U.N. Said Not Protecting Sudan Refugees

article

The United Nations is failing to protect millions of people displaced by conflict in Sudan's Darfur region and violence in other hotspots around the world, a U.N. report said Friday.

The world body's approach to the problem of people who have fled their homes but not crossed any international borders "is still largely ad hoc and driven more by the personalities and convictions of individuals on the ground than by an institutional, systemwide agenda," the report said.

The U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank, compiled the 102-page study.

Dennis McNamara, head of OCHA's refugee division, said there is no single U.N. agency that deals with providing assistance for the 25 million internally displaced people around the world.

More than 1.8 million people are estimated to have been driven from their homes in the 21-month-old Darfur conflict.
[...]
Three different U.N. agencies have staff in Darfur, but their access to the displaced and their activity there have frequently been limited because Sudan's government has at times been reluctant to allow outside involvement, McNamara said.

The Sudanese government is allowing the United Nations access to camps in Darfur...

Actually, the government is blocking access whenever possible, and has forcibly relocated refugee camps with the use of tear gas and guns. One such evacuation happened on the day Sudan signed a cease-fire, and was actually the second such attempt in about two weeks at the camp. Plus, the Sudanese government will not allow the construction of roads to Sudan, thus forcing relief efforts to use incredibly expensive airplanes. The government claims that it wants to build trains, which take years, and would actually be of little use because of the nature of trains compared to hte nature of cars. Trains can move a lot over a long distance, but not distribute supplies because trains can follow only simple tracks; cars can distribute but have difficulty over great distance, because of hte agility of roads and cars. But, that's a bit of off-topic discussion for another time.

I'll continue with the quote (from exactly where left off):
...but U.N. activity is still limited by a lack of staff and funding. That shortage means the world body has been unable to provide AIDS tests and psychological counseling for rape victims in Darfur's camps, which McNamara called unacceptable.

McNamara said people displaced by fighting in conflict zones in Colombia and northern Uganda are also not getting the U.N. help they need.

"Darfur is only the most dramatic and highly publicized example," McNamara said. "It is by no means the biggest or the longest-lasting."

In a separate conflict in the south of Sudan, where warring parties are striving to reach a peace accord after two decades of fighting, there may be up to three times as many internally displaced people as in Darfur, he said.

Northern Uganda has three times as many internal refugees as Darfur, and an estimated 20,000 of them have been abducted for military service or work as sex slaves, McNamara said.

There are also up to 3 million internally displaced in Congo, and a further 2 million to 3 million in Colombia, he said.

I'm Doing All My Shopping On Amazon

This Christmas, I will not be ambushed by old hags with perfume bottles. I will not be stuck in the mall elevator with the gargantuan woman in short-shorts and a tubetop. No more screaming 5-year-olds, no hassles with sales clerks who have no idea how to sell anything or help anyone. No one will shout "wat up, dawg?!" at me, as though they knew me, or as though they will ever do anything with their life-other than get stoned.
I am shopping on Amazon.com. It's only me, the Amazon website, and my pop-up blocker to handle anything unexpected. This time, no one can swipe items from my shopping cart, or break anything after I pay for it but before they put the item into the bag (thus allowing them to blame me for no good reason). I will not have to avoid the football game in Best Buy's camera section, and not have to tell the store employees off for starting the game (this actually happened.. the employees blamed some innocent customers for everything they broke). And, yes; they were "going long".
Whatever I buy, it will be delivered within a few days. I will get the proper discounts without jumping through the hoops of whatever major company I'm shopping at. If I have a problem, Amazon's customer service will respond in a few days; while the people at Best Buy never understand anything I say to their face.


So, what's your opinion? What are your worst store experiences, and do you plan to shop online, or at least avoid certain stores based entirely on how they treated you last time?

Compilation Of Ukraine's Voter Fraud

Revealed: the full story of the Ukrainian election fraud
Be suspicious of this article; accurate information on voter fraud is hard to come by (especially when not from an original source).

The catalogue of abuses in the contest between Mr Yanukovich, the prime minister, and his opponent, the pro-Western Viktor Yushchenko, is growing longer by the day.
Ukraine is split, with the western, Europe-leaning regions voting overwhelmingly for Mr Yushchenko while the eastern part of the country - where many speak Russian - backing Mr Yanukovich.
Maya Syta, a journalist working at polling station 73 in a Kiev suburb, witnessed ballot papers destroyed with acid poured into a ballot box. "The officials were taking them out of the box and they couldn't understand why they were wet," she said.
"Then I saw they started to blacken and disintegrate as if they were burning. Two ballots were wrapped up into a tube with a yellow liquid inside. After a few moments they were completely eaten up."
In her polling station, 26 ballots were destroyed and had to be invalidated. Six other cases were recorded of ballots destroyed by acid.
The most common trick was "carousel" voting, in which busloads of Yanukovich supporters simply drove from one polling station to another casting multiple false absentee ballots.
In another brazen fraud recorded by observers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, voters were given pens filled with ink that disappeared, leaving ballots unmarked and invalid.

Disappearing ink… that's a good one. I hadn't thought of something like that. Now, if only the US could solve the problem of "reappearing chads"

UKRAINE MEDIA IN REVOLT!

I believe that I can now call the presidency for Yushchenko. If you don't understand that sentence, and were not shocked by the article title, you do not know the power of the media.

A dictator has three priorities:
1: control the military and/or secret police and/or police.
2: control the media.
3: control the food supply.

With the military, an individual can overthrow the previous government, and prevent rebellions against the new dictator (to a good, but limited, extent).
The media will give a dictator popularity, which affects far more people than the military. A military can only guard one city: the capital of the nation (where the dictator is). A nation with a dictatorship almost always has one giant city (capital), a bunch of smaller cities, and tons of villages/tribes/whatever. There is no single city on par with the capital. If the military must guard more than the capital, then it will guard many cities, and will be stretched too thin (dictatorships don't actually get much money, so they can't get great militaries). The dictator usually gets his money from the capital city, or by controlling all commerce in his nation (so businesses are located in the capital). Saddam Hussein, for example, didn't really collect taxes; he pillaged banks and controlled Iraq's commerce (allowing some money to slip into his pocket. Actually, a lot of money). In order for a dictator to maintain power outside his capital, he needs at least one of two things, and often both: the media and secret police. The media can make the population love the dictator; the secret police will make the population fear him. Combined, the two make a very powerful combination. Additionally, if the dictator wants to exercise complete control over more than the capital, he must develop the infrastructure and communication system of the entire nation; but those things help civilians unite against the dictator. Secret police are never reliable, and they can only arrest someone after he opposes the dictator; but the media is cheap, based in the capital, and can prevent opposition altogether. Thus, it is easier, cheaper, and more effective for a dictator to control the media, if he must choose between the media and secret police (similar goes for if there are no secret police).
Now, for food. If a population is in rebellion, the dictator wants to cut off the food supply to the population, so he can either starve them into submission or starve them to death. Because of this, food is a very powerful tool for a dictator. Water may be used in similar ways, but it is harder to control, because water can only be cut off in large cities; villages would probably have their own water supply.

