Military Photos - Political Discussions and Rants http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/ en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:53:35 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg Military Photos - Political Discussions and Rants http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/ Palinophobia sweeping land http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169225&goto=newpost Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:12:33 GMT Funny lib comments. ---Quote--- Her greatest hypocrisy is in her pretense that she is a woman ---End Quote--- More gems (http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/20/palinophobes_hate_first_ask_questions_later_99240.html) Funny lib comments.

Quote:
Her greatest hypocrisy is in her pretense that she is a woman
More gems ]]> Political Discussions and Rants bono http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169225 Bay Area not maverick enough to read Palin book http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169208&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:11:08 GMT http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...DDHJ1AMAC3.DTL
Quote:
"Anything like that we wouldn't carry," said clerk Emily Stackhouse. "We're a small store and it would probably gross us all out. Some things you carry because of freedom of speech, but a book like that is just gross."
As someone who is from the Bay Area it is safe to say this is the most closed minded part of the country.


]]> Political Discussions and Rants http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169208 Hacked (leaked?) emails suggest global warming shenanigans http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169201&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:56:55 GMT I've been following this all day and it seems to be legit.

http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/a...y_hacked#63657
Quote:
Hackers have broken into the data base of the Hadley GRU unit - one of the world’s leading alarmist centres - and put the files they stole on the Internet, on the grounds that the science is too important to be kept under wraps.
The ethics of this are dubious, to say the least. But the files suggest, on a very preliminary glance, some other very dubious practices, too, and a lot of collusion - sometimes called “peer review”. Or even conspiracy.
The emails have been confirmed as real:

Quote:
8.15 PM UPDATE: The Hadley CRU director admits the emails seem to be genuine:

The director of Britain’s leading Climate Research Unit, Phil Jones, has told Investigate magazine’s TGIF Edition tonight ..."It was a hacker. We were aware of this about three or four days ago that someone had hacked into our system and taken and copied loads of data files and emails."…
TGIF asked Jones about the controversial email discussing “hiding the decline”, and Jones explained what he was trying to say….
If this turns out to be reliable, than its going to raise a lot of questions. Of course we will need a media thats willing to ask those questions, which seems unlikely since they're so invested in the hysteria. ]]> Political Discussions and Rants Wimbly http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169201 Potential Global Collapse http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169195&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:29:16 GMT In a report entitled "Worst-case debt scenario", the bank's asset team said state rescue packages over the last year have merely transferred private liabilities onto sagging sovereign shoulders, creating a fresh set of problems.

Overall debt is still far too high in almost all rich economies as a share of GDP (350pc in the US), whether public or private. It must be reduced by the hard slog of "deleveraging", for years.

Related Articles
"As yet, nobody can say with any certainty whether we have in fact escaped the prospect of a global economic collapse," said the 68-page report, headed by asset chief Daniel Fermon. It is an exploration of the dangers, not a forecast.


Under the French bank's "Bear Case" scenario (the gloomiest of three possible outcomes), the dollar would slide further and global equities would retest the March lows. Property prices would tumble again. Oil would fall back to $50 in 2010.

Governments have already shot their fiscal bolts. Even without fresh spending, public debt would explode within two years to 105pc of GDP in the UK, 125pc in the US and the eurozone, and 270pc in Japan. Worldwide state debt would reach $45 trillion, up two-and-a-half times in a decade.

(UK figures look low because debt started from a low base. Mr Ferman said the UK would converge with Europe at 130pc of GDP by 2015 under the bear case).

The underlying debt burden is greater than it was after the Second World War, when nominal levels looked similar. Ageing populations will make it harder to erode debt through growth. "High public debt looks entirely unsustainable in the long run. We have almost reached a point of no return for government debt," it said.

Inflating debt away might be seen by some governments as a lesser of evils.

If so, gold would go "up, and up, and up" as the only safe haven from fiat paper money. Private debt is also crippling. Even if the US savings rate stabilises at 7pc, and all of it is used to pay down debt, it will still take nine years for households to reduce debt/income ratios to the safe levels of the 1980s.

The bank said the current crisis displays "compelling similarities" with Japan during its Lost Decade (or two), with a big difference: Japan was able to stay afloat by exporting into a robust global economy and by letting the yen fall. It is not possible for half the world to pursue this strategy at the same time.

SocGen advises bears to sell the dollar and to "short" cyclical equities such as technology, auto, and travel to avoid being caught in the "inherent deflationary spiral". Emerging markets would not be spared. Paradoxically, they are more leveraged to the US growth than Wall Street itself. Farm commodities would hold up well, led by sugar.

Mr Fermon said junk bonds would lose 31pc of their value in 2010 alone. However, sovereign bonds would "generate turbo-charged returns" mimicking the secular slide in yields seen in Japan as the slump ground on. At one point Japan's 10-year yield dropped to 0.40pc. The Fed would hold down yields by purchasing more bonds. The European Central Bank would do less, for political reasons.

SocGen's case for buying sovereign bonds is controversial. A number of funds doubt whether the Japan scenario will be repeated, not least because Tokyo itself may be on the cusp of a debt compound crisis.

Mr Fermon said his report had electrified clients on both sides of the Atlantic. "Everybody wants to know what the impact will be. A lot of hedge funds and bankers are worried," he said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/e...-collapse.html ]]> Political Discussions and Rants beNder http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169195 <![CDATA[Harvard Dean Jeffery Flier: Health 'Reform' Gets Failing Grade]]> http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169192&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:24:21 GMT
Quote:

Associated Press

As the dean of Harvard Medical School I am frequently asked to comment on the health-reform debate. I'd give it a failing grade.
Instead of forthrightly dealing with the fundamental problems, discussion is dominated by rival factions struggling to enact or defeat President Barack Obama's agenda. The rhetoric on both sides is exaggerated and often deceptive. Those of us for whom the central issue is health—not politics—have been left in the lurch. And as controversy heads toward a conclusion in Washington, it appears that the people who favor the legislation are engaged in collective denial.
Our health-care system suffers from problems of cost, access and quality, and needs major reform. Tax policy drives employment-based insurance; this begets overinsurance and drives costs upward while creating inequities for the unemployed and self-employed. A regulatory morass limits innovation. And deep flaws in Medicare and Medicaid drive spending without optimizing care.
Speeches and news reports can lead you to believe that proposed congressional legislation would tackle the problems of cost, access and quality. But that's not true. The various bills do deal with access by expanding Medicaid and mandating subsidized insurance at substantial cost—and thus addresses an important social goal. However, there are no provisions to substantively control the growth of costs or raise the quality of care. So the overall effort will fail to qualify as reform.










In discussions with dozens of health-care leaders and economists, I find near unanimity of opinion that, whatever its shape, the final legislation that will emerge from Congress will markedly accelerate national health-care spending rather than restrain it. Likewise, nearly all agree that the legislation would do little or nothing to improve quality or change health-care's dysfunctional delivery system. The system we have now promotes fragmented care and makes it more difficult than it should be to assess outcomes and patient satisfaction. The true costs of health care are disguised, competition based on price and quality are almost impossible, and patients lose their ability to be the ultimate judges of value.
Worse, currently proposed federal legislation would undermine any potential for real innovation in insurance and the provision of care. It would do so by overregulating the health-care system in the service of special interests such as insurance companies, hospitals, professional organizations and pharmaceutical companies, rather than the patients who should be our primary concern.
In effect, while the legislation would enhance access to insurance, the trade-off would be an accelerated crisis of health-care costs and perpetuation of the current dysfunctional system—now with many more participants. This will make an eventual solution even more difficult. Ultimately, our capacity to innovate and develop new therapies would suffer most of all.
There are important lessons to be learned from recent experience with reform in Massachusetts. Here, insurance mandates similar to those proposed in the federal legislation succeeded in expanding coverage but—despite initial predictions—increased total spending.
A "Special Commission on the Health Care Payment System" recently declared that the Massachusetts health-care payment system must be changed over the next five years, most likely to one involving "capitated" payments instead of the traditional fee-for-service system. Capitation means that newly created organizations of physicians and other health-care providers will be given limited dollars per patient for all of their care, allowing for shared savings if spending is below the targets. Unfortunately, the details of this massive change—necessitated by skyrocketing costs and a desire to improve quality—are completely unspecified by the commission, although a new Massachusetts state bureaucracy clearly will be required.
Yet it's entirely unclear how such unspecified changes would impact physician practices and compensation, hospital organizations and their capacity to invest, and the ability of patients to receive the kind and quality of care they desire. Similar challenges would eventually confront the entire country on a more explosive scale if the current legislation becomes law.
Selling an uncertain and potentially unwelcome outcome such as this to the public would be a challenging task. It is easier to assert, confidently but disingenuously, that decreased costs and enhanced quality would result from the current legislation.
So the majority of our representatives may congratulate themselves on reducing the number of uninsured, while quietly understanding this can only be the first step of a multiyear process to more drastically change the organization and funding of health care in America. I have met many people for whom this strategy is conscious and explicit.
We should not be making public policy in such a crucial area by keeping the electorate ignorant of the actual road ahead.

Dr. Flier is dean of the Harvard Medical School.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...994054014.html ]]> Political Discussions and Rants SBL http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169192 Bodies of gunmen in Mumbai attacks remain unburied http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169188&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:35:30 GMT By Prachi Pinglay
BBC News, Mumbai



Troops battled for three days to regain control of Mumbai in November 2008


The bodies of nine gunmen killed during attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai a year ago are still awaiting burial.
The unclaimed bodies are lying in a local government hospital and Mumbai police say they have still to take a decision about their future.
Muslim clerics had denied permission to bury the bodies in Mumbai graveyards, saying the actions of the gunmen had "defamed" their religion.
Ten men attacked Mumbai on 26 November 2008, killing more than 170 people.
Only one gunman, Mohammed Ajmal Amir Qasab, survived and he is currently facing trial.
'Un-Islamic'
The bodies are being kept in the morgue of Sir JJ Hospital. Officials say the area is secluded and guarded around the clock. The seal is checked every day.

TEN NAMED GUNMEN

Nasir, alias Abu Umar (Nariman House)
Abu Ali (Taj Palace)
Soheb (Taj Palace)
Fahad Ullah (Oberoi)
Mohammed Ajmal Amir Qasab(survived)
Bada Abdul Rehaman (above left, Taj Palace)
Abdul Rehaman Chota (above right, Oberoi)
Ismal Khan (CST station)
Babar Imaran (Nariman House)
Nazir, alias Abu Omer (Taj Palace)


The question of what should be done with the dead militants arose soon after the attacks.
Pakistan flatly refused to take them despite India's argument that they should go back to the country from which they originated.
After post-mortem examinations the bodies were taken to the hospital morgue as Indian Muslims said they would not allow the bodies to be buried in their cemeteries.
Ibrahim Tai, president of the Muslim Council Trust, says he opposes such burials as the gunmen's actions were un-Islamic.
He says if the bodies have to be buried, it should be at "an unknown location".
"We know Indian authorities are stuck as the bodies have not been claimed by Pakistan. These nine people should not be identified by anyone. If they are buried without leaving any trace, then it is fine with us.
"We believe that their actions should not be praised or recognised by anyone. If they set up tombs then tourists will visit and people will talk about it. We don't want that to happen," he said.
Local Muslim cleric Maulana Mustaqil Azmi said it was important that the bodies were disposed of soon and that the matter was closed.
"We do not want them to be buried on any of our burial grounds but they can be disposed of anywhere else in India. Good Muslims are laid to rest in our burial grounds. We do not believe that these nine men are true followers of Islam."
Police say the bodies have been embalmed and are well preserved but a decision on burial has yet to be taken given the religious sensitivity.

IMO India should follow Russia on the way of disposing terrorist corpses.. ]]> Political Discussions and Rants JBH22 http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169188 China Helps the Powerful in Namibia http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169187&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:32:51 GMT
Quote:
November 20, 2009
China Helps the Powerful in Namibia

By SHARON LaFRANIERE
BEIJING — Like parents everywhere, mothers and fathers in Namibia, an impoverished southern African nation, worry about college costs and opportunities for their children. The Chinese government has stepped forward to help — for a select and powerful few.
So far this year, the Beijing government has secretly awarded scholarships to study in China to the offspring of nine top officials, including to the daughter of Namibia’s president, Hifikepunye Pohamba. Two young relatives of Namibia’s former president and national patriarch, Sam Nujoma, also received grants.
The disclosure of the scholarships, first revealed by a feisty Namibian newspaper, has unleashed a wave of fury from the nation’s civil society groups and youth organizations. In a country where five in six high school graduates do not go on to college, many find it unconscionable for well-paid government leaders to accept overseas university scholarships for their children.
“Only senior people in government knew about the scholarships,” said Norman Tjombe, director of the nonprofit Legal Assistance Center. “No chance was given at all to the general public.”
The controversy has reignited a simmering debate in Namibia over deals with the Chinese government, already under scrutiny by Namibian prosecutors. Inquiries there and in other developing countries in Africa and Asia have cast a fresh light on how China sometimes uses its treasure chest of foreign loans and aid to create elite alliances and ease the approval of no-bid contracts.
Even some within Namibia’s governing Swapo party are asking whether China is trying to buy influence with their nation’s political leadership to gain access to mineral resources or to win business for its well-connected companies.
“How is it that this favor just comes like manna from heaven?” said Elijan Ngurare, secretary general of Swapo’s youth league, in a telephone interview. “Clearly there must be something that they are after.”
To some international relations experts, the scholarship controversy illustrates a blind spot in China’s aggressive strategy to cement diplomatic alliances, lock in natural resources and solicit trade and business on the African continent. In Namibia at least, Chinese government officials seem caught off guard by the public scrutiny exercised by a vibrant civil society.
The scholarship scandal was first revealed in Informante, a free tabloid in the Namibian capital, Windhoek, with a proud motto: “You conceal. We reveal.” It has no counterpart in China, where even the most aggressive media outlets stop short of raising unfavorable questions about the dealings of top officials or their children.
Bates Gill, director of the Stockholm International Peace Institute, said China was accustomed to opaque, controlled, government-to-government relations. “China’s engagement in Africa is moving further and faster than its ability to try and shape perceptions there,” he said. As a result, “there will inevitably be embarrassments.”
The list in Namibia is growing. In July, anticorruption investigators alleged that a state-controlled Chinese contractor had facilitated a $55.3 million deal to sell the Namibian government security scanners with millions of dollars in kickbacks. The inquiry is particularly delicate because until late last year, Hu Haifeng, the son of President Hu Jintao, ran the scanner company. A Chinese Commerce Ministry official recently said that China was cooperating with the Namibian authorities.
Another investigation centers on allegations that a Chinese weapons company funneled $700,000 to Lt. Gen. Martin Shalli, the commander of Namibia’s defense force. Namibia’s president suspended General Shalli from his post in July. General Shalli so far has declined comment.
Mr. Gill said such allegations threatened to undermine China’s impressive campaign to link its development with Africa’s. Over all, while China is making “an enormous and positive contribution to Africa’s development,” he said, it is still unaccustomed to the dynamics of some African democracies.
At the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation this month, the Chinese prime minister, Wen Jiabao, announced that China would double the amount of low-interest loans it offered Africa to $10 billion over the next three years, increase the number of scholarships and reduce tariffs on products from the poorest nations.
But he sounded frustrated when asked whether China was only after Africa’s natural resources.
“Why are there always accusations against China?” he said at a Nov. 8 news conference in Cairo. “Is this an African viewpoint or rather a Western viewpoint?”
In Namibia, political scientists say concerns are growing about whether officials are negotiating arm’s-length contracts with China. “People are thinking China is making secret deals with the government here and they are having all kinds of suspicions,” said Carola Engelbrecht, a citizen activist.
The scholarship recipients include children of some of Namibia’s most powerful officials, including the inspector general of the Namibian police and the justice minister, who is also the secretary general of Swapo.
One grant recipient is the son of the defense minister, whose agency buys weapons from China. Another is the son of the home affairs and immigration minister, whose agency is responsible for approving residence and work permits for an army of Chinese workers whose companies have won government or private contracts for business in Namibia.
Three other recipients are children of the minister, deputy minister, and a third high-ranking official at the Ministry of Mines and Energy. In July, the ministry renewed a license that gives a subsidiary of a state-owned Chinese company sole rights to search for uranium and other minerals in a prime prospecting area.
The nation’s anticorruption commission has begun a preliminary inquiry into how the scholarships were awarded. Chinese government officials have reacted in a familiar fashion: three government agencies in Beijing did not answer written questions.
Xia Lili, first secretary of the Chinese Embassy in Windhoek, said he had no obligation to respond to queries. “This is over,” he said.
But with national elections scheduled at the end of the month, it clearly is not. Bill Lindeke, a political scientist with the Institute for Public Policy Research in Windhoek, said Namibian officials might be forced to pay for their children’s educations in China to quiet the controversy.
Chinese Embassy officials initially insisted that the Education Ministry was in charge of the selection process. But Namibia’s education minister, Nangolo Mbumba, said at a news conference this month that his ministry handled only 10 scholarships to underprivileged students and had nothing to do with the other grants — some of which apparently cover five years of tuition.
He said the president’s daughter, Ndapanda Pohamba, who is now studying at the Beijing Cultural and Language University, “applied for the scholarship in her own right and only notified the parents afterwards.”
The minister’s statement that “you cannot bribe someone with a bursary” set off a fresh wave of indignation in a nation whose two universities can accommodate only about 2,000 of the 12,000 high school students who graduate each year.
“Mr. Mbumba: anything of value you accept, or even worse, solicit, constitutes a bribe if you hold public office,” one citizen said in a text message posted on the Web site of The Namibian, a Windhoek daily.
Source:http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/wo...gewanted=print ]]> Political Discussions and Rants Ordie http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169187 Arrested for not paying tip http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169186&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:32:32 GMT
Quote:
College students arrested for not paying tip

By Peter Mucha
Inquirer Staff Writer
It was an evening out that college students Leslie Pope and John Wagner will long remember.
Not only did they get what they called lousy service, they got handcuffed and arrested.
All over a $16.35 tip.
They were with a half-dozen friends at the Lehigh Pub in Bethlehem last month, so the establishment tacked what it called a mandatory 18 percent gratuity onto the bill of about $73, according to reports.
Pope and Wagner refused to pay.
"You can't give us terrible, terrible service and expect a tip," said Pope, a 22-year-old Moravian College senior who's a Pottsville native, according to the Lehigh Valley Express-Times.
They had to find their own napkins and cutlery while their waitress caught a smoke, had to ask the bar for soda refills, and had to wait over an hour for salad and wings, they told NBC10.
The pub, which was very busy that night, took the $73, but then called the cops, who treated the matter as a theft.
The menu clearly states, "18 percent gratuity added to check of parties of 6 of more," and a similar message is printed on receipts, a pub employee said this morning.
A court date is scheduled for next month.
What would they do if it happened again? a reporter asked.
"Honestly, probably gonna pay the tip anyway," said Pope, prompting Wagner, 24, a Lehigh University grad student, to laugh.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/br...aying_tip.html

Its not a tip if you have to pay it to get service is it? ]]> Political Discussions and Rants chulo_allen http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169186 Call for stricter checks on Americans http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169180&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:55:02 GMT The Danish People’s Party is calling for extra checks on ethnic non-Western Americans wishing to travel to Denmark.

The Danish People’s and Social Liberal parties in Denmark are calling for increased checks on Americans wishing to travel to Denmark, including the introduction of visa requirements and pre-travel disclosures.

”We have had to admit that the Americans have not been as effective in their anti-terrorism efforts as we thought and that the threat against Denmark has grown,” says Danish People’s Party Justice Spokesman Peter Skaarup.

According to Visit Denmark almost 500,000 Americans visit the country each year. One of those who twice this year availed himself of easy entry into the country was a man recently arrested in Chicago on charges of conspiracy to carry out an attack on the Jyllands-Posten newspaper.

Non-Westerners
Although Danish police are currently able to require airlines to provide passenger lists, the Danish People’s Party wants a more intensive cooperation with American authorities so that passport control can check whether Americans visiting Denmark have undertaken repeated travel to countries such as Afghanistan and Pakistan.

”In particular we should look at Americans with a non-Western background. But we have to ask the Justice Minister to provide a written report on precisely how this can be done,” says Skaarup.

Social Liberals and visas
Surprisingly, the Danish People’s Party has been given the support of the Social Liberal Party, whose Justice Spokeswoman Lone Dybkjær says she is also concerned at developments.

She says she has noted U.S. intelligence statements to Politiken last week that the Chicago incident indicates that terrorists will increasingly attempt to get American passports to allow them easier entry to Europe to carry out terrorist attacks.

American nationals are currently able to travel freely to Denmark and several other European countries. Denmark currently requires visas for travellers from 133 other countries, including African and many Middle Eastern countries.

”To start with, the justice minister should make a proposal. But it may bet that we have to be more restrictive towards American nationals. One proposal could be at the EU level – to introduce the same type of visas from American nationals that Danes must have when they travel to the United States,” says Dybkjær.

U.S. checks Europeans
Danish nationals are required to fill out a form prior to travelling to the United States allowing them to be checked by American authorities prior to arrival.

Justice Minister Brian Mikkelsen says it may be necessary to introduce restrictions.

”There is no doubt that terrorists are currently trying to organise themselves in many different ways. I will not rule out the possibility of having to introduce a stricter monitoring of travellers from the United States. But any decision must rest on a police evaluation – so I will be discussing this with the Security and Intelligence Service,” says Mikkelsen.

The Socialist People’s and Social Democratic parties are also demanding that the justice minister addresses an increased terrorist threat.

The Security and Intelligence Service declined to comment on the issue yesterday.

http://politiken.dk/newsinenglish/article840127.ece ]]> Political Discussions and Rants Danskeren http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169180 More Xenophobia in SA http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169179&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:49:40 GMT 'They said we must go'
2009-11-17 23:11

Cape Town - "What will the future hold for us? They started destroying our houses and said we must go."

This was the feeling on Tuesday night of a weary Philip Chinomera, 46, one of 3 500 foreigners who fled their shacks in the township of De Doorns in the Western Cape because of angry locals.

On Tuesday morning locals tried to stop foreigners from getting onto the trucks of farmers coming to collect workers for the day. They had also demolished a number of shacks rented by foreign nationals.

Luckily, they had already been vacated.

'They don't belong in SA'

Tensions began to flare up after 68 foreigners had slept at a municipal storeroom next to a police station at the weekend following a shebeen fight in which Zimbabweans were involved.

Rumours then began to circulate that action was to be taken against foreigners.

A local resident, Sibongiseni Makapela, 18, said South Africans are breaking down the homes of Zimbabweans because "they don't belong in South Africa".

About 1 800 of the foreign nationals who fled, including children, were escorted by police to a sports field where they will sleep in tents.

Many others were taken in by farmers who they work for.

Others simply set off on foot, with their possessions balanced on their heads.

At the municipal storeroom, Nyasha Masayire described South Africans as "very rough".

"They treat us like ****."

'We have papers'

Another Zimbabwean man came running up, holding out his work permit.

"Why do South Africans want to chase us away? We have work permits!" he called out.

According to Masayire, they all have their "papers".

Police station commissioner Desmond van der Westhuizen said no injuries were reported and no arrests were made on Tuesday.

A temporary arrangement was also made between officials and locals to leave the foreigners alone.

But police will still maintain a visible presence in De Doorns, particularly as some Lesotho nationals are still there. Van der Westhuizen said that, for now, the area was quiet and calm.

Councillors, disaster management officials, members of the farming community and the police will meet on Wednesday to discuss what the next plan of action should be.

Van der Westhuizen said the outbreak of xenophobia was not a one-off incident, but an annual occurrence.

"It's a thing with a history," he said. "We must all come on board to solve this problem."

- Die Burger ]]> Political Discussions and Rants Rudolph http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169179 <![CDATA[Emergency docs on excited delirium: "Yes, it's for real!"]]> http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169175&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:10:40 GMT
Quote:
It's now official: In a move strongly supportive of law enforcement, a special investigative task force of the American College of Emergency Physicians has formally declared that the violent and sometimes lethal phenomenon known as "excited delirium" really does exist.

Some police critics have insisted that ED is nothing more than a convenient concept "manufactured" by law enforcement to cover-up brutality and exonerate authorities when a suspect is roughly arrested or dies in custody.

But after a thorough review of available research, the ACEP group affirms in a recent White Paper that ED is "a unique syndrome" that may not be identified in autopsies but that can be recognized in the field by "a distinctive group of clinical and behavioral characteristics." The task force has presented its report to ACEP's directors but at this writing, it has not yet been publicly released. Force Science News obtained a copy after learning of its existence at the recent IACP conference in Denver.

The report makes clear that the psycho-physiological meltdown known as ED is not always fatal. Indeed, given an appropriate collaboration by responding officers and EMS personnel, the condition might be "amenable to early therapeutic intervention," the document speculates.
But, refreshingly, the task force acknowledges the daunting and controversial challenges involved in an ED encounter from a police perspective. "LEOs are in the difficult and sometimes impossible position of having to recognize this as a medical emergency, attempting to control an irrational and physically resistive person, and minding the safety of all involved" in a situation that has "degenerated to such a degree" that authorities have been called to deal with it, the paper states.

"Given the irrational and potentially violent, dangerous, and lethal behavior of an ExDS [excited delirium syndrome] subject, any LEO interaction...risks significant injury or death to either the LEO or the ExDS subject." These cases may draw "intense public scrutiny, coupled with the expectation of a perfect outcome. Anything less creates...potential public outrage. Unfortunately, this dangerous medical situation makes perfect outcomes difficult in many circumstances."

"This paper could be the genesis of a new understanding of the complex issues involved in excited delirium," says Dr. Bill Lewinski, executive director of Force Science. "The report is the clearest and most important effort yet to describe the true nature off this syndrome and the kind of difficulties officers encounter in trying to deal with it on the street.

"Law enforcement authorities can use this document as an important reference source for the media and the general public at the time of an ED crisis and can also make it familiar to medical examiners, coroners, and ER physicians who may not be current with the latest professional literature on the subject.

"Within the last 12 months, I encountered a coroner in a major jurisdiction who flatly denied the existence of excited delirium or anything like it. So there is no doubt that the ACEP's findings are timely and desperately needed."

The task force was formed last year in response to increased reports and media coverage of "sudden deaths in severely agitated subjects" and a lack of "clarity and consistency" within the medical community about the nature and causes of these fatalities.

Eighteen emergency physicians and 1 PhD researcher and neurology professor were named to the group, with a mandate to determine whether ED actually exists as an "entity," and, if so, "whether it could be better defined, identified, and treated." Among the task force members was Dr. Matthew Sztajnkrycer, chairman of emergency medicine research at the Mayo Clinic and a technical advisor to the Force Science Research Center.

The group's White Paper is intended to "raise awareness" of ED among the public and medical personnel and to help law enforcement, corrections officers, EMS personnel, and health care providers "identify best practices to deal with this true medical emergency." It includes a bibliography of 58 articles on the subject from professional publications. [Click here to read a report on the White Paper in Emergency Medical News, based on an interview with the group's chair, Dr. Mark DeBard, professor of emergency medicine at Ohio State University College of Medicine.

According to the group's findings, ED, under various names, has been reported in medical circles for more than 150 years, often with a high mortality rate. In the 1980s, "there was a dramatic increase in the number of reported cases," the White Paper says. Most "were found to be associated with the...abuse of cocaine," as well as other illicit stimulant "drugs of abuse," such as meth and PCP. Among cocaine users, an ED onset "usually appears to occur in the context of a cocaine binge that follows a long history of cocaine abuse," the report says.

A history of psychiatric illness is reported in a "distinctly smaller" portion of ED subjects. In these cases, researchers "frequently cite abrupt cessation of psychotherapeutic medications" as an underlying factor; in short, the subject is off his meds.

In all, the task force estimates that some 250 ED subjects die in the US each year, an estimated eight to 14 percent of those who experience the syndrome. Despite circumstantial relationships with stimulant drug abuse, psychiatric disease, psychiatric drug withdrawal, and underlying metabolic disorders, science has not yet determined how these factors lead to excited delirium or why only some cases end in death.

The "typical course" of an ED episode described in published accounts involves "acute drug intoxication, often a history of mental illness (especially...paranoia), a struggle with law enforcement, physical or noxious chemical control measures or electrical control device (ECD) application, sudden and unexpected death, and an autopsy which fails to reveal a definite cause of death from trauma or natural disease," the task force reports.

The paper points out that while "most organized medical associations...and medical coding reference materials...do not recognize the exact term 'excited delirium,' some professional groups do, such as the National Assn. of Medical Examiners. Moreover, references to the syndrome can be found in the International Classification of Diseases under other names, such as manic excitement, delirium of mixed origin, psychomotor excitement, abnormal excitement, and so on.

The semantics issue "does not indicate that ExDS does not exist," the report emphasizes. It only means that "this exact and specific terminology may not yet be [universally] accepted."

What's more consistent are the "common characteristics" observed among subjects in the throes of the syndrome. "These subjects are hyperaggressive with bizarre behavior, and are impervious to pain, combative, hyperthermic [abnormally high body temperature], and tachycardic [rapid heart rate]," the report says.

Officers are likely to find them tirelessly resistant, sweating, breathing rapidly, agitated, unusually strong, and inappropriately clothed (especially nude). "[R]emorse, normal fear and understanding of surroundings, and rational thoughts for safety are absent in such subjects," the report explains.

Like much else about ED, why some subjects exhibiting these symptoms die and others do not is "not fully understood," the task force notes. Some researchers suspect that "chronic stimulant-induced abnormalities of dopamine transporter pathways" in the brain, as well as "elevation of heat shock proteins," may be involved. Others are exploring possible "genetic susceptibility." At the moment, the true significance of any potential causative influence "remains unknown."

It is clear, though, that the "majority of lethal ExDS patients die shortly after a violent struggle" that becomes "more severe than anyone anticipates," the report says. "Many have already sustained traumatic injuries before the arrival of law enforcement and still exhibit intense struggling, even when a struggle is futile and self mutilation is a result." The subject may experience a "sudden collapse after restraint" and lapse into a "period of tranquility" or "giving up" shortly before dying. Even "aggressive resuscitation" efforts may then prove unsuccessful.

Expecting an ED encounter to be resolved without a potentially fatal struggle may be asking the near impossible of responding officers. As the task force acknowledges: "[A]lmost everything taught to LEOs about control of subjects relies on a suspect to either be rational, appropriate, or to comply with painful stimuli. Tools and tactics...(such as pepper spray, impact batons, joint lock maneuvers, punches and kicks, and ECDs, especially when used for pain compliance) that are traditionally effective in controlling resisting subjects, are likely to be less effective on ExDS subjects.

"When methods such as pain compliance maneuvers or tools of force fail, the LEO is left with few options. It is not feasible for them to wait for the ExDS subject to calm down, as this may take hours in a potentially medically unstable situation fraught with scene safety concerns."

Two resolution possibilities that most officers would consider would be a physical "swarming" of the subject if sufficient manpower is available or the firing of a Taser. Unfortunately, the task force does not offer recommendations or even a listing of pros and cons regarding these specific options. Nor does it address the controversy regarding Tasering and in-custody deaths.

A member of the task force told Force Science News that there was "much debate" about these issues, but that the final consensus seemed to be that "we should not dictate to cops what to do. We are physicians, not use-of-force experts." Sztajnkrycer explains: "The purpose of the report was to emphasize rapid medical recognition" of the syndrome.

The report says simply that "Some of the goals of LEOs in these situations should be to 1) recognize possible ExDS, contain the subject, and call for EMS; 2) take the subject into custody quickly, safely, and efficiently if necessary; and 3) then immediately turn the care of the subject over to EMS personnel when they arrive for treatment and transport to definitive medical care."

Because "control measures are a prerequisite for medical assessment and intervention," the report goes on, "this should be accomplished as rapidly and safely as possible...[i]n subjects who do not respond to verbal calming and de-escalation techniques.... Recent research indicates that physical struggle is a much greater [potential danger] than other causes of exertion or noxious stimuli.... [S]pecific physical control methods employed should optimally minimize the time spent struggling, while safely achieving physical control. The use of multiple personnel with training in safe physical control measures is encouraged."

And: "There are well-documented cases of ExDS deaths with minimal restraint such as handcuffs without ECD use. This underscores that this is a potentially fatal syndrome in and of itself, sometimes reversible when expert medical treatment is immediately available."

Once the subject is handed off to EMS, "Officers should attempt to ensure that the tactile temperature of these subjects is documented and request EMS to measure it," the report advises. "In fatal cases, a significantly elevated temperature may suggest that a life-threatening disease or condition was present" and that any death that might result "was independent of the police intervention."

Once in EMS care, the subject is probably best sedated immediately and cooled as quickly as possible "to reduce the risk of death," the task force suggests. "As with any critically ill patient, treatment should proceed concurrently with evaluation for precipitating causes or additional pathology" while the crew is en route to a medical facility. "The risk of death is likely increased with physiologic stress [so] attempts to minimize such stress are needed in the management of these patients," the report says.

At this time, the White Paper concludes, there is "insufficient data...to determine whether fatal ExDS is preventable, or whether there is a point of no return after which the patient will die regardless of advanced life support interventions."

The task force recommends several goals for the future to expand the understanding of ED. These include: studies to "identify susceptibility genes," more research into "the role of law enforcement control techniques and devices in the death of subjects," the establishment of a national "report registry" to compile documentation about fatal and nonfatal known and suspected ED cases, and research that would lead to "field protocols and techniques that allow police, EMS, and hospital personnel to interact with these agitated, aggressive patients in a manner safe both for the patients and the providers....

"While many of the current deaths from ExDS are likely not preventable, there may be an unidentified subset in whom death could be averted with early directed therapeutic intervention."

Only more research and greater understanding of the intricacies of this vexing condition will tell.
http://www.policeone.com/patrol-issu...-its-for-real/ ]]> Political Discussions and Rants locopolicia http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169175 Bulgaria Prosecutor Presses Charges against Ex-Defense Minister http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169172&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:44:13 GMT Bulgaria’s Prosecutor's Office has officially charged former Defense Minister, Nikolay Tsonev, with signing deals that were unfavorable for the Ministry.
One of those contracts is the purchase of an US assembly line for the building of hangars, warehouses, dormitories and others for the cost of BGN 13 M.
Tsonev is probed for deals concluded as early as the 1999-2000 period, when he has been the Head of the “Supply Management” Directorate at the Defense Ministry.
Unprofitable contracts concluded by Tsonev involve the supply and the storage of food, technical equipment, and spare parts for the army leading to State losses on the amount BGN 1 M and USD 143 000.


http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=110205


P.S.Hopefully all guilty once will be put in jail,I doubt it,but lets not lose hope! ]]> Political Discussions and Rants Dolph BG http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169172 Western Men Are Doomed http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169170&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:12:00 GMT I disagree with many of the assumptions in his article.

These guys haven't been to China to really know what they are talking about.

Quite frankly, I'm tired of the self-deprecating in the press.

The United States still matters and is relevant. If we want influence in Asia or any part of the world, we cannot cede, nor can we be seen to be ceding influence.


Quote:
Western Men Are Doomed

By DAVID BROOKS AND GAIL COLLINS Teh Eng Koon/Agence France-Presse — ***** Images Rush hour in Beijing.

In The Conversation, David Brooks and Gail Collins talk between columns.

Tags:

Asia, East Asia, globalization, men, Western hemisphere, women


David Brooks: Gail, I don’t know if you had a chance to see my column Tuesday, but China always gets me thinking big. I look at the long history and bright future of that civilization-state and suddenly you’ve got to chase me down with a butterfly net to impose the grip of reality on my grandiose and free-floating ideas. It’s runaway Spengler Syndrome.
Asians place emphasis on context while Westerners place more emphasis on individuals.

But I do have one more Grand Historical Theory to spin out for you, and it involves thinking styles. Different cultures and groups have different styles of thinking, or to be more precise, the average behavior is different from one group to another. So is it possible that Westerners, on average, have thinking styles that make them ill-suited for the problems of the future while Asians have styles that make them better suited?
Gail Collins: David, I still remember when Japan was going to eat our lunch with their natural inclination toward teamwork. I’m issuing an early protest because when it comes to anything having to do with the brain, you are so far ahead of me that when you’re done I know I won’t have a good rejoinder.
David Brooks: Asians place emphasis on context while Westerners place more emphasis on individuals. This seems like a gross generalization but it is robustly supported by hundreds and hundreds of studies. Richard Nisbett’s book, “The Geography of Thought” summarizes some of the evidence.
If you show Americans a fish tank, they’ll talk about the biggest fish in the tank. If you show Asians a tank they will make, on average, 60 percent more references to the context and the features of the scene. Western parents tend to emphasize nouns and categories when teaching their kids, Korean parents tend to emphasize verbs and relationships. If you show Americans a picture of a chicken, a cow and grass, they will lump the chicken and the cow, because they are both animals. Asians are more likely to lump the cow and the grass because cows eat grass. They have a relationship.
The mode of thought more common in Asia is better suited to the complex networks that make up the modern world. The contextual, associational style is simply more valid. The linear style we’ve inherited from the Greeks is less adaptive toward the modern age. I think the West may be doomed.
Avoid giving too much credence to theories about how any group is particularly well adapted to anything.

