March 11, 2006
Hooray!
CNN.com - 'Butcher of the Balkans' Milosevic found dead in cell - Mar 11, 2006
Authorities are investigating. I do hope that if somebody killed him they get a medal for it.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 12, 2006
And now, Crazy Silvio
CNN.com - Berlusconi: I'm Christ of politics - Feb 12, 2006
It's highly unlikely he was misquoted, since he owns all the news sources:
"I am the Jesus Christ of politics," Italian media quoted him as saying at a dinner with supporters on Saturday night. "I am a patient victim, I put up with everyone, I sacrifice myself for everyone."
Gosh, I don't know if he went far enough. Maybe Jesus was the Berlusconi of religion.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 05:28 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 10, 2006
Crazy Hugo update
CNN.com - Chavez: UK must return Falklands - Feb 10, 2006
"Return" in the sense that they had it for two months after stealing it from Britain, and nobody in the Falklands wants to be part of Argentina. Oh, and Bush is Hitler. Thanks again, Hugo.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:15 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 08, 2006
How is this our fault?
CNN.com - Deadly cartoon riot near U.S. base - Feb 8, 2006
Man, we get blamed for everything. Go burn down a McDonald's.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 08:37 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 24, 2006
Some compromise
Because of the genocide in Darfur, Sudan won't be allowed to head the African Union. Instead, they picked Congo. There are certain problems with this, notably the ongoing genocide in Congo.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 12:57 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
December 19, 2005
Narcocommies!
CNN.com - Leftist claims Bolivia poll win - Dec 19, 2005
I don't know anything about Bolivian politics, but this guy is described as "a friend and ally of Venezuela's outspoken leftist President Hugo Chavez and Cuban President Fidel Castro," and as "the leader of Bolivia's coca farmers." Let's just say there's another Latin American president who isn't going to get any White House invites.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 08:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 16, 2005
Aruba's really getting it now
Georgia governor joins call for boycott of Aruba
Sheesh.
Perdue released a statement Thursday saying, "We have no quarrel with good citizens of Aruba, but the actions of their leaders cannot be taken lightly. I encourage my fellow Georgians to stand with the [NAME OMITTED] family and the people of Alabama who have been touched by this deeply saddening case."
Let's see... "We have nothing against the people of Aruba, but we want them to starve anyway, at least the ones who work in tourism. That will teach them to mess with our photogenic white girls."
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:03 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
December 13, 2005
That just leaves taxes
A Brazilian mayor, upset because Brasilia won't let his town build a new cemetary or cremate the dead (both for environmental reasons) has banned death from the town. There is no penalty, because he's soft on death.
(Thanks to Meryl again.)
Posted by Mac Thomason at 03:39 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
December 12, 2005
Thanks for clearing that up
The Australian: We're not a bunch of racists, PM says [December 13, 2005]
I mean, John Howard himself is probably a racist, and at the least he's an immigrant-basher. And we're talking about Australia, where you have scholars who talk like this in the newspaper:
Dr Mark Lopez, author of The Origins of Multiculturalism in Australian Politics, said locals in the Sutherland Shire, in Sydney's south, had taken "a lot of shit" from Muslim youths..."The Lebanese gangs and the Aussie hooligans draped in flags are two sections of the community that haven't been touched by the ideology of multiculturalism."
Actually, that's kind of refreshing.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 08:50 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 05, 2005
If you call that surviving
Woman survives six days in toilet
Well, not actually in the bowl. In the bathroom of her house in Jutland. Six days before anyone noticed. At least she had water.
The woman was in a surprisingly good shape, all things considered. She had had plenty of drinking water, but nothing to eat. She was even in a good psychological condition, and found it funny when one of the officers pointed out that she had been on an involuntary diet.
Really, she found that funny? I'd think she'd accuse the officer of saying she was fat. Maybe not in Denmark.
(Thanks again to Meryl.)