Ukraine probably can't get away with using secret police, the government cannot use the military against the people, and the government can not starve the population. So, the media is the only tool that the government has to control the population.
Now you know the power of the media. Or, at least I hope you do, because I've written up the best explanation of methods of manipulation that will fit into one page and take less than a few hours.


The Ukrainian media has stopped supporting Yanukovych. Before, they didn't even announce that there were protests in the capital, because government censors cut every mention of people who didn't like Yanukovych

Journalists on Ukraine's state-owned channel - which had previously given unswerving support to Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych - have joined the opposition, saying they have had enough of "telling the government's lies".
Journalists on another strongly pro-government TV station have also promised an end to the bias in their reporting. The turnaround in news coverage, after years of toeing the government line, is a big setback for Mr Yanukovych.
Journalists in Ukraine seem to have responded to the call by opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko for them to reject government censorship.
A correspondent on the state channel, UT1, announced live on the evening bulletin that the entire news team was going to join the protests in Independence Square. She said their message to the protesters was: "We are not lying anymore".
[…]
In the reinstated evening bulletin that replaced the election special, the channel's director Oleksander Rodnyansky stood in front of a solemn group of his colleagues to deliver a brief statement.
He began by saying: "The One Plus One TV channel fully resumes its news and political and social broadcasting.
"We understand our responsibility for the biased news that the channel has so far been broadcasting under pressure and on orders from various political forces."
Mr Rodnyansky went on to say that the station would now guarantee "full and impartial" news coverage, allowing all viewpoints to be expressed. The subsequent bulletin lived up to this promise.

Also, I have to give credit to the BBC journalist, Sebastian Usher, for understanding politics and his own power as a journalist:

Now that Ukrainian journalists have openly rebelled against such tight government control, Mr Yanukovych appears to have lost one of the key pillars of his support. It is another clear sign that the momentum behind the opposition is growing ever stronger.

For the first time, news of the protests will be broadcast in Ukraine's pro-Yanukovych east, where the nations only pro-Yushchenko channel was blocked.

Will The Buck Stop Here?

Dollar decline gathers pace, shaking global markets

The dollar accelerated its downward spiral, hitting record lows against the euro and multi-year troughs against other currencies, sending gold racing to fresh 16-year summits and weighing on Asian and European stock markets.

The euro shot to a new all-time peak of 1.3329 dollars in early European trading Friday, hurdling the 1.33 threshold for the first time since its launch in January 1999.

Morgan Stanley goes into some detail on the dollar's fall.

Now, to summarize the US economic situation (I'm no economist, mind you, so this is more guess than conclusion from research), the US dollar is falling for one reason-which encompasses many details: deficits. The federal deficit, which has some hope of shrinking in the next 5 years, is one large aspect. However, the US trade deficit is just as important, if not more so. Finally, the US is saving very little.
The government deficit is well known, so I'll jump to trade. America imports more than it exports, by far. American trade with China, for example, is quite imbalanced; the US imports about 150 billion more than it exports per year from China alone. Our trade with Japan is similar, but the trade difference is only around 75 billion. This means that America is losing money, and a lot of it. However, Chinese and Japanese exports are helped by the undervalued currencies of the respective countries (China's currency is undervalued to an extreme). Because the dollar is dropping, US exports will rise, as American products are becoming cheaper.
Personal savings has been low for at least a year (probably a few years), and tends to go down whenever interest rates drop. This is a natural relationship, as people are less inclined to save money when it will accumulate almost no interest. Much of the money that would otherwise be saved is spent on new houses. This is why home ownership has gone up so much. Houses are often seen as an investment, so many people are willing to exchange a savings account with a solid asset (a house).

So, the US is not saving money in three ways; federal deficit, trade deficit, and lack of personal savings. As a result, the dollar is not believed to have the strength that it used to have, though it is still quite strong. Honestly, I don't know the exact reasons that the dollar is falling, but I'd guess that some investors fear that the US may start to print a lot more money-causing some inflation-to cover these deficits. There are also many other factors, but I have no idea what those might be.

The quickest way to slow the dollar's fall is for China to allow its currency to be controlled by the market. Right now, the Chinese government controls the currency very strictly. If China's exports are no longer undervalued, then the US trade deficit with China will drop, because Americans will buy fewer Chinese products and more American products (along with more from other major sources of US imports).


However, the dollar's fall is largely expected to be good for the US, as long as that fall is controlled. A crash, of course, is never good. Europe's fragile recovery, which may have ended already, will be slowed by the appreciating Euro. There is already evidence that the European recovery ended practically before it started, in which case the expanded European Union is off to a very bumpy start.

Declaration of Independence Banned at California School

Article

A California teacher has been barred by his school from giving students documents from American history that refer to God -- including the Declaration of Independence.

Steven Williams, a fifth-grade teacher at Stevens Creek School in the San Francisco Bay area suburb of Cupertino, sued for discrimination on Monday, claiming he had been singled out for censorship by principal Patricia Vidmar because he is a Christian.
[…]
Williams asserts in the lawsuit that since May he has been required to submit all of his lesson plans and supplemental handouts to Vidmar for approval, and that the principal will not permit him to use any that contain references to God or Christianity.

Among the materials she has rejected, according to Williams, are excerpts from the Declaration of Independence, George Washington's journal, John Adams' diary, Samuel Adams' "The Rights of the Colonists" and William Penn's "The Frame of Government of Pennsylvania."

"He hands out a lot of material and perhaps 5 to 10 percent refers to God and Christianity because that's what the founders wrote," said Thompson, a lawyer for the Alliance Defense Fund, which advocates for religious freedom. "The principal seems to be systematically censoring material that refers to Christianity and it is pure discrimination."

This may not be a case of discrimination, but rather of abusive micromanagement. Obviously, it's a bit insane that a teacher has to submit every lesson plan for approval. If this is true, the principal should be fired, as they are (1) abusing their power, (2) harassing an employee with that power, (3) micromanaging enough to significantly reduce efficiency and waste time, and (4) just being an ass. Those four problems are all certain, and there are probably many more useless errors.

If either case turns out to be true, which is easy to determine, the principal should be fired instantly. No pension, 3-week-notice, or 'paid suspension'. California has enough problems, and doesn't need this asshole to add to it.

And, give the teacher a bonus. No teacher should be subject to the stupid micromanagement that Williams faced.

Mind you, the school itself is not that great. According to this apparently credible website, it ranked 11th out of 15th, when compared to nearby schools (from the 'compare to nearby schools' link).

Hat tip to Drudge and this article, of The Desert Tusk, who got the story before me.
Also, you can check some of the original documentation at The Smoking Gun (those guys do an incredible job).

Powell Says U.S. Will Not Accept Final Tally in Ukraine

NYT article

With international pressure mounting on Ukraine, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said today that the United States could not accept its recent election results. He urged President Leonid Kuchma not to use force against the sprawling crowds in Kiev streets protesting the official outcome.

Defying American and European calls not to certify the election, Ukraine declared today that Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich was the winner of elections that several foreign monitoring groups and a White House special envoy have called seriously flawed.

