Happy Birthday Chris Mahle
It's Chris's 21st tonight. We are going to participate in the time-worn male rite of passage called getting him so sh!t faced that he'll never remember or forget his 21st.
Tuesday, October 28, 2003
Properties for Rent
I'm going to start renting properties here in Florida that I own the lease on -- I've got three condos available right on the beach in Hollywood, FL. Pictures forthcoming.
In other news, apparently the Florida Marlins won the world series. I take full credit for this -- I'm a good luck charm for the entire state.
I'm going to start renting properties here in Florida that I own the lease on -- I've got three condos available right on the beach in Hollywood, FL. Pictures forthcoming.
In other news, apparently the Florida Marlins won the world series. I take full credit for this -- I'm a good luck charm for the entire state.
Sunday, October 26, 2003
Tired Guy
I'm super tired guy. I've not got a lot of sleep since I've returned, and I haven't had a lot of personal time for my projects or general life-housekeeping (like responding to emails, parents, phone calls, etc) ... a lot of catchup work. The good news is, they may lead to money if I can keep myself focused.
The bad news is, for me anyways, my buddy Rick might be moving back to Texas permanently by week's end. I'm a bit unhappy about this, but what can I do.
I'd like to expound a bit more about stuff, but I'm tired and I've miles to go before I sleep.
If anyone knows how to convert .rm files to anything but .rm files and would like to help me get some sleep tonight, please message me -- that's what I absolutely have to do before sleepytime is get these .rm files converted for a presentation to some investors by tomorrow morning.
/rizzn
I'm super tired guy. I've not got a lot of sleep since I've returned, and I haven't had a lot of personal time for my projects or general life-housekeeping (like responding to emails, parents, phone calls, etc) ... a lot of catchup work. The good news is, they may lead to money if I can keep myself focused.
The bad news is, for me anyways, my buddy Rick might be moving back to Texas permanently by week's end. I'm a bit unhappy about this, but what can I do.
I'd like to expound a bit more about stuff, but I'm tired and I've miles to go before I sleep.
If anyone knows how to convert .rm files to anything but .rm files and would like to help me get some sleep tonight, please message me -- that's what I absolutely have to do before sleepytime is get these .rm files converted for a presentation to some investors by tomorrow morning.
/rizzn
Thursday, October 23, 2003
NIGERIA: Fresh violence threatens fragile truce in Niger delta
NIGERIA: Fresh violence threatens fragile truce in Niger delta
WARRI, 23 October (IRIN) - Fresh ethnic clashes around the Nigerian oil
town of Warri have claimed several lives over the past week, threatening
a fragile ceasefire secured between rival tribal militias in the
troubled Niger Delta, residents said on Thursday.
More than a dozen people have been killed since Saturday in violent
clashes between armed groups from the Ijaw, Itsekiri and Urhobo tribes,
the main ethnic groups inhabiting the Warri area, they said.
Ijaw militant leader Bello Oboko said a boatload of Ijaws, mostly women
and children were attacked on Tuesday by armed men while travelling
between the riverside towns of Ogulagha and Burutu. He blamed the attack
- in which he said four people died - on rival Itsekiri militants.
"It was an unprovoked attack, targeting innocent women and children," he
told IRIN.
But Daniel Iremiji, who leads the Itsekiri Youths Council, denied it was
a premeditated attack. He blamed Ijaws instead for sparking the latest
clashes.
"The Itsekiris merely counter-attacked after our people had been
attacked by Ijaws at a village called Orugbo," he told IRIN. Iremiji
said more than 18 people were killed in that incident, while another 20
were still missing after escaping into the bush.
A further indication of the escalating scale of violence was a reported
clash between Ijaw and Urhobo villages on Saturday, in which several
people were reported to have died.
Ijaws and Urhobos have in the past been allies against the Itsekiri, who
are perceived by both groups to be getting more than their fair share of
benefits accruing from oil operations in the western Niger Delta.
But the alliance appears threatened by the clashes between the Urhobo
village of Okwagbe and the Ijaw village of Ayakoromo in Burutu local
council area over a land dispute.
Concern over the latest developments prompted a security meeting on
Tuesday presided over by Delta State Governor James Ibori. It was
attended by Major-General Elias Zamani, the head of a special military
task force created by President Olusegun Obasanjo after violence in the
delta earlier this year claimed more than 200 lives.
"It was decided at the meeting to deploy more troops in all the
flashpoints to prevent the violence from further escalating," an aide to
the Delta State governor said afterwards.
At the heart of the violence are claims and counter-claims to the
ownership of oil-rich land in a region whose inhabitants are mostly
poor.
The individuals and communities who control the land mop up the many
benefits that can be extracted from the oil companies whose wells have
been drilled there.
The Ijaws and Urhobos accuse Obasanjo's government of favouring the
Itsekiris.
WARRI, 23 October (IRIN) - Fresh ethnic clashes around the Nigerian oil
town of Warri have claimed several lives over the past week, threatening
a fragile ceasefire secured between rival tribal militias in the
troubled Niger Delta, residents said on Thursday.
More than a dozen people have been killed since Saturday in violent
clashes between armed groups from the Ijaw, Itsekiri and Urhobo tribes,
the main ethnic groups inhabiting the Warri area, they said.
Ijaw militant leader Bello Oboko said a boatload of Ijaws, mostly women
and children were attacked on Tuesday by armed men while travelling
between the riverside towns of Ogulagha and Burutu. He blamed the attack
- in which he said four people died - on rival Itsekiri militants.
"It was an unprovoked attack, targeting innocent women and children," he
told IRIN.
But Daniel Iremiji, who leads the Itsekiri Youths Council, denied it was
a premeditated attack. He blamed Ijaws instead for sparking the latest
clashes.
"The Itsekiris merely counter-attacked after our people had been
attacked by Ijaws at a village called Orugbo," he told IRIN. Iremiji
said more than 18 people were killed in that incident, while another 20
were still missing after escaping into the bush.
A further indication of the escalating scale of violence was a reported
clash between Ijaw and Urhobo villages on Saturday, in which several
people were reported to have died.
Ijaws and Urhobos have in the past been allies against the Itsekiri, who
are perceived by both groups to be getting more than their fair share of
benefits accruing from oil operations in the western Niger Delta.
But the alliance appears threatened by the clashes between the Urhobo
village of Okwagbe and the Ijaw village of Ayakoromo in Burutu local
council area over a land dispute.
Concern over the latest developments prompted a security meeting on
Tuesday presided over by Delta State Governor James Ibori. It was
attended by Major-General Elias Zamani, the head of a special military
task force created by President Olusegun Obasanjo after violence in the
delta earlier this year claimed more than 200 lives.
"It was decided at the meeting to deploy more troops in all the
flashpoints to prevent the violence from further escalating," an aide to
the Delta State governor said afterwards.
At the heart of the violence are claims and counter-claims to the
ownership of oil-rich land in a region whose inhabitants are mostly
poor.
The individuals and communities who control the land mop up the many
benefits that can be extracted from the oil companies whose wells have
been drilled there.
The Ijaws and Urhobos accuse Obasanjo's government of favouring the
Itsekiris.
FlyDLUX Update/Derrick Update
I have been very busy working on two things here in Albany -- first and foremost taking up my time has been resolving the conflict that exists between the Kollel (a Jewish investment group, as best I can tell) and FlyDLUX.
I am just about ready to throw up my hands and tell the world I've never heard of FlyDLUX before. Everything we touch gets so convoluted. It should really be quite simple. We take money for tickets, we pay it to Tony/Lida/the Airlines. We deliver tickets.
Somewhere along the line things got messed up and everyone's credibility got ruined, and I don't know where to begin to start fixing things.
I want to go up to Washington D.C. and sit with Tony's bank statements, a computer, and calculate everything, collate everything, and clear everyone's name. This action would go a long way towards clearing Tony's name and re-establishing trust between FlyDLUX and him. This relies on two things, however -- a) Rabbi Finkelstein okaying the proposition, and b) Tony okaying the proposition.
Rabbi Finkelstein would vetoe it likely because funds are tight and he doesn't want to spend the money on a futile task. Tony might vetoe it if he has something to hide.
Chances are it won't happen at all. If it did, and it went the way I think it will, it will lead me down the path of who to audit next. I believe that person to be Lida Benham, the individual who actually fulfilled our tickets for us.
Getting her to submit to an audit would be a tough thing, but if she believes there's nothing to hide, she should likely do so as well. After the audit of her, we will truly determine where all the money went.
That's all the chunk of data I'm willing to process for the moment. Where will I get funding to perform these audits? How do I go about getting the requisite permission for these audits? These are questions that I will have to ponder at a later time. Or, if anyone of you have any answers to these questions, I certainly welcome them. I will be calling a couple of my advisors on this and other matters directly, but I certainly welcome comments from the peanut gallery.
I also got a chance to see my buddy Derrick today. He looked haggard but was desparately trying to keep his spirits up. He really is being railroaded on this and he entered a plea two days ago, despite all contrary information I heard coming up here.
He really didn't do anything. All they found on his property was between 1-40 grams of cough medicine, and some metal tubing. They put that together and said he was going to manufacture meth. His landlady dropped dime on him because she found a couple cold and cough medicine empty packages in his backyard trashcan.
It's sad. He's looking at max two years, although there is the outside chance he could get time served. His lawyers lazy as hell (what do you expect from a public defender). My contacts are going to try to contact a Federal Judge to achieve some kind of leniency in his case, as it is desparately needed.
I'm worn out all over and I'm going back to the work at hand, but this is where and what I'm up to at this point. Good day!
I am just about ready to throw up my hands and tell the world I've never heard of FlyDLUX before. Everything we touch gets so convoluted. It should really be quite simple. We take money for tickets, we pay it to Tony/Lida/the Airlines. We deliver tickets.
Somewhere along the line things got messed up and everyone's credibility got ruined, and I don't know where to begin to start fixing things.
I want to go up to Washington D.C. and sit with Tony's bank statements, a computer, and calculate everything, collate everything, and clear everyone's name. This action would go a long way towards clearing Tony's name and re-establishing trust between FlyDLUX and him. This relies on two things, however -- a) Rabbi Finkelstein okaying the proposition, and b) Tony okaying the proposition.
Rabbi Finkelstein would vetoe it likely because funds are tight and he doesn't want to spend the money on a futile task. Tony might vetoe it if he has something to hide.
Chances are it won't happen at all. If it did, and it went the way I think it will, it will lead me down the path of who to audit next. I believe that person to be Lida Benham, the individual who actually fulfilled our tickets for us.
Getting her to submit to an audit would be a tough thing, but if she believes there's nothing to hide, she should likely do so as well. After the audit of her, we will truly determine where all the money went.
That's all the chunk of data I'm willing to process for the moment. Where will I get funding to perform these audits? How do I go about getting the requisite permission for these audits? These are questions that I will have to ponder at a later time. Or, if anyone of you have any answers to these questions, I certainly welcome them. I will be calling a couple of my advisors on this and other matters directly, but I certainly welcome comments from the peanut gallery.
I also got a chance to see my buddy Derrick today. He looked haggard but was desparately trying to keep his spirits up. He really is being railroaded on this and he entered a plea two days ago, despite all contrary information I heard coming up here.
He really didn't do anything. All they found on his property was between 1-40 grams of cough medicine, and some metal tubing. They put that together and said he was going to manufacture meth. His landlady dropped dime on him because she found a couple cold and cough medicine empty packages in his backyard trashcan.
It's sad. He's looking at max two years, although there is the outside chance he could get time served. His lawyers lazy as hell (what do you expect from a public defender). My contacts are going to try to contact a Federal Judge to achieve some kind of leniency in his case, as it is desparately needed.
I'm worn out all over and I'm going back to the work at hand, but this is where and what I'm up to at this point. Good day!
Wednesday, October 22, 2003
Internet group starts anti-hacker initiative
: "Internet group starts anti-hacker initiative
Wed Oct 22 @ 08:02 (Reads: 70)
Source: Computer Weekly
The Internet Software Consortium (ISC) has launched an internet crisis co-ordination centre to help protect the system from hackers. The Operations, Analysis and Research Center (OARC) will be used to study and monitor internet traffic so that technicians will be able to differentiate high-demand traffic spikes from high-intensity attacks on root servers. So far, members of the OARC include the Internet Society, Cisco Systems, MCI, XO Communications, UltraDNS, TLD operator Afilias and Verio, as well as many of the operators of the global root DNS name servers. 'In our application, it's very difficult to determine what 'normal' internet traffic conditions are. So we're going to have to define 'normal' and go from there,' said Paul Vixie, chairman of the ISC, which provides services for the internet's Domain Name System (DNS). Before the root server attacks in October last year, when all 13 of the internet's root DNS servers were hit by intruders in a massive distributed denial-of-service attack, there was no group set up to protect the DNS system globally. In the attack, DNS servers - which provide the vital translation services needed for converting a web name into a corresponding numerical IP address - were clogged with useless traffic."
Wed Oct 22 @ 08:02 (Reads: 70)
Source: Computer Weekly
The Internet Software Consortium (ISC) has launched an internet crisis co-ordination centre to help protect the system from hackers. The Operations, Analysis and Research Center (OARC) will be used to study and monitor internet traffic so that technicians will be able to differentiate high-demand traffic spikes from high-intensity attacks on root servers. So far, members of the OARC include the Internet Society, Cisco Systems, MCI, XO Communications, UltraDNS, TLD operator Afilias and Verio, as well as many of the operators of the global root DNS name servers. 'In our application, it's very difficult to determine what 'normal' internet traffic conditions are. So we're going to have to define 'normal' and go from there,' said Paul Vixie, chairman of the ISC, which provides services for the internet's Domain Name System (DNS). Before the root server attacks in October last year, when all 13 of the internet's root DNS servers were hit by intruders in a massive distributed denial-of-service attack, there was no group set up to protect the DNS system globally. In the attack, DNS servers - which provide the vital translation services needed for converting a web name into a corresponding numerical IP address - were clogged with useless traffic."
Hamas campaign claims 13 Israeli lives
Hamas campaign claims 13 Israeli lives:
TEL AVIV — Israel's air force has employed unmanned air vehicles for targeting in airborne counter-insurgency operations.
The air force has used tactical UAVs to track and target insurgents and their strongholds in the Gaza Strip. The UAVs are meant to monitor the movement of Islamic fugitives while keeping fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft out of view.
The Searcher UAV has been heavily used in counter-insurgency operations. The UAV, produced by the state-owned Israel Aircraft Industries, is said to provide real-time images to both aircraft as well as ground stations.
In an unusual move, details of the UAV operation were disclosed on Tuesday in wake of five air attacks on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian sources said 12 people were killed in the strikes on Gaza City and the Nusseirat refugee camp.
The air force screened a video from an Israeli AH-64A Apache helicopter missile strike on a carload of suspected Hamas insurgents in Nusseirat. The video was taken by the UAV that provided real-time images of the vehicle entering the camp and monitoring for passersby.
The UAV video disputes Palestinian claims that the Apache fired missiles in a crowd of people that surrounded the car. The video showed that one minute elapsed between the first and second missile strike and that the area around the car was empty.
The suspected Hamas car continued to travel after it was struck and for a moment drove out of the UAVs sight. The second missile struck the vehicle and the two insurgents were believed to have been killed. Three people were seen in the area during the second missile strike.
Israeli military sources said between three and five people were killed in the Apache missile attack. They said most of them were Hamas fugitives or colleagues who tried to help them escape.
The sources said no more than 10 Palestinians were killed in Tuesday's air attacks. They said at least seven of them were Hamas insurgents, including suicide bombers who had earlier tried to infiltrate Israel. The Palestinians asserted that 12 people were killed in the Israeli strikes.
Hamas responded to the Israeli air attacks by firing a Kassam-class short-range rocket toward Israel and nine mortars toward Israeli communities in the Gaza Strip. Nobody was injured.
TEL AVIV — Israel's air force has employed unmanned air vehicles for targeting in airborne counter-insurgency operations.
The air force has used tactical UAVs to track and target insurgents and their strongholds in the Gaza Strip. The UAVs are meant to monitor the movement of Islamic fugitives while keeping fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft out of view.
The Searcher UAV has been heavily used in counter-insurgency operations. The UAV, produced by the state-owned Israel Aircraft Industries, is said to provide real-time images to both aircraft as well as ground stations.
In an unusual move, details of the UAV operation were disclosed on Tuesday in wake of five air attacks on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian sources said 12 people were killed in the strikes on Gaza City and the Nusseirat refugee camp.
The air force screened a video from an Israeli AH-64A Apache helicopter missile strike on a carload of suspected Hamas insurgents in Nusseirat. The video was taken by the UAV that provided real-time images of the vehicle entering the camp and monitoring for passersby.
The UAV video disputes Palestinian claims that the Apache fired missiles in a crowd of people that surrounded the car. The video showed that one minute elapsed between the first and second missile strike and that the area around the car was empty.
The suspected Hamas car continued to travel after it was struck and for a moment drove out of the UAVs sight. The second missile struck the vehicle and the two insurgents were believed to have been killed. Three people were seen in the area during the second missile strike.
Israeli military sources said between three and five people were killed in the Apache missile attack. They said most of them were Hamas fugitives or colleagues who tried to help them escape.
The sources said no more than 10 Palestinians were killed in Tuesday's air attacks. They said at least seven of them were Hamas insurgents, including suicide bombers who had earlier tried to infiltrate Israel. The Palestinians asserted that 12 people were killed in the Israeli strikes.
Hamas responded to the Israeli air attacks by firing a Kassam-class short-range rocket toward Israel and nine mortars toward Israeli communities in the Gaza Strip. Nobody was injured.
Tuesday, October 21, 2003
albawaba.com: Sources: ''Arafat close to natural death''
albawaba.com: Sources: ''Arafat close to natural death'': "Yasser Arafat is very ill and Ariel Sharon prefers an early natural death of the Palestinian president instead of deporting or assassinating him, a Lebanese newspaper reported on Monday.
Al Mustaqbal daily quoted unnamed Western and Arab sources as saying Arafat was suffering from acute stomach ulcer that needs an urgent surgery, but Israel's prime minister was denying permission to get the Palestinian leader to hospital.
Arafat's personal physician had applied for a permit to hospitalize Arafat for emergency laboratory tests and surgery, but Sharon insisted on keeping the Palestinian Authority leader confined to his Ramallah compound, the newspaper said.
'Sharon's backtrack from Arafat's expulsion was not the outcome of U.S. pressure or Arab mediation. It was prompted by his conviction that Arafat is close to a natural death and there is no need to making him a martyr,' Al Mustaqbal concluded. (Albawaba.com)"
Al Mustaqbal daily quoted unnamed Western and Arab sources as saying Arafat was suffering from acute stomach ulcer that needs an urgent surgery, but Israel's prime minister was denying permission to get the Palestinian leader to hospital.
Arafat's personal physician had applied for a permit to hospitalize Arafat for emergency laboratory tests and surgery, but Sharon insisted on keeping the Palestinian Authority leader confined to his Ramallah compound, the newspaper said.
'Sharon's backtrack from Arafat's expulsion was not the outcome of U.S. pressure or Arab mediation. It was prompted by his conviction that Arafat is close to a natural death and there is no need to making him a martyr,' Al Mustaqbal concluded. (Albawaba.com)"
Monday, October 20, 2003
Friday, October 17, 2003
Wednesday, October 15, 2003
FlyDLUX Press Release
For Immediate Release
FlyDLUX.com has suspended all business activity pending delivery of a large batch of paid tickets from our booking agent. For reasons completely beyond our control, the tickets we paid for have not been delivered to us nor made available for our clients. We regret the inconvenience and will try to keep people posted on this site.
FlyDLUX.com has suspended all business activity pending delivery of a large batch of paid tickets from our booking agent. For reasons completely beyond our control, the tickets we paid for have not been delivered to us nor made available for our clients. We regret the inconvenience and will try to keep people posted on this site.
More FLYDLUX Stuff
The following is a letter to one of our clients, but it serves as a general response to what we are now dealing with in the office. If you are one of the people attempting to prosecute or sue FlyDLUX in relation to what is going on, you would do well to read this. It was penned by our president, Lawrence E. Finkelstein.
I understand and appreciate your anger & frustration. I regret that we were and remain unable to fufill your flight needs. As for Flydlux,com, Inc., it paid for your tickets and thousands of others, that were not delivered to us. Booking agents in and around Washington, D.C. are still holding both our money and our tickets, thereby making it impossible for us to either fly people or make refunds at this time. Neither Lida Travel, Inc. nor James Wimmer have provided us with tickets that their own receipts show we paid for. We are currently working with our lawyers to compell these vendors to deliver our tickets so that we can make our clients whole, including you. Through our attorneys, we have had issued both criminal & civil subpoenas in diverse jurisdictions and will continue vigourously pressing for your refund - and ours.
As for the lack of response to your calls & notes, kindly understand that we have had no money with which to pay staff. So, it has been my unfortunate responsibility to act alone in these matters. Mark Hopkins & Richard Rice are volunteering to assist with the prosecution of all claims.
One of the vendors with whom we are negotiating, James Wimmer, claims that he will be flying our clients upon 30 days advanced booking. If you wish to avail yourself of these tickets, you may do so by phone between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm on week days, or by return email. Otherwise, you will simply have to wait until we collect before we can provide any refund.
We are truly sorry for the disruption and inconvenience. We are doing our best to recover from this catastrophe and will work with you to make you whole. In the meantime, be assured that we will keep you fully informed.
Lawrence E. Finkelstein
President, Flydlux.com, Inc.
I understand and appreciate your anger & frustration. I regret that we were and remain unable to fufill your flight needs. As for Flydlux,com, Inc., it paid for your tickets and thousands of others, that were not delivered to us. Booking agents in and around Washington, D.C. are still holding both our money and our tickets, thereby making it impossible for us to either fly people or make refunds at this time. Neither Lida Travel, Inc. nor James Wimmer have provided us with tickets that their own receipts show we paid for. We are currently working with our lawyers to compell these vendors to deliver our tickets so that we can make our clients whole, including you. Through our attorneys, we have had issued both criminal & civil subpoenas in diverse jurisdictions and will continue vigourously pressing for your refund - and ours.
As for the lack of response to your calls & notes, kindly understand that we have had no money with which to pay staff. So, it has been my unfortunate responsibility to act alone in these matters. Mark Hopkins & Richard Rice are volunteering to assist with the prosecution of all claims.
One of the vendors with whom we are negotiating, James Wimmer, claims that he will be flying our clients upon 30 days advanced booking. If you wish to avail yourself of these tickets, you may do so by phone between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm on week days, or by return email. Otherwise, you will simply have to wait until we collect before we can provide any refund.
We are truly sorry for the disruption and inconvenience. We are doing our best to recover from this catastrophe and will work with you to make you whole. In the meantime, be assured that we will keep you fully informed.
Lawrence E. Finkelstein
President, Flydlux.com, Inc.
Tuesday, October 14, 2003
Ben Protas Memo
This is the image I was talking about. Load it up in Gimp and mirror it, you'll see what I'm talking about.
Jbm.jpg
Jbm.jpg
I'm a young'n
Results...: "
My inner child is one year old!
Everything is new to me. I like watching the world
go by around me, and I don't sweat the small
stuff--or the large stuff, either. Just so long
as I stay warm and safe and dry, life's pretty
good.
How Old is Your Inner Child?
brought to you by Quizilla"
Monday, October 13, 2003
For you I want to sing a happier song
for you I'm gonna try to right all my wrongs
for you I'm gonna break my bad habits
there's a golden ring and I want you to have it
there's a golden ring and I want you
For you I'm gonna sit and patiently wait
it's great if you're early but if its fine if you're late
for you I feel love and I just want to show it
you're a beautiful girl and want you to know it
you're a beautiful girl and want you to know it
you're a beautiful girl and want you to know it
it's an infinite world and I want you
Once again I am opened
Once again I am opened
Once again I am opened
Once again I am opened
For you I'm waiting on the ticket line
I gotta get back I don't wanna waste time
but the people are tired and the line is so long
so all I can do is sing this song
- Duncan Sheik "For You"
for you I'm gonna try to right all my wrongs
for you I'm gonna break my bad habits
there's a golden ring and I want you to have it
there's a golden ring and I want you
For you I'm gonna sit and patiently wait
it's great if you're early but if its fine if you're late
for you I feel love and I just want to show it
you're a beautiful girl and want you to know it
you're a beautiful girl and want you to know it
you're a beautiful girl and want you to know it
it's an infinite world and I want you
Once again I am opened
Once again I am opened
Once again I am opened
Once again I am opened
For you I'm waiting on the ticket line
I gotta get back I don't wanna waste time
but the people are tired and the line is so long
so all I can do is sing this song
- Duncan Sheik "For You"
Sunday, October 12, 2003
Apparently, Arafat isn't dead.
Arafat has 'inflamed stomach'
From correspondents in Paris
13oct03
PALESTINIAN leader Yasser Arafat is suffering from an inflamed stomach but has no plans to leave his compound in the West Bank town of Ramallah for treatment, the Palestinian envoy in Paris said today.
"The doctor who saw him has indicated that he had not had a heart attack and didn't have cancer, but was suffering from an inflammation of the stomach with symptoms of vomiting," Leila Shahid told French radio.
She said that Arafat, president of the Palestinian Authority, "refuses to be transferred to a hospital" because "the Israelis will never let him return."
Meanwhile in Malaysia, Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) political department chief Faruq Qaddumi told reporters that Arafat "was in good health".
"I spoke to him several hours ago, at 3.30pm local time (5pm AEST), he is in good health and he told me about all these (Israeli) atrocities," said Qaddumi, the highest ranking Palestinian official attending the summit of the Organisation of Islamic Conference.
He added that Arafat "passed through difficult times because of a serious flu, but now he is in good health".
There has been widespread speculation about Arafat's health, including a report in a British newspaper that he had suffered a mild heart attack - a claim that had been hushed up to avoid panic in the Palestinian ranks.
US magazine Time claimed on its website that Arafat, who has appeared frail in recent days, has stomach cancer, citing an unnamed source at Arafat's West Bank headquarters.
But Arafat's entourage insists he is recovering from a bout of gastric influenza and the Palestinian authority says an Egyptian medical team that examined him found him to be in good health.
Arafat has 'inflamed stomach'
From correspondents in Paris
13oct03
PALESTINIAN leader Yasser Arafat is suffering from an inflamed stomach but has no plans to leave his compound in the West Bank town of Ramallah for treatment, the Palestinian envoy in Paris said today.
"The doctor who saw him has indicated that he had not had a heart attack and didn't have cancer, but was suffering from an inflammation of the stomach with symptoms of vomiting," Leila Shahid told French radio.
She said that Arafat, president of the Palestinian Authority, "refuses to be transferred to a hospital" because "the Israelis will never let him return."
Meanwhile in Malaysia, Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) political department chief Faruq Qaddumi told reporters that Arafat "was in good health".
"I spoke to him several hours ago, at 3.30pm local time (5pm AEST), he is in good health and he told me about all these (Israeli) atrocities," said Qaddumi, the highest ranking Palestinian official attending the summit of the Organisation of Islamic Conference.
He added that Arafat "passed through difficult times because of a serious flu, but now he is in good health".
There has been widespread speculation about Arafat's health, including a report in a British newspaper that he had suffered a mild heart attack - a claim that had been hushed up to avoid panic in the Palestinian ranks.
US magazine Time claimed on its website that Arafat, who has appeared frail in recent days, has stomach cancer, citing an unnamed source at Arafat's West Bank headquarters.
But Arafat's entourage insists he is recovering from a bout of gastric influenza and the Palestinian authority says an Egyptian medical team that examined him found him to be in good health.
Saturday, October 11, 2003
I got this all off slashdot ... It's a pretty decent commentary. Too bad it was all put out by anonymous cowards.
But still.
Three good quotes, one by a patriot, two by a fascist:
"The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way, and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theatre."
~ Frank Zappa, 1977
''If this were a dictatorship, it would be a
heck of a lot easier -- so long as I'm the dictator.'' --George W. Bush
"I'm the commander -- see, I don't need to explain -- I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being the president. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation." George W Bush
Maybe we'll just add a little context left out by our friend.
...anyone surprised by the speech must not have read Bob Woodward's Bush at War , in which he quoted Bush as saying (OK, in context of Cabinet meetings, but still): "I'm the commander. See, I don't have to explain why I say things . . . Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation.
source [insidedenver.com]
So, the President's cabinet is responsible to the President, not the other way around. This is apparently either a revelation or signs of a conspiracy?
What about the next quote, from December 2000, just after the end of the bitterly contested 2000 election which ended with 7 of 9 Supreme Court Justices finding that the procedures in Florida were unconstitutional and 5 of 9 finding that the procedures couldn't be remedied in the time legally allotted?
ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: President-elect Bush and the four congressional leaders met for two hours.
PRESIDENT-ELECT GEORGE W. BUSH: I told all four that I felt like this election happened for a reason; that it pointed out-- the Delay in the outcome should make it clear to all of us-- that we can come together to heal whatever wounds may exist, whatever residuals there may be. And I really look forward to the opportunity. I hope they've got my sense of optimism about the possible, and enthusiasm about the job. I told all four that there are going to be some times where we don't agree with each other, but that's okay. If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck of a lot easier... ( Chuckles ) ( laughter ) ...just so long as I'm the dictator. ( Laughter )
ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Afterwards, all four congressional leaders said they believed that today's meeting was a good start.
source [pbs.org]
So, joking comments about the sometimes difficult process of democracy are signs of a conspiracy?
And, lets add a few more quotes from Frank:
Politics is a bunch of show and blow for people who don't understand.
The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way, and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theatre.
[We] like to talk about (or be told about) democracy but, when put to the test, usually find it to be an inconvenience. We have opted instead for an authoritarian system disguised as a democracy. We pay through the nose for an enormous joke-of-a-government, let it push us around, and then wonder how all those assholes got in there.
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry.
source [conservativeforum.org]
Apparently Frank said these things during Jimmy Carter's Presidency. I wonder if he really believed that there was no difference between Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Regan? I wonder if he would assert that a Dean administration would be no different from the Bush administration? Maybe Frank is just a nut. A talented musician, but still a nut.
I wonder, what is the mental state of the poster of the parent post? Bush hater? Nut? Conspiracy buff? Or just a member of the "looney left?" Bush may not be be everybody's cup of tea, but he is far from being a real, honest to badness fascist.
But still.
Three good quotes, one by a patriot, two by a fascist:
"The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way, and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theatre."
~ Frank Zappa, 1977
''If this were a dictatorship, it would be a
heck of a lot easier -- so long as I'm the dictator.'' --George W. Bush
"I'm the commander -- see, I don't need to explain -- I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being the president. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation." George W Bush
Maybe we'll just add a little context left out by our friend.
...anyone surprised by the speech must not have read Bob Woodward's Bush at War , in which he quoted Bush as saying (OK, in context of Cabinet meetings, but still): "I'm the commander. See, I don't have to explain why I say things . . . Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation.
source [insidedenver.com]
So, the President's cabinet is responsible to the President, not the other way around. This is apparently either a revelation or signs of a conspiracy?
What about the next quote, from December 2000, just after the end of the bitterly contested 2000 election which ended with 7 of 9 Supreme Court Justices finding that the procedures in Florida were unconstitutional and 5 of 9 finding that the procedures couldn't be remedied in the time legally allotted?
ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: President-elect Bush and the four congressional leaders met for two hours.
PRESIDENT-ELECT GEORGE W. BUSH: I told all four that I felt like this election happened for a reason; that it pointed out-- the Delay in the outcome should make it clear to all of us-- that we can come together to heal whatever wounds may exist, whatever residuals there may be. And I really look forward to the opportunity. I hope they've got my sense of optimism about the possible, and enthusiasm about the job. I told all four that there are going to be some times where we don't agree with each other, but that's okay. If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck of a lot easier... ( Chuckles ) ( laughter ) ...just so long as I'm the dictator. ( Laughter )
ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Afterwards, all four congressional leaders said they believed that today's meeting was a good start.
source [pbs.org]
So, joking comments about the sometimes difficult process of democracy are signs of a conspiracy?
And, lets add a few more quotes from Frank:
Politics is a bunch of show and blow for people who don't understand.
The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way, and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theatre.
[We] like to talk about (or be told about) democracy but, when put to the test, usually find it to be an inconvenience. We have opted instead for an authoritarian system disguised as a democracy. We pay through the nose for an enormous joke-of-a-government, let it push us around, and then wonder how all those assholes got in there.
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry.
source [conservativeforum.org]
Apparently Frank said these things during Jimmy Carter's Presidency. I wonder if he really believed that there was no difference between Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Regan? I wonder if he would assert that a Dean administration would be no different from the Bush administration? Maybe Frank is just a nut. A talented musician, but still a nut.
I wonder, what is the mental state of the poster of the parent post? Bush hater? Nut? Conspiracy buff? Or just a member of the "looney left?" Bush may not be be everybody's cup of tea, but he is far from being a real, honest to badness fascist.
[rizzn's note: I really don't know what I could add to this news story to add anything insightful, funny, or interesting. Simply dumbfounding.]
Suspected Penis Snatcher Beaten to Death
Fri Oct 10,10:53 AM ET Add Oddly Enough - Reuters to My Yahoo!
BANJUL (Reuters) - A 28-year-old man accused of stealing a man's penis through sorcery was beaten to death in the West African country of Gambia on Thursday, police said.
A police spokesman told Reuters that Baba Jallow was killed by about 10 people in the town of Serekunda, nine miles from the capital Banjul.
Reports of penis snatching are not uncommon in West Africa, with purported victims claiming that alleged sorcerers simply touched them to make their genitals shrink or disappear in order to extort cash in the promise of a cure.
The police spokesman said many men in Serekunda were now afraid to shake hands, and he urged people not to believe reports of "vanishing" genitals. Belief in sorcery is widespread in West Africa.
Seven alleged penis snatchers were beaten to death by angry mobs in Ghana in 1997.
Suspected Penis Snatcher Beaten to Death
Fri Oct 10,10:53 AM ET Add Oddly Enough - Reuters to My Yahoo!
BANJUL (Reuters) - A 28-year-old man accused of stealing a man's penis through sorcery was beaten to death in the West African country of Gambia on Thursday, police said.
A police spokesman told Reuters that Baba Jallow was killed by about 10 people in the town of Serekunda, nine miles from the capital Banjul.
Reports of penis snatching are not uncommon in West Africa, with purported victims claiming that alleged sorcerers simply touched them to make their genitals shrink or disappear in order to extort cash in the promise of a cure.
The police spokesman said many men in Serekunda were now afraid to shake hands, and he urged people not to believe reports of "vanishing" genitals. Belief in sorcery is widespread in West Africa.
Seven alleged penis snatchers were beaten to death by angry mobs in Ghana in 1997.
Friday, October 10, 2003
French newssite reports Arafat 'dead'
Guysen Israel News offers sketchy, unconfirmed story
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=35003
[rizzn's note: WordlNetDaily has a very shaky history of providing unsubstantiated reports on a regular basis -- all during the Afghani war a couple years ago they were under constant scrutiny from the OSINT community. If this is true, however, it is monumental for the Arab-Jewish world and I am very interested in seeing how this situation will develop, and I don't know where to begin speculating how this will affect things.]
A French-language Israeli newssite is reporting Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestinian Authority, may have died of a heart attack.
The report is based on the Guysen Israel News' sources and is ''unconfirmed.''
''We do not have any more information on the state of Arafat,'' the latest report said. ''The news of his death is still not confirmed.''
A report earlier in the day from Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said Arafat's condition was improving. Conflicting reports in recent days had him sick with everything from the flu to heart failure.
The 74-year-old leader looked pale and tired during the ceremony to swear in an emergency cabinet Tuesday, and some reports say he needed prompting from his aides.
But Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat told the Associated Press news agency that Arafat had not suffered a heart attack, but was battling a stomach virus.
The Palestinian leader was not present at the first full meeting of the new cabinet, held in a newly designed government headquarters in Ramallah yesterday.
He remains confined to his own compound in the city. Ministers said they would present their program to the Palestinian Legislative Council today.
Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath says the new cabinet will try to achieve a ceasefire on both sides and will then implement as yet unspecified security measures.
A suicide bomb attack Saturday in the Israeli port city of Haifa, which left 19 dead, sparked renewed calls in Israel to eject Arafat.
Israel decided in principle to ''remove'' Arafat after 15 people were killed in twin suicide bombings in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv Sept. 9.
There has been speculation for some time about how long Arafat has left to live, even without interference from Israel. Some reports have suggested he suffers from the degenerative Parkinson's disease.
The British Guardian newspaper, quoting ''aides'', reported yesterday Arafat had suffered a slight heart attack last week but it had been kept quiet to prevent panic.
The Associated Press said Arafat's personal physician was called to his compound Sept. 29 after fears he had been poisoned. But the doctor later said Arafat was suffering from a stomach flu and he was in relatively good health.
Sorry I've Been Strangely Absent
I've been seeing a beautiful, intelligent, and fun girl a lot lately -- and that's been taking up some time.
Also, I've been fighting a battle for my $3500 with PayPal lately. I'm seriously irritated that they decided to seize my money, and I want to destroy them! Seriously! $3500 isn't a lot of money, surely not one to start global thermonuclear warfare over, but I wouldn't cry if the Chinese dropped an ICBM on their little warehouse in Southern California tomorrow! The audacity of just taking my money out of my account and saying they were going to hold it until they were satisfied the company I got it from was legitimate. Seriously. What do I care? It's my money now.
Ugh.
There has to be some legal recourse. If I don't recieve my money in the next 3 days, I'm going to start a legal chain of events that will make Paypals silly little heads spin.
/rizzn
Also, I've been fighting a battle for my $3500 with PayPal lately. I'm seriously irritated that they decided to seize my money, and I want to destroy them! Seriously! $3500 isn't a lot of money, surely not one to start global thermonuclear warfare over, but I wouldn't cry if the Chinese dropped an ICBM on their little warehouse in Southern California tomorrow! The audacity of just taking my money out of my account and saying they were going to hold it until they were satisfied the company I got it from was legitimate. Seriously. What do I care? It's my money now.
Ugh.
There has to be some legal recourse. If I don't recieve my money in the next 3 days, I'm going to start a legal chain of events that will make Paypals silly little heads spin.
/rizzn
Tuesday, October 7, 2003
Slashdot | Why Only Music?
[rizzn's note: this has to be one of the most poignant commentaries I've seen in the whole RIAA/MP3 Digital Music rights debate I've seen. I'm inclined to agree with it. This is the sort of statement that can start a movement.
To be honest, I've ceased downloading MP3's lately. Not really because I'm afraid of anything (I'm usually arrogantly stupid in matters such as that, generally speaking), but because of time constraints, and because the RIAA always targets the filesharing network for persecution I'm always on, thereby killing any good source I have established for finding files.
I've long since ceased purchasing CD's. I just can't support big business in this anymore. The last time I purchased a CD from a major record label was back in 1994, when I subscribed to BMG Music like every other 16 year old in America.
What do you think? Do we give up music? I'm game. I'll nuke 'em all. Every last MP3. Too much trouble, right? I dunno.]
Slashdot | Why Only Music?: "I don't want the responsibility of music (Score:5, Interesting)
by tuckerclerico (667874) on Tuesday October 07, @05:03PM (#7156823)
It's suddenly occurred to me that I no longer want the responsibility of music.
I like listening to music, but I don't want to worry about whether or not I'm legally allowed to rip it for myself.
I don't want to worry whether or not I'll have to disable autoplay in order to rip a CD. I don't want to worry whether or not I'm violating the DMCA if I say something, do something, or copy something.
I don't want to have to worry about whether or not the RIAA will come busting into my house because I've downloaded -- apparently -- legal MP3s from emusic.com. I don't want to worry whether or not they'll think they're illegal.
Art and enjoyment aren't supposed to be like this. I can go into a library, check out a book, read it, and return it. I can pick up a magazine, read it, put it back on the table.
I can go into coffee shop, read a paper, leave it on the table, and not worry about whether or not (a) my privacy has been compromised and (b) I'm doing something illegal. I can just go and do it.
Music is just not worth it. It's become larger than itself and owning it -- using it -- has become too much of a responsibility. I don't want to break the law, but I probably have. But I don't want to deal with worrying about whether or not I might have broken the law. I just want to listen to it. I could give a shit about DRM and licensing.
It's too much responsibility. I give up. The RIAA wins. I won't buy any more or listen to anymore.
There. You happy now, Craig? Hilary, you happy? Jack, maybe you wanna chime in about movies, too?
Go ahead."
To be honest, I've ceased downloading MP3's lately. Not really because I'm afraid of anything (I'm usually arrogantly stupid in matters such as that, generally speaking), but because of time constraints, and because the RIAA always targets the filesharing network for persecution I'm always on, thereby killing any good source I have established for finding files.
I've long since ceased purchasing CD's. I just can't support big business in this anymore. The last time I purchased a CD from a major record label was back in 1994, when I subscribed to BMG Music like every other 16 year old in America.
What do you think? Do we give up music? I'm game. I'll nuke 'em all. Every last MP3. Too much trouble, right? I dunno.]
Slashdot | Why Only Music?: "I don't want the responsibility of music (Score:5, Interesting)
by tuckerclerico (667874) on Tuesday October 07, @05:03PM (#7156823)
It's suddenly occurred to me that I no longer want the responsibility of music.
I like listening to music, but I don't want to worry about whether or not I'm legally allowed to rip it for myself.
I don't want to worry whether or not I'll have to disable autoplay in order to rip a CD. I don't want to worry whether or not I'm violating the DMCA if I say something, do something, or copy something.
I don't want to have to worry about whether or not the RIAA will come busting into my house because I've downloaded -- apparently -- legal MP3s from emusic.com. I don't want to worry whether or not they'll think they're illegal.
Art and enjoyment aren't supposed to be like this. I can go into a library, check out a book, read it, and return it. I can pick up a magazine, read it, put it back on the table.
I can go into coffee shop, read a paper, leave it on the table, and not worry about whether or not (a) my privacy has been compromised and (b) I'm doing something illegal. I can just go and do it.
Music is just not worth it. It's become larger than itself and owning it -- using it -- has become too much of a responsibility. I don't want to break the law, but I probably have. But I don't want to deal with worrying about whether or not I might have broken the law. I just want to listen to it. I could give a shit about DRM and licensing.
It's too much responsibility. I give up. The RIAA wins. I won't buy any more or listen to anymore.
There. You happy now, Craig? Hilary, you happy? Jack, maybe you wanna chime in about movies, too?
Go ahead."
Atlanta Star Charged in Teammate's Death
Yahoo! News - Atlanta Star Charged in Teammate's Death: "DULUTH, Ga. - Atlanta Thrashers All-Star Dany Heatley faces the added burden of a vehicular homicide charge in the death of teammate Dan Snyder."
Wow.
The moral of the story? If you are going to drive 80 mph on a narrow two lane road, do it in a car with better handling, at least.. Like a Nissan Skyline or an NSX.
Wow.
The moral of the story? If you are going to drive 80 mph on a narrow two lane road, do it in a car with better handling, at least.. Like a Nissan Skyline or an NSX.
Monday, October 6, 2003
A Different WMD Perspective
www.AndrewSullivan.com - Daily Dish: "THE CRITICAL POINT: From a balanced assessment in the Washington Post today:
The apparent absence of existing weapons stocks, therefore, does not mean Hussein did not pose a WMD threat. In fact, fragments of evidence in Kay's report about ongoing biological weapons research suggest that Hussein may have had a quick 'break-out' capacity to threaten his neighbors and, indeed, the United States with biological agents (possibly including infectious agents).
The author goes on to say that the presence of actual WMDs widely assumed before the war has nevertheless been debunked (at least, so far). What we need is an analysis of why we got wrong what we got wrong. There's no question that we were led to believe that there were stockpiles of WMDs unaccounted for in Saddam's Iraq before the war. And we still don't have a good explanation for that. But this does not mean that the war was not justified in the terms under which it was waged: that Iraq had an obligation to account fully for its WMD program (it didn't), that it cease all such research and development (it didn't), that it stop deceiving U.N. inspectors (it didn't), and, above all, that it posed a threat, via intermediary terrorists, that was intolerable after 9/11 (it did without a shadow of a doubt, as the Kay report shows). Is this kind of nuanced assessment - important for our future intelligence and war-making capacity as well as democratic accountability - possible in today's polarized culture? We better hope it is. "
He does make a point -- and I take back what I said about bloggers being liberal.
The apparent absence of existing weapons stocks, therefore, does not mean Hussein did not pose a WMD threat. In fact, fragments of evidence in Kay's report about ongoing biological weapons research suggest that Hussein may have had a quick 'break-out' capacity to threaten his neighbors and, indeed, the United States with biological agents (possibly including infectious agents).
The author goes on to say that the presence of actual WMDs widely assumed before the war has nevertheless been debunked (at least, so far). What we need is an analysis of why we got wrong what we got wrong. There's no question that we were led to believe that there were stockpiles of WMDs unaccounted for in Saddam's Iraq before the war. And we still don't have a good explanation for that. But this does not mean that the war was not justified in the terms under which it was waged: that Iraq had an obligation to account fully for its WMD program (it didn't), that it cease all such research and development (it didn't), that it stop deceiving U.N. inspectors (it didn't), and, above all, that it posed a threat, via intermediary terrorists, that was intolerable after 9/11 (it did without a shadow of a doubt, as the Kay report shows). Is this kind of nuanced assessment - important for our future intelligence and war-making capacity as well as democratic accountability - possible in today's polarized culture? We better hope it is. "
He does make a point -- and I take back what I said about bloggers being liberal.
ETHIOPIA: Ancient holy book returned
ADDIS ABABA, 6 October (IRIN) - A holy book looted from Ethiopia by British troops more than a century ago was back home and on public display for the first time on Saturday.
Professor Richard Pankhurst, who campaigns for the return of treasure to Ethiopia, returned the 300-year-old handwritten Book of Psalms to the country last week.
The book, which is written in the old Ethiopian language of Ge'ez, was part of a huge haul taken by British troops after the Battle of Maqdala in 1868. British troops invaded in December 1867 to free a number of diplomats and missionaries imprisoned by Emperor Tewodros II following a dispute with the British government. Tewodros committed suicide, rather than be captured by the British.
“This looting was sacrilege in as much as it was looted from a church,” said Pankhurst, vice chairman of the Association for the Return of Maqdala Ethiopian Treasures (AFROMET).
“If the American troops in the recent war in Iraq had started looting mosques and taking things the world would have been outraged,” he added.
The biblical Book of Psalms - for which AFROMET paid 750 pounds sterling to a private collector - is now on display at the Institute of Ethiopian Studies (IES) in the capital Addis Ababa.
Getachew Kassa who is in charge of the institute said he was “delighted” at its return. He said the document was vital for academic research.
[ENDS]
IRIN-CEA
Tel: +254 2 622147
Fax: +254 2 622129
Email: IRIN@ocha.unon.org
[This Item is Delivered to the "Africa-English" Service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or
to change your keywords, contact e-mail: IRIN@ocha.unon.org or Web:
http://www.irinnews.org . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Reposting by commercial
sites requires written IRIN permission.]
Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003
U N I T E D N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN)
ADDIS ABABA, 6 October (IRIN) - A holy book looted from Ethiopia by British troops more than a century ago was back home and on public display for the first time on Saturday.
Professor Richard Pankhurst, who campaigns for the return of treasure to Ethiopia, returned the 300-year-old handwritten Book of Psalms to the country last week.
The book, which is written in the old Ethiopian language of Ge'ez, was part of a huge haul taken by British troops after the Battle of Maqdala in 1868. British troops invaded in December 1867 to free a number of diplomats and missionaries imprisoned by Emperor Tewodros II following a dispute with the British government. Tewodros committed suicide, rather than be captured by the British.
“This looting was sacrilege in as much as it was looted from a church,” said Pankhurst, vice chairman of the Association for the Return of Maqdala Ethiopian Treasures (AFROMET).
“If the American troops in the recent war in Iraq had started looting mosques and taking things the world would have been outraged,” he added.
The biblical Book of Psalms - for which AFROMET paid 750 pounds sterling to a private collector - is now on display at the Institute of Ethiopian Studies (IES) in the capital Addis Ababa.
Getachew Kassa who is in charge of the institute said he was “delighted” at its return. He said the document was vital for academic research.
[ENDS]
IRIN-CEA
Tel: +254 2 622147
Fax: +254 2 622129
Email: IRIN@ocha.unon.org
[This Item is Delivered to the "Africa-English" Service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or
to change your keywords, contact e-mail: IRIN@ocha.unon.org or Web:
http://www.irinnews.org . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Reposting by commercial
sites requires written IRIN permission.]
Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003
U N I T E D N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN)
Sunday, October 5, 2003
Where have you been, Rizzn?
by Rizzn Do'Urden
Things are tight around here, and I'm trying to come up with some ways to make some short run money so I don't have to continue to live off savings. I've come up with a few ideas. One was this marketing scheme buying and selling large volumes of webhits, but I discovered some problems in my theory, so I've brainstormed and come up with a few new ones.
I've been working on these things a lot the last few days, and they have been interfering with my article writing time. The Patriot Act article and the Virus article will have to wait a little bit.
Once I get these set up with some income for me, I should be good to go again.
Also, I bought Mech Commander and MechWarrior3 -- after I defeated MechAssault on the XBOX I was left with a BattleTech void in my life, and I'm desparately looking to old BT games to fill it.
Anyways, that's that. Sorry I haven't been prompt with the email and IM replies. Best way to get a hold of me is to call me -- numbers are on the website, far right column.
Until later -- Your Pal,
Rizzn
by Rizzn Do'Urden
Things are tight around here, and I'm trying to come up with some ways to make some short run money so I don't have to continue to live off savings. I've come up with a few ideas. One was this marketing scheme buying and selling large volumes of webhits, but I discovered some problems in my theory, so I've brainstormed and come up with a few new ones.
I've been working on these things a lot the last few days, and they have been interfering with my article writing time. The Patriot Act article and the Virus article will have to wait a little bit.
Once I get these set up with some income for me, I should be good to go again.
Also, I bought Mech Commander and MechWarrior3 -- after I defeated MechAssault on the XBOX I was left with a BattleTech void in my life, and I'm desparately looking to old BT games to fill it.
Anyways, that's that. Sorry I haven't been prompt with the email and IM replies. Best way to get a hold of me is to call me -- numbers are on the website, far right column.
Until later -- Your Pal,
Rizzn
Friday, October 3, 2003
The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Eigth Level of Hell - the Malebolge!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:
Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:
| Level | Score |
|---|---|
| Purgatory (Repenting Believers) | Low |
| Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers) | Low |
| Level 2 (Lustful) | Very High |
| Level 3 (Gluttonous) | Low |
| Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious) | Low |
| Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy) | Low |
| Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics) | Very Low |
| Level 7 (Violent) | High |
| Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers) | Very High |
| Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous) | Moderate |
Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test
Russia considers using nuclear weapons
MOSCOW, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Russia will reportedly consider the restricted use of nuclear weapons when dealing with regional conflicts and international terrorism.
The Kyodo news service said the position was stated in a national military doctrine submitted Thursday to President Vladimir Putin by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov. The document outlines the nation's plans for modernizing its military force.
The move to consider limited use of small nuclear arms is believed meant to counter the U.S. strategy of using its low-yield nuclear weapons in a restricted manner.
Kyodo reported the United States, since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks has been conducting research and development of the so-called mini-nukes aimed at destroying underground facilities of terrorist groups.
The new Russian doctrine says the military will consider restricted use of small nuclear weapons as a strategic deterrence to prevent military pressure or attacks on Russia and its allies.
Copyright 2003 by United Press International.
All rights reserved.
MOSCOW, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Russia will reportedly consider the restricted use of nuclear weapons when dealing with regional conflicts and international terrorism.
The Kyodo news service said the position was stated in a national military doctrine submitted Thursday to President Vladimir Putin by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov. The document outlines the nation's plans for modernizing its military force.
The move to consider limited use of small nuclear arms is believed meant to counter the U.S. strategy of using its low-yield nuclear weapons in a restricted manner.
Kyodo reported the United States, since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks has been conducting research and development of the so-called mini-nukes aimed at destroying underground facilities of terrorist groups.
The new Russian doctrine says the military will consider restricted use of small nuclear weapons as a strategic deterrence to prevent military pressure or attacks on Russia and its allies.
Copyright 2003 by United Press International.
All rights reserved.
Thursday, October 2, 2003
N. Korea Says It Is Making Nuclear Bombs
By SANG-HUN CHOE, Associated Press Writer
SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea said Thursday it is using plutonium extracted from spent nuclear fuel rods to make atomic weapons, a move that could escalate tensions on the Korean peninsula and raise the stakes in Pyongyang's standoff with the United States.
North Korea has said before that it completed reprocessing its pool of 8,000 spent rods, but Thursday marked the first claim that it is using plutonium yielded from the rods to make nuclear weapons. U.S. and South Korean officials have been skeptical that the rods have been reprocessed.
The claim came amid increasing concern by U.S. intelligence analysts that North Korea might have three, four or even six nuclear weapons instead of the one or two the CIA now estimates.
"The (North) successfully finished the reprocessing of some 8,000 spent fuel rods," a spokesman from the communist nation's Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by its official news agency, KCNA. The spokesman was unidentified.
Accusing the United States of taking a "hostile policy" toward the North, the statement said North Korea "made a switchover in the use of plutonium churned out by reprocessing spent fuel rods in the direction (of) increasing its nuclear deterrent force."
When reprocessed with chemicals, the 8,000 rods can yield enough plutonium for North Korea to make five or six more nuclear weapons, according to experts.
In Washington, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the United States had not confirmed North Korea's claim, and said "they've made that statement before."
"There's no legitimate use for plutonium harvested during these procedures," McClellan said. "It would be a clear indication that they are intent on enlarging their nuclear arsenal, despite the call from international community for North Korea to change its behavior.
"We've been talking about these issues in the six-party talks, and North Korea has received the message from all these nations that they need to end the nuclear weapons program in a verifiable and irreversible way, once and for all."
A senior Seoul official, speaking to South Korean reporters on condition of anonymity, said Thursday that his government was investigating the latest claim. Later, South Korea issued a statement expressing concern about the development.
"This latest North Korean statement could hurt efforts to resolve the nuclear problem peacefully, hurt development of South-North Korean relations and damage the atmosphere of dialogue," Foreign Ministry spokesman Shin Bong-kil said in the statement.
The existence of more than one weapon could mean that the isolated, Stalinist regime might part with one bomb, either in a test or by selling it, although a senior official and the main communist newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, said North Korea has pledged not to export its nuclear capability.
Vice Foreign Minister Choe Su Hon said the North is expanding its "nuclear deterrence" but wouldn't say how many weapons it has, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported Thursday.
"We (have) no intention of transferring any means of that nuclear deterrence to other countries," Choe was quoted as telling reporters in New York, where he was attending the U.N. General Assembly.
North Korea also said Thursday that when necessary, it will reprocess more spent fuel rods to be produced from the small reactor in its main nuclear complex in Yongbyon, 50 miles north of Pyongyang.
North Korea says it restarted its frozen 5-megawatt reactor at Yongbyon after kicking out U.N. nuclear inspectors and quitting the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in January. Experts say it would take a year of operation before the reactor could produce enough to make a new weapon.
Pyongyang tends to escalate its harsh rhetoric in attempts analysts say are aimed at extracting concessions in crucial negotiations.
Last month, several U.S. government officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity that intelligence analysts are debating the extent of North Korea's nuclear capability.
Among the issues is whether the North has refined its nuclear weapon designs so it can use less plutonium to make a working weapon. Some analysts presume the North Koreans have made steady advances and thus are able to use their existing stockpile of weapons-grade plutonium more efficiently, the officials said.
The CIA has not reached that conclusion, however, and is sticking with its unclassified estimate of one or two weapons, the officials said. Other U.S. estimates put the number at three or four; still others are floating five or six weapons as a possibility.
The United States and its allies are trying to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear programs. Pyongyang says it will do so only if the United States signs a nonaggression treaty, provides economic aid and opens diplomatic ties.
The nuclear dispute flared last October when U.S. officials said North Korea admitted running a secret nuclear weapons program in violation of international agreements.
The United States and its allies suspended oil shipments to the North. North Korea in turn expelled U.N. nuclear inspectors, withdrew from the global nuclear arms-control treaty and said it was reactivating its main nuclear complex, frozen since 1994.
International talks to defuse the crisis have failed, and Seoul officials said North Korea's latest move was a "tactic to boost its negotiating power" when the talks resume.
Japan and China did not comment on the statement Thursday, but it drew expressions of concern from other Asian governments.
"Any steps that bring nearer the prospect of nuclear proliferation on the Korean peninsula would be a source of great concern to Indonesia," Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said.
Philippine Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Franklin Ebdalin said it was unfortunate and would make the nuclear standoff "more difficult to resolve."
By SANG-HUN CHOE, Associated Press Writer
SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea said Thursday it is using plutonium extracted from spent nuclear fuel rods to make atomic weapons, a move that could escalate tensions on the Korean peninsula and raise the stakes in Pyongyang's standoff with the United States.
North Korea has said before that it completed reprocessing its pool of 8,000 spent rods, but Thursday marked the first claim that it is using plutonium yielded from the rods to make nuclear weapons. U.S. and South Korean officials have been skeptical that the rods have been reprocessed.
The claim came amid increasing concern by U.S. intelligence analysts that North Korea might have three, four or even six nuclear weapons instead of the one or two the CIA now estimates.
"The (North) successfully finished the reprocessing of some 8,000 spent fuel rods," a spokesman from the communist nation's Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by its official news agency, KCNA. The spokesman was unidentified.
Accusing the United States of taking a "hostile policy" toward the North, the statement said North Korea "made a switchover in the use of plutonium churned out by reprocessing spent fuel rods in the direction (of) increasing its nuclear deterrent force."
When reprocessed with chemicals, the 8,000 rods can yield enough plutonium for North Korea to make five or six more nuclear weapons, according to experts.
In Washington, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the United States had not confirmed North Korea's claim, and said "they've made that statement before."
"There's no legitimate use for plutonium harvested during these procedures," McClellan said. "It would be a clear indication that they are intent on enlarging their nuclear arsenal, despite the call from international community for North Korea to change its behavior.
"We've been talking about these issues in the six-party talks, and North Korea has received the message from all these nations that they need to end the nuclear weapons program in a verifiable and irreversible way, once and for all."
A senior Seoul official, speaking to South Korean reporters on condition of anonymity, said Thursday that his government was investigating the latest claim. Later, South Korea issued a statement expressing concern about the development.
"This latest North Korean statement could hurt efforts to resolve the nuclear problem peacefully, hurt development of South-North Korean relations and damage the atmosphere of dialogue," Foreign Ministry spokesman Shin Bong-kil said in the statement.
The existence of more than one weapon could mean that the isolated, Stalinist regime might part with one bomb, either in a test or by selling it, although a senior official and the main communist newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, said North Korea has pledged not to export its nuclear capability.
Vice Foreign Minister Choe Su Hon said the North is expanding its "nuclear deterrence" but wouldn't say how many weapons it has, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported Thursday.
"We (have) no intention of transferring any means of that nuclear deterrence to other countries," Choe was quoted as telling reporters in New York, where he was attending the U.N. General Assembly.
North Korea also said Thursday that when necessary, it will reprocess more spent fuel rods to be produced from the small reactor in its main nuclear complex in Yongbyon, 50 miles north of Pyongyang.
North Korea says it restarted its frozen 5-megawatt reactor at Yongbyon after kicking out U.N. nuclear inspectors and quitting the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in January. Experts say it would take a year of operation before the reactor could produce enough to make a new weapon.
Pyongyang tends to escalate its harsh rhetoric in attempts analysts say are aimed at extracting concessions in crucial negotiations.
Last month, several U.S. government officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity that intelligence analysts are debating the extent of North Korea's nuclear capability.
Among the issues is whether the North has refined its nuclear weapon designs so it can use less plutonium to make a working weapon. Some analysts presume the North Koreans have made steady advances and thus are able to use their existing stockpile of weapons-grade plutonium more efficiently, the officials said.
The CIA has not reached that conclusion, however, and is sticking with its unclassified estimate of one or two weapons, the officials said. Other U.S. estimates put the number at three or four; still others are floating five or six weapons as a possibility.
The United States and its allies are trying to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear programs. Pyongyang says it will do so only if the United States signs a nonaggression treaty, provides economic aid and opens diplomatic ties.
The nuclear dispute flared last October when U.S. officials said North Korea admitted running a secret nuclear weapons program in violation of international agreements.
The United States and its allies suspended oil shipments to the North. North Korea in turn expelled U.N. nuclear inspectors, withdrew from the global nuclear arms-control treaty and said it was reactivating its main nuclear complex, frozen since 1994.
International talks to defuse the crisis have failed, and Seoul officials said North Korea's latest move was a "tactic to boost its negotiating power" when the talks resume.
Japan and China did not comment on the statement Thursday, but it drew expressions of concern from other Asian governments.
"Any steps that bring nearer the prospect of nuclear proliferation on the Korean peninsula would be a source of great concern to Indonesia," Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said.
Philippine Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Franklin Ebdalin said it was unfortunate and would make the nuclear standoff "more difficult to resolve."
[rizzn's note: further unreported news from the Liberia front. my earlier comments on Liberia still apply. I am still wondering why it's getting no major media play.]
LIBERIA: Sporadic night gunfire and looting in Monrovia
MONROVIA, 2 October (IRIN) - Sporadic gunfire could be heard throughout Wednesday night in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, as rebels and government fighters who earlier engaged in a shootout in the eastern suburbs of the city, went on a looting spree.
The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), in its second day of operation, stepped up troop presence around Monrovia, deploying more men and armoured cars on the city's outskirts. They set up checkpoints where vehicles were thoroughly checked.
The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General to Liberia, Jacques Paul Klein, told reporters that he was troubled by the incident. He warned Liberian fighters to stop terrorizing civilians.
"What happened troubled me greatly. I am not happy with these people. They embarrassed themselves and violated the Accra peace agreement. Ultimately they will be brought to justice," Klein said.
Eyewitnesses told IRIN on Thursday that fighters of the main rebel group, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) and government troops, looted vehicles and homes in Monrovia's eastern commercial districts of Gardnersville and Paynesville.
Shooting by government troops around Congo Town in eastern Monrovia, where most government officials stay, could still be heard early on Thursday morning.
Ma Fanta Sanor, a resident told IRIN: "Government fighters burst into my warehouse at Paynesville Red Light and looted all the groundnut bags. They said the store is owned by a LURD supporter." There were some reports of rape by the fighters.
Most stores in Paynesville remained closed on Thursday. A Lebanese shop owner, one Ghassam, told IRIN: "How will we open our stores when the fighters want to loot it?".
LURD fighters hijacked several vehicles and commandeered them to their main base in the western Liberian town of Tubmanburg, 60 km from Monrovia.
A bus used to ferry staff of Monrovia's main referral hospital, John F. Kennedy, was taken, Jordi Raichi, an official of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) told IRIN. "We cannot say who looted it, but the bus is very useful to the hospital because it was used to transport all the hospital's workers," he said.
IRIN found civilians crowded at the LURD coordinating office in the western Monrovia suburbs complaining that the rebels had looted their property and vehicles.
"I was going to Bushrod Island and some of the LURD rebels in a red pick up jumped out with bayonets and demanded that I get out of my car. They drove towards Bomi," Ernest Sumo said.
On Wednesday, Omar Khatib, WHO representative in Liberia told IRIN on Wednesday that a 4-wheel Toyota Land Cruiser vehicle returning staff from Gbarpolu, was taken by LURD fighters around the Po River, 17 km west of Monrovia. The WHO staff, who had been visiting a clinic, were ordered to walk to Monrovia.
A large number of LURD rebels wearing rag-tag uniforms patrolled Bushrod island throughout Thursday morning. Civilians kept off the streets and shop keepers closed down their businesses.
The two groups first shot at each other on Wednesday, after a convoy carrying LURD Chairman Sekou Damate Conneh to meet Interim President Moses Blah, was blocked by an angry crowd. A scuffle ensued as LURD fighters attempted to clear the road. Government troops arrived at the scene and the fight started.
By the time West African peacekeepers calmed down the situation, at least nine people had been killed - six in a grenade explosion reportedly planted by LURD.
The meeting between Conneh and Blah flopped as the top rebel leader, who only returned from exile in Guinea last week, rushed back to Tubmanburg. Later the LURD issued a statement claiming they would need to review the situation before meeting any government officials.
Wednesday's incident happened hours before West African peacekeepers, called the ECOMIL force, handed over to the UNMIL. The 3,500 West African peacekeepers were handed over to form UNMIL's vanguard force.
More troops are expected in Liberia to raise UNMIL's strength to 15,000 in three months. The UN force is expected to support the new transitional government that takes office on 14 October in stabilising the war-ravaged country. The transitional government was set up in accordance with a Peace Agreement signed in Accra, Ghana on 18 August after former president Charles Taylor left Liberia for exile in Nigeria.
[ENDS]
IRIN-WA
Tel: +225 22-40-4440
Fax: +225 22-41-9339
Email: IRIN-WA@irin.ci
[This Item is Delivered to the "Africa-English" Service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or
to change your keywords, contact e-mail: Irin@ocha.unon.org or Web:
http://www.irinnews.org . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Reposting by commercial
sites requires written IRIN permission.]
Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003
U N I T E D N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN)
LIBERIA: Sporadic night gunfire and looting in Monrovia
MONROVIA, 2 October (IRIN) - Sporadic gunfire could be heard throughout Wednesday night in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, as rebels and government fighters who earlier engaged in a shootout in the eastern suburbs of the city, went on a looting spree.
The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), in its second day of operation, stepped up troop presence around Monrovia, deploying more men and armoured cars on the city's outskirts. They set up checkpoints where vehicles were thoroughly checked.
The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General to Liberia, Jacques Paul Klein, told reporters that he was troubled by the incident. He warned Liberian fighters to stop terrorizing civilians.
"What happened troubled me greatly. I am not happy with these people. They embarrassed themselves and violated the Accra peace agreement. Ultimately they will be brought to justice," Klein said.
Eyewitnesses told IRIN on Thursday that fighters of the main rebel group, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) and government troops, looted vehicles and homes in Monrovia's eastern commercial districts of Gardnersville and Paynesville.
Shooting by government troops around Congo Town in eastern Monrovia, where most government officials stay, could still be heard early on Thursday morning.
Ma Fanta Sanor, a resident told IRIN: "Government fighters burst into my warehouse at Paynesville Red Light and looted all the groundnut bags. They said the store is owned by a LURD supporter." There were some reports of rape by the fighters.
Most stores in Paynesville remained closed on Thursday. A Lebanese shop owner, one Ghassam, told IRIN: "How will we open our stores when the fighters want to loot it?".
LURD fighters hijacked several vehicles and commandeered them to their main base in the western Liberian town of Tubmanburg, 60 km from Monrovia.
A bus used to ferry staff of Monrovia's main referral hospital, John F. Kennedy, was taken, Jordi Raichi, an official of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) told IRIN. "We cannot say who looted it, but the bus is very useful to the hospital because it was used to transport all the hospital's workers," he said.
IRIN found civilians crowded at the LURD coordinating office in the western Monrovia suburbs complaining that the rebels had looted their property and vehicles.
"I was going to Bushrod Island and some of the LURD rebels in a red pick up jumped out with bayonets and demanded that I get out of my car. They drove towards Bomi," Ernest Sumo said.
On Wednesday, Omar Khatib, WHO representative in Liberia told IRIN on Wednesday that a 4-wheel Toyota Land Cruiser vehicle returning staff from Gbarpolu, was taken by LURD fighters around the Po River, 17 km west of Monrovia. The WHO staff, who had been visiting a clinic, were ordered to walk to Monrovia.
A large number of LURD rebels wearing rag-tag uniforms patrolled Bushrod island throughout Thursday morning. Civilians kept off the streets and shop keepers closed down their businesses.
The two groups first shot at each other on Wednesday, after a convoy carrying LURD Chairman Sekou Damate Conneh to meet Interim President Moses Blah, was blocked by an angry crowd. A scuffle ensued as LURD fighters attempted to clear the road. Government troops arrived at the scene and the fight started.
By the time West African peacekeepers calmed down the situation, at least nine people had been killed - six in a grenade explosion reportedly planted by LURD.
The meeting between Conneh and Blah flopped as the top rebel leader, who only returned from exile in Guinea last week, rushed back to Tubmanburg. Later the LURD issued a statement claiming they would need to review the situation before meeting any government officials.
Wednesday's incident happened hours before West African peacekeepers, called the ECOMIL force, handed over to the UNMIL. The 3,500 West African peacekeepers were handed over to form UNMIL's vanguard force.
More troops are expected in Liberia to raise UNMIL's strength to 15,000 in three months. The UN force is expected to support the new transitional government that takes office on 14 October in stabilising the war-ravaged country. The transitional government was set up in accordance with a Peace Agreement signed in Accra, Ghana on 18 August after former president Charles Taylor left Liberia for exile in Nigeria.
[ENDS]
IRIN-WA
Tel: +225 22-40-4440
Fax: +225 22-41-9339
Email: IRIN-WA@irin.ci
[This Item is Delivered to the "Africa-English" Service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or
to change your keywords, contact e-mail: Irin@ocha.unon.org or Web:
http://www.irinnews.org . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Reposting by commercial
sites requires written IRIN permission.]
Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003
U N I T E D N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN)
Goldeneye Shows Potential for a New Breed of Unmanned Aircraft
Goldeneye Shows Potential For A New Breed Of Unmanned Aircraft
Really, you need to read this article. If you've ever heard me preach about my aircraft project, then you know about all I say about a HOVTOL UAV is some good stuff. And if you've heard this speech, you've heard my rant about the v-22 Osprey.
I can't really tell from this poor photograph if this aircraft is going to suffer from the same problems as the Osprey, but rotating wings doesn't sound promising. (the V22 has rotating wings with the props on the end).
I love that UAV's are in the news again, but they need to put OUR UAV in the news -- it's the one that's truly groundbreaking. See the link for it on the far right column.
/rizzn
Really, you need to read this article. If you've ever heard me preach about my aircraft project, then you know about all I say about a HOVTOL UAV is some good stuff. And if you've heard this speech, you've heard my rant about the v-22 Osprey.
I can't really tell from this poor photograph if this aircraft is going to suffer from the same problems as the Osprey, but rotating wings doesn't sound promising. (the V22 has rotating wings with the props on the end).
I love that UAV's are in the news again, but they need to put OUR UAV in the news -- it's the one that's truly groundbreaking. See the link for it on the far right column.
/rizzn
Rutgers To Create Ultra-Tiny Biological Nano-Motors
Rutgers To Create Ultra-Tiny Biological Nano-Motors
Check this out. I saw it on Fuzy's site earlier yesterday, finally got around to reading it today. This actually makes sense -- different types of scientists teaming up to create a set of molecules that will do specific tasks within human bloodstream. If you've taken Bio or Chem 101, then think robotic enzymes. Good stuff!
/rizzn
Check this out. I saw it on Fuzy's site earlier yesterday, finally got around to reading it today. This actually makes sense -- different types of scientists teaming up to create a set of molecules that will do specific tasks within human bloodstream. If you've taken Bio or Chem 101, then think robotic enzymes. Good stuff!
/rizzn
Uma Thurman - She will be mine!
Uma Thurman - Wikipedia: "In 2003, Thurman and Hawke split, but claimed that as of then, there were no plans for a divorce. "
The other night, Darrell told me that Uma and Ethan had split up, and I assumed they were divorced.
I suppose I'm still going to have to wait a while for that. I've been waiting since 1998. I missed my opportunity in '97 when I became legal -- I'd been drooling over her since I was a freshmen -- Penn Jillette used to mention her in every article he did on the backpage of PC Magazine.
I ended up looking her up and fell in love. Then that bastard Ethan Hawke stole her from me in '98. But now that their love is on the skids, all I do is bide my time, and when the paperwork is final, I show up on her doorstep and let her know I'm moving in.
I mean ... uh ... anyways. I'm going to bed now.
/rizzn
The other night, Darrell told me that Uma and Ethan had split up, and I assumed they were divorced.
I suppose I'm still going to have to wait a while for that. I've been waiting since 1998. I missed my opportunity in '97 when I became legal -- I'd been drooling over her since I was a freshmen -- Penn Jillette used to mention her in every article he did on the backpage of PC Magazine.
I ended up looking her up and fell in love. Then that bastard Ethan Hawke stole her from me in '98. But now that their love is on the skids, all I do is bide my time, and when the paperwork is final, I show up on her doorstep and let her know I'm moving in.
I mean ... uh ... anyways. I'm going to bed now.
/rizzn
Lorem Ipsum Dolor :: Memes.org :: Memes are Mind Viruses
Lorem Ipsum Dolor :: Memes.org :: Memes are Mind Viruses: "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetaur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. "
"...laborum Et harumd und lookum like Greek to me..."
Interesting stuff. I'd always seen Dreamweaver put the passage in as filler text. I looked around for some information on the passage since a lot of it clearly isn't latin. Found information here: http://www.lipsum.com.
It translates the first part (the part that's still in latin) as: "But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?"
According to lipsom.com: "Lorem Ipsum, or Lipsum for short, is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only four centuries, but now the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged."
"It [also] has roots in a piece of classical Latin literature from 45 BC, making it over 2000 years old. Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur, from a Lipsum passage, and going through the cites of the word in classical literature, discovered the undoubtable source. Lipsum comes from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 of "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum" (The Extremes of Good and Evil) by Cicero, written in 45 BC. This book is a treatise on the theory of ethics, very popular during the Renaissance."
/rizzn
http://www.rizzn.com
"...laborum Et harumd und lookum like Greek to me..."
Interesting stuff. I'd always seen Dreamweaver put the passage in as filler text. I looked around for some information on the passage since a lot of it clearly isn't latin. Found information here: http://www.lipsum.com.
It translates the first part (the part that's still in latin) as: "But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?"
According to lipsom.com: "Lorem Ipsum, or Lipsum for short, is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only four centuries, but now the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged."
"It [also] has roots in a piece of classical Latin literature from 45 BC, making it over 2000 years old. Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur, from a Lipsum passage, and going through the cites of the word in classical literature, discovered the undoubtable source. Lipsum comes from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 of "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum" (The Extremes of Good and Evil) by Cicero, written in 45 BC. This book is a treatise on the theory of ethics, very popular during the Renaissance."
/rizzn
http://www.rizzn.com
Wednesday, October 1, 2003
The continuing saga of FlyDLUX
Ms. X Wrote me again:
THANK YOU FOR YOUR RESPONSE, IT WAS VERY NICE OF YOU AND BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THE WAY YOU EXPLAIN THINGS ALMOST MAKES IT BELIEVABLE.
I JUST HAVE ONE QUESTION FOR YOU. WELL ACTUALLY AT LEAST TWO.
WHY ARE THE PRESIDENT AND CEO, AND RK NOT ANSWERING PHONE CALLS. PEOPLE HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET IN TOUCH WITH THEM, TO NO AVAIL. DOES THAT MEAN THEY ARE HIDING????
DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHY THEY ARE STILL SOLICITING MONIES, IF THEY KNOW THAT THEY CANNOT DELIVER THE GOODS. OF COURSE UNLESS THEY STILL ARE TELLING PEOPLE THAT THEY CAN DELIVER. IS THE COMPANY STILL OPERATIONAL, SOLVENT OR SIMPLY PUT, IN BUSINESS???
YOUR RESPONSE WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED, AND THEN MAYBE YOU CAN GIVE ME SOME ADVISE AS TO WHAT CAN BE DONE, AND HOW THE MONIES COULD BE RECOUPED.
At this point, like I at least alluded to earlier, we have laid off nearly all our staff. The only folks that remain in office either have stake in the company or are volunteer laborers. Rick and I fall into that grey area of volunteers/partners as we've invested no hard capitol into the company, but have worked without pay since the start, essentially. RK and the President, as well as some of the bigger investors who have now taken a more active role, are the ones who have actual hard stake in the company. Between this group of people you will find varying opinions of how solvent the company is based off of how much they have invested, coloring their hopefulness and wishfulness of the company's solvency.
All that to say that this company is being run by a skeleton crew. Avoiding calls isn't an accurate description of what's going on. Everyone is heavily tied up in survival mode and the day to day operations of the company normally taken care of by the office crew is having to be taken care of by solely Rick and myself, and as effective as we are, when two people take on the tasks of eight, a lot slips through the cracks.
We still can deliver contingent on the many factors I have discussed here previously. How likely is it that those factors will work in our favor? That is a matter of discussion and opinion.
The monies we are pursuing now are not investments, or even customers. We have gone for hard money loans, and the repayments were based off the investors of this company's credit records and collaterals. Therefore no misrepresentation of any kind was made to potential investors.
As to the avenues we are pursuing to recoup the losses of the company, the first and most obvious is to try to fix the damn thing. It really seems quite a simple thing to just do what is required to get things going. Don't ask me why it hasn't happenned. I'm completely baffled.
The second avenue we are pursuing is to simply gather everyone that FlyDLUX owes money to, investors and clients alike, form a committee of debtors, and pursue Tony. His relationship to the company is more of a vendor than an employee, so the label of fraudster or whatever falls on his shoulders, rather than bringing down the rest of FlyDLUX officers and employees with his antics. Granted, FlyDLUX's existence rests on the shoulders of Tony, and that's just bad business to create a unidimensional company, but not illegal. Tony is the one who will have to face the music the most, since his name is all over contracts with FlyDLUX to provide service he didn't, as well as all over the consentual audio recordings of conversations he and various members of the company have had.
It is just my opinion, mind you, but I think that this is the best route we have to recouping our losses -- to pursue Tony in criminal, then civil court. I of course will abide by the decisions made by the company's general counsel, but to me it seems like this is the only sane course of action given Tony's performance for the company ever since the numbers got big.
The only way such action would work, however, was with full cooperation with us here at FlyDLUX, since we hold all the evidentiary cards, not to mention all the people coming together with an army of lawyers (it seems as if everyone that's ever done business with this company has a team of lawyers of their own), Tony will have to cave to our fiscal demands and fork over whatever reparations we ask for, and then what the criminal courts do to him is not my concern at that point.
/rizzn
THANK YOU FOR YOUR RESPONSE, IT WAS VERY NICE OF YOU AND BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THE WAY YOU EXPLAIN THINGS ALMOST MAKES IT BELIEVABLE.
