The Coalition of the Swilling

July 01, 2009

Honduras

The wonderful Fausta has the complete story.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:40 AM | Comments (0)

My letter to the White House, not that I expect it to change a thing........

Mr. President,

I am writing this letter as a citizen who is appalled by the message my government is broadcasting to the world. Since it’s inception, the United States has stood as a beacon of freedom to the rest of the world, but these last few months have seen a dark shadow descend by way of the spoken word of our leaders and emissaries, with yourself at the forefront.

The statement by Secretary of State Clinton on February 21, 2009, regarding China and Human Rights that stated:

"Successive administrations and Chinese governments have been poised back and forth on these issues, and we have to continue to press them. But our pressing on those issues can't interfere with the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis, and the security crisis,"

was the first signal that human life had begun to come in second. You (and your administration and party) would be the first to give 35 speeches condemning your own country were we to treat the most odious terrorist we are currently holding half as cruelly as China abuses people who simply wish to worship a God other than Mao. But when it comes to finding a buyer for debt you have amassed, icky stuff like how prisoners are treated cannot be allowed to derail your sale.

Then the Iranian people discovered that their election may not have been above board, and took to the streets in civil protests. Even when peaceful protesters were shot in cold blood on the streets of Tehran, the most you could muster was that you were deeply concerned, yet did not wish to appear to be meddling. Odd, such a delay and mild criticism of murder and abuse, which was not expressed in anything resembling strong language until nearly a week after it occurred to people simply trying to gain the democracy you take for granted, while amazingly you can find the moral indignation to say:

I am shocked and outraged by the murder of Dr. George Tiller as he attended church services this morning. However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence.

So when a lone murderer kills a single person you happen to support, you are quick to condemn it in harsh terms the self-same day. Yet when tens, perhaps hundreds are being slaughtered for the self-same ‘democracy’ you like to trumpet, but (unfortunately for them) happen to also be potentially derailing your agenda to ‘engage’ ruthless regimes, the best you can muster is ‘deep concerns’, but by the way, the July 4th invite is still good. At least you seem to have pulled back the 4th invite. Thanks.

Now, Honduras has a bit of a constitutional crisis, with an elected President who blatantly attempts to violate his countries Constitution for his own personal gain. The Supreme Court, Attorney General and Military are forced to follow the rule of Law, and have to remove the offender, to preserve democracy and order. And you, having been a Constitutional Law professor, immediately issued a statement in support of the move that preserved the rule of law, correct? No, instead, you call it a ‘coup’, and go on offensive against the Honduran government, demonizing it and stating you will still recognize the ‘elected’ President (funny how that whole democracy idea suddenly is important to you again). The fact of his election has little bearing on the fact he attempted a flagrant power grab, in direct contravention of the laws of Honduras (Title VII of the Constitution), and attempted to punish those who would not help him in his actions. Is that the only type of ‘democracy’ that you are willing to recognize? Has the rule of Law become another nuisance, along with human rights, that needs to be swept aside for convenience?
Then I read of your statement that Honduras must:

“respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter. Any existing tensions and disputes must be resolved peacefully through dialogue free from any outside interference,”

and I get extremely concerned that there is cognitive dissonance at work. And before I know it, the 1-2 punch is completed with Secretary of State Clinton again, saying:

“We call on all parties in Honduras to respect the constitutional order and the rule of law, to reaffirm their democratic vocation, and to commit themselves to resolve political disputes peacefully and through dialogue.”

My worst fears confirmed, how is one to reconcile these positions with the facts on the ground? Honduras was following the letter of the law, and removed a President who was flouting the Constitution he was elected to defend. You pontificate about the rule of law, while attacking those who sacrifice to preserve it. What conclusions can a reasonable man draw from these contradictions?
In closing, when we fail to champion the causes of freedom and liberty (which are impossible without the rule of law), we lay the foundation of our own undoing. Please reconsider you stands, and be a voice for freedom, not an enabler of tyranny.

Thank you,
Crusader

Posted by Crusader at 05:50 AM | Comments (6)

June 16, 2009

A Thought From Crusader This Morning

...is a great idea.

"Man, how about Iran? Wearing a green shirt, for what it’s worth, but what is it with the Persians and Carters? (Or Carter-like Presidents)"

I don't think I own a green shirt (unthinkable for an Irish type, eh?), but I've got a green scarf. No one'll know but me, and that's okay.

UPDATE: Wahoo!! Found one and, strangely enough, the boss is in green, too! I explained to him why he was. {8^P

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:34 AM | Comments (1)

I Know the People of Iran Are Speaking to Us

...because I can read the signs.









I got the picture.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:24 AM | Comments (5)

June 15, 2009

Well I Fear We'll Find Out, Won't We?

Didn't Wile E. Biden say something about some kind of test

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea's communist regime has warned of a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula while vowing to step up its atomic bomb-making program in defiance of new U.N. sanctions.

The North's defiance presents a growing diplomatic headache for President Barack Obama as he prepares for talks Tuesday with his South Korean counterpart on the North's missile and nuclear programs.

...South Korea's Unification Ministry issued a statement Sunday demanding the North stop stoking tension, abandon its nuclear weapons and return to dialogue with the South.

On Saturday, North Korea's Foreign Ministry threatened war on any country that dared to stop its ships on the high seas under the new sanctions approved by the U.N. Security Council on Friday as punishment for the North's latest nuclear test.

It is not clear if the statements are simply rhetorical. Still, they are a huge setback for international attempts to rein in North Korea's nuclear ambitions following its second nuclear test on May 25. It first tested a nuclear device in 2006.

I'm sure Kim Jong Il is just pulling our leg for a few laughs. That card.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:47 AM | Comments (1)

June 12, 2009

My, Those UN Typewriters Will Be Hummin'

This weekend, just cranking out more of those effective strong letters of disapproval

WASHINGTON (AP) - North Korea may be preparing for its third nuclear test, a show of defiance as the United Nations considers new sanctions on the dictatorship for conducting an underground nuclear explosion in May, according to a U.S. government official.

..."We have come to expect North Korea to act recklessly and dangerously," NSC spokesman Mike Hammer said in a statement. "But while the world unites to pass a strong new Security Council resolution, it is clear that North Korea's behavior is succeeding only in further isolating itself."

President Barack Obama's special envoy on North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, said Thursday that the United States is determined to make sure the North faces serious consequences for its growing missile and nuclear threat.

Serious consequences, friends.

Maybe he'll make Kim go on Letterman.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:59 AM | Comments (6)

To Go "Nuclear" And Stand Up To The EU

...requires something that Brown hasn't got

Britain cannot veto the massive shift in regulatory power to Brussels now under way. Internal market laws are decided by qualified majority voting (QMV), and London has few friends in this fight.

What Gordon Brown can do at next week's EU summit it to play the Luxembourg card by invoking "vital national interest", if he is willing to risk a showdown with fellow leaders. This has no legal status. It is the political equivalent of a stamping bull, or a viper's rattle. It means back off, or we strike.

...Britain has long fudged matters in dealings with the EU, hoping that common sense will prevail, as it often does. But the assault on the City may be a line too far. London has been the centre of global finance for three hundred years. Either the British government controls the City, or the EU apparatus controls it. This cannot be fudged.

A set of stones.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:48 AM | Comments (2)

June 10, 2009

Hans Brix!

Here comes that letter to Kim Jong Il telling him how angry the UN is

NEW YORK (CNN) -- The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council have agreed on a resolution that would expand and tighten sanctions on North Korea, two senior Western diplomats at the United Nations said Wednesday.

The permanent members -- China, France, Russia, Britain and the United States -- reached the agreement in consultation with Japan and South Korea.

The council began discussions late Wednesday morning. A vote is possible Thursday or Friday, according to several diplomats, including French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert.

The agreement comes amid rising tension with North Korea, which recently conducted a nuclear test, fired test rockets, and threatened U.S. and South Korean ships near its territorial waters. The nuclear test and the firing of six short-range rockets same in late May.

(That spelling error in the last sentence is in the original CNN story, btw; I guess CNN'c editors have the same level of training as UN Nuclear inspectors)

That sound you hear is the NKs rolling on the ground in laughter. But don't despair! The One has set his laser-like focus on cash-for-clunkers...whilst Kim is focused on clash-from-bunkers.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:21 PM | Comments (3)

June 07, 2009

That Took Some Nerve!

Bravo to Lebanese voters and may we support you against Hezbollah with everything we have.

BEIRUT — Lebanon's pro-Western coalition declared victory early Monday, as local television stations reported the faction had successfully fended off a serious challenge by the Shiite militant group Hezbollah and its allies to grab the majority in parliament.

Official results for Sunday's election were not expected until later Monday, but the winners were already celebrating by shooting in the air, setting off fireworks and driving around in honking motorcades.

The election was an early test of President Obama's efforts to forge Middle East peace. A win by Hezbollah would have boosted the influence of its backers Iran and Syria and risked pushing one of the region's most volatile nations into international isolation and possibly into more conflict with Israel.

And I wouldn't say it's Obama's efforts, but a result of Bush's democracy mantra.

But, hey. Who are we kidding and this is no time to quibble.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:51 PM | Comments (4)

June 05, 2009

Oy

The French government expressed deep disappointment Friday over the news that ocean debris recovered by the Brazilian military this week appeared to be the remains of a shipwreck and not from an Air France jet that crashed in the South Atlantic on Monday

Crap. And if THAT'S true, who were the poor guys on the boat?

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:25 AM | Comments (0)

June 02, 2009

It's Always Dicey to Invite Someone to Your Party

...who enjoys hurting your feelings.

In a new overture to Iran, the Obama administration has authorized U.S. embassies around the world to invite Iranian officials to Independence Day parties they host on or around July 4th.

A State Department cable sent to all U.S. embassies and consulates late last week said that U.S. diplomats could ask their Iranian counterparts to attend the festivities, which generally feature speeches about American values, fireworks, hot dogs and hamburgers.

This guy just kills me.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:52 AM | Comments (5)

June 01, 2009

BREAKING: Air France Flight "Drops Off Radar"

This is not good

(CNN) -- A French passenger aircraft carrying 228 people has disappeared from radar off the coast of Brazil, airline officials say.

Air France told CNN the jet was traveling from Rio de Janeiro to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris when it vanished.

Update: Early reports

Initial indications were that the plane, an Airbus A330, encountered severe turbulence off the coast of Brazil, people who were briefed on the situation said Monday. They said they did not know whether this contributed to the plane’s disappearance.

and

Air France said in a statement the plane sent an automatic message reporting an electrical short-circuit at 0214 GMT, roughly 15 minutes after flying into the turbulence.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:19 AM | Comments (5)

May 27, 2009

You Know, I Have To Say The French...

...are growing on me

Registered as a religion in the United States, with celebrity members such as actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta, Scientology enjoys no such legal protection in France and has faced repeated accusations of being a money-making cult.

The group's Paris headquarters and bookshop are defendants in the case. If found guilty, they could be fined €5 million ($7 million) and ordered to halt their activities in France.

Seven leading French Scientology members are also in the dock. Some are charged with illegally practising as pharmacists and face up to 10 years in prison and hefty fines.

I'll have to go out and buy more "Freedom" wine...

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:10 AM | Comments (2)

May 26, 2009

Strong Letter To Follow

Most Glorious Leader finally set one off

SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- North Korea fired two short-range missiles from its east coast Tuesday -- a day after conducting a nuclear test -- South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported, citing a South Korean official.

"The North is continuing its saber-rattling," the unnamed official said.

The firings came a day after the reclusive communist state conducted a nuclear test and fired another short-range missile.

So now NK has been allowed to go nuclear. Don't you feel safe? But don't worry!

The U.N. Security Council condemned Monday's nuclear test as a "clear violation" of international law.

...At the United Nations, Security Council members took about an hour Monday to express their unanimous condemnation of the move. Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin called Monday's test "very serious" and said it "needs to have a strong response."

The UN has their best scribes scribbling furiously even now on a very strongly worded response.

And in the vigilant tradition of UN-o-philes everywhere our own Glorious Leader is expressing "grave concern"

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Monday that nuclear and missile tests conducted by North Korea were a "grave concern to all nations" and a legal violation that warranted action by the international community.

"North Korea's attempts to develop nuclear weapons, as well as its ballistic missile program, constitute a threat to international peace and security," Obama said in a statement after Pyongyang conducted a nuclear test and reportedly fired a short-range missile.

I mean, I really hate to quibble, but, dude, NK is not "attempting" to develop nukes; they have developed them.

The nuclear test was a major diplomatic challenge to Obama at a time when he is facing a global economic crisis and working to curb Iran's nuclear enrichment program, which the West fears is aimed at producing nuclear arms but Tehran says is for energy.

Obama vowed when he took office to extend a hand to troublesome countries "willing to unclench your fist" but so far he has had little success with North Korea or Iran, which have continued to advance their nuclear programs and showed little interest in renewed dialogue.

And why should they stop? They know the West has now lost it's spine and will do nothing but issue strong letters to dissuade them.

Sorry Japan. You're SOL.

Once again Trey Parker and Matt Stone are five years ahead of the asswipes at Foggy Bottom.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:32 AM | Comments (9)

May 21, 2009

Presbyterian Update: Terror Plot Broken Up

Oops, sorry, I meant "Man-Caused Disaster Averted"

The FBI and NYPD busted a four-man homegrown terror cell Wednesday night that was plotting to blow up two Bronx synagogues while simultaneously shooting a plane out of the sky, sources told the Daily News.

The idea was to create a "fireball that would make the country gasp," one law enforcement said.

Little did they know the plastic explosives packed into their car bombs and the plane-downing Stinger missile in their backseat were all phony - supplied by undercover agents posing as Pakistani militants linked to Al Qaeda.

And why was this MCD plotted?

"They wanted to make a statement," a law enforcement source said. "They were filled with rage and wanted to take it out on what they considered the source of all problems in America - the Jews."

The group's alleged ringleader, James Cromitie, according to the complaint, discussed targets with an undercover agent. "The best target [the World Trade Center] was hit already," he allegedly told the agent. Later, he rejoiced in a terrorist attack on a synagogue.

"I hate those motherf-----s, those f---ing Jewish bastards. . . . I would like to get [destroy] a synagogue."

A great note of thanks to the FBI and other law enforcement folks involved in averting this. Any other info on these Presbyterians?

Sources said the four men were arrested after a year-long investigation that began when an informant connected to a mosque in Newburgh said he knew men who wanted to buy explosives.

...The suspects - three U.S.-born citizens and one Haitian immigrant - at least three of whom were said to be jailhouse converts to Islam, were angry about the deaths of Muslims in Afghanistan, sources told The News.

You don't say. Well, neither does CNN. To their credit MSNBC, ABC News and CBS all mention that seemingly relevant information.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:32 AM | Comments (10)

May 19, 2009

This Is Pretty Cool

The "Missing Link" has perhaps been found

Scientists have unveiled a 47-million-year-old fossilised skeleton of a monkey hailed as the missing link in human evolution.

This 95%-complete 'lemur monkey' is described as the "eighth wonder of the world"

The search for a direct connection between humans and the rest of the animal kingdom has taken 200 years - but it was presented to the world today at a special news conference in New York.

The discovery of the 95%-complete 'lemur monkey' - dubbed Ida - is described by experts as the "eighth wonder of the world".

They say its impact on the world of palaeontology will be "somewhat like an asteroid falling down to Earth".

Researchers say proof of this transitional species finally confirms Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, and the then radical, outlandish ideas he came up with during his time aboard the Beagle.

If this turns out to be true I'm sure there will be many folks who will proclaim that this "proves" religion to be false, but it does nothing of the sort. I have a strong Christian faith but I've never had any problem with evolution or science in terms of them being "incompatible" with my religion.

I can see the Almighty trying to figure out a way to explain molecular biology to the ancient Hebrews and thinking "you know, I better go with the Genesis bit..."

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:57 AM | Comments (18)

May 18, 2009

Yes, Yes We Cancun

A room with a flu

Hotels in Mexico’s coastal resort of Cancún, one of the world’s most popular getaways, are adopting extreme measures as holidaymakers scramble to cancel bookings in the wake of the swine flu scare.

Visitors to one hotel, The Royal, are being offered a “flu-free guarantee”: anyone who contracts the flu virus within 14 days of checking out gets three free annual holidays.

Discounts abound elsewhere in Cancún, where Bestday, a Mexican-based internet broker, says four in five of the 31,000 hotel rooms it monitors in the city – and in the Riviera Maya coast to the south – are empty. The figure was one in five before the outbreak.

I'm sure their bookings were already down due to the economic mess.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:57 AM | Comments (1)

April 24, 2009

In Case Anyone Was Wondering Where the "Blame the USA" Count Stood

...Hillary upped it by one yesterday during her testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee:

Even as she came out strongly against the Pakistani establishment for lagging willingness to take head on the terrorists, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday said that the US was also partly responsible for the present mess as it virtually abandoned Pakistan after the Soviets left Afghanistan.

Yes, you heard that right. We done it.
Of course, she took the free shot at Bush, too, while basically admitting they have no clue either.

...Clinton defended Obama's effort to engage diplomatically with Iran, calling it a reasonable alternative to what she called a failed Bush administration policy.

"We tried the policy of total isolation for eight years," she said in a rising voice, "and it did not deter Iran one bit. The nuclear program has continued unabated. They weren't supporting Hamas before. They are supporting Hamas now."

Clinton said it remains unclear whether international pressure on Iran will compel it to change course.

Yup. That's us!

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:13 AM | Comments (4)

April 21, 2009

And Then the Circus

...came to town.

Pirate Suspect's Dad Says Voyage Was Boy's 1st

Of course it was.

...the pirates lied to his son, telling him they were going to get money.

Of course they did.

The family is penniless, he said.

Of course they are.

"He just went with them without knowing what he was getting into," Muse said.

Of course he did.

Argh.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:46 AM | Comments (7)

April 16, 2009

Hell's Angels Rampage Finally Over in Ca...

...NADA?!? Gotta say, them outlaw bikers had some fine cribs.

Police wipe Hells Angels off Quebec map

When about 2000 police officers yesterday rounded up 156 Hells Angels and their associates from across the province, what they were really doing was indulging in some belated spring cleaning.

Eight years after police stormed the barricades of the Hells Angels Nomads and swept up 139 outlaw bikers in an unprecedented action that came to be known as Operation Springtime 2001, police finally have finished the job.

The final chapter of the great biker war that from 1994 to 2002 saw 164 murders is about to unfold in a new series of mega trials.

Who'd a' thunk it? (I'd like to think we would have acted on the carnage a little swifter. And I'm sure y'all correct me if I'm wrong.)

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:02 PM | Comments (1)

April 13, 2009

"This Could Escalate Violence..."

What mumbly jumbly gibberish from an Admiral

Reports suggest talks with the pirates stalled on Saturday because US officials insisted that the pirates be arrested and brought to justice.

Admiral Gortney said the military end to the hostage incident might raise the stakes for pirates in the region.

"This could escalate violence in this part of the world, no question about it," he told reporters.

In Eyl, a pirate stronghold on the Somali coast, one self-proclaimed pirate said the US navy had become the "number one enemy".

I can think of three pirates who won't be escalating squat any more.

Well done, SEALs, and well done Mr. President in allowing them to protect our citizens.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:13 AM | Comments (11)

April 05, 2009

"You Bad!"

"You badBadBAD!!!"

That pretty much sums up our President's reaction.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:34 PM | Comments (2)

March 18, 2009

Hard Times

...couldn't happen to a nicer group of folks.

Iran is being forced to divert funds from other sectors of its national budget to support its oil industry — its main revenue source — because of the low price of crude, the nation's oil minister said Thursday.

Oil production is the main source of Iran's income, and Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari's comments revealed an extra burden on the country ahead of key elections in which popular dissatisfaction with falling living standards is expected to play a large role.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:31 AM | Comments (0)

March 13, 2009

They Push Prod And Push...

the new, wet behind the ears kid on the block

A potential conflict was brewing last night in the South China Sea after President Obama dispatched heavily armed American destroyers to the scene of a naval standoff between the US and China at the weekend.

Mr Obama’s decision to send an armed escort for US surveillance ships in the area follows the aggressive and co-ordinated manoeuvres of five Chinese boats on Sunday. They harassed and nearly collided with an unarmed American vessel.

Washington accused the Chinese ships of moving directly in front of the US Navy surveillance ship Impeccable, forcing its crew to take emergency action, and to deploy a high-pressure water hose to deter the Chinese ships. Formal protests were lodged with Beijing after the incident.

On a day that Mr Obama and his senior officials met the Chinese Foreign Minister, Yang Jiechi, in Washington, Beijing showed no sign of backing down. Its military chiefs accused the unarmed US Navy ship of being on a spying mission.

I can't say that I've seen something so far in Obama's handling of anything that gives me confidence he'll handle a "situation" with our largest creditor with anything approaching aplomb.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:30 AM | Comments (2)

March 03, 2009

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Obama tells the Russians that if they get Iran to say they're not planning to nuke Europe then he'll ixnay the missile defense

MOSCOW, March 2 (RIA Novosti) - Washington has told Moscow that Russian help in resolving Iran's nuclear program would make its missile shield plans for Europe unnecessary, a Russian daily said on Monday, citing White House sources.

U.S. President Barack Obama made the proposal on Iran in a letter to his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, Kommersant said, referring to unidentified U.S. officials.

Iran's controversial nuclear program was cited by the U.S. as one of the reasons behind its plans to deploy a missile base in Poland and radar in the Czech Republic. The missile shield has been strongly opposed by Russia, which views it as a threat to its national security. The dispute has strained relations between the former Cold War rivals, already tense over a host of other differences.

I know I'll sleep better at night, in a hopey/changey kind of way, knowing the Iranians have given their word.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:18 AM | Comments (4)

February 20, 2009

Gee, Who Could Have Seen This Coming?

I'm shocked, shocked I tell you

Iran has built up a stockpile of enough enriched uranium for one nuclear bomb, United Nations officials acknowledged on Thursday.

In a development that comes as the Obama administration is drawing up its policy on negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear programme, UN officials said Iran had produced more nuclear material than previously thought.

They said Iran had accumulated more than one tonne of low enriched uranium hexafluoride at a facility in Natanz.

If such a quantity were further enriched it could produce more than 20kg of fissile material – enough for a bomb.

“It appears that Iran has walked right up to the threshold of having enough low enriched uranium to provide enough raw material for a single bomb,” said Peter Zimmerman, a former chief scientist of the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.

Boy, we better give them a stern talking to now, eh?

And maybe get Hans Brix to write a strong letter.

Now I'm definitely drinking this weekend.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:54 AM | Comments (7)

February 15, 2009

Aw, Dagnabbit! I Never Realized

Is that really what he's been doing all this time?

...Chavez, who has been a decade in power spending freely on schools and clinics for the poor and opposing U.S. influence in Latin America, says he needs at least another 10 years for his revolution to take root in South America's top oil exporter.

Thinking only of widows, children and the poor.

I'm ashamed for being so judgemental.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:04 PM | Comments (4)

February 04, 2009

Ivan Fires Another Shot Across The One's Bow

The Bear growls, and the country whose name sounds like an angry growl jumps

CNN) -- The Kyrgyz government is planning to close a strategically important U.S. military base that Washington uses as a route for troops and supplies heading into Afghanistan, Russian media reported Tuesday. A U.S. troop guards the main access checkpoint to the Manas Air Base on December 18, 2008.

Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said Tuesday at a news conference in Moscow that "all due procedures" were being initiated to close Manas Air Base, the Russian news agency RIA-Novosti reported.

The announcement was made after news reports of a multimillion-dollar aid package from Russia to Kyrgyzstan.

... The United States pays about $63 million a year for use of the base and employs more than 320 Kyrgyz citizens there, Petraeus said. The base has been in operation since December 2001 under U.N. mandate

The Russian newspaper Kommersant reported Tuesday that Russia would offer Kyrgyzstan a $300 million, 40-year loan at an annual interest rate of 0.75 percent, and write off $180 million of Kyrgyz debt.

I'm just not feeling this new era of world-wide love for Obama and America that I was promised.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:58 AM | Comments (6)

January 06, 2009

The Russian Bear Is No Longer Passing Gas

That's not as good news as you might think

LONDON, England (CNN) -- A natural gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine escalated Tuesday when Ukraine accused the Russian supplier of blocking pipelines to Europe, and three European countries said their supply from Russia had been cut or reduced.

Ukraine's state-run gas company said Gazprom, the Russian energy giant, had reduced the amount of natural gas flowing through Ukraine to nine mostly Eastern European countries.

... Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey told CNN on Tuesday that their supplies of Russian natural gas had been affected.

A spokesman from Bulgaria's Ministry of Economy and Energy told CNN the supply was halted because of the Russia-Ukraine dispute. And a spokesman for Romania's Economic Ministry told CNN it had suffered a 75-percent reduction "as a direct result of the dispute."

A Turkish Energy Ministry spokesman told CNN that Russian gas supplied to Turkey through Ukraine had been completely cut. The country was raising supplies of gas from another pipeline in order to compensate, he said.

Russia's plans to flex her energy muscles have been severely crimped by the collapse in energy prices, as have her treasury and planned military expenditures. I would not be surprised to see her tighten the screws on the recalcitrant orbit nations even further.

Update: Here are some further thoughts on the problems Russia is facing:

Is there some wild card out there that could make the global economic mess even worse?

For months now, my attention has focused on Russia. The country is big enough, and its problems serious enough, that it could take the global crisis to a new level of danger.

The good news is that Russia is in much better shape than it was the last time it shuddered into crisis, in 1998. The bad news is that Russia's current problems bear an eerie resemblance to those that took the country into default, led to the fall of a once-popular political leader and forced the U.S. Federal Reserve to organize a bailout in order to prevent a panic in the global financial markets.

Read the whole thing.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:51 AM | Comments (6)

January 05, 2009

Wedgwood Breaks

Heavily in debt firm shocked to discover that people aren't buying expensive pottery

In 1987 it merged with the similarly well-known Waterford Crystal to create Waterford Wedgwood, an Irish-based luxury brands group.

But BBC business editor Robert Peston has said it was "no surprise" that the heavily indebted firm had floundered.

"Waterford Wedgwood's collapse is a resonant event, that speaks of a noxious global squeeze on consumer spending," he said.

"Almost everything that it manufactures is a nice-to-have rather than a must-have.

"And most of us are thinking twice about shelling out on nice-to-haves."

A lot of us are thinking twice about shelling out on must-haves, as well.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:44 AM | Comments (5)

December 19, 2008

Cry Me A River

The best laid plans of Mice and Putins gang aft a-gley

MOSCOW (AP) - Russia would come under crippling financial pressure and may need to raise money externally if oil languishes at an average of $30 a barrel over the next two years, the World Bank predicted Friday.

The bleak scenario would mark a rapid unraveling of Russia's oil-fueled economic gains over the past eight years, during which time the government has paid down most of its foreign debt and built up a vast stockpile of international reserves.

"If oil prices in 2009 and 2010 average $30 a barrel, that would be a nightmare scenario for a global economy," Zeljko Bogetic, the World Bank's chief economist in Russia told investors on Friday. "The pressures on the current account and public finances in Russia would quickly rise to a point where the financing constraint would become so sharp that it's possible even to envisage Russia's return from a creditor to international organisations to (that of) a borrower."

Chavez better not count on too much help.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 03:00 PM | Comments (4)

Why Don't They Just Sink The Damn Thing?

I'm sure this will really teach the pirates a lesson

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Pirates holding a ship full of tanks and ammunition off the coast of Somalia are likely to be paid millions of dollars in ransom within days, senior U.S. military officials said.

The pirates have been holding the Ukrainian-operated, Belize-flagged MV Faina and its 20-person crew in the Gulf of Aden since September 25.

Military officials said the cash payment will be brought on the ship, directly to the pirates. Such a procedure is common because of the lack of electronic banking in Somalia.

The officials would not say how much ransom is being paid or who is paying it because it would be up to the individuals or company to make that announcement.

...The ship is laden with Soviet-era tanks, tank artillery shells, grenade launchers and small arms.

It's also currently laden with pirates, who may have small arms or even small feet, and should be sunk along with all of them.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:46 AM | Comments (11)

December 11, 2008

Some Sobering Thoughts On Greece And The EU

There are strains that can no longer be papered over

Without wanting to rehearse all the pros and cons of euro membership yet again, or debate whether EMU is a "optimal currency area", there is obviously a problem for countries like Greece that were let into EMU for political reasons before their economies had been reformed enough to cope with the rigours of euro life - over the long run.

In the case of Greece, of course, Athens was found guilty by Eurostat of committing "statistical achemy" to get into the system - ie, they lied about their deficits.

Be that as it may. Greece's euro membership has now led to a warped economy. The current account deficit is 15pc of GDP, the eurozone's highest by far. Indeed, the deficit ($53bn) is the sixth biggest in the world in absolute terms -- quite a feat for a country of 11m people.

I fear things will get much worse before they get better in a lot of places.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:34 AM | Comments (3)

December 10, 2008

Today Is Human Rights Day

So declared 60 years ago by the UN, and re-affirmed today by President Bush.

Let us pause a moment to be thankful for the blessings we enjoy and for those who guard them for us, but always remember that the most important guardians are not those in uniform but are in fact every citizen of this country. It is you and I, Dear Readers, who must be eternally vigilant in our defense of our precious and blessed liberty. We merely have to look but 90 miles off our coast to see the horrors of human oppression writ large.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:34 AM | Comments (1)

December 08, 2008

Riots Continue In Greece

Geesh, what a mess

Fresh clashes have broken out between police and protesters in at least three Greek cities, after the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old boy by police.

About 300 students battled police in Thessaloniki, while protests turned violent in Trikala and Piraeus.

Five demonstrations are planned in major cities later, including a mass rally by the Communist Party in Athens, where Saturday's shooting occurred.

Two police officers have been arrested in connection with the boy's death.

One of them, who is accused of murder, said he fired a warning shot and that the boy was killed by a ricochet, but witnesses told Greek television that the officer aimed directly at the boy.

Anarchists have been looking for any excuse to riot and cause mayhem, and they are helped by Greece's constitution

Hundreds of students clashed with riot police in Greece's second biggest city of Thessaloniki in a third day of rioting on Monday.

Students at the city's Aristotle university spent the night holed up on campus stockpiling missiles and petrol bombs before taking to the streets, says the BBC's Malcolm Brabant in Athens.

He says they then retreated safe in the knowledge that they could not be followed as Greece's constitution strictly prevents the authorities from entering the grounds of schools, universities and polytechnics.

The Prime Minister is very weak, having only the slimmest of majorities in parliament, so expect the government to fall any day now.

Why wait for the seas to rise up and cover us when so many seem willing to submerge themselves?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:05 AM | Comments (4)

December 03, 2008

Ah, Those Suave, Sophisticated Germans

So cultured! So refined! And, as European Unionists in the very highest of standing, so sensitive and attuned to the subtle nuances of different cultures from their own.

Like, for instance, that happy-go-lucky party-til-you-drop playground that is Afghanistan

First they were accused of not wanting to fight. Then they were blamed for failing in their main mission to train the Afghan police.

Now Germany’s battered military reputation has received a further humiliating blow. According to official reports, the 3,500 troops in northern Afghanistan drink too much and are too fat to fight.

A German parliamentary report has revealed that in 2007 German forces in Afghanistan consumed about 1.7 million pints of beer and 90,000 bottles of wine. During the first six months of this year 896,000 pints of beer were shipped to German forces in Afghanistan. British and U.S. bases in the country enforce a strict ban on alcohol.

For those of you keeping track at home that works out to about 2 bottles of beer a day each, every day, all year. And a bottle of wine every other week.

Now imagine the outcry if those "insensitive cowboys" of the US brought a single drop of booze into Afghanistan.

(via The Real JeffS)

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:45 PM | Comments (4)

December 01, 2008

Uh-Oh

India has raised it's security level to "war level"

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The fallout from a three-day rampage that killed nearly 200 people in Mumbai threatened on Sunday to unravel India's improving ties with Pakistan and prompted the resignation of India's security minister.

New Delhi said it was raising security to a "war level" and had no doubt of a Pakistani link to the attacks, which unleashed anger at home over the intelligence failure and the delayed response to the violence that paralyzed India's financial capital.

And of course the Pakistanis are trying to drag us in

Officials in Islamabad have warned any escalation would force it to divert troops to the Indian border and away from a U.S.-led anti-militant campaign on the Afghan frontier.

Not a good situation.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:53 AM | Comments (11)

If Each Night In Bangkok Is Like A Year In Any Other Place

Then how awful must a week stuck in the airport be?

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - The vacation is over for tens of thousands of tourists in Thailand. But they can't go home.

The Hotel California-like drama began Tuesday when anti-government protesters shut the country's primary international airport. The following day they moved in on the capital's domestic airport, grounding all commercial flights in and out of the city.

About 100,000 people have been stranded by the closures, dealing a severe blow to the country's reputation as a safe and reliable vacation destination. Officials project the tourism industry's losses from now until the end of the year will balloon to about 150 billion baht ($4.2 billion), equal to 1.5 percent of gross domestic product.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:48 AM | Comments (1)

November 28, 2008

Breaking Report: All Hostages Dead At Jewish Center?

God-damned bastards.

MUMBAI, India - A group of Indian commandos left Mumbai's Jewish center on Friday after a massive explosion rocked the building in the wake of an airborne assault on militants believed to be holding up to nine hostages.

The blast blew out windows in neighboring buildings and left the area cloaked with thick smoke. Local television reported the standoff was in its final stages.

Update: CNN is saying 5 dead and this rather cryptic phrase: "CNN's Indian sister network, CNN-IBN, also reported the deaths and said the siege at the center -- Chabad House -- was close to ending."

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:48 AM | Comments (0)

Madness In Mumbai Continues

My heart just goes out to those poor folks.

MUMBAI, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Indian commandos fought to regain control of Mumbai on Friday, more than 24 hours after heavily armed militants killed at least 119 people and wounded more than 300 others in coordinated attacks in the commercial capital.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pinned blame for the attacks on militant groups based in India's neighbours -- usually an allusion to Pakistan -- raising prospects of renewed tension between the nuclear-armed rivals.

He warned of "a cost" if these nations did not take action to stop their territory being used to launch such attacks.

An estimated 25 men armed with assault rifles and grenades -- at least some of whom arrived by sea -- fanned out across Mumbai on Wednesday night to attack sites popular with tourists and businessmen, including the city's top two luxury hotels.

The chaos seems to continue and the death toll keeps climbing.

Utterly horrible.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:39 AM | Comments (0)

November 27, 2008

Sober Thoughts On India And Australia

From our dear friend Tim.

IF the aim of yesterday's hideous attacks in Mumbai was to weaken those forces vowed to destroy terrorist evil, then the attacks will prove a stunning failure.

We are with you guys.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:29 PM | Comments (0)

"We Have To Appease Them"

Well, I guess I'll give this ass points for clearly saying what he thinks

(CNN) -- The Indian city of Mumbai exploded into chaos early Thursday morning as gunmen launched a series of attacks across the country's commercial capital, killing scores of people and taking hostages in two luxury hotels frequented by Westerners. Deepak Chopra says extremists could be reacting to Barack Obama's gestures toward Muslims.
CNN's Larry King spoke with author Deepak Chopra about the situation.

Deepak Chopra:... The situation is complex, Larry, because it could inflame to proportions that we cannot even imagine. It has to be contained. We now recognize that this is a global problem, with only a global effort can solve this.

And you know, one of the things that I think is happening is that these militant terrorist groups are actually terrified that [President-elect Barack] Obama's gestures to the rest of the Muslim world may actually overturn the tables on them by alienating them from the rest of the Muslim world, so they're reacting to this.

You know, this is Obama's opportunity to actually harness the help of the Muslims.

You know, there's 1.8 billion Muslims in the world. That's 25 percent of the population of the world. It's the fastest-growing religion in the world. We cannot, if we do not appease and actually recruit the help of this Muslim world, we're going to have a problem on our hands.

And we cannot go after the wrong people, as we did after 9/11, because then the whole collateral damage that occurs actually aggravates the situation.

In India, this is particularly inflammatory, because there's a rise of Hindu fundamentalism. We saw what that did in Gujarat, where, you know, Muslims were scorched and they were killed, and there was almost a genocide of the Muslims.

See, everyone knows that the Hindus and Muslims lived in perfect harmony until Chimpy McBushhitler, right? Ass.

Continuing on as a learned philosopher, Chopra then quotes from the Holy Book of Bill Maher

Chopra: Because it's an oxymoron. It's an oxymoron, Larry, a war on war, a war on terrorism.

You know, terrorists call mechanized death from 35,000 feet above sea level with a press of a button also terror. We don't call it that, because our soldiers are wearing uniforms. They don't see what is happening, and innocent people are being killed. So, you know, terror is a term that you apply to the other.

King: Thanks, Deepak Chopra, as always, extraordinarily enlightening

Yes, extraordinarily enlightening, indeed.