"We cannot accept this result as legitimate because it does not meet international standards," Mr. Powell said, "and because there has not been an investigation of the numerous and credible reports of fraud and abuse."

The United States, he added, was "deeply disturbed" by these reports.

The secretary of state, in a forceful statement backed by similar declarations from European and Canadian officials, urged a full review of the election, which several international monitoring groups and a White House special envoy have declared seriously flawed.

The US has whined to the Russian ambassador in the US, but probably for useless reasons; the ambassador likely gets enough hell already, and it's not like he doesn't know the American sentiment.
And, the US wants to work with Russia to resolve the issue, but the solution must be according to America's demands, not Russia's, at least according to the US. Russia, naturally, wants the solution to follow Russia's demands.
This "let's make a deal, though we disagree on the basics of that deal" is quite common in diplomacy. The solution to this problem is found in an excellent quote by McCall Spirit, who said "diplomacy is the art of letting someone else have your way". In other words, the US has to make a Yushchenko victory attractive to Russia.

To do this, the US can either bribe/appease Russia, threaten Russia, or work out a clever situation in which case a Yanukovich victory would harm Russia (or a Yushchenko victory would help Russia). The last option is the best overall (as it costs the US nothing and doesn't hurt international relations), but it is also the most difficult, by far. I expect some combination of the first two options, though both the carrot and stick may be hidden under the table (to US citizens. They would be obvious to Russian diplomats and policy-makers, of course).

AOL-TimeWarner Fined 750 Million

article

The Securities and Exchange Commission and Time Warner Inc. are nearing agreement on a deal in which the media giant would pay about $750 million to settle wide-ranging allegations of accounting irregularities at Dulles-based America Online Inc.

AOL/Timewarner owns about half of the media, so few sources will actually tell you what "accounting irregularities" means. It means theft and fraud on a massive scale.
Let me give you an example: about two years ago, I used one of those 30-day free trials that AOL gives out. Around the 25th day, I told the company to cancel, in which case I wouldn't be charged anything and I'd go back to my current ISP (Earthlink, which has treated me quite well, and I am willing to recommend based on my own extensive experience). So, AOL cancelled my service, and I tried to go back to Earthlink. AOL, however, would not get out of the way, and I spent considerable effort to get my computer back from AOL. It turned out, however, that AOL/Timewarner cancelled my internet access, but didn't stop charging me for internet access. They charged me, quite illegally, for three more months after I cancelled on them. When I told them off for charging me well past their legal limits, they got aggressive with the credit card company and forced the bill to be paid (I believe there is some type of law a company can use to enforce charges when necessary. AOL decided to illegally abuse this law).
This event wasn't just limited to me. Some bankers have near-horror stories of trying to deal with AOL/Timewarner.

Some similar complaints are here, here (long list), and here.
Let me quote the last one:

AOL is billing me 28.90 per month for nothing. This should not be legal for them to do this to people. I don't know what else to do and I don't know how to keep it from happening. Do we not have any rights anymore that companies can bill you and then make you the bad guy for want[ing] them to take it off?

There's also some stuff on the near-impossibility of canceling AOL here, and a double-billing scheme here.

So, I am overjoyed that AOL is getting a huge fee. They deserve it. The executives who designed and authorized these schemes out to have their mansions torched, as well. Their yachts should be given to good consumer advocates like Ralph Nader, too (I wouldn't mind one, though). Hell, just imprison the executives like the criminals they are--maybe not the new one(s), as I don't know how good or bad they might be—but the old ones are not worth anything. No one would miss them. If the executives purposefully make their service nearly impossible to use and illegally bill customers, in some stupid scheme to make more money, then those executives deserve to lose everything.

Not only are AOL's actions irresponsible, but also they are a huge drain on the economy. Thousands (probably tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands) of people spent several hours trying to cancel AOL, resulting in a loss of tons of work-hours. That lowers overall US productivity. I admit that AOL caused very small changes in productivity, but they knowingly lowered it to illegally make an extra buck.

I am overjoyed with this fine. It is probably larger than the amount AOL stole from its customers, but it's impossible to get data for that. I would be happier if the money came directly from the executives, rather than the company as a whole--which will fire tons of people, many of them from the already-sucky customer service department, to recover the money. I'd also love to see some executives in prison, but that's probably wishful thinking.

Review Of Covert Operations, May Be Moved From CIA To Department Of Defense

article

President Bush has ordered an internal review into whether the Defense Department should run covert paramilitary operations traditionally mounted by the CIA, administration officials said on Tuesday.

The presidential directive, signed by Bush last week, asks the CIA and the Departments of State, Defense and Justice to report back to him in 90 days on "whether or not the paramilitary operations, currently under the control of the CIA, should be transferred to the Department of Defense," a senior administration official said.
[...]
Personnel in U.S. military Special Operations forces, such as Delta Force and Navy SEALs, are elite and highly trained troops who perform special missions, in many cases covert and behind enemy lines.

"Since this is a complex issue, we want to study it closely with the intelligence community to better understand it," said a Pentagon spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We don't have any preordained or preferred solutions in mind. We are undertaking the study with open minds.

"We have been working formally and informally with the CIA already on this issue. We have a great deal of common ground and agreement with them," the spokesman added.

Officials said the interagency review, first reported by The New York Times, would look at whether paramilitary authorities should be transferred in their entirety to the Defense Department.

It could also advocate a more collaborative role between Special Operations forces and the paramilitary units of the intelligence agency. They already work together in the hunt for Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders.

I'll have to do some research on this, because it looks like an underdeveloped or premature story. However, it is quite important, and I hope the media at least mentions it. The Events in Ukraine, on the other hand, have been ignored by the US media (which I consider to be a huge error. The protests can be manipulated into a revolution if the media wants to get the highest possible ratings).

Ukraine Has Fradulent Elections, 'Losers' Protest In Mass

Wikipedia article
New York Times
Blogs: Europhobia, Vkhokhl, Connard (this guy was at the protests in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine), Fist Full Of Euros
Newspaper stories:Challenger (lost rigged election) reads oath of office, acts like the victor; The Western world declares that Ukraine's election was rigged.

This was the second vote for presidency. The first was a primary, in which Yushchenko was selected to be the challenger to Yanukovych (the closest thing to the incumbent), and Yushchenko lead slightly in the polls (each with nearly 40%. The rest of the votes went to 24 other potential challengers).

From Wikipedia:

In the November 21 runoff, Ukraine's electoral commission declared Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych the winner. According to electoral commission data, Yanukovich had 49.42 percent of the votes cast and Yushchenko had 46.69 percent of the votes cast. Viktor Yushchenko is calling for supporters to protest "the total falsification of the vote." City councils of four major cities in Western Ukraine, including Lviv and Ivano-Frankivs'k, have refused to recognize the official results and have declared that Yushchenko has won the election.
The election was held in a highly-charged atmosphere, with allegations of media bias, intimidation and even an alleged poisoning of Yushchenko. Many commentators saw the elections as being influenced by outside powers, notably the United States, the European Union and Russia, with the U.S. and EU backing Yushchenko (sending former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski and Senator John McCain to visit with Yushchenko), and Russian president Vladimir Putin publicly backing Yanukovich. In the media the two candidates are contrasted, with Yushchenko representing both the pro-Western Kiev residents as well as the rural Ukrainians, whereas Yanukovich represents the Eastern, pro-Russian industrial laborers. The United States and Europe fear that a Yanukovich win will halt the Ukraine's move toward integration with Europe (especially as regards any future accession to NATO or the EU). Russia fears that without a close relationship with Ukraine its ability to develop and prosper will be severely limited, and that the Ukraine could develop into a mildly hostile neighbor, much like the Baltic states have become since their integration into NATO and the EU. Putin has offered Ukraine an economic union and signed legislation permitting visa-less travel between the two countries in an attempt to underscore the potential relationship that would be available. Prominently anti-Soviet statesman Zbigniew Brzezinski casts the election as an opposition to renewed Russian imperialism:

"Russia is more likely to make a break with its imperial past if the newly independent post-Soviet states are vital and stable. Their vitality will temper any residual Russian imperial temptations. Political and economic support for the new states must be an integral part of a broader strategy for integrating Russia into a cooperative transcontinental system. A sovereign Ukraine is a critically important component of such a policy, as is support for such strategically pivotal states as Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan."

The temperature in Kiev is at or below freezing, and many protestors have set up tents.

Connard got that photo, and I hope he doesn't mind me using it.

The US media that has reported this (and I am guilty of this also) have known of the story but neglected to report it, and are probably making the protests sound more dangerous than they really are (they have been quite peaceful, though tense and stressful).

The Ukraine parliament is in a meeting at the moment, and it appears that most or all Yanukovych supporters have left it.


No matter what, this does not look good. This will leave deep scars in Ukraine for decades. If Yanukovych wins, about half or more of the country will not view him as the rightful president. If Yanukovych is not considered the rightful president, then the office of president will be given little power, and the nation will have a weaken and less-centralized power structure (bad, makes Ukraine more susceptible to revolutions and revolt). If Yushchenko wins, Ukraine may be better off due both to his support and his intention to join the rest of the western world. However, there would be a precedent for protestors overturning the decision of the government, and Yushchenko would be very dependant on popular opinion. If masses of protestors put Yushchenko into power, they can take him out of power just as easily. Plus, there would be considerable distrust of the government and election system, which also makes Ukraine more prone to revolution.

If a nation is more susceptible to revolution, the actions of its government change considerably, because the government wants to prevent revolution. Often, propaganda is critical in maintaining stability, and democracy is undermined—because voters with less power can do less to harm the government.

I hope this s resolved peacefully and quickly, and that the fraudulent (or, possibly, not fraudulent) elections are blamed on a loser, rather than on the entire government. Blaming the loser will undermine future challengers, but it will help to uphold the stability of the government.

Little Green Footballs Reports: Britain Foiled 9/11-Style Attack

Britain Foiled 9/11-Style Attack

British security services have foiled an Al-Qaeda plot to fly planes into targets in London in a September 11-style attack, Britain’s independent ITV News network reported.

“This is the story of what could have been a nightmare averted,” said ITV’s political editor Nick Robinson. “A story not of failure, but of success.”

“That, at least, is what I am told by a senior authoritative source who says that the security services managed to avert a plot to fly planes into Canary Wharf here, and also into Heathrow Airport,” he said.

awaiting further confirmation, and expecting the media to gloss over this story. It is already believed that Britain prevented several other attacks, though those were mostly bombings or uses of toxic gasses.
origional article

It will be interesting to see how this plays out, if at all. A popularization of this story, mixed with the clashes in the Netherlands, could spread anti-Muslim sentiment farther through Europe, and may spread Dutch-like reactions.

Iran Will Keep Making Nukes, No Matter What It Agrees To, And Europe Doesn't Care

from Cox & Forkum Editorial Cartoons:

The agreement that France, Germany and Britain reached with Iran this week signals that the diplomatic option of dealing with Iran's nuclear weapons program no longer exists. To understand why this is the case, we must look into the agreement and understand what is motivating the various parties to accede to its conditions.
The agreement stipulates that the European-3 will provide Iran with light water reactor fuel, enhanced trade relations and more nuclear reactors. In exchange, the Iranians agree that for the duration of the negotiations toward implementing the agreement -- including a European push for Iranian ascension to the World Trade Organization -- it will not develop centrifuges and will not enrich uranium. At the same time, the Europeans accepted Iran's claim that it has the legal right to complete the entire nuclear fuel cycle -- meaning, it has the legal right to enrich uranium. ...

Iran's interest in making the deal is clear. The IAEA governing board is set to meet next week to discuss Iran's nuclear program. By agreeing to the deal with the Europeans, Iran has effectively foreclosed the option, favored by the US, of transferring Iran's nuclear program to the UN Security Council for discussions that could lead to sanctions on Iran.

Aside from that, all along, Iran has been gaming the system. It has pushed to the limits all feasible interpretation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, of which it is a signatory, to enable it to reach the cusp of nuclear weapons development without breaking its ties or diminishing its leverage over the Europeans as well as the Russians and Chinese. In so doing, it has isolated the US and Israel -- which have both gone on record that Iran must not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons -- from the rest of the international community, which is ready to enable Iran to achieve nuclear weapons capabilities.

The article tells the story quite well.

US Will Give More Money To NASA, Finally

From page 2 of the article linked to in the earlier post:

The NASA space agency, a priority of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, found a last minute boost to $16.2 billion, an increase of $822 million over last year's levels.

This is great! NASA's programs actually put out ten times as much money as they take in. In other words; give NASA one dollar, you get ten dollars back (over some time. This compensates for inflation, also). This is due to the incredibly technological inventiveness of NASA. Not only did NASA invent space pens (they can write upside-down. We decided to outdo the Russian space agency, which used pencils), Velcro, and Tang; they also made tons of computer developments and revolutionized communication. Without NASA, there would be no cell phones or satellite TV, and cable TV would be far more expensive, because cable TV is only distributed locally by cable – it is broadcast to distributors by satellite.
This money will help Bush's 'send men to Mars' project, and all of science in the process. When science is helped, American industries have many new products to make, and the world has a lot of American stuff to buy.

They're Bringing Back The Presidential Yacht!

Eschaton just reported this:

The Senate voted 65-30 for the legislation late on Saturday that sets aside funds for a range of priorities including a presidential yacht, foreign aid and energy. It is one of the final pieces of work for the 108th Congress and they may return to finish a spy agency overhaul before the end of the year.

article
I am overjoyed, honestly. I know that my three return readers (is it really that many? I'm moving up the blogosphere…) are somewhat used to my sarcasm, but I am not being sarcastic. The Presidential Yacht is probably going to be the second most amazing vehicle in the world, right behind Air Force One (Presidential Jet), but that's only because Air Force One is a jet. Technically, the yacht may be third, as there are two Air Force One's, and they are exactly identical. Clinton may have carved his initials into the bathroom of one, but that would be the only difference (plus, there's no evidence of Clinton doing this).
The Yacht was abandoned several administrations ago, probably after or during the Kennedy era. In fact, Kennedy's yacht may not have been the official Presidential Yacht; I believe it was actually Kennedy's boat from before he entered the White House.