I JUST HAVE ONE QUESTION FOR YOU. WELL ACTUALLY AT LEAST TWO.
WHY ARE THE PRESIDENT AND CEO, AND RK NOT ANSWERING PHONE CALLS. PEOPLE HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET IN TOUCH WITH THEM, TO NO AVAIL. DOES THAT MEAN THEY ARE HIDING????
DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHY THEY ARE STILL SOLICITING MONIES, IF THEY KNOW THAT THEY CANNOT DELIVER THE GOODS. OF COURSE UNLESS THEY STILL ARE TELLING PEOPLE THAT THEY CAN DELIVER. IS THE COMPANY STILL OPERATIONAL, SOLVENT OR SIMPLY PUT, IN BUSINESS???
YOUR RESPONSE WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED, AND THEN MAYBE YOU CAN GIVE ME SOME ADVISE AS TO WHAT CAN BE DONE, AND HOW THE MONIES COULD BE RECOUPED.
At this point, like I at least alluded to earlier, we have laid off nearly all our staff. The only folks that remain in office either have stake in the company or are volunteer laborers. Rick and I fall into that grey area of volunteers/partners as we've invested no hard capitol into the company, but have worked without pay since the start, essentially. RK and the President, as well as some of the bigger investors who have now taken a more active role, are the ones who have actual hard stake in the company. Between this group of people you will find varying opinions of how solvent the company is based off of how much they have invested, coloring their hopefulness and wishfulness of the company's solvency.
All that to say that this company is being run by a skeleton crew. Avoiding calls isn't an accurate description of what's going on. Everyone is heavily tied up in survival mode and the day to day operations of the company normally taken care of by the office crew is having to be taken care of by solely Rick and myself, and as effective as we are, when two people take on the tasks of eight, a lot slips through the cracks.
We still can deliver contingent on the many factors I have discussed here previously. How likely is it that those factors will work in our favor? That is a matter of discussion and opinion.
The monies we are pursuing now are not investments, or even customers. We have gone for hard money loans, and the repayments were based off the investors of this company's credit records and collaterals. Therefore no misrepresentation of any kind was made to potential investors.
As to the avenues we are pursuing to recoup the losses of the company, the first and most obvious is to try to fix the damn thing. It really seems quite a simple thing to just do what is required to get things going. Don't ask me why it hasn't happenned. I'm completely baffled.
The second avenue we are pursuing is to simply gather everyone that FlyDLUX owes money to, investors and clients alike, form a committee of debtors, and pursue Tony. His relationship to the company is more of a vendor than an employee, so the label of fraudster or whatever falls on his shoulders, rather than bringing down the rest of FlyDLUX officers and employees with his antics. Granted, FlyDLUX's existence rests on the shoulders of Tony, and that's just bad business to create a unidimensional company, but not illegal. Tony is the one who will have to face the music the most, since his name is all over contracts with FlyDLUX to provide service he didn't, as well as all over the consentual audio recordings of conversations he and various members of the company have had.
It is just my opinion, mind you, but I think that this is the best route we have to recouping our losses -- to pursue Tony in criminal, then civil court. I of course will abide by the decisions made by the company's general counsel, but to me it seems like this is the only sane course of action given Tony's performance for the company ever since the numbers got big.
The only way such action would work, however, was with full cooperation with us here at FlyDLUX, since we hold all the evidentiary cards, not to mention all the people coming together with an army of lawyers (it seems as if everyone that's ever done business with this company has a team of lawyers of their own), Tony will have to cave to our fiscal demands and fork over whatever reparations we ask for, and then what the criminal courts do to him is not my concern at that point.
/rizzn
Why are bloggers liberal?
Why is it that a preponderance of the really popular blogs out there somewhat liberal activists in nature. Am I getting the wrong feel for what's going on? Not sure. A lot of the blogs and feeds I have on my site are admittedly liberal in nature as well (memes.org readily comes to mind). I found another popular blogger named Olliver today who is fairly anti-Bush to say the least and liberalish in bent, from the cursory persuings of what I read today.
I don't know. I mean, I'm not avidly pro-bush or anything. Heck, he ain't my president, I voted for Buchannan. Yes, on purpose. I wasn't a resident of Broward County back then, mind you.
At any rate, like I've said before, if anything these days, I'm completely apolitical. I keep up with the stuff, but to me, liberal, democrat, conservative, republican -- they are all tainted words that represent the same side of two different coins. Somehow these days, in my apolitical state, it's so off-putting to have rhetoric spewed at me from both sides when I know that the rhetoric they spew is flawed to its very core. There's no need to be vitriolic. A democrat or a republican is not going to solve your problems. The problem is bi-partisan. They are all owned by the same lobbyists. They are all puppets of the same corporations. There is nothing that can be done from within the system to prevent it from leading us to it's logical conclusion.
The sooner we realize this is the sooner we'll prepare ourselves for what we really have to do to survive.
Trust me on this people. I'm never wrong with these things. I make prognostications about grand venues of public policy and high crime, and my instincts are always on the mark. No BS.
At some point here, I'm going to post my essays about the best logical form of government we could have. I've put a lot of thought into it, but I need to back it up with some hard data.
That being said, (having said nothing at all), am I crazy, or are all these damn bloggers anti-bush liberals?
I don't know. I mean, I'm not avidly pro-bush or anything. Heck, he ain't my president, I voted for Buchannan. Yes, on purpose. I wasn't a resident of Broward County back then, mind you.
At any rate, like I've said before, if anything these days, I'm completely apolitical. I keep up with the stuff, but to me, liberal, democrat, conservative, republican -- they are all tainted words that represent the same side of two different coins. Somehow these days, in my apolitical state, it's so off-putting to have rhetoric spewed at me from both sides when I know that the rhetoric they spew is flawed to its very core. There's no need to be vitriolic. A democrat or a republican is not going to solve your problems. The problem is bi-partisan. They are all owned by the same lobbyists. They are all puppets of the same corporations. There is nothing that can be done from within the system to prevent it from leading us to it's logical conclusion.
The sooner we realize this is the sooner we'll prepare ourselves for what we really have to do to survive.
Trust me on this people. I'm never wrong with these things. I make prognostications about grand venues of public policy and high crime, and my instincts are always on the mark. No BS.
At some point here, I'm going to post my essays about the best logical form of government we could have. I've put a lot of thought into it, but I need to back it up with some hard data.
That being said, (having said nothing at all), am I crazy, or are all these damn bloggers anti-bush liberals?
Days and days of nothing.
I have Knoppix installed on the laptop now. That is probably the least important development of recent times.
I know I have an interesting cross-section of readers. I have the random viewers. I have the close friends. I have the new net friends. There's the people who watch this page for juicy nuggets of information about FlyDLUX. And of course there's a few friends of friends that read the site, too. Its difficult writing in a manner that respects boundaries of the position I'm in as well as is accessible to those who frequent my page.
I've got to be honest. This turn here in the FlyDLUX world has taken it's toll on me. My mind feels drained all the time. It'd be different if things had taken a turn for the successful, but it hasn't. It is really hard not to get into a depressive cycle because of all this. I mean Rick and I had this office running like a finely tuned machine. Sure, we were fighting fires constantly, but every employee knew their place, their function, and we had some sense of accomplishment.
Then the crushing fist of reality came down upon us. It became apparent that no matter what we did, what problems on our end we fixed, there was someone out there that was deliberately fscking it up for us.
Perhaps deliberately fscking it up is too strong, but when you look at the opportunity we had, and the organisation of gifted people we had at this end put together, and look at how it all is dying now, it certainly appears as if things were sabotaged, even if it wasn't done so deliberately.
People who know this story know what I'm talking about. Those of you who have listened to me bitch about my company in person know the feeling I have right now. It's desperation. And truly, things aren't so bad for me. I have a lot of opportunity opening up for me currently. I've got the Aircraft Project. I've got the Biotech Project. There's a few smaller things on the table.
Honestly, though, I'm beaten. I feel like Rocky or something. I keep refusing to go down even though the fight should have been over, something inside me keeps making me get back up. I feel like my brains have literally been beaten out of me. I barely have the will to do my own personal projects. I mean I don't even get this depressed when I'm unemployed.
Having said all that, tomorrow I'm enacting a plan for personal improvement, and I'm sticking to it. I'm going to remain on task, and there is nothing that can prevent me from doing so. I'm turning off the distractions. I've got a list of things to do that will make me money, get me out of this situation, and help those that are around me get out of the same infectious funk I'm in.
In other news, I am enjoying running Linux on the laptop. I've been using it exclusively to acclimate myself to it's mannerisms. It's been ages since I've exclusively used a *nix box (the last one was my Sparc station). Things I need to make Linux my primary OS: Sonic Foundry Acid Port/Clone, Good Wav editor, Dreamweaver (haven't checked to see if there's a linux port), and a good BASIC compiler. After that, alls I'd need would be an NT box to run a true .NET environment for my ASP hosting and I'd be a happy Linuxy guy.
/rizzn
I know I have an interesting cross-section of readers. I have the random viewers. I have the close friends. I have the new net friends. There's the people who watch this page for juicy nuggets of information about FlyDLUX. And of course there's a few friends of friends that read the site, too. Its difficult writing in a manner that respects boundaries of the position I'm in as well as is accessible to those who frequent my page.
I've got to be honest. This turn here in the FlyDLUX world has taken it's toll on me. My mind feels drained all the time. It'd be different if things had taken a turn for the successful, but it hasn't. It is really hard not to get into a depressive cycle because of all this. I mean Rick and I had this office running like a finely tuned machine. Sure, we were fighting fires constantly, but every employee knew their place, their function, and we had some sense of accomplishment.
Then the crushing fist of reality came down upon us. It became apparent that no matter what we did, what problems on our end we fixed, there was someone out there that was deliberately fscking it up for us.
Perhaps deliberately fscking it up is too strong, but when you look at the opportunity we had, and the organisation of gifted people we had at this end put together, and look at how it all is dying now, it certainly appears as if things were sabotaged, even if it wasn't done so deliberately.
People who know this story know what I'm talking about. Those of you who have listened to me bitch about my company in person know the feeling I have right now. It's desperation. And truly, things aren't so bad for me. I have a lot of opportunity opening up for me currently. I've got the Aircraft Project. I've got the Biotech Project. There's a few smaller things on the table.
Honestly, though, I'm beaten. I feel like Rocky or something. I keep refusing to go down even though the fight should have been over, something inside me keeps making me get back up. I feel like my brains have literally been beaten out of me. I barely have the will to do my own personal projects. I mean I don't even get this depressed when I'm unemployed.
Having said all that, tomorrow I'm enacting a plan for personal improvement, and I'm sticking to it. I'm going to remain on task, and there is nothing that can prevent me from doing so. I'm turning off the distractions. I've got a list of things to do that will make me money, get me out of this situation, and help those that are around me get out of the same infectious funk I'm in.
In other news, I am enjoying running Linux on the laptop. I've been using it exclusively to acclimate myself to it's mannerisms. It's been ages since I've exclusively used a *nix box (the last one was my Sparc station). Things I need to make Linux my primary OS: Sonic Foundry Acid Port/Clone, Good Wav editor, Dreamweaver (haven't checked to see if there's a linux port), and a good BASIC compiler. After that, alls I'd need would be an NT box to run a true .NET environment for my ASP hosting and I'd be a happy Linuxy guy.
/rizzn
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)