Asshat.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:16 AM | Comments (18)

November 26, 2008

Terror Attacks In Mumbai

Simply horrible

Mumbai: In one of the most violent terror attacks on Indian soil, Mumbai came under an unprecedented night attack as terrorists used heavy machine guns, including AK-47s, and grenades to strike at the city's most high-profile targets -- the hyper-busy CST (formerly VT) rail terminus; the landmark Taj Hotel at the Gateway and the luxury Oberoi Trident at Nariman Point; the domestic airport at Santa Cruz; the Cama and GT hospitals near CST; the Metro Adlabs multiplex and Mazgaon Dockyard -- killing at least 80 and sending more than 900 to hospital, according to latest reports.

The attacks have taken a tragic toll on the city's top police brass: The high-profile chief of the anti-terror squad Hemant Karkare was killed; Mumbai's additional commissioner of police (east) Ashok Kamte was gunned down outside the Metro; and celebrated encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar was also killed.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:27 PM | Comments (1)

October 31, 2008

"Melamine"

It's actually Mandarin for "quality inspection"

The toxic chemical melamine is probably being routinely added to Chinese animal feed, state media has reported.

Correspondents say the unusually frank reports in several news outlets are an admission that contamination could be widespread throughout the food chain.

...The problem widened last weekend when the authorities in Hong Kong reported that melamine had also been detected in Chinese eggs.

Four brands of eggs have since been found to be contaminated, and agriculture officials speculate that the cause was probably melamine-laced feed given to hens.

Melamine is high in nitrogen, and the chemical is added to food products to make them appear to have a higher protein content.

..."The feed industry seems to have acquiesced to agree on using the chemical to reduce production costs while maintaining the protein count for quality inspections," the state-run China Daily said in an editorial.

"We cannot say for sure if the same chemical has made its way into other types of food," the newspaper added.

The BBC seems to think this problem just started this fall, when in fact it surfaced nearly two years ago when melamine-tainted pet food started killing animals all across the US. It has also been found in Chinese chocolate products, especially those that used the tainted milk powder, which led to huge recalls throughout Asia these past few months.

I can assure you that if you happen to have a Chinese agricultural product in your inventory right now you can not give the stuff away.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:46 AM

October 21, 2008

Zionist Spy Pigeons!

Maybe they read The Protocols Of The Elders Of Flyin'

Security forces in Natanz have arrested two suspected "spy pigeons" near Iran's controversial uranium enrichment facility, the reformist Etemad Melli newspaper reported on Monday.

One of the pigeons was caught near a rose water production plant in the city of Kashan in Isfahan province, the report cited an unnamed informed source as saying, adding that some metal rings and invisible strings were attached to the bird.

"Early this month, a black pigeon was caught bearing a blue-coated metal ring, with invisible strings," the source was quoted as saying of the second pigeon.

"The beaks on these two are especially pronounced," continued the source, who noted that the invisible strings could also have been used to haul away small children for neocon rituals and Neil Diamond concerts.

The source gave no further description of the pigeons, neither their current status nor what their fate will be.

Squab has been sighted on several area menus.

This is what it sounds like when Dov cries...

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:08 AM | Comments (6)

October 13, 2008

Who's Your Buddy? Who's Your Pal?

And who could turn out to be your worst nightmare?

Iceland, with IMF deal in works, turns to Russia

Icelandic officials are in Moscow on Tuesday for talks on an emergency loan that could be worth billions of euros, the country's latest attempt to raise cash to help save its economy from collapse.

...An official from Iceland's central bank said a delegation from the bank and government left for Russia on Monday to begin talks on the emergency loan, a move that has raised questions about Russia's motives and what price Moscow might extract.

Putin makes Tony Soprano look like a rank amateur.

Say "goodnight", Iceland.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:51 PM | Comments (7)

August 21, 2008

I Guess There's No Price to Be Paid

...by foreign governments breaking U.N. sanctions.

Iraq and China will sign a deal next week to develop the Ahdab oil field, restoring an agreement that was canceled after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, an Iraqi spokesman said Thursday.

...Saddam Hussein's regime defied United Nations sanctions that limited direct dealings with Iraq's oil industry and signed a deal in 1997 with the state-owned China National Petroleum Corp.

That contract, worth $1.2 billion, gave a subsidiary of the Chinese company concessions to develop the field on a production-sharing basis for 22 years.

The new agreement will be a service contract, under which China will not be a partner in profits and instead will be paid for its work.

Once the contract is signed, it will be the first Saddam-era oil deal to be honored by the new Iraqi government. A number of companies say they signed deals with Saddam's regime and demand that those be honored, or the countries involved be given priority on new agreements.

How is it American companies are the only ones getting screwed, when we paid for the freakin' war to begin with?

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:01 AM | Comments (5)

August 18, 2008

It Does Display a Certain Lack of Reverence and Respect

...for them.

The International Olympic Committee should punish Russia by moving the 2014 Winter Olympics out of Sochi, Russia, the co-chairs of the congressional House Georgia Caucus said.

Reps. Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa., and Bill Shuster, R-Pa., said in a joint statement they plan to file a resolution declaring that Russia’s movement of troops into Georgia on the eve of the Beijing Olympics makes it an unacceptable country to host the games.

“It is practically and financially untenable to hold the 2014 Winter Olympic Games less than 20 miles from a zone of conflict, particularly when the prospective host country has played a significant role in the escalation of that conflict,” according to a draft of the resolution.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:39 PM

August 14, 2008

I Think I'm Turning Beijing-ese, I Think I'm Turning Beijing-ese

...I really sing-so.

Spanish basketball red-faced over slit-eyed Olympic photo

I never really quite get how Americans are always painted as the big, insensitive, racist cowboy ASSholes.

Really. I don't.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:47 AM | Comments (11)

August 12, 2008

Russia Halts For The Moment

Medvedev says "Goals attained"

According to a statement, Mr Medvedev told his defence minister and chief of staff that "the goal has been attained".

"I've decided to finish the operation to force the Georgian authorities to peace. The safety of our peacekeeping forces and civilian population has been restored," he said.

As has the fear of a resurgent Russia amongst European leaders.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:51 AM | Comments (5)

August 11, 2008

Russia Has No Problem With Blood For Oil

They know where the power lies

The war in Georgia escalated dangerously last night after Russian jets reportedly bombed a vital pipeline that supplies oil to the West.

After a day of heightening international tensions, Georgian leaders claimed that the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which transports oil from the Caspian Sea to Turkey, had been attacked. But it is thought the bombs missed their target.

Their claims came after Russian jets struck deep into the territory of its tiny neighbour, killing civilians and ‘completely devastating’ the strategic Black Sea port of Poti, a staging post for oil and other energy supplies.

But don't worry, because Obama said "war is baaaad, mm'kay?"

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:30 AM | Comments (5)

August 10, 2008

Ho Boy

Not good. Not good at all. The question of the hour is (to paraphrase Gary Coleman): "Whachoo gonna do now, Willis?"

Russia expanded its bombing blitz to the Georgian capital, deployed ships off the coast and, a Georgian official said, sent tanks from the separatist region of South Ossetia into Georgian territory, heading toward a border city before being turned back.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:38 PM | Comments (15)

Where's The Outrage?

Russia bombs apartment buildings and whole villages. They clearly are "shedding blood for oil." Time, of course, wonders "Has Georgia Overeached?" The NYT yawns and says "look at the big picture, the context."

Realistically, there's nothing we can do.

But where are the cries of condemnation, the street protests from those wonderfully superior populations of Europe?

Imagine the outcry had the US done something like this in, say, Chihuahua.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:00 AM | Comments (3)

August 08, 2008

War In Georgia

Not good at all.

DZHAVA, Georgia (AP) - Russia sent columns of tanks and reportedly bombed Georgian air bases Friday after Georgia launched a major military offensive to retake the breakaway province of South Ossetia, threatening to ignite a broader conflict.

Hundreds of civilians were reported dead in the worst outbreak of hostilities since the province won defacto independence in a war against Georgia that ended in 1992. Witnesses said the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali was devastated.

... Georgia, a staunch U.S. ally, has about 2,000 troops in Iraq, making it the third-largest contributor to coalition forces after the U.S. and Britain. But Saakashvili told CNN that the troops would be called home Saturday in the face of the South Ossetia fighting.

Georgia, which borders the Black Sea between Turkey and Russia, was ruled by Moscow for most of the two centuries preceding the breakup of the Soviet Union. Georgia has angered Russia by seeking NATO membership—a bid Moscow regards as part of a Western effort to weaken its influence in the region.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:44 PM | Comments (3)

More Oil Found In Brazil

I heard on the radio the find could be as much as Libya's fields

LONDON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - British gas producer BG Group Plc (BG.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Friday it had made a material new oil discovery off the coast of Brazil.

BG said its exploration well Iara, around 230 kilometeres off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, had discovered light crude oil and was the third well to find hydrocarbons in the area. (Reporting by Jonathan Cable; Editing by Louise Ireland)

Oil's already down $2.50 this morning.

Update: Some more info. And crude's down $3.50.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:49 AM

July 31, 2008

Shock: Chinese To Censor Internet During Olympics

The IOC stands tall yet again

BEIJING: The Chinese government confirmed Wednesday what journalists arriving at the lavishly outfitted media center here had suspected: Contrary to previous assurances by Olympic and government officials, the Internet would be censored during the upcoming games.

...On Wednesday - two weeks after its most recent proclamation of an uncensored Internet during the Summer Games - the International Olympic Committee quietly agreed to some of the limitations, according to Kevan Gosper, chairman of the IOC press commission, Reuters reported.

"Roll over and play dead" is their new motto.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:32 AM | Comments (4)

July 28, 2008

Change You Can Believe In

Remember when I was upset about Iran having 3000 centrifuges? No? Well, you're right; I shouldn't have been worried, because Ahmalamadingdong said I shouldn't.

So if 3,000 are fine for World Peace, then, hell, 6,000 should usher in a New Era of Peace and Prosperity

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's president said Saturday his country now possesses 6,000 centrifuges, a significant increase in its nuclear program that is certain to further rankle the United States and others who fear Tehran is intent on developing weapons.

The new figure is double the 3,000 uranium-enriching machines Iran had previously said it was operating.

Now, Iran claims these are for 'peaceful purposes,' which nice people in the West assume to mean power plants; no bombs, really.

Except that what the centrifuges are producing can't be used in the nuclear plants that Iran has.

It can, of course, be used in nuclear bombs, but as Iran has said they aren't making them we, as the Europeans have, should discard that possibility and, er, write them a stern letter or something to make them change their ways.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:03 AM | Comments (0)

July 06, 2008

Poetry

...of a different meter.

...a grossly mishandled cock-up...

I don't agree with the sentiment per it's target, but dang. You have to hand him the 'spoken-as-I-see-it' trophy.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:58 PM | Comments (3)

July 02, 2008

Breaking News

headline on CNN: Former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and 3 Americans have been rescued from rebels, a Colombian official says.

This is great news. Uribe has done a fantastic job against these terrorists, and deserves as much help as we can give him.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 03:31 PM | Comments (8)

June 30, 2008

I Thought The Point Was The Oil?

At least that's what I learned from all the "no blood for oil" bumper stickers. It seems to me we've given some blood, so let's get that oil flowing

A group of American advisers led by a small State Department team played an integral part in drawing up contracts between the Iraqi government and five major Western oil companies to develop some of the largest fields in Iraq, American officials say.

The disclosure, coming on the eve of the contracts’ announcement, is the first confirmation of direct involvement by the Bush administration in deals to open Iraq’s oil to commercial development and is likely to stoke criticism.

You would think that as the bastion of evil capitalism in the world we might have some useful experience on drawing up contracts...and honoring them.

Though enriched by high prices, the companies are starved for new oil fields. The United States government, too, has eagerly encouraged investment anywhere in the world that could provide new oil to alleviate the exceptionally tight global supply, which is a cause of high prices.

"Anywhere" being defined as "anywhere outside the US where we can get screwed by other countries."

But any perception of American meddling in Iraq’s oil policies threatens to inflame opinion against the United States, particularly in Arab nations that are skeptical of American intentions in Iraq, which has the third-largest oil reserves in the world.

Oh no! The Arab Street will suddenly lose their love and great affection for us! Forsooth!

“We pretend it is not a centerpiece of our motivation, yet we keep confirming that it is,” Frederick D. Barton, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said in a telephone interview. “And we undermine our own veracity by citing issues like sovereignty, when we have our hands right in the middle of it.”

Yes, it's such a "centerpiece" that it's taken us over 5 years to get around to it.

The advisers say they were not involved in advancing the oil companies’ interests, but rather treated the Oil Ministry as a client, the State Department official said. “I do not see this as a conflict of interest,” he said. A potential area of criticism, however, is that only Western companies got the bigger oil contracts. In particular, Russian companies that have experience in Iraq and had sought development contracts are still waiting.

The Russians have far too much experience and involvement with Saddam. Bummer for them.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:44 AM | Comments (0)

June 26, 2008

I Know Heller's the Big News This Morning

...but DAMN !!

... North Korea handed over its long-awaited nuclear program declaration to officials from China earlier Thursday, which led the six-nation talks that hammered out the conditions of the agreement.

The declaration is expected to contain details on North Korea's plutonium stockpile. North Korea will also continue preparations to publicly dismantle a controversial nuclear reactor -- key steps meant to ease international fears about nuclear activities in the Communist nation.

Bush said he will call for the lifting of sanctions against North Korea under the Trading with Enemy Act and notify Congress that he intends to take it off the terror list, a move that will take 45 days.

"The next 45 days will be an important period for North Korea, to show its ... cooperation," he said. But, North Korea will have to end its nuclear activities in a "verifiable" way, he added.

Remembering the good old days fondly...

[2007] President George W. Bush’s administration is “the worst in history” when it comes to international relations, former President Jimmy Carter said Friday, taking aim at the White House’s policy of pre-emptive war and its Middle East diplomacy.

[2006] Solving the Korean Stalemate, One Step at a Time by Jimmy Carter

What must be avoided is to leave a beleaguered nuclear nation convinced that it is permanently excluded from the international community, its existence threatened, its people suffering horrible deprivation and its hard-liners in total control of military and political policy.

[2006] Jimmy Carter: Bush Trashed N. Korea Peace Effort

Proving, yet again, that one man's trash...is another man's treasure.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:49 AM | Comments (1)

June 24, 2008

I Do Feel Sorry For These People, I Really Do

But how damned stupid are they?

(CNN) -- Pirates took four European tourists hostage after their yacht ran out of fuel off the coast of northern Somalia in the Red Sea's Gulf of Aden, according to a Somaliland official.

The pirates then took their hostages -- a man, woman, their child and their yacht's pilot -- into hills around the fishing town of Las Qoray, said Ahmed Yusuf Yasin, vice president of the self-declared Republic of Somaliland.

Given all the press about pirate activities around the playland paradise that is "Somaliland," what kind of moronic idiots would charter a yacht and take their kid on a little cruise...and then run out of gas?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:45 AM | Comments (4)

June 16, 2008

Think Of This When You Pay $4 A Gallon

"I'm not being mean"

A Devon petrol station is charging drivers more than £1.99 a litre - or about £9 a gallon - for petrol and diesel as drivers clamour for fuel.

The Foxhayes station at Exwick near Exeter has put all grades of petrol and diesel up to £1.99 a litre.

The manager said the move was to conserve stocks and said he was not being mean.

It follows a four-day strike by Shell tanker drivers in an industrial dispute over pay.

£9 a gallon. That's $17.70.

And he's worried about being thought "mean"?

Heh.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:47 PM | Comments (2)

June 11, 2008

Gazprom: Oil To Hit $250 Next Year

That would make life rather...messy, wouldn't it?

The Russians undermined Opec's attempts to talk down the oil market yesterday by warning that crude prices could almost double to $250 a barrel within 18 months.

The prediction from Alexey Miller, chairman of Gazprom, came as the price of oil leaped $2.75 to $137.10 a barrel even though Opec insisted everyone was already "panicking" unnecessarily and stressed there were no shortages.

...Analysts said the latest Russian energy estimates were hard to support and noted they were not backed up with specified research data. "It's crazy... maybe they know something we don't," said one. Abdullah al-Badri, the secretary general of Opec, had earlier appealed for calm. "Really we need some calm. We are panicking too much," Badri told a global energy summit. "The situation is unbearable as far as we are concerned. I want to say, there is no shortage now and in the future."

Yes, yes, it really must be unbearable for your, poor Abdullah. I mean, just what the hell do you do with all those dollars? I certainly would be quite flummoxed if my income doubled in a year.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:10 AM | Comments (0)

June 09, 2008

Boss Tweed

...is shutting the mill

The owner of a mill which produced 95% of all Harris Tweed has ceased production for the rest of the year.

Brian Haggas told the BBC he would make no more tweed until the end of the year, depending on demand.

The decision raises doubts about the future of his remaining 40 staff and 130 weavers who depended on the mill on Lewis for their livelihood.

The weavers said the situation had never been so bleak and fear many of them will have to leave the industry.

Cloth produced at the former Kenneth Mackenzie mill has gone into making tweed jackets.

With close on 70,000 jackets now ready, Mr Haggas said he would not weave any more cloth until the end of the year.

The prices have just gotten crazy on this stuff, so I'm not surprised that sales are slow.

And I have to say, having a staff of 40 in addition to 130 weavers seems a bit top-heavy from an overhead point of view.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:42 AM | Comments (0)

June 05, 2008

I Could Use This Shot

I'm sure I out-produce any mere farm animal

New Zealand scientists claim to have developed a "flatulence inoculation" aimed at cutting down on the massive amount of methane produced by its sheep and cows.

Such animals are believed to be responsible for more than half of the country's greenhouse gases, causing huge environmental problems.

But Phil Goff, New Zealand's trade minister, told an Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) in Paris yesterday that a solution was in sight.

"Our agricultural research organisation just last week was able to map the genome ... that causes methane in ruminant animals and we believe we can vaccinate against" flatulent emissions, Mr Goff said.

...The 45 million sheep and 10 million cattle in New Zealand burped and farted about 90 percent of that country's methane emissions, according to government figures.

I make the cheese and I can cut it too!

I love how genetically modified food stuffs are ok when Gaia is involved, but not when people are starving.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 03:09 PM | Comments (2)

June 02, 2008

Hey Sis...

Could you lend me a few quid?

Britain's banks faced a black Monday today as a £4 billion shares sell-off was prompted by a major lender warning of plunging profits.

Bradford & Bingley's drastic trading statement said more customers will fall into arrears and at one point it was forced to suspend shares. When trading resumed they fell by 25 per cent to 66p - dragging down the value of the "big five" banking giants.

B&B, the country's biggest buy-to-let lender, said it expected profits to be badly hit because house prices were falling far more than expected.

Our Motto: "It's your money. Give it to me."

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:58 PM | Comments (4)

Prominent Anti-Gun Advocate...

stabbed to death in the UK

A prominent anti-gun campaigner has been stabbed to death at a flat in West Yorkshire.

The body of Pat Regan, 53, was discovered at the property on Marlborough Grange in the Hyde Park area of Leeds on Sunday.

Mrs Regan, a mother-of-six, started campaigning against gun crime after her son Danny was shot dead in 2002.

A 20-year-old man, a family member, has been arrested. Police said post-mortem tests would take place later.

Mrs Regan's son Danny, 25, became involved in criminality and was shot at his then home in Haydock, near St Helens, Merseyside. His killer has not been found.

As Sis said below...yeesh.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:55 AM | Comments (4)

May 30, 2008

On the Cutting Edge

Yeesh.

Knife violence in London is now running as high as gun warfare in some US cities, it is claimed today.

"Gun warfare"? That's a little harsh, although they do mention Los Angeles.

But they've got a fix-it plan!

...He said there was a real "potential" for surgeons and doctors to help in the fight against crime through a variety of schemes - such as doctors visiting schools to talk about knife injuries.

Whew! That'll turn the little miscreants around, especially since they've shown a real aptitude for learning life's lessons already...

...He described how, on occasions, the wards in his hospital resembled "a war zone" with some patients being treated for their second or third knife wound.

Brilliant! I wonder if they count Islamic honor killings as part of the total?

Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:42 PM | Comments (10)

May 27, 2008

Eight Years Of Bush And Rove: Marauding Nazis Openly Take To The Street

And attack immigrants. The racist, hating Bastards. You knew it would come to this.

In Rome.

Balaclava-clad gangs, some wearing bandanas emblazoned with swastikas, smashed shop windows with iron bars and baseball bats and beat up shopkeepers in a hitherto bohemian neighbourhood of Rome.

Members of the gangs shouted “Get out, bastard foreigners” as they attacked Bengali shopkeepers in the explosion of xenophobic violence.

And Naples.

Italian police began a nationwide round-up of nearly 400 illegal immigrants from the Balkans and North Africa yesterday in the midst of a series of arson attacks on Roma gypsy camps in the suburbs of Naples.

The first step in a drive on crime promised by the new centre-right government of Silvio Berlusconi targeted temporary encampments on the outskirts of cities from Naples to northern Italy. Some 118 people held in the operation were ordered to be expelled immediately for offences ranging from drug dealing and robbery to prostitution.

But in Naples local people have anticipated the new policy, taking the law into their own hands.

This week’s assaults on Roma shanty towns by scores of youths on scooters and motorbikes wielding iron bars and throwing Molotov cocktails were sparked off by the capture of a 17-year-old Roma girl who last weekend entered a flat in Ponticelli and tried to steal a 6-year-old girl. Chased by the mother and neighbours, she had to be rescued by police from being lynched.

The city erupted in fury, with local women leading the marches on the Roma camps to the chant of “Fuori, fuori [Out, out]”. Night after night young men — allegedly acting on the orders of powerful local clans of the Camorra, the Naples Mafia — have set the sites ablaze, blocking attempts by the fire brigade to put out the fires, with exploding gas canisters completing the destruction. The women jeered at the firemen, shouting, "You put these fires out, we start them again”.

My god, it sounds like the horrible anti-immigrant racist scene we see here in the States every single day.

Not.

Remember the Mantra: the Europeans are our Betters. We want them to like us.

Repeat ad infinitum.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:08 AM | Comments (6)

May 23, 2008

I'm Shocked, Shocked To Find Gambling Here!

(here are your winnings, Sir)

Oh, thank you very much.

OPEC chief Abdala El Badri on Thursday said members were unhappy with surging prices he blamed on speculators and a weak US dollar.

"We are not very happy with this increase in oil prices," said El-Badri during a visit to Ecuador.

"Volatility has nothing to do with the fundamentals. It has nothing to do with world demand," he said, stressing that a dropping dollar was driving prices higher.

Oh yes, we hateses these higher oil prices, we do!

Gimme a break. You're loving every second of it, you bastard.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:29 AM | Comments (2)

May 19, 2008

Well, Good On 'Em

Oh, those cagey generals ~ letting all the neighbors through the door just in time to carry back to their countries all those lovely biblical, epidemic diseases.

Myanmar relents, will allow relief help

Military junta to permit neighboring countries to over see aid distribution

Domination by elimination ~ sounds like a plan to me! Pass a high energy biscuit over here!

Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:47 PM | Comments (2)

May 16, 2008

The Burmese Horror Keeps Growing

Now it's reached 78,000

The official death toll for Burma's cyclone disaster has jumped to almost 78,000 people, with nearly 56,000 missing, according to state TV.

Previously, Burma was giving a toll of 43,000 dead and 28,000 missing while the Red Cross and United Nations had estimated a death toll above 100,000.

Aid agencies are frustrated at the slow progress of aid to areas worst hit.

Cyclone Nargis battered southern regions of Burma, including the Irrawaddy Delta, on 2-3 May.

A BBC reporter in the delta this week saw little sign of official help and foreign aid workers have been barred from the area.

Foreign aid workers barred. Jesus H. Christ. I can understand Chinese reluctance, as they have millions of troops able to help out with their earthquake relief, but these bastards in Burma? Oh wait, they say everything is honky-dory now

Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein has announced that the "first phase of emergency relief" is over and that the focus is now on reconstruction.

Nothing to see here folks, move along.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:42 AM | Comments (5)

May 15, 2008

No Wonder The Von Trapps Left

So Long, Fare Well,
Auf Wiedersehen, Adieu
I'll take my axe
To you and you and yoo-u

(CNN) -- An Austrian man has confessed to killing five members of his family with an ax, Vienna police said Wednesday.

The man walked into a Vienna police station early Wednesday and told authorities he had killed his wife and 7-year-old daughter early Tuesday, police spokesman Michael Braunsperger said.

The man, a self-employed public relations consultant according to The Associated Press, said he had also murdered both his parents and his father-in-law in the cities of Ansfelden and Linz, respectively, the spokesman said.

Police found the five victims, who had all been killed with an ax, Braunsperger said. The man said his motive was "financial difficulties."

"He said he'd been speculating on the financial markets and had lost everything, so he ... wanted to spare his family the shame," Braunsperger said.

What a thoughtful guy. I wonder if that's a traditional Austrian saying: "Spare the shame and axe the child."

Austria certainly has had its share of wackos lately, hasn't it?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:17 AM

May 09, 2008

Burmese Bastards

My god, those poor people in Myanmar. The dictatorship is stealing the aid

The World Food Programme has halted aid shipments to Burma after the contents of its first delivery were impounded on arrival in the military-ruled country.

The UN body says the Burmese government seized aid material flown in to help victims of Cyclone Nargis, which has killed tens of thousands.

The WFP said it had no choice but to halt aid until the matter was resolved.

I'm sure the UN is getting ready a very strong letter even as we speak.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:29 AM | Comments (6)

May 08, 2008

Using Spain's Own Twisted, Rapacious Logic

Spain demands return of $500 million treasure
Court battle over U.S. deep-sea firm's shipwreck haul intensifies

Spain is demanding a U.S. deep-sea exploration firm turn over the entire $500 million treasure it salvaged from a shipwreck, saying Thursday it has determined the vessel is definitely Spanish.

James Goold, a Washington-based lawyer who represents the Spanish government, said the 19th-century shipwreck at the heart of a dispute with Odyssey Marine Exploration is without a doubt the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes — a Spanish frigate sunk by a British warship southwest of Portugal in 1804.

...WHY then wouldn't the wreckage technically be British because it's a war prize?

Don Massaredo: Mmm... I wonder if their excellencies realize they're setting free a man who will doubtless be a thorn in their side for many years to come.

Hornblower: I shall endeavor not to disappoint them. sir.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:33 PM | Comments (18)

May 06, 2008

Yesterday It Was 4,000

...today it's more than 22,000 dead

YANGON, Myanmar (CNN) -- A Myanmar government radio station said Tuesday that more than 22,000 people are dead and the U.N. estimates up to a million could be homeless after the catastrophic cyclone that battered the country.

A news broadcast on the state-run station said Tuesday that 22,464 people had been confirmed dead from Cyclone Nargis. The broadcast added that thousands more were missing.

How awful. And how awful that the military dictatorship there evidently was rather slow in getting storm warnings out to people.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:18 AM | Comments (4)

May 05, 2008

London's New Mayor

Born in New York

The 1990s were a decade of brilliance for Boris, capped in 1999 with the editorship ofThe Specator.He was still only 35 but this prize was far from the limits of his ambition. As a youngster, he once confided to a friend that he would like to be President of the United States. (His birth in New York made this possible, albeit ludicrous).

So long Red Ken!

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:04 AM | Comments (1)

April 29, 2008

Sometimes It's Amazing How Ironic Irony Can Be

Crusader pointed this out to me; it's just too funny

Police in southern China have discovered a factory manufacturing Free Tibet flags, media reports say.

The factory in Guangdong had been completing overseas orders for the flag of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

Workers said they thought they were just making colourful flags and did not realise their meaning.

Hehehehehehe.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:03 AM | Comments (2)

April 22, 2008

Floating Down To Rio

If you were a Brazilian priest who wanted to raise money for a spiritual rest-stop for truckers, wouldn't you naturally strap hundreds of helium party balloons to yourself?

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) -- A Roman Catholic priest who floated off under hundreds of helium party balloons was missing Monday off the southern coast of Brazil.

Rescuers in helicopters and small fishing boats were searching off the coast of Santa Catarina state, where pieces of balloons were found.

The Rev. Adelir Antonio de Carli lifted off from the port city of Paranagua on Sunday afternoon, wearing a helmet, thermal suit and a parachute.

He was reported missing about eight hours later after losing contact with port authority officials, according to the treasurer of his Sao Cristovao parish, Denise Gallas.

He was emulating Ken's favorite, Larry Walters, but Larry had the "sense" to use weather balloons and not freakin' party balloons, by which I assume they mean those flimsy Mylar things.

Not surprisingly, things did not go as planned for the new Dumont

According to Gallas, the priest soared to an altitude of 20,000 feet (6,000 meters) then descended to about 8,200 feet (2,500 meters) for his planned flight to the city of Dourados, 465 miles (750 kilometers) northwest of his parish.

But winds pushed him in another direction, and Carli was some 30 miles (50 kilometers) off the coast when he last contacted Paranagua's port authority, Gallas said.

He disappeared over the ocean.

Like Nena sang

99 dreams I have had, In every one a red balloon, It's all over and I'm standin' pretty, In this dust that was a city, If I could find a souvenir, Just to prove the world was here, And here is a red balloon, I think of you and let it go

Godspeed, Padre.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:00 AM | Comments (11)

April 21, 2008

What If One Day There Is

...no daily bread?

Could we really run out of food?

...The very idea that the modern world could run out of food seems ludicrous, but that is the flip side, or cause, of the tremendous recent increase in the cost of raw wheat, corn, rice, oats and soybeans. Food prices are not escalating because speculators have run them up for sport and profit, but because accelerating demand in developing nations, biofuel production and poor harvests in some areas have made basic foodstuffs truly scarce.

...Most unusual about this phenomenon, according to BMO Financial Group strategist Don Coxe, is that until now, food crises in world history were regional concerns that arose from crop failures, war or pests. Once global trade of grains got going in the 19th century in a major way, food shortages in one country were ameliorated by imports, he said. What's happening now is a lack of supply everywhere at once.

Hungry people are cranky people.

And then they get desperate.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:20 AM | Comments (5)

Praise The Lord...

...but pass on the ammunition

MOSCOW, Russia (AP) -- A Moscow court on Monday sentenced a U.S. pastor to more than three years in prison for smuggling hunting ammunition into Russia.

Phillip Miles admits bringing the shells into Russia but said he did not bother to check if Russian laws differed from U.S. laws.

Phillip Miles, from South Carolina, has been in custody since his arrest on Feb. 3. He was arrested several days after customs agents at a Moscow airport found a box of 20 rifle shells in his luggage.

The court sentenced him to serve three years and two months in prison, with the sentence calculated from his detention date.

Ignorance is certainly no excuse, and I certainly would have checked on Russia's laws before trying this, but Jeez Luise 3 years is a lot for 20 rounds.

Update: This story gets a little odder. It seems that they at first just confiscated the rounds but let him continue on his trip, only to arrest him a few days later on his way back. Is that normal practice? One would think they would have arrested him when they found the contraband.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:02 AM | Comments (2)

April 15, 2008

I Am Normally Loathe to Suggest This, But...Listen to the Iraqis!!!!!

Listen. To. The. Iraqis.
Please.

Differences have emerged between the U.S. and Iraq on how to deal with Shiite militant Muqtada al-Sadr, with the Americans appearing more willing than the Shiite-led government to concede a legitimate political role to the anti-U.S. cleric.

He's a bad, BAD guy.

Make him a grease spot. Please.

Before he turns around and bites you in the ass. Again.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:46 PM | Comments (8)

Energy News

Capt. Ed at HotAir has a couple of posts up this morning on some recent discoveries in energy. One is the finding of a large oil field off the coast of Brazil (something like the 3rd largest known) and another is on a potential process of converting sugar into hydrogen for power generation. This also has a Brazilian angle to it, as Brazil is far and away the largest cane sugar producer in the world (producing some 40% of the world's cane).

Now I know Fausta is very positive about Brazil's potential, and there's a lot of things on her side in this, but one always needs to remember the old adage about Brazil: It's the Country Of The Future...and it always will be. I love and adore Brazil, but it will never come close to its potential until it can reform its epidemic corruption, especially of its political class.

A perfect example of this showed up the other day. Brazil has long led the world in ethanol production and use in cars. I remember being in Rio in the mid-80s and seeing them for the first time and talking to folks about how hard they were to start on cold days (a problem they've since solved, at least for 'cold' as defined by Brazilians...). Anyhow, evidently Petrobras, which until about 10 years ago was state-owned and thus had a monopoly on oil production in Brazil, has been feeling the pinch in the internal gasoline market in Brazil, as due to the high world oil prices ethanol was cheaper than gas and so the Brazilian consumers were buying much more ethanol and forcing Petrobras to sell their excess gasoline production to foreign markets at a cheaper price.

So naturally Petrobras has lobbied/bribed legislators to raise the internal tax on ethanol from 3.5% to 21%.

Nice, huh?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:41 AM | Comments (2)

How Sad And...Pathetic, Really

via Tim, this story

A 33-year old Italian artist, Giuseppina Pasqualino, also known as Pippa Bacca, was found dead in Turkey on Saturday, after having been raped and murdered. Paqualino was hitchhiking towards Israel dressed in a wedding dress in an appeal for peace.

The woman was last seen on March 31 in the mainly industrial city of Gebze, while hitchhiking to Israel in the wedding dress as part of her "Brides on Tour" project aiming to plead for peace in conflict areas. She disappeared after using her credit card around noon. Police found her naked body hidden in bushes in a forested area near Gebze, after questioning the man suspected of the murder late Friday, the governor's office said.

Police tracked down the suspect when he switched on Pasqualino's mobile phone, having inserted his own SIM card, an Italian Embassy official said. The official asked not to be named because he was not authorized to give information on the police investigation.

Evidently she took pictures of the animal who did this and they found her camera in his house. Think what you will about the delusion of her ideals and "artistic vision" but she certainly didn't deserve such a fate.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:10 AM | Comments (4)

April 10, 2008

Something Old

...still giving up somehing new.

Archaeologists conducting the first dig at Stonehenge in decades say they have broken through to areas that could reveal the ancient English monument's original purpose.

...The team's archaeologists told the BBC that they uncovered a host of artifacts as they peeled back the layers of their 8.2-by-11.5-foot (2.5-by-3.5-meter) trench, including Roman ceramics, ancient stone hammers and a pottery



fragment from England's Neolithic Beaker culture.

WHOA! Bet they never saw THAT coming...

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:06 PM | Comments (1)

April 09, 2008

Let Me Refresh My Memory

"...was whisked to a secret location shortly after its pre-dawn arrival in San Francisco on Tuesday."

We ARE talking the torch, NOT Dick Cheney, right?

I was worried for a moment...

Posted by tree hugging sister at 06:44 PM

Can Someone Explain To Me...

Why I'm supposed to care about the Olympic Torch? The demonstrations in Paris, London and now I assume today in San Francisco are an embarrassment to all involved, and a damned expensive one to boot.

If you really want to affect Chinese policy stop buying all their crap and cut off their funds.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:20 AM | Comments (79)

April 03, 2008

La Evita Segunda

You can always tell when Argentina has economic unrest, because they always start up this stuff

BUENOS AIRES (AFP) - Argentina's claim to the Falkland Islands, which remain in British hands after the 1982 war between the two countries, is "inalienable," President Cristina Kirchner said Wednesday.

"The sovereign claim to the Malvinas Islands is inalienable," she said in a speech marking the 26th anniversary of Argentina's ill-fated invasion of the islands, located 480 kilometers (300 miles) off shore.

The April 2, 1982 invasion prompted then British prime minister Margaret Thatcher to deploy naval forces to retake the Falklands, known as the Malvinas in Spanish.

No, they're known as "Las Malvinas" in Argentina.

Gee, could this bloody flag waving couldn't be related to this is any way, could it? Fausta gives some clear and prescient background to La Evita Segunda's time-tested ploy.

Historians saw the invasion as an attempt by Argentina's ruling military junta, which was then in power, to divert attention away from domestic problems.

Thank goodness for those historians!

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:14 AM | Comments (12)

March 20, 2008

Osama and the Pope walk into a bar

Posted by Ebola at 01:20 PM | Comments (13)

March 05, 2008

A Test For Obama

A quick perusal of websites doesn't really give any indication where Obama stands on the current mess in South America? You would think the clear potential for a shooting war between Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela, with the added potential to engulf much of the continent, might be worthy of mention from someone who is offering "Hope" and "Change" for American Foreign Policy. As Sis linked to below, you've got Chavez sending hundreds of millions to a terrorist group, FARC, that has killed thousands in Colombia and was trying, it seems, to assemble materials for a dirty bomb. Chavez and Ecuador have mobilized their armies and have sent troops to the border with Colombia. Where are the words of support for Uribe from Obama (and Hillary)? It wouldn't surprise me if Obama, instead of calling Chavez the insane dictator that he is, says "Well, if George Bush didn't have us using so much oil Chavez wouldn't have all that money." The sole content of Obama's foreign policy plan appears to be "if Bush did it it's wrong." He wants to sit down at a table and talk to everyone. Now that would make a nice tableaux: Obama, Uribe, Chavez and Correa; hell, why not invite a FARC leader as well, all sitting around a fireplace inspired to sing "Kumbaya" by scout leader Obama.