Posted by Mac Thomason at 07:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 25, 2005
Our allies!
CNN.com - 20 fined for using letters W and Q - Oct 25, 2005
What kind of country has a law against using the letters W and Q? Turkey does. I doubt that the EU will take kindly to this sort of thing.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:27 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
October 08, 2005
This week's horror
CNN.com - Death toll in Asian quake tops 1,300 - Oct 8, 2005
It is probably higher than that. Areas affected include Kashmir and Afghanistan, two places where getting accurate information is not easy. I won't miss 2005 when it ends.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:03 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
September 19, 2005
It's a tie
Vote leaves Germany in a political mudbath - Europe - MSNBC.com
I know nothing about German politics, okay. But from what I can tell, here's the problem... There are two main parties, like in most of Europe, the Christian Democrats (CDU, the center-right) and the Social Democrats (SDU, the center-left). They came in in a virtual deadlock, with a very small lead for the CDU. Neither has near enough votes to govern on its own.
The problem is that each party has just one natural ally. The SDU has the Greens, who are annoying, of course. The CDU has the Free Democrats (FDP) who are centrists. Both have slightly less than ten percent, and neither has enough to push a partner into a majority. Then there's the Left Party, who are Communists, so nobody wants to join with them.
The only reasonable answer -- since I can't see a coalition of the Christian Democrats, Free Democrats, and Greens lasting very long -- would be a unity government, a "grand coalition" of the two major parties. But they hate each other and Schoeder seems to be unwilling to take a subsidiary role. He does have only one fewer seat.
I call do-over.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 15, 2005
You want to stop illegal immigration?
Here's your other option. (Well, you could open the borders to more legal immigration, but we can't have that.) Bush seems to like it, but then he's an oilman. Me, I don't like the idea of a permanent class of second-class residents. It seems un-American.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 04:31 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
May 09, 2005
Do you feel lucky, punk?
CNN.com - N. Korea 'may have 5 or 6 nukes' - May 9, 2005
"Do I have six nukes, or only five?"
Posted by Mac Thomason at 08:47 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
March 20, 2005
I am sick of this
CNN.com - At least 40 dead in Pakistan blast - Mar 20, 2005
Gandhawa, this time, Shi'ites killed by Sunni terrorists once again. Nobody here seems to much care. It's just Muslims killing other Muslims.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 03:56 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 02, 2005
Lebanon
CNN.com - Lebanon opposition lists demands - Mar 2, 2005
I suppose I should say something about the momentous events there the last few days. I'm cautiously optimistic. Syria's slightly cowed right now (generally, if the US is getting support from France, or vice versa, you know you aren't going to get that UN cover) and unlikely to try anything too dramatic. Lebanon does have a tradition of secular democracy (once again, largely thanks to the French) and enough people who remember how it works to have a true political class. And frankly, the country's enough off the beaten path that the various Arab troublemaking states aren't that interested anymore. It could still go all to hell, but these things don't always do that.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 01, 2005
How dare they
CNN.com - Rice to meet with Canadian diplomats - Mar 1, 2005
Those dastardly Canadians, backing out of our missile shield. Don't they realize that the shield will only work if everyone believes in it?
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 22, 2005
Do tell
The New York Times > International > Europe > New Course by Royal Navy: A Campaign to Recruit Gays
Gosh, we can't have even closeted gays in our military lest everyone be corrupted into the dreaded Homosexual Lifestyle. Yet our allies of the Special Relationship (hmm....) are actively trying to get more gays. Maybe the magical homo rays don't work on the British, but that seems unlikely.
(Via Matthew Yglesias.)
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 28, 2005
Oh, no, snow (Euro style!)
BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Heavy snow brings chaos to Europe
Well, parts of Europe. Like southern Italy, or Spain. I figure most of Europe's used to snow by now.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:57 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
January 11, 2005
The parallels are eerie
Polls Lead Puts U.K.'s Blair 'Where Thatcher Was in 1980s'
1. Nobody really likes him.
2. But the other party is a joke.
3. So he's going to win.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:23 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 03, 2005
What scum
CNN.com - Man admits hoax death e-mails - Jan 3, 2005
This cretin got the email addresses of relatives of people missing from the tsunami. He then posed as a Foreign Office employee, sending messages telling them their relatives were dead. Why would anyone do such a thing?
Posted by Mac Thomason at 08:37 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 01, 2005
We're so generous
U.S. aid pledge surges to $350 M
Let's see, 280 million Americans... That's $1.25 a head.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 06:23 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
December 27, 2004
Horror
CNN.com - Asia quake death toll tops 20,000 - Dec 27, 2004
What else is there to say? Except that the death toll from this nightmare has been creeping up over the last day, and will probably go higher still. And that as so often is the case the poorest people are the hardest hit.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 05:03 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
November 29, 2004
Cold War II heating up... uh, colding up?
Russia successfully tests new anti-ballistic missile | ajc.com
Yep, the world sure is safer, huh George? Personally, I doubt that Russia could really build a useful ABM system since we can't do it. But it sure would be a kick in the pants if they could, huh?
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:59 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
November 21, 2004
It's a switcheroo!
Angry parents threaten to leave country
The parents are Canadian, their children are autistic, and the Canadian Supreme Court has ruled that the government doesn't have to pay for the kids' treatment. So the parents -- get this -- are threatening to leave for the United States, because we do pay for autism treatment. Go figure. First, they're going to lobby the Canadian government for "some decent disability laws" like, yes, the United States. Is this the bizarro world or something? And do we really want a bunch of Canadians moving south anyway?
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:32 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 11, 2004
I'm probably not the first to say this
CNN.com - Afghan poll gets international backing - Oct 11, 2004
But Hamid Karzai's victory is at least as legitimate as George Bush's four years ago.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 05:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 03, 2004
Separatists
CNN.com - More bombs in India, 53 now dead - Oct 3, 2004
That's what they call them, "separatist rebels". "Mass murderers", too, of course. Bombs at a crowded market and many other places; gun attacks as well. For those of you who continue to think that terrorists are only of one religion, one of the separatist groups involved is made up of Nagas, who are mostly Christian.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 04:13 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 02, 2004
Everyone's a target
CNN.com - Pakistan mosque bomb kills 28 - Oct 1, 2004
I feel a sort of duty to point these out, since nobody seems to pay much attention to them. Yet again, terrorists, presumably Sunni extremists, set off a bomb at a Shi'ite mosque, this time in Sialkot. Things could have been far worse. Services were going on, and 700-800 people were in the mosque at the time.
"An angry mob" -- as opposed to the happy mobs you so often see -- went on a rampage after the bombing, because that's very productive. Really, after your house of worship has been bombed, what you want to do is make the police spend their time following you around. The police were actually attacked with bricks and stones, and the army had to be called in.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 02:40 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
September 27, 2004
They should have hired the bin Ladens
CNN.com - Dubai airport terminal collapses - Sep 27, 2004
The terminal was designed by the same French company that operates Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, where a terminal collapsed in May. The company seems to be claiming it's all a big coincidence.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:58 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 21, 2004
No way!
Herald.com | 09/21/2004 | U.S. uncertain about a Cuba weapons program
You mean that Cuba, which has the approximate economic power and natural resources of my apartment complex, doesn't have a giant arsenal of biolgical weapons at the ready? Unbelievable! Oh, wait:
"We're not saying with absolute certainty that they don't" have a biological weapons program, the intelligence official said.
Oh, right. And I can't say with absolute certainty that Dick Cheney isn't the love child of Herman Goering and a unfrozen Neanderthal woman. See how that works?
