May 01, 2004
Hmph.
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A scorched-earth campaign by Arab
militias to drive black Africans out of Sudan's Darfur region has
spread in its wake hunger, homelessness and deprivation so crippling it
is common to find three women sharing a single dress, senior U.N.
officials said on Friday. "One, there is a rein of terror in this area.
Two, there is a scorched-earth policy. Three, there are repeated war
crimes and crimes against humanity, and four, this is taking place
before our very eyes," said Bertrand Ramcharan, the acting U.N. high
commissioner for human rights. Ramcharan and James Morris, head of the
World Food Program, spoke to reporters after briefing the 15-nation
Security Council on twin U.N. missions they led to the region after
Sudan's government, which has played down the crisis and denied
responsibility, invited them in after initially balking.
I'm not impressed.
Why? The reason is listed in the next paragraph.
Sudan, backed by Arab and African governments and Russia, had
lobbied hard to keep its internal affairs off the council agenda,
obliging it to discuss the crisis in a closed session without any
public signal it was doing so.
We all know the Security Council is all about transparency. /sarcasm
I would lay you pretty favorable odds that Bashir isn't the least bit
worried about what the UN might do. He knows the UN is all talk. He's
put them off in one way or another for over twenty years in regard to
the civil war in the south. He knows the UN's M.O. He had nothing to
fear by letting them in to see what was what: Sudan, it seems, has
friends in high places on the Security Council that will prevent
anything being done about Darfur. And nothing will be done---by the UN
at least. Just like nothing was done about Southern Sudan until the US
got involved post-9/11.
Russia's active involvement is curious, though. Total Fina Elf has a goodly chunk of oil concessions lined
up for a post-civil war Sudan. Bashir, however, wants to gain momentum
on developing his country's astounding natural resources before the
SPLM has the ability to get their fingers into the pie---and if the
Russians can help them to do that, why, gracious! That's good for Sudan
and good for Russia. What we have here are all the ingredients of
another Iraq. Brutal dictator. An Islamic government trying to force
their will on non-Muslims. Fossil fuel rich country. Ethnic cleansing.
Internal strife and an overwhelming desire to keep the international
community out of it. But Sudan is in Africa. If this were playing out
in the Middle East, you could bet that Bush and company would be all
over it.
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Hmph.
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A scorched-earth campaign by Arab
militias to drive black Africans out of Sudan's Darfur region has
spread in its wake hunger, homelessness and deprivation so crippling it
is common to find three women sharing a single dress, senior U.N.
officials said on Friday. "One, there is a rein of terror in this area.
Two, there is a scorched-earth policy. Three, there are repeated war
crimes and crimes against humanity, and four, this is taking place
before our very eyes," said Bertrand Ramcharan, the acting U.N. high
commissioner for human rights. Ramcharan and James Morris, head of the
World Food Program, spoke to reporters after briefing the 15-nation
Security Council on twin U.N. missions they led to the region after
Sudan's government, which has played down the crisis and denied
responsibility, invited them in after initially balking.
I'm not impressed.
Why? The reason is listed in the next paragraph.
Sudan, backed by Arab and African governments and Russia, had
lobbied hard to keep its internal affairs off the council agenda,
obliging it to discuss the crisis in a closed session without any
public signal it was doing so.
We all know the Security Council is all about transparency. /sarcasm
I would lay you pretty favorable odds that Bashir isn't the least bit
worried about what the UN might do. He knows the UN is all talk. He's
put them off in one way or another for over twenty years in regard to
the civil war in the south. He knows the UN's M.O. He had nothing to
fear by letting them in to see what was what: Sudan, it seems, has
friends in high places on the Security Council that will prevent
anything being done about Darfur. And nothing will be done---by the UN
at least. Just like nothing was done about Southern Sudan until the US
got involved post-9/11.
Russia's active involvement is curious, though. Total Fina Elf has a goodly chunk of oil concessions lined
up for a post-civil war Sudan. Bashir, however, wants to gain momentum
on developing his country's astounding natural resources before the
SPLM has the ability to get their fingers into the pie---and if the
Russians can help them to do that, why, gracious! That's good for Sudan
and good for Russia. What we have here are all the ingredients of
another Iraq. Brutal dictator. An Islamic government trying to force
their will on non-Muslims. Fossil fuel rich country. Ethnic cleansing.