Perhaps he'll change our motto to "Peace through superior speeches."

Pathetic.

And scary as hell.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:08 AM | Comments (3)

March 04, 2008

It's Bad News For the Rest of US When Your Sugar Daddy

...is named Hugo.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:56 AM | Comments (1)

February 29, 2008

"There Are No Angels in the Balkans"

...And in Muslim lands? There has been silence about American deeds in the Balkans. The drums of anti-Americanism are steady, and no one has stepped forth to acknowledge American mercy and American protection. Precious few, even in "moderate" Muslim lands, own up to the fact that Islam survived in Sarajevo only because American power rescued it from the Serbo-Croat campaign of the 1990s.

And yet today, in this tale of Kosovo, the willfulness in Muslim lands is easy to see. Whether Muslims acknowledge it or not, whether Americans themselves admit it or not, the Pax Americana is the provider of order of last resort in the lands of Islam.

I would say that has to stick in collective Islamic craws if I had any belief that Islamic craws were ~ in any fashion ~ capable of rational thought.

But they're not.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:36 AM | Comments (5)

February 21, 2008

BREAKING NEWS

Protesters break into U.S. embassy in Serbia
Support for Kosovo independence raised tensions with Balkan nation

A handful of protesters broke into the U.S. embassy in Belgrade on Thursday, cheered on by crowds outside, in a protest at U.S. support for Kosovo's independence.

Smoke was seen billowing from the building.

The embassy had been closed in anticipation of the demonstration. A spokesman for the State Department said there are no reports of any injuries to Americans, and only security personnel were present. Police were not protecting the building.

Not good. I'm wondering if the Marines are there and what their orders are. Touchy, touchy situation.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:08 PM | Comments (5)

February 18, 2008

In Their Defense, All That Wang Doodles Writing

...looks the same. Even NBA players get the wrong tattoos and, Lord knows, they've got more money than the FDA.

FDA looks at wrong plant in China

U.S. health officials evaluated the wrong factory when assessing the safety of a Chinese-made drug ingredient that may be a source of problems with a blood thinner, the Food and Drug Administration said Monday.

...The Chinese manufacturer was not inspected because it was confused with another company in the agency's database with a similar name, said Joseph Famulare, deputy director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research's compliance department...

Always, ALWAYS, take your time choosing a translator. Otherwise...

In January 2005, Tom Braman of GovTech News blog pointed out that, for its website, Seattle was paying "a California company, Systran, about $6,000 a year for use of [machine] translation software that takes the English version and currently allows people to view it in Russian, Japanese, French, German, Spanish and Italian."

Nonetheless, on the official state website for Seattle Secretary of State Sam Reed, his name was "Swampy Weed Reed" in a bungled Chinese translation. The line "Reed proposes statewide mandates to restore public trust" was translated into Chinese as "Swampy weed suggests whole state order recover open trust." The same line in Korean: "A plant reed proposes national mandate to recover public property trust."

BABELfish, indeed.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:06 PM | Comments (4)

February 13, 2008

The Manchurian Brides

Chairman Mao had a novel way to ease China's population boom

MAO Zedong proposed sending 10 million Chinese women to the United States, in talks with top envoy Henry Kissinger in 1973, according to documents released by the US State Department.

The Chinese dictator said he believed such emigration could kick-start bilateral trade but could also "harm" the US with a population explosion similar to China's, according to documents covering US-China ties between 1973 and 1976.

In a long conversation that stretched past midnight at Mao's residence on February 17, 1973, a cigar-smoking Mao referred to the dismal trade between the two countries, saying China was a "very poor country" and "what we have in excess is women".

Hey, at least they wouldn't have been covered with lead paint...

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 03:17 PM | Comments (5)

Danes And Other Europeans Standing Up For Freedom

Several papers across Europe have reprinted these cartoons following the arrest of several Presbyterians who were plotting to kill have a chat with one of the cartoonists. Shockingly, once again CNN, MSNBC and Fox News all wimp out and show none of the images.

The ArchIdjit of Canterbury was unavailable for comment.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:01 AM | Comments (6)

February 08, 2008

Here's A Glimpse Of Life In The UK...

if the buddies of the ArchMoron of Canterbury have their way as he proposes

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The images in the Basra police file are nauseating: Page after page of women killed in brutal fashion -- some strangled to death, their faces disfigured; others beheaded. All bear signs of torture.

The women are killed, police say, because they failed to wear a headscarf or because they ignored other "rules" that secretive fundamentalist groups want to enforce.

"Fear, fear is always there," says 30-year-old Safana, an artist and university professor. "We don't know who to be afraid of. Maybe it's a friend or a student you teach. There is no break, no security. I don't know who to be afraid of."

Her fear is justified. Iraq's second-largest city, Basra, is a stronghold of conservative Shia groups. As many as 133 women were killed in Basra last year -- 79 for violation of "Islamic teachings" and 47 for so-called honor killings, according to IRIN, the news branch of the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

What an asshat that guy is.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:35 PM | Comments (5)

February 07, 2008

So Let's See If I Understand

Your country has the highest crime rate among the leading economies of the world. So, obviously, the solution is to...reduce the number of police

Keeping police numbers at their current level is not sustainable over the next three years, the Chief Inspector of Constabulary has said.

In a report after a year-long review, Sir Ronnie Flanagan said many police jobs could be carried out more effectively by clerical staff.

More bureaucrats.

Yeah, there's a solution to street crime.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:00 AM | Comments (1)

January 29, 2008

Those Darn Presbyterians

No one seems to understand their peaceful ways

A 37-year-old Birmingham man has pleaded guilty to plotting to kidnap and kill a British soldier.

Parviz Khan, an unemployed charity worker, intended to seize and behead the unnamed Muslim serviceman "like a pig", Leicester Crown Court was told.

Three other men, Basiru Gassama, 30, Mohammed Irfan, 31, and Hamid Elasmar, 44, have admitted other offences connected with Khan's plot.

The court heard Amjad Mahmood, 32, and Zahoor Iqbal, 30, denied involvement.

The jury was told how Khan, of Alum Rock, intended to kidnap the soldier while on a night out, behead him in a lock-up garage and then release footage of the killing on the internet.

"Behead him like a pig." Nice.

Peaceful, even.

Mr Mahmood denies knowing about Khan's plot and failing to disclose information about it, while Mr Iqbal denies possessing a computer disc called Encyclopaedia Jihad, which would be likely to be useful to a terrorist.

I wonder if the "Encyclopedia Jihad" books are anything like the "Encyclopedia Brown" books I loved as a kid?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:24 AM

January 28, 2008

Breaking Hostage News In Pakistan

This doesn't sound good

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Militants took hostage up to 250 Pakistani schoolchildren in the northwestern town of Bannu on Monday, the interior minister said.

Police had earlier said about 25 children had been taken hostage after the gunman took refuge in the school following a clash with police.

"There are 200 to 250 children in the school and about seven militants. The provincial government is negotiating with them," Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz told Reuters.

Link from Hot Air.

Update: Now there's word they will free the hostages and 'surrender' to locale tribesmen.

Hmmm.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:33 AM | Comments (2)

January 23, 2008

Funny How You Only Ever Hear About

The wall that those nasty evil Zionist Israelis built; who knew that the Egyptians had built one too

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) - Tens of thousands of Palestinians poured from the Gaza Strip into Egypt Wednesday after masked gunmen with explosives destroyed most of the seven-mile wall dividing the border town of Rafah.

The Gazans crossed on foot, in cars or riding donkey carts to buy supplies made scarce by an Israeli blockade of their impoverished territory. Police from the militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, directed the traffic. Egyptian border guards took no action.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Arye Mekel said Israel has no forces on the Gaza-Egypt border and, "therefore it is the responsibility of Egypt to ensure that the border operates properly, according to the signed agreements."

I'm shocked that the Egyptians would have a wall segregating their Palestinian Brothers! And not do all within their power to end the "Israeli" blockade.

Gosh, it's enough to make one think that maybe, just schmaybe there might be something, shall we say, undesirable about the folks that even the Egyptians want to keep them out.

Egypt has largely kept its border with Gaza closed since the Hamas takeover, amid concerns of a spillover of Hamas-style militancy into Egypt.

However, Hamas has orchestrated daily demonstrations on the Gaza-Egypt border in an apparent attempt to appeal to Arab public opinion and pressure Egypt to open the passage.

You don't say.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:30 AM | Comments (1)

January 10, 2008

What's Bigger

The iPod Nano or the Tata Nano

Amidst all the glitz, glamor and horsepower that surround the Detroit auto show, we’d almost forgotten that a motor show was being held in New Delhi, India. The most notable unveiling, Tata’s Nano, is designed to carry a price tag below $2500 - and is virtually the antithesis of anything being shown in Detroit.

Looking not unlike the offspring of a Ford Th!nk and a Mitsubishi i, the Nano is a small, five-door, four-passenger hatchback. By small, we mean small; the car measures in at just under 3.1 meters (11 ft) long, and 1.5 meters ( 5 ft) wide. Nanos will be powered by a 623-cc gasoline engine (how many cylinders is currently unknown) capable of 33 horsepower. Coupled through a four-speed manual transmission, the micro car supposedly can reach a top speed of around 105 km/h (65 mph).

Looks like the engine is a 2 cylinder monster.

Who needs AC in India?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:54 AM | Comments (10)

December 28, 2007

Amazing Incompetence In Pakistan

This frankly stuns me. One of the country's leaders is assassinated...and the doctors don't perform an autopsy?

New Delhi: Mystery shrouds the death of former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto. In an explosive revelation, Pakistan's Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz on Friday said that Bhutto did not die of bullet wounds.

Nawaz said that Bhutto died from a head injury. At least seven doctors from the Rawalpindi General Hospital – where the leader was rushed immediately after the attack – say there were no bullet marks on Bhutto's body.

The doctors have submitted a report to the Pakistan government in which they say that no post-mortem was performed on Bhutto’s body and they had not received any instructions to perform one.

“The report says she had head injuries – an irregular patch – and the X-ray doesn’t show any bullet in the head. So it was probably the shrapnel or any other thing has struck her in her said. That damaged her brain, causing it to ooze and her death. The report categorically ssyas there’s no wound other than that,” Nawaz told a Pakistani news channel.

Are you kidding me? "Gee, no one told us to do an autopsy"? How could this possibly happen, given the huge political ramifications of her murder? How will the government possibly defend itself against the conspiracy theories that this will spawn is beyond me.

Is there some RoP prohibition against cutting open dead bodies? Mind you, that would be odd since there seems to be no such prohibition against blowing living bodies into little bits.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:25 AM | Comments (3)

December 27, 2007

Oh Shit, This Is Not Good In Pakistan

Benazir Bhutto has been killed.

Update: Maybe only critically injured. What a mess this will be.

Update: Other sources say dead.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:30 AM | Comments (9)

December 21, 2007

Putin On The Ritz

I'm shocked, shocked that there is corruption in politics! Oh, Mr. President, here are your winnings

An unprecedented battle is taking place inside the Kremlin in advance of Vladimir Putin's departure from office, the Guardian has learned, with claims that the president presides over a secret multibillion-dollar fortune.

Rival clans inside the Kremlin are embroiled in a struggle for the control of assets as Putin prepares to transfer power to his hand-picked successor, Dmitry Medvedev, in May, well-placed political observers and other sources have revealed.

At stake are billions of dollars in assets belonging to Russian state-run corporations. Additionally, details of Putin's own personal fortune, reportedly hidden in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, are being discussed for the first time.

...Citing sources inside the president's administration, Belkovsky claims that after eight years in power Putin has secretly accumulated more than $40bn (£20bn). The sum would make him Russia's - and Europe's - richest man.

In an interview with the Guardian, Belkovsky repeated his claims that Putin owns vast holdings in three Russian oil and gas companies, concealed behind a "non-transparent network of offshore trusts".

Putin "effectively" controls 37% of the shares of Surgutneftegaz, an oil exploration company and Russia's third biggest oil producer, worth $20bn, he says. He also owns 4.5% of Gazprom, and "at least 75%" of Gunvor, a mysterious Swiss-based oil trader, founded by Gennady Timchenko, a friend of the president's, Belkovsky alleges.

I wonder if he used Hillary's cattle trader?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:36 AM

December 19, 2007

Well Here's Good News For The UK

Guess what the Second Most Popular Teddy Bear Boy's Name was in Britain this year?

For the last 13 years it has reigned supreme as the most popular boy's name in the land.

But in multicultural Britain, children named after the Muslim prophet Mohammed could soon be outnumbering the long-time favourite Jack.

In a reflection of the increasing influence of Islam on UK society, figures released by the Office of National Statistics yesterday showed that the most popular spelling of the name - Mohammed - had climbed five places to 17th in the annual list of most popular baby names.

But when the seven other spellings of the name are taken into account, the total amounted to 6,347 babies, making it the second-most popular name of the year - up from 5,936 last year.

Not a very rosy outlook for Merry Olde Englande, I'm afraid. Here's a peek at Britain's "Pub of the Future"...

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 12:28 PM | Comments (4)

December 18, 2007

It Would Be Best If Someone Got a Handle

...on the situation. Sooner than later.

Turkish troops cross into Iraq

Hundreds of Turkish troops crossed into Kurdish territory in northern Iraq overnight, Iraqi officials said on Tuesday. A senior Iraqi military source said 300 lightly-armed Turkish troops had crossed the border and moved 1-2 miles deeper into Iraq on Tuesday morning in the Gali Rash area, a mountainous district near the border.

PKK needs to stand for Pac Kup and Kwit.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:49 AM

December 17, 2007

"Every Thing Is Fair And Just"

As King Abudullah pardons the poor girl who got raped

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has pardoned a female rape victim who had been sentenced to six months in prison and 200 lashes for being alone with a man who was not related to her, a Saudi newspaper reported Monday.

Saudi Justice Minister Abdullah bin Muhammed al-Sheik told al-Jazirah newspaper that the pardon does not mean the king doubted the country's judges, but instead acted in the "interests of the people."

"The king always looks into alleviating the suffering of the citizens when he becomes sure that these verdicts will leave psychological effects on the convicted people, though he is convinced and sure that the verdicts were fair," al-Jazirah quoted al-Sheik as saying.

What a guy he is. Really, a prince among men.

Well, a king, actually.

She was initially sentenced in November 2006 to several months in prison and 90 lashes for being alone in a car with a man with whom she was neither related nor married, a violation of the kingdom's strict segregation of the sexes.

Al-Sheik told al-Jazirah newspaper Monday that the king was the only official who could issue a pardon, and he did so despite the government's view that the Saudi legal system was "honest" and "fair."

"The king's order consolidates and confirms what is known about the Islamic courts," said al-Sheik. "Efficient judges look into different cases and issue their just verdicts and those convicted have the right to appeal."

Truer words were never written, al-Sheik old buddy.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:56 AM | Comments (2)

December 07, 2007

Hmmm, Since I Missed Out On The Lioness...

Maybe I can pick this up for my Bride

1279 Magna Carta expected to fetch $30 million

NEW YORK (AP) -- In the year 1215, a group of English barons handed King John a document written on parchment. Put your royal seal on this, they said. John did, and forever changed the relationship between the monarchy and those it governed.

The document was the Magna Carta, a declaration of human rights that would set some of the guiding principles for democracy as it is known today.

While that original edict was initially ignored and John died the next year, its key ideas were included in other variations over the next few decades, most notably the right of Habeas Corpus, which protects citizens against unlawful imprisonment.

More than 800 years later, about 17 copies survive, and one of those, signed by King Edward I in 1297, will go up for sale December 18 at Sotheby's.

The document, which Sotheby's Vice Chairman David Redden calls "the most important document in the world," is expected to fetch a record $20 million to $30 million.

While earlier versions of the royal edict were written and then ignored, Redden said, "the 1297 Magna Carta became the operative version, the one that was entered into English common law and became the law of the land," ultimately affecting democracies around the world.

Today, its impact is felt by perhaps a third of the world's people, he said. This includes all of North America, India, Pakistan, much of Africa, Australia and other areas that made up the British Commonwealth.

"When it's something as enormously important as this, you try to get a handle on it," he said. "It is absolutely correct to say the Magna Carta is the birth certificate of freedom. It states the bedrock principle that no person is above the law -- that is the essence of it."

Only two copies of the Magna Carta exist outside Britain, one in Australia and the one Sotheby's is auctioning off.

An earlier Magna Carta version was loaned by Britain to the United States for its bicentennial celebration in 1976, but suggestions that it be made a permanent gift were rejected.

The 1279 Magna Carta was forced on Edward I by barons unhappy over taxes imposed to pay for his military campaigns in France, Wales and against Scottish rebel William Wallace. The levies were approved in the king's absence by his 13-year-old son, Prince Edward.

Written in medieval Latin on sheepskin that after 710 years remains intact and legible, the 1297 Magna Carta was owned for five centuries by a British family that put it up for sale in the early 1980s.

From 1988 until a few months ago, it was exhibited in a custom-designed, gold-plated container at the National Archives in Washington, a few feet from its direct descendants, the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.

"As the only non-American document in there, many would love to see it go back" on display, said Redden, who will wield the hammer. He said the auction will be open to the public, but being a single lot sale, might not take longer than five minutes.

What a neat piece of history. I'd love for our government to frankly buy it. It would be a much better use of our tax money than the $70 million that Congress just spent on jets for themselves.

Now, I posted the full text of the article for two reasons. First, we were in DC this summer and actually saw this document, and it was very cool.

Second, with all we've been hearing from MSM folks about how professional they are and how many layers of checks and well-trained controls they have over us pajama types you'd think the all these highly trained competent fonts of veracity at CNN and the AP would be able to decide amongst themselves if this Magna Carta dates from 1279 or 1297.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:09 PM | Comments (4)

Man, Is Gaia Pissed At These Fools

And she lets them know

BALI, Indonesia (AP) -- An earthquake on Friday rattled Indonesia's resort island of Bali, where thousands of people were gathering for a U.N. climate change conference. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The 5.4-magnitude tremor was centered 150 miles southwest of Bali, the U.S. Geological Survey said on its Web site. It struck around 6 miles beneath the ocean floor.

The quake could be felt in Bali, where more than 10,000 people were attending a two-week conference about rising global temperatures, which scientists say could lead to severe droughts and flooding, melting ice caps and rising seas, and the extinction of animals.

The walls and floors of massive tents set up in a sprawling complex of five-star hotels shook for around 10 seconds, but officials said they did not have any reports of injuries or damage. The quake was not strong enough to trigger a tsunami warning.

It's not nice to fool Mother Nature.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:09 AM | Comments (2)

Remind Me Again How Evil The US Is?

Since 1976 the various US states have executed 1099 convicted murderers.

Since 1979 Iran has executed and estimated 4000 gays and lesbians, simply for being gay (the number of murderers executed is unknown but assumed by most observers to be rather large).

As Lawhawk points out, when you're dealing with a religion that gives the rape victim 200 lashes and prevents teenage girls from leaving a burning school to "protect their modesty" this is not to surprising.

But yeah, let's allow them to build a bomb.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:18 AM

November 27, 2007

Ah, Those Crazy "Youths" Of France

'Tis the Season to be jolly! Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la!

You can tell the Holidays are upon us, as the joyous gallic tradition of the Car-B-Q has returned

Dozens injured in Paris rampage

Rioting youths in Villiers-le-Bel
Rioting youths blamed the French police for the teenagers' deaths

Youths target police
Nearly 80 French police officers have been injured, six seriously, during a second night of riots by youths in the suburbs of Paris, police unions say.

The police say some officers suffered bullet wounds, while others were hurt by stones, fireworks and petrol bombs thrown at them in Villiers-le-Bel.

The youths said they were avenging the two teenagers killed when their motorcycle hit a police car on Sunday.

A senior union official said the riots had been more intense than in 2005.

The 2005 unrest, sparked by the accidental deaths of two youths, spread from a nearby suburb of Paris to other cities and continued for three weeks, during which more than 10,000 cars were set ablaze and 300 buildings firebombed.

In a bold move squarely aimed re-asserting the Police's authority and control the head of the national Police Union said, and I quote,

"Our colleagues will not allow themselves to be fired upon indefinitely without responding," he told the radio station, RTL.

I guess that means if a "youth" takes, say, 10 shots at the cops, well, youths will be youths you know, but if MakmudPierre fires say 30 shots then he'll get his falafelbaguette taken away lickity-split!

And the reason for these riots?

The youths said they were avenging the two teenagers killed when their motorcycle hit a police car on Sunday.

...The violence happened despite appeals for calm from the families of the two teenagers of Algerian origin whose deaths sparked the violence on Sunday evening.

A state prosecutor has ordered the National Police General Inspectorate (IGPN) - an oversight body - to carry out a detailed inquiry into the circumstances in which the two teenagers - named only as Moushin, 15, and Larami, 16, lost their lives.

Police sources have said that in Sunday's incident, the motorcycle was going at top speed and was not registered for street use, while the two teenagers were not wearing helmets and had been ignoring traffic rules.

Go figure: ride a motorcycle at high speed, don't wear a helmet, hit a car...and it's the Police's fault you die!

Here We Come A-Car-Oling...

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:04 AM | Comments (8)

Prince Saud: "No Jooo Jerms For Me!"

A nice mature bunch, these "allies" of ours

WASHINGTON, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's participation in the U.S.-sponsored talks on Middle East peace was seen as a diplomatic coup for the Bush administration but the kingdom has made clear there will be no handshakes with Israeli officials.

"We are not here for theater. We are here for the serious business of making peace. We are not here to give an impression that everything is normal," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told reporters on Monday, on the eve of the conference to be held in Annapolis, Maryland.

"We will not do anything that will divert from the seriousness of the occasion, (such as) shaking hands to give an impression of something that is not there," he said.

How many lashes do you get for shaking hands with Jooooos?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:02 AM | Comments (2)

November 25, 2007

Thanks John

Through thick and thin you've always been there to support us, and we appreciate your support. America could have asked for no firmer friend than Australia under your leadership.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:25 AM | Comments (2)

October 19, 2007

Horror In Pakistan

Damn Presbyterians

KARACHI, Pakistan - A top provincial security official said Friday that the suicide attack on Benazir Bhutto bore the hallmarks of an al-Qaida-linked, pro-Taliban warlord based near the Afghan border.

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf labeled the attack part of a "conspiracy against democracy," reaching out to the former prime minister with whom he is trying to forge a pro-U.S., anti-militant alliance.

The "signature at the blast site and the modus operandi" suggested the involvement of militants linked to warlord Baitullah Mehsud and al-Qaida, said Ghulam Muhammad Mohtarem, the head security official in the province where Mehsud is based.

...Officials at six hospitals in Karachi reported 136 dead and around 250 wounded, making it one of the deadliest bombings in Pakistan's history.

Unbelievable.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:52 AM

October 17, 2007

Estonia to Vlad:

"BITE me."

Russia on Tuesday accused Estonia, its small Baltic Sea neighbour, of "rudeness" and violation of a United Nations maritime convention by refusing permission for a seabed survey linked to the construction of a gas pipeline from Russia to western Europe.

Further diplomacy/bear wrastlin' on hold until the Russian president fulfills the remainder of his 9 week commitment to a Poughkeepsie Community Theatre 'Streetcar' revival.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:58 PM | Comments (21)

I Don't Know That I'd Be So Quick to Action

...in poison dart land.

Amazon: Activists Surrounded by Loggers

Hundreds of loggers and angry residents have surrounded eight Greenpeace members who tried to leave an Amazon town with a scorched tree trunk for an exhibit on global warming, the environmental group said Wednesday.

The activists are holed up in the makeshift headquarters of the federal environmental agency in the town of Castelo dos Sonhos, Greenpeace campaigner Andre Muggiati said.

"They are still surrounded and the situation is tense,"

he said by telephone.

It's like messin' with Sasquatch. You don't do it.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:28 PM | Comments (2)

October 05, 2007

Oh Goody

The bird flu is mutating

NEW YORK - The H5N1 bird flu virus has mutated to infect people more easily, although it still has not transformed into a pandemic strain, researchers said on Thursday.

The changes are worrying, said Dr. Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

"We have identified a specific change that could make bird flu grow in the upper respiratory tract of humans," said Kawaoka, who led the study.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:08 AM | Comments (5)

September 27, 2007

"Spins in His Grave Like an Iranian Centerfuge"

Charles is talking about Orwell in relation to this:

'Rewrite British history to reflect other cultures'

Thank God Nelson is already pickled.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:43 PM | Comments (5)

"Pathetic", Indeed

I agree with Insta, this is just...pathetic

In Vancouver, infidels can't smoke but Muslims can.

The surrender accelerates.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:00 AM | Comments (5)

September 21, 2007

Tim, I'm So...

Sorry

GEELONG beat Collingwood by five points in a classic AFL preliminary final, putting it within one win of its first premiership in 44 years.

The Magpies were again magnificent, but the Cats held on in a nail-biting finish at the MCG to win 13.14 (92) to 13.9 (87).

It's a Black Weekend Down Under, folks.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:40 PM | Comments (2)

September 19, 2007

Edwards Promised That Cripples Would Walk Again...

...If Kerry Was Elected, but even he must acknowledge that that pales next to Hugo Chavez' ability to raise the dead

CARACAS (Reuters) - A Venezuelan man who had been declared dead woke up in the morgue in excruciating pain after medical examiners began their autopsy.

Carlos Camejo, 33, was declared dead after a highway accident and taken to the morgue, where examiners began an autopsy only to realize something was amiss when he started bleeding. They quickly sought to stitch up the incision on his face.

Proof, my friends, of the superior health care that the socialist republic can provide to its happy citizens. Resistance is futile to Hillary's plan to bring these blessings to us.

There is a slight dark lining to this cloud, however

His grieving wife turned up at the morgue to identify her husband's body only to find him moved into a corridor -- and alive.

Dump the live ones in the hallway!

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:09 AM | Comments (3)

September 12, 2007

Hitchens On The Mealy-Mouthed Enablers

Via Hot Air's story on all this 9/11 hullaballo being due to "a misunderstanding", his latest piece in Slate

I had come here to defend atheism and secularism in general but also to have a debate with Tariq Ramadan, an Islamist academic domiciled in Geneva, who has emerged as the most sinuous and dexterous of the "interpreters" of Muslim fundamentalism to the West. He eventually declined our original debate, but there was nothing to stop me from attending his event and trying to re-stage our canceled confrontation from the floor.

After a few pointed questions we get to hear this slithery snake speak in the platitudes that the press loves. As Hitchens says, "Only six years on, and already the soft mainstreaming of Islamic imperialism is under way."

Sadly, it started on September 12th, 2001.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:12 AM | Comments (2)

September 06, 2007

Pope Benedict

...has been a busy boy.

ROME (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI and Israeli President Shimon Peres discussed Middle East peace efforts on Thursday, with both sides saying the atmosphere was favorable for Israelis and Palestinians to work to end decades of conflict.

... Shortly after the meeting, Benedict held talks on the Middle East situation with the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal.

... The Vatican has been campaigning for countries like Saudi Arabia to give greater rights to Christian minorities.

Benedict raised a similar issue in his talks Wednesday with the Syrian vice president, Farouk al-Sharaa, the Vatican said.

Would that others could be as accommodating...or cordial.

It's a shame this sort of thing goes without comment ~ people only seem to notice him when Islamic Rage Boys lose their ignorant, arsonist pea-brains over some obscure source he's quoted.

In any event, that's an amazing diplomatic visitors list for a 48 hour period. Someone needs to put this guy to work.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:21 PM | Comments (5)

August 31, 2007

On This Day in 1980

Oh, yeah.

Aug. 31-the Gdańsk agreement
The MKS presidium added an appendix to point four-concerning freedom for political prisoners-with the names of individuals arrested over the previous two weeks. Jagielski stated that they all would be released in 24 hours. At 5 p.m. Wałęsa and Jagielski signed an agreement between the governmental commission and the MKS, which already represented more than 700 factories. This marked the first major success by an independent organization in confrontation with the regime in the whole communist bloc. The Western media wrote of a "historic moment" and Moscow expressed serious concern.

Swill Salute to the Blogfaddah and Lead and Gold.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:00 PM

August 29, 2007

Greek Fire

Once the secret weapon of the Byzantine Empire it now may be a new weapon in Greek politics

ATHENS — More wildfires broke out and others rekindled Tuesday as anger rose over the government's handling of catastrophic blazes that have laid waste to vast stretches of the Greek countryside and killed at least 64 people.

The fires are dominating political debate ahead of parliamentary elections set for Sept. 16. Criticism that the government failed to respond quickly enough — and its suggestions that the fires resulted from an organized attack — could hurt Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.

... The devastation has infuriated Greeks, who already had been stunned by deadly forest fires in June and July and are complaining of an inadequate effort by the conservative government to confront the latest disaster.

The Sept. 16 ballot will be “the elections of rage,” the Athens newspaper To Vima said in a front-page headline.

... The government “has been woefully unable to deal with the major issue of the fires all summer,” said George Papandreou, the main opposition socialist leader. “Unfortunately, it didn't even manage to save people's lives, their property and their homes.”

The government's suggestions that the fires were the result of an organized plan of arson caused confusion and anger.

Public Order Minister Vyron Polydoras implied Sunday that a deliberate plan was in motion.

“We can say that this truly constitutes an asymmetric threat,” he said without offering any specifics. He said the Secret Service and anti-terrorism squad had joined police in investigating the blazes.

Mr. Karamanlis also implied arson was to blame, saying Saturday it could not be coincidence that so many fires broke out simultaneously in different areas.

The Greek Government is strongly implying that these fires are being set around the country by anarchists and socialists ahead of the upcoming elections, a horrific charge and one that really has awful implications for the Government if false and if true is even worse for the Left. It's one thing to blame others for your bureaucratic bumbling; it's quite another to kill for electoral gain.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:47 AM | Comments (2)

August 22, 2007

Now, By God, That's EENUFF!!

Martin Designs Inc. Recalls SpongeBob SquarePants™ Character Address Books and Journals Due to Violation of Lead Paint Standard

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

...Sold at: Retail stores nationwide from June 2006 through July 2007 for about $2.

Manufactured in: China

BAStards!!!

UPDATE: Oh, thank God. Maybe I can still get one!

Dangerous toys find second life on auction sites

Recalls don't prevent products from being sold on eBay, elsewhere

Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:08 PM | Comments (1)

Let's Play "Tit...

...for Tat", shall we? You knew this was coming.

China says it has found problems with U.S. soybean exports

This time, China says tainted products are coming from the other side of the Pacific.

After China's export credibility was battered with recall after recall, China is now saying it's found pesticides, poisonous weeds and dirt in shipments of imported U.S. soybeans.

Yawn.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:11 PM | Comments (9)

August 21, 2007

Possibly More Tainted Products

From a Chinese source

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. quietly stopped selling two brands of dog treats in July, after customers voiced concerns that the Chinese products may have caused their pets to fall ill, but no recall has been announced, a company spokeswoman confirmed.

The world’s largest retailer started pulling Chicken Jerky Strips from Import-Pingyang Pet Product Co. and Chicken Jerky from Shanghai Bestro Trading on July 26, spokeswoman Deisha Galberth said late Monday.

Wal-Mart also placed a computerized block on all cash registers to prevent workers from selling the products, Galberth said.

As an aside I have to admit it's pretty neat that they can put a company-wide block on the registers to halt sales of a product.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:25 AM | Comments (5)

August 16, 2007

The New Dean Scream

Yeeeeeee-aggghhh!!

OUTLOOK VALID 21/0600Z 20.0N 87.5W MAX WIND 115 KT...GUSTS 140 KT.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:25 AM | Comments (7)

August 15, 2007

A Pox On Chinese 'Goods'

Enough already. This latest toy mess is just the last straw, given the contaminated pet foods and other products they've shipped of late. While I doubt it will do much to their economy I'm going to look at the origin of every product I buy and if it says 'China' I will do my absolute darndest to avoid it. I only hope that I can find a higher-priced made in the US of A product to replace it. Call it knee-jerk, xenophobic, yawn, whatever. I'm tired of this crap and the companies here that collude with them.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:06 AM | Comments (8)

August 06, 2007

Torture Rears Its Ugly Head Yet Again

My, the corrosive tentacles of AmeriKKKa have spread their sinuous grasp across the globe per the orders of those theocratic Rovian pawns we so mindlessly adhere to. Or something to that effect.

But before you scoff, Gentle Reader, remember that words have consequences (and consonants. mostly). Look at how our poisoned and deranged leadership has corrupted even the most idyllic and bucolic of places

Police chiefs in the Thai capital, Bangkok, have come up with a new way of punishing officers who break the rules - an eye-catching Hello Kitty armband.

The armband is large, bright pink and has a Hello Kitty motif with two hearts embroidered on it.

From today, officers who are late, park in the wrong place or commit other minor transgressions will have to wear it for several days.

Menstruating interogatrixes

lead irrevocably to Hello Kitty.

The evidence is clear and irrefutable.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:27 AM | Comments (10)

July 18, 2007

The World's Most Convenient Busy Airport

Which is also why it's probably the most dangerous

Imagine LaGuardia sitting on a little hill in the center of Manhattan and that's Congonhas and these poor people

A passenger plane has crashed and burst into flames at Brazil's busiest airport, in the heart of Sao Paulo, killing up to 200 people.

Rescue crews said none of the 176 people on board the Airbus A320 could have survived, while more people were killed on the ground.

The TAM airliner skidded off the runway as it landed in wet weather, shot over a busy road and hit a fuel depot.

I've flown in and out of there many times and it always amazes me. You feel like you are literally dodging the 30-40 story buildings as you come in to land.

Update: The best way to describe Congonhas is an aircraft carrier, that's what landing there is like.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:44 AM

July 17, 2007

Sweden

...isn't just for blondes, anymore and it's starting to worry them. Good. Get a handle on it now.

Sweden has welcomed immigrants with open arms for decades but now it is grappling with how to integrate them into society, especially in the southern town of Malmoe amid a massive influx of refugees.

Once a thriving industrial town with full employment, Malmoe has seen many of its plants shut down since the 1990s. That, combined with a never-ending stream of foreigners arriving, has led to rising juvenile delinquency and rampant unemployment.

Of the town's 280,000 inhabitants, a third are foreigners and 60,000 are Muslims.

...Compared to slums and projects in France or the US, Rosengaard looks like a nice community. But it stands out in a Swedish context.

On a recent visit, veiled women walk behind the men, casting quick glances at their husbands before refusing to speak to AFP's reporter. At the local mall, more Arabic is heard than Swedish and 28 of the 30 shopkeepers are immigrants.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:42 AM | Comments (1)

July 11, 2007

This Story Involves "Missionary" And "MILF" But Still Manages

To go tragically wrong

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine troops recovered the bodies of 14 marines, some of them beheaded, after clashing with Muslim insurgents while searching for a kidnapped Italian priest, a marine spokesman said Wednesday.

...About 50 troops went to Basilan island to check on reports of sightings of the Rev. Giancarlo Bossi, a 57-year-old missionary from Milan who was kidnapped by gunmen on June 10.

The marines were heading back to camp when they were attacked by about 300 suspected Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, Caculitan said.

But Mohagher Iqbal, chief negotiator for the Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is engaged in peace talks with the government, said his forces fought back after marines attacked an MILF stronghold.

He denied his forces were responsible for the beheadings, saying he would investigate. Four MILF members were killed in the fighting while seven others were wounded, he added.

Is there nothing these guys don't ruin?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:58 AM | Comments (3)

July 10, 2007

Drink Wahaha Water

And the joke's on you

BEIJING (AP) -- China's food safety monitor promised Tuesday to investigate a report that more than half of the water coolers in Beijing use counterfeit branded water.

The water is either tap water or purified water from small suppliers put into the water jugs and sealed with bogus quality standard marks, the Beijing Times newspaper said in a lengthy report Monday.

...Suppliers keep track of how carefully their customers inspect the deliveries, and give jugs with fake or no seals to the inattentive, the report said.

...A spokesman for Wahaha water, one of the victims of the counterfeiters cited by the Beijing Times, refused to give his name or comment, saying he had not read the report, and added he was leaving the office for the day.

China's starting to lose its sense of humor about all these food scandals.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:54 PM | Comments (3)

Don't Ski For Me, Argentina

Oh what a circus, Oh what a show

A cold snap sent thermometers plunging in South America in recent days, killing three people in Chile and Argentina while Buenos Aires saw snow on Monday for the first time in 89 years.

Anyone know if Gorezilla flew down to BA for some R&R after Live Flop Earth?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:25 AM | Comments (2)

Shocker: Iraqi Government Misses Goals

My, really big news this is

WASHINGTON (AP) - A progress report on Iraq will conclude that the U.S.-backed government in Baghdad has not met any of its targets for political, economic and other reform, speeding up the Bush administration's reckoning on what to do next, a U.S. official said Monday.

I think this report shows, in fact, that Iraq has a level of democratic government that looks remarkably similar to our own

Pelosi lays blame for missed goals on Senate

(06-30) 04:00 PDT Washington -- The problem for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi isn't just President Bush. It's the Senate.