Posted by Mac Thomason at 03:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 13, 2004
Say what?
al.com: NewsFlash - IAEA reveals details of S. Korea nuke plan
There's a giant mushroom cloud in the North, but you're more worried about South Korea's nuclear experiments two decades ago? Someone has skewed priorities here.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 11:52 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 12, 2004
Even for Wal-Mart, that's tasteless
CNN.com - Fight over Wal-Mart at Mexico ruins - Sep 11, 2004
Building a store at Teotihuacan? That's disgusting.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 12:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 09, 2004
Good for Colin
CNN.com - Powell calls Sudan killings 'genocide' - Sep 9, 2004
One thing about this Administration that I do admire is that at least some of the time they use the right words without resorting to euphemism. What's going on in Darfur is an attempt at genocide, whatever the motives behind it. The refusal of the leaders of the Islamic world to condemn this slaughter of Muslim by Muslim is disgusting. No doubt if Westerners finally interfere in Darfur they'll be condemned as anti-Muslim.
By the way, "Janjaweed"? I keep meaning to bring up that name, but it seems particularly appropriate given the Secretary of State's Jamaican background. I can't read the name without thinking we're dealing (or not dealing, as the case may be) with a group of pot-smoking guerrillas. Can we spell it "Janjawid", at least?
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:39 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 07, 2004
Well, not exactly like Iraq
CNN.com - Sudan: U.S. to smash us like Iraq - Sep 7, 2004
I mean, we're not set up for that kind of operation right now. We'd have to smash you in a different way.
As has been pointed out, ad nauseum, there are many states that would have been more reasonable targets than Iraq if the last war had actually been about stopping global terrorism. Sudan is at or near the top of this list. Moreover, it's a ridiculous state, too large to govern and made up of two regions distinct ethnically, religously, and geographically. Sudan should be broken up.
The most ridiculous statement of all the ridiculous statements from the Deputy Speaker of Sudan's parliament is that George Bush was only paying attention to the Darfur genocide because he was trying to get African-American votes. I honestly can't figure out how to point out all the different ways that's stupid.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:40 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
August 26, 2004
Justice delayed
CBS News | Pinochet Stripped Of Immunity | August 26, 2004 13:59:24
It's something, I guess. But it's far too late for the old murderer to see any real justice. He's 88 and frail; they'd practically be doing him a favor at this point. I suppose that's how these things usually work.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:56 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
August 25, 2004
It's for the best, really
Herald.com | 08/24/2004 | Statue of limitation: Greece wants its marbles back
Dave Barry has a solution to the Elgin Marbles situation. Makes sense to me, but they need to make sure to bring plenty of bribe money with them.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 11:30 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
August 10, 2004
Another psychotic Bush Administration immigration policy
The New York Times > New York Region > U.S. Is Ending Haven for Those Fleeing a Volcano
In 1995, the island of Montserrat basically blew up. 7000 Montserratians, about 2/3 of the population, fled, mostly either to other Caribbean islands or to Britain, which governs the island. About 300, however, wound up in the US, mostly in New York and Boston.
Homeland Security wants these people -- who have been living in the US for eight or nine years, mind you -- to leave the country now. Its reasoning is insane even by Bush standards: The volcano isn't going to stop erupting anytime soon, so they can't go home, so they need to leave because their stay won't be temporary. DHS says that they should go to England, which surprised the heck out of the English when they were told about it by the press, since apparently nobody in the US Government bothered to inform them.
(Via I Can't Wait To Vote. Thanks to Linkmeister for pointing out a particularly egregious mistake I made. I type too fast sometimes and my brain and fingers disconnect.)
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:32 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
August 09, 2004
Typical EU
EU sees no genocide in Darfure
"Nope, no genocide here! Just a bunch of people being killed because they're black! It's a pity, but it's certainly not genocide. Believe us, we know genocide!"
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:56 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 16, 2004
This is horrible
Toll in TN school fire mounts to 80 - The Times of India
80 children so far have been reported dead in a fire at a school in Tamil Nadu, India. Most were between the ages of 8 and 10.