Gail Collins: David, you may be the one who understands how the brain works but I am so far ahead of you on doom that you will never catch up. I was educated by nuns. My classroom had a map in which countries were only red (communist) or pink (leaning communist) or white (free — for now). The only white countries were the United States and Ireland.
David Brooks: I haven’t even mentioned gender differences yet. I think the same things I’ve said about Asians can be said about women as compared to men.
I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to read this stuff as part of your book research, but my understanding is that the cognitive processing of male and female brains is mostly the same except for in one area: social cognition. Women, on average, pick up more social signals.
Gail Collins: Still skeptical. Given the long span of time in which women were said to be particularly well-suited for everything from typing (tiny fingers) to domesticity (“She has a head almost too small for intellect and just big enough for love.”) I’m becoming increasingly leery of giving too much credence to theories about how any group is particularly well adapted to anything.
David Brooks: I actually don’t care if this is genetic or cultural (to the extent there is a difference between these things). My point is that in a service economy, the ability to pick up social cues is a huge advantage.
Basically, I’m saying that two groups I’m a member of — Westernized men — may have been well adapted to the agricultural and industrial societies, but our thinking styles are not well adapted to the networked age of social information flows.
I’m not just saying the West is doomed. I think Western men, like me, are doomed unless we change and adapt quickly!
Gail Collins: Ah, what I hear is the sound of a group that was on top for so long and then goes into a funk at the first sign of really serious competition. As a nation, we’re in trauma over the very idea that anybody else might be the economic superpower. As a gender, guys who were perfectly fine with the idea of women in business or in Congress are totally unnerved with the thought that their gender someday actually might not be running the show.
The one advantage China definitely has is its longer view of history. One day you’re perfecting gunpowder and toothpaste and moveable type — then you fall into a 500-year slump. There’s no inevitable winner — in fact, there doesn’t need to be a winner at all. We can all do fine.
As far as China goes, my main concern is that we don’t let this turn of events make us nuts. We’re not going to be able to go back to borrowing our way to an ever-higher standard of living and we’re going to have to be smarter, especially in the way we run our politics.
For Western men, the good news is that we Western women do not intend to maintain economic prowess on our own. You’re coming along, too. Otherwise, it really wouldn’t be any fun.
source http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com...pagemode=print ]]> Political Discussions and Rants Ordie http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169170 Just in time for Copenhagen: http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169163&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:31:15 GMT How the sausage is made: http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/11/19/breaking-news-story-hadley-cru-has-apparently-been-hacked-hundreds-of-files-released/#comment-227655 IMO, not a hack. A leak. If nothing else, should lead to an avalanche of FOI requests. How the sausage is made:

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/11/1...comment-227655

IMO, not a hack. A leak. If nothing else, should lead to an avalanche of FOI requests. ]]> Political Discussions and Rants akd http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169163 Kosovo Government Coalition Collapses http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169159&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:30:49 GMT *Kosovo Government Coalition Collapses* Pristina | 20 November 2009 | Lawrence Marzouk Kosovo’s government coalition has collapsed, it emerged on Thursday night. It is understood that the Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, led by Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, has broken its two year partnership with the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, headed by president Fatmir Sejdiu. Tensions between the two parties have been mounting after a fierce campaign, especially in Pristina, in the run-up to Sunday’s local elections, and talks of a spilt have been widely rumoured in recent months. Well placed sources confirmed to Balkan Insight that the coalition was dead. PDK is now expected to form a governing coalition with of the New Kosova Alliance, AKR, making controversial businessman Behgjet Pacolli president of the country, and the Democratic League of Dardania, LDD, giving Nexhat Daci the role of parliamentary speaker. After the preliminary results of the local and mayoral elections of November 15 were published on Monday, LDK decided to reach an agreement with the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AAK, led by opposition leader and former prime minister Ramush Haradinaj. According to this agreement, AAK would support the LDK candidate for the mayor of Prizren in the run off scheduled to take place on December 13 against the PDK candidate. PDK and AAK have become the main political rivals in Kosovo since 2007, when PDK reached an agreement with LDK. PDK considered the Prizren agreement a unilateral split of the governing coalition by LDK. PDK sources told public broadcaster RTK that AKR and the LDD will become part of the governing coalition tomorrow at 2pm. Beside PDK, LDD and AKR, the new coalition will also consist of minorities represented in Kosovo’s Parliament, including the Serbian Liberal Party. According to constitution, the president can be changed by parliament if two-thirds of assembly members vote in favour, but only in cases when he is unable to continue his duties due to illness, if he has been sentenced by a court, or if he has violated the constitution. http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/23834/ Kosovo Government Coalition Collapses

Pristina | 20 November 2009 | Lawrence Marzouk

Kosovo’s government coalition has collapsed, it emerged on Thursday night.

It is understood that the Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, led by Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, has broken its two year partnership with the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, headed by president Fatmir Sejdiu.
Tensions between the two parties have been mounting after a fierce campaign, especially in Pristina, in the run-up to Sunday’s local elections, and talks of a spilt have been widely rumoured in recent months.
Well placed sources confirmed to Balkan Insight that the coalition was dead.
PDK is now expected to form a governing coalition with of the New Kosova Alliance, AKR, making controversial businessman Behgjet Pacolli president of the country, and the Democratic League of Dardania, LDD, giving Nexhat Daci the role of parliamentary speaker.
After the preliminary results of the local and mayoral elections of November 15 were published on Monday, LDK decided to reach an agreement with the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AAK, led by opposition leader and former prime minister Ramush Haradinaj.
According to this agreement, AAK would support the LDK candidate for the mayor of Prizren in the run off scheduled to take place on December 13 against the PDK candidate.
PDK and AAK have become the main political rivals in Kosovo since 2007, when PDK reached an agreement with LDK.
PDK considered the Prizren agreement a unilateral split of the governing coalition by LDK.
PDK sources told public broadcaster RTK that AKR and the LDD will become part of the governing coalition tomorrow at 2pm. Beside PDK, LDD and AKR, the new coalition will also consist of minorities represented in Kosovo’s Parliament, including the Serbian Liberal Party.
According to constitution, the president can be changed by parliament if two-thirds of assembly members vote in favour, but only in cases when he is unable to continue his duties due to illness, if he has been sentenced by a court, or if he has violated the constitution.

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/23834/ ]]> Political Discussions and Rants Gentius http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169159