Pelosi sounded more apologetic than celebratory Friday when she announced with her Senate counterpart, Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democrats' list of accomplishments six months after they seized control of Capitol Hill and promised "a new direction" in Washington.

"I'm not happy with Congress, either," Pelosi, of San Francisco, conceded.

She pinned the blame on "the obstructionism of the Republicans in the United States Senate."

Immigration has joined Iraq, stem cell research, Medicare drug pricing, the 9/11 Commission's recommendations and other promises in the dustbin of the current Congress. Heading into a July Fourth recess after a bruising failure on immigration, Congress has a public approval rating in the mid-20s, lower than Bush's and no better than Republicans' ratings on the eve of their catastrophic election defeat in November, when the GOP lost control of the Senate and the House.

So little has been achieved that Reid threatened to hold the Senate in session during the August recess, the congressional equivalent of torture.

And it seems to me we've had a bit more practice at this democracy stuff then the Iraqis have.

And people aren't blowing up cars in markets around DC, either.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:52 AM | Comments (2)

July 09, 2007

Presbyterians Guilty In London Plot

Hopefully they'll rot some where for a long time

Three defendants in the 21 July terror trial have been found guilty of a plot to bomb London's transport network.

Jurors found Muktar Said Ibrahim, 29, Yassin Omar, 26, and Ramzi Mohammed, 25, guilty of conspiracy to murder.

The verdicts on three other defendants, who all deny charges against them, are still being considered by the jury of nine women and three men.

Woolwich Crown Court heard how the cell tried to detonate bombs on three tube trains and a bus on July 21, 2005.

The suspects had claimed the bombs were fakes, and the attacks had been intended as a protest against the war in Iraq.

Sort of a novel defense, I'll grant them: Since the bombs didn't explode they were therefore fakes and thus this was speech, and not terrorism.

And let us not forget Yassin Omar's moment of glory

Omar was arrested in Birmingham after travelling there disguised as a woman in a burka.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:33 AM

July 08, 2007

'Youth'-ful Passions Inflamed/-s

...again.

Some 50 masked attackers smashed cars and clashed with police in northeast Paris on Friday night. Three officers were injured, police said.

...Tensions have remained high between police and French youth, especially minorities in rundown housing projects, since riots erupted in such neighborhoods nationwide in 2005. Most of the rioting hit impoverished suburbs that ring French cities, while Paris was largely spared.

Everyone seems to have adopted the code phrase.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:24 PM

July 06, 2007

Gaia Was Warmer Than They Thought

Damn you, Chimpy! It seems your nefarious reach extends farther back than we thought

Scientists who probed two kilometers (1.2 miles) through a Greenland glacier to recover the oldest plant DNA on record said Thursday the planet was far warmer hundreds of thousands of years ago than is generally believed.

DNA of trees, plants and insects including butterflies and spiders from beneath the southern Greenland glacier was estimated to date to 450,000 to 900,000 years ago, according to the remnants retrieved from this long-vanished boreal forest.

That contrasts sharply with the prevailing view that a lush forest of this kind could only have existed in Greenland as recently as 2.4 million years ago, according to a summary of the study, which is published Thursday in the journal Science.

Wait a minute! You mean the data contradicts the "consensus"? Has anyone told Gorezilla? The Cult of Gaia will be quick to attack these infidels!

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:03 AM | Comments (1)

July 05, 2007

China Has A Big Problem

As these stories proliferate it could have a big impact on world trade

PANAMA CITY - A top Panamanian prosecutor said tests show at least 94 people have died from taking medicine contaminated with diethylene glycol since July 2006 and that 293 more deaths are under investigation.

Prosecutor Dimas Guevara told The Associated Press on Wednesday that people have continued to die this year even though the tainted medicine was pulled from shelves in October, with some struggling for months before dying.

...A chemical commonly found in antifreeze and brake fluid, diethylene glycol was used in cough syrup, antihistamine tablets, calamine lotion and rash ointment made in a Panama government laboratory.

Investigations revealed the chemical was made by a Chinese company that fraudulently passed it off as 99.5 percent pure glycerin, a sweetener commonly used in drugs, to a Spanish company. That company sold it to Panama’s Medicom SA, which sold it to a government laboratory.

Just look at all these problems.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 12:14 PM | Comments (1)

July 02, 2007

Pesos in the Mornin', Pesos in the Evenin'

Pesos at suppertime!
While you're hiding pesos,
Don't forget that they are mine!

A Chinese-Mexican businessman charged in the largest drug-related cash seizure in history accused a top Mexican official of forcing him to stash millions in illicit campaign funds in the walls and closets of his Mexico City mansion.

In the first major accusation linking the administration of President Felipe Calderon to Mexico's drug underworld, Zhenli Ye Gon claims Javier Lozano Alarcon, now Mexico's labor secretary, threatened to kill him unless he stored duffel bags stuffed with at least $150 million.

In a written response Monday to The Associated Press, Lozano Alarcon denied the accusations and said he was considering a defamation lawsuit against Ye Gon.

Ye Gon is charged in Mexico with drug trafficking, money laundering and weapons possession for his alleged role in illegally importing 19 tons of a pseudoephedrine compound used to make methamphetamine, charges he denies. He is presumably in the United States; Mexico considers him a fugitive.

Another worthy illegal who could have paid the fine! DAMN talk radio!

Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:24 PM | Comments (1)

Shock: Man Whose Name Begins With "M" Held In Bombings

I'm shocked. And stunned

Police are urgently hunting at least one person over attempted car bombings in London and at Glasgow airport.

Five people - none thought to be British - have been arrested so far in Paisley, Liverpool and Cheshire.

Houses are being searched in Houston, near Paisley, Merseyside, and in Staffordshire, where one of two doctors arrested in the inquiry lived.

Police are linking the failed bombings and the UK remains on high alert amid fears of a possible further attack.

On Monday, Staffordshire Police closed off Priam Close, in Bradwell, not far from Chesterton, where one of the people being held, Dr Mohammed Asha, lived.

A doctor, one of two being held. What ever happened to "first, do no harm?"

Evidently the Hippocratic Oath has been updated to include "I will procure Mercedes so that my friends may slaughter the Infidels. Peace be upon them."

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:57 AM | Comments (3)

June 29, 2007

A 'Device' In London

Looks like someone thankfully lost their nerve

Car bomb found in central London Haymarket Police say the area will be closed for some time Police have disabled a car bomb containing gas cylinders in the heart of central London.

Officers carried out a controlled explosion after reports of a suspicious vehicle parked in Haymarket shortly before 0200 BST (0100 GMT).

The area was cordoned off while police examined what they described as a "potentially viable explosive device".

...Bouncers from a nearby nightclub said they saw the car being driven erratically before it crashed into a bin. They said the driver then got out and ran off.

Police sources have confirmed that gas canisters were involved in the incident, close to Piccadilly Circus.

But Scotland Yard has refused to comment on reports that a large number of nails were found in the car.

One police source said the bomb was a "big device" and posed a real and substantial threat to the area around Haymarket, which is in London's theatreland.

But a Westminster source said it was a "relatively small" device.

Hopefully there will be enough evidence to find out who tried to do this. The fact that they used a Mercedes shows some cunning, as a beat-up jalopy or small truck would likely arouse more attention than a nice new expensive sedan.

Tim Blair, of course, blames us Presbyterians.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:36 AM | Comments (1)

June 28, 2007

"There were no innocent people killed"

Can you imagine a police chief in the US making a statement like that?

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) -- Police killed at least 13 suspected drug traffickers in a huge operation Wednesday aimed at ending a war between authorities and gangs that has raged for nearly two months in a Rio de Janeiro slum.

Authorities said 1,350 heavily armed officers and elite federal police supported by helicopters and armored cars descended on the sprawling Alemao shantytown and were met by automatic weapon fire and hand grenades.

At least 40 people have been killed and more than 80 injured since May 2, when the conflict in the Alemao was touched off by the killing of two police officers.

At least 10 people were wounded in Wednesday's operation, most of them innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire or hit by stray bullets -- a rising concern in this city of 8 million.

Rio de Janeiro state security chief Jose Mariano Beltrame earlier said 18 were killed Wednesday, then revised the death toll to 13 without giving an explanation. The dead were all suspected members of gangs that control the city's thriving drug trade, he said.

"There were no innocent people killed," Beltrame told a news conference, adding that the operation would continue indefinitely. Authorities said Wednesday's death toll could rise because police believed some bodies had not been recovered.

Beltrame said police entered areas of the slum where they have had no presence for years, resulting in intense fighting.

The slums in Rio are notorious for their drug activities and vigilante violence.

Sadly, so are the Brazilian police forces. As a dear friend of mine says, if you are robbed in Brazil you generally don't call the police because they'll just rob you again.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:00 AM

June 26, 2007

You Know, There May Yet Be Hope...

for Germany

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany has barred the makers of a movie about a plot to kill Adolf Hitler from filming at German military sites because its star Tom Cruise is a Scientologist, the Defense Ministry said on Monday.

Cruise, also one of the film's producers, is a member of the Church of Scientology which the German government does not recognize as a church. Berlin says it masquerades as a religion to make money, a charge Scientology leaders reject.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:39 AM | Comments (3)

June 25, 2007

Funny, I Never Saw This At Gitmo

I guess if we treat "prisoners" like this then the euroappeasers will be ok with it

The kidnappers of BBC correspondent Alan Johnston have released a new video of him in which he is wearing what he says is an explosives vest.

...In the tape, posted on a website used by militants, Mr Johnston is seen wearing a device around his torso and attached to shoulder straps.

"The situation now is very serious. As you can see I have been dressed in what is an explosive belt, which the kidnappers say will be detonated if there was any attempt to storm this area," he says.

Nice fellows, but of course it's our fault that he's being held

Mr Johnston was abducted by a group calling itself The Army of Islam.

A video was released on 1 June by the previously unknown radical Islamist group, in which the correspondent said he was in good health and was being treated well.*

The Army of Islam has demanded the release of Abu Qatada, a Palestinian-born Islamic cleric who is suspected of having close links with al-Qaeda and is held by the UK government as a threat to national security.

I really really hope these 'negotiations' in no way shape or form involve releasing Mr. Qatada.

In a statement, the (BBC) said: "It is very distressing for Alan's family and colleagues to see him being threatened in this way.

How the hell do you think it makes Alan feel?

*"treated well" being defined as "getting to wear an un-exploded bomb vest"

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:15 AM | Comments (3)

June 21, 2007

A United Front...For ONCE

...could be a very powerful statement to everyone: directly involved or otherwise.

Closing ranks against Hamas, Egypt’s president invited Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian leaders to a peace summit, officials said Thursday, the biggest show of support yet by moderate Arab states for beleaguered Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The meeting will take place Monday in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, said Israeli government spokeswoman Miri Eisin. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has invited Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Jordan’s King Abdullah II. Jordan confirmed Abdullah would attend.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:55 PM | Comments (4)

June 19, 2007

Stop The Presses! RoP "Incensed"

Finally someone in Buckingham Palace shows some cojones

The Government has expressed its "deep concern" over reported comments by one of Pakistan's ministers which suggested Salman Rushdie's knighthood could justify suicide attacks.

The announcement comes amid continuing protests in Pakistan over the awarding of the honour to the controversial author.

Earlier in the day Pakistan's government summoned Britain's high commissioner in Islamabad for talks on the escalating row.

I think this is great.

"Salman Rushdie has turned into a hated corpse which cannot be resurrected by any action," Mohammad Reza Bahonar, first deputy speaker of Iran's parliament, said in an address to the house.

"The action by the British queen in knighting Salman Rushdie, the apostate, is an unwise one," he said, to loud cheers from MPs.

"The British monarch lives under this illusion that Britain is still a 19th century superpower and that bestowing titles is something still deemed important."

Yes, and it's so unimportant that you guys are foaming like there's no tomorrow!

Hardline daily Jomhuri Eslami also launched a scathing attack on the queen, describing the monarch as an "old crone" whose action was a "grimace to the Islamic world".

"The question is what the old British crone sought by knighting Rushdie, to help him? Well, her act only shortens Rushdie's pathetic life," it added.

God bless the Old Crone! She knew exactly what she was doing. It shows official support for Rushdie and it tweaks the noses of the Islamotards (like her eldest son) and gives them yet another occasion to show the fools that they are.

"This is an occasion for the world's 1.5billion Muslims to look at the seriousness of this decision," said Mohammed Ijaz ul-Haq, Pakistan's religious affairs minister.

"The West is accusing Muslims of extremism and terrorism," he told his country's parliament.

"If someone exploded a bomb on his body he would be right to do so, unless the British government apologises and withdraws the 'sir' title."

I mean, what more is there to say, really?

Well, there's this from Labour's Lord Ahmed

Labour's Lord Ahmed expressed surprise at the decision to give a knighthood to Rushdie, who was placed under a fatwa, or death sentence, by Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini 18 years ago after the publication of the allegedly blasphemous The Satanic Verses.

"I was appalled to hear Salman Rushdie had been given a knighthood," Lord Ahmed said.

"Two weeks ago the Prime Minister was calling for building relations between the Muslim world and Britain, then suddenly this knighthood is given to a man who has not only been abusive to Muslims, but also to Christians - because he used abusive language towards Jesus Christ."

..."This man not only provoked violence around the world because of his writings, but there were many people who were killed around the world.

"Forgiving and forgetting is one thing, but honouring the man who has blood on his hands, sort of, because of what he did, I think is going a bit too far."

You see, this type of logic is what I love about these nuts. Rushdie writes a book, and a crappy one at that, honestly; I couldn't get through the first chapter. Please note that even though he may in fact have "used abusive language towards Jesus Christ" there were only followers of one certain Religion of Peace that were "provoked to violence" and killed "people around the world."

Damn Presbyterians.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:24 PM | Comments (7)

June 14, 2007

Just What We Want Near The Panama Canal

Hugo's buying some Russian subs

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is expected to finalise a deal on buying up to nine Russian submarines during a visit here later this month, a Russian newspaper reported on Thursday.

Caracas has already ordered five 636-type diesel submarines and four of a new model of diesel submarine, the 677E Amur, the Kommersant broadsheet said, quoting unnamed sources in the ship-building and arms export sectors.

Chavez may have to settle for the older 636 submarines for the time being as the new 677E Amur has not yet been presented to Russia's own navy, a source at the arms export agency Rosoboronexport said.

The 636 ain't no slouch.

Type 636 is designed for anti-submarine (ASW) and anti-surface ship (ASuW) warfare and also for general reconnaissance and patrol missions. The Type 636 submarine is considered to be to be one of the quietest diesel submarines in the world. It is said to be capable of detecting an enemy submarine at a range three to four times greater than it can be detected itself.

Think of these every time you fill up at Citgo. Or Lukoil.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:25 AM | Comments (2)

Hello Hamas, Goodbye Fatah

The RoPs are shooting
Captives in Gaza

"We are telling our people that the past era has ended and will not return, " Islam Shahawan, a spokesman for Hamas' militia, told Hamas radio. "The era of justice and Islamic rule have arrived."

And "justice and Islamic rule" means

Hamas fighters overran one of the rival Fatah movement's most important security installations in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, and witnesses said the victors dragged vanquished gunmen from the building and killed them in the street.

...A witness, Jihad Abu Ayad, said the men were being killed in front of their wives and children.

"They are executing them one by one," Abu Ayad said. "They are carrying one of them on their shoulders, putting him on a sand dune, turning him around and shooting."

Nice. But it's all the Jooo's fault, remember.

And Chimpy's, natch.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:37 AM

June 11, 2007

Nope, No Civil War Here

Just standard "Peaceful People Oppressed By Those Zionists" hijinks

GAZA CITY (AP) -- Rival Palestinian forces clashed in Gaza on Sunday, killing two militants by throwing them out of high-rise buildings.

Hamas militants kidnapped an officer in a Fatah-linked security force, took him to the roof of a 15-story apartment building and threw him off. Mohammed Sweirki, 25, from the Presidential Guard of President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, was killed in the plunge.

That set off skirmishes through the city, including gun battles and shelling. Fatah militants surrounded the house of a Hamas mosque preacher and fired rocket-propelled grenades at the four-story building.

They then entered, shooting at preacher Mohammed al-Rifati, 40, and taking him away. Later, his body was brought to a hospital. Hamas pledged revenge.

Just before midnight, a Hamas activist was thrown off the 12th floor of a building and killed, security officials said. Four other Hamas men in the building were shot and wounded, bringing the day's toll to three dead and 36 wounded, medical officials said. Also, a Hamas militant wounded on Friday died Sunday.

The "militant toss." Look for it in next years Pan-Arab Games.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:08 AM | Comments (6)

June 06, 2007

Speaking Of China

Someone is going to have an interesting meeting with their boss...

HONG KONG (Reuters) - A young clerk with no knowledge of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown allowed a tribute to victims slip into the classified ads page of a newspaper in southwest China, a Hong Kong daily reported on Wednesday.

The tiny ad in the lower right corner of page 14 of the Chengdu Evening News on Monday night, read: "Paying tribute to the strong(-willed) mothers of June 4 victims".

An investigation was launched by Chinese authorities to find out how the advertisement slipped its way past censors.

Public discussion of the massacre is still taboo in Beijing and the government has rejected calls to overturn the verdict that the student-led demonstrations were "counter-revolutionary", or subversive. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, were killed when the army crushed the pro-democracy protests on June 4, 1989.

Hong Kong's South China Morning Post said a young woman on the Chengdu Evening News classified section had allowed the ad to be published because she'd never heard of the June 4 crackdown.

The truth is like water; it will always eventually slip through your fingers and get out no matter how hard you may grasp.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:26 AM

June 02, 2007

More Presbyterian Menace

I'll have to ask my pastor about this

NEW YORK -- As first reported by NewsChannel4's Jonathan Dienst, three people were arrested and one other was being sought Saturday in connection to a plot to blow up jet-fuel lines at John F. Kennedy International Airport, officials said.

Four people have been charged. Three suspects are in custody: Russell Defreitas, Kareem Ibrihim and Abdul Kadir. Another suspect, Abdul Nur is still at large.

Oh wait, they do mention a minor piece of trivia

Defreitas is a U.S. citizen with roots in Guyana.

Kadir, a former member of Parliament in Guyana, was arrested in Trinidad for attempting to secure money for "terrorist operations," according to a Guyanese police commander who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Kadir, a Muslim, left his position in Parliament last year. Muslims make up about 9 percent of the former Dutch and British colony's 770,000 population, mostly from the Sunni sect.

Not that it has any relevance to the plot, mind you.

Update: As always, Tim Blair can sniff out these Knoxites from thousands of miles away!

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 03:58 PM | Comments (2)

May 22, 2007

I Would NOT Be a Lebanese Prime Minister

...for all the Dunkin' Donuts in China. What a thankless frickin' job.

Artillery and machine gun fire echoed around a crowded Palestinian refugee camp Tuesday as the Lebanese government ordered the army to finish off the Fatah Islam militants holed up inside the camp in the country’s north.

The fighting — which resumed for a third straight day after a brief nighttime lull — reflected the government’s determination to pursue the Islamic militants who staged attacks on Lebanese troops on Sunday and Monday, killing 29 soldiers. Some 20 militants have also been killed, as well as an undetermined number of civilians.

...The camp is home to more than 31,000 people living in two- or three-story white buildings on densely packed narrow streets. It is one of more than 12 impoverished camps housing more than 215,000 refugees, out of a total of 400,000 Palestinians here. Lebanese authorities do not enter the camps, according to a nearly 40-year-old agreement with the Palestinians.

FIRST thing I'd do is change the wording on THAT piece of toilet paper. Nothing like giving the Palestinians carte blanche to turn your country into the state-'o-the-art-shithole they seem to live for and thrive in. Besides, who represents the Palestinians, anyway? Last I heard they were busy whacking each other in their own streets, so declare the thing null and void, and go clean out that snake pit. All those campers can head on back to Gaza if they don't like it.

...The leader of Fatah Islam, Palestinian Shaker al-Absi, has been linked to the former head of al-Qaida in Iraq and is accused in the 2002 assassination of a U.S. diplomat in Jordan. He moved into Nahr el-Bared last fall after being expelled from Syria, where he was in custody.

Since then, he is believed to have recruited about 100 fighters, including militants from Saudi Arabia, Yemen and other Arab countries, and he has said he follows the ideology of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. Among the militants killed in the fighting Sunday was a man suspected in a plot to bomb trains in Germany last year, according to Lebanese security officials.

Beirut security officials accuse Syria of backing Fatah Islam to disrupt Lebanon, charges that are denied by Damascus, which controlled Lebanon until 2005 when its troops were forced to withdraw from the country following the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.

Syria again, huh? Oh, that's easy! We've got just the girl to chat up Bashar and get this squared away. She WAS heading out on a fossil fuel burning no carbon offsets wing-ed transport for a global warming tour d' force, but I'm sure she could be persuaded to cover up/pucker up on more time.

The "road to Damascus is the road of peace".

Sweet Jesus, I tear up every time I read that.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:03 AM | Comments (8)

May 21, 2007

The Cutty Sark Burns

What a shame

A fire which severely damaged the famous 19th Century ship Cutty Sark is being treated as suspicious by police.

The ship, which was undergoing a major restoration project, is kept in a dry dock at Greenwich in south-east London.

An area around the 138-year-old tea clipper had to be evacuated when the fire broke out in the early hours.

A Cutty Sark Trust spokesman said 50% of the ship was removed for restoration work. He said the trust was devastated but it could have been worse.

What kind of a sick moron would set fire to her?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:21 AM | Comments (2)

May 11, 2007

A Friend

...has a friend in need. A desperate need.

I wonder if you guys would help me try to save a friend's life. A leading Bangladeshi reporter, Tasneem Khalil, has just been arrested by the military regime there for speaking out against human rights violations in the last few months since the military takeover in my country of birth. He was arrested after midnight Bangladeshi time (this afternoon our time in Eastern US) and taken away from his home. He is likely being tortured right now and may be in danger for his life. If you could simply highlight his plight on your blogs, I would be much indebted. If you could pass on the appeal to others I would be further indebted.

So far, Human Rights Watch has issued a press release demanding his release and CNN Wire (he writes for CNN from Bangladesh) has carried a short article.

More updates and contact info through the link. Mash is a good, good egg.

God, there's so MUCH of this dehumanizing, horrible stuff going on, it makes me ill.

And very angry.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:25 PM | Comments (3)

May 08, 2007

Duka Duka, Mohammed Jihad

I'm shocked, shocked, at the composition of these folks here in Jersey

Federal investigators last night arrested six Islamic radicals who were planning a heavily armed attack against soldiers at Fort Dix as part of a jihad against America, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

In a statement released this morning that confirmed an earlier report on nj.com, The Star-Ledger's Web site, the U.S. Attorney's Office said the men planned to "kill as many soldiers as possible."

...Some of the would-be attackers have been living illegally in the United States, while others are legal immigrants, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Four are ethnic Albanians, one was born in Turkey, and a sixth was born in Jordan, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Officials identified the men as Dritan Duka, Eljvir Duka, Shain Duka, Serdar Tatar, Mohamad Shnewer and Agron Abdullahu.

Sherpa sherpa, bak allah.

Keep it tuned to Hot Air for the latest updates.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:53 AM | Comments (2)

May 03, 2007

Well This Explains Why...

Ken has been so quiet of late

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - A gang stripped a South African man before supergluing him to an exercise bicycle while they ransacked his house, according to a report Thursday.

SAPA news agency said the attackers, dressed in suits, hijacked a man in his 50s and forced him at gunpoint to take them to his home in Johannesburg.

“The victim was then forced to strip, after which he was superglued to the seat of an exercise bicycle, his hands were superglued, as were his feet and then his mouth was superglued shut,” SAPA quoted Mark Stokoe, a spokesman for emergency services Netcare 911, as saying.

Ouch.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 12:47 PM | Comments (7)

May 02, 2007

Outrageously Obscene!

Oh Mr. President, you immoral beast

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been accused of indecency after he publicly embraced and kissed on the hand an elderly woman who used to be his schoolteacher.

At a ceremony on Tuesday ahead of Iranian teachers' day, Mr Ahmadinejad was photographed and filmed by state media stooping to kiss the woman's hand and then clasping her arms in an embrace.

The ultra-conservative Hezbollah newspaper, which is not related to the group in Lebanon of the same name, criticised him on the front page.

"The Muslim Iranian people have no recollection of such acts contrary to sharia law during Islamic rule [since the 1979 revolution]," it said.

"This type of indecency progressively has grave consequences, like violating religious and sacred values."

The elderly woman, who was not named, wore thick gloves along with a headscarf and long black coat, meaning that Mr Ahmadinejad avoided any skin contact.

Imagine if Bill Clinton was President there...

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:05 AM | Comments (9)

May 01, 2007

Is Anybody Paying Attention

...to Turkey? Maybe they should be.

Turkey's financial markets remained nervous on Tuesday ahead of a decision by the country's highest court that will determine the future of a controversial presidential appointment.

Stocks and the lira were slightly weaker, although there was no repeat of the sharp sell-off seen on Monday. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, and Ali Babacan, the chief minister responsible for the economy, both appealed for calm.

Mr Babacan, in an interview on Turkish television on Tuesday, acknowledged that political risk factors had risen for investors in the Turkish markets after a clash at the weekend between the military and the government over the credentials of Abdullah Gul, the foreign minister, as Turkey's next president.

Several newspapers reported on Tuesday that the constitutional court had been advised by its appointed legal expert to reject an opposition claim that a first round of voting in parliament on Mr Gul was invalid. If the court rejects the claim, it would put the matter back in the political arena.

The constitutional court is expected to rule on the matter later on Tuesday or on Wednesday.

Mr Erdogan said in a televised address to the nation on Monday night that any threat to Turkey's economic and political stability must be rejected.

"Unity, togetherness, solidarity – these are the things we need," Mr Erdogan said.

His address was recorded on Saturday, hours after the military issued what is seen as an ultimatum to the Islamist-rooted government to drop Abdullah Gul, foreign minister, as its presidential candidate.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:55 AM | Comments (3)

April 26, 2007

Be Careful

...what you wish for.

Move to biofuels could speed up rainforest destruction

Europe's dash for biofuels could accelerate the destruction of tropical rainforests, the European Commission admitted on Thursday.

The EU's executive arm said that the 27-member bloc's decision to increase tenfold its consumption of vehicle fuel made from crops by 2020 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions would increase the pressure on virgin land, especially in Asia.

However, it said it was working on laying down minimum standards for sustainable fuels.

Chris Davies, a British Liberal MEP whose question elicited the response, cast doubt on the effectiveness of such a policy.

He said: "In a bid to solve one problem, we risk creating another, and making things worse. Rainforest destruction is a major contributory factor in global warming and it would be ludicrous to promote this loss to slake our thirst for fuel.

"Any certification scheme would have to be treated with the greatest suspicion. We haven't been able to halt the supply from rainforests of illegally felled timber so how can we have confidence that sustainability certificates would be worth the paper on which they are written?" There are no mandatory certification programmes today.

Maybe they need to work this out a little better before they go ga-ga-gigantor green and really destroy the earth as we know it?

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:14 AM | Comments (6)

April 19, 2007

Do As I Do

...not as I say.

Fashion designer Galliano fined for copying imagery

Fashion designer John Galliano was ordered to pay 200,000 euros ($271,800) in damages to renowned U.S. photographer William Klein for unauthorized use of his atmospheric imagery in an advertising campaign.

The photographer, who lives in France said he was "furious" at Galliano's use of some of his half-painted photographs of street scenes in advertisements in several fashion magazines.

... Galliano was appointed designer at Givenchy in 1995 before switching to Christian Dior the following year. He also has a label that bears his name.

Klein said he was particularly offended because Dior has led a relentless campaign against illegal reproductions of its own creations.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:37 AM

April 18, 2007

The View From Olympus

I find the Virginia Tech slaughter just too sad to really post about, and others have done a much better job of it anyway.

But I am getting a little tired of these holier-than-thou Euroappeasers sniffing and poo-pooing us barbarians.

See here for examples from editorials.

See here for an example from a commenter.

See here for an example of enlightened European behavior.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:12 AM | Comments (2)

April 10, 2007

An Ignored Addendum to Bolton on Britain vs Iran

Over at LGF, they link to this:

Britain's "weakness" in standing up to Iran in the detained sailors stand-off handed Tehran an improbable victory and left it dangerously emboldened, former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton said Monday.

Iran was deliberately probing for allied weaknesses and found them in abundance, Bolton wrote in a hard-hitting article in the Financial Times newspaper.

"Against all odds, Iran emerged with a win-win from the crisis: winning by its provocation in seizing the hostages in the first place and winning again by its unilateral decision to release them," wrote the 2005-2006 US ambassador to the United Nations.

I think overriding opinion is that Iran came out on top of this whole miserable incident, image-wise. Visiting my usual haunts yesterday, I found there was actually QUITE a handsome payoff for the Iranians as they roiled international waters ~ from all of us.

So, what did Iran get out of holding on to 15 British sailors and marines for some 10 days?

A lot of attention from the West, that's for sure -- and possibly an extra $167 million in oil revenue.

No, there wasn't a ransom paid, but the standoff did push the price of crude oil abruptly higher around the world.

So how long before they're back in their shrimp boats with nets, looking for another $100 million or so to help pay off that Russian reactor?

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:09 AM

April 09, 2007

Gaia Savages Delicate Reefs

What have we done to force such self-destructive behavior upon her?

RANONGGA, Solomon Islands (AFP) - The seismic jolt that unleashed the deadly Solomons tsunami this week lifted an entire island metres out of the sea, destroying some of the world's most pristine coral reefs.
ADVERTISEMENT

In an instant, the grinding of the Earth's tectonic plates in the 8.0 magnitude earthquake Monday forced the island of Ranongga up three metres (10 foot).

It's a call for help from Gaia!

Oh, and if you've ever wondered what an 8.0 earthquake combined with a tsunami sounds like, well, fisherman Hendrik Kegala has the answer:

"Plenty big noise," he told AFP, describing the disaster in the local pidgin dialect.

"Water go back and not come back again," he added, saying the whooshing sound of the receding water and the shaking from the quake occurred simultaneously.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:55 AM | Comments (5)

April 05, 2007

Well, So They Are Home Now

And for that I am glad. However, I would like to get to listen in to their debriefings and find out what exactly the hell happened, and why they seemed to go out of their way in toadying up to the Iranians and 'confessing' their guilt.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:04 AM

April 02, 2007

25 Years Ago...

Maggie knew what needed to be done.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:19 AM | Comments (2)

If You Needed Further Proof That Ahmadinejad Was Involved In 1979

Just look at the crap they are putting these poor Brits through.

I hope Blair finds some balls soon.

And our government damn well better support smacking these bastards down.

Oh concerned elites in Europe, where is thy pity for the wrongfully captured now?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:56 AM | Comments (2)

March 31, 2007

I Thought Gorebal Warmering...

was supposed to make the oceans rise

I've never seen the tide as low as it was last week.

Where's all that glacial melt when we need it?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:07 AM

March 29, 2007

Britain Must Admit "Mistake"

Somehow I don't think so

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Iran's foreign minister said Wednesday that Britain must admit that its 15 sailors and marines entered Iranian waters in order to resolve a standoff over their capture by the Mideast nation.

Like hell. Britain's only mistake was not asking for the keys to the Enola Gay last week.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:53 AM | Comments (4)

March 28, 2007

Can We Please Have A Blockade...

On Iran now?

LONDON, England (CNN) -- The lone female British sailor, detained with 14 male sailors and marines by Iran last week, has written a letter to her parents "admitting" that her crew entered into Iranian waters, according to a letter released by the Iranian government Wednesday.

An Iranian television station also broadcast the first video of Faye Turney, in which she smoked a cigarette as she spoke with someone off camera. She wore a black scarf covering her head.

These bastards are only going to get bolder and bolder unless they are smacked down.

And hard.

*link corrected; thanks Mike!

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:24 PM | Comments (6)

March 24, 2007

Repeat** After Me

Insert the country of your choice where you read 'German/Germany'.

Politicians and Muslim leaders denounced a German judge for citing the Koran in her rejection of a Muslim woman's request for a quick divorce on grounds she was abused by her husband.

JudgeChrista Datz-Winter said in a recommendation earlier this year that both partners came from a "Moroccan cultural environment in which it is not uncommon for a man to exert a right of corporal punishment over his wife," according to the court. The woman is a German of Moroccan descent married to a Moroccan citizen.

The judge argued that her case was not one of exceptional hardship in which fast-track divorce proceedings would be justified. When the woman protested, Datz-Winter cited a passage from the Koran that reads in part, "men are in charge of women."

...The latest uproar comes amid an ongoing debate in Germany about integrating its more than 3 million Muslims, most of them from Turkey. A decision last year to cancel an opera featuring the severed heads of the Prophet Muhammad and other religious figures out of security concerns caused a furor and was later retracted.

Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries condemned the judge's decision.

"Every so often, there are individual rulings that seem completely incomprehensible," she said.

Lawmakers from Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats said traditional Islamic law, or Sharia, had no place in Germany.

**"The legal and moral concepts of Sharia have nothing to do with German jurisprudence," Wolfgang Bosbach, a lawmaker with the Christian Democrats, told N24 television.

"One thing must be clear: In Germany, only German law applies. Period."

There...wasn't that refreshing?

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:57 PM | Comments (6)

March 14, 2007

Oh, I Just Love This

Israel has to say "ExCUSE me...", 'cause, like, the U.N. says so.

A UNESCO panel has urged Israel to immediately halt archaeological work at a Jerusalem holy site that has angered Muslims around the world.

...A report for the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, released in Paris on Wednesday, said Israel should have sought the advice of international organizations before it started the archaeological work.

Someone please...refresh my memory. What exactly were the Taliban saying when the WORLD begged them NOT to blow the big Buddhas of Bamiyan to smithereens? I think "bite me" was in there somewhere...

...Once a stop on the trade route between China, India and Europe, Afghanistan was home to a vibrant Buddhist culture centuries before Islam's dominance and even its birth. Artifacts from the archaeological sites of Bamiyan and the museums of the capital, Kabul, are reminders of the fact that land is older than factions, that civilizations great and small flower briefly then fade away.

And so, last week, in an ongoing attempt to prove that the fate of the Islamic Emirate will be otherwise, the Taliban demolished the Buddhas of Bamiyan, two massive statues (one standing 170', the other 120') carved from the stone cliffs that frame the valley 100 miles from Kabul.

"These idols have been gods of the infidels," the New York Times reported one senior Taliban official declaring. Politics being politics whatever the religion, while one spouted off, another provided spin -- like this from Qudratulla Jamal, the Taliban minister of information and culture:

"It's not a big issue. The statues are objects only made of mud or stone."

Right ~ mud and stone. Like your mosque, n'est pas? So, chill out already in Jerusalem. I may not be the biggest fan of Israeli policy in the world, but I WILL state my unequivocable belief in their esteem for ALL things ancient and holy. So your al-Aqsa will remain unscathed and the world will be a little wiser. What's to lose? And people are getting a little tired of the whole 'Muslim outrage' thing.

...The latest crisis began when Israeli authorities started rebuilding and extending a pedestrian ramp which rises to the Mugrabi Gate, an entrance that allows tourists to view the gardens of the sacred Muslim precinct, the silver al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock, a shrine clad with turquoise mosaics and topped with a glowing, golden dome. The ramp is a simple piece of construction that will rest on seven concrete pillars. A 2004 earthquake and a snowstorm had damaged the old pedestrian bridge. But with tension running high between Israelis and Palestinians, the repair work has become a volatile religious issue, one that radical Muslim clerics are using to whip up more hatred against Israel.

You don't get to be pissed off about every farging thing that happens and throw rocks when your blind sheiks/catmeat imams tell you to have a cow, especially in places you SHARE with, like, OTHER people. Honestly, without their snorting fire, would you have even given a whoowah someone was fixing a ramp? (Palestinian gunman scuttling into the Church of the Nativity ring any bells? That's a Christian site, right? Bush drop any bombs when ya'll violated our digs? And not with trowels, but with GUNS? That would be a 'NOT'.) I'd follow the Steve Martin Crime Stopper oath in your case ~

"Repeat after me: I promise NOT to repeat things other people say..."

It's not religion, dudes ~ it's HISTORY. And that makes it ALL of ours. So BTFO, STFU, grow up and get a grip. You think Israel is the root of all your problems? Israel is your excuse ~ the bogeyman heading your pity syndrome. Quit throwing rocks, get an education, quit voting for criminals and quit killing your neighbor because he doesn't want to play your games anymore or because he's a Jew. Become a state ~ a place where your children can grow and learn something other than how to dress up like suicide bombers. How come the Kurds can pull it together so quickly? Nobody wants them either, remember. How could the Lebanese people peacefully throw off the Syrian yoke? (And the destruction? Brought about by those same fellas you all are so fond of. Weird how that works.) You are your own worst enemies and trust me ~ there are no WORSE enemies than what you're doing to yourself and allowing others in your culture to do to you. Sympathy meter's pegged. Sorry.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:43 PM | Comments (4)

March 13, 2007

How Do You Say "Irony" In Farsi?

This from the people who destroy ancient relics and sites because they have statues

An Iranian official on Sunday lashed out at the Hollywood movie "300" for insulting the Persian civilization, local Fars News Agency reported.

Javad Shamqadri, an art advisor to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, accused the new movie of being "part of a comprehensive U.S. psychological war aimed at Iranian culture", said the report.

Retard. The ancient Persians were a highly advanced culture for their day. You guys are stuck in the 8th century.

Shamqadri was quoted as saying "following the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Hollywood and cultural authorities in the U.S. initiated studies to figure out how to attack Iranian culture," adding "certainly, the recent movie is a product of such studies."

The movie's effort wound be fruitless, because "values in Iranian culture and the Islamic Revolution are too strongly seated to be damaged by such plans", said the Iranin official.

Oops, gotta throw in the remark about those schemin' Joos. Their plans are coming to fruition but now you've figured it out! Oh No!

Retard.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:57 AM | Comments (7)

March 12, 2007

Things Are Rumbling Again

...in a place no one's given much thought to in quite some time.

N Ireland 'wants return to power-sharing'
Voters have sent a clear message that they want parties on both sides of Northern Ireland's political divide to unite to restore self-government to the province, Tony Blair, the prime minister, and Bertie Ahern, his Irish counterpart, said yesterday.

In a joint statement clearly aimed at the Democratic Unionists, the biggest party after Wednesday's election, the two prime ministers said "all must now take responsibility in government for building and consolidating peace".

They said: "Restoration of the devolved institutions represents an opportunity of historic proportions. It must not be missed."

But the DUP, which is led by Ian Paisley, the Protestant preacher-politician, has yet to commit itself to sharing power with Sinn Féin, the political wing of the IRA and the largest party among Catholic voters.

The British government has warned Ulster's parties that unless they agree to form a new power-sharing executive by March 26, the Northern Ireland Assembly will be shut down and the province run by London and Dublin.

Peter Hain, the Northern Ireland secretary, insisted after meeting a delegation from the DUP that there was "no discretion" in the March 26 deadline.

But the DUP is insisting that Sinn Féin now clearly sets out its support for the police and courts. The party also wants the British government to provide a special financial package before it will agree to participate in the devolved institutions, which were suspended in 2002 amid police allegations of IRA subversive activities.

With all of the 108 seats declared last night, the DUP had 36 seats, Sinn Féin 28, the Ulster Unionists 18, the moderate nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party 16, the cross-community Alliance seven and one each for the Greens, the Progressive Unionists and an independent.

Our buddy Pete Baker posts at Slugger O'Toole, where the comments themselves are illuminating.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:03 PM | Comments (1)

Something's Not Kosher At The Israeli Embassy

I thought Moses led his People out of bondage:

Israel is replacing its ambassador in El Salvador after the envoy was found outside the embassy, drunk, wearing only bondage gear, officials said. "Our ambassador has been recalled immediately," a foreign ministry official told AFP news agency.

...Haaretz website reports that police found Mr Refael in the Israeli embassy compound two weeks ago.

He was inebriated, his hands were tied and he was gagged with a rubber ball in his mouth.

In spite of his drunken state, the naked figure was reportedly able to identify himself by his full name and job title.

In 2006, Israel's diplomatic service was criticised by the public watchdog for its appointments system.

The state comptroller's report singled out the foreign ministry appointments committee for its inadequate examination of candidates and lack of transparency.

Seems someone was getting a little too much examination...

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:28 AM

You Gotta Have Faith

Shocking news from Australia

A LEADING Muslim cleric has blamed the devastating drought, climate change and pollution on Australians' lack of faith in Allah.

He never heard of Allah Gore?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:15 AM | Comments (3)

March 04, 2007

I Wonder If Those of Us Stateside Will Get to See This

..."I am a science journalist and in my career I have been told by eminent scientists that black holes do not exist and it is impossible that continents move, but in science the experts are usually wrong.

"For me this is a cracking science story – I don’t come from any political position and I’m certainly not funded by the multinationals, although my bank manager would like me to be..."

..."It’s ridiculous to see politicians arguing over whether they will allow the global temperature to rise by 2C or 3C."

Mr Stott said the film could mark the point where scientists advocating the greenhouse effect theory, began to lose the argument.

I sure hope so.

And how odd that today's M-W Word of the Day is:

nostrum \NAHSS-trum\ noun

1 : a medicine of secret composition recommended by its preparer but usually without scientific proof of its effectiveness
2 : a usually questionable remedy or scheme : panacea

Cosmic, eh?

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:08 PM | Comments (3)

February 23, 2007

Costa Rican Muggers No Match For Gringo Retirees

Quien es mas macho now, hombre?

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) -- A tour bus of U.S. senior citizens defended themselves against a group of alleged muggers, sending two of them fleeing and killing a third in the Atlantic coast city of Limon, police said on Thursday. One of the tourists _ a retired member of the U.S. military aged about 70* _ put assailant Warner Segura in a head lock and broke his clavicle after the 20-year-old and two other men armed with a knife and gun held up their tour bus Wednesday, said Luis Hernandez, the police chief of Limon, 80 miles east of San Jose.

...The tourists left on their Carnival cruise after the incident and Hernandez said authorities do not plan to press any charges against them, saying they acted in self defense.

"They were in their right to defend themselves after being held up," Hernandez said.

I like this police chief, too. We could use his type in some places here.

*No, it wasn't Major Dad.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:03 AM | Comments (2)

February 22, 2007

I Guess As Long As You Say "This is for your own good!"...

Than it doesn't count as torture

DAXING, China - Sun Jiting spends his days locked behind metal bars in this military-run installation, put there by his parents. The 17-year-old high school student is not allowed to communicate with friends back home, and his only companions are psychologists, nurses and other patients. Each morning at 6:30, he is jolted awake by a soldier in fatigues shouting, "This is for your own good!"

Sun's offense: Internet addiction.

...The clinic in Daxing, a suburb of Beijing, the capital, is the oldest and largest, with 60 patients on a normal day and as many as 280 during peak periods. Few of the patients, who range in age from 12 to 24, are here willingly. Most have been forced to come by their parents, who are paying upward of $1,300 a month -- about 10 times the average salary in China -- for the treatment.

Led by Tao Ran, a military researcher who built his career by treating heroin addicts, the clinic uses a tough-love approach that includes counseling, military discipline, drugs, hypnosis and mild electric shocks.

As long as you charge the "patients" you can do whatever you want to them, evidently.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:36 AM

"Wish Island" Is Not Quite Fantasy Island

I wonder if the tvs there will get Oxygen?

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran plans a female-only island to boost tourism in a northwest province, the Tehran-e Emrouz newspaper on Wednesday quoted a local official as saying.

..."There will be no men on the Arezou (Wish) island. Public transport, restaurants and other facilities will be staffed only by women," Aghai said.

I can't imagine that the bars will be too hopping.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:03 AM | Comments (10)

February 16, 2007

AP/CNN Reality Distortion Field

Global warmering has gotten so severe that it is directly affecting established scientific standards of measurement! It's true! In a normal, idyllic, happy Gaia Pre-Bushitler world, a 3 degrees Fahrenheit change would be the equivalent of a roughly 1.7 degree Celcius change...but not now!

WASHINGTON (AP) -- It may be cold comfort during a frigid February, but last month was by far the hottest January ever.

The broken record was fueled by a waning El Nino and a gradually warming world, according to U.S. scientists who reported the data Thursday.

Records on the planet's temperature have been kept since 1880.

Spurred on by unusually warm Siberia, Canada, northern Asia and Europe, the world's land areas were 3.4 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius) warmer than a normal January, according to the U.S. National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, North Carolina.

Bushcheneyhalliburton: Altering Laws of Nature since 1980.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:25 AM | Comments (5)

February 15, 2007

The Naivete Of The Anti-Americans

So it seems that, shockingly, al-Qaeda has called for attacks on oil suppliers to the US

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) -- Venezuela's defense minister said Thursday that the nation would reinforce security measures after a branch of al Qaeda called for attacks on suppliers of oil to the United States.

Venezuela provides around 11 percent of U.S. oil imports despite diplomatic tensions between Caracas and Washington over leftist President Hugo Chavez's self-styled socialist revolution.

But military advisor to El Jefe seems somewhat surprised that such measures are really needed

Luis Cabrera, a military adviser to the president, earlier had questioned the authenticity of the threat in comments published by local media.

He said it was illogical that "al Qaeda, which is against North American imperialism, would go against a state that is fighting, though in a different way, against that hegemony."

I think that al Qaeda is against a bit more than simply "North American imperialism", and that 'logic' should never be used in the same sentence as 'al Qaeda". But to acknowledge such would require these folks to give up the central tenet of their religion.

If America were to sink beneath the waves tomorrow, do they really think that al Qaeda and the other muslim extremist groups would say 'yippee' and quit their jihad?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:27 PM | Comments (3)

The Headline

...is hilarious.

French industry warns of brain drain

The article? Not so much.

If Ségolène Royal is elected president in May it will trigger an exodus of people from France's financial and biotechnology sectors to London and other foreign cities, according to some of the country's top business leaders.

The warning – fuelled by fears that the Socialist candidate would raise taxes for the highest earners and biggest companies – came as it emerged that the number of people fleeing the country's onerous wealth tax doubled between 2003 and 2005.

Each day France loses two people who pay its wealth tax, representing a loss of €2.2bn ($2.9bn, £1.5bn) of taxable assets for the government in 2005, according to a senate finance committee report.

"If Ségolène Royal wins, we will go back to the situation we had with Mitterrand between 1981 and 1983. But it would be three-times worse," said the chairman of one CAC 40 company, referring to François Mitterrand, the last leftwing president of France.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:19 AM | Comments (6)

February 14, 2007

Muqtada al-Skeedaddle?

This is interesting if it is true

As details of the border closure became public, senior Bush administration officials said radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr fled Iraq for Iran two to three weeks ago out of fear for his safety.

However, Iraqi sources have not confirmed this information and call it a rumor. Salah al Agaili, a spokesman for al-Sadr and a member of his parliament bloc, told CNN that al-Sadr is still in Iraq.

As recently as Thursday, al-Sadr's office said he was in Najaf.

If he is in Iran, it is not his first trip there. Al-Sadr has made half a dozen official trips and an unknown number of personal visits to Iran in the last few years.

Senior administration sources said they believe al-Sadr fled in anticipation of the U.S. military's troop buildup and a crackdown on militias, and because of fractures with extremist elements within his militia.

Very interesting. Going back to base to get more instructions?

Update: I see Sis posted a wee bit ahead of me. Oh well.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:31 AM | Comments (4)

February 13, 2007

Jeez Louise, I KNOW It's 31 Pages Long!!

But READ it ANYWAY.

For the children.

UPDATE: Bypassing cranky pdf files, I give you the HTML cached version.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:24 PM | Comments (1)

February 05, 2007

More Global Warmering

The bay is starting to ice over.

I love when my commute resembles scenes from Titanic.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:46 PM | Comments (8)

Sacre Boom!

In this life there are times when you can ignore that rattle in your basement, and times when you can't:

Estate agents are used to talking up the good points of a property while drawing a veil over its less attractive aspects. But it would take a particularly resourceful one to gloss over the downside of La Basse Cour in Belgium.

The first bit is easy: "Attractive farm consisting of seven buildings set in 150 acres in the heart of historic Flanders on the Messines Ridge near Ypres. Ideal getaway for the busy metropolitan family. One hour 30 minutes from Channel Tunnel."

The problem lies with one of the original features: the bomb. Not any old bomb, but the world's biggest unexploded bomb - 50,000lbs to be exact. Still there, 80 feet under the farm, waiting for its big day. "Potential for redevelopment" might cover it.

The bomb - or more accurately mine - was the product of one of the greatest and most secret engineering exercises of the First World War. It lay half-forgotten for 80 years until British researchers were able to establish its exact whereabouts using maps of the period.

How do you say "AFLAC" in french?

(via email from Crusader)

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 03:33 PM | Comments (17)

January 24, 2007

Courtesy of major dad

...a primer. It explains everything you never knew you needed to know about the various sects of Islam. You know ... in case you get a Congressional Committee Chair, need a cab at the airport or want to order mats for your unit from a Pakistani in Milwaukee.
Stranger things have happened.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:35 PM | Comments (3)

January 16, 2007

Melt The Glaciers Quickly!

Don't do it for me or my need for teetimes in January. No, do it for the Dolphins

Dolphins Stuck In Shallow Waters Of East Hampton

(CBS) EAST HAMPTON, N.Y. About two dozen dolphins are struggling for survival in the unlikeliest of places, and thanks much in part to the unseasonable winter weather. Rescuers in East Hampton have been working to free the mammals from shallow waters, worried they will die from hunger.

Drive those SUVs! Drive , I say!

But cooler weather -- with temperatures expected to drop more than 20 degrees on Tuesday, according to CBS 2 Meteoroligist John Elliott -- could raise the water level enough to give rescuers another chance to save the dolphins from the cove.

What does Al Gore know? Cooler weather=higher oceans!

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:45 AM | Comments (10)

January 11, 2007

Blame Canada!

Global Positioning Coins?

In a U.S. government warning high on the creepiness scale, the Defense Department cautioned its American contractors over what it described as a new espionage threat: Canadian coins with tiny radio frequency transmitters hidden inside.

The government said the mysterious coins were found planted on U.S. contractors with classified security clearances on at least three separate occasions between October 2005 and January 2006 as the contractors traveled through Canada.

...Top suspects, according to outside experts: China, Russia or even France -- all said to actively run espionage operations inside Canada with enough sophistication to produce such technology.

"Even France"

I'm shocked.

I wouldn't worry about this too much if I were the government, as most Canadian coins end up in US vending machines anyway, as opposed to secure government facilities.

Update: Oops! I see the Cracka' was on this late last night. That Miracle Whip-induced agita is really cutting into her shuteye.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:22 AM | Comments (1)

"Emerald Isle"

...or "Emerald City"?

Irish banknotes massively tainted with cocaine
Irish researchers found traces of cocaine on every single banknote contained in a random sample tested in a study of drug contamination of currency, Dublin City University (DCU) has said.

Researchers voiced suprise Thursday at the 100 percent figure, which compares for example to a recent US study which found two thirds of dollar bills tainted by the drug.

..."The most recent survey carried out in the US showed 65 percent of dollar notes were contaminated with cocaine. However, the 100 percent rate uncovered in this project was surprising.

"Although not a quantitative measure, the presence of illicit substances on banknotes in general circulation provides an indication of the degree to which substances are being used by the community".

Well, my hands are clean.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:59 AM | Comments (3)

January 09, 2007

The Glass is Half Empty

...and there is no spoon.

ETA Claims Bombing, Maintains Cease-Fire

The Basque separatist group ETA said Tuesday a cease-fire it declared in March still stands, even as it claimed responsibility for a Dec. 30 car bombing that killed two people in Madrid.

In the immortal words of Neo:

"Whoa."

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:48 AM | Comments (2)

Putin On The Risk

Like we've talked about before, the Russkies have one weapon these days and they ain't afraid to use it

Europe’s oil supplies from Russia were being held to ransom last night as the Kremlin fell into bitter dispute with a former Soviet satellite state.

Moscow abruptly halted millions of barrels of oil destined for the EU via Belarus in an increasingly hostile wrangle with its neighbour.

The move raised further questions over whether Western Europe can trust Mr Putin for its energy supply. Experts said that Russia had a deeply entrenched habit of manipulating oil and gas supplies as a substitute for diplomatic policy.

Typical Euroappeaser crap though, isn't it? "Raised further questions" my butt. But this is why Europe has made such a mess of things in the world of late by their complete inability to recognize things as they are and act. If someone pulls a gun on you in an alley, does that "raise further questions about their intent" or does it confirm that they want to rob you?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:57 AM | Comments (3)

January 05, 2007

Quote of the Day

Police found new caches of explosives in the Basque region Friday, nearly a week after a massive car bomb at Madrid's international airport killed two people and ended a nine-month cease-fire that separatist group ETA had said would be permanent.

Police said they had recovered 130 pounds of explosives inside a backpack, as well as bomb-making manuals, in the valley of Atxondo near the Basque towns of Amorebieta and Durango. Police found 44 pounds of ammonium nitrate, detonators and timers in a small hole underground during a search of the area earlier Friday.

On Thursday, authorities discovered 220 pounds of explosives in the area that they said were ready for immediate use, lacking only a detonator.

Where on EARTH did all those nasty extra BOOM BOOMs come from? The Spanish government ~ much given to insightful paOndering ~ is...um...doing more of the same.

...The governing Socialist party acknowledged Friday the bombing betrayed the government's lack of communication with the Basque militant group, despite the cease-fire that had raised hopes of an end to four decades of separatist violence.

"We have to recognize that there was a problem of information and no dialogue," senior Socialist party official Jose Blanco told radio station Cadena Ser. "We have to analyze what happened to avoid repeating the same mistakes in the future," he added.

I blame 'lint'.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:22 PM | Comments (10)

January 03, 2007

Dear Sweet Baby Jesus, Part Deux

Okay, so say Thou can'st swingeth the Home depot CEO type deal. I can understand. So many worthy contenders, so few seats to go around. I would like to say that I can settle for less, being a 'simple life' kinda gal. If not the boardroom, Thou mayest hooketh me up with this teflon bunch.

New Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday announced his picks for two of the top posts at the United Nations this week — and one of those choices is controversial.

Ban, the former foreign minister of South Korea who started his new job Tuesday, named Mexican Alicia Barcena — Kofi Annan's former chief of staff — to the key post of administration and management, a job previously held by American Christopher Burnham.

...The under-secretary-general for administration and management has for years been an American and is traditionally responsible for some of the most important financial matters at the United Nations: The world body's debt, executing personnel cuts to balance budgets and pursuing countries who are behind in paying dues.

The position is also responsible for the U.N. watchdog that ensures the secretariat's integrity — the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) — and the U.N.'s legal and human resources departments.

BINGO-eth! If your most humble servant shalt inherit Thy post at the U.N., I might still partake of the world's bounty free from even the oversight of viperous creatures like Spitzer.

And please heareth my continued prayers for the vanquishment of dubious and evil Cajun type Tigers tonight, which are as heartfelt and fervent as ever. Smite-teth them with the ass's jawbone of righteous vengence and good defense.
In Thy team's name we pray.

Amen.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 06:43 PM

Offered Without Comment

...as I'm still gasping for air.

French politicians are loath to admit they have anything to learn from other countries, particularly on social policy. But Dominique de Villepin, prime minister, on Wednesday conceded that Paris had copied Scotland's legally enforceable right to housing, as he promised to introduce a similar measure in France.

The law would allow homeless people to sue public authorities and force them to provide accommodation. It follows an assertive campaign by homeless associations that has pushed a growing public concern up the political agenda four months before France's presidential elections.

...Jacques Chirac, France's president, promised a right to housing in his new year's speech last weekend, winning some praise but raising questions over why he waited until his twelfth year as president to take action.

...Mr Sarkozy, the campaign's only self-proclaimed economic liberal, has been peppering recent speeches with more socially conscious policy ideas. At his latest rally he promised to house anyone who did not want to be homeless within two years.

...The Insee statistics agency puts the number of French homeless at 86,500. This suggests the issue is being exaggerated in a country of 60m, compared with the 40,000 homeless recorded among Scotland's 5m residents.

But the Abbé Pierre foundation says the French figures, based on data from soup kitchens and hostels in 2001, exclude thousands who live in hotels, caravans, tents, sub-let or live with friends. It estimates there are 934,000 French people without their own home.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:57 PM | Comments (5)

They Rolled Over for Al-Quaida

So why be shocked the same thing's not working now?

A powerful car bomb exploded early on Saturday at Madrid's Barajas airport, breaking a nine-month ceasefire by Basque separatist group Eta and prompting the government to halt a faltering peace process aimed at ending four decades of violence.

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Spain's prime minister, said: "With violence, there is no dialogue."

...The attack represents an embarrassing political defeat for Mr Zapatero, who has staked a lot of political capital on the peace process he launched in June, following Eta's March ceasefire.

Mr Zapatero has been adamantly optimistic about the process, despite the lack of concrete progress and relentless criticism from the right-wing political opposition, who believe there should be no negotiations unless Eta disarms. He expressed a determination to continue dialogue as recently as Friday.

"Are we better off now with a permanent ceasefire, or when we had bombs, car bombs and explosions?" Mr Zapatero asked a press conference. "This time next year we will be better off than we are today."

Sure you will. Hostages can easily convince themselves of most anything.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:48 AM | Comments (1)

December 19, 2006

The Turkey Wing

...called "Cyprus".

...Mr Erdogan was the first Turkish prime minister since the invasion to unfreeze the glacial position of immovability into which Ankara had put its Cyprus policy during the 1980s and 1990s. Appearing to put the interests of 70m Turks ahead of 150,000 Turkish Cypriots, he urged support for the Cyprus unification plan drawn up by Kofi Annan, the United Nations secretary-general, and which was put to a referendum on the island in early 2004.

In doing so, he undercut the position of Rauf Denktash, the TRNC leader at the time. Mr Denktash actively opposed the deal, and had been blamed for squandering earlier opportunities for a settlement during two decades of fruitless negotiations with his Greek Cypriot counterparts and UN officials. The 2004 referendum turned out to be another false Cypriot dawn, but it ultimately secured for Turkey the bigger prize of getting its EU entry process under way.

However, to the growing dismay of Mr Erdogan's government and the Turkish public, the EU was unable, partly because of its own mis-steps, to broker the ending of the trade and political embargo on the TRNC. In Turkey, the EU is widely blamed for this, but so, to his political discomfort, is Mr Erdogan.

...Turkey's experience in dealing with the EU in the past three years has turned Cyprus from a positive – the key that unlocked the door in 2004 – to a negative. Many in Turkey cannot understand why an institution as powerful as the EU is unable to honour a small and relatively uncontroversial pledge to bring the TRNC in from the wilderness.

Imagine that. The EU is unable to act on even the littlest promise.

More stories on Cyprus.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:20 AM

December 15, 2006

Spock The Doctor

And the Vulcan Tummy Tickle

I guess 'Heimlich' was a Romulan.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:37 AM

December 13, 2006

Mad About You

Honestly. I need to work for these people.

Brussels breached rules in banning 'mad' official
The European Commission acted improperly when it declared one of its civil servants mentally unstable and forced him to leave his job, according to an employment tribunal decision that could have a far-reaching effect on how Brussels unburdens itself of officials it considers troublesome.

Paul Mahoney, president of the European civil service tribunal in Luxembourg, read a brief judgement annulling a decision by the Commission's in 2004 which barred José Sequeira from his entering the development directorate where he was an administrator. His seniors claimed he had circulated documents insulting his colleagues.

...Generous employment rules mean Commission staff have jobs for life. Each year, some 200 are placed on long-term sick leave, half due to mental ill health.

Other cases alleging that the Commission forced outspoken staff to take sick leave are pending before the Luxembourg tribunal, which forms part of the European Court of Justice.

Is this any way to rule the free world? 'Mad' because he insulted his colleagues? Long term sick leave? Benefits? I am SO all over that.

BINGLEY SUCKS!!!

He knows where to send the checks.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:21 AM | Comments (1)

Pinochet

I meant to put this up the other day. Insta linked to a shocking editorial in the Washington Post on the legacy of Pinochet that is well worth reading. It's one of the most amazing things I've ever seen in the WaPo; someone must be off their meds there. Heck, if they wrote more like this it might almost make me subscribe.

Look, in no way am I trying to lessen the evil that Pinochet did, but the fact remains that Chile is one of the strongest economies in Latin America because of Pinochet, while Cuba is one of the worst because of Castro. Yet everybody loves and worships Fidel. Blech.

Follow the link or the full editorial is below the fold for those who aren't registered, as I want to save it.

A Dictator's Double Standard Augusto Pinochet tortured and murdered. His legacy is Latin America's most successful country. Tuesday, December 12, 2006; Page A26

AUGUSTO PINOCHET, who died Sunday at the age of 91, has been vilified for three decades in and outside of Chile, the South American country he ruled for 17 years. For some he was the epitome of an evil dictator. That was partly because he helped to overthrow, with U.S. support, an elected president considered saintly by the international left: socialist Salvador Allende, whose responsibility for creating the conditions for the 1973 coup is usually overlooked. Mr. Pinochet was brutal: More than 3,000 people were killed by his government and tens of thousands tortured, mostly in his first three years. Thousands of others spent years in exile.

One prominent opponent, Orlando Letelier, was assassinated by a car bomb on Washington's Sheridan Circle in 1976 -- one of the most notable acts of terrorism in this city's history. Mr. Pinochet, meanwhile, enriched himself, stashing millions in foreign bank accounts -- including Riggs Bank, a Washington institution that was brought down, in part, by the revelation of that business. His death forestalled a belated but richly deserved trial in Chile.

It's hard not to notice, however, that the evil dictator leaves behind the most successful country in Latin America. In the past 15 years, Chile's economy has grown at twice the regional average, and its poverty rate has been halved. It's leaving behind the developing world, where all of its neighbors remain mired. It also has a vibrant democracy. Earlier this year it elected another socialist president, Michelle Bachelet, who suffered persecution during the Pinochet years.

Like it or not, Mr. Pinochet had something to do with this success. To the dismay of every economic minister in Latin America, he introduced the free-market policies that produced the Chilean economic miracle -- and that not even Allende's socialist successors have dared reverse. He also accepted a transition to democracy, stepping down peacefully in 1990 after losing a referendum.

By way of contrast, Fidel Castro -- Mr. Pinochet's nemesis and a hero to many in Latin America and beyond -- will leave behind an economically ruined and freedomless country with his approaching death. Mr. Castro also killed and exiled thousands. But even when it became obvious that his communist economic system had impoverished his country, he refused to abandon that system: He spent the last years of his rule reversing a partial liberalization. To the end he also imprisoned or persecuted anyone who suggested Cubans could benefit from freedom of speech or the right to vote.

The contrast between Cuba and Chile more than 30 years after Mr. Pinochet's coup is a reminder of a famous essay written by Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, the provocative and energetic scholar and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who died Thursday. In "Dictatorships and Double Standards," a work that caught the eye of President Ronald Reagan, Ms. Kirkpatrick argued that right-wing dictators such as Mr. Pinochet were ultimately less malign than communist rulers, in part because their regimes were more likely to pave the way for liberal democracies. She, too, was vilified by the left. Yet by now it should be obvious: She was right.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:18 AM | Comments (4)

December 12, 2006

They Are Just Barbaric Animals

How else do you explain something like this

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A suicide bomber targeting laborers killed 60 people Tuesday in Baghdad and wounded 220 others, Iraqi officials said.

A pickup truck, loaded with about 440 pounds (200 kilograms) of explosives, pulled into Tayaran Square as hundreds of unemployed Iraqis holding picks and shovels gathered seeking a day's work.

The truck driver signaled to the would-be workers that he had jobs -- prompting people to crowd around the pickup before he detonated his bomb, said an Iraqi Interior Ministry official.

The explosion, which sent a cloud of black smoke into the sky, set several cars ablaze, and gunfire sounded after the blast, Reuters reported.

"A driver with a pickup truck stopped and asked for laborers. When they gathered around the car, it exploded," a witness told Reuters as he helped a stumbling survivor with a blood-stained head bandage.

"They were poor laborers looking for work. The poor are supposed to be protected by the government."

I'm just sickened by this. And there's really only so much the government can do when there are people willing to slaughter their fellow citizens wholesale, short of really clamping down with martial* law and basically shooting anyone who moves with out permission.

*oops! Thanks John!

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:04 AM | Comments (5)

Ivan Steps On Shell

You have to give Putin credit for knowing what Russia's cards are these days and for not being afraid to play them

Shell is being forced by the Russian government to hand over its controlling stake in the world's biggest liquefied gas project, provoking fresh fears about the Kremlin's willingness to use the country's growing strength in natural resources as a political weapon. After months of relentless pressure from Moscow, the Anglo-Dutch company has to cut its stake in the $20bn Sakhalin-2 scheme in the far east of Russia in favour of the state-owned energy group Gazprom.

The Russian authorities are also threatening BP over alleged environmental violations on a Siberian field in what is seen as a wider attempt to seize back assets handed over to foreign companies when energy prices were low.

Now that's a good joke, the Russians seizing the oil fields to 'defend the environment.' But the bigger political move is scary for Western Europe, and it should be. Russia showed last winter that they're not afraid to shut off oil and natural gas pipelines for political reasons, and this is a warning shot to the Euroappeasers that Ivan wants a big chair at the table. Unfortunately, this will also drive the Euroappeasers closer to Iran as a way to try and counter the Russian move, which means any hope of firm action against Iran is even more of a fantasy than before. Frankly, you'd think the Russians would support sanctions against Iran, as that would raise the value of their holdings...but would also lead to increased tensions with the muslim elements in their southern regions. Moscow's trying to juggle a couple of chainsaws here. Honestly, I can see Putin gaining control of the foreign oil assets in Russia, then supporting a tougher stance vis a vis Iran, which would provoke unrest in the southern Russian republics, which would allow him to really crack down on them, and pay for it with the much higher energy prices he'd be getting. Ugly and bloody, but there's going to be a housecleaning over there eventually and I'm sure he would prefer it to be somewhat on his terms.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:34 AM | Comments (5)

December 11, 2006

Holy Aay!atolla!!

...Iranians still party like no other. See, it works like this: If you go to a party or a club in Ibiza or Madrid, you usually come home at 10:00 a.m. the next morning, but in Iran you come home the following week. There are no clubs or bars in Iran (that is common knowledge to most of the world) but really nothing, and I mean nothing, compares to a house party in Teheran.

Every repressed attraction to the opposite sex, every urge to have a beer with your lunch, every desire to have a "happy hour" after a long day's work, every desire to give your partner a kiss at a restaurant forms into a tidal wave of absolute debauchery consisting of heavy drug use, massive alcohol consumption and, unfortunately, not-so-safe sex. With unemployment so high, inflation that doesn't cease, and a generation of youth that have lost ALL hope in their national government, the best thing you can do, for the time being, is pour yourself some illegally imported Russian vodka, light up a cigarette, and watch the world, as you know it, go to hell.

And 'shiraz' is originally an Iranian wine district?

I had no idea.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:00 PM | Comments (2)

Some Real Bravery By Students

How easy it is to talk about 'stupid cowboys' and 'plastic turkeys'; here are some students with real courage:

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- A group of students Monday briefly interrupted a speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at their university by booing and chanting "Death to the dictator," Iranian news agencies reported.

The protesting students apparently avoided security guards who tried to prevent them from attending the speech at Amir Kabir University, according to the student news Web site, ADWAR.

As Ahmadinejad approached the podium to speech, the members of the Islamic Students Association -- a banned group -- began booing and chanting, while some even burned pictures of the Iranian president, ADWAR reported.

Ahmadinejad responded by accusing the protesting students of having no shame and being on the payroll of the United States, according to ADWAR. He added that he loved each one of them and said, "You insult me but I will respond to you calmly."

Let's hope nothing bad happens to them, and their protests can grow and spread.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:01 AM | Comments (1)

December 09, 2006

Fiddling While Tehran Glows

Call me a reactionary old fool, but this scares the bejeebus out of me:

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran has begun installing 3,000 centrifuges in an expansion of its uranium enrichment program that brings the Islamic nation significantly closer to large-scale production of nuclear fuel, the president said Saturday.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also claimed that the international community was caving in to Tehran's demands to continue its nuclear program.

And he's right.

The United States and its European allies have been seeking a U.N. Security Council resolution to impose sanctions on Tehran for refusing to suspend enrichment. But Russia and China have opposed tough action advocated by the U.S., Britain, Germany and France and the Security Council appears to have reached a standstill on the issue.

...On Friday, key European nations circulated a revised U.N. resolution that narrowed the proposed sanctions on Iran in a bid to win Russian and Chinese support. The new draft would ban the supply of materials and technology that could contribute to Iran's program, but it gave much greater detail on what items would be prohibited.

While the shortsighted 'realists' dither and massage in diplomatic circles the Iranians are accelerating their centrifuges. J. H. C. on a Pogo Stick. What the hell are these people thinking? While they sit in their cave and argue about the shadows on the wall in front of them the troll is walking up behind them...and they are handing him the club. I just for the life of me can not understand how anyone in the West can possibly think that allowing these guys native nuclear technology is an acceptable course of action. But I'm sure they'll chuckle over their martinis about how creative their diplomacy was when they win their little battle with the US. Yes, do nothing, declare a diplomatic agreement, and then the bombs will go off.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 03:26 PM | Comments (2)

December 07, 2006

Taliban Rule 27: No Pooftas

So now our friends the Taliban have come out with a 30 point rule book

Now, the Taliban has put out a code of conduct for its commanders and fighters -- including when to kill teachers and how to prevent sexual abuse.

According to Pakistani journalist Khawar Mehdi Rizvi, who obtained a copy of the 30-point plan and provided it to CNN, the instructions have been issued to district level commanders in Afghanistan in a small handbook.

If you've ever wondered when it was ok to kill teachers, as opposed to, say, just beat them, well, just lookie here:

"It is forbidden to work as a teacher under the current puppet regime, because this strengthens the system of the infidels," says rule 24. And if a teacher refuses a warning to give up his job, reads rule 25, "he must be beaten."

"If the teacher still continues to instruct contrary to the principles of Islam, the district commander or a group leader must kill him," it continues.

When schools are burned, the Taliban rules say it is important that religious texts be removed from the buildings first.

Awfully glad that's settled.

Oh, and there are no gays in Islam, especially not in the chosen purity that is the Taliban. But, in a sign of their infinite mercy and understanding for the infidels, they include this little rule

Along with rules about not smoking cigarettes and not allowing murderers to join the Taliban, there also is this entry: Taliban "are not allowed to take young boys with no facial hair onto the battlefield or into their private quarters."

Who knew they were Python fans?

You've got to love that line about "not allowing murderers to join the Taliban."

They prefer to make their own, evidently.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:03 AM | Comments (3)

December 05, 2006

Don't You Question Our Patrio..., Er, Commitment!

Crittenden stirs up the righteous:

A number of Canadians took offense recently to a Boston Herald column in which I slammed Canada and Europe in general for failing to hold up their end in this war for democracy, freedom and security. Specificially, I slammed them for being smug democracies that do little to help the truly oppressed of this world, while throwing insults at us and obstacles in our way.

The Canadian Hordes from the Great White North have been unleashed.

Jihad, eh? Ya hoser.

Read his post and the comments.

As he said in his original post

Islamic extremists are ascendant among the world's 1 billion Muslims thanks to their successes, which are nothing more than our failures. American voters, whether they realize it or not, have chosen the path of Europe, of Canada - wealthy, smug democracies that profess concern for the oppressed but will do little for them, little even in their own defense.

These wealthy, smug little democracies, whose very wealthy smug existences are a direct result of the US carrying the lion's share of the burden in defending them from the Soviets. All of their little social programs that they love to trumpet about would not exist had they had to fund a reasonable defense budget. So they sit back and sip their espressos and snipe at us, at everything we do and don't do. Oh, pish on the little detail that lots of our intelligence data was from them, and they agreed with the general thrust of the analysis. If we said it then well it's lies, don't you see. For oil, and McDonalds. Oh, and for Jesus. And Halliburton.

And in their advanced, compassionate ways they want to "hang a burning tire around our necks."

I want a strong, secure US border. I want radioactive searches of every container ship coming in to the US done 200 miles offshore. I want a working missle defense system. I want every US troop home from Europe (except for moving ones to Poland).

And then I want to tell the rest of the world to solve their own problems and pay their own bills.

And they better learn Chinese.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:21 PM | Comments (3)

November 30, 2006

These Are The People The "Realists" Want As Our Partners In Negotiations

We'd had lots of smoking guns in Iraq that haven't panned out too well, but this, if true, seems to be something even Nancy Pelosi can't wish away:

WASHINGTON, Nov. 30, 2006 — U.S. officials say they have found smoking-gun evidence of Iranian support for terrorists in Iraq: brand-new weapons fresh from Iranian factories. According to a senior defense official, coalition forces have recently seized Iranian-made weapons and munitions that bear manufacturing dates in 2006.

This suggests, say the sources, that the material is going directly from Iranian factories to Shia militias, rather than taking a roundabout path through the black market. "There is no way this could be done without (Iranian) government approval," says a senior official.

Iranian-made munitions found in Iraq include advanced IEDs designed to pierce armor and anti-tank weapons. U.S. intelligence believes the weapons have been supplied to Iraq's growing Shia militias from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which is also believed to be training Iraqi militia fighters in Iran

Direct, hard evidence that Iran is killing US Troops, and also gaining priceless experience designing weapons that destroy our frontline troops and their vehicles. And while they are doing this we are supposed to "engage" them in a dialogue, give them an official say in the restructuring of Iraq, and, as a bonus if they call right now, operators are on duty, give them time to develop nuclear weapons. A mind-boggling strategy.

And bone-chillingly frightening.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:49 PM | Comments (5)

November 29, 2006

Londonistan, Continued

Here's more scary news from our closest allies on the other side of the pond:

Islamic sharia law is gaining an increasing foothold in parts of Britain, a report claims.