India has come a long way in the last half-century, of course. But it has a long way to go yet. The school had a thatched roof. As you'd expect, once that caught the fire moved rapidly. Also, the exit was too narrow and many of the kids couldn't get out.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:48 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 12, 2004
Pretty decent, for a Republican
'The world’s worst humanitarian crisis’
Spencer Bachus is trying to do something about the Sudan crisis. I'm not sure that economic sanctions, which is what he's sponsoring, are exactly the way to go here. In Iraq, sanctions just gave the Hussein regime and its enablers someone to blame for its own economic failings.
Bachus actually started trying to do something about Sudan three years ago, including making companies disclose their activities in the Sudan. But then came 9-11, which pretty much ended that attempt.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 08:28 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 08, 2004
Israel, the Republicans, and the Religious Right
As many of you no doubt know, a significant portion of Republican support for Israel is a result of Christian fundamentalism. This isn't about any fondness for Israel as such, or for Jews in general, but rather because of fundamentalist apocalyptic beliefs. They think that the end of the world is coming, and as part of this they think that there has to be a state of Israel in existence. That Israel, according to their (somewhat tortured) reading of the Revelation of John, will be destroyed, and the Jews will all convert to Christianity as a result. (Simplistic, but no more simplistic than the economic views of the GOP.)
I've been arguing with Alex about this for some time. He seems, in my opinion, entirely too comfortable with a Republican Party that bases its support of Israel not on the grounds of traditional Democratic support but rather on weird right-wing Christian grounds. I can't imagine being comfortable with this group of Christian Zionists, which include some of the most reactionary elements of the Religious Right.
But let's leave that aside. Let's look at the consequences of an Israel policy based upon Christian millenarianism. Consider, for example, the story of Eliot Abrams and the Christian Zionists. Abrams, the NSC's top man on the Middle East, had to go sit down with a bunch of fundamentalists to assure them that if the Israeli government withdrew from Gaza it wasn't a violation of the Covenant or something, and that there weren't any important religious sites in Gaza. The group he met with -- the "Apostolic Congress" -- believes that if Israel withdraws from Gaza Jesus won't come back.
Look, there's no question but that any sort of peace settlement is going to involve Israel giving up any claim to Gaza. (Most Israelis don't even want Gaza.) But here's a significant portion of the President's base saying that they can't support Gaza withdrawal proposed by the Sharon government.
The fact is, leaving aside the Christian Zionist beliefs about the "complete Israel" (and a literal reading of the Bible would mean that Israel would not only have to control all of the current state, including the West Bank and Gaza, but most of Jordan and much of Syria) there's an important point to consider here. The majority of Israelis want peace. Most Americans want peace in the region. These people, the people the Bush Administration is sucking up to, are actively opposed to peace.
Remember, they want Israel to exist so it can be destroyed. A secure Israel at peace with its neighbors isn't what they want. They want an Israel surrounded by enemies. They want Israel to try and control the full extent of the ancient claim, and then for the Arabs to invade Israel and destroy it. That this isn't good for Israelis, or anybody else, doesn't enter into it. They're trying to force a prophesy to come to pass. Millions will die? Heck, they want the whole world to be destroyed.
Now, does this sound like a group of people you want on your side? Of anything?
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:25 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
July 07, 2004
Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnn!!!!!!!!!!
CNN.com - Restaurant offers DNA test for link to Genghis Khan - Jul 7, 2004
A restaurant in London is giving away free DNA tests (one a day) to its patrons to find out if they're descendants of Temujin, Genghis Khan. Hey, who isn't nowadays?