Now, each Air Force one costs like 200 million dollars to operate per year (that's the low estimate. One Clinton trip to Asia in 200 cost 63 million). And, it's not just the one jet that the president takes when he travels; there are at least two giant cargo jets that carry the Presidential limo and whatnot. The Air Force One's are the most advanced 747's known to man, and they are constantly upgraded so they stay the most advanced. They only thing that might be more advanced is the space shuttle (I don't think the International Space Station counts as a vehicle).
Air Force One has only two uses: to transport the president, and to impress foreign dignitaries. It is far easier to make deals with foreign leaders if you can impress them with incredible luxury, so the jets do return some money to the American taxpayer.

In my opinion, Bush needs to get rid of one Air Force One. He can keep one, but he doesn't need both. (but what should Bush do if he can't ride his only 747 if it has problems?-ed) The president should have another jet, maybe a Gulfstream V (around 35 million is a basic cost for the plane, I believe), which is sportier and cheaper. A Gulfstream V might even be faster, and it could be modified to refuel in the air, and heavily upgraded like all presidential vehicles.

Anyway, replacing one 747 with a Gulfstream V would leave a lot of money for the presidential yacht. Yachts are the ultimate in luxury travel. Not even a 747 can compare, because jets are loud, confined, and quite limited in how much stuff you can put on. Boats don't have the requirement of flying, thus allowing them to hold far more, and they are quiet, and they can be quite open. If you want to impress a foreign diplomat, yachts are the best vehicles to use, by far. Don't believe me? Check out this beauty:


By the way, that's the Annaliesse from here. The camera image brings up a pop-up with specifications and more images, including some interior ones. And yep, that's a helipad on the boat. Very expensive, might I add. About $850,000 per week. I am drooling, by the way.
A president-worthy luxury superyacht probably costs half as much as an Air Force One. The Saudi Royal Family has some of the greatest yacht on earth, and I think it's about time Bush shows off; can't let the oil barons dominate the 480-foot-yacht club (there's only one member, Abdul Aziz). Actually, that yacht cost only 100 million, but isn't a great looker from the outside. It ought to be a crime to spend 100 million on a yacht and not make it beautiful. I wonder if Bush can simply declare war on Saudi Arabia and take all their yachts away; that would pay for the new war and Iraq. And, let's not forget about the Saudi Royal family's jets, or all that artwork.

Bush Rescues Secret Service From Chilean Police

Just so you know, this is a fictional story built around real pictures and a real event. real article, another good article. Photos are from here.


As Bush walks through the nation of Chile...


Chilean guy: hey budy, you got some spare change?

alright, give me the wallet!

Then the Secret Service agent, Nick Trotta, applies the Vulcan Death Grip

two more Chileans jump in, and try to prevent the agent from using the Death Grip again. Meanwhile, the Big Mob Boss (front, slightly blurry) says "you don't want any of this, you got me?"

President Bush, the head honcho of his Secret Service detail, notices the fight between his agents and the Chilean guards, who are also drug barons in their off-time.

Bush starts swaggering over to his endangered bodyguard.

"Hey, stop prancing around like New Jersey governor McGreevy. Get over here, pronto!"

Bush applies the Vulcan Death Grid to the first drug baron.

then does the same to the second, who couldn't escape the Texan's hand, even though that hand was coated with oil.

After freeing his guard, Bush states "c'mon, you pansy, I have work to do."

Once safely behind Bush, who upheld his title as Defender Of The Free World, agent Nick Trotta shouts "my president can beat up your president, wussies!"

Tolerant Dutch Society Starting To Crack Down On Intolerant Immigrants

AP Interview: Popular Dutch lawmaker urges halt to non-Western immigrants, shutting down radical mosques

One of the most popular politicians in the Netherlands said Friday the country's democracy is under threat and called for a five-year halt to non-Western immigration in the wake of the killing of a Dutch filmmaker by a suspected Muslim radical.

"We are a Dutch democratic society. We have our own norms and values," right-wing lawmaker Geert Wilders told The Associated Press in an interview. "If you chose radical Islam you can leave, and if you don't leave voluntarily then we will send you away. This is the only message possible."
[...]
Wilders said that without swift, bold action, Islamic fundamentalism will topple the country's democratic system.

"The Netherlands has been too tolerant to intolerant people for too long," he said. "We should not import a retarded political Islamic society to our country. There is nothing to be ashamed of to say this. It's not Islam. I speak out against the facts."

In Brussels, Belgium, European Union leaders met Friday to discuss immigration, one of Europe's most pressing and sensitive issues. EU justice and interior ministers agreed to demand that new immigrants learn the language of their adopted countries and adhere to "European values" to guide them toward better integration.

Even as the number of immigrants arriving in Europe falls due to tougher policies, led by a sharp drop in the Netherlands, Wilders said closing the borders isn't enough. Newcomers should be forced to integrate.

"If in a mosque there is recruitment for jihad, it's not a house of prayer, it's a house of war. If it's not a house of prayer, it should be closed down," he said.

Wilders, known for his radical positions and peroxide-blond hair, has been a member of parliament since 1998. He was born and educated in the southern city Venlo, near the German border.

"I'm very tough on radical Islam. I have the toughest ideas on beating this problem and I'm proud of it. I say nothing wrong. I'm no racist, no anti-Islamist," he said.

The problem with societies that claim to be tolerant is that, often, they are not. I've written a bit about Norway on the subject. The Netherlands, previously, had a "don't interfere with what anyone wants to do"-ish policy with immigrants, and allowed Muslim extremist societies to form.
The US, in my opinion, also needs to take a completely different stance on immigration. First off, we need to drop all limits on the number of immigrants the nation will accept. The limits are not only harmful to those who want to immigrate legally, but they are ignored more often than they are followed, resulting in many illegal immigrants who are not welcome in the country. There are many who don't want strict measures against illegal immigrants, because they would harm good people as well as the bad, so I think we need to separate the good people from the bad by allowing unlimited immigration of those who qualify.
Now, the requirements for people to qualify:
1: 8th grade education or higher, or equivalent thereof. The immigrants must be able to read (most illegal immigrants from Mexico can't read anything, much less english). I won't require highschool because I doubt there are many people who went to jr. highschool but not the rest of highschool. Besides, an 8th-grade limit would prevent many people from immigrating.
2: ability to speak some english. Maybe proper use of 2500 words would be fine, but I am guessing at that number. I don't want people to immigrate if they have no idea what any American is saying, but I don't want to require fluent english for all immigrants.
3: fairly good background and crime record. Maybe a few small crimes (theft of a can of coke, for example) can be allowed, but no felonies or violent crimes.
4: drug and medical test. If the person is riddled with disease, they don't get in unless they have a very good reason. If they are packed with illegal drugs (which we can test for a fairly long period of time based on hair samples, I believe), they stay out.
We also need to fix the immigration and border patrol services. Border patrol is too often completely useless because they chase occasional immigrants, rather than prevent most of them from crossing, are too tied by frivolous regulations. From what I hear, the people at immigration services are quite incompetent and give a horrible first impression of the US. If what I hear is true, those programs need major overhauls. Border patrol can get major help with a fence to prevent most from crossing, so that the agents have fewer people to catch and, therefore, fewer people sneak in when the agents catch as many people as they did before. Immigration services are a completely different story, and institutional incompetence has to be fixed from the top down. Time for some purging, maybe?

