Scary
OregonLive.com has a gallery of photos of the effects of meth over time on people. It is horrendous.
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January 31, 2005
January 30, 2005
Iraqi Voting Disrupts News Reports of Bombings
ScrappleFace: Iraqi Voting Disrupts News Reports of Bombings
by Scott Ott
(2005-01-30) -- News reports of terrorist bombings in Iraq were marred Sunday by shocking graphic images of Iraqi "insurgents" voting by the millions in their first free democratic election.
Despite reporters' hopes that a well-orchestrated barrage of mortar attacks and suicide bombings would put down the so-called 'freedom insurgency', hastily-formed battalions of rebels swarmed polling places to cast their ballots -- shattering the status quo and striking fear into the hearts of the leaders of the existing terror regime.
Hopes for a return to the stability of tyranny waned as rank upon rank of Iraqi men and women filed out of precinct stations, each armed with the distinctive mark of the new freedom guerrillas -- an ink-stained index finger, which one former Ba'athist called "the evidence of their betrayal of 50 years of Iraqi tradition."
Journalists struggled to put a positive spin on the day's events, but the video images of tyranny's traitors choosing a future of freedom overwhelmed the official story of bloodshed and mayhem.
Give em the finger
Does Schroder get a pimp hat?
Captain's Quarters picks up a scary story from Germany. The German government is taking away the unemployment benefits of a young woman because she declined a job offer. Normally I wouldn't argue with them, but this is a bit hard to swallow. The job she turned down was a bit out of the mainstream:
A 25-year-old waitress who turned down a job providing "sexual services'' at a brothel in Berlin faces possible cuts to her unemployment benefit under laws introduced this year. ...
The waitress, an unemployed information technology professional, had said that she was willing to work in a bar at night and had worked in a cafe.
She received a letter from the job centre telling her that an employer was interested in her "profile'' and that she should ring them. Only on doing so did the woman, who has not been identified for legal reasons, realise that she was calling a brothel.
Under Germany's welfare reforms, any woman under 55 who has been out of work for more than a year can be forced to take an available job – including in the sex industry – or lose her unemployment benefit. Last month German unemployment rose for the 11th consecutive month to 4.5 million, taking the number out of work to its highest since reunification in 1990.
Vim and vigor
An interesting article about the best way to use vim.
Tumor diary comes to a brave end
An online diary by Ivan Noble has been following his fight against a brain tumor. He has now posted his last post. We should pray for him and his family (especially his children). We should also pray for his father who is also fighting cancer.
My father died from a brain tumor, and it is particularly unpleasant. I try to forget watching him degenerate. Slowly losing that which made him who he was. Finally lapsing into a coma and lying helpless for months as he wasted away. Bravery is facing the unbearable, and bearing it none the less.
hattip to shrinkette
BBC NEWS | Health | Tumour diary: The time has come
What I wanted to do with this column was try to prove that it was possible to survive and beat cancer and not to be crushed by it.
Even though I have to take my leave now, I feel like I managed it.
I have not been defeated.
Thank you once again to everyone who helped me and came with me.
The last phase now will, I know, not be easy but I know that I will be looked after as I always have been.
I will end with a plea. I still have no idea why I ended up with a cancer, but plenty of other cancer patients know what made them ill.
If two or three people stop smoking as a result of anything I have ever written then the one of them who would have got cancer will live and all my scribblings will have been worthwhile.
January 28, 2005
Closer to the center?
Every day I hope for his capture. This would not end the insurgency, but it might start the tide turning.
Al-Zarqawi Associates Arrested in Iraq (AP)
AP - Authorities in Iraq have arrested two close associates of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, including the chief of the terror mastermind's Baghdad operation, the government said Friday, two days ahead of historic elections that extremists have vowed to subvert.
Pray for Iraq this weekend
From the Washington Times:
Prayer request
We received this request for help from Capt. Lyle Shackelford, a
chaplain with a transportation battalion that will be delivering voting machines to villages and cities throughout Iraq for the upcoming elections. Election day is expected to be violent as insurgents and terrorists try to disrupt the elections with attacks on voting stations and voters. "Our convoys are prime targets for the insurgents because they do not want the equipment to arrive at the polling stations nor do they want the local Iraqi citizens to have the chance to vote. "Encourage your friends and family members and those within our churches to pray specifically for the electoral process," Capt. Shackelford said.