Internal strife and an overwhelming desire to keep the international
community out of it. But Sudan is in Africa. If this were playing out
in the Middle East, you could bet that Bush and company would be all
over it.
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03:53 PM
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The Baghdad Blog,
a book based on an online diary written by an Iraqi man about life
during the conflict there, is to be made into a film. Media group
Intermedia is searching for a scriptwriter to adapt the book by the
man, who calls himself Salam Pax. "He's like a Nick Hornby in the
middle of a war," Scott Kroopf, chairman of the company's film
division, told film industry website ScreenDaily.com. Salam Pax's
diary, Dear Raed, became an internet sensation during the Iraq war.
Source:BBC
So, habibi, you got a movie deal. Good for you.
Just one question, though. Do you think any of this would have been possible if the US hadn't invaded?
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The Baghdad Blog,
a book based on an online diary written by an Iraqi man about life
during the conflict there, is to be made into a film. Media group
Intermedia is searching for a scriptwriter to adapt the book by the
man, who calls himself Salam Pax. "He's like a Nick Hornby in the
middle of a war," Scott Kroopf, chairman of the company's film
division, told film industry website ScreenDaily.com. Salam Pax's
diary, Dear Raed, became an internet sensation during the Iraq war.
Source:BBC
So, habibi, you got a movie deal. Good for you.
Just one question, though. Do you think any of this would have been possible if the US hadn't invaded?
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The husband---the ultimate Star Wars Galaxies freak---finally made it back to the moons of Endor in the game. You might remember, a while back, I was shafted in my efforts to slay an Ewok.
He's been busy with his harvesters on Talus. He's also the mayor of
Ba'aar, so he's got a few politician things to take care of other than
slaughtering Ewoks. But I just slayed four of those furry, fat rats.
I feel good. I feel, dare I say it, justified.
I can now go about my business with the righteous swagger of a slayer
of unintelligible furry little rodents who ruined a perfectly good
trilogy. FOUR of those furry little rodents are dead because of ME!
Heh.
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The husband---the ultimate Star Wars Galaxies freak---finally made it back to the moons of Endor in the game. You might remember, a while back, I was shafted in my efforts to slay an Ewok.
He's been busy with his harvesters on Talus. He's also the mayor of
Ba'aar, so he's got a few politician things to take care of other than
slaughtering Ewoks. But I just slayed four of those furry, fat rats.
I feel good. I feel, dare I say it, justified.
I can now go about my business with the righteous swagger of a slayer
of unintelligible furry little rodents who ruined a perfectly good
trilogy. FOUR of those furry little rodents are dead because of ME!
Heh.
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03:39 PM
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driving the husband downtown. He had a meeting with some intellectual
property lawyers, but he didn't feel like parking or dealing with rush
hour traffic on the way back, so he's taking the bus home. It's pretty
convenient, on the whole. But since he's absent, and it's quiet, I'm
going to go and edit the manuscript, so no more blogging until this
evening. Anyway, two observations from the trip downtown.
a. My car---Nellie---is not long for this world. Her rear suspension is
going to bust through the trunk and backseat any day now. One
well-placed, small-child sized pothole should achieve the task. (Trust
me, they're everywhere. A Minnesota winter is not kind to concrete.)
Her transmission is also slipping badly between 45 and 50 mph, which of
course says nothing of the hole in the gas tank. I'm surprised she
hasn't already succumbed, but that would be Nellie. She's been a good
car, considering we bought her four years ago for $800 and have taken
her from 218,000 miles to 242,792. She has always started up on the
first try, she's incredibly reliable---it's just that her body is
rusted to hell and back that's the problem. Nellie is a 1982 Toyota
Camry---white, four door, automatic and with a radio that still works
(only you can't see what station you're on---the display has crapped
out, so you have to find radio stations by developing a keen sense of
marketing audience and by utilizing your DJ knowledge---Remy Maxwell is
on 93, Brian Oakes is on 97, etc.). She outlasted our fling with
Marie---a beeeyoootiful Audi A6---and enjoyed the four month respite
Marie provided. She's an truly amazing automobile. When we bought her,
a friend of mine complimented us on our choice---despite the fact that
Nellie truly looks like a piece of shit---saying the body would wear
out before the engine quit running. And as fate would have it, he was
correct. Nellie's spirit is willing but her flesh is weak. In essence,
she's the Grandma Mazur of cars.