Those are, I think, some fairly simple and good limitations for whom to let in, or to keep out. The simple truth is that America needs a huge influx of immigrants who can adapt to American culture and participate in the workforce. One of the easiest ways to limit the crippling costs of the retirement of the baby-boomer generation is to get millions of immigrants, age about 25 to 40, who can help fund social security and healthcare. If the US can get 10 million working-age and educated immigrants over the next 4 or 5 years, I'll be overjoyed. Sure, there will be a bit more competition for jobs, but I will have a far smaller burden in paying for the baby-boomers. It's probably an economist's dream to have a large influx of good, educated, working-age immigrants, anyway. Having educated immigrants means that the US gets good labor, without having to pay for the immigrant's school, which is usually quite expensive.

Now, the US will have to start guarding the US-Mexican border. Mexico won't guard it, Mexico's second largest source of income is the money that immigrants to the US send back to their families. If Mexico would stop being incredibly corrupt, it would probably be possible to make a good deal with our neighbor on immigration, tourism, and trade policies; but it's not like such will happen without Mexican reform or the US giving more concessions than it's worth.

Either we need to build a very big wall, and actually guard that wall, or we need to dig a very deep ditch, and make sure no one makes an unwelcome bridge across that ditch. Currently, the only barrier is a large desert. Such deserts would usually be perfect to divide the US and Mexico, but the incredible poverty of Mexico compared the the wealth of the US convinces hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of people to try to cross the desert each year; many get over the border, and many die in the effort. The US doesn't really want either to happen. The easiest solution is to have very open immigration policies, and to have strict border guards to ensure that people can't get in without us knowing.

Maybe he should try Gmail...

Bill Gates world's most spammed person

yeah, hotmail gets tons of spam. Lots of it is actually from the people of hotmail, though. Someone should send him a gmail invite...

Sears and K-Mart Merge

article

Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Kmart Holding Corp. today announced a merger aimed at setting a new record in the arena of retail bankruptcy filings.

"Rather than just vanish from the American landscape, we want to be remembered by our shareholders for decades," said Kmart CEO Edward Lampert who will head the new Sears Holding Corp. "We're change agents, and this merger is bound to change college and retirement plans for thousands of our shareholders."

In related news, jailed Kmart partner Martha Stewart will release a new video demonstrating how to make wallpaper from Sears Holding Corp. stock certificates.

"The wallpaper is attractive and the best way to get value out of your stock," according to Ms. Stewart's cellmate, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Sears and Kmart executives remain free pending charges.

Additionally, Sears is formulating plans to have the spokeperson of their Craftman's tool line, Bob Vila, break Martha Stewart out of prison.

"Martha and I actually had a deal worked out for years" stated Bob Vila when walking through the ceiling fan section of his local hardware store "we agreed that, if I got into prison, Martha would bake a cake with a nail file in it. Then, I would shave my bunk bed into little pieces, and form them into a chainsaw so I could carve a hole in the prison wall. But, since Martha got arrested, I have to add an extra room to her cell. More specifically, I have to add an escape rout."

The famed construction worker looks forward to using his new CellBreaker 666, "if not for this tool, I don't think I could rescue Martha. It's not that only the CellBreaker 666 would work - I could use anything to raid the prison - but the CellBreaker is fast enough that I won't be killed by Martha's bitching about how the floor gets dirty."

Martha was too busy making tapestries out of her former cellmate's skin to be reached for comment.



Just in case you didn't realize, this is a joke. Martha killed her cellmate months ago, and turned the skin into a leather jacket, which she bartered for a needlepoint set.

UN Staff To Vote On No-Confidence Motion Against Koffi Annan

article

This is huge, and completely unexpected. After over $21 billion in swindled oil-for-food money, blockades to virtually every investigation of the UN, continued crimes against humanity in places like Sudan (mind you, Annan was in charge of the UN Peacekeepers during the Rwandan genocide, when many UN peacekeepers were in Rwanda but did nothing to stop the slaughter), nearly complete incompetance in the higher levels of the UN, and obvious corruption - to the extent that the US is removed from the UN Commission on Human Rights, while Libya was given the leadership of the Commission.

Annan should be thrown out of the UN (preferably out of a fairly high window of the building, many would argue. The technical term for this is “defenestration”, by the way. Here is a great alternative definition for defenistrate: "5; The act of completely removing Micro$oft Windows from a PC in favor of a better OS (typically Linux)." It's actually on the dictionary.com page as a definition, right after some other funny variations involving the 'windows' on computers). However, I never actually expected that there would be a vote against him, and I thought he would stay Secretary General until he either dies, is no longer able to move under his own power, or is checked into a lunatic asylum and never released from the straightjacket.

I wonder how the vote will turn out. Annan will probably stay, but that assumption is based only on the fact that the vote is completely unexpected.

The Most Important People Of 2004

My top-ten list of 2004 (subject to updates). This list is in no way a “best people of 2004”; it is a countdown of who has defined this year, as history will see it, and certainly contains quite a few horrendous people. The list includes some who are only small figures, and wouldn’t be included at all if not for the likelihood that they will, someday, be at the top of the list (such as Obama). It also includes some who have been selected to represent a much larger group (specifically, the Iraqi soccer team, which exemplified Iraq’s potential and ability to improve). Now, to the countdown:

10: Pervez Musharraf, president of Pakistan (has helped the US fight terrorism, is working to end conflicts with India, and may eventually help turn Pakistan into a more free nation)
9: Iraqi soccer team, which represents the recovery of all of Iraq
8: Omar hasan Ahmed al-Bashir, the president of Sudan (genocide)
7: Barack Obama
6: Mel Gibson
5: Roger Ailes, the President, CEO, and Chairman of FOX News
4: Hamid Karzai, the first and (so far) only failry elected president of Afghanistan
3: Burt Rutan, the man who designed SpaceShipOne and put the first commercial astronaut into space
2: Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the two founders of Google. Some day, these two, or their followers, will top this list.
1: Michael Moore, whose irrelevance is the harbinger of a changing United States. History is unlikely to pick him as the most important figure of the year, if it even remembers him at all; but, at this time, the inability of Michael Moore to get Bush out of the White House signals a decline of the importance of celebrities and the media.

Runners-up and honorable mentions: Dick Cheney, Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell, Teresa Heinz Kerry (she’s more memorable than John Kerry), John Stewart (yeah, the comedian on The Daily Show With John Stewart. He’s one of few liberals that tries to be fair, will admit his bias, and does an incredibly good job), Tony Blair, the people of Pixar (the animation company that has pretty much replaced Disney. Perhaps these guys should have had an earlier year, but they deserve mention for The Incredibles this year) and probably many others who are of great importance but didn’t stand out in this year alone.

Oil-for-Food Money Went to Palestinian Bombers' Families

article

It's well known that Saddam cheated the oil-for-food program, and that almost every nation involved in oil-for-food knew about it. However, the world was getting oil out of Iraq, and oil was all that the world really cared about at the time. It is now believed that Saddam took $21 billion out of the oil-for-food program to illegally line his own pockets, and that is a huge chunk of the program's assets. It's also well known that Saddam sent money to the families of suicide bombers.
This report, however, shows that some of the money stolen from oil-for-food went directly to the families of suicide bombers. Such a direct connection was not previously known.

I might also note that the US is investigating a suspected terrorist, who may have funneled money from Saddam to Jacques Chirac. Several high-ranking French politicians have already been identified as illegally accepting quite a bit from Saddam, often in the form of oil vouchers (which could easily be exchanged for cash). Additionally, Kofi Annan's son (Kofi Annan is the head of the UN) was employed by a company believed to have illegally worked with Saddam, and made a hefty profit by doing so.

The UN continues to block investigations into the oil-for-food program.

NASA Scramjet Sets a New Air-Speed Record

Article

A NASA research jet sets a new air speed record for air-breathing engines by traveling nearly 7,000 mph, or 10 times the speed of sound. The space agency's X-43A "scramjet" flew over the Pacific Ocean at 110,000 feet after being taken aloft under the wing of a B-52B bomber.

After its release from beneath the larger craft's wing, a booster rocket ignited, sending the X-43A on its way.

Grats to Nasa, and my sympathies go to those who built the scramjet, because the jet crashed into the ocean after reaching its record-making speed, as it was designed to do (the aircraft had no human pilot).
A bit more from Nasa here

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On an unrelated note, my apologies for not getting to the story in which an American soldier killed a wounded insurgent in Iraq.. I will mention, however, that insurgents had been setting traps with their bodies or with the bodies of their killed comrades. This was a tactic used by both the Japanese in WWII and the Koreans and Vietnamese in the Cold War, and resulted in the deaths of many US troops. In fact, if my information is right, an explosion is heard in the background not long before the insurgent is killed. That explosion was from a booby-trapped corpse; one marine was killed and five others were injured by the explosion. If the insurgent was in fact alive, there was a good chance that he was planning to act exactly like the Palestinian suicide bombers, and take out several Americans in the process. In this case, I don't think you can blame the troop for killing the insurgent; who was firing at us from inside a mosque, against international rules, mind you. Personally, I don't really care that we killed another insurgent, except for the slight possibility that we may have gotten information out of him. Now, I am quite willing to rip at the media for showing the marine kill the insurgent without mentioning the fact that the insurgent could be planning to detonate himself along with several of our troops. If the media mentioned that little bit (plus the interesting detail that the soldier who kiled the insurgent had been shot in the face the day before), then I would be fine with them reporting the story. But, without the extra information, that's intentional manipulation of the event - and one of the most immoral acts that the media could commit.

By the way, need I reference the earlier articles in which the media claimed that they didn't publish the election exit poll results because it was unethical/immoral/against journalistic standards to do so? Where are those ethics and standards now?

FBI Imformant Torches Himself Outside White House

Article

A man who set himself on fire outside the White House on Monday claimed to be an informant of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
Mohamed Alanssi, 52, approached the northwest guardhouse on Pennsylvania Avenue about 2:05 pm local time and asked security officers to deliver a note to President George W. Bush.
When turned away by Secret Service officers, Alanssi ignited his jacket with a lighter; the report quoted the US Park Police as saying. The fire was extinguished [and the officers subdued Alanssi].
Alanssi was taken to Washington Hospital Center, where he was said [...] to be in critical condition with burns to about 30 percent of his body.

Thanks a lot, FBI, you incompetent morons. Let me give a bit more background. This guy was an informant to the FBI for several years. After his name was leaked to the media (great job, leaking the name of a good informant! What a way to keep our helpers happy! Please note sarcasm), he was interviewed several times about his life as an informant. That leak resulted of harassment of his family in Yemen (hint; get his family out of Yemen. Shouldn’t an intelligence service know to keep an informant’s family safe, especially after they leak his name?) His recent complaint was that the FBI would not let him visit some sick family members in Yemen because they need him to testify against Mohammed Al Moayad – in January. He says that he was paid about $100,000 for his information and services, which FBI sources described as “about right”. Alanssi claims that an FBI member promised he would be a millionaire for his information (no contract or anything, just a statement).
Obviously, Alanssi is unhappy that he is not a millionaire, that his family may be under some risk, that he can’t visit them, and that he generally wasn’t treated all that well. I can’t blame him for any of those counts – tell me that I’ll get a million dollars for something, and I’ll want a million dollars for it. This guy even put his life and his family at risk. I'd expect the FBI to treat an informant fairly well, especially before they testify against a major terror suspect.

Now, this good source torched himself right outside the White House, after threatening to do it! Great, we have our informants burning alive outside the White House (note the sarcasm), and the FBI was warned that it would happen! How many more informants do you think we will get? Probably, none, because no one wants the type of treatment this guy received.
It looks like the FBI knew this guy was very unhappy, and I can’t believe they didn’t do more for him.

First off, offer the guy a ride on the next military transport plane that goes near where his family is. C-130’s have some nice first-class seating; folded parachutes make surprisingly comfy seats. Airline meals and military meals are almost identical, too. Then, let him spend some time with his family, if he must spend time with them (if he needs a guard, then give him a guard). Or, better yet, offer to take his family to the US – plus free college scholarships for his kids (any current or future ones, not sure if he currently has kids). I think most people would accept that offer, and it would keep the informant quite happy. Then, give the informant half a million dollars if he really wants it. He lives in Washington DC, doesn’t he? I don’t think $100,000 can get a foreign guy, who kind of fears for his life, that far in DC. Maybe he could find a place to live in one of the ghetto-esque areas, which have some of the highest murder rates in the nation (in which case both terrorists and your neighbors are trying to kill you). If the man is still unhappy with half a million, give him another hundred thousand or two and tell him how to invest it. That should get him set up fairly well for life; he has enough money to live in a fairly decent neighborhood, his kids will get into college for free, he probably has enough money to get by while he helps his family settle into the US and everyone learns a bit of English (if they don’t know it already). And, if the guy currently speaks good English, or learns to speak good English, he can become one of the translators that the government desperately needs - and you already know the man is loyal. It's a win-win situation every step of the way, as long as the informant doesn't get killed.

Not that bad of a deal, in my opinion. Informant does well, keeps his family safe, and even gives them a great chance for a better life. Also, the FBI has a loyal informant, who may be willing to work as a translator in the future (and you know he’s reliable if he takes the job), and there is not a problem. However, the FBI couldn’t keep this guy happy, and he just did so much more harm to the US than he did good.

First off, our “witness” against the terror suspect just gave rather convincing evidence that he’s insane. Thus, he no longer is a reliable witness. Also, an informant burning outside the White House does not really encourage more people to become informants for the US. This was one of those problems that can be solved – quite easily – with money, and government should have plenty of experience with trying to solve things with money. $500,000 isn’t that much compared to the billion-dollar spy satellites that we use but don’t really need, or tomahawk missiles that cost several millions of dollars each. We often use several tomahawks to destroy the same target, to ensure that it is completely destroyed (we used over a dozen on the house we thought Saddam may be in just before we started the war in Iraq).


This event will harm America’s prestige so much for prospective informants. The affects of this will be similar to those of Abu Ghraib (without the media circus); this is something that America-haters couldn’t even pay for, and it will help them recruit and keep dozens, hundreds, or maybe even thousands of terrorists/insurgents. We will have incredible difficulty finding informants from now on.

Powell Out, Condi In

ABC News: Condoleezza Rice to Be Named Secretary of State

National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, one of President Bush's closest counselors, will be nominated to replace Colin Powell as secretary of state, ABC News has learned.
...
ABC News has also learned that Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley will likely replace Rice as national security adviser.

The announcement comes as a sort of birthday present for Rice, who turned 50 on Sunday.

Few people are better qualified for an office than Condi Rice. However, I see one problem with her: she is a Soviet expert. There are no more Soviets; her entire specialty has vanished. I, honestly, can't be sure whether she views the world as the way it is today, or the way it was when she first learned how to view the world, when the Soviets were a large threat.

Additionally, Bush's Education Secretary, Rod Paige, is resigning amid some controversies of his own (he called the nations largest teacher's union a "terrorist organization"). There are also some claims that he "stacked the deck", in a manner of speaking, in order to improve student test scores; but I have doubts. Plus, I have no evidence of this, other than word-of-mouth claims.

Bush's Energy Secretary and Commerce Secretary Don Evans are also expected to leave. Attorney General John Ashcroft will be replaced with Alberto Gonzalez, a very qualified conservative, if my memory is correct. I believe Bush wanted to appoint him to the Supreme Court, but he got philibustered, but my memory may be wrong.

Clash Of Cultures In Netherlands

Note: I have been attempting to make a new setup, where I simply list links to some of the major stories of the day, and have a few-paragraph summary included in an onmouseover event (it will appear in a frame when the mouse is held over the link). Unfortumately, it appears that blogger will not allow me to use the method that I origionally intended, so I will have to use frames the 'long way', once I find out how. I was hoping that this new method would conserve a lot of space, and that I may even be able to get other blogs to use the tool (linking to me in the process). I hope to work on this tool next weekend, after I re-learn some javascript.

Anyway, here is the link and summary, or one of them (with more to come):
article

The Netherlands claim to be one of the most tolerant nations in the world, with legalized prostitution, drugs, and near-limitless immigration. The majority of children younger than 14 in Netherlands four largest cities are Muslim, due to massive immigration of around one million Muslims into Europes most crowded small country. Most of these Muslims make little effort to integrate into Dutch culture. An anti-Muslim backlash has spread throughout Europe, and the Netherlands largest political party was forced to disband due to anti-immigration views. The divide between most Dutch and the Muslims in the Netherlands came into focus when Theo Van Gogh was assassinated, because he made a movie depicting the oppression that women often face in Islamic society. Twelve men have been arrested in connection with this crime, including two who threw a grenade at police during a 14-hour standoff. A series of tit-for-tat attacks on mosques, churches, and schools followed the murder and arrests; with one Christian being completely gutted, while a small bomb exploded in a Muslim school. Two years ago, Pim Fortuyn was also gunned down for opposing immigration with the claim that the Netherlands were full. Presence of 1,300 Dutch troops in Iraq have raised tensions, and one 18-year-old was arrested for plotting terrorist attacks months ago. Ismlamic extremism even penetrated the Dutch intelligence service, resulting in the arrest of one double agent and the drafting of a Patriot Act-like law (which I am not quite willing to support unless I can find a lot more information about it). For years, intelligence authorities have been warning about the tinderbox that many Muslim communities, and their potential fanaticism, have become.

MSNBC - Why We Watched

MSNBC - Why We Watched The Peterson Trial
My response: No, we didn't. Enough said. Peterson will get Ol' Sparky because everyone in America is willing to kill him to get the media to shut up. Peterson is not a news story. Go away, so-called "mainstream media". Get some real stories. Do actual investigation. Report something interesting. In the meantime, I'll be doing research for articles that are worth the time I spend writing them, and worth the time you spend reading them.

Radio Identification For Medicine Bottles

one source (scroll down a bit)
Drudge just started a story on radio antennas on medicine bottles, which seems a bit ridiculous at first. However, the radio transmitters would be RFID (Radio Frequency Identifier) chips, which would be used to prevent counterfeits. Similar chips are used in security systems to prevent theft, along with many other uses that I don't have the knowledge to list.
What Drudge hasn't mentioned is that this system is already in use, although only to a small extent.

In an effort to detect counterfeit drugs before they reach consumers’ medicine cabinets, big pharmaceutical companies are beginning to implement radio frequency identification, or RFID, technology, the Associated Press reports. By putting tags that transmit radio waves on medicine bottles sent to drug stores, company officials intend to find fake drugs that are not moving through usual supply chains.

According to the AP, a distribution center in Delran, N.J., owned by wholesaler McKesson Corp., is one of several centers nationwide involved in a pilot project shipping small quantities of RFID-labeled drug bottles from manufacturing plants to pharmacies. At the center a worker sets a box of tagged drug bottles on a table where a radio-wave scanner and computer run through a list of scenarios involving theft, recalled drugs, outdated drugs or other logistical errors. So far, the “track record has been pretty good with it,” officials at the distribution center report.

The RFID tags look like ordinary labels, but are actually computer chips with antennas wrapped around them. Sensors at distribution centers use radio waves to activate the tags, which are read electronically and stamped with a record of where they have been, the AP reports.

The $3 million project includes drug makers such as Johnson & Johnson, Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc., Merck & Co. and Wyeth. Distributors, such as Cardinal Health Inc. and McKesson Corp., and retailers, such as CVS Corp. and Rite Aid Corp., are also participating.

Overall, the plan isn't much of a "big brother" system. It is one of few possible methods to recall all drugs that need to be recalled. Usually, only a few percent of a recalled item are actually returned.

There are also some plans to use microchips to announce the information that is written on the pill bottle, in order to help patients with bad vision.

The Hunt For Arafat's Money

DRUDGE article
I'll quote the entire article before Drudge takes it down:

MAG: Arafat Skimmed $2 Million a Month From the Gas Trade
Sun Nov 14 2004 09:53:40 ET

New York -- Last year auditors discovered Arafat was guilty of skimming $2 million a month from the gasoline trade in the territories, TIME reports.

In August 2002 international donors forced Arafat to sign over his investments to the Palestine Investment Fund, which was audited by U.S. accountants and managed by Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayyad, a former International Monetary