The chaplain noted that Saddam Hussein's regime did not allow people a democratic vote and that "democracy will not be realized in Iraq if intelligent and competent officials are not elected to those strategic leadership positions within the emerging government; freedom will not have an opportunity to ring throughout this country if the voting process fails." "I will pray with my soldiers before they leave on their convoys and move outside our installation gates here at Tallil" air base, he said. "My soldiers are at the nerve center of the logistic operation to deliver the voting machines and election ballots. They will be driving to and entering the arena of the enemy. This is not a game for them. It is a historical mission that is extremely dangerous. No voting machines or ballots. No elections. "Your prayer support and God's intervention are needed to give democracy a chance in this war-torn country," he said.
That crazy shortage
So how does a shortage turn into a surplus? Just add government. I thought the panic from the flu vaccine was a bit much. Now we have moved to panic because we have too much vaccine. I don't get it.....
Health Groups Now Worry About Flu Shot Surplus (washingtonpost.com)
The government also is expanding its Vaccines for Children Program to
allow inventories within it to be used for adult patients, irrespective
of financial need.
This is scary!
PROPERTY SEIZURE FEVER IN GEORGIA
Neal Boortz alerted his listeners to a Republican member of the Georgia Legislature who is in the back pocket of the developers. He has proposed legislation to allow government to secretly seize property and turn it over to private developers.
More detail from Neal:
I read this entire legislation last night, and I believe it to be a full scale assault launched by Georgia developers on the private property rights of Georgians. Under this law a developer can go to a government and ask for a plot of land to be seized so that the developer can build "any property which any public entity is authorized to construct, erect, acquire, own, repair, remodel, maintain, add to, extend, improve, equip, operate or manage" under the laws of Georgia. That's pretty broad, isn't it? Governments in Georgia can own apartments and office buildings. Connect the dots.
January 27, 2005
A great cartoon
January 26, 2005
I must be getting old
Michelle Malkin: MOMMYBLOGGING: PORN STAR PROM DRESSES
I am with Michelle. I don't get this trend. Why do you let your kids dress like pr0n stars. I see mothers and daughters both dressed like they should be on a street corner. I wonder if this is a result of boboism, or if this is just a sign of the further decline of our culture.
January 24, 2005
Yet Another Button Maker
January 19, 2005
New JibJab Parody
Word of the day
Uncanny valley is actually a phrase, but what the heck. it means 'Feelings of unease, fear, or revulsion created by a robot or robotic device that appears to be, but is not quite, human-like.' A perfect example is in CGI movies. It seems the more photorealistic they get the humans just get creepier.
January 18, 2005
New version of Picasa
Yahoo! News - Google Releases Photo Organizing Software
Google has released a Picasa 2.0. It is free and works well. It now has added auto indexing.
January 17, 2005
It's the grades, stupid!
I have been following the story of Ahmad Al-Qloushi. He is the student who wrote a pro-US essay in class, and was given a failing grade. He was subsequently berated by the professor and told he needed therapy.
I have to say that the essay is not written that well, and he was not too smart to write it. You have to pick your battles and a test is not one. If you think the goal of a test is to find the objective truth then you are naive or slow. The object of a test is to regurgitate the answers that the professor is looking for.
I was originally a political science major. I thought that political science was going to be the study of government and politics. I soon learned that by and large it was the study of marxist ideology and the grand failings of the United States. I learned quickly that the correct answer was the one that parroted the professor's ideology. In 1989, after a couple of semesters of this and working full time I realized that it was time to change to a different major. I graduated with a BBA in accounting.
I must thank Dr. Thomas Mongar in particular. In the late Eighties he was singing the praises of the Great Soviet. I never took any of his other classes after that, but I hear his ideology changed after the USSR fell. He began stating that the fall of the Soviet Union will allow true marxism to emerge. He was the straw that broke the camel's back. I am sure there are conservative or libertarian political scientists, but I haven't met them. I am not afraid of hearing liberal, socialist, or marxist ideas, but I am afraid when that is all you hear.