Nellie has been there for us in good times and in bad times---which is
saying something because as far as automobiles are concerned, we have
the *worst* track record. Fortunately though, Nellie doesn't care about
any of that. She's a true friend. She's the person that no matter how
long you haven't chatted with them, will always come down to the jail
and bail you out if you should need it. She takes no offense to the
fact you haven't pampered her: she realizes she's not worth it. We try
not to tax her or to take advantage of her friendship because we
realize that she just can't make it around all that well. She's been a
friend for friendship's sake. And I will miss her when she goes. b. I
have finally lived here long enough that I can get in and out of
downtown without missing the entrance to the freeway!
It only took eight years for me to accomplish this! HA!
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Post contains 521 words, total size 3 kb.
driving the husband downtown. He had a meeting with some intellectual
property lawyers, but he didn't feel like parking or dealing with rush
hour traffic on the way back, so he's taking the bus home. It's pretty
convenient, on the whole. But since he's absent, and it's quiet, I'm
going to go and edit the manuscript, so no more blogging until this
evening. Anyway, two observations from the trip downtown.
a. My car---Nellie---is not long for this world. Her rear suspension is
going to bust through the trunk and backseat any day now. One
well-placed, small-child sized pothole should achieve the task. (Trust
me, they're everywhere. A Minnesota winter is not kind to concrete.)
Her transmission is also slipping badly between 45 and 50 mph, which of
course says nothing of the hole in the gas tank. I'm surprised she
hasn't already succumbed, but that would be Nellie. She's been a good
car, considering we bought her four years ago for $800 and have taken
her from 218,000 miles to 242,792. She has always started up on the
first try, she's incredibly reliable---it's just that her body is
rusted to hell and back that's the problem. Nellie is a 1982 Toyota
Camry---white, four door, automatic and with a radio that still works
(only you can't see what station you're on---the display has crapped
out, so you have to find radio stations by developing a keen sense of
marketing audience and by utilizing your DJ knowledge---Remy Maxwell is
on 93, Brian Oakes is on 97, etc.). She outlasted our fling with
Marie---a beeeyoootiful Audi A6---and enjoyed the four month respite
Marie provided. She's an truly amazing automobile. When we bought her,
a friend of mine complimented us on our choice---despite the fact that
Nellie truly looks like a piece of shit---saying the body would wear
out before the engine quit running. And as fate would have it, he was
correct. Nellie's spirit is willing but her flesh is weak. In essence,
she's the Grandma Mazur of cars.
Nellie has been there for us in good times and in bad times---which is
saying something because as far as automobiles are concerned, we have
the *worst* track record. Fortunately though, Nellie doesn't care about
any of that. She's a true friend. She's the person that no matter how
long you haven't chatted with them, will always come down to the jail
and bail you out if you should need it. She takes no offense to the
fact you haven't pampered her: she realizes she's not worth it. We try
not to tax her or to take advantage of her friendship because we
realize that she just can't make it around all that well. She's been a
friend for friendship's sake. And I will miss her when she goes. b. I
have finally lived here long enough that I can get in and out of
downtown without missing the entrance to the freeway!
It only took eight years for me to accomplish this! HA!
Posted by: Kathy at
03:37 PM
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Post contains 521 words, total size 3 kb.
it's somewhat distressing to me that with the small size of these
photos, you lose something in the conversion. Know that if you click on
the photo you will get a bigger size that will show more details. On
the whole, though, this free photo hosting is pretty damn cool.
Posted by: Kathy at
03:37 PM
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it's somewhat distressing to me that with the small size of these
photos, you lose something in the conversion. Know that if you click on
the photo you will get a bigger size that will show more details. On
the whole, though, this free photo hosting is pretty damn cool.
Posted by: Kathy at
03:37 PM
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Sigh.
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Sigh.
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More Turtles Doing Their Thing
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More Turtles Doing Their Thing
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Yet Another Fountain At the Rose Garden
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Yet Another Fountain At the Rose Garden
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More Tulips
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More Tulips
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Tulip
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Tulip
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