained or interrogated by the new leadership.
Military officers contacted by AFP indicated the coup had been popular among the armed forces. One, who had not joined in the rebellion, said "the proof is that there was no resistance or hesitation following the coup, with units swiftly rallying to the change." There was no immediate reaction from the country's Islamists, who in recent months had been targeted by Ould Tahya in a crackdown on dubious allegations that they were linked to terrorism.
As the ousted president was given refuge in Niger, the coup was condemned by the African Union, the European Union, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and the United States. But the Arab League, of which Mauritania is a member, was slow to react, as was virtually every other African country. The AU reaffirmed its "total rejection of any unconstitutional change of government and the importance of respect for constitutional order," while Annan's spokesman said he "condemns any attempt to change the government of any country unconstitutionally" and insists that political disagreements be settled peacefully through democratic means. Britain, speaking as holder of the EU presidency, said it "condemns any attempt to seize power by force" and "calls upon all sides to ensure full respect for democracy, human rights and the rule of law." Washington, which saw Ould Taya as an ally in the "war against terrorism" despite criticising abuses of his regime, called for the ousted president to be reinstated.
Israel also condemned the coup but said it would wait to see how it would affect ties with one of the only three Arab countries with which it has diplomatic relations. But there was no immediate threat of international sanctions, while Australian oil company Woodside Petroleum said its offshore drilling operations in Mauritania had been unaffected by the coup. Mauritania sits on some one billion barrels of oil and 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas, according to the government, but has scarcely begun production.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/06/2005
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Posted by: Captain America ||
08/06/2005 1:20
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#3
The only thing the junta can do that would both give them tremendous international credibility and give one in the eye to the African Dictator's Union, would be to immediately forward a request to the US, the EU and the UN, in that order, to provide assistance in democracy building, transparency, and neutral oversight of their national elections. This would piss off Bob and the others so much they would want to invade to stop it.
TORONTO (AP) - The Air France jet that skidded off the runway and burst into flames earlier this week landed farther down the runway than it should have, but it is too soon to know if that was the reason for the crash, aviation investigators said Friday.
Real Levasseur, chief of the Transportation Safety Board team investigating the craft, said officials in France who have been downloading data from the cockpit voice recorders - the so-called black boxes - announced Friday most of the indicators from the boxes appeared intact and were not destroyed in the fire. Levasseur said all interviews with the co-pilot - whom Air France said was at the controls during Tuesday's landing - and cabin crew were complete.
Levasseur said the Airbus 340 landed too far down the 9,000-foot runway before skidding some 200 yards, landing nose down in a ravine amid torrential rains and winds. ``An aircraft like the 340 should land well toward the back; how long exactly depends on weight, heavy winds, there are a number of factors,'' he said. ``We will certainly be looking at information; and if it turns out the aircraft did land further down the runway ... we will try to determine whether this had a major or critical effect.''
Witnesses and some passengers have said that it appeared that Air France Flight 358 from Paris was coming in too fast and too long when it landed at about 4 p.m.
Some aviation experts said the aircraft could have been pushed by a strong cross winds at the same time the aircraft landed on a slick runway, decreasing tire traction and causing a hydroplaning effect. ``I think they landed a little fast, a little long and probably hydroplaned,'' said Capt. Tom Bunn, a retired commercial airline pilot of 30 years for Pan Am and United Airlines.
Levasseur on Thursday dismissed questions about whether the east-west 24L runway was long and safe enough, saying it met international standards. However, the Air Line Pilots Association, which represents 64,000 airline pilots at 41 airlines in Canada and the United States, disputed this, saying the ravine at the end of the runway may have contributed to the crash. In a statement Thursday, the union said the crash occurred ``at an international airport that, unfortunately, does not meet international standards.''
Levasseur said there was no evidence, meanwhile, that lightning struck the Airbus A340 as it was landing, as reported by some witnesses. ``The wings and wing tips are in pretty good shape.'' He also said investigators have determined that all four engine thrust-reversers were in operation and working fine, ``So that's a good sign.''
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/06/2005
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it appeared that Air France Flight 358 from Paris was coming in too fast
The crew of the A320 in Warsaw also increased speed during landing after receiving information from the tower about windshear across their flight path.
Levasseur should have said that the A340 landed too far down the runway, for this particular runway. Had they used the adjacent runway, 24R, which is 500 feet longer, maybe this wouldn't have been a big deal (200 yards = 600 feet, 24R is 9,500ft long)
Sounds like a repeat of the Warsaw incident (except there they did have a longer runway).
Posted by: Rafael ||
08/06/2005 1:02
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#2
Regardless of what caused the crash, somebody's guardian angel is in line for a merit pay increase.
Posted by: Mike ||
08/06/2005 9:22
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#3
...but it is too soon to know if that was the reason for the crash, aviation investigators said Friday.
I'd have to say overshooting a runway kinda, sorta contributes to a crash...
#5
If Air France is investigating itself,I can tell you what the result will be-inadequate AirTraffic Controll cmbined w/too short runway and bad weather caused the heroic flight crew to take the only chance they had at landing during a small window of less winds. If the ATC had not misguided them,the crew would have landed where they should have. If the runway met EU standards,there would have been enough runway. If the ATC had not tried to land aircraft in such terrible weather,none of this would have happened.
Nothing to do w/an inexperienced copilot letting his ego take over and commit to a landing he had started,instead of going around. Certainly there was no panic in the copilot trying to land as fast as he could in bad weather and afraid it would be worse if he went around. BTW,why was the pilot letting his copilot land in such bad weather? Unless this was a check ride,every pilot I've known or read about wants the controls in tight situations.
I could be completely wrong,but if the Warsaw and Canadian incident turn out to be very similar,it may point to a problem w/flight control system. If the winds are just right,rapid strong gusts,perhaps the computer is fooled into thinking the plane is stalling and automatically adds thrust-or indicates to pilots that a/c is stalling which would cause them to increase power and try to keep some height. Have no idea if this is case,but if it keeps happening,worth a look.
Posted by: Stephen ||
08/06/2005 12:29
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#6
strong gusts,perhaps the computer is fooled into thinking the plane is stalling and automatically adds thrust-or indicates to pilots that a/c is stalling which would cause them to increase power and try to keep some height
#7
The fact is though, that runway is too short. If I can make a prediction, all "heavies" from now on will refuse to land on that runway in rain or strong winds. Air France in particular will not use that runway again.
Posted by: Rafael ||
08/06/2005 18:39
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Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has been invited to visit the US by Vice President Dick Cheney. King Abdullah also held a meeting with Cheney at his farm in Janadriyadh, near Riyadh, during which the two leaders reviewed their bilateral relations, and the situations in Palestine and Iraq as well as issues that came to the forefront during the Saudi-US summit at President George W. Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/06/2005
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Getting invited by Cheney is like being suddenly called into the principal's office. You have no clue whether it's for praise or an a** whooping.
"the two leaders reviewed their bilateral relations"
If Jordan has good relations, which it does, with the U.S., then why review them. This does not make any sense. But wait, until.....I read the Jerusalem Post.
Folks, this may not amount to anything but something big is going down. On the one hand, you have Cheney reviewing relations with Jordan. On the other hand, you have the Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz that had briefing with Jordan's Abdullah, yesterday. I can't remember the last time that a U.S. HIGH official and an Israeli HIGH official got together back to back with the leader of a Muslim country, just for the hell of it. Here is the link to the JPost article... The article contains a lot of political correct gibberish except for one sentence. I will quote it here "Describing the meeting as warm and fruitful, Mofaz discussed with the Jordanian king an array of issues that included the security situation in the region.
Also, I hear that ElBaradei is going to finally send the Iranian nuclear weapons issue to the U.N. Security Council for a vote. Perhaps, the reason why, as we read yesterday, that an Iranian terrorist diplomat wants to speak at the U.N. Bottomline, I think that some terrorist state or supporting state is about to get a bunker buster rude awakening. I could be wrong and/or wishful thinking.
A former Sipah-i-Sahaba leader and a member of the NWFP Assembly has claimed that âit will be difficult for the government to really ban us,â adding, âif we wanted to, we could bring life in Pakistan to a standstill and take controlâ. The challenge comes from Ibrahim Qazmi, a 28-year-old cleric whose interview appears in Fridayâs Washington Post. Datelined, Landi Arbab in the Frontier, the report bears the by-line of Post reporter NC Aizenman.
Qazmi calls President Pervez Musharraf a âtool in the hands of Western forcesâ who continues to remain incapable of stopping the radical Islamic movement in Pakistan. Qazmi and many of his co-militants were arrested after 9/11 but released after a few days. Qazmi was out in just 10 days. He told the American journalist âwith a chuckleâ, âSo you see, despite the ban, we have only gotten strongerâ. The report observes that Qazmiâs story âunderscores Musharrafâs contradictory record as one of the most important allies in President George Bushâs war on terrorismâ.
It also claims that although the Pakistan Army killed more than 300 militants in a campaign against Al Qaeda bases near the Afghan border last year, it has since proved âunable or unwillingâ to stop fighters from the ousted Taliban militia from slipping back into Afghanistan to launch bombings and attacks.
Human rights activist Afrasiab Khattak told the newspaper, âThe crackdown after September 11, 2001, was just window dressing for Western consumption. None of the top Pakistani leaders were arrestedâ. The report quotes âanalystsâ to assert that President Musharrafâs resolve would likely continue to be counterbalanced by the same domestic political problems that have bedevilled him in the past, one being the militaryâs reluctance to âdefangâ militant organisations that were sponsored in the 1980s to fight in Kashmir. An unnamed Pakistani intelligence official told the Post correspondent that many military and political leaders believe the Kashmiri militant groups were still a vital lever against India. âThe idea of the authorities nabbing the people who challenged the Indian army in Kashmir sounds scary to all decision-makers,â he added.
The report quotes PPP Senator Raza Rabbani as saying, âEven if I were to give him the benefit of the doubt, I donât think he (Musharraf) has the structures in place to implement such policiesâ. Samina Ahmed of the International Crisis Group told the Post, âThe people who created the Taliban are now effectively running half of Pakistanâ. Qazi Hussain Ahmed told the newspaper that his party had criticised some extreme Taliban practices, stressing that Islam prohibited terrorist attacks on innocent civilians. As for Kashmiri fighters, he said they were justified in their âholy warâ against India, and the same was true of the Taliban fighting the US-backed government in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/06/2005
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Please, Mr. Qamzi, do continue talking.
I'm sure Musharraf doesn't feel even the least bit threatened, and even if he did, he and his minions army would never do anything to harm you....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/06/2005 0:32
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i have a feeling mr qazmi will not live too see 29
#3
only the WAPO would give credibility and print to the rantings of a know-it-all 28 year old. I agree the little fly will most likely be swatted before he hits 29. Darwin in action.
Kuwaitâs Emir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah will return home within 10 days from Switzerland after undergoing surgery in the United States, the prime minister said yesterday. âRest assured ... his highness the emir is fine and will, God willing, return to the country within 10 days,â Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah told the state news agency KUNA upon his arrival from Switzerland where he was checking on the emirâs health. The ruler of the Gulf Arab state, who is in his late 70s, had traveled to Switzerland from the United States on Sunday after having two operations on his leg. He suffered a limited brain haemorrhage a few years ago.
I'm very worried for him. I hope he doesn't become stable...
Posted by: Fred ||
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Here's to hoping that some surgeon left an instrument in his body....
But seriously, Switzerland? No doctors of Islam available to treat him?
Posted by: Mark E. ||
08/06/2005 19:46
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Islam frowns on Sex change operations Mark. He's a dawg now.
KANDAHAR CITY: The postal service was revived on Thursday in this southern city after a quarter century, enabling residents to correspond with relatives and friends in the country and abroad. Abdul Qader Sufi, in charge of the postal service at the communication department in Kandahar, said they had reopened post offices in different parts of the city after 25 years. Leaflets explaining how to post letters and parcels have been displayed near letter boxes. Parcel costs and postage stamp prices had not been fixed as yet, Sufi said, claiming revival of the service would benefit Kandahar residents, who wanted to exchange letters with near and dear ones. Gul Wali, from Maiwand district of Kandahar, said he would earlier travel to Kabul or Pakistanâs Quetta city to dispatch letters and parcels to his brother in Saudi Arabia. The resumption of the postal service represents good news to him and many others.
Police seized weapons and explosives during a raid in Kuraidah, an area south of Madinah, Al-Watan newspaper reported. The weapons found inside an abandoned well were kept there a few days ago, the newspaper quoted sources as saying. Police described the operation as a big success that foiled a terror attack at a time when the government machinery was busy making security arrangements for the funeral of King Fahd. Police sources do not rule out the possibility that the weapons could be concealed there by Saleh Al-Oufi, one of 26 most wanted terrorists.
Alternatively, the cache could have been for the wedding of his second son by his third wife.
Sources said Al-Oufi might have hidden the weapons and explosives for a terrorist operation. They said that there was a strong link between the discovery of the weapons and the investigation of Muhammad Al-Amri, another wanted suspect, who was arrested two weeks ago in Madinah. The sources pointed out that Al-Oufi was hiding somewhere in Madinah area. They said that since he is originally from Madinah and very much familiar with places there, he has been able to dodge the police for so long. He fled to Madinah after police mounted search in Riyadh and Jeddah. A large number of police and fire department units took part in the operation that yielded the weapons and explosives.
Posted by: Fred ||
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LAHORE: Around 250 Shabab-e-Milli activists attacked an alleged brothel in Gulberg on Friday afternoon. Naseerabad police said that the activists gathered in front of House No 181-M, Gulberg-III, shouted slogans against vulgarity and demanded that the brothel be shifted from the area. They later entered the house and fired in the air on which inmates called the police. The police rushed to the scene and controlled the situation. The inmates and Shabab-e-Milli activists were called at the police station for investigation, which was underway till this report was made late at night.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Pakistani scientists are fine-tuning a new version of nuclear-capable missile, which could suggest the country will test fire it soon, an official at one of Pakistanâs main nuclear facilities said on Friday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, refused to say whether it was a long-range missile, or provide any other details. âOur scientists have started putting the final touches on a missile and Pakistan may test it soon,â the official said.
"We call it the 'V-3'," he added.
The local Nawa-i-Waqt newspaper had reported Friday that Pakistan was likely to test fire a ballistic missile before Aug. 14. But army spokesman Gen. Shaukat Sultan refused to confirm the report, saying he had no such information.
"I know nothing. Now go away."
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/06/2005
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Khannnn!
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/06/2005 1:13
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So, the North Koreans have a new missile.
Their Pakistan-based test site is so convenient.
Posted by: john ||
08/06/2005 8:26
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Fred or Paul could prolly parse this story better than me, but it looks interesting...
After the successful implementation of ordinances and laws barring all the candidates holding only seminary degrees from contesting any elections, the tide of disqualification has now turned against senators, members of provincial assemblies and Member National Assemblies. This move would deal a severe blow to the polity of MMA, majority of which came through seminary degrees to parliament. The MMA hosts about 63 MNAs, 200 MPAs in all four provinces and 18 senators. Besides it has complete provincial rule over NWFP, and shares the government of Balochistan, all of which are potential disqualifiers if this rule is implemented. Some government supporters can also be potential affectees of this ordinance, if implemented. The degrees from the seminaries cannot be equivalent to any matriculation or FA Degrees, because seminaries do not impart any general knowledge necessary for a valid educational degree.
You mean memorizing the Koran ain't enough to rule Pakistan? Color me shocked.
It is pertinent to note that regime of late President Zia-Ul-Haq had directed the University Grants Commission (UGC) in a 1982 notification to accept the degree of Shahadat Alalamia equivalent to MA Arabic, and MA Islamiat. The Higher Education Commission also verified this only a few days ago. The degree holders were also viable for the post of a lectureship. The decision of Election Commission does not interfere or affect these qualifications in the education sector, but only disqualifies them for candidacy of any elections.
Morocco has jailed 60 suspected prostitutes for up to four months after a mass trial in a tourist resort. The move was praised by Islamists but assailed by rights activists, lawyers and newspapers.
Naturally the Islamists would be all in favor. Wouldn't want anybody to have any fun, y'know...
Mass trial at a tourist resort? Was that on the itinerary or did they pay extra?
Police last month raided a hotel in the coastal city of Agadir, famed for its sandy beaches and lively nightlife, and arrested the women with 28 Saudi and nine Kuwaiti holidaymakers. Seven of the hotel's employees were also arrested. The authorities later deported the holidaymakers without charging them, while they accused the 67 arrested Moroccans of debauchery and encouraging sex tourism. In a verdict late on Tuesday, an Agadir court sentenced 15 girls to four months in jail and 45 to two months, including eight who received suspended terms, defence lawyers said. Five hotel employees got jail sentences of between two and three years, a sixth got two months and another was acquitted. The court also ordered the closure of the hotel.
"Trixie doesn't work here anymore..."
An Islamist faction within the main opposition Justice and Development party (PJD) called the action a right step to help preserve the Muslim country's moral and religious values.
"We're sure that tourists would much prefer to spend their time reading the Koran. Those bitches were distracting them!"
The PJD recently called on the authorities to crack down on what it says is growing sex tourism in the country, a popular destination mainly for tourists from Europe and the Arab Gulf. But human rights activists called the trial a scandal, criticising the authorities for letting the tourists go free. "The women involved are victims of society," said Abdelhamid Amine, head of the country's main human rights group AMDH. "If the goal of this swoop is to fight sex tourism, then authorities ought to look at all hotels in Agadir, not just one, apply the law on all, not only on Moroccans, and fight factors that help prostitution flourish," said Abd al-Rahman Yazidi, head of local rights group Anaruz.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/06/2005
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My bitch better have my money
through rain, sleet or snow.
My whore better have my money,
not half, not some,
but all my cash.
'Cause if she don't,
I'm gonna put my foot in her ass.
Iran yesterday rejected a broad package of trade and technology incentives offered by the European Union if it agreed to abandon nuclear fuel work, a move that risks an international crisis. "The proposals are unacceptable," nuclear negotiator Hossein Moussavian said, describing them as a "clear violation" of agreements between Iran and the European Union. "They negate Iran's inalienable right," he said. EU negotiators have called for an emergency meeting of the UN watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, which could refer Iran's nuclear dossier to the Security Council for possible sanctions. But a defiant Iran said it would also stick by its plans to resume uranium conversion, a preliminary stage in the nuclear fuel cycle, despite warnings that it would trigger an international crisis. The European Union said Tehran, accused by arch-enemy the United States of seeking to build an atomic bomb, must commit "not to pursue fuel cycle activities" if it wants to benefit from the EU incentives.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/06/2005
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But, I thought they were gonna think on it for a few days before telling the E-3 to get bent.
Not good sport, don't ya know.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/06/2005 1:33
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Thats what the EU3 gets...what it deserves!! They have given Iran 6 months valuable time (with no repercussions) to solving their nuclear containment packaging problem, and when that's done, you can bet your farm, The Bomb will be next!!
#3
If there's one word in the English language that leads me to believe its user is a pompous, arrogant, self-important son of a bitch, it's 'unacceptable'. God damn it, that word just fucking grates.
For paying a rich and everlasting tribute to Khadim-ul- Haramain Al-Sharefain, late king Fahd bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia, the International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) has principally decided to build a Mosque in its new campus naming it as King Fahd Mosque. A delegation of the university, in the leadership of Justice Retd Khalil ur Rehman Khan, Rector IIUI, is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia to formally invite his Royal Highness King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz for attending the ground breaking ceremony of Mosque as chief guest. This was announced in Friday congregation at Faisal mosque by Justice Khalil Ur Rehman Khan where the funeral prayers in absentia for the late king was also offered.
Uncovering the details of the announcement, Justice Khalil cherished the tremendous services of the king for the uplift of the Ummah and his marvelous support for Pakistan in hour of trial. He added that King Fahd had a special and keen interest in the development of the international Islamic university Islamabad and promotion of quality education across the Ummah. The university has decided to build a huge mosque in its new campus in the name of king Fahd. The mosque, with the capacity for 30,000 worships, will cost US $6 million. The university with its own resources has established a fund for the construction of the mosque in which Rs 2.462 million has already been deposited by the university faculty, staff and others. With a further donation from personal pocket of the Rector IIUI, the fund has now Rs. 2.562 million.
The rector has requested the masses to donate generously in the fund. Bank account for Pakistan currency is A/C No. 7185/5, Habib bank IIUI branch and Foreign Currency 11089-8 in the same bank branch for donations in foreign currency.
"So get out yer checkbooks, ladies and gents, give 'til it hurts and then give a little more. The King would have wanted it this way."
Meaning of âmullahâ
Writing in the Jang, Ataul Haq Qasimi commented on an interview of Aitzaz Ahsan in the Nawa-e-Waqt magazine, saying that mullaiyat (mullahism) was not proving itself capable of tolerating other peopleâs point of view and not taking a no for an answer to oneâs own. Qasimi totally agreed with the opinion and said that in Pakistan, people held strong views and were intolerant of othersâ views. In his experience leftwing persons never had the patience to hear him out and were true to Aitzaz Ahsanâs yardstick.
Shaukat Aziz will go after the budget!
Talking to the Nawa-e-Waqt, PMLN leader Javed Hashmi said from jail that after the 2005-06 budget, Musharraf would get rid of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, after which the National Assembly would be dissolved and Musharraf would rule for one year as a dictator on permission of the Supreme Court. Musharraf will head a national government, he said.
Expatriate Pakistanis donât want culture
According to the Nawa-e-Waqt, Pakistanis in Dubai asked religion minister Ijazul Haq to put a ban on cultural troupes going to the Gulf area. The federal religion minister was inaugurating a mosque there. They said such cultural delegations were spreading immoral activities in the Gulf. The minister promised that there would no such cultural troupes in the future. He praised the Pakistanis for building such a grand mosque with their hard earned money.
Benazir will rule again!
Quoted in Khabrain, famous astrologer Yaseen Wattoo stated that new elections would be held before April 2006 after which Benazir Bhutto will rule as prime minister while Nawaz Sharif would be the opposition leader. However, his brother Shehbaz Sharif would be the chief minister of the Punjab once again. The future of PMLQ was bleak and it will suffer its worst fate. Majlis Amal (MMA) will go into decline and Rao Sikandar will go back to the PPP. He said Imran Khan will be nowhere near power while Ijazul Haq and Manzur Wattoo will also be nowhere. There will be an Indo-Pak war before 2012 and the Kashmir dispute will never be resolved.
Masked examinees not allowed
According to the Nawa-e-Waqt, several masked (naqab posh) women candidates taking MA exams at the Punjab University, Lahore, were not allowed into the exam hall by the administrators. The masked ladies raised slogans outside the exam hall and rang up the governor in protest.
General Zia was best
Quoted in the Jang, a son of General Zia, Anwarul Haq, said that General Zia was the best ruler of Pakistan. Zia warded off the domination of Christians (Nusrani) and Jews (Yuhud) and was the liberator of Afghanistan and Kashmir. He asked the critics to talk to the Afghans and the Kashmiris for a proper opinion about Zia. He said the Friend of Pakistan (Mohsin-e-Pakistan), Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan was patronised by Zia, which made Pakistan impregnable. He said if the state institutions had broken down, Zia was not to blame for it. According to the Khabrain, Anwarul Haq said that Zia breathed new life into the dead horse of the Muslim League. Later many politicians rode this horse to power a number of times and killed it.
Quranic verses taken off from Mall Road
According to the Nawa-e-Waqt, Maulana Muhammad Islam Saeedi of Majlis Ulema Nizamiya condemned the governmentâs measure of taking off the Quranic verses hung earlier on the trees and poles on Lahoreâs central road, the Mall Road. He said it was a question for the entire Muslim community in the world. He said it was an insult to their faith. The ulema gathered at the Press Club and raised angry slogans against America.
A secret pact about Nawaz Sharif
Writing in the Jang, Nazeer Naji stated that in recent statements, it had finally come to light that a secret pact existed about Nawaz Sharif but it was between the Musharraf government and Saudi Arabia. According to this pact, Nawaz Sharif and family would have to stay in Saudi Arabia till 2010.
Posted by: Fred ||
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A majority of Dutch people want a ban on public officials wearing Muslim headscarves, a significant fall in religious tolerance from two years ago when most people did not back a ban, a poll showed on Friday.
The survey, conducted by pollsters TNS Nipo for Binnenlands Bestuur, a weekly newspaper for government employees, showed that 58 percent of Dutch people want local authorities to ban Muslim officials from wearing headscarves at work. The poll of 433 people conducted in May also showed that 83 percent want a ban on more orthodox Islamic clothing such as veils that cover the face and long robes for men. The murder last year of an outspoken Dutch filmmaker critical of Islam by a Dutch-Moroccan man has stoked hostility towards the almost 1 million Muslims living in the Netherlands who make up 6 percent of the population. "The Dutch have left tolerance behind them. Just two years ago, the majority of the population had no problem with an official with a headscarf," the newspaper wrote. "That picture has changed. In 2005, the majority do not want to be confronted with a government functionary in Islamic clothing, be it a veil, long robe or a more modest headscarf."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/06/2005
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Actually, it might be more practical if all the Muslims simply wore no clothes. Or, at least transparent attire.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/06/2005 1:27
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It would be more practical if they withdrew to Islamic nations that would be match for their belief system.
Violence broke out in Sri Lanka as Norwegian negotiators arrived to try and save the countries disintegrating peace process. Unidentified assailants hurled at least four grenades at a Tamil Tiger rebel office in the island's volatile east on Friday, officials said. The grenades were thrown in through the window and open door of the one-story building in Batticaloa, 220 kilometers (135 miles) east of the capital, Colombo, said Rohan Abeywardene, eastern region police chief. There were no reported casualties but a part of the office roof had collapsed, he said. The attack took place as Vidar Helgesen, Norway's deputy foreign minister, flew by helicopter to the northern rebel-held town of Kilinochchi and began talks with S. P. Thamilselvan, the Tigers' political chief. Norway has played a pivotal role in Sri Lanka's peace efforts, brokering a cease-fire between the government and the Tigers three years ago that halted the island's two-decade civil war. Scores have been killed in the violence, including security forces, rebels and civilians since a top rebel commander split from the mainstream group last year. Abeywardene blamed Friday's attacks on factional fighting among the rebels. Residents in Sri Lanka's Tamil heartland were forbidden from leaving their homes Friday and the main road was closed, a day after a mob of angry Tamils hacked a top police officer to death and threw stones at military vehicles. The curfew, imposed late Thursday on the entire Jaffna Peninsula, the home of most of the island's 3.2 million Tamils, was expected to be lifted later Friday, said police spokesman Reins Pourer.
JUBA, Sudan - Thousands of Sudanese government troops and ex-rebel fighters deployed here Saturday ahead of the funeral of Sudanâs vice president and former southern guerrilla leader John Garang. As residents of Juba prepared a massive send-off for Garang, two planeloads of Sudanese soldiers, including members of the elite presidential guard, landed at Juba airport on Friday and were immediately deployed around town. Heavily armed troops with rocket-propelled grenade launchers and assault rifles were positioned at 10-meter intervals on the streets of Juba, which was rocked by deadly violence after Garangâs death, an AFP correspondent said. Those soldiers joined fighters from Garangâs ex-rebel Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) who entered Juba for the first time on Wednesday to help quell the violence and provide security for the funeral.
Half a million people, including Sudanese President Omar el-Beshir, South African President Thabo Mbeki, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni are expected to attend the service. Officials from the African Union and the United Nations were also expected.
Garang was killed on July 30 when Museveniâs presidential helicopter on which he was returning to southern Sudan from Uganda crashed in what Sudanese, Ugandan and SPLM/A officials had repeatedly said was an accident due to poor weather. But on Friday, Museveni said it may not have been an accident, becoming the first official of any government to publicly suggest the crash may have been the result of foul play. âSome people say accident, it may be an accident, it may be something else,â Museveni told thousands of mourners in the southern Sudanese town of Yei where Garangâs coffin had been brought in an airborne funeral procession to Juba. âThe (helicopter) was very well equipped, this was my (helicopter) the one I am flying all the time, I am not ruling anything out,â he said, adding that an unspecified âexternal factorâ could have been responsible.
He's also thanking his lucky stars and stroking his rabbit's foot.
Salva Kiir, Garangâs successor as SPLM/A chief declined to comment on the specifics of Museveniâs remarks but said no cause had been ruled out pending an international investigation of the crash. But in Khartoum and Juba, senior SPLM/A officials cautioned against making any assumptions about the cause of the crash as did a diplomat in Bor, Garangâs birthplace where his coffin was brought after Yei.
"Boss! We're going to need a new cover story real soon now!"
Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail meanwhile called on Uganda to cooperate with the investigation into the crash. â(Garangâs) visit was to Uganda and the aircraft and its crew were Ugandan,â Ismail told the official SUNA news agency. However he expressed displeasure that the Ugandan authorities only informed Sudan about the disappearance of Garangâs helicopter several hours after they found out. Sudanese Information Minister Abdul Basit Sebdarat went further still, calling Museveniâs comments âextremely worryingâ. âUttering statements or speculations ahead of the investigation would harm the probe and the chances of finding the facts, the official SUNA news agency quoted Sebdarat as saying.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/06/2005
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We haven't had a good rogue elephant story in a while. This one even has a happy ending!
A Seoul eatery that was trampled by elephants is back in business with a new name and a new menu that aims to capitalize on its bout with pachyderm pandemonium. The restaurant that serves barbecue and other traditional Korean foods was closed for a month for repairs after three elephants rampaged through its plate-glass front. It has just reopened with a new name: âRestaurant Where Elephants Have Beenâ. Owner Keum Taek-hoon said on Monday she had used the 18 million won ($18,000) insurance money to remodel her eatery. It now has a sign featuring three elephants and a new, 7,000-won menu item called an âelephant setâ that consists of seven vegetable side dishes and a hot soup. Keum, who plans to decorate the restaurant with pictures of pachyderms, said the elephant set has proved wildly popular. On April 20, six elephants escaped from a zoo and roamed around the South Korean capital. Three of them crashed through the eatery, sending staff and patrons fleeing in terror. The elephants crushed tables and stools and also munched on carrots. Keum said patrons have been heading to her newly reopened restaurant out of curiosity and sales have doubled. âWhat can I say about the elephants? Thank you for causing the trouble? Well, that just might be right,â Keum said.
Text messages on mobile phones will alert hundreds of wardens to begin evacuating office workers and shoppers from Sydney's central business district in the event of a terrorist attack, according to a plan unveiled on Friday. Modeled on the strategy used in the aftermath of the recent London bombings, people in Australia's largest city will be told to gather at three open-air evacuation sites in the business district where they will be directed to the best transport route home. "Our counter terrorism agencies have moved quickly to learn from the recent attacks in London," New South Wales state Premier Morris Iemma said in announcing the evacuation plan. Iemma said publicizing the three evacuation sites risked making the areas, which would be crowded with thousands of people, potential targets. "It is about managing the risk. People are entitled to get information as to where they go, because we know if an attack does occur, there is confusion, there is fear," said Iemma.
Australia, a staunch U.S. ally with troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, has steadily strengthened security and anti-terrorism laws since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. The country has never yet been the target of a major attack, but 88 Australians were among 202 people killed in the October 2002 nightclub bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali and the Australian embassy in Jakarta was hit by a suicide bomb in 2004. Prime Minister John Howard is expected to beef up counter-terrorism laws in the aftermath of the London bombings and following a recent review of Australian security.
This week security authorities said up to 60 suspected Islamic extremists were under surveillance in Australia's two largest cities, Melbourne and Sydney. Two Australians, one a former Qantas baggage handler and the other a Pakistan-born architect, are awaiting trial on terrorism charges in Sydney. Architect Faheem Khalid Lodhi faces nine charges, including planning to carry out attacks in Sydney "involving the bombing of one or more establishments". Bilal Khazal, 35, is charged with compiling a terrorist manual from the Internet.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
08/06/2005
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Wipe your feet before entering the mosque, please. Thanks.
#2
The wardens are a good idea. I wonder, though, if the emphasis on "evacuation" is just a leak for the benefit of the public. If there is a truly serious attack, setting up roadblocks/checkpoints should be the first priority, to catch perps, and control the movement of infected, contaminated, or simply panicked victims. A panicked crowd might unwittingly flee into a kill zone.
ISLAMABAD: Police on Friday arrested four men outside mosques here for distributing hate material among people. Police said they had been informed that hate material was being distributed among the people coming out of mosques after Friday prayers. Margalla and Shalimar police officials rushed to Jamia Qasmia and Jamia Al-Rashed and arrested Mohammad Imran, Mohammad Afzal, Tanver Abasi and Kashif Mahmood. However, the mosques' imams rejected police claims, saying the men were distributing pamphlets which was condemning police raids on women's seminary Jamia Hifsa. Jamia Al-Rashed imam Jamelur Rehman said the pamphlets asked the Pakistan chief justice to look into this matter.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Better build more and bigger jails, half the PakiWaki North population is infested with hate mongers.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/06/2005 1:02
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Posted by: Steve ||
08/06/2005 14:39
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even caught red handed, and to think that condemning police raids on women's seminaries with the obvious slant isn't hate material.
They aren't taking off their shoes, they aren't letting us hide our weapons, etc etc.geeeezzzz
Posted by: Jan ||
08/06/2005 23:02
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Pakistan and Britain have signed an extradition treaty to facilitate the exchange of persons wanted in acts of terror and other crimes, diplomatic sources said. The two countries have been working on the wordings of the treaty for months but they speeded up this process in the aftermath of the 7/7 terrorist attacks in London, government sources said. It was soon after the London blasts that the two sides agreed to give final touches to the extradition treaty, they said, adding that Britain wanted suspects with links to the London bombs handed over to the British authorities. The recent unannounced visit of Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri to London played a key role in the finalization of the extradition treaty, a source said, adding that in the next few days the Cabinets of the two countries would ratify it.
Posted by: Fred ||
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A Russian ship has snagged a mini-submarine trapped far under the Pacific Ocean and was trying to tow it to shallower waters where divers could free the seven people trapped in it for two days, the commander of the Russian Pacific fleet said. The statement by Admiral Viktor Fyodorov to the NTV television channel followed a day of desperate rescue efforts and widely varying estimates of how much oxygen remained on the tiny vessel.
A British military plane carrying a sophisticated unmanned underwater rescue vehicle took off for the disaster scene in Russia's Far East late on Friday and the US Navy was scrambling to send another. Both could reach the site off the Kamchatka Peninsula within time - if earlier estimates that there was enough oxygen to keep the seven alive for 24 hours held true. However, Fyodorov said early on Saturday that there was oxygen for "at least 18 hours," a distinctly less optimistic statement than his earlier assertion that the air would last into Monday.
The group submariner weblog Ultraquiet No More is a great one-stop source for the unfolding story. AoS
Posted by: Fred ||
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The Russkes play go "beat the clock" with the Brits and US. Learning from the last incident, they inform everyone at the last freakin minute.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/06/2005 1:45
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UPDATE from CBBCThere is a race against time to save seven members of the Russian submarine crew who are trapped on a sea bed. It was originally thought that the Priz submersible was stuck in a fishing net, but now rescuers believe it is trapped by an underwater antenna. Special deep-sea rescue crews from Britain and the US are being flown into the area on Saturday. An earlier attempt to drag the sub free by a cable attached to a ship has failed. The men are running out of air.
Meanwhile CTV.ca is reporting: The Russian navy is attempting to either sever a cable which became tangled in the sub's propeller on Thursday, or blow up a heavy weight anchoring it, according to Russia's Pacific fleet commander, Admiral Viktor Fyodorov. Authorities plan to use unmanned American and British specialized underwater craft, called Super Scorpios, to investigate the accident site and possibly cut the sub loose from the cable that has held it some 625 feet below the surface since Thursday. The U.S. submersible has specialized equipment like arm-like manipulators with cable-cutters and cameras for navigation.
Nothing said about how they intend to demolish the 60 ton concrete anchor.
#4
Come to think, it's more likely a Russian version of the SOSUS line, considering the location. Perhaps the sub was doing maintenance. Maybe a prayer is in order if you got 'em.
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) - Canada is developing its own version of a no-fly list in an effort to prevent terrorist attacks and make air travel safer, the federal transport minister said Friday. The Canadian list could help satisfy American demands that Canadian airlines provide passenger lists for all flights that go through American airspace. Washington also has been pressuring Ottawa to take a greater role in protecting North American and its own security, particularly along the 4,000-mile border with the United States.
The Canadian program will identify people who pose ``an immediate threat to aviation security'' and will work with airlines to stop suspects from flying, Transport Minister Jean Lapierre said in Halifax, the provincial capital of Nova Scotia. ``This list is going to be revised regularly,'' said Lapierre, adding that the list would be ready by 2006 and shared with all airlines, sea ports and border crossings.
Lapierre also said he plans to meet with key players in the ground transportation system in light of the recent subway attacks in London. ``We know now that all modes of transport are at risk,'' said the minister.
Opposition Leader Stephen Harper said he saw little new in the transportation minister's announcements. ``We've had lots of security announcements from this government and very little action,'' said Harper, leader of the Conservative Party. ``This is part of a pattern of phony announcements. I'll believe it when I see it."
Ditto.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/06/2005
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At the top of the list: Air France.
Posted by: Matt ||
08/06/2005 0:08
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Technically, Air France is on the "no-land" list...
#3
I'm guessing the list will include Danes, Jews, Christians in general, and American Republicans (but moonbats are welcoms).
But they won't list moslems, or anyone from the Middle East (except for Israelis), Pakistan, etc. - it wouldn't be PC and might hurt somebody's precious widdle feelings.
Actually, I don't think Canada cares if terrorists live there, as long as they do their actual terrorizing in the U.S., not in Canada. :-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/06/2005 0:24
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Ouch, Sea.
That left a mark. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/06/2005 0:25
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Except in Canada "no-fly" means no zipper.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/06/2005 2:25
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haven't they been doing this all along?!
I guess I just assumed
Posted by: Jan ||
08/06/2005 23:57
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The Bush administration is considering taking the unprecedented step of preventing a visting head of state from addressing the United Nations in New York by denying a visa to 
One of the most senior ministers in the royal Nepalese government said on Friday that the government was ready for talks with Maoists to resolve the decade-old armed insurgency that has claimed over 12,000 lives. Vice-Chairman of the Council of Ministers 
British Prime Minister 
A crucial meeting on Iraqâs constitutional stalemate was put off yesterday by an emergency session of the Kurdish autonomous Parliament as sustained rebel attacks left over a dozen people dead... Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said the meeting to end the deadlock on drafting a new constitution and resolving outstanding questions was postponed for Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani. âThe meeting of leaders was delayed from today to Sunday in order to allow Barzani to attend a meeting Saturday of the Kurdish Parliament before coming to Baghdad as the head of a delegation of Kurdish parliamentary groups,â said a statement from Talabaniâs office. The issues yet to be decided on include federalism, official languages, the relation between religion and state, the name of the republic, the rights of women and the question of the oil-rich center of Kirkuk which Kurds want included in their own autonomous region.
The Election Commission rejected yesterday most of the presidential registrations received from independent candidates, saying many of the hopefuls failed to win the approval of at least 250 elected members of Parliament and Municipal Councils. Around a hundred people withdrew registration forms over the past week while only 30 candidates from 16 parties turned in acceptable applications, the commission said. Nine independents, among them four women, did not get the required 250 signatures of elected national or local officials, it said. Applicants have until tomorrow to object in case they were rejected and the commission will publish the final list of candidates on Aug. 13, less than a month before the country's key vote on Sept. 7.
Kuwaitâs Emir 
Pakistani scientists are fine-tuning a new version of nuclear-capable missile, which could suggest the country will test fire it soon, an official at one of Pakistanâs main nuclear facilities said on Friday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, refused to say whether it was a long-range missile, or provide any other details. âOur scientists have started putting the final touches on a missile and Pakistan may test it soon,â the official said.
Morocco has jailed 60 suspected prostitutes for up to four months after a mass trial in a tourist resort. The move was praised by Islamists but assailed by rights activists, lawyers and newspapers.
Iran yesterday rejected a broad package of trade and technology incentives offered by the European Union if it agreed to abandon nuclear fuel work, a move that risks an international crisis. "The proposals are unacceptable," nuclear negotiator Hossein Moussavian said, describing them as a "clear violation" of agreements between Iran and the European Union. "They negate Iran's inalienable right," he said. EU negotiators have called for an emergency meeting of the UN watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, which could refer Iran's nuclear dossier to the Security Council for possible sanctions. But a defiant Iran said it would also stick by its plans to resume uranium conversion, a preliminary stage in the nuclear fuel cycle, despite warnings that it would trigger an international crisis. The European Union said Tehran, accused by arch-enemy the United States of seeking to build an atomic bomb, must commit "not to pursue fuel cycle activities" if it wants to benefit from the EU incentives.
For paying a rich and everlasting tribute to Khadim-ul- Haramain Al-Sharefain, late king Fahd bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia, the International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) has principally decided to build a Mosque in its new campus naming it as King Fahd Mosque. A delegation of the university, in the leadership of Justice Retd Khalil ur Rehman Khan, Rector IIUI, is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia to formally invite his Royal Highness King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz for attending the ground breaking ceremony of Mosque as chief guest. This was announced in Friday congregation at Faisal mosque by Justice Khalil Ur Rehman Khan where the funeral prayers in absentia for the late king was also offered.
Meaning of âmullahâ
Violence broke out in Sri Lanka as Norwegian negotiators arrived to try and save the countries disintegrating peace process. Unidentified assailants hurled at least four grenades at a Tamil Tiger rebel office in the island's volatile east on Friday, officials said. The grenades were thrown in through the window and open door of the one-story building in Batticaloa, 220 kilometers (135 miles) east of the capital, Colombo, said Rohan Abeywardene, eastern region police chief. There were no reported casualties but a part of the office roof had collapsed, he said. The attack took place as Vidar Helgesen, Norway's deputy foreign minister, flew by helicopter to the northern rebel-held town of Kilinochchi and began talks with S. P. Thamilselvan, the Tigers' political chief. Norway has played a pivotal role in Sri Lanka's peace efforts, brokering a cease-fire between the government and the Tigers three years ago that halted the island's two-decade civil war. Scores have been killed in the violence, including security forces, rebels and civilians since a top rebel commander split from the mainstream group last year. Abeywardene blamed Friday's attacks on factional fighting among the rebels. Residents in Sri Lanka's Tamil heartland were forbidden from leaving their homes Friday and the main road was closed, a day after a mob of angry Tamils hacked a top police officer to death and threw stones at military vehicles. The curfew, imposed late Thursday on the entire Jaffna Peninsula, the home of most of the island's 3.2 million Tamils, was expected to be lifted later Friday, said police spokesman Reins Pourer.
Wipe your feet before entering the mosque, please. Thanks.
ISLAMABAD: Police on Friday arrested four men outside mosques here for distributing hate material among people. Police said they had been informed that hate material was being distributed among the people coming out of mosques after Friday prayers. Margalla and Shalimar police officials rushed to Jamia Qasmia and Jamia Al-Rashed and arrested Mohammad Imran, Mohammad Afzal, Tanver Abasi and Kashif Mahmood. However, the mosques' imams rejected police claims, saying the men were distributing pamphlets which was condemning police raids on women's seminary Jamia Hifsa. Jamia Al-Rashed imam Jamelur Rehman said the pamphlets asked the Pakistan chief justice to look into this matter.