January 16, 2005
Verse of the day
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust
destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where
thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there
your heart will be also."
Currently Reading
The United States Of Europe: The New Superpower and the End of American Supremacy
The Year 1000 : What Life Was Like at the Turn of the First MillenniumJanuary 14, 2005
I love (free) WIFI
I have been spending a lot of time out of the house lately. I have a chapter due to my publisher Monday for my book. I have to get away from the house to write and research. The kids are too much distraction. I have gone to three places locally to write, and use their free WIFI. I have been very productive, and I can find great music on the net to listen to (currently listening to BBC Radio 6.
The strangest place was Krystal, but free is free. After that I graduated to Panera Bread. This was very nice. Great food and ambiance, but I spent way too much money and ate way too much food. My main complaint about both of these establishments is the lack of plugs. Batteries are laim. At Panera I found a socket in the CEILING. Well whatever works.
I have now moved on to KSU. The ambiance isn't great and the food is eh, but they have WIFI in many of the buildings and lots of plugs.
January 13, 2005
Bible verse of the day
A friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for adversity.
Proverbs 17:17
January 10, 2005
Linux system recovery solutions
I am looking at sys imaging and recovery solutions for Linux. So far I am looking at Mondo, Systemimager, Partimage, and G4L.
Anyone with any preferences please post. So far I am leaning to systemimager. It is easy and reliable.
Verse of the day
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Matthew 13: 44
Daily link dump
- A horrible tsunami photograph. More information about the photo at snopes
- The best before and after satellite photos of the tsunami. They have been matched up and your can click between the before and after instantly.
- Mass graves not necessary for tsunami victims. From Nature.com
- Linux - windows single sign on
- Sitzpinkler
January 08, 2005
Picture of the day
Neat google trick
Need to convert meters into feet? try google Need a calculator? try google
There are many more cool tools available as well.
January 07, 2005
Book review
This book review makes me want to get the book. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0321247442/qid=1105137958/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/104-8149685-5305524?v=glance&s=books&n=507846 sounds like a great read. The first chapter is available online
Tech article of the day
An interesting SSH Port Forwarding article.
Port Forwarding Cheat Sheet
Remembering how to specify the kind of SSH Forward you want is sometimes tricky. Hopefully, the following table will make it a bit easier.
- LocalForwards
-
Command Line Option -L local_listen_port:destination_host:destination_portConfiguration file entry LocalForward local_listen_port:destination_host:destination_portlocal_listen_portis on
SSH client loopback interface
destination_hostis contacted from
SSH server host
- RemoteForwards
Command Line Option -R remote_listen_port:destination_host:destination_port
Configuration file entry
RemoteForward remote_listen_port:destination_host:destination_portremote_listen_portis on
SSH server loopback interface
destination_hostis contacted from
SSH client host
Forwards can be confusing - we typically think of connections as being made up of four things - the local IP and port, and the remote IP and port. In the forward definition you create, you only have three things because the first port is always either the SSH client or server machine, and thus isn't specified.
Port Forward Security
Port forwards bind a port on either the ssh client (Local Forwards) or ssh server (Remote Forwards). With a default installation, the port will only be bound
on the localhost interface, 127.0.0.1. This means that the tunnel is only
available to someone on the machine where that port is listening.
In general, you don't want to allow other machines to contact your SSH tunnel so this is the correct setting. If you want to allow these ports to be available to any machine, then use one of the following:
| Command line option | Configuration file option | |
|---|---|---|
| LocalForwards | -g | GatewayPorts yes(in ~/.ssh/config or /etc/ssh/ssh_config) |
| RemoteForwards | (none available) | GatewayPorts yes (in /etc/sshd_config) |
The other important thing you must remember is that the
data connection is only encrypted inside the SSH connection.
If your destination_host you specify
is not localhost[6]
then the portion of the connection that extends out of the
tunnel is not encrypted. For example if you used the
the following:
desktop$ ssh -L 8080:www.example.com:80 somemachine
then any connection to localhost:8080 will be encrypted from your
desktop through to somemachine, but it will be
in cleartext from somemachine to www.example.com.
If that fits your security model, no problem. But keep it in mind.
We'll see how you can put further limits on port forwards in a future article,
such as rejecting or limiting them based on the SSH Pubkeys/Identity that
is used for authentication.
January 06, 2005
Makeup does wonders I guess
January 05, 2005
Daily link dump
Things to accomplish this year
An incomplete list...
- Get RHCE certified
- Finish my book
- Pray more
- Do more for others
- Give my family more undivided attention
Slovakia has it right?
An interesting article from the Dec 28th NY Times. It details how Slovakia had one of the worst economies in Europe in the early 90s. They then went on a privatization and tax cutting binge and now they are being called the new Ireland.
Makes you think. Maybe we should try that here.....
The New York Times
December 28, 2004
Once a Backwater, Slovakia Surges
By MATTHEW REYNOLDS
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia, Dec. 22 - Declan Cantwell is gung ho about Slovakia. A director at OneEU, a payroll company based in Dublin, he set up a branch here this fall and expects to grow from 2 employees to 40 within three years as Slovakia's economy surges.
"This is going to be an exciting place to be for the next two, three, five years, and beyond," he said over coffee on a recent weekday morning. "When I take a step back, this place looks a lot like Ireland 20 years ago. If it stays on course, there's no reason it can't be every bit as successful."
Mr. Cantwell and legions of other investors are, analysts say, turning Slovakia into one of the fastest-growing economies in Central Europe. An economic backwater in the late 1990's, Slovakia has lately been dubbed the Tatra Tiger - Tatra from the mountain range here and tiger after the Irish Tiger, the term used to describe Ireland's economic transformation in the 1990's.
There are many similarities: both Ireland and Slovakia are small (Ireland's population is 4 million and Slovakia's 5.5 million). Both were traditionally reliant on agriculture, and even their quintessential foods, cabbage and potatoes, are the same. Both joined the European Union (Slovakia last spring) with relatively underdeveloped economies. As Ireland did in the 1990's, Slovakia's government has lowered taxes and wooed investors. As a result, foreign investment is now pouring in.
Slovakia's state investment agency has signed 47 deals this year worth $2.26 billion, up from 22 deals for $1.55 billion last year, the agency has reported. Much of that money will be spent over the next few years, but direct foreign investment this year, at $1.1 billion in the last nine months, is already three times as great as in 2003. Economic growth is up 5.3 percent, to $33.3 billion in the last three quarters, outpacing growth in Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic, and neck-and-neck with Poland.
"We are seeing the impact of reforms on investment, and investment on growth," said the investment agency's spokesman, Ondrej Zember. "This is the biggest investment boom in Slovakia's history. Our agency has gone from 55 employees last year to 99 today. Besides the 47 deals signed, we have another 260 in the works."
The biggest investments have been in automobile plants. Peugeot Citroën, with a $950 million investment; Kia, with a $930 million investment; and Ford Motor, $400 million, are set to join Volkswagen, which already makes 300,000 vehicles a year in Bratislava. By 2007, Slovakia is expected to produce 850,000 cars a year, becoming the world's largest car producer per capita.
"A lot of factors are coming together," said Ron Surbey, the lawyer who negotiated Peugeot's investment deal with the government. "It's got a great location, in the middle of Europe. You've got a pro-business government, and an auto industry that feeds on itself. One company might come for incentives and low labor costs, then another comes to supply the first."
Investors say Slovakia's political stability, low labor costs and low taxes make it one of the most attractive economies in Europe. Slovakia replaced its income taxes, corporate taxes and sales taxes with a 19 percent flat tax this year. It also canceled its tax on dividends and simplified its labor laws, in part to make it easier to hire and fire workers. Slovakia's recent economic success is especially significant given its reputation in the mid-1990's, when Madeleine K. Albright, the United States secretary of state, called it a black hole in the middle of Europe. In that era, soon after Communism fell, the authoritarian prime minister, Vladimir Meciar, turned his back on the European Union and NATO. At the same time, multimillion-dollar state companies were privatized for pennies.
Not surprisingly, investors stayed away, the economy stagnated and unemployment soared to nearly 20 percent. In 2002, Mr. Meciar's successor, Mikulas Dzurinda, was elected to a second term, this time with a coalition of parties that are, like him, right-leaning, paving the way for pro-business changes. "In six years Slovakia has gone from the ugly sister to the darling of Central Europe," said Jake Slegers, director of the American Chamber of Commerce branch in Slovakia. "People now talk about the 'Slovak model' and the 'Tatra Tiger.' I get calls all the time from other AmCham directors saying they wish their governments were like Slovakia's. It's amazing."
Besides cutting taxes, the Dzurinda government brought the free market to health care and partly privatized the social security system. The average time it takes to set up a company has fallen from 90 to 50 days. Its labor costs, government officials said, are one-eighth those of Western Europe, with wages averaging $520 a month.
By 2006, Slovakia is expected to leapfrog its neighbors, Poland and Hungary, in foreign direct investment per capita. It will attract more than double the investment in those countries, ING Bank has predicted, and about 70 percent of investments in the Czech Republic. The bank predicts that Slovakia's economy will grow at a rate of more than 5 percent a year and real wage growth at about 4 percent till 2010.
Still, it is unclear whether the government has the support of its poor and middle class. About 21 percent of Slovaks live in poverty, the European Union has reported. Unemployment, though falling, remains above 17 percent and is even higher in the country's underdeveloped east. Workers earn just $200 a month with the minimum wage, below the poverty line of $285. And a recent government survey found that three out of four Slovaks think the government should "do more to help us now."
At the moment, the country's most popular politician is Robert Fico, who has criticized the tax cuts for industry and the wealthy and vowed to roll back the health care changes.
"It's hard to judge what political changes might bring," said Anton Marcincin, an economist at the World Bank in Slovakia. "But there's no question there's been a huge transformation here."
"In the mid-1990's, it was a shame to be a Slovak. Now, when I go to a conference, I see respect on people's faces. They think of Slovakia as an asset. They know we've made big progress."
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
Cool tool O the day
Check out Copernic Desktop Search. It is much better IMHO than google's competing product.
Verifying distribution isos
January 04, 2005
Tsunami videos
I see pleas from bloggers about bandwidth problems because they are hosting tsunami video files. Why aren't they using bittorrent instead of hosting the files locally? It is the fastest and least impact way to host files. After starting the seed they would only be hit with a few Kb each time someone downloads the file(s)
For example, you can get them via other sites on bittorrent
It is not like bittorrent is hard to use. I use it all the time to download Linux media.
Link dump
Die with a T
More confirmation that diets (as opposed to long term nutritional change) are mostly useless. The only plan I have seen come out consistently well is Weight Watchers.
If you restrict calories temporarily you might lose weight temporarily. Once you go back to eating like "normal" you will go back to your equilibrium weight.
It all goes back to calories in - calories burned.....
I hate....
comment spam. MAn it is annoying. Even with the blacklist plugin it is a time sink.
Corpus media
A good point is raised by Shrinkette. Why are they showing all these bloated bodies on TV now? Especially since they won't show video from 9/11 be cause it is insensitive. Is this a political bias, racial bias, or just voyeurism?
Rumors of al-Zarqawi's capture
From google. They could auction off the chance to be his executioner and give the proceeds to the Tsunami victims.
Update: More from Powerline:
On December 30, the Iraqi newspaper Alrafidayn reported that two of Zarqawi's top aides had been arrested. Most intriguing to me was the reported apprehension of Ridha Albarazani, who was described as being "in charge of communication between terrorist cells" in Iraq. The arrest of two top aides, especially one who was responsible for communication among cells, raised hopes that Zarqawi himself might be next.
Now there are indeed rumors, apparently originating with news sources in the Emirates and in Kurdish Iraq, that Zarqawi has been captured. That would be great, of course, if true. But there have been similar rumors several times in the past, and unless and until this one is confirmed, there is little point in speculating. Of course, if Zarqawi were caught, the authorities would want to delay announcing the fact, if possible, to gain the benefit of any intelligence that might be obtained from him.
China the pretender
Instapundit points us to an IHT article on China's limited response to the Tsunami disaster. I am sure part of this is due to the lack of logistical muscle, but then who but the US has the airlift capacity?
I am worried about China but they are not there yet. The biggest danger from them right now is really economic, but I wonder how long until their economic bubble bursts.
January 03, 2005
De-pimping hip hop
A good piece from the NY Daily News on the backlash against the portrayal of women in hip hop.
