MORNING INTELL: Senator Slick Willie and Robot Soldiers

BLOGOSPHERE NEWS:
December 2 2008



THE SCOOP:
* Senator Slick Willie?
* TIME's Tool
* Mumbai's Message
* Pentagon's Robot Soldiers
* Jihad against Civilization

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A WORLD OF NEWS

1. OBAMA's ELECTION HASN'T ENDED TERRORISM?
   

   File this one under “Deluded Expectations.” During MSNBC’s coverage of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, daytime anchor Alex Witt seemed frustrated that the election of Barack Obama 23 days earlier — and the accompanying “global outpouring of affection, respect, hope” — had not caused an end to terrorist violence.

   
   
   We'd say: file this under the heading, "Some Obama Supporters Aren't Very Well Informed--or Anchored in Reality: MSNBC Anchor Frets: Why Hasn’t Obama’s Election Ended Terrorism?.
   
   From MSNBC's Alex Witt Amazed There Are Still Terrorists Even After Obama Won: "Congratulations, Alex. You're starting to figure out the future you've helped make for us by hyping the clueless and unqualified Obambi all the way into the White House."
   
   
2. WTF?!?: Bill Clinton mentioned for wife's Senate seat. "Senator Slick Willie" does have a certain ring to it.
   
   
   
   
3. Al Franken still isn't funny: Minnesota Recount: Franken’s Sore Loser Strategy. If Franken doesn't get enough votes, it's off to the courts--or even the Senate! Both are funny places.
   
   
4. Al-Qaida: Making some lists and checking them twice...
   "In Washington, analysts in the law enforcement and intelligence communities will be putting together "after incident reports" on Mumbai. So too will terrorists in Islamabad, Kabul and Gaza."
   Mumbai: A Message for America
   
   
5. One item of disagreement with the above story is the following:
   

   If you think about what ten terrorists in Mumbai were able to accomplish with automatic weapons, grenades, and bombs against the Indian special forces and military, you realize that a similar attack against modestly-armed American police with a few special weapons teams would create even greater havoc. Certainly, the military would be mobilized in response, but all of that takes time, especially in our multi-layered federal system with its historic emphasis on local control. In the initial hours of an attack, the terrorists would vastly out-gun the police. The police would hardly be able to contain the situation let alone bring it to denouement.

   
   We're not sure where the author, Abraham H. Miller, lives; but apparently he is unaware of the increasing militarization of America's small-town police forces. Undertaken in the name of "not wanting to be out-gunned by the bad guys", police throughout the country are using assault tactics and weapons to carry out routine duties. It's not only scary, it's a waste of money. Mumbai's message might be many things, but one thing it's not: the transformation of the Mayberry Police Dept. into a special commando unit.
   
   

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QUICK HITTERS

• Water-Powered Car Video: GenePax Hydro Car Set for 2010: Japanese company GenePax unveils their water-powered car in this short video demonstration. It runs about an hour at 80 kilometers/hour. They hope to be in production by 2010. [video length: 1:21]
  
  
  
• Is there a bigger tool than TIME's Joe Klein? Klein can't believe that reporters are asking PE Obama "inane" questions?
  

  Watching the Obama rollout of his national security team from overseas--I'm in Europe, on my way to Afghanistan--I was struck by the inanity of most of the questions from my colleagues.

  
  For 22 months, the press asked BHO a steady stream of inane, insipid questions. Why would there be a sudden "Change"? Why is it that MSM reporters always ask questions about their total tool-ness after the fact? Memo to Klein: this would have been a real story if you'd written it in August. Now, it's just another eyebrow-chewing MSM piece written to assure readers--and the reporter--that you're "thoughtful".
  
  
• MO's Big Thank You: Michelle’s ring thing.
  MMalken: "If Michelle thinks she should receive a present for contributing to the successful Obama campaign, what gift is she getting him for winning it?"
  Sometimes, when presented with too much information all at once, the human mind shuts down. The above question makes the mind spin at the possibilities.
  
  
• Change to The British System?
  Don Surber: "The British government saves money by forgetting to treat Alzheimer’s patients." Free Health Care
  
  
• During the campaign, the ObamaBunch cut off access to those asking anything but softball questions. Doesn't look like that's going to "Change!" anytime soon. Don't say America wasn't warned: Change... Obama Continues Boycott of FOX News.
  
  

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Michael Ramirez, IBD:

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SEE ALL, KNOW ALL

1. Sounds like the Terminator to us: Pentagon hires British scientist to help build robot soldiers that 'won't commit war crimes'.
   Just a guess: It'd be hard to try a robot in a court of law.
   
   
2. Britain, the Land of the PC - UK: Muslim Prayer Rooms Should Be Offered in Catholic Schools .
   "Muslim prayer rooms should be opened in every Roman Catholic school, Church leaders have said. The Catholic bishops of England and Wales also want special toilet facilities in schools to be adapted for Islamic cleaning rituals."
   No word if holy water will be used in the footbaths.
   
   
3. Why do you suppose he didn't do a Gay version of the Koran? Gay Bible Set to Publish: Aida and Eve, Christian “Backlash” Needed
   
   
4. More Mumbai: Jihad: The War Against Civilization
   

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MEATY LINK FUNK GOODNESS

• Idiots of the Week: December 1, 2008
  
  
• Thankful? Four videos that will make anyone swear off getting wrapped up in "World of Warcraft". WoW was the same game that brought the two killers in 2007's Baby Grace murder together.
  
  
• Giants are leading, Steelers, Cowboys tied for second at the moment: POLL: Which NFL Team Will Win Super Bowl XLIII
  
  
• More money down a rathole: On Bailing out an unsalvageable dinosaur industry.
  Either the bailout is about saving companies serious about saving themselves--or it's about saving some cushy jobs both in the front office and on the assembly line.
  
  

by Mondo Frazier
images: dbkp file; hot air

Dangerous World for Obama: Five Places Obama Will Be Tested

The Five Obama Foreign Policy Tests:
Obama's Not Even Sworn In Yet But
Russia, Terrorists, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran
Have Started the Testing of Obama

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Americans were assured that the world couldn't wait until the election of a President Obama--and it was true. The world didn't wait until Obama officially takes office on January 20 to start testing the former junior senator from Illinois.

Joe Biden called it during the presidential campaign: Within six months, Barack Obama will be tested by countries around the globe if he won. [Joe Biden: Elect Obama and We’ll Have an International Crisis]

The Mainstream press didn't address Biden's comments much--other than feature numerous campaign spokesmen "clarifying" Biden's remarks. Obama's lack of experience or credentials wasn't a topic for polite MSM conversation: it was much more pleasant to write about what "Change" really meant.

Within hours of Barack Obama winning the 2008 election, Russia announced it was putting missiles next to NATO countries. This wasn't the only wake-up call for the new administration. There are other countries and groups seemingly lined up to see what the United States' response will be to global challenges.

We've picked out four of the earliest ones.

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• Test #1: Russia and Europe
  
  From Obama's First Diplomatic Test:
  
  

  The day after Obama's election, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev publicly threatened to deploy missiles near the borders of two NATO allies to counter the Bush Administration's plans to install antimissile systems in Poland and the Czech Republic. The Russian announcement, rolled out during an elaborate ceremony, was timed to put one of the most contentious issues between Moscow and Washington on Obama's table right away. Obama and his advisers took it as an intentional provocation aimed at testing the President-elect.

  
  
  TIME then makes an amazing statement: "In fact, Obama's biggest challenge lies not in the tone he takes with the Russians but in the substantive policy choices he makes."
  
  What is this? Won't "acting presidential" pacify the Russians? It certainly worked on the American Mainstream Media during the election. It seems a little late in the game for TIME to talk "substantive policy choices" after the election.
  
  Unlike the MSM, Russia will not be swayed by a confident Obama style only. Like their invasion of Afghanistan during Jimmy Carter's term, the Russians will be watching U.S. responses and adjusting their policy accordingly.
  
  
  
• Test #2: Iraq and Afghanistan
  
  Obama ran a relentless campaign against George W. Bush--who wasn't a candidate. But Obama will find that it was Bush's surge policy--in stark contrast to Obama's plan to beat a hasty retreat--that carried the day in Iraq.
  
  From early indications, Obama will roughly follow the Bush agenda for Iraq; no doubt disturbing his anti-war supporters who helped him secure the Democrat nomination. It's been quiet in Iraq the last several months: some want to declare victory.
  
  But the incoming Obama administration may be tested by all parties in Iraq, including the Iraqi government.
  
  Al-Qaida seems detested, dejected and defeated, but they may be lying dormant. They will monitor developments and American policy and look for any openings to test the new president.
  
  Afghanistan is a different matter.
  
  The Afghan central government is corrupt; NATO allies--with the exception of Britain--are not much good once shooting starts; and, the Taliban appears to be getting stronger as the war wears on.
  
  It's promising that during the campaign, Obama did support the war in Afghanistan. So, cutting-and-running is probably not his first option from the opium capital of the world.
  
  Obama has also said that he recognizes the situation in Afghanistan is worsening. What actions will he take in response?
  
  
• Test #3: Biological and Nuclear Terror
  
  From Panel Fears Use of Unconventional Weapon:
  

  An independent commission has concluded that terrorists will most likely carry out an attack with biological, nuclear or other unconventional weapons somewhere in the world in the next five years unless the United States and its allies act urgently to prevent that.
  
  In a report to be released this week, the Congressionally mandated panel found that with countries like Iran and North Korea pursuing nuclear weapons programs, and with the risk of poorly secured biological pathogens growing, unconventional threats are fast outpacing the defenses arrayed to confront them.
  
  “America’s margin of safety is shrinking, not growing,” the bipartisan panel concluded.

  
  
  Pakistan is a particular area for concern, with terrorists with an eye toward causing death and destruction likely to come from that U.S. ally. It's suspected that the Mumbai terrorists came from Pakistan, where they likely trained and prepared.
  
  “Pakistan is an ally, but there is a grave danger it could also be an unwitting source of a terrorist attack on the United States — possibly with weapons of mass destruction,” the report said.
  
  
• Test #4: India and Pakistan
  
  ABC News called Mumbai "Obama's first foreign policy test". From Mumbai: Obama's First Foreign Policy Test:
  

  American officials believe the terrorists may be Pakistani extremists bent on turning the disputed Kashmir region along the border with India into a separate Islamic state.
  ...
  As Obama continues to work with the current administration to prepare for a seamless transition, history shows that foreign policy and national security cannot be put on hold during presidential transitions.

  
  
  Mumbai was seen by some, including Melanie Phillips, as another battle in the worldwide Jihad now being fought.
  
  One wrong move and the world could witness the first nuclear war between the countries on the Indian subcontinent.
  
  
• Test #5: A nuclear armed Iran
  
  Iran is not going to change its headlong pursuit of nuclear weapons--or its reasons for acquiring them--because of pleasant talk, smiles and handshakes. The Islamic Republic respects one thing: power.
  
  What actions will a President Obama take?
  
  Hopefully, they'll be wiser than the policies of ex-president, Jimmy Carter.
  
  From Obama's First Foreign Policy Tests
  
  

  Successive, Democratic and Republican U.S. administrations have appeased the Islamists in Iran, starting with the catastrophic Carter administration, which secretly assisted the Islamist overthrow of the pro-U.S. Shah, a modernizing monarch, in a craven, cynical attempt to curry favor with the Ayatollah Khomeini.
  ...
  China Confidential analysts believe that Iran's Hitlerian maniac-in-chief, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (whom President-elect Obama has offered to meet in face-to-face talks) is determined to announce a major nuclear breakthrough in time for this February's 30th anniversary celebrations of the Islamic Republic.

Five tests for President-elect Obama.

The world will be watching to see how he scores.

Americans hope he gets a passing grade.


by Mondo Frazier
image: dbkp file

MORNING INTELL: Mumbai-Pakistan Link, The Left and Hate, Senator Chris Matthews

BLOGOSPHERE NEWS:
November 29 2008



THE SCOOP:
* Pakistan Behind Mumbai?
* Leaker or Whistleblower?
* Chicago: Where only the criminals have guns
* Swiss likely to approve prescription smack
* Japan, Spain Race to Join Dead Civilizations
* Senator Chris Matthews?
* Republicans Lose; We Don't have to Drink Dirty Water Anymore
* AP Doesn't Want Military Fauxtography Competition

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A WORLD OF NEWS

1. Was the attacks on Mumbai the work of the Pakistanis? Looking more likely, it seems. India, Pakistan simmer over Mumbai attacks
   

   Indian accusations of a Pakistani link to the attacks on Mumbai that killed nearly 200 people threaten to damage attempts to improve ties between the rivals.
   
   Indian officials have said most, perhaps all, of the 10 attackers who held Mumbai hostage with frenzied attacks using assault rifles and grenades came from Pakistan, a Muslim nation carved out of Hindu-majority India in 1947.
   
   An official in Islamabad said the next one to two days would be crucial for relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours. Pakistan has condemned the assaults and denied any involvement by state agencies.

   
   
2. American "allies" debate how best to squeeze blood money from a financially-stricken turnip: OPEC defers new oil supply cut as divisions emerge
   
   

   OPEC on Saturday deferred a decision on a new oil supply cut amid signs that Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies are demanding tighter adherence to restraints put in place over the past two months.
   
   Gulf producers want to see strict compliance with recent output curbs of 2 million barrels a day before considering further reductions when the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meets in Algeria on Dec. 17.

   
   Diplomats from throughout the oil-consuming world are also debating--about the best way to say, "Kiss my ass".
   
   
3. Chicago, the Kingdom by Lake Michigan: homicides are up 41% since the gun ban was passed, but who's counting? Chicago Defies the Second Amendment
   
   

   When it comes to firearms, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley is no slave to rationality. "Does this lead to everyone having a gun in our society?" he demanded after the ruling came down. "Then why don't we do away with the court system and go back to the Old West, where you have a gun and I have a gun and we'll settle it in the streets?"
   
   From listening to him, you might assume that the only places in North America that don't have firefights on a daily basis are cities that outlaw handguns. You might also assume that Chicago is an oasis of concord, rather than the site of 443 homicides last year.

   
   
   
4. It's comforting to know that when the Right half of the blogosphere publishes information damaging to the Obama administration that's leaked, the NY Times will stand up and applaud. Right? Right? Leaks: A Different Story in Great Britain
   

   We have complained for years about the fact that leakers in the CIA, the State Department and elsewhere in the federal bureaucracy have carried on a war against the Bush administration since the President's first term, a war they largely have won. Politically-motivated Democrats in the bureaucracies leak to politically-motivated Democrats at newspapers like the New York Times and the Washington Post, who run "exposes" of the Bush administration based, frequently, on selective use of classified documents. Instead of being prosecuted, the leakers have never been identified and the reporters have won awards.
   
   That infuriating situation is a striking contrast with what is happening in Great Britain, where one of the most prominent members of the Conservative opposition, shadow immigration minister Damian Green, has been arrested for receiving leaked information from a government official:

   
   
   
5. THE OBAMA TOUCH: Is Barack Obama: The Wile E. Coyote of Diplomacy? Obama is only the president-elect--as we're reminded on a hourly basis--but he's already mishandled relations with both Pakistan and India since his election. With accomplishments like that, the sky's the limit once January 20 gets here.

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QUICK HITTERS

• Wonder if its part of the socialized health care plan? Swiss likely to approve prescription heroin. Wonder how difficult it is to make chocolate and watches with a prescription monkey on your back?
  
  
• What's a Libertarian to do? Does the Libertarian party still matter?
  
  "Traditionally opposed to government interventionism, libertarians are at a loss about how to respond to the economic crisis"
  
  
• NYC Mayor Rudy knew. Dutch Experiments vindicate the "Broken Windows Theory" of how disorder and crime spreads: Is Crime Contagious?
  
  
• LOVE TO HATE: The Left is obsessed with hate. Here's a leftie blog hate two-fer: Lou Dobbs doesn't want to deal with his own culpability for hate crimes and I Hate Wal-Mart
  
  
• NO HATE HERE: Meanwhile, an Obama supporter goes on an annoyed (hate seems over-used) rampage against a Doubter-of-Hope-and-change. Hope like a butterfuly, sting like a bee: I'll kill you! Spat Over Obama Sparks Beating in Florida. The color of change in Florida is black-and-blue.
  
  
• The AP apparently satisfied the U.S. military isn't muscling in on its fauxtog territory: AP lifts ban on military photos. How many fauxtography scandals has the AP been involved in? Check out Fauxtography on Parade

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Tired of bloody revolutions and capitalistic monopolies? Mark Fiore has the answer with the economic clapper. It makes switching from one ideology to the other quick and painless with just the sound of the infamous clapper. This is exactly the radical new technology that will help improve the productivity and spped to action of our dead beat Congressional leadership.
--[for the complete animated version of the image above, see: Clap Capitalism On and Off With The Clapper]

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SEE ALL, KNOW ALL

1. Chris Matthews Staffing Up for Probable Senate Run in 2010. The news reportedly sent a thrill, chill and spill running down the legs of Arlen Specter (R-PA).
   
   
2. History lesson for those too young to remember the breathtaking days of cattle futures, Pardongate, impeachment and Travelgate: Hillary Clinton, pseudo-centrist .
   
   
3. The Quote of the day answers the question, "How do you want to be remembered, Mr. President?"
   
   
4. The Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and Man Made Climate Change: Efforts to support global climate-change falls: Poll.
   

   Less than half of those surveyed, or 47 per cent, said they were prepared to make personal lifestyle changes to reduce carbon emissions, down from 58 per cent last year.
   
   Only 37 per cent said they were willing to spend "extra time" on the effort, an eight-point drop.
   
   And only one in five respondents - or 20 per cent - said they'd spend extra money to reduce climate change. That's down from 28 per cent a year ago.

   
   Al Gore's so pissed, he's buying stock in Consolidated Coal.
   
   
5. Did we make any money this week? I don't know, I'll ask Washington.
   From Market Economy to Political Economy
   

   Even more egregious will be the directives to a nationalized Detroit. Sen. Charles Schumer, the noted automotive engineer, declared "unacceptable" last week "a business model based on gas." Instead, "We need a business model based on cars of the future, and we already know what that future is: the plug-in hybrid electric car."
   
   The Chevy Volt, for example? It has huge remaining technological hurdles, gets 40 miles on a charge and will sell for about $40,000, necessitating a $7,500 outright government subsidy. Who but the rich and politically correct will choose that over a $12,000 gas-powered Hyundai? The new Detroit churning out Schumer-mobiles will make the steel mills of the Soviet Union look the model of efficiency.

   
   The economy according to Marx, Bush, Stalin, Obama and Lenin.

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MEATY LINK FUNK GOODNESS

• Lori Drew, the Mad Max Mom Run Amok, was convicted by an LA jury of violating the terms of service of MySpace when she participated in creating a fake cyberspace boy. Her manipulation of the cyber-guy pushed 13-year-old Megan Meier over the edge to suicide and produced a national outcry once the story was publicized. Should the Lori Drew Cyberbullying Decision Be Overturned?
  

  Young Megan Meier hung herself after she was spurned by her MySpace boyfriend. The boyfriend never existed. He was a creation of the mother of one of Megan’s classmates. The mother, Lori Drew, was found guilty Tuesday of creating a fake persona.
  ...
  According to CNN, Lori Drew was convicted of three misdemeanor counts in the case of 13-year-old Megan Meier’s suicide that came as a result of her being criticized on the Web site MySpace.com.

  
  In old Western movies, the villain would be brought to the gallows and someone in the crowd would inevitably yell, "Hangin's too good for 'em!"
  
  We'll just say, "30 days in the electric chair" and leave it at that.
  
  
• Another Hillary brick in the Obama wall: Obama Picks Pro-Hillary Communications Director
  
  
• BORED, FIREARMS-INCOMPETENT ATHLETE ALERT: Maybe he didn't like the music? Plaxico Burress Shoots Himself in the Leg' Update: Shocker! Shooting Took Place at a Nightclub . At least he's not playing for the Steelers anymore.
  
  
• Abortion Now Number One Cause Of Death In Spain: Remember when the MSM was predicting in the 1980s that the USA would soon be swallowed whole by Japan, Inc.? Mark Steyn's Lights out relates how Japan and Spain are following the Path of the Dead (Civilizations). At least the dying nations share a chapter of history: Incans, Aztecs, Japanese, Spanish.
  
  
• The Left celebrates: We don't have to drink dirty water anymore! EPA, Interior Dept. Chiefs Will Be Busy Erasing Bush's Mark and Science, common sense returning to Washington. Now, mothers won't have to be worried about non-aborted babies having their grown stunted by the environmental nightmare that was America 2000-2008.

by Mondo Frazier
images: dbkp file

World's Smallest Girl Big On Life

Tiny stature doesn't get her down

Neighbor baby looks big next to 15-year-old Jyoti Amge.

What do you do if you're the world's smallest grown human being?

If you 15-year-old Jyoti Amge, you record an album with Bollywood pop music star, Mika Singh.

Jyoti is 1 foot 11 inches tall and weighs about 11 pounds. She's not as big as the neighbor's baby, yet she's fully grown.

According to the Indian Book of Records, the teenager is the world's tiniest girl. She has a form of dwarfism called achodroplasia. She's light years away from unhappy and has better things to do than sit around and feel sorry for herself.

By comparison, Cabbage Patch Dolls are 16 inches tall.

"I am proud of being small. I love the attention I get," she told the Sunday Mirror.

"I'm just the same as other people. I eat like you, dream like you. I don't feel any different."

Jyoti attends her local high school, in Nagpur, India, where she studies alongside classmates of her own age, though she sits at a specially made miniature desk.
advertisement

Her mother, Ranjana, 45, explained that her daughter's condition was not apparent until some time after her birth.

"When Joyti was born she seemed quite normal. We came to know about her disorder when she was five," she said. "Jyoti is small, yet cute, and we love her very much."

Jyoti and her buddies from school


Like most other teenagers, she loves listening to pop music and watching DVDs and even hopes to become a Bollywood actress. As stated, she's recently recorded an album with her favourite Indian pop star, Mika Singh.

The next time someone is complaining about being the "low man on the totem pole", slip them this story of Jyoti, the 11-pound, 23-inch-tall girl with the big dreams.

It might help them put everything into its proper perspective.

by Mondoreb
images/Source: World's smallest girl proud of her tiny size
image: walmart
Source: Jyoti Amge: World's Smallest Girl has Big Dreams


Back to DBKP/Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
Also posted at DBKP at Blogger.

Newborn Survives Toilet, Train Tracks in India

AHMEDABAD: Call it good fortune or just the will of God. But the life in a seven-month-old foetus, that fell through the toilet bowl of a running train when the mother went to ease herself, still lives on!

In only what can be described as miraculous, a premature baby girl in India survived the impossible, birth in the toilet of a train only to be sucked down the pipes then landing on rocks between the rails of the track Tuesday night. The baby not only survived but is in good condition at the Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Rajasthan Hospitals.

The baby's mother, seven months pregnant Bhuri Kalbi, was traveling on the Jodhpur-Ahmedabad train when she began to feel ill. She had sat down onto the toilet when she felt weak and then passed out. People banging on the door woke Bhuri up, it was then that she noticed her "stomach was flat. My child was gone."

Bhuri's baby, weighing a little over 3 pounds, had literally gone down the drain of the toilet landing on rocks between the rails of the train track. She had fallen near the Amblisayan railway station where "members of the Gram Rakshak Dal alerted station master KK Rai that a new-born child was lying on the track."

While rushing to the spot on foot, Rai said he could hear the cries of the baby from a distance. On coming closer, he could not believe what he saw. "The baby was lying dangerously close to the left track with the umbilical cord hanging by the side," Rai said. The baby had turned blue due to the chill at midnight.

The railwaymen wrapped the baby in a cloth and called the local doctor. While the child was being examined, a call came, saying the parents were traced.

Bhuri's brother-in-law, Arjun, had found her semi-conscious in the bathroom.

"We immediately pulled the chain at Kalol, two stations away from where the child had slipped off and alerted the train guard," he said.

Bhuri and her baby were reunited two hours later Kalol Civil Hospital.

By LBG
Image - Train to Ahmedabad
Source - Times of India - Foetus Slips Out of Moving Train, Safe



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

US to Give USS Kitty Hawk to India?

USS Kitty Hawk could be decommissioned in 2008
Carrier could be sent to India
Throwing a monkey wrench into Russian plans

Could India be getting a decommissioned US aircraft carrier?

What new rhetoric can we then be expected to hear from Russia?

If current rumors in India are true, the United States could end up providing India what its traditional Russian arms supplier has long promised to provide, but so far failed to deliver. In the process the United States could deliver a severe blow to Russia's defense industry, adding another item to the long list of grievances Russian officialdom has lodged against the United States.

During the Cold War, India was famously the largest and most powerful of the "non-aligned" nations that stayed out of the East v. West confrontation. At the same time, however, India enjoyed close relations with the then-Soviet Union that went beyond just the bonds of political convenience and trade ties between the two nations.

India has been a favorite customer of Russia and the USSR in the past.

Former Indian PM Indira Ghandi was one of Soviet Party Secretary Leonid Brezhnev's favorite foreign leaders, and he loved to make a show of that affection when she traveled to the USSR. Residents in sections of Moscow that straddle the main road leading from Vnukovo airport to the centre of the city can still recount how in those times they were dragooned by their local party officials to line the streets and wave Indian flags (if during the day) or flashlights (if at night) to greet Mrs. Ghandi's motorcade on official state visits.

India took advantage of their favored but non-allied nation status by purchasing from the USSR some of the most advanced weaponry available at the time. In the 1970s and 80s, India's fledgling defense industry benefited from Soviet specialists providing them with numerous current-day weapons platforms and the establishment of production lines to license-build Soviet hardware, such as the Mikoyan MiG-27s that were assembled at the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) plant in Nasik

.
When the USSR and the Soviet empire collapsed, it the weapons dealings between the countries only grew. Russia needed the money and India needed the weapons.

In fact, Russia has sold India some weapons that not even the Russian armed forces have received--all for the bucks which a newly-configured Russia needed badly.

By the 1990s, Moscow was selling India some of the most advanced weaponry in its arsenal, including the high-powered Sukhoi Su-30MKI, a specialized variant of the heavyweight fighter than was optimized for aerodynamic performance and upgraded with a new-generation radar set, the NIIP N011M Bars model, that not even the Russian Air Force has in service.

Four years ago, Russia and India signed a contract to provide the Indian Navy with their own aircraft carried, plus a version of the MiG-29 to use on the carrier. New Delhi had long sought the power projection an aircraft carrier gives in the India

On the face of it this seemed like the perfect deal for both sides. India was to be given an older-generation aircraft carrier, the Admiral Gorshkov, for free, but would have to pay $700 million for a refit of the vessel, plus they would have to purchase the MiG-29Ks and eight naval helicopters for another $800 million. India was also offered options to purchase an additional 30 MiG-29Ks and upgrades to Indian port facilities in order to dock and service the Gorshkov for a total of another $1.5 billion. But, the program has proven to be overly ambitious and has run into a number of snags that threaten to derail a decades-long symbiotic relationship.

The deal has run into problems and has given a major migraine to some on both sides.

But, for all of the success at MiG in making good on their promises to the Indians to build a new-generation carrier airplane--tailhook and all--the progress on the carrier has been abysmal.

When the Russian state arms export agency Rosoboronexport (ROE) made the carrier deal, the vessel was scheduled to be delivered to the Indian Navy in 2008. ROE must not have known what they were getting themselves into and as of last summer the bad news for the Indians could no longer be kept secret. As reported by Russian military analyst Aleksandr Golts, "the money [$1.5 billion] was allocated, but the work was never done."

Another Russian military commentator, Pavel Felgenhauer, stated the situation more bluntly in one of his columns on the carrier entitled "Sold: The $1.5 Billion Lemon."

The Gorshkov is roughly have the size of a U.S. carrier and was originally designed with a flight deck large enough only for a vertical take-off and short landing (VSTOL) airplane like the famous Harrier jump jets operated by the U.S. Marine Corps and the Royal Navy. Russia's Cold War-era answer to the Harrier was the Yakovlev Yak-38, a lackluster performer and an airplane so dangerous that was referred to as "the widowmaker."

Now the USA has stepped into the breech and started doing some old-fashioned Yankee horse-trading.

Enter the United States. According to numerous sources inside India, when U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates visits New Delhi late in February (provided his Tuesday Potomac Primary Day broken shoulder does not alter his itinerary) he will be carrying a signed letter from U.S. President George W. Bush offering a better deal for India than the one they have been struggling to get out of Moscow for four years now. The Indian Navy will reportedly be offered the soon-to-be decommissioned USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) aircraft carrier for free--provided the Indian Navy will agree to purchase 65 of the newest model Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets to be operated off of it.

If true--and if New Delhi accepts--this can do more than just sink the Russian carrier deal and the MiG-29K contract. The Indian Air Force (IAF) are deep in the throes of a tender to purchase almost 200 new fighter aircraft, with Boeing and RSK-MiG both in the field of six contenders. An order of 200 fighter airplanes is unheard of--larger than any such export sale in more than 20 years. In an era where sales of 12, 20, or 40 fighters are more common, this is the PowerBall Lotto of export competitions.

The Russians won't be happy, the Indians and Boeing are going to dancing in their offices, and the USA looks like it will kill 3 or 4 birds with one stone.

But there are sure to be voices raised in protest in all three countries.

1- In Russia at the lost business and prestige.

2- In India, by those who may be concerned at antagonizing Russia.

3- In the US, by those who can't just see the Kitty Hawk flying the Indian--or any other country's--flag.

You can be sure that the Kitty Hawk flying the Indian flag will be a strange sight for the thousands of US sailors who've served aboard her down through the years.

Will the deal go through? Will the USS Kitty Hawk be patrolling the Indian Ocean as India's first aircraft carrier? Will the Russian's denounce the imperialist Americans again?

Interesting, indeed.

by Mondoreb
For complete analysis of the possible effects of this deal, visit the Weekly Standard online.
hat tip: AR-15 forum
image: icci.navy
Source:
[Reuben F. Johnson in THE WEEKLY STANDARD online.]



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Bill and Hillary Clinton: A View From India

Just what do others across the world think of Hillary Clinton and her run for President?

We found an opinion piece in The Statesman, a newspaper from India. The writer makes some observations about Hillary... and her conjoined spouse, Bill:

A double dose of Clinton is not what the world needs

It is not a question of who has the dominant personality ~ Bill or Hillary Clinton? It is how the world works, a world that is, even in its most liberal quarters, essentially male chauvinistic. Margaret Thatcher chose a cabinet that was 100% male, although it was said they were alternately seduced and scared by her.

If we hadn’t caught the penny before we certainly heard it drop in South Carolina. Bill and Hillary is “two for one” and where she goes he goes too. If she became President, whilst she would have the constitutional authority he would have the political clout. Can you imagine in some moment of tension Vladimir Putin (or Dimitri Medvedev) or the King of Saudi Arabia not picking up the phone first to Bill rather than Hillary for a clarifying “background chat” on what US policy exactly is.

Come to that, why are we making so much fuss over the likelihood in Russia of Putin promoting his protege, Medvedev, whilst he drops back to prime minister? At least they are not married to each other or twin brothers, as was the case recently in Poland. At least Putin will have a constitutional mandate to hold the number two position whereas Bill will be “only” a spouse.

The writer also looks at the United States, how in the past few decades our choice of Presidents have never reached further than father-son and now possibly, husband-wife.

In fact, if America can’t offer better than two families alternating power between father and son, husband and wife over a period of what could be 28 continuous years, then it had better shut up shop with its advocacy of democracy and freedom. Isn’t this what they do in the banana republics?

The writer calls the possible outcome of a Hillary win, the "double-headed Clinton regime." A very astute observation, Hillary and Bill, or Bill and Hillary, have always been a very loyal power couple, perhaps this was Hillary's anger at Bill over the tawdry affair of Bill and the pudgy intern, Monica Lewinsky. Hillary had worked hard to get Bill into the Oval Office and here he was, squandering their (her) political future with some nukee-nukee with fat thighs and a Cuban cigar.

Then there is the question what would a double-headed Clinton regime do? Undoubtedly, despite the confusion of Hillary Clinton’s Senate votes, it would be less warlike than the present Bush administration. It would also be wiser and more sophisticated.

The writer believes Hillary, on her own, might have a "wiser, more sophisticated" administration. This is where we digress. The writer had previously written that other countries would want to talk "grown-up" with Bill, in important matters, instead of with Hillary.

The writer goes on to make some observations as to Bill's years as president. These observations are extremely important because this is what someone, not from our own country, but from another country, another culture, thought of the Clinton years:

But just because the Bush years have been such a disaster it doesn’t mean we should overlook how inadequate the Clinton presidency was on almost everything but economic policy. Bill certainly wowed the Europeans. But that was because he appeared smart and intelligent ~ the archetypal Yank at Oxford. But in truth he was a waffler. That goes back to his time as governor of Arkansas. He talked a great game on the race issue but Arkansas didn’t get a Civil Rights Act until after he was gone.

When he became President he had the world at his feet. No Cold War. No major war anywhere in the world. An economy on the cusp of prosperity. But it quickly turned out, especially on foreign policy, that he had no vision, no deep convictions, and no overriding purpose.

One of his first acts, presumably to quieten the Pentagon that was nervous and antagonistic because of his draft dodging the Vietnam war and his tolerance of homosexuality in the military, was to launch a cruise missile attack on Iraq, that merely cemented Iraqi public opinion behind Saddam Hussein. His vigorous economic embargo of Iraq likewise hurt the civilians most, creating tens of thousands of deaths of Iraqi children.

A short while after the cruise missile attack, he made the decision to pull American troops out of Somalia where they were supposed to be part of a United Nations peacekeeping force. In fact they operated independently under the direct authority of US Southern Command in Florida and had decided to engage in combat with one of the rebel leaders in a very non-UN way. It led to the deaths of 18 American soldiers.

So far, not so favorable a critic for Bill:

Instead of taking the blame himself, Clinton turned on the UN. For the rest of his two terms, the UN remained the bete noire of much of the American public, an easy target for Senator Jesse Helms who tried to starve the UN of funding. This should have been the era of UN coming into its own with the Security Council working in harmony. Ironically, there was more of this under his predecessor, George Bush.

Indeed, substantive progress in building a sane and sober relationship with post Communist Russia occurred more under Bush than Clinton. With Bush there was serious nuclear disarmament. With Clinton almost none.

Clinton lost the Senate vote on the ratification of the Test Ban Treaty because he left it to the last moment to publicly campaign for it. India’s and Pakistan’s decision to go openly nuclear owed much to the climate of opinion that Clinton’s lack of activity on nuclear issues engendered.
And then there was the genocide in Rwanda. When it was gathering speed, Clinton gave the impression to his underlings that he didn’t want to know. His attempt at peace in the Middle East was left to the last moment and fell apart because Clinton was clumsily partisan, in favour of Israel.

The writer sums it up as a period of great openings and missed opportunities:

If an artist were commissioned to paint the eight years of the presidency of Bill Clinton it would be a landscape of missed openings. The great historical opportunities that were open to him were squandered, with arguably the exception of making peace with North Korea. Why should America or the rest of the world want a double-headed, double dose of this?

Good question. Why should America or the rest of the world want a "double-headed, double dose" of Hillary and Bill Clinton?

Bill and Hillary are an extraordinarily strong political couple who work well in tandem. We may not want them as our next Presidential "team" but in America, anything is possible.

By LBG

Image - Met Museum
Source - The Statesman

DBKP.com - Bigger, Better!.
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

You Think Your In-Laws Are Strange? Man Marries Dog

When we saw theheadline below, we had much the same reaction as RidesAPaleHorse, who sent us the above graphic. The story and original picture follow.
Man in India Marries Dog

A man in southern India married a female dog in a traditional Hindu ceremony as an attempt to atone for stoning two other dogs to death -- an act he believes cursed him -- a newspaper reported Tuesday.
more stories like this

P. Selvakumar married the sari-draped former stray named Selvi, chosen by family members and then bathed and clothed for the ceremony Sunday at a Hindu temple in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, the Hindustan Times newspaper said.

Selvakumar, 33, told the paper he had been suffering since he stoned two dogs to death and hung their bodies from a tree 15 years ago.

Sound like a Bollywood remake of Lassie Come Home might be in the works.




Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Paris Hilton's 'Celebrity Endorsement' For Boozing Elephants Pays Off

Paris Hilton New SpokesCeleb for Tipsy Elephants

And no, boozing elephants does not mean alcohol-swilling Republicans. Evidently short and sweet statements can get you praise or your show taken off A and E. Witness Dog the Bounty Hunter and the power of uttering the N-word in a private conversation.

Word out from Gauhati, India is that Paris Hilton is catching praise from conservationists for helping "highlighting the problem of binge-drinking elephants in northeastern India." Paris' hard work on behalf of the 'elephants gone wild' consists of two "celebrity endorsements", a la Hilton.

Six wild and inebriated elephants raided a farm in the Indian state of Meghalaya. Too drunk to notice the pole they were in the process of uprooting was electrical, the pachyderms met an untimely and shocking demise.

“There would have been more casualties if the villagers hadn't chased them away. And four elephants died in a similar way three years ago. It is just so sad,” Hilton was quoted as saying in Tokyo last week. She was in Tokyo to judge a beauty contest.

“The elephants get drunk all the time. It is becoming really dangerous. We need to stop making alcohol available to them,” the 26-year-old socialite said in a report posted on World Entertainment News Network's Web site.

Sangeeta Goswami, head of animal rights group People for Animals, told The Associated Press: “I am indeed happy Hilton has taken note of recent incidents of wild elephants in northeast India going berserk after drinking homemade rice beer and getting killed.”

“As part of her global elephant campaign, Hilton should, in fact, think of visiting this region literally infested with elephants,” Goswami said.

Kudos to Paris for caring about the plight of the homemade rice beer swilling elephants in India.

Britney should take note.

Source - The San Diego Union Tribune - Paris Hilton's efforts to save binge-drinking elephants are praised by conservationists
Image [www.natashatynes.org]

By LBG




DBKP.com - Bigger, Better!.
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Militant Monkeys Run Amok: Pixelaneous #20

Click on the first picture for the full effect.









Inspired by this Breitbart story, Monkeys Rampage in Indian Capital:

Just weeks after the Indian capital's deputy mayor toppled to his death fighting off a pack of monkeys, the animals are back on the attack, sparking fresh concerns about the simian menace. One woman was seriously hurt and two dozen other people were given first aid after monkeys rampaged through a neighbourhood in east Delhi over the weekend.

"There were about three or four monkeys involved," deputy police commissioner Jaspal Singh told AFP.

"Wildlife officials are trying to find them. As police we're not experts in dealing with monkeys. We can deal with mad bulls but monkeys are more difficult," he said.

Along with an estimated 35,000 sacred cows and buffaloes that roam free in the capital, marauding monkeys have been longstanding pests. They routinely scamper through government offices, courts and even police stations and hospitals as well as terrorise neighbourhoods.

Pixelaneous #19:

Fantastic Sand Castles

[graphics: RidesAPaleHorse]



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

India Eyes Nuclear Pakistan's Unrest: Nukes May Fall into Terrorists' Hands

Pakistan's nukes in the hands of terrorists has India--and other countries--uneasy.

Pakistanis aren't the only ones worried about the turmoil created by the state of emergency in the country. Amid rumors that the state of emergency may have been a move against President Musharaf, others are keeping a nervous eye on Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.

India is closely watching events unfold--as well as al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.

What could turn into an opportunity for terrorists could prove to be a nightmare for India or the United States. In short, any country worried about nuclear weapons in the hands of a small group with scores to settle.

More on this from the India Express:

Nuclear-armed Pakistan is teetering on the verge of chaos after the imposition of emergency and US officials fear that the result could be every American's nightmare -- nuclear material or know-how, or even a nuclear bomb, falling into the hands of terrorists.

"If you were to look around the world for where al-Qaeda is going to find its bomb, it's right in their backyard," Bruce Riedel, the former senior director for South Asia on the National Security Council, was quoted as saying by Newsweek.

Pakistan is caught between trying to keep order while at the same time presenting a face of democracy to the rest of the world. The United States has been putting pressure on Musharraf to increase rights, step down and restore democracy in the wake of Saturday's declaration of a state of emergency.

India and Pakistan have fought a string of wars since both received their independence from Britain in the late 1940s. Both India and Pakistan acquired nuclear weapons in the last 20 years--at least once it appeared they both might use them, before tensions cooled.

So India will continue to keep a close eye on her neighbor to the west.

At least, until things quiet down.

by Mondoreb
& Little Baby Ginn
[image:awakenedwarrior]



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