Sharia, derived from several sources including the Koran, is applied to varying degrees in predominantly Muslim countries but it has no binding status in Britain.

The Koran is one of the sources that Sharia derives from.

However, the BBC Radio 4 programme Law in Action produced evidence yesterday that it was being used by some Muslims as an alternative to English criminal law. Aydarus Yusuf, 29, a youth worker from Somalia, recalled a stabbing case that was decided by an unofficial Somali "court" sitting in Woolwich, south-east London.

Mr Yusuf said a group of Somali youths were arrested on suspicion of stabbing another Somali teenager. The victim's family told the police it would be settled out of court and the suspects were released on bail.

There's a stabbing, and the police let the people "work it out themselves"? It seems to me that's what led to the stabbing in the first place.

Sharia's great strength was the effectiveness of its penalties, he said. Those who appeared before religious courts would avoid re-offending so as not to bring shame on their families.

Hey, that's true! All those women in that soccer stadium in Afghanistan never "brought shame on their families" again, now did they? And neither did those "whores" in Germany; regular pillars of community virtue, they are now.

Faizul Aqtab Siddiqi, a barrister and principal of Hijaz College Islamic University, near Nuneaton, Warwicks, said this type of court had advantages for Muslims.(No shit! Really?) "It operates on a low budget, it operates on very small timescales and the process and the laws of evidence are far more lenient and it's less awesome an environment than the English courts," he said.

Ah yes, those lenient laws of evidence.

England needs to decide very quickly if it wants to remain an independent country. People who move there must adopt English rules and laws, or it's all over folks.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:48 AM | Comments (2)

November 20, 2006

You Got To Run On Heavy Heavy Fuel

If you wanna be cool:

Iran is set to upgrade its nuclear reactor capability by replacing its 5-megawatt reactor in Tehran with Arak's 40-megawatt heavy water research reactor, the Tehran Times reported. ...Heavy water nuclear centers can be used to convert uranium into plutonium, for use in the production of nuclear weapons. The "Arak research reactor is due for completion in 2009 and will make isotopes for medical, industrial, and other peaceful uses," the Tehran Times claimed.

Let's see, there's something called the "Religion of Peace", isn't there? And any use of their nuclear power that "promotes" it, like, say, "convert or we nuke you" or "let's wipe Israel off of the map" would I'm sure in their mind be a "peaceful" use, now wouldn't it?

Iran has asked the International Atomic Agency for aid in setting up the Arak nuclear site, but Aqazadeh was quoted as saying that "the work on the Arak research reactor will continue whether the agency provides technical assistance or not."

"It will be more harmful to the agency if it refuses assistance," he warned.

I'm sure that will get the Europeasers scurrying to offer aid. It always does.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:34 AM | Comments (3)

November 15, 2006

Hurrah For John Howard

My god, I wish we could elect him here when the Aussies are done with him:

The Prime Minister, John Howard, is proposing his own inconvenient truth after finding the movie of that name not to his liking.

An Inconvenient Truth, starring the former US vice-president Al Gore, "showed a degree of the peeved politician [with] the constant jibes at the Bush Administration," Mr Howard said yesterday. He urged Australians who think nuclear power is a "horrific thought" to consider the forthcoming report which is expected to find that nuclear power will become more economical as the cost of reducing greenhouse emissions makes coal-fired electricity more expensive.

But no, we get the likes of Bush and Gore.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:02 PM | Comments (1)

Breaking: 8.1 Earthquake In Japan; Tsunami Warning

Ouch.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:10 AM

November 14, 2006

Blair Jumping Ship?

This is not encouraging:

The first cracks in the united front over Iraq between Tony Blair and President Bush appeared last night as the Prime Minister offered Iran and Syria the prospect of dialogue over the future of Iraq and the Middle East.

Mr Blair said there could be a new “partnership” with Iran if it stopped supporting terrorism in Iraq and gave up its nuclear ambitions. Syria and Iran could choose partnership or isolation, he said.

...Downing Street denied suggestions that Mr Blair was going “cap in hand” to Damascus and Tehran asking for help and insisted that they were being told that they had to make a “strategic choice” between giving up support for terrorism and nuclear ambitions in return for being brought in from the cold.

Hmm. Sadly, it spite of him tying this to Iran's halting of its support for terrorism and nu-cu-lar designs it looks like Tony's seen the writing on the US wall and feels he needs to go soft to protect his own position. Let's face it, no one in Europe will hold a hard line against anyone* in the Middle East, no matter what those countries do; all they need do is say 'we will consider blahblahblah' and the Europeasers will shower them with gifts. Spineless batsards. Well, the CarBQs will spread throughout France and the radical Muftis will plan their terror campaigns from the British mosques.

And the 'best and brightest' of Europe will keep blaming it all on the Americans and the Jews.

*Well, Israel is of course the exception; the Europeasers always manage to keep attacking them.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:06 AM | Comments (1)

November 06, 2006

As Someone in the Comments Notes

...this brilliant idea...

Rush-hour road pricing on the way say experts
A major push to impose road tolls at rush hours and on congested routes is on the cards.

Plans for drivers to pay for every mile driven at peak times or on traffic pinch points are set to be backed by a study commissioned by Chancellor Gordon Brown.

Government research has previously suggested a fee of up to £1.34 per mile would be needed to reduce congestion on main routes into London.

Other studies have proposed charges ranging from 2p per mile minimum to £2 per mile on badly clogged main roads.

...would certainly reduce congestion, because those who have no public transportation to their place of employment couldn't afford to work anyway.

I live in south east london but work in south west london. There is no reliable alternative for me other than the car. if this road pricing comes in at £1.30 as is being suggested I will have a number of choices.

1)give up work as I would be working to pay road tolls. at £1.30 it would be £97.00* a day for me.

*Currently $184.41 US

"Immigrate to Australia" seems to come up frequently.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:37 AM | Comments (3)

November 05, 2006

Saddam To Swing

Good.

Angry, shaking and defiant, Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death this morning by hanging for ordering the massacre of Iraqi civilians.

...He had refused to stand for the verdict and had to be lifted to his feet by two court bailiffs.

"Make him stand," the judge ordered as the former president stayed seated.

This is an important step for them to clear the decks and try and rebuild. I honestly don't know at this point if it is possible for Iraq to have anything close to a Western-style democaracy; I certainly despair that it isn't. But it would be completely impossible with him around, and the lesson needs to be given that people like him, and those that support him, will pay.

He had wanted to face a firing squad - that request was refused.

Even better.

Oh, here's a shock:

Amnesty International described the trial as a "shabby affair marred by serious flaws".

The Iraqis conducted it, gave him more than ample chances to defend himself and completely disrupt the proceedings. I'm not sure what Amnesty's problem is. Well, I'm sure I can guess, though.

I have to say that this is good, too:

Chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi told reporters that the Anfal trial now in progress for Saddam and others alleged role in gassing and killing Kurds would continue while the appeals process is underway. But if the appellate judges uphold the death sentence, the Anfal proceedings and other cases would be halted and Saddam hanged.

...A court official told The Associated Press that the appeals process was likely to take three to four weeks once the formal paperwork was submitted.

The last thing needed is some endless appeal process; thank god they haven't learned that from our lawyers...yet.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:35 AM | Comments (4)

November 03, 2006

BREAKING NEWS: Iranian Scientists NOT as Stoo-pid as U.S. Troops

Clinton officials 'shocked' by failure of 'nuanced plan'!!!

Mullah Merlin heads to super secret bunker where he's building a secret nuclear device that he got super secret plans from Clinton administration secret sources who secretly botched the super secret way to build one or so they super secretly thought, having a super opinion of their mental superiority. - Photo © M. Albright/al-Reuters

Documents prove Saddam one year away from NUKE...before he wasn't.

NOTE: Saddam files' FAKE pictures of al-Zarqawi and FAKE al-Qaeda documents ARE STILL FAKEDY FAKE FAKE FAKE and planted by al-KarlRovia agents of Mordor. Ignore those.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:50 AM

November 02, 2006

It Could Be a Long Cold Winter

...in Georgia.

Russia's state-controlled natural gas monopoly said Thursday that it would more than double the price it charges Georgia, further heightening tensions between the ex-Soviet neighbors.

OAO Gazprom said in a statement that it will charge $230 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas, compared with the $110 that it charges now.

Tensions rose between the two countries after Georgia briefly detained four purported Russian spies in late September. Moscow responded with a transport and postal blockade on Georgia and a crackdown on Georgian migrants living in Russia, whose financial remittances help sustain their homeland's economy.

...Relations between Moscow and Tbilisi have steadily deteriorated since the 2004 election of Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, who has sought to take the Caucasus nation out of the Russian orbit, bolster ties with the West and join NATO in 2008.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:28 AM

October 24, 2006

China: For Kim, "Solly" Seems To Be The Hardest Word

So now the Chinese are saying that Lil Kim is not a font of contrition after all:

BEIJING - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il did not apologize for his regime’s nuclear test when a special envoy from China’s president visited Pyongyang last week, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tuesday.

South Korean news reports said last week that Kim had expressed regret for the Oct. 9 test during a visit by State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan, who delivered a personal message and a gift from Chinese President Hu Jintao.

“These reports are certainly not accurate,” ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said at a regular press briefing. “We haven’t heard any information that Kim Jong Il apologized for the test.”

After the UN's "very angry" letter to Kim has achieved its predicted results of, er, nothing

you can see the Chinese are sweating dumplings over Kim flooding their border with refugees.

In a sign China took Kim’s threat seriously, Liu also warned against expanding the sanctions.

“All parties should not willfully interpret or expand the sanctions,” he said.

China, which has traditionally opposed sanctions and advocated dialogue, supported the U.N. Security Council action against North Korea and condemned the North’s test in unusually forceful language.

But Beijing also fears any sanctions that could squeeze impoverished North Korea so tightly that it collapses, causing instability on its borders and a potential wave of refugees.

So the Chinese are scurrying to build a nice big fence on their border with NoKo. I have to say, though, given what we've heard about the conditions there, what with all the starvation that already exists, how could conditions for the citizens really get any worse? Sure, if the military starts feeling the squeeze then you could see a barracks coup, but the poor people are in such a horrid condition because of this guy. Oops, I mean because of Bushcheneyhalliburton, obviously.

"My gweat pwan is woking bwillyantry!"

Update: It seems Capt. Ed is thinking along these lines as well:

Keep an eye on Pyongyang. The DPRK Army tried twice to remove Kim, and if they get hungry enough, they may try it again.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:00 AM

October 23, 2006

Oh The Erie Was A' Risin' And The Gin Was Gettin' Low

Great news via Publius Pundit

Panama’s great referendum on expanding the mighty Panama Canal, to accomodate two times’ as much ship traffic, is taking place today. 1.7 million Panamanians are registered to vote on the $5.3 billion upgrade, essentially a bond project to be financed with crossing fees. Local muni-bond initiative as is, it will affect billions of people around the world. Some 70% of Panamanians are polled to favor it ahead of the vote.

And once again the polling data was wrong, as nearly 80% voted for the project. Thanks you, citizens of PAnama. This is great news for world trade. When this project is completed transit times and rates will fall, which will mean lower prices for consumers and more trade.

I can tell you from personal experience that the Canal currently is clogging up; my business is affected all the time by delays at the Canal entrance. Now, this will also lead to environmental fights at our ports as well, as the larger ships that can come through the canal will need similarly expanded port facilities on US east coast, and especially Gulf, ports, which means we will have to do some, gasp, dredging.

And you know how much the left hates muckraking.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:04 AM | Comments (1)

October 18, 2006

"Brilliant!"

Aishah Azmi, the Muslim teaching assistant suspended for her sack cloth, says everything's brilliant, so what's the problem?

...Ms Azmi told the BBC her veil had not caused problems with the children, with whom she had a "brilliant relationship".

..."If people think it is a problem, what about blind children? They can't see anything but they have a brilliant education, so I don't think my wearing the veil affects the children at all."

Jeez, when I watched her BBC interview, "brilliant" wasn't the first word that sprang to mind.

What I think IS important and amazing ~ considering all the PC suck-up the British authorities/elected lot have been doing ~ is the torrent of emotion and free speech this seems to have unleashed. I mean, WOW. You wouldn't have heard THIS a week ago. (Everyone was still beating up Jack Straw.)

Veils harm equal rights - Harman
Wearing a full face veil harms women's participation in society and effectively bars them from becoming an MP, minister Harriet Harman has said.
Ms Harman, who is standing for Labour's deputy leadership, said: "How can you stand as an MP when men's faces are on posters, and voters can't see yours?"

"If you want equality, you have to be in society, not hidden away from it," she told the New Stateman magazine.

"The veil is an obstacle to women's participation on equal terms."

The constitutional affiars minister was speaking the week after Jack Straw sparked controversy when he said he would prefer Muslim women not to wear veils which cover the face.

Race equality boss Trevor Phillips said the comments were "completely right".

Mr Phillips, who heads the Commission for Racial Equality, said Mr Straw had the right to ask a woman to remove her veil at constituency meetings, and the woman had the right to refuse.

..."This is not a matter of public policy, it's a question of social etiquette and manners," Mr Phillips said.

It's wonderful. But it's all too easy to pick on a symbol like the veil ~ on a woman who might believe in her freedom wholeheartedly but is forced by Londonistan family members to wear it. Those belligerent, misogynists are the ones who need to be hammered, not the feminine symbol of their vile, ignorant and oppressive culture.

It's easy to pick on girls, isn't it? And they're the aces at it. But if society at large can pressure (or legislate, in some instances) these cave dwellers to allow their women to move freely, perhaps the revolution will come from within.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:23 AM

October 17, 2006

Heck, Let Chavez Have The Seat

While I think Guatemala is a better choice, of course

Fierce US critic Venezuela and US-backed Guatemala fought a bitter battle for Latin America's open seat on the UN Security Council, forcing voting into a second day under pitched lobbying by the United States. Guatemala led in all but one of the 10 rounds of voting, which was a tie, but Caracas held on to enough support to deny Guatemala the two-thirds majority of votes cast in a particular round needed to win.

The sheer entertainment value of having Venezuela on the Security Council is worth whatever disruption they might cause. Let's face it, the Council is useless anyway, and I want the list posted of every nation that voted for Venezuela as this farce continues to show everyone how even the members of the UN regard it as a joke.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:52 AM

October 16, 2006

It's Always Great

...when the Aussies have your back.

...Japan has taken one of the hardest lines against the North. Last Friday, the Cabinet approved closing ports to North Korean ships and banning trade with the North.

On Monday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters that his country may impose more sanctions depending on how other countries respond to the U.N. measures.

Australia announced that it would go beyond the U.N. resolution by banning the North's ships from entering its ports except in dire emergencies.

"I think that will help Australia make a quite clear contribution to the United Nations sanctions regime," Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said.

Oh, I think so Mr. Downer. Mates? You rock.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:25 AM

I Suppose This Is Chimpy's Fault Too

Root causes, and such:

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (CNN) -- More than 90 Sri Lankan sailors were killed Monday afternoon when an explosives-laden truck rammed into their convoy, Defense spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella told CNN.

"These men were all unarmed. This is a deliberate barbaric terrorist attack," he said.

...Witnesses said bodies were strewn across the scene of the incident. A navy official accused Tamil Tiger rebels of carrying out the suicide attack.

The latest attack comes as foreign mediators struggle to keep alive the four-year old Norwegian-brokered cease-fire which has unraveled amid clashes that have killed at least 1,000 combatants and more than 100 civilians since July.

Maybe we can send Jimmeh over for some dialogue.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:31 AM

October 13, 2006

"What Are You, Retarded?"

South Park beats down the 9-11 Conspiracy idiots.

(h/t to Allah)

ths UPDATE: Truthers strike back!

Well anyways like I said, I think this will get more people wanting to look at these "silly" conspiracy theories only to find themselves having themselves having restless nights researching controlled demolitons.

Yeah, I can see that happening: "You know, if Cartman thinks there's something to this, maybe I should do some research."

Just go READ

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:08 PM | Comments (7)

Maybe South Korean Students'll Change the Sign

...now.

Revisting a post from one year ago.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:23 AM | Comments (4)

October 12, 2006

Dollars, Cents and Shari'ah

Stuff you just might not know.

Islamic-Safe Finance Grows in the West
When Caribou Coffee went public last year, sharp-eyed investors noticed some unusual promises in its prospectus. Caribou, the nation's second-largest coffeehouse chain, said it would never sell pork or porn. It wouldn't charge or receive interest, either.

By following financial rules that are part of the Islamic code called Shariah, Caribou is among a small but growing list of Western businesses looking to make themselves as attractive as possible to Muslim investors. Some, like Caribou, are motivated by principle, while others see Muslim investors as an attractive new source of money.

...Dow Jones has created an Islamic investing index. A Texas company issued almost $166 million in Shariah-compliant bonds to finance natural gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico. And the German state of Saxony-Anhalt issued a floating-rate 100-million euro note -- managed by Citigroup -- that followed Shariah rules.

Assets invested at two Shariah-compliant funds run by Saturna Capital in Bellingham, Wash. have swelled nearly 10-fold, since 2002 from $34 million in 2002 to $331 million now -- though that's still tiny by mutual fund standards. The funds invest only in companies that are Shariah-compliant.

...Eric Meyer, who runs a Connecticut-based hedge fund called Shariah Capital, says Western banks and financial institutions need to have Shariah-compliant products or risk losing market share.

"There is a younger generation of Muslims who grew up during the last 20 to 30 years that have a reawakened sense of nationalism and religious pride that motivates them to invest according to their faith," he said.

But in Western finance, it takes some creativity to avoid earning or paying interest.

To borrow money, Shariah-compliant companies often pledge the lender a share of the profits from an asset instead of interest. Investors who need to earn a shorter-term return can contract to buy, say, $100 of copper today, and simultaneously pledge to sell copper in 90 days for, say, $103.

Caribou Coffee Company Inc., for instance, has a revolving line of credit. But instead of paying interest, it sells assets and then pays to lease them back.

Harry Reid should work for them.

It's a frickin' amazing shell game. Subterfuge and sleight of hand, all in the name of religion. I would imagine it's also remarkably hard to keep track of assets and cash flow, since one doesn't actually own anything ~ Ali bin Bomber says "What funds? I own nothing." Acbar ack ShneikAtac says "And I sent him nothing."

I'm gonna give that a whirl April 15th.

A primer.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:16 PM | Comments (3)

October 11, 2006

Gaia Under Threat From Super-Sized Monster

No, not the Russkie Comet; we're talking the biggest, baddest monster of them all, one who is "eating the Earth":

The population of the United States will pass 300 million today, or tomorrow. No one knows exactly where, no one know precisely when. It is a milestone for sure but is this a cause for celebration or anxiety?

Some American commentators are already saying the landmark is a chance to note the US is perhaps the only country in the developed world where the economy is being bolstered by a population that is growing at a discernable rate. But many experts say passing the 300 million milestone should be a wake-up call that demands a reappraisal of the extraordinary, unparalleled rate of consumption by the world's largest economy and its third largest by population.

As an economic model for the rest of the world to follow - in particular the rapidly developing economies of China and India - it is unsustainable, they say.

They then list some helpful 'facts' that show how horrible the US is for the world, including this information which has convinced me, folks:

75 Life expectancy for men in the US. Women are expected to live until 80

63 Life expectancy for men in the developing world. Women are expected to live until 67

In the interest of Humanity, we ask that all Americans over the age of 65 kill themselves immediately.

You think I'm exaggerating the threat?

Perhaps.

But consider this: the phrase "Soylent Green is people!" has exactly the same number of letters as the phrase "George Bush is Karl Rove."

I thought you might find that...interesting.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:31 AM | Comments (6)

October 10, 2006

It's Helpful and Encouraging

...to have the Chinese onboard.

North Korea must face “some punitive actions” for testing a nuclear device, China’s U.N. ambassador said Tuesday, suggesting that Beijing may be willing to impose some form of Security Council sanctions against Pyongyang.

China’s U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya told reporters that the council must give a “firm, constructive, appropriate but prudent response” to North Korea.

“I think there has to be some punitive actions but also I think these actions have to be appropriate,” he said.

...While the U.S. and its allies want a swift, tough resolution, the question has been how much punishment China would allow. China has been North Korea’s major ally and a source of both food and fuel for the desperately poor nation of 23 million.

Wang’s comments suggested that Beijing will at least allow some muscle in the resolution.

...In Beijing earlier Tuesday, China’s Foreign Ministry vented its anger against its communist ally over the test for a second day, with a spokesman saying that relations had been damaged.

“The nuclear test will undoubtedly exert a negative impact on our relations,” the spokesman, Liu Jianchao, said at a routine media briefing. He said Monday’s test was done “flagrantly, and in disregard of the international community’s shared opposition.”

Wang went a step further than Liu, who said the time was not right for punishment, much less military action.

At the very least, there should be maritime inspections of anything entering or leaving NorKo ports. And perhaps some US light should shine on reports like this one (courtesy of Crusader) via China that will CURL YOUR FREAKIN' HAIR.
UPDATE: Senator McCain has thoughtfully blogged comments of his I spent all day looking for, because they were dead on target.

...The President is right to call on the Council to impose a military arms embargo, financial and trade sanctions, and, most importantly, the right to interdict and inspect all cargo in and out of North Korea. I hope the Council quickly adopts these sanctions, and that all members enforce them.

The worst thing we could do is accede to North Korea’s demand for bilateral talks. When has rewarding North Korea’s bad behavior ever gotten us anything more than worse behavior?

...Prior to the agreement, every single time the Clinton Administration warned the Koreans not to do something -- not to kick out the IAEA inspectors, not to remove the fuel rods from their reactor -- they did it. And they were rewarded every single time by the Clinton Administration with further talks. We had a carrots and no sticks policy that only encouraged bad behavior. When one carrot didn’t work, we offered another.

Enough vegetables already ~ on the bargaining table AND in government.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:25 PM | Comments (1)

October 09, 2006

I Think Miles O'Brien

...experienced a Freudian slip while reporting on North Korea's nuclear test. He said:

"The U.S. Geological Survey has confirmed a 4.2 magniturd...(!)...magnitude disturbance..."

I think he had it right the first time.

From NPR's "Morning Edition" to MSNBC, the repeating theme is the resounding failure of diplomacy.

...The move, which Pyongyang had begun warning was imminent on Oct. 3, ends years of intensive diplomacy aimed at preventing the isolated Stalinist state from developing a nuclear capability. It struck a blow to Chinese leader Hu Jintao, who just hours before the detonation hosted a breakthrough summit meeting with Japan's new Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, which ended with a joint call for Pyongyang to refrain from testing a weapon and rejoin six-party talks.

Even China's completely put out, calling it "brazen", which I guess is a big time slap in diplo-speak. Not to mention that it's ruined a big week for the Chinese.

...But such speculation that Kim was staying his hand turned out to be grimly premature. Hu has another reason to be furious with Kim. Sunday was also the opening day of a key four-day Chinese communist party plenum in Beijing, during which Hu was slated to begin the political maneuvering required to reshuffle personnel and orchestrate his own succession. Now that important party conference is in shambles, upstaged by Kim's nuclear test.

I can't wait for Jimmy Carter's spin on this.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:24 AM

Fat Man, Little Boy, Now "Ronery Guy"?

So Much for the Peace Ceremony

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Monday it had safely and successfully carried out an underground nuclear test, flying in the face of a warning from the U.N. Security Council.

Even the Chinese are not amused

The US said the reported test was a "provocative act", while China denounced it as "brazen".

In an unusually strong statement against its ally, China expressed its "resolute opposition" to the claimed test and said it "defied the universal opposition of international society".

Now we see the fruitful harvest of the wise policy of supplying NK with nuclear technology

The North is believed to have enough radioactive material for about a half-dozen bombs, using plutonium from its main nuclear reactor located at Yongbyon, north of the capital Pyongyang. It insists its nuclear program is necessary to deter a U.S. invasion.

Some people are pointing out that fact that this bomb was much smaller, yield-wise, than Little Boy or Fat Man; this is irrelevant. If NK is allowed to get away with this, than the Iranians will get the know-how in a matter of weeks from both the NKers and the Europeasers.

Michelle has a full link round-up.

And, Madeline, Cheers!

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:46 AM | Comments (1)

October 06, 2006

NOW We Know the TRUE Meaning of

..."NANNY STATE"...

A government proposal to raise Italy's legal age for buying alcohol from 16 to 18 is going down like a corked wine with bar owners, scientific experts and some critics in the very government that came up with the idea.

...Livia Turco, health minister, said the measure would align Italy with other European Union countries. In fact, the legal age for purchasing most or all types of alcohol in France, Germany and several smaller countries is 16, though it is 18 in the UK and 21 in the US.

..."It sends a repressive and prohibitionist message to young people, and it could have the opposite effect to that intended - making the abuse of alcoholic drinks more attractive," said Gennaro Migliore, a communist legislator.

..."I wonder if it's really true that you can change people's lifestyles with prohibition," said Lino Stoppani, Fipe's president.

Many critics have pointed out that Italians learn to drink moderate amounts of wine or beer at a relatively young age - under 14 - because of the tradition of leisurely family meals at the weekend in restaurants.

...It is widely recognised in Italy, however, that the high level of traffic accidents is related to alcohol consumption. About 200 Italian teenagers die every year as a result of accidents involving drinking and driving.

Nevertheless, the budget's proposals on alcohol seem in apparent conflict with the much more liberal approach that some government ministers are considering on drug use.

Paolo Ferrero, social solidarity minister, says he plans to reverse the existing law, passed by Italy's former centre-right government, which made it a criminal offence to possess all but the smallest amounts of marijuana and cocaine.

Hmmm, beer or cocaine? Which would I rather have Ebola using? I think the best indicator on that score would be which is served at those long Sunday dinners. As for 200 teenagers killed in drinking related accidents ~ in my mind, that's a pretty astonishingly low number considering the age at which you can legally begin quaffing. Judging by the American experience when it was 18 to drink, you'd think there'd be slaughter on every road in Italy four times a day with tanked 16 year olds.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:30 AM | Comments (5)

September 28, 2006

More Europeasement Yute Hostile Hostel Problems

Looks like the CarBQ season has started early for the Ramadan Roilers United Yutes

It looks as if immigrants youths want to turn nightly rioting during the Islamic holy month of ramadan into an annual tradition. Around 8:30pm last night violence erupted again in Brussels, the capital of Europe. The riots centered on the Brussels Marollen quarter and the area near the Midi Train Station, where the international trains from London and Paris arrive. Youths threw stones at passing people and cars, windows of parked cars were smashed, bus shelters were demolished, cars were set ablaze, a youth club was arsoned and a shop was looted. Two molotov cocktails were thrown into St.Peter’s hospital, one of the main hospitals of central Brussels. The fire brigade was able to extinguish the fires at the hospital, but youths managed to steal the keys of the fire engine.

Luckily they've got the newest member of the World Court to defend them:

Vinny Gambini: It is possible that the two yutes...

Judge Chamberlain Haller: ...Ah, the two what? Uh... uh, what was that word?
Vinny Gambini: Uh... what word?
Judge Chamberlain Haller: Two what?
Vinny Gambini: What?
Judge Chamberlain Haller: Uh... did you say 'yutes'?
Vinny Gambini: Yeah, two yutes.
Judge Chamberlain Haller: What is a yute?
[beat]
Vinny Gambini: Oh, excuse me, your honor...
[exaggerated]
Vinny Gambini: Two YOUTHS.

Why would such nice fellas throw Molotovs at a hospital?

We must examine the root causes!

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:03 AM | Comments (2)

September 27, 2006

What a Sticky Tar Baby

...this is.

7-Eleven Dropping Venezuela-Backed Citgo
Convenience store operator 7-Eleven Inc. is dropping Venezuela-backed Citgo as its gasoline supplier at more than 2,100 locations and switching to its own brand of fuel.

...7-Eleven spokesman Margaret Chabris said that, "Regardless of politics, we sympathize with many Americans' concern over derogatory comments about our country and its leadership recently made by Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez."

Chabris said a boycott of Citgo gasoline would hurt the 4,000 employees of the U.S. subsidiary, who have no connection to Venezuela.

Every drop of gas sold on NAS Pensacola is CITGO. They're the contracted supplier for all the Naval installations here in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. I guess the devil's...in the details.

UPDATE: Seems local military folks are Googling and finding us.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:41 PM

September 26, 2006

I Would Ask...

A key Renault executive indicated in quotes cited by newspapers on Tuesday that U.S. carmaker General Motors did not share the same sense of urgency as do Renault and Nissan to fight rival Toyota.

..."hasn't that been GM's problem all along?" If you're looking for a 'nimble responder' to change, it ain't them.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:42 AM | Comments (2)

September 23, 2006

Ryder Cup?

Looks more like we've been hit by a Ryder Truck.

(Or team USA got confused and thought their shirts said "UVA"...)

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:29 AM | Comments (2)

September 22, 2006

The Rat Strikes Again?

Let's see, first Armitage ends up as the one who gave Plame's name to Novack.

Now he's mentioned as the one behind the supposed Bush "bomb you back to the Stone Age" threat to Pakistan:

White House spokesman Tony Snow said Richard Armitage, who was deputy secretary of state at the time, had denied warning Musharraf that the United States would bomb his country if it did not cooperate with the U.S. campaign against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Musharraf, in an interview with CBS News’ magazine show “60 Minutes,” to air on Sunday, said that after the Sept. 11 attacks, Armitage had told Pakistan’s intelligence director, “’Be prepared to be bombed. Be prepared to go back to the Stone Age.’”

What a weasel.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:56 AM | Comments (3)

September 21, 2006

Run Away!

Drudge is reporting:

CHAVEZ FLEES NYC; CUTS TRIP SHORT AFTER 'DEVIL' SPEECH Thu Sep 21 2006 08:21:15 ET

Fiery Venezuela President Hugo Chavez will 'wrap up' his controversial NYC visit early this morning to return home to Caracas, sources say.

The president cancelled several appointments previously scheduled in NYC today including a second news conference he was to hold at Venezuela's United Nations mission.

On Wednesday, Chavez, in a controversial speech in the UN General Assembly, mocked President George Bush repeatedly calling him 'The Devil'.

Maybe Bolton asked him if he liked Thai food...

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:08 AM | Comments (11)

September 20, 2006

Bolton On Chavez's "Speech"

I heard him on WCBS on the way home. He said (and I paraphrase) that he didn't mind him giving it, and that in fact he wished he had walked a few blocks over to Central Park, because he has the freedom to give that speech, saying what he did, there as well, and that he (Bolton) wondered what the result would be if one of Chavez's citizens tried to give a speech like that in Venezuela. He also said that none of the US delegation were present for the speech, that they would not dignify him by attending, and that only a "junior note-taker" was present for the US.

"Snort-giggle" is all I have to say.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 05:27 PM

Yanqui Pig Dogs!

To great applause Chavez addressed the UN today:

'THE DEVIL CAME TO THE UN YESTERDAY... It Still Smells of Sulphur here... Bush, I have the feeling you are going to live the rest of your days as a nightmare... We need a psychologist to analyze Bush... YANKEE IMPERIALISTS GO HOME... Maybe we need to move the United Nations out of USA'...

He is entertaining.

Update: An interesting tidbit in the NYT coverage:

''The devil came here yesterday,'' Chavez said, referring to Bush's address on Tuesday and making the sign of the cross. ''He came here talking as if he were the owner of the world.''

Making the sign of the cross? He's a religious extremeist! I'm sure the Left will hate him now.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:18 PM | Comments (6)

September 19, 2006

Don't Let The Doorknob Hit Ya...

Where the good Lord split 'ya:

The chief judge in Saddam Hussein's genocide trial has been replaced, Al-Iraqiya state television reported Tuesday. The station did not say why the change was made, but the Arab satellite stations Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera said Judge Abdullah al-Amiri was replaced at the request of the Iraqi prime minister. The name of the new judge was not reported. There was no immediate official confirmation that the judge had been replaced.

Prosecutors had asked for al-Amiri to be replaced after he allowed Saddam to lash out at Kurdish witnesses. And last week, al-Amiri stirred further controversy when he told the former president that "you were not a dictator."

Of course, now we'll probably have a 'mistrial' declared and have to do all this shi'ite over again.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:27 PM | Comments (3)

While The Prime Minister's Away

The Army will play:

BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- Tanks have been seen rolling through the streets of Bangkok, Thailand, on Tuesday amid rumors of an attempted coup, witnesses tell CNN.

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra -- currently at the U.N. headquarters in New York -- went on a government-owned TV station and declared a state of emergency, The Associated Press reported.

According to officials at the Thai mission at the United Nations, Thaksin has moved up his speech to the General Assembly to Tuesday night and will return to Bangkok after his address.

Better get that expense report in quickly...

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 12:18 PM

September 18, 2006

"I Told You to Come Alone! So Who Are These Guys?" REDUX

"My network"
"The French."

Chirac calls for UN to scale down Iran sanctions

Jacques Chirac, France's president, could be heading for another clash with the US over the Middle East, after pushing the United Nations security council to scale down its threat of sanctions against Iran.

..."We must first find an agenda for negotiations, then during these negotiations I suggest that, on the one hand, the six (the US, the UK, France, Germany, China and Russia) renounce involving the security council and Iran renounces uranium-enrichment during the negotiations," said the French president.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:26 AM | Comments (7)

September 14, 2006

Get More Fiber in Your Diet

...'and things start moving more efficiently' works for cars, too.

Honda Develops New Way to Make Biofuel
Honda Motor Co. has developed a way to make ethanol fuel from plant waste matter in a process that has the potential to expand the use of biofuels that fight global warming, the Japanese automaker said Thursday.

Existing bio-ethanol production faces supply limits because it uses sugar and starch of sugarcane or from corn, both of which are also utilized as food. By tapping far greater supplies of inedible plant matter, such as stalks, leaves and rice straw, the new fuel takes a step toward making biofuels more practical, Tokyo-based Honda said in release.

How'd they do it?

...Honda and RITE said they had overcome a major obstacle that limited how much ethanol could be made from cellulosic biomass. A microorganism developed by RITE helps reduce interference in the fermentation process, allowing for far more efficient ethanol production, the partners said.

“This achievement solves the last remaining fundamental hurdle to ethanol production from soft biomass,” RITE researcher Hideaki Yukawa told a news conference in Tokyo.

Dang, that's just cool beans.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:15 PM | Comments (8)

Der Kommisar Gespeaks

Henry the K says

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger warned that Europe and the United States must unite to head off a "war of civilizations" arising from a nuclear-armed Middle East. In an opinion column in the Washington Post, the renowned foreign policy expert said the potential for a "global catastrophe" dwarfed lingering transatlantic mistrust left over from the Iraq war.

"A common Atlantic policy backed by moderate Arab states must become a top priority, no matter how pessimistic previous experience with such projects leaves one," Kissinger wrote.

"The debate sparked by the Iraq war over American rashness vs. European escapism is dwarfed by what the world now faces.

"Both sides of the Atlantic should put their best minds together on how to deal with the common danger of a wider war merging into a war of civilizations against the background of a nuclear-armed Middle East."

Kissinger wrote that the big threat lay in the erosion of nation states and the emergence of transnational groups. Iran was at the centre of the challenge, he said, with its support for Hezbollah, radical Shiite groups in Iraq and its nuclear program.

Washington must accept that many European nations were more optimistic about talks designed to convince Iran to halt uranium enrichment -- a process Tehran denies is aimed at making weapons, he wrote.

But in return, he said, Europe should accept the process must include a "bottom line" beyond which diplomatic flexibility must not go and a time limit to ensure talks did not become a shield for "developing new assaults."

I agree with much of what he says, but his vison founders on its reliance on 'moderate Arab states"; what's that? Which Arab state will join openly forces with the West to contain, let alone combat Iran?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:44 AM

Oh Sweet Baby Jeebus

Looks like this a$$wipe just punched his ticket for the World Court in the Hague:

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- The chief judge in Saddam Hussein's genocide trial said Thursday that he does not believe Saddam was a dictator.

...Questioning a Kurdish witness Thursday, Saddam said, "I wonder why this man wanted to meet with me, if I am a dictator?"

The judge interrupted: "You were not a dictator. People around you made you (look like) a dictator."

"Thank you," Saddam responded, bowing his head in respect.

Al-Amiri heads the five-judge panel that oversees the trial and will deliver the verdict.

Yeah, I feel good about the verdict.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:12 AM | Comments (4)

September 13, 2006

If Our "Partners" Fail To Do Their Part

Then we should close bases and move our troops, and all the dollars that they represent to the local economies, out of every country that isn't pulling its weight. Screw Germany, France, Spain, and Turkey. The Brits, the Dutch, the Italians* and the Poles are the only ones that deserve our support.

*Update: Thanks to sandspur for pointing out in the comments that I wanted to both screw and support Italy, which immediately made me think of Gina Lollobrigida for some reason...

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:05 AM | Comments (12)

September 12, 2006

In The Wake Of The Death Of Steve Irwin...

The Stingray Community fears 'retribution'.

"We are Creatures of Peace," says a spokesfish, "I mean, sure we look like winged devils, and there is the 10 inch long barbed tail loaded with toxin and all, but we are victims of specie profiling."