The most successful black women's magazine, Essence, is in the middle of a campaign that could have monumental cultural significance.
Essence is taking on the slut images and verbal abuse projected onto black women by hip hop lyrics and videos.
The magazine is the first powerful presence in the black media with the courage to examine the cultural pollution that is too often excused because of the wealth it brings to knuckleheads and amoral executives.
This anything-goes-if-sells attitude comes at a cost. The elevation of pimps and pimp attitudes creates a sadomasochistic relationship with female fans. They support a popular idiom that consistently showers them with contempt. We are in a crisis, and Essence knows it.
When asked how the magazine decided to take a stand, the editor, Diane Weathers said, "We started looking at the media war on young girls, the hypersexualization that keeps pushing them in sexual directions at younger and younger ages."
Things got deeper, she says, because, "We started talking at the office about all this hatred in rap song after rap song, and once we started, the subject kept coming up because women were incapable of getting it off their minds."
At a listening session that Weathers and the other staffers had with entertainment editor Cori Murray, "We found the rap lyrics astonishing, brutal, misogynistic. ... So we said we were going to pull no punches, especially since women were constantly being assaulted."
They were inspired by a campaign that some fathers and daughters led against Abercrombie & Fitch demanding that half-clad young people no longer be used to sell the clothing. When the campaign succeeded, the Essence staff realized there is a serious problem in the world of advertising as well as music.
"When we started this," Weathers said, "all the editors came together. We formed a music committee - staff volunteers who did the research and then focus groups of women and men of all ages.
"Then in April, there was the demonstration at Spelman College in Atlanta. The young women - supported by the men at Morehouse, by the way! - told the rapper Nelly that they didn't want him on campus because his work was too insulting.
"We realized that, my God, we were right on point! What we were feeling and what we were finding out in our research was all correct. It was time. Women were no longer going to sit still."
Essence has a year-long strategy that includes a town meeting at Spelman College in February.
Things are getting hot. This is a beginning that has been a long time coming, and it is good to see it all forming naturally with the women in the lead.
Doctor Zhivago
We just finished watching the Masterpiece Theater remake of Doctor Zhivago. I thought it was well done and worth the five hours. I have not seen the original and plan to watch it tonight. I sometimes wanted to slap Yuri. I couldn't believe that he would do so many things to put his family in danger.
I think it did a great job portraying the horrors of Soviet Russia. It makes you realize how easy we have it today. Even with the war on terror, and all the other calamities of the time, we still have had little turmoil inside our country. It also makes you laugh at the cries of totalitarianism from the left. Lenin and the Reds (as well as the Tsarist Whites) were real totalitarianism. The Reds just seem to be an equal and opposite reaction to the repression and terror the Tsarist brought. The seemed to all be playing by the same twisted rules. This is also echoed in the Shah and the Islamic revolution.
It makes the Afghan miracle even more amazing.
Does this chair have an ejection seat?
My friend John J Miller (and co-author of Our Oldest Enemy)has written a piece for the NY Times entitled "Liberté, Egalité, Absurdité".
I am particularly intrigued by the concept of the "Empty chair". If France didn't have it's strong immunity laws I suspect Chirac would have emptied the chair long ago on his way to prison.
January 02, 2005
Dhimmi of the year
The Dhimmi of the year award goes to Franck Frégosi, a researcher for the European Society, Law and Religion research centre at Strasbourg’s Robert Schuman University. How can you have people appeasing radical Islamists? Do these intelectuals understand that the jihadist only want to enslave or destroy the west?
A translation from Café Babel, with thanks to Joerg:
The question, indeed the challenge, is not so much one of adapting Islam to our European society but of adapting our society to Islam. Discriminatory attitudes against the Muslim community increase Muslim frustration and harden the resolve of certain groups who turn to radicalism. The challenge for us is to create a framework in which Muslims may be integrated into our society as fairly as possible. Most European states use public money to fund religious groups yet Islamic groups very rarely actually receives such money. European mentalities and bureaucracies need to change. In Belgium, for example, Muslim groups cannot receive public funds because the authorities do not acknowledge them as representative bodies.
Is Islam compatible with European humanist values?
The concept of ‘values’ is a complex one. We need to ask ourselves what ‘values’ this question presumes. Christianity has long defined itself in opposition to Islam. Yet Islam and Islamic culture have deeply affected European history. The famous Islamic architecture in Andalusia remains as a testament to this. At one stage three quarters of the Spanish population were Muslim and parts of the Balkan region still are. This area was at one time part of the Ottoman Empire, the “sick man of Europe” at the beginning of the 20th century. Today we need to look beyond this binary division of history and the systematic opposition of Islamic and Christian Europe. By this more comprehensive yardstick, Turkey’s entry into the European Union is hardly outrageous. Its accession to the EU would simply represent for Muslims a slightly more important place for Turkish Islam within Europe.
Amazon Tsunami update
The Amazon relief effort is up to $11,836,014.00. The average donation is $80. Have you donated yet?
Diplomad takes on UN aid farce
The UN appears to be trying to take credit for other country's aid work in Asia. One reason the UN has been ineffective is they have no airlift capability. I suspect that all the aid and relief efforts will continue with the UN looking like the shell it is.
One of the biggest US military disaster relief missions in history kicked into high gear today as an aircraft carrier battle group arrived off the shores of tsunami-battered Sumatra and began launching helicopters heavy with supplies. A flotilla carrying Marines and water-purifying equipment was heading for Sri Lanka, and a former staging base for B-52 bombers in Thailand roared with the takeoffs and landings of giant cargo planes. Two Seahawk helicopters from the USS Abraham Lincoln landed in Banda Aceh early today to begin getting badly needed relief supplies, including material for temporary shelters, into villages along Sumatra’s northwest coast. <...>
More than 20 vessels with thousands of sailors and Marines are being dispatched, along with some 1,000 land-based troops. The USS Bonhomme Richard, an amphibious assault vessel carrying Marines, and the Lincoln battle group were to lead the operations from the seas. Thailand’s Vietnam War-era air base of Utapao has become the airlift hub for the region. C-130 transport planes are already conducting sorties to Jakarta and the Sumatran cities of Medan and Banda Aceh, according to a statement today by the US Embassy in Jakarta.
US Navy medical staff are also on the ground in Meulaboh, a decimated fishing village where several thousand bodies have been recovered. The Navy is considering a request from Jakarta to establish a field hospital there. Elsewhere, nine C-130 transport craft took off yesterday from Utapao, a former staging area for B-52 bombers, to rush medical and other supplies to the stricken resorts of southern Thailand and the more distant airfields in Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
A small team of Thai-speaking US Navy SEALs, US Army Special Forces personnel and military doctors have been at the battered resort of Phuket for several days. Along with the US military assets, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Japan are among the core of nations contributing ships or planes and helping plan relief operations.
The US contribution is by far the biggest, however.
The Lincoln group alone has about 6,500 sailors and Marines. The Bonhomme Richard has a crew of 1,000 and can carry an additional 2,000 Marines, and is capable of putting them ashore quickly on huge landing vessels launched from its hull.
January 01, 2005
Good news is no news
Why aren't we hearing at least once a month in the MSM about progress in Iraq. Could it be bad for business? Not sure. Well Powerline gives us a nice up date on things that are moving in the right direction. Things like:
Over 400,000 kids have up-to-date immunizations.
School attendance is up 80% from levels before the war.
Over 1,500 schools have been renovated and rid of the weapons stored there so education can occur.
The port of Uhm Qasar was renovated so grain can be off-loaded from ships faster.
The country had its first 2 billion barrel export of oil in August.
Over 4.5 million people have clean drinking water for the first time ever in Iraq.
The country now receives 2 times the electrical power it did before the war.
100% of the hospitals are open and fully staffed, compared to 35% before the war.
Elections are taking place in every major city, and city councils are in place.
Sewer and water lines are installed in every major city.
Over 60,000 police are patrolling the streets.
Over 100,000 Iraqi civil defense police are securing the country.
Over 80,000 Iraqi soldiers are patrolling the streets side by side with US soldiers.
Over 400,000 people have telephones for the first time ever.
Students are taught field sanitation and hand washing techniques to prevent the spread of germs.
An interim constitution has been signed.
Girls are allowed to attend school.