Curiously enough, though he didn't know it, he was also a direct male-line descendant of Genghis Khan, though intervening generations and racial mixing had so juggled his genes that he had no discernible Mongoloid characteristics, and the only vestiges left in Mr L Prosser of his mighty ancestry were a pronounced stoutness about the tum and a predilection for little fur hats.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 03:12 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
June 11, 2004
Insane Cuba policy reaches a new low
Herald.com | 06/11/2004 | Boaters charged over race to Cuba
For orchestrating an annual sailboat race from Key West to Havana (one that doesn't seem to have even awarded prize money) two boaters are charged with violating the US embargo and could face up to 15 years in prison. Supposedly, they're "travel service providers". In the sense that they were there when other people sailed their own boats to Cuba, I guess.
Hey, guess what? It's a presidential election year, Florida's a tossup again, and the insane exile vote is once again a key for the Republicans!
Posted by Mac Thomason at 12:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 09, 2004
Russian rule of law update
Russia Court Overturns Physicist Acquittal
Apparently there's no such thing as double jeopardy in Russia. Or at least it's in short supply, as so much else is. At least when the Communists were in charge, you knew you'd be found guilty and could get on with the sentence. When is Putin going to give up and have himself named Tsar Vladimir I?
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 01, 2004
Situation normal...
CNN.com - Karachi mourners clash with police - Jun 1, 2004
"About 200 angry Shiites" rioted in Karachi on the heels of yesterday's suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque. The police were out in force to try to stop unrest, so the crowd stoned them.
Musharraf might replace the local leadership or declare a state of emergency and send in the Army. Karachi isn't some backwater town -- it's a city of 14 million. In the past week, it's seen not only this suicide bombing and the subsequent riots, but a car bombing near the US Consul's residence and the assassination of a pro-Taliban, anti-American Sunni cleric. Earlier in May, there was another suicide bombing at another Shiite mosque. I think a state of emergency exists.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:47 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 31, 2004
Killing Shiites again in Karachi
CNN.com - 13 killed in Pakistan mosque blast - May 31, 2004
They also tried to kill the Education minister, who (a) has changed the curriculum in an attempt to lessen the influence of Islamic fundamentalism and (b) is willfully and persistently a woman. And a well-known anti-American cleric was killed by unknown gunmen. At what stage does the ordinary everyday violence in Pakistan turn to civil war in a country that owns nuclear weapons?
Posted by Mac Thomason at 12:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 23, 2004
This is probably symbolic of something
CNN.com - Deadly Paris airport roof collapse - May 23, 2004
Since it doesn't appear to be terrorism, and though it looks "like a scene after an earthquake", it wasn't that either, that leaves shoddy construction. The terminal was previously delayed due to construction problems.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 04:04 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
May 18, 2004
Crazy Hugo's new plan
Chávez alarms his foes with plans for a militia
How alarmed are they?
''If you close your eyes . . . it's like listening to Fidel in the 1960s,'' said former energy minister and Chávez critic Humberto Calderón Berti.
That's pretty alarming, all right... I'll say this again: just because Chavez was democratically elected in the beginning isn't keeping him from transforming Venezuela into a dictatorship. And just because Bush doesn't like him doesn't make him a good guy.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:46 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
May 10, 2004
Hey, they keep their promises
Saudi oil minister wants OPEC to increase production - May. 10, 2004
They said they'd lower their prices headed into the election, and here they are getting ready to deliver.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 08:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 07, 2004
When you can't kill Christians or Jews...
CNN.com - Karachi mosque bomb kills 13 - May 7, 2004
Settle for Muslims that are different from you. Sunni terrorists, it appears, blew up a Shi'ite mosque.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:24 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
April 28, 2004
"Rebels" is a strong word
The New York Times > International > Asia Pacific > Thai Security Forces Kill Scores of Rebels
Are these young men really "rebels" as such? That implies, to me, that they're part of an organized movement of separatists. I'm not really familiar with the situation as such, but from reading the news stories that doesn't seem to be the case, at least not definitely. There are the usual concerns about Jemaah Islamiyah, of course, but this doesn't seem subtle enough for them.