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:28 AM | Comments (6)

September 08, 2006

Poll: Most Canadians' Heads Are Indeed Up Their Ass

I guess that's the only way to interpret this:

A majority of Canadians believe U.S. foreign policy was one of the root causes that led to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and Quebecers are quicker to criticize the U.S. administration for its international actions than other Canadians, a recent poll suggests.

Those conclusions are found in a newly released poll conducted by Léger Marketing for the Association for Canadian Studies.

The poll suggests that 77 per cent of Quebecers polled primarily blame American foreign policy for the Sept. 11 attacks. The results suggest 57 per cent in Ontario hold a similar view.

Gee, no surprise that Ontario is almost sensible, whereas Quebec is, well, France.

"There are a lot of people who think we should be listening closely [to extremist groups] and that there is an opportunity to dialogue with these sort of groups," said Jedwab Wednesday. "So it is showing a real ideological divide on some of these issues."

I listen to the "extremist groups."

They say things like "convert to Islam or die" and then they cut people's heads off. Not much opportunity for dialogue there, it seems to me.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:53 AM | Comments (4)

September 07, 2006

France: No To "War On Terror"

Now that's a shock. In his nuanced style, which is foreign to American-educated ears, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin (who is a man), says

Let us not forget that these crises play into the hands of all extremists," the prime minister said in a debate on the Middle East. "We can see this with terrorism, whether it tries to strike inside or outside our frontiers," he added.

"Against terrorism, what's needed is not a war. It is, as France has done for many years, a determined fight based on vigilance at all times and effective cooperation with our partners.

"But we will only end this curse if we also fight against injustice, violence and these crises," he said.

Make determined fights, not war.

Not much of a chant potential there.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:01 AM | Comments (3)

September 01, 2006

A Wake For Wake

Ioke spoke

HONOLULU (AP) -- Typhoon Ioke knocked out Wake Island's weather sensors on Thursday as it lashed the isle with some of the central Pacific's fiercest winds in over a decade, the National Weather Service said.

Forecasters monitoring the 2.5-square-mile atoll's wind and temperature gauges from Hawaii said the instruments blew out as the storm approached with winds of up to 155 miles per hour and gusts of up to 190 mph.

I can't wait to see the pictures.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:55 AM | Comments (1)

August 31, 2006

Bush Is Not A Nazi, Really

My wonderful bride is a much better Net surfer than I am, and she is always finding these very interesting sites that I never have seen. Last night she showed me German Joys, and this post where the author, who is no big fan of his, gives a clear example of what life might be like if GWB really was a Nazi.

As the Man says, read the whole thing, but also read the comments, as it's always entertaining to see the goofy comments that appear in support of the Bushymcchimpyhitler meme.

*link fixed. I am a moron.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:26 AM | Comments (13)

August 29, 2006

Ernesto, Schmesto

Wake Island is going to get pounded by Holy Schmokey Ioke:

Classified as a Category 5 "super typhoon," Ioke is expected to extensively damage the U.S. territory when it hits Wednesday with 155-mph winds, said Jeff Powell, lead forecaster for the National Weather Service in Honolulu.

"This is going to roll up a storm surge that will probably submerge the island and destroy everything that's not made of concrete," Powell said.

Ouch.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:01 AM | Comments (5)

August 28, 2006

The UN Shows Its True Colors

There's an amazing article in the latest Weekly Standard that, if it is accurate, should remove all doubt on where the UN stands:

DURING THE RECENT month-long war between Hezbollah and Israel, U.N. "peacekeeping" forces made a startling contribution: They openly published daily real-time intelligence, of obvious usefulness to Hezbollah, on the location, equipment, and force structure of Israeli troops in Lebanon.

UNIFIL--the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, a nearly 2,000-man blue-helmet contingent that has been present on the Lebanon-Israel border since 1978--is officially neutral. Yet, throughout the recent war, it posted on its website for all to see precise information about the movements of Israeli Defense Forces soldiers and the nature of their weaponry and materiel, even specifying the placement of IDF safety structures within hours of their construction. New information was sometimes only 30 minutes old when it was posted, and never more than 24 hours old.

Meanwhile, UNIFIL posted not a single item of specific intelligence regarding Hezbollah forces. Statements on the order of Hezbollah "fired rockets in large numbers from various locations" and Hezbollah's rockets "were fired in significantly larger numbers from various locations" are as precise as its coverage of the other side ever got.

Now, one must pause a little when the byline is by someone who is "president of the Zionist Organization of America, Greater Philadelphia District," but after a little digging I found the documents she is refering to here, and they bear out her story. The UN is supplying up-to-date intelligence on IDF movements.

Disgusting.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:30 PM

August 23, 2006

Dutch Police Have Arrested 12 People

...who were passengers on a diverted Northwest flight.

Dutch police said Wednesday that 12 passengers were in custody after a Northwest Airlines flight bound for Mumbai, India, returned to Amsterdam when several people on board aroused concern.

No formal charges have been laid, police said.

Flight 42 returned to Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport after "a couple of passengers displayed behavior of concern," according to Northwest Airlines.

It is not clear what behavior sparked the response.

And how neat ~ they had an air marshal on board.

According to the official, the crew told passengers to follow the instructions of the air marshals after at least one member of the team identified himself as a marshal.

At that point, the pilot diverted the plane.

UPDATE: A llittle more info emerging.

A U.S. government official said that some of the passengers had pulled out cell phones during the flight, and that some appeared to be trying to pass the cell phones to other passengers.

In addition, some passengers unfastened their seatbelts while the light requiring they be fastened was still illuminated, the official said.

That was enough to cause U.S. air marshals aboard the flight to break their cover. Fight attendants ordered the passengers to heed the orders of the marshals, the official added.

An airline source in Amsterdam said the passengers who were arrested were looking into plastic bags and were busy with their cell phones.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:40 PM

Playing Ping Pong With Pyongyang's Pecuniary

...parcel parking.

Vietnam banks 'shut N Korean accounts'

Vietnamese banks have been forced to shut North Korean accounts in the country as part of a US-led crackdown on overseas financial institutions acting as a repository for Pyongyang's funds, a leading Korean affairs expert said on Wednesday.

The move comes ahead of Communist Vietnam's anticipated entry of the World Trade Organisation later this year and follows the signing of bilateral trade agreement with Washington in May.

It is also an indication that the US Treasury's efforts to limit North Korea's access to international banking are proving increasingly successful since it moved last September against Macao-based Banco Delta Asia.

..."North Korea's access to international financial markets is under threat" and the US push was now from Pyongyang's perspective the biggest barrier to the resumption of six-party talks, Mr Beck said.

It left Pyongyang with a diminishing number of banking options, he said, with Russia "really one of the only countries -- perhaps the only country -- in the world that is allowing North Korea to bank."

Wooo, there's a lot going on behind the curtain. Lucky thing Putin's there to lend him a ruble every now and then.

It's enough to drive a dictator to drink.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:36 PM | Comments (3)

August 21, 2006

So Speaks the Front Runner, Ségolène Royal

...the "rising star of the French Socialist party".

...Confronting those who criticised her inexperience in foreign policy, she launched an attack on the "simplicity" of US President George W. Bush's "axis of evil" policy, and described Mr Sarkozy's policy of encouraging skilled immigration as "a pillage of talent from old French colonies".

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that sound like she'd much prefer the uneducated, unemployable car-b-que types she already has?

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:47 AM | Comments (1)

Tonight's Programming Note

The Travel Channel at 9 p.m. EST. ~ Anthony Bourdain in Beirut.

The moment that things went sour: Tracey, surprised mid-scene by the sound of automatic weapons fire, shoots Hezbollah supporters as they drive through town celebrating the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers. The reaction of our fixer and friends was one of immediate dismay. Unlike us, they realized pretty quickly what this would likely mean for Beirut as they knew it.- Tony Bourdain

Apparently it wasn't all mojitos at the bar after all.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:45 AM

August 18, 2006

Overheard on Special Report With Brit Hume

...just now [ed note: refers to broadcast of 17 Aug.]: After discussing Iran's attempts to rearm Hezbollah, the conversation shifted to troop allocations for the U.N./Lebanese ceasefire force. Brit asked why France has volunteered such a 'puny' number of troops when they'd been one of the driving forces of the plan.

Bangladesh pledged up to 2,000 troops and France offered 200, a disappointment to some who expected more from the country likely to lead the force.

The reason? It has been rumored through diplomatic circles that Syria has threatened France directly ~ if they participated in any great manner, there would be a repeat of 1983 and the Marine Barracks. (Can you imagine OUR reaction to that?!)

The French, being the French, are considering their response.

UPDATE: I still haven't found a transcript of the comments themselves, but the latest wire releases certainly lend credence to something Vichy going on.

...French President Jacques Chirac said he would dispatch only 200 army engineers in addition to the 200 already part of UNIFIL, which is commanded by a French general. He said 1,700 troops were offshore but would not be put under U.N. command. France had been expected to be the backbone of the force.

"We had hoped -- we make no secret of it -- that there would be a stronger French contribution," Malloch Brown said. "Others have come forward and we are pretty convinced we've got the elements here of a strong force."

FRENCH HESITATION

France's hesitation has confused U.N. officials. On Wednesday, French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie criticized the mandate of the force, which France wrote in drafting the August 11 resolution. She also objected to troops coming under U.N. control -- another provision Paris had insisted on to meet Lebanese demands.

UPDATE Part Deux: I've found an NYT July 24, 2006 report where Syria threatened the UNIFIL Force itself.

One Syrian official issued a strong warning against a proposal that was gaining momentum on Sunday for an international force to guard the Lebanon-Israel border. Deploying such a force without the cooperation of Syrian and Hezbollah, the official said, will risk repeating 1983. That was a pointed reference to the 241 United States service members and 58 French soldiers killed in attacks on military installations by suicide bombers. It has long been considered likely that Hezbollah sent the bombers with Syria's blessing.

The whole article is a basically a Syrian billboard.

From today's WaPo: A new edition of "And NOT to Yield"

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan called Chirac on Thursday to plead with him to reconsider. The French president's office released a statement later indicating he had not yielded.

The statement confirmed that France would send a company of 200 military engineers to Lebanon. They would join more than 200 French peacekeepers already serving in the relatively small U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL. Chirac also told Annan that "France was prepared to assume command" of the bolstered U.N. force, according to the statement.

...The decision was prompted in part by the French military's anxiety over serving under U.N. command, diplomats said. French officials cited the loss of 84 French troops in the U.N. mission in the early 1990s in Bosnia, and the seizure of French peacekeepers as hostages. French officials had also expressed concern that Hezbollah fighters were not prepared to disarm and might turn their guns on peacekeeping troops, according to U.N. diplomats. In 1983, Islamic militants killed 58 French paratroops in a suicide bomb attack in Beirut.

Let me translate that for non-French speaking Swillers:

"WE get to LEAD you wonderful Nepalese/Indonesian/Banglesdeshi/smallforeignbrownpeople guys into battle, since it was OUR idea.

YOU will get to do all the dying, so that WE do not soil OURselves."

AGAIN: The French...

Alliot-Marie said troop contributions to the expanded UNIFIL force should come from a great number of countries, both in Europe and the Muslim world.

"What we must absolutely avoid is giving the image of a Western world imposing peace on the Muslim world," she said.

...make me dizzy.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:13 AM | Comments (5)

BREAKING NEWS: Drudge and the AP

...are reporting...

Plane Lands in Italy After Bomb Report
A British passenger plane requested an emergency landing in Brindisi on Friday because of a suspected bomb on board, Italy's air traffic agency said. The plane, a Boeing 767 with the Excel air carrier, had left from London's Gatwick airport and was bound for Hurghada, Egypt, officials said.

If it's true, Ryanair is gonna look pretty feckin' stupid for this...

Ryanair Threatens to Sue British Government After Mid-Air Terror Scare

Budget airline Ryanair Holdings PLC threatened to take legal action against the British government unless it meets three demands for relaxing airport security and improving staffing at overstretched airports within the next seven days.

(In all honesty ~ I think they already do.)

UPDATE: A little more info.

A bomb threat scrawled on a sick bag caused a British passenger plane from London to Egypt to be diverted to southern Italy on Friday, but police said it appeared to be a hoax.

"The alarm has been called off," said Brindisi border police chief Salvatore de Paolis.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:00 AM

August 15, 2006

Is There Hope For England?

This news certainly makes me think that there is:

Muslims face extra checks in new travel crackdown

By Ben Webster, Transport Correspondent

THE Government is discussing with airport operators plans to introduce a screening system that allows security staff to focus on those passengers who pose the greatest risk.

The passenger-profiling technique involves selecting people who are behaving suspiciously, have an unusual travel pattern or, most controversially, have a certain ethnic or religious background.

The system would be much more sophisticated than simply picking out young men of Asian appearance. But it would cause outrage in the Muslim community because its members would be far more likely to be selected for extra checks.

I don't care if it causes "outrage", as basically every terrorist attack in the past 5 years has been the work of young muslim men between the ages of 18 and 25.

Three days before last week’s arrests, the highest-ranking Muslim police officer in Britain gave warning that profiling techniques based on physical appearance were already causing anger and mistrust among young Muslims. Tarique Ghaffur, an assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said: “We must think long and hard about the causal factors of anger and resentment.

“There is a very real danger that the counter-terrorism label is also being used by other law-enforcement agencies to the effect that there is a real risk of criminalising minority communities.”

I'd prefer that the police think long and hard about who is blowing up planes and busses and trains.

Actually, they don't have to think too long and hard to come up with the answer, now do they?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:36 AM

August 14, 2006

Baby Boomers

Not only have we started to see women suicide bombers; now it seems that islamic women were going to use there own children as covers for the bombs:

HATE-filled mums willing to sacrifice themselves and their BABIES are being hunted in the war on terror.

Security sources confirmed last night that alleged “baby bombers” were among those arrested over the plot to massacre thousands by downing transatlantic flights.

Those being quizzed included a husband and wife with a six-month-old infant.

The discovery prompted fears that there were fanatical mothers in secret al-Qaeda cells in Britain ready to become suicide bombers — and to die with their tots in their arms.

And it emerged as the reason why women at airports were ordered to drink from their babies’ bottles before being allowed to board flights during last week’s massive alert.

Nice, huh? Jihad brings the family closer together.

Now, I'm a little fuzzy on the 'rewards' part here, though: the nice young jihadi couple go boom; he reckons he's due his 72 virgins. Where does that leave her, let alone junior?

The absolutely outrageous thing about all of this is that because of the insane 'profiling' PC fears we have an 85 year-old white grandmother has a much greater chance of being searched than an 22 year old arab male...and we know all the terror attacks that those grannies have carried out in the last five years.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:48 AM | Comments (2)

Targeting A Bridge?

The theory at the moment is the guys in Michigan with 1000 cell phones were targeting the Mackinac Bridge:

Federal authorities helped with the investigation into a possible terror threat to the Mackinac Bridge. The FBI office in Detroit worked with local law enforcement authorities before the police arrested three men in Caro on Friday. Officers found about 1,000 pre-paid cell phones in their van. Police in Caro arrested the three Palestinian-American men after they allegedly bought 80 of the phones at a Wal-Mart store in Caro.

A pre-paid cell phone can be economical and convenient. But, 22 year old Adham Othman, 23 year old Louai Othman, and 19 year old Maruwan Muhareb aroused suspicion when they allegedly bought 80 phones at the same time. Caro Police Chief Ben Page said they thought “something was wrong here."

When police pulled the men over, they found about 1,000 phones in the van. Many were separated from their battery packs and the chargers were discarded. Michigan State Police Trooper Patrick Sharkey says, “We didn't know exactly what was going on. You hear on the news about these phones being used to detonate IED's."

Their wives claim they are 'good guys' who were only planning to resell the phones.

Uh-huh.

In pieces.

Gee, that's how I always buy my phones.

As usual, Michelle Malkin has more.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:38 AM | Comments (8)

August 12, 2006

Meanwhile, Back In Pristine Europe

Waldheimer's, that tragic disease that causes people to forget they were Nazis, claims another victim:

Nobel Prize-winning German writer Guenter Grass, author of the great anti-Nazi novel The Tin Drum, has admitted serving in the Waffen-SS.

He told a German newspaper he had been recruited at the age of 17 into an SS tank division and served in Dresden.

Previously it was only known he had served as a soldier and was wounded and taken prisoner by US forces.

Speaking before the publication of his war memoirs, he said his silence over the years had "weighed" upon him.

I bet it did.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:34 AM | Comments (10)

August 11, 2006

Police Fear Threat To Muslims?

Oh sweet baby jeebus, the West is doomed. I can't believe this crap; actually, sadly I can:

Police fears of threat to Muslims

It was "totally wrong" to retaliate against Muslims, Mr Fahey said
The police have increased their presence in areas with Muslim populations in the UK to deter attacks after the latest terror arrests.

Funny, most of the world, hell, most Muslims, are worried about attacks from Muslims.

The head of the Muslim Council of Britain said Muslims were "fully behind" efforts to prevent attacks.

Dr Mohammed Abdul Bari said the community supported curbs on terrorism, but warned of "a distance" growing between them and the police.

My, isn't that telling. They fully support efforts to prevent attacks on Muslims, but they only "support curbs on terrorism.

However, police "need to do a lot more thinking" before that can happen, argued Fahad Ansari from the Islamic Human Rights Commission, because their intelligence was "flawed".

"For four years we've been seeing more and more innocent people being harassed and demonised," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"We've seen very few terrorists being captured but a lot of innocent people destroyed.

Their intelligence is not as flawed as their tactics. This PC surrender has got to end. And most of the innocent people who have been destroyed have been destroyed by...muslim terrorists.

Muhammad Abul Kalam from the Muslim Safety Forum said that there was generally an increase in Islamophobic attacks following events such as Thursday's raids, in which 24 people were arrested.

Oh bull. After every single terrorist attack in the past five years there has been one and only one minority that has suffered 'reprisal' attacks: Jews.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:07 PM | Comments (10)

The Dearbornistan Duo

Michelle Malkin has the latest updates:

A second charged was added for the two Dearborn men who were arrested in Ohio and charged money laundering to support terrorism. Thursday, prosecutors charged 20-year-old Ali Houssaiky and 20-year-old Osma Sabhi Abulhassan with soliciting or providing support for an act of terrorism. Police said the men initially lied, but then under interrogation admitted to buying 600 untraceable cell phones. Authorities are concerned that if shipped to the Middle East, the chips from the phones may be used to remotely detonate car bombs.

I'm still concerned about my theory, as well.

But they are "good, quiet kids."

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:19 AM | Comments (2)

PEACE Activists

Here's the list of the names of the Presbyterians for East Asian Community Esprit, better known as "PEACE", who are being scandalously charged by the police over their GatorGrenade sports drinks.

I mean, look at the names. This list could easily be confused with the Kirk membership in John Knox' day.

Certainly not with, you know, terrorists or any such.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:58 AM | Comments (4)

August 10, 2006

In Other Presbyterian News

Here's what they're up to in Ohio:

MARIETTA, Ohio - Two men were charged Wednesday with money laundering in support of terrorism after authorities said they found airplane passenger lists and information on airport security checkpoints in their car.

Deputies stopped Osama Sabhi Abulhassan, 20, and Ali Houssaiky, 20, both of Dearborn, Mich., on a traffic violation Tuesday. They found the flight documents along with $11,000 cash and 12 phones in the car, said Washington County Sheriff Larry Mincks.

Prosecutor Susan Vessels declined to say how the phones, cash or flight information involved terrorism.

Abulhassan and Houssaiky admitted buying about 600 phones in recent months at stores in southeast Ohio, said sheriff's Maj. John Winstanley. The men said they sold the phones to someone in Dearborn, a Detroit suburb.

Well, here's a guess: you use multiple phones distributed among the cells. You use each phone once, for only a few minutes. Since the NYTimes has thoughtfully shown you all about the US intercept and listening program, you now know that you need to randomize and break up any patterns in your communication, and so 600 cell phones used by the 10-15 members of your terrorist group allows you to do that.

Thank you, New York Times.

Update: I should have known that Michelle Malkin would be all over this...last night! Heh.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:39 AM

New Terror Plot In The UK

A huge terror plot has been foiled in the UK:

A plot to blow up planes in flight from the UK to the US and commit "mass murder on an unimaginable scale" has been disrupted, Scotland Yard has said. It is thought the plan was to detonate explosive devices smuggled in hand luggage on to as many as 10 aircraft.

Police were searching premises with 21 people in custody after arrests in the London area and West Midlands.

High security is causing delays at all UK airports. The threat level to the UK has been raised by MI5 to critical.

Evidently they were trying to smuggle liquid explosives of some type on board in carry-on luggage.

The British Department of Transport advised all passengers that they would not be permitted to carry any hand baggage on board any aircraft departing from any airport in the country. Passengers faced delays as tighter security was hastily enforced at the country's airports and additional measures were put in place for all flights.

British Airways said some flights were likely to be canceled. Laptop computers, mobile phones, iPods, and remote controls were among items banned from being carried on its planes.

Now, as is sadly the case these days, those first two articles only refer to the people in custody as "British Born", so of course my first reaction, much like Tim Blair's, is to say "Damned Presbyterians."
Certainly CNN gives no helpful information as to their identity. Ah, what's this tidbit in the Times UK:

So far 21 suspects - believed to be British citizens, many of Pakistani origin - have been arrested in overnight raids in London, the Thames Valley and Birmingham, but police stressed that the huge, complex, security operation was still ongoing and that there may be further arrests.

On the radio this morning they actually said "muslims." How insensitive; I'm sure the anchors will be fired.

A friend in London this morning told me that he was tired of muslims complaining about feeling picked on. "Not all muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists seem to be muslim," he said, "And I don't recall the Irish complaining about profiling when the IRA was blowing shit up."

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:35 AM

August 09, 2006

Israeli TV is Reporting IRANIAN Fighters

...among the dead.

Members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard have been found among Hizbollah guerrillas slain by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, Israel's Channel 10 television reported on Wednesday citing diplomatic sources. It said the Iranians were identified by documents found on their bodies, but gave no further details on how many were discovered or when.

Now combine that "SHOCKING" information with the armed Iranian drone shot down by the IDF this weekend. It hearkens back to Marine reports of Chinese regulars among the North Koreans they engaged on their way to the Chosin reservoir.
People pooh-poohed that, too.

...By the end of October, 1950, the smattering reports of Chinese intervention in North Korea began adding up. But intelligence summaries from the field were rejected by senior intelligence.

...When the formalities had ended, [Lt Gen] Ned Almond turned to Captain Don France, Litz's intelligence officer, and asked for the latest news. France had been collecting data for weeks on end and, though he was known as a rather sober type, the studious captain blurted out in the presence of the medal winners and the regiment's senior staff, "General, there are a fucking lot of Chinese in those hills."

Almond did not blink, though many of the thirty-odd bystanders had to duck out of the cozy tent to keep from choking on their laughter.

The general stood through what little remained of his briefing and stalked out in the evening chill to board his helicopter, which had been flown up from Hagaru-ri earlier.

-From "Chosin" by Eric Hammel.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:11 PM

August 07, 2006

Pipeline Update

Oh great. Now BP is saying it could be closed for months:

BP PLC said Monday it will replace 73 percent of the pipelines from the nation's largest oil field and that it could be closed for weeks or months, crimping the nation's oil supplies at a time of peak demand.

BP, the world's second-largest oil company, began shutting down the pipelines on Monday and said it would replace 16 miles of the 22 miles of transit pipeline in the Prudhoe Bay field following a leak discovered Sunday.

Company officials told a news conference they did not immediately know how much it would cost to replace the lines. They will continue to keep the oil field closed and bring parts back into service once it's safe to do so.

73 freakin' percent?

Not good.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:51 PM | Comments (13)

Corruption Sorry, Corrosion On The Pipeline

Well, this could get messy if it lasts:

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - In a sudden blow to the nation's oil supply, half the production on Alaska's North Slope was being shut down Sunday after BP Exploration Alaska, Inc. discovered severe corrosion in a Prudhoe Bay oil transit line.

BP officials said they didn't know how long the Prudhoe Bay field would be off line. "I don't even know how long it's going to take to shut it down," said Tom Williams, BP's senior tax and royalty counsel.

I expect to see prices spike quite a bit today. Oh great. I'm not surprised that there is corrosion, I mean the pipeline's been exposed to the elements up there 30 years, but geesh louise you would have thought they would/should have inspected it a tad more closely and caught this earlier.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:55 AM | Comments (2)

Buried Waaay Down This Page

...of Hezbollah rocket attacks, Israel whomping on southern Lebanon and Condoleeza Rice talking about "peace" was this tiny tidbit of an afterthought ~ the merest 'oh, by the way..' ~ filed under "other developments".

• Hezbollah mortars struck the U.N. headquarters at Henniye, Lebanon, wounding three Chinese U.N. peacekeepers, said UNIFIL spokesman Milos Strugar.

Where's the corresponding WaPo headline like this...

Israeli Airstrike Hits U.N. Outpost
4 Observers Killed; Olmert Pledges to Allow Lebanon Aid

... when Israel hit an outpost surrounded by Hezbollah mobile rocket launchers? Hezbollah can hit the U.N. HEADQUARTERS and it only rates a note?!

More importantly, Kofi piped up yet? Outrage anyone?

Anyone?

UPDATE: Attitude wise, I was right. The reporter in Lebanon for NBC's Nightly News actually mentioned it, saying "...U.N. Headquarters was hit by a Hezbollah rocket that fell short..."

MONDAY UPDATE and bump: CBS News has a Sunday Israel/Lebanon roundup with no mention of Hezbollah rockets hitting the U.N. headquarters. There should be a Reuter's photo appearing any time now.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:35 AM | Comments (12)

August 04, 2006

How Quickly Things Change

An update to yesterday's discussion.

Nazi-Era Victims Can Sue German Firms
Victims of Nazi-era crimes can sue for additional money from German companies that paid $2.5 billion into a reparation fund for U.S. claims, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the victims could seek interest stemming from a six- to nine-month period when they say payments to the fund were delayed.

The decision reverses a lower-court ruling that said the dispute over interest was a political question, not a matter for the courts, because U.S. and German officials had negotiated the 1999 fund agreement.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:15 AM

August 03, 2006

Well, I Guess You Have To Admire His Honesty

I mean, at least you always know where he stands on this issue:

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday the solution to the Middle East crisis was to destroy Israel, Iranian state media reported.

In a speech during an emergency meeting of Muslim leaders in Malaysia, Ahmadinejad also called for an immediate cease-fire to end the fighting between Israel and the Iranian-back group Hezbollah. "Although the main solution is for the elimination of the Zionist regime, at this stage an immediate cease-fire must be implemented," Ahmadinejad said, according to state-run television in a report posted on its Web site.

But remember, folks: the US is the greatest threat the world faces.

Now here's a laugh:

"This war must stop, or it will radicalize the Muslim world, even those of us who are moderate today," said Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who leads the world's most populous Muslim country.

"Moderate" my left nut.

"From there, it will be just one step away to that ultimate nightmare: a clash of civilizations," he added.

I think we're there already, but unfortunately our side refuses to face it.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:48 AM | Comments (3)

Chris Deflates

And we're not shedding any tears:

CHRIS IS BECOMING DISORGANIZED IN A HURRY. SATELLITE IMAGES INDICATE THAT THE LOW-LEVEL CENTER HAS BECOME DETACHED FROM THE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY DUE TO NORTHWESTERLY SHEAR...AND THIS WAS CONFIRMED BY FIXES FROM AN AIR FORCE RECONNAISSANCE PLANE. THE MINIMUM PRESSURE HAS RISEN TO 1010 MB AND THE MAXIMUM FLIGHT LEVEL WIND REPORTED SO FAR IS ONLY 38 KNOTS. HOWEVER...ASSUMING THAT THE ENTIRE CIRCULATION HAS NOT BEEN SAMPLED...THE INITIAL INTENSITY IS ADJUSTED TO 40 KNOTS... AND THIS IS VERY GENEROUS. I WAS TEMPTED TO FORECAST WEAKENING AND EVEN DISSIPATION OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS...BUT THE BEST OPTION AT THIS TIME IS TO KEEP THE CYCLONE ON A STEADY STATE CONSIDERING THAT THE SHEAR COULD DECREASE...AS SUGGESTED BY THE SHIPS MODEL.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:57 AM | Comments (3)

August 02, 2006

This Makes Me Sick

So, 3 people have died of rabies in China. The obvious response then is to club 50,000 dogs to death

SHANGHAI, China - China slaughtered 50,000 dogs in a government-ordered crackdown after three people died of rabies, sparking unusually pointed criticism in state media Tuesday and an outcry from animal rights activists.

Health experts said the brutal policy pointed to deep weaknesses in the health care infrastructure in China, where only 3 percent of dogs are vaccinated against rabies and more than 2,000 people die of the disease each year.

...Dogs being walked were seized from their owners and beaten to death on the spot, the Shanghai Daily newspaper reported. Led by the county police chief, killing teams entered villages at night creating noise to get dogs barking, then beat the animals to death, the reports said.

How horrible. But this is the situation they find themselves in by doing the standard PRC procedure of refusing to admit there is a problem, and thereby moving to act on it, until it gets way out of hand.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:01 AM | Comments (6)

Oy!

I said the Israeli troops needed a "yarmulke"; I didn't say they needed a Llama car!"

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:58 AM | Comments (5)

August 01, 2006

Red Dawn?

It would seem that Raul is no improvement:

As head of Cuba's armed forces, Raul has been deeply involved in Cuba's military involvement in Angola and Ethiopia during the 1970s _ as well as with the military's successful peacetime efforts to help rescue Cuba's economy following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

"I am among those who believe that it would be in imperialism's interest to try, with our irreconcilable differences, to normalize relations as much as possible during Fidel's life," Raul said in the interview with state television. Later, he said, "it will be more difficult," implying he would be harder to deal with.

Babalu is the place for all things Fidel...Michelle Malkin is also keeping tabs (or maybe keeping the book?) on him.

Update: Here's some more backround and info on Raul.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:48 AM | Comments (4)

July 31, 2006

Another Bubble Set to Burst That Bears Watching

...and they don't handle setbacks as well as we do, physically or emotionally. It's fascinating stuff.

China's economy is out of control
China is growing so fast -- using cheap money to build steel mills, highways and textile factories it doesn't need – that the coming crash grows uglier by the day.

...In the second quarter, China's gross domestic product grew by an extraordinary 11.3%. That's a significant speed-up from 9.9% growth in 2005, 10.1% growth in 2004 and 10% growth in 2003.

That's a problem, because an economy can have too much growth. In China, it has led to massive overinvestment in manufacturing assets in sectors already suffering from oversupply. Investment in fixed assets -- everything from steel mills to cement plants to oil refineries to highways -- grew by 30% in the first half of 2006.

Although the reported profits of China's largest industrial enterprises climbed 28% in the first half of 2006 over the same period in 2005, companies in some sectors have seen profits squeezed, sometimes to the vanishing point. According to government numbers, 80% of the profits in the Chinese economy went to companies in the oil, power, coal and nonferrous metals sectors. The other 30 sectors of the economy shared just 20% of corporate profits.

The iron and steel sector is the current poster child for the problem -- and a worrying sign of things to come in other sectors. Profits in the sector dropped by 20% in the first half of the year. The problem is overcapacity. Too many steel companies have added too much capacity, driving down the price they can charge for their product.

...Higher prices pull more money into real estate, of course. In the first six months of 2006, real estate investment climbed 24.2% over the same period in 2005. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, 1.41 billion square meters of housing were built from January through June 2006, up 21% from 2006. And as the boom ages, prices soar and excesses multiply. Units in the Tomson Riviera luxury apartment complex in Shanghai, for example, are priced at as much as $20 million. (I love the complex's slogan: "dedicated to the elites." How things have changed in Communist China.)

But then it gets you wondering, "so...what does happen if China comes apart at the economic seams?" Would a cataclysmic social restructuring in quite possibly a horrendous and bloody manner erupt at some point? I mean, you don't get to vote throw the bastards in Beijing out every four years.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:44 PM | Comments (8)

Hans Brix Is In Town, I Guess

Evidently the Security Council is threatening to write a letter telling the Iranians how angry they are...

(thanks to Bill at INDC Journal for the pic...)

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:40 AM | Comments (2)

July 26, 2006

The Lord Works In Mysterious Ways

Well, mysterious to us at least because we're such self-centered morons. Well, ok, I'm a self-centered moron; I won't presume to speak for the rest of you. Anyhow, I have to say in general that I tend not to put a lot of stock in these sightings of Saints or Visions of the Virgin Mary that gather headlines from time to time; I'm not questioning the people's faith that claim to see these visions, mind you, but rather it's just not the way I picture the Big Guy to work and I'm really not comfortable with this mystical vision stuff, but of course your mileage may vary.

But there are times when I read something that makes me think the Big Guy is dropping us a little hint. I mean, what are the odds that in the week when Israel is fighting Hezbollucks that some guy digging in muck with a backhoe would uncover a 1100 year old manuscript of Psalms buried there, and further that

The book was found open to a page describing, in Latin script, Psalm 83, in which God hears complaints of other nations' attempts to wipe out the name of Israel.

How cool is that?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:10 AM | Comments (7)

"Apparently Deliberate"

So Kofi is "deeply distressed" by the deaths of four UN "observers":

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he was "deeply distressed" by the "apparently deliberate" strike.

"This coordinated artillery and aerial attack on a long-established and clearly marked U.N. post at Khiyam occurred despite personal assurances given to me by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that U.N. positions would be spared Israeli fire," he said in a statement.

"Furthermore, General Alain Pelligrini, the U.N. force commander in south Lebanon, had been in repeated contact with Israeli officers throughout the day on Tuesday, stressing the need to protect that particular U.N. position from attack."

Well, certainly in my lifetime the UN has caused as much harm to Israel as Hezbollucks has, what with all the sanctions they've put forth and with the UN providing a forum for anti-semitic forces through out the world to have their disgusting positions legitimized. Look, I'm sorry that these guys were killed, but the UN has done nothing to endear itself to Israel, and these Powder-Blue Helmeted Rape Brigades can not expect to go traipsing about in the midst of war zones (and let's not forget that these UN observers have been in southern Lebanon for years, and they have been effective at stopping what, exactly?) and not catch the occasional round.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:34 AM | Comments (7)

July 25, 2006

We'll Teach Carnival How To "List" A Ship!

Those cruise line pikers could only get her to go 15 degrees. This is how real seamen list a ship:

The Cougar Ace began listing in the turbulent Pacific Ocean late Sunday night, when the crew sent out an SOS.

On Monday, a Coast Guard plane dropped three life rafts, but roiling waters shoved the rafts underneath the dipping port side of the 654-foot ship. Racing against an increasingly tilting ship, rescuers tossed an additional raft along the higher starboard side, but it was a 150-foot drop to the water and beyond the crew's reach.

The Cougar Ace had been carrying nearly 5,000 cars from Japan to Canada when it began taking on water Sunday night.

5000 cars. Insane.

And soon very, very wet.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:07 AM | Comments (1)

July 24, 2006

What Would Bangla-Cola Do

...if there were no Citgo to go to. We'd be pretty well f*cked, that's what. Up to and including all the local military installations, whose gasoline vendor is...you guessed it.

Richard Lugar, chairman of the US Senate foreign relations committee, has urged the Bush administration to adopt specific "contingency plans" for a potential disruption to oil supplies from Venezuela.

In a letter sent to Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state, last Friday, a copy of which has been obtained by the Financial Times, Mr Lugar warned the US that it needed to "abandon" reliance on a "passive approach" to energy diplomacy.

Mr Lugar's warning follows the release last month of an investigation by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that the US was ill-prepared for an oil embargo by Venezuela, the world's fifth largest ex­porter. President Hugo Chávez, whose government has been emboldened by a torrent of oil revenues, has several times warned that he would "cut off" oil supplies to the US if Washington persisted in allegedly plotting his overthrow.

The predominant supply of petrol locally is from Tom Thumb, owned by Kroger which pumps...Citgo gas.
Or doesn't.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:25 AM | Comments (1)

"This Would Not Have Happened..."

Says Big John Kerry

U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D- Mass., who was in town with his Magic Hat Sunday to help Gov. Jennifer Granholm campaign for her re-election bid, took time to take a jab at the Bush administration for its lack of leadership in the Israeli-Lebanon conflict.

"If I was president, this wouldn't have happened," said Kerry during a noon stop at Ignorant John's bar and grill in Detroit's Casshole Corridor.

Bush has been so concentrated on the war in Iraq that other Middle East tension arose as a result, he said.

"The president has been so absent on diplomacy when it comes to issues affecting the Middle East," Kerry said. "We're going to have a lot of ground to ketchup I mean make up (in 2008) because of it."

"If I ran the Circus Big Jerkus we'd have developed a plan, a very good, nuanced plan that would avoid all this fighting and falafel destruction and lead to real, strong jobs being created; we can do better," he said.

Er, shut yer pie hole there, Johnny.

But wait:

"This is about American security and Bush has failed. He has made it so much worse because of his lack of reality in going into Iraq.…We have to destroy Hezbollah," he said.

Are you saying something violent? Have you been corrupted by the Zionist Protocolians? Did you clear that last statement with Theresa?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:30 AM | Comments (2)

July 21, 2006

While The UN Meets Over The Crisis Of Armed Civilians...

So I'm sure that they will be upset about this:

MOSCOW - Russia has struck a deal worth more than $1 billion to supply fighter jets and helicopters to Venezuela, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Friday.

“The contract was concluded ... for the delivery of 30 Su-30 fighter aircraft and the delivery of the same number of helicopters,” state-owned Rossiya television showed Ivanov saying.

Right?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 03:20 PM | Comments (4)

July 20, 2006

Lieber Angela...

Since you Germans have some experience, I hear, on dealing with these Zionists, not that anything bad ever happened to them, mind you, perhaps your country and mine can work out some sort of a solution?

A German government official said on Thursday that letter written by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to German Chancellor Angela Merkel asks her to help solve the Palestinian problem and deal with Zionism. “There’s nothing about the nuclear issue (in the letter),” the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity due to the extreme sensitivity of the issue for the German government. “It’s all related to Germany and how we have to find a solution to the Palestinian problems and Zionism and so on. It’s rather weird,” The official, who has seen the letter, said.

...“It’s not negative like Ahmadinejad’s letter to Bush. He is not criticizing Germany,” he said. “It’s basically about how we have to work together and solve the problems of the world together.”

Oh I bet he'd like to "work together" on some of those pesky problems.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 05:25 PM | Comments (4)

"The Marines were just so sweet"

At least someone appreciates what's being done for them:

"Everyone was pushing and shoving, women were crying, saying, 'Here's my passport, here's my children, take my children, just take them, take them,'" Esseily said. "It was absolutely horrendous."

The Esseilys barely got through.

"My husband had the baby on top of his shoulders, to show that we had a baby," Monika Esseily recalled.

"It was hot, it was humid, and we just kind of squeezed in. I squeezed in with one of my children at the gate, and I said, 'Listen, my family's on the other side,' so they had to bring them in."

Then, suddenly, things got much easier. "Right when we passed the second one, we were met with the Marines," Esseily said.

"The Marines were just so sweet, they said, 'Here, I'll take your bags ... you're going to be on board pretty soon, you'll have food, you'll have a place to sleep, you'll have a shower.'"

"They were just so wonderful and so sweet," she said. "All of my emotions and all my anxiety -- I just lost it there."

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:53 PM | Comments (5)

July 19, 2006

Afghan Towns Recaptured

Looks like the Coalition and Afghan Army forces have recaptured those towns we talked about below:

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Afghan and coalition soldiers reclaimed the second of two southern towns Wednesday that had been overrun in recent days by the Taliban, Afghan and U.S. officials said. A purported Taliban statement threatened "severe" action in coming days.

Hundreds of ground forces battled Taliban fighters before entering the Helmand provincial town of Garmser, which had been captured by insurgents on Sunday, said Gen. Rahmatullah Roufi, the Afghan army commander in the country's south.

"Our troops launched an attack on Garmser and thank God we captured it," Roufi told The Associated Press. He declined to provide details.

Good.

I also like the sound of this:

"The Taliban appears to be bullying their way around some of the smaller towns in remote areas but they have no capability to lay claim to any piece of ground," Fitzpatrick said.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:13 AM | Comments (3)

July 17, 2006

The Arab League is Not in League

...with Hizbollah. (How amazing is that?)

...But the group did not throw its support behind Hezbollah. Squabbles over the legitimacy of the rebel group's attacks on Israel — including the capture of two Israeli soldiers that sparked the 4-day battle — caused dissention in the ranks, delegates said.

The Saudi foreign minister appeared to be leading a camp of ministers criticizing the guerrilla group's actions, calling them "unexpected, inappropriate and irresponsible acts."

"These acts will pull the whole region back to years ago, and we cannot simply accept them," Saudi al-Faisal told his counterparts.

Supporting his stance were representatives of Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, the Palestinian Authority, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, delegates said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.

EVEN the Palestinian Authority! Mon dieu! Of course, the usual suspects (From the NYT: "The countries supporting Syria included Yemen, Algeria and Lebanon.") are PI$$ED...

...Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem lashed back al-Faisal, asking "How can we come here to discuss the burning situation in Lebanon while others are making statements criticizing the resistance?"

...while the Lebanese draft proposal does nothing to separate the Lebanese govenment from Hizbollah in the eyes of the world.

Earlier, Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh presented his fellow Arab League members with a draft resolution condemning Israel's military offensive and supporting Lebanon's "right to resist occupation by all legitimate means" — language frequently used by Hezbollah to justify its guerrillas' presence in south Lebanon.

If Lebanon was serious about resisting occupation, they would have thrown Hizbollah out when they sent the Syrians home a year ago. Instead of bravely "resisting" this Israeli smack down by sitting on their thumbs and complaining, they should take advantage of Israeli cajones and join in the housecleaning. Hizbollah building schools and clinics will never, EVER replace the tourist dollars and booming economy a stable, Islamo-fascist free Lebanon was on the cusp of enjoying.

“Who’s benefiting?” asked a senior official of one of the Arab countries critical of Hezbollah who was granted anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. “Definitely not the Arabs or the peace process. But definitely the Iranians are.”

There may be no material proof of Iran’s involvement in the conflict, the senior official added, but all indications point to an Iranian role.

Arab leaders have long been wary fof Iran. But with Iran exercising increased influence in Iraq and stirring the emotions of Arab and Muslim masses frustrated about the occupation of Iraq, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and America’s role in the region, fear of Iranian influence has increased.

“You have Hezbollah, a Shiite minority, controlled by Iran, working, and the Iranians are embarrassing the hell out of the Arab governments,” said Riad Kahwaji, managing director of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis in Dubai. “The peace process has collapsed, the Palestinians are being killed and nothing is being done for them. And here comes Hezbollah, which is actually scoring hits against Israel.”

A little light should go on when you have both the U.N. and FRANCE calling for a cease-fire in your name. (Bernard Kalb just pointed out that the U.N. has never brokered anything that worked in the Middle East. The ONLY brokered peace plans that have EVER worked in the region are Israel/Egypt and Israel/Jordan ~ AMERICAN brokered deals. Remembering watching King Hussein flying his L-1011 at 1000 feet over Jerusalem and dipping his wings to Yitzhak Rabin still brings tears to my eyes. )

Paraphrasing Bob Livingston, just overheard on the telly:

"These Arab nations are going to have to realize this started with Leon Klinghoffer 30 years ago. And those same kooky people, who could throw a poor, crippled man off a ship, are now close to running things...They need to get a handle on it, or it's a catastrophe for the entire region."

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:56 AM

11,000 Rockets

That's what the Israelis are facing. And they store them in houses, so when the IDF takes out the depots there are 'civilian' causualties for the MSM to boo-hoo over.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:31 AM | Comments (1)

Quote For Today

From Dubya

ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) - A microphone picked up an unaware President Bush saying on Monday Syria should press Hezbollah to "stop doing this shit" and that his secretary of state may go to the Middle East soon.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:39 AM | Comments (3)

Ground Troops Into Lebanon

Now it gets uglier:

Israeli ground troops have entered southern Lebanon to attack Hezbollah bases on the border, a government spokesman said Monday. Israel's six-day-old offensive against Hezbollah following the capture of two Israeli soldiers earlier had been an aerial campaign.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for the deployment of international forces to stop the bombardment of Israel and to persuade the Jewish state to stop attacks on Hezbollah, while the European Union said it was considering the deployment of a peacekeeping force.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki also arrived in Syria for talks with the government on the crisis. Syria and Iran have applauded Hezbollah's capture of two Israeli soldiers, which triggered the offensive.

I hope the Israelis smash these guys into nothing.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:35 AM | Comments (3)

July 16, 2006

Quote of the Day

The Israeli Ambassador to the United States on O'Reilly just now:

"When other countries ~ Russia ~ preach to us about disproportionate force, I say you're damn right we use disproportionate force!"

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:15 PM | Comments (15)

July 15, 2006

Reagan And Beirut

There's an interesting discussion going on at Volokh which echoes what we were talking about in the comments below:

Why Did Reagan Coddle Iran (and Hezbollah)?

I've always been puzzled why Reagan didn't try to punish Iran for taking American hostages. And then barely reacted when Hezbollah killed over 200 marines, and tortured CIA station chief Buckley to death. And then tried to sell weapons to Iran. Near as I can tell, it's because the Reagan Administration had one huge priority, and that was to defeat Communism. (Although we did back Saddam for a while against Iran.) Fanatical muslims, Administration officials hoped, were potential allies of the U.S. against godless Communism, just as they turned out to be in Afghanistan. Is this a reasonable summary? Any commentors with expertise on this?

You can't really blame the Reaganites too much, as they did indeed defeat Communism. But they also seem to have sowed the seeds of WWIII, by allowing and sometimes encouraging fanatical anti-Western Sunni and Shiite Islamicism to flourish, just as Roosevelt and Truman laid the groundwork for the Cold War by cooperating with Stalin to defeat Hitler--and being way too naive about their putative "ally."

What are your thoughts, folks?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:34 AM | Comments (6)

July 14, 2006

You Might Want to Rethink This Gift Package, Guys

Western Incentives for Iran Released
The world powers are prepared to provide Iran with advanced technology and possibly even nuclear research reactors if it agrees to suspend uranium enrichment under a package of incentives revealed in full for the first time Thursday.

The package - put together by the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany - was given to the Iranians on June 6 and some details were leaked at the time.

But the full proposal showed a broader range of economic, political and energy incentives. They include promoting Tehran's membership in the World Trade Organization, and the possible lifting of U.S. and European restrictions on the export of civilian aircraft and telecommunications equipment.

Under the incentives, the six powers are prepared to help Iran build state-of-the-art light water nuclear power reactors and to give legally binding guarantees that nuclear fuel will be provided for these civilian reactors meant to produce energy.

It's über generous, but I see beard boy's sticky fingerprints all over a Lebanese map...

Minutes before the fire Hizbullah's al-Manar showed a new rocket which they said will hit "the strongholds of the Zionist enemy."

"Need some more rockets?"

UPDATE: Yup. We'll take 'em.

Hezbollah retaliated by raining more than 100 Katyusha* rockets into northern Israel, hitting big population centres such as Nahariya and Haifa, a city of 250,000 people that is 30 kilometres (18 miles) inside Israel.

The SURPRISE in this report? Knock me over with a feather:

But Saudi Arabia broke ranks with the Muslim world, indirectly blaming the crisis on the “irresponsible actions” of Hezbollah.

And after letting Hezbollah run the southern half of the country for the past 20 years, Lebanese leaders are finally waking up:

Lebanese critics as well as allies of Hezbollah insist that the Israeli response was disproportionate. But at the same time, in meetings Thursday, Lebanese officials began to lay the groundwork for an extension of government control to southern Lebanon. Hezbollah largely controls southern Lebanon, where it has built up a network of schools, hospitals and charities.

"To declare war and to make military action must be a decision made by the state and not by a party," said Nabil de Freige, a parliament member. He belongs to the bloc headed by Saad Hariri, whose father, Rafiq, a former prime minister and wealthy businessman, was assassinated in 2005, setting off a sequence of events that forced the Syrian withdrawal. "It's a very simple equation: You have to be a state."

After a cabinet meeting Thursday, the government said it had a right and duty to extend its control over all Lebanese territory. Interior Minister Ahmed Fatfat said the statement marked a step toward the government reasserting itself.

Here's hoping you still have a country left to extend control over.

UPDATE: I firmly and wholeheartedly believe that Iran is the puppetmaster behind this entire crisis ~ what do they care about Hizbollah, other than there are enough of them to cause some damage and take the hits? While searching for reports of massive groups of Iranian "tourists" headed to/in Syria (Bingley gets me careening off on these tangents, curse him), I found a strangely prescient paragraph concerning the Iran/Syria relationship:

Ahmadinejad's January 2006 visit to Damascus left little doubt that Syria and Iran remain united more united than ever and committed to sponsoring rejectionist forces in the Middle East. The Iranian president met not only with Assad and Nasrallah, but also with the leaders of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the PFLP-GC.[16] At a joint press conference, the two presidents vowed to fight the plots of "world arrogance and Zionism" in Lebanon and called for "continued resistance" to Israeli "occupation of the holy Islamic lands."[17]

Syria has clearly drawn some strength from Iranian solidarity. Fearful that Syria's alignment with Tehran will create a powerful "Shiite crescent" in the region, the Saudis and Egyptians have been trying to mediate between Damascus and the West. However, so long as Assad is unwilling or unable to make the kind of compromises that would facilitate a rapprochement (e.g. full cooperation with the investigation into Hariri's death), he cannot really make use of this leverage. For better or for worse, he is committed to the "special relationship." With all signs pointing to a prolonged standoff between Tehran and the West over the nuclear issue, some analysts suggest that Syria, as the low-hanging fruit of the duo, will bear the brunt of Western retaliation.

Who's yer buddy, who's yer pal, Bashar?

*Lebanese Katyusha:

In Lebanon the several versions of the Katyusha rockets were used by the Palestinian militias during their attacks on Israel and during the Lebanon War the rockets were used by almost al parties: the PLO, Lebanese Forces, the Lebanese Army, PSP and after 1984 by the Amal Movement as well. But of course the most well known militia which used the Katyusha rocket is without any doubt the Hizbullah. At this moment the Hizbullah has several thousands Katyusha rockets and Fahr-3(the Iranian Katyusha model, with a range of 45 kilometres), along the border with Israel ready to fire if Israel launched a large scale offensive against Lebanon.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:48 AM | Comments (12)

July 13, 2006

Dear Mr. al-Mashhadani,

Please allow me to take this opportunity to congratulate you on your brilliant piece of intelligence analysis. Both Secretary Rumsfeld and myself are deeply impressed by your keen ability to piece together seemingly divergent pieces of information and get to the key issues at hand. Of course, we know that the usual chorus of robotic, unthinking defenders will rise up and attack your good name and deeds, but please rest assured that Secretary Rumsfeld and myself place very great stock in both your analysis

"These acts are not the work of Iraqis. I am sure that he who does this is a Jew and the son of a Jew."

and the obvious conclusions that we can draw from it, and we shall act upon it immediately.

Firstly, we have determined the location of the three living Jews still in Iraq. Please be assured that we are even now moving to spirit them out of the country tonight so they can cause no more harm.

Secondly, the above being accomplished and, as you say, since the acts of terror are not (indeed, can not be) the work of Iraqis, we are, effective immediately, removing all Coalition personnel from any and all security duties, including, of course, providing protection for any and all members of the Iraqi Parliament, protecting infrastructure, patrolling streets, so on and so on; heck, we will probably pull all of them completely out of the country. We share your confidence that, having removed the aforementioned 3 Jews (who in fact are, as you said, a Jew and the son of a Jew, plus a cousin of theirs who was visiting from Pittsburgh; dang, you're good) the Iraqis will return to their peaceful ways, and the streets and markets will be happy places once again, especially with visionaries such as yourself for the people to look up to.

Anyhow, thanks again,

Kisses,

Condi

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:48 PM | Comments (2)

A Better Acronym Might Be "EW" or "OO"

..as in "Another EU 'OOps'! EW, they stink."

For four years, the European Commission has been busy digging itself out of the hole it stumbled into in 2002, when three of its merger prohibitions were overturned in court.

This humiliating string of defeats dealt a severe blow to the reputation and confidence of the competition regulator, but also sparked sweeping internal reforms. Brussels introduced new checks and balances into its merger review procedures, abandoned some of the more adventurous theories it previously used in merger cases and beefed up its team of economists.

...On Thursday, however, that confidence was shattered by yet another ruling from the European Court of First Instance.

This time, the EU's second-highest court took aim not at a Commission merger prohibition but at the decision to clear the merger of Sony and BMG in July 2004. It was the first time a Commission merger clearance was annulled.

To make matters worse, the Sony/BMG deal had been the first big test case for the Commission's new enlightened approach.

Get it together, kids.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:06 PM | Comments (1)

South Korea Sounds Like

...they 'bout had 'nuff.

North Korea storms out of meeting with South
...Tension between the two Koreas erupted at bilateral ministerial talks in the South Korean city of Pusan, where the Pyongyang's delegation parried complaints about the missile tests and focused instead on economic cooperation and requests for aid.

"The South side will pay a price before the nation for causing the collapse of the ministerial talks and bringing a collapse of North-South relations that is unforeseeable now," the North Koreans said in a statement before leaving for the airport, a day before the meeting was due to end.

The North Koreans demanded that the South stop joint military drills with the United States due next year, saying it was ready to protect South Korea with its 1.2-million-strong armed forces.

That provoked an unusually biting reply from South Korean Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok that echoed the rhetoric of the years before Seoul's determined policy of rapprochement.

"Who in the South asked you to protect our safety?" Lee told Kwon on Tuesday, according to a South Korean official. "It would help our safety for the North not to fire missiles or develop a nuclear program."

The South said the North could also forget about any more aid until it returns to separate talks on its nuclear weapons.

That's gonna hit them right in the empty rice bowl.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:22 PM | Comments (3)

July 12, 2006

Ho, Boy...

Get ready to rumble.

IDF issuing callup orders for reservists
The IDF began calling up reservists on Wednesday afternoon following Hizbullah attacks on IDF forces along the northern border.

Earlier, Israel rejected a cease-fire request made by the Lebanese government via the UN after IDF troops entered its territory to rescue two soldiers captured by Hizbullah earlier Wednesday.

A very high ranking military officer said that if the soldiers were not returned in good condition, Israel would turn Lebanon back 20 years by striking its vital infrastructure.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:52 AM

Clinton Still Doesn't Ultimately Get It

On a couple of fronts, really. He was in Aspen yesterday (I'm sure he got there by horseback, to protect the environment and all) dispensing advice:

ASPEN — Democrats should perform well in November if they focus on issues like climate change, former president Bill Clinton told an Aspen Ideas Festival audience Friday.

Oh yeah, that will really bring them out to the polls. I'm reminded of a line from Lucifer's Hammer (I think) where a character says (and this is a rough paraphrase) that "no one ever manned a barricade to the rallying cry of "Clean water and cheap electricity!" I hope the Democrats do stress this though, because Clinton is right when he says

“Historically, we should win,” Clinton said. “We might well win one or more houses.”

I think people are a little fatigued at having the same party in nominal control of the House for awhile. Frankly, given how this supposedly "Republican" Congress has spent its way around town I'm not sure one can really tell which party is in control, but it seems to me that the surest way to guarantee that it won't be the Democrats is for them to start lecturing everyone about the environment in that prissy, high-minded, scornful style that the Democrats do better than anyone. And why do they do it better? Because they actually believe it. Listen to their speeches, read their editorials and blogs, pay close attention to their tone, and you'll easily see that in their heart of hearts, while they may in fact want the 'best' for America it is a 'best' that is strictly defined by them and they do not trust you to decide for yourself what may, in fact, be the best for your particular situation. They openly despise the values and aspirations of the 'common man' that they claim to champion...and then claim that there must be some 'vast right-wing conspiracy' to deny them justice when, shockingly, the 'common man' chooses not to give power to people who despise their lifestyle and values.

But I think Clinton is mostly right with this:

The Republican strategy is weak, he said.

“Let’s forget about global warming and talk about flag burning and gay marriage,” Clinton said. “I don’t know how long you can milk that old cow.”

Democrats, he said, need to focus on their differences with the GOP and on promoting what they stand for. One of those things should be fighting climate change, he said.

Flag Burning and Gay Marriage is the stupidest platform in the world, yet it's one that the idiotic Republican leadership, goaded along by a mostly unfriendly press, seems to keep focusing on. Well, second stupidest, as I would still have to give the nod to climate change, but just barely. Unfortunately, the Democrats are much more interested in focusing on their differences with eachother than on concentrating on the vulnerable fools on the other side of the aisle.

On foreign affairs, while he does believe we need to stay in Iraq, he still can not resist his urge to be Good Cop:

He said he has a deep belief in keeping channels of communication open, even to groups that support terrorist activities, like Hamas in the Middle East.

“I’d still talk to them if they wanted to talk,” he said. “The more you talk, the fewer people will die. There is an inherent benefit to that ... every single death is just another scar you have to claw through before you can make a deal.”

This shows me that he just does not understand how things have changed since his time in office. Well, maybe 'changed' is the wrong word; how about 'clarified'? These 'people', these murderous, raping, beheading, misogynistic barbarians, will talk and talk and defer and delay until the goats come home...and then send in suicide bombers and slit throats. They have openly declared time and again that they want us all to live under sharia or dead, and they have acted and continue to act in a manner which is completely consistent and keeping with those goals. There is no 'talking', there are no 'deals'. If you are willing to take them at their word when you have some global conference, why are you not willing to take them at their word when they say you are an infidel who must die?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:25 AM | Comments (5)

July 11, 2006

Bombings In India

Absolute bastards

MUMBAI, India - Seven bomb explosions rocked rail stations and trains in India’s financial hub Tuesday, killing 135 people and injuring 300, officials said. India’s major cities were put on high alert after the blasts.

As Confederate Yankee correctly notes

A major terrorist attack on a democracy's financial hub...must be those damn Methodists again.

Hot Air has got some of the latest info and links.

Let's assume that the terrorists were muslim, shall we? I know, I'm really going out on a limb here. So that gives us major attacks in New York, London, Madrid, Bali, now Mumbai plus all the CarBQs in France.

When are we going to dispense with this Religion of Peace crap?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 12:49 PM | Comments (8)

July 10, 2006

British Biscuits

...made by Kraft? Reminds me of one of my favoritest songs:

When Biscuits Go Wrong
...I thought to run a biscuit shop
You had to be a biscuit purist
And that such a man could never run
a biscuit fraud on tourists.
And then O! Tragedy of Tragedies!
My tears came down in streams.
Coz what I thought were Mango Biscuits
Nothing more than custard creams.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:59 AM | Comments (5)

Zidane Uses Ze Head

Ouch.

I'd love to know what the Italian said to him...

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:17 AM | Comments (5)

July 07, 2006

A "Double-Egg" WHAT?!!

...In The Sunday Times last weekend you could find Jeremy Clarkson fulminating about America’s authoritarianism and its taste for double-egg burgers. (He may have been on to something about the first but I’ve lived in the States a while now and never seen a double-egg burger. More’s the pity.)

Neither have I. Sounds revolting.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:31 AM | Comments (15)

Rule Britannia

We remember. And we will always support you.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:36 AM | Comments (6)

July 06, 2006

BREAKING NEWS

CNN's reporting Calderon has won the Mexican election.

The ruling party's Felipe Calderon won the official count in Mexico's disputed presidential race by just under 0.6 percent Thursday, the culmination of a come-from-behind campaign for a recently obscure technocrat.

Natch, the other fellow wants to rumble.

But his leftist rival earlier declared victory and said he'd fight the election in court.

Calderon was already reaching out to other parties to build a "unity government," while his rival, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, blamed fraud for his narrow loss in the vote count and called on his supporters to fill Mexico City's main square Saturday in a show of force.

Mark in Mexico has more on Obrador's posturing.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:40 PM

July 05, 2006

Kiss The European Airlines Goodbye

The Luddites in the EU Parliament have outdone themselves with this brilliant legislation:

AIR passengers will be charged up to £40 extra for a return ticket within Europe to pay for the environmental impact of their journeys, under plans approved by the European Parliament yesterday.

MEPs voted in favour of the “immediate introduction” of a tax on jet fuel for flights within the 25 member states of the EU. The charge would double the cost of millions of budget airline flights.

This is going to kill tourism in Europe, and kill many people who will now drive from place to place instead of flying.

The MEPs said that the scheme should cover all flights arriving at or departing from EU airports rather than just intra-EU flights, as had been proposed by BA. But the scheme is likely to be limited to flights within Europe in the early years to avoid legal challenges from the United States and other countries. MEPs also accepted the proposal for a separate environmental tax to cover the impact of nitrogen oxides and condensation trails emitted by aircraft.

I would like a tax on the greenhouse gasses emitted by various politicians around the world: everytime on of them opens their mouth to talk they get charged $1.

We'll make billions.

God, it's stunning how far they want to regulate, and tax, natch, everything.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 05:55 PM | Comments (11)

So Far, No Carrot or Stick in Evidence

The Japanese wasted no time ~

Japan, considered the country most vulnerable to a North Korean missile attack, reacted swiftly on Wednesday. Abe Shinzo, chief cabinet secretary, held an emergency press conference at 6am local time at which he lodged "a stern protest" and expressed regret at the tests, saying Japan would respond accordingly.

After an emergency Cabinet meeting in the morning, Tokyo imposed a number of sanctions in response to the tests. It banned a North Korea trading boat from entering its waters for six months and cancelled all chartered flights between the two countries. It also barred all North Korea officials from entering Japan.

Tokyo is also likely to press for a UN Security Council resolution against Pyongyang on the grounds that the tests violate international agreements, including the so-called Pyongyang Declaration signed with Japan in 2002.

It may also take unilateral action, including imposing economic sanctions, Japanese officials said. Preparatory legislation for sanctions against Pyongyang have already been passed.

...as a matter of fact, they were ahead of the curve. The Russians are upset (for the moment), too...

The Russian foreign ministry also condemned the launches and the Interfax news agency quoted a Russian general saying that as many as 10 missiles were launched, with two falling into Russian waters.

South Korean students have momentarily stopped throwing anti-American Molotov cocktails...

But if Kim Jong-il's irascible regime was hoping to force the Bush administration, in particular, to give into its demands to drop financial sanctions and to negotiate on its own terms, it is almost certain to have gravely failed.

Not only has Pyongyang incensed Washington and Tokyo, both of whom have threatened a strong response including new sanctions, it has managed to alienate its usually appeasing brother in Seoul, which vowed to cut off shipments of rice and fertiliser.

...because they might just need us after all and the Chinese have just been shown to be IMpotent vice omNIpotent.

Furthermore, it has embarrassed its biggest supporter and chief benefactor, Beijing. The tests have called into question China's authority as the chair of the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons programme and its influence over Pyongyang.

"This has proven that China can't really do anything to restrain North Korea's behaviour," said a senior government official in Seoul.

What to do with a mad dog who bites every hand that feeds it? I would lay dollars to donuts that there are Chinese and Russian teams working on the Elvis problem right now. (If they're not in Pyong Yang already.)
Others may find the flubbed test comforting and argue their lack of missile accuity gives us breathing room...

Missile experts on Wednesday declared Pyongyang's first long-range missile test a failure after the Taepodong-2 crashed within a minute of being launched, and said this should give both North Korea's neighbours and the US cause for comfort.

...but you learn from your mistakes and, when you can launch up to ten at one shot, there can be a heck of a learning curve.

But Mr Wolfsthal of CSIS [Centre for Strategic and International Studies] warned that every new test would teach North Korea scientists a lesson and would give them the opportunity to improve.

He was also surprised by the extent of the testing, as North Korea launched the Taepodong-2 along with five short-range Nodong or Scud missiles from two sites, suggesting Pyongyang was trying to confound US efforts to gather intelligence from the launch.

"They have also demonstrated that they are not restricted to performing one test at a time but can carry out co-ordinated missile launches. In a war situation, that would be something that would concern us," Mr Wolfsthal said.

Damn. There goes my post title. In Europe, NATO and the EU are mad...

In an unusually swift and strongly worded response, NATO said North Korea's development and use of ballistic missiles "pose a serious threat to the region and to the international community at large. We regret and condemn this launch."

...enough for strong words. But not mad enough to give up groveling.

NATO and the EU urged North Korea to return to six-nation talks involving South Korea, Japan, China, Russia and the United States. The 25-nation EU has said it stands ready to offer North Korea more aid if needed to help seal a deal on disarmament on the Korean peninsula.

The Chamberlain Syndrome is alive and well.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:55 AM | Comments (9)

Up To Seven Missiles Launched

We need to stop this guy, and soon:

North Korea remained defiant. A North Korea foreign ministry official told Japanese journalists in Pyongyang that the regime there has an undeniable right to test missiles.

“The missile launch is an issue that is entirely within our sovereignty. No one has the right to dispute it,” Ri Pyong Dok, a researcher on Japanese affairs at the North’s Foreign Ministry, said on footage aired by TBS. “On the missile launch, we are not bound by any agreement.”

Well, we do have a right and an obligation to dispute it. I'm so disgusted by this attitude of "who are you to deny them nuclear weapons since the US has used them." The logic is breathtaking, really: we dropped nukes on Japan to crush a murderous regime and end the bloodiest war the world has so far seen, and we haven't used them since. Therefore we have no right to object when murderous regimes led by unstable nutjobs/religions want to develop nukes; in fact, we have an obligation to supply them with the technology needed.

I mean, that's basically what the left is saying, isn't it?

Thankfully we can count on the BBC to bring in dear Madeleine Albright for some words of wisdom:

I hold no brief for Kim Jong-il but the mistake has been that we have not had negotiations with him in the last five years and this is an example of a failed policy. But I think what has to happen now is that we obviously have to be in very close consultation with other members of the six-party talks and our allies.

And I think one has to consider whether there should be action within the United Nations and to show a united front among those in the region and other members of the Security Council.

No, Mads, an "example of a failed policy" is your giving Kim oil and building nuclear reactors for him, as a 'reward' for being a good little boy, dontcha think?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:45 AM | Comments (1)

July 04, 2006

There's Apparently Been a Third Missile Launch Attempt

...that they're reporting was the long range one.

North Korea has fired a long-range missile, but it failed in flight. Two non-guided, medium-range Scud-style missiles were also fired, North American Aerospace Defense Command confirmed Tuesday.

Japanese public broadcasting channel NHK first reported the missile launches. The two Scud missiles landed in the Sea of Japan, the first about 600 kilometers from mainland Japan, NHK said.

UPDATE: NOW it's been updated to four missiles. Somebody needs to lay a hurt on Elvis.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:05 PM | Comments (3)

July 03, 2006

Close Election In Mexico

A Mexican Standoff Runoff:

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -- Two leading candidates have claimed victory in Mexico's presidential vote, even as the country's top election official deemed the result too close to call.

...With only 52 percent of the vote counted so far, news agencies quoted conservative Felipe Calderon of the ruling National Action Party as having 38 percent of the vote.

Leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the coalition, led by the Democratic Revolution party, has nearly 36 percent.

Both candidates, reached via cell phone over the weekend while they were in Rumson, NJ, attending to their lawn-care business, expressed confidence in their ultimate victory.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:37 AM | Comments (1)

June 30, 2006

Gitmo Trials Decision

I've been reading through reports on this decision and I'm trying to figure it all out.

The court declared 5-3 that the trials for 10 foreign terror suspects violate U.S. military law and the Geneva conventions.

The ruling raises major questions about the legal status of the approximately 450 men still being held at the U.S. military prison in Cuba and exactly how, when and where the administration might pursue the charges against them.

Ok, that seems clear enough: the SCOTUS leftwits think that al-Qaeda deserves Geneva Convention protections. Color me shocked. But this bit:

"Trial by military commission raises separation-of-powers concerns of the highest order," Kennedy wrote in his opinion. "Concentration of power (in the executive branch) puts personal liberty in peril of arbitrary action by officials, an incursion the Constitution's three-part system is designed to avoid."

Confuses me a little, as we're not dealing with US citizens here, and frankly I don't give a flying fudge about the 'personel liberty' of people who have taken up arms agaiinst our troops; if I have to choose between protecting America and protecting the personel liberty of some guy with an AK in Basra, well, "you'll get used to the food, Hachmed" is all I can say.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:42 AM | Comments (8)

June 29, 2006

Hail The Brave Palestinians

They've shown their bravery and virtue by murdering a teenager:

Eliyahu Asheri, the 18-year-old from the settlement of Itamar, was found dead by Israel Defense Forces early Thursday morning in the A-Tira neighborhood of Ramallah.

...Shin Bet agents and special IDF troops found the body buried in a field around 2:30 A.M. Thursday morning, and determined that he had been shot in the head soon after he was kidnapped Sunday. Soldiers arrested a militant in connection with the murder early Thursday morning.

Palestinian militants from the Popular Resistance Committees said they executed the teenager.

I'm sure they'll be dancing in the streets all weekend.

Animals.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:29 AM | Comments (4)

June 28, 2006

Israel Talks "Take-Out"

...and not with the fat police. You're pretty much screwed when they tell the world they're coming after you...I hope someone's scattering the virgins.

Justice Minister Haim Ramon said Wednesday that Hamas's Syria-based leader, Khaled Mashaal, is a target for assassination for ordering the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier in the Gaza Strip.

"He is definitely in our sights ... he is a target," Ramon told Army Radio. "Khaled Mashaal, as some who is overseeing, actually commanding the terror acts, is definitely a target."

Swill Salute: Counterterrorism Blog.

UPDATE: In keeping with the 'scattering of virgins' theme, there could well be more murdering bastards headed that way...

In Moscow, meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin ordered the special services to hunt down and "destroy" the killers of four Russian Embassy workers in Iraq, the Kremlin said.

I really, really thought it was a bad career move to grab the Russians, less mind behead them, but these big Jihadiis know everything.

When the Russians get ahold of these a$$holes, they'll make their little execution videos look like amateur night.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:22 PM | Comments (3)

June 27, 2006

Doing the Expedient Right Thing

...when NOTHING should have been done to begin with.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Somali-born former politician who faced death threats as the result of her criticism of Islam, is to keep her Dutch citizenship, after being accused of lying in her asylum application.

The decision, taken by the Dutch cabinet late on Monday night, was interpreted by political commentators as a face-saving gesture by the centre-right government, which faced international criticism after threatening to anul Ms Hirsi Ali's naturalisation in May

...Such was the ferocity of international media criticism of the Dutch government's handling of the affair, that the foreign ministry was forced to issue instructions to Dutch embassies to explain that the Netherlands had not expelled Ms Hirsi Ali.

Mrs Hirsi Ali scripted the film Submission, whose director Theo van Gogh was murderd by a radical Islamist months after its public broadcast in the Netherlands. She too became the target of death threats and has lived in hiding ever since under police protection.

Great news but it makes you wonder why the Danish mullahs aren't being driven from the country instead. And it's a loss for us, since she was going to immigrate here.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:47 AM | Comments (1)

June 23, 2006

Why I Love Australia

I'm not sure how he gets through this without mentioning Shiraz, but aside from that I agree with every word:

WASHINGTON -- In the Australian House of Representatives last month, opposition member Julia Gillard interrupted a speech by the minister of health thusly: "I move that that sniveling grub over there be not further heard.''

For that, the good woman was ordered removed from the House, if only for a day. She might have escaped that little time-out if she had responded to the speaker's demand for an apology with something other than "If I have offended grubs, I withdraw unconditionally.''

God, I love Australia. Where else do you have a shadow health minister with such, er, starch?

Read the whole thing, and send a nice "thank you" to Tim Blair.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:50 AM | Comments (4)

Gaia Menopausal?

She's having hot flashes! Last year was the hottest in 6 billion years (except, of course in areas where it was cooler):

WASHINGTON, June 22 — A controversial paper asserting that recent warming in the Northern Hemisphere was probably unrivaled for 1,000 years was endorsed today, with a few reservations, by a panel convened by the nation's pre-eminent scientific body.

The panel said that a statistical method used in the 1999 study was not the best and that some uncertainties in the work "have been underestimated," and it particularly challenged the authors' conclusion that the decade of the 1990's was probably the warmest in a millennium.

But, hey, why quibble over piddling details along the way if the conclusion is what you want? It's the new, improved scientific method: decide on your conclusion and make a computer model to schmudge the data into it.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:54 AM | Comments (11)

June 22, 2006

Whose Side is This Guy On?

As if we didn't already know.

...More than 600 people, mostly militants, have been killed in recent weeks as insurgents have launched their deadliest campaign of violence in years.

...“It is not acceptable for us that in all this fighting, Afghans are dying. In the last three to four weeks, 500 to 600 Afghans were killed. (Even) if they are Taliban, they are sons of this land,” he said.

Mr. Karzai seems to have forgotten why he needs his bodyguards. And, if memory serves me correctly, while those cuddly Taliban were in power, he wasn't exactly their best friend after the initial kissy fest...

In 1997, Karzai joined many of his family members in United States, from where he worked to reinstate Zahir Shah. His father was assassinated, presumably by Taliban agents, July 14, 1999, and Karzai swore revenge against the Taliban by working to help overthrow them.

He ran away. No doubt this latest, largely coalition operation is screwing up mutually agreed to plans to leave certain caves unexplored, as in the oh-so-successful joint U.S.-Afghani Operation Anaconda. (Remember that one?)

Of the 2,000 coalition troops involved, about half are Afghan forces whose primary mission is to block al Qaeda and Taliban forces from leaving the area, Franks said.

Dashing mujahadeen scampering about the moutainside on horseback ~ hither, thither, to and fro ~ as Omar and Osama get safely to Pakistan. The Tora Bora Backstab. Karzai's probably gonna owe some serious chips for not being able to control this present purge. And, like Omar's singular gaze, he also seems to have a blind spot about certain other citizens in his rush to embrace those 'sons of this land'.

A War on Schoolgirls
U