I should point out that the story ties together several problems threatening the current Thai administration. One of them is bird flu.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:29 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 22, 2004
Disaster in North Korea
Thousands Dead or Injured in N.Korea Rail Blast-YTN
Sign of the times: My initial reaction to "rail blast", as you'd expect, was "Terrorists struck in North Korea?" It seems to have been an accident, though; two fuel trains collided.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:52 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 01, 2004
Shove it, China
CNN.com - China scolds U.S. over radar sale - Apr 1, 2004
Here's an idea: You stop selling nuclear weapons technology to countries like Iran and Pakistan, then you have the right to talk. Until then, shut up.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:44 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 25, 2004
Migrants from where?
CNN.com - Coast Guard rescues migrants from inner tubes - Mar 25, 2004
Apparently they're actually from the inner tubes, as far as this story is concerned. I assume they're from Haiti or Cuba. We'll find out soon enough. If we're nice to them, they're Cubans. If we're mean, they're Haitians.
Wait, I'll check the Herald... Okay, we're going to be nice.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 02:24 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
March 18, 2004
The Rise of "Eurabia"
I know Mac et all will be screaming from the left that this is wrong but I choose not to ignore FACTS; the rest of you can for all I care, but read this ANYWAY.
As it happens, Alex, I think it's overwrought and that Front Page is extremist at best and a hate site at worst, but I have an open-door policy. I deleted it and changed to a link because this is probably a copyright violation. Excerpts are okay, but quoting the entire article is illegal.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:03 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 17, 2004
Crazy Hugo and the Little Priest
They'll be a fun couple. Hugo's only doing this to annoy us, of course. I'm not sure if Aristide will accept this offer. I never gave much credit to his "kidnapping" claims. Why would we forcibly remove him and then immediately give him access to a phone? Even for the Bush Administration, that seems incompetent.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 12:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 29, 2004
Or anywhere, really
He's gone to the Dominican Republic, it seems. He's seeking asylum in Morocco, Taiwan, or Panama. Why these three countries? I have no idea.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 06:10 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
February 26, 2004
That's U.N. force
CNN.com - Caribbean states call for U.N. force in Haiti - Feb. 26, 2004
The United States can't send a force, because... uh... we don't have anyone to send. I hope nobody invades us while all the soldiers are in Iraq. I can't imagine that we'd look too fondly on a French force, or any European soldiers at all in our backyard. Which means we'd be looking at Latin American soldiers, mostly. Where from? Mexico? Brazil?
Meanwhile, the Bush Brothers are at the double standard game again. W is warning Haitians to not look here to escape from their country getting even worse than usual, and Jeb says that a group of migrants are "hijackers". I wouldn't mind this so much if they held Cuban migrants to the same standards. Jeb:
[U]nless they have a well-founded fear of persecution that is specific and meets the criteria of our laws, they should be sent back."
Jeb, there's a flipping civil war going on. I think they have a pretty reasonable fear of persecution. But apparently that only counts if it's a socialist government doing the persecuting, not roaming gangs of thugs that have taken over the country.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 03:44 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
February 04, 2004
They're back (to trying)!
CNN.com - Cubans try floating vintage car to Florida - Feb. 4, 2004
I love these guys. The same guys who tried to get to the US with a modified 1951 Chevy pickup are trying again with a "vintage car". I expect all vehicles in Cuba are vintage, but this one has tailfins! Let them in, and give them their own show on the Discovery Channel already.
UPDATE: Terry Oglesby says that it's identified as a '59 Buick and thinks it's a "Deuce-and-a-Quarter four door hardtop," whatever that is. I'm not really a car guy.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 30, 2004
Still coddling criminals, I see
What is with the Europeans? A German court gives eight and a half years to a guy who killed and ate somebody. I suppose this was splitting the difference. The prosecution wanted a life sentence (isn't that, like, a human rights violation?) while the defense wanted it called a "mercy killing" which carries a five-year max sentence. Why not just fine him?
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:05 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack