Monday, January 20, 2003

Famine plagues Zimbabwe. In an undercover report, the BBC's Fergal Keane reveals the dire situation in a nation afflicted by famine and oppression. [BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition] "Dire" is an understatement--the situation there is really horrible. comment () trackback ()  10:12:47 PM     Blog Day for Venezuela. My brother and I, at the suggestion of politicaobscura, have planned to have a Blog Day for Venezuela on January 23d, the 45th. anniversary of the overthrow of the our last dictatorsip.  The idea is that on that day, those that would like to participate will either put the banner above in their page designed by us to that effect or a text which links directly to the following page, where we simply are calling for elections as a resolution to the Venezuelan crisis: <http://patilla.com/site/aov/blogday/blogday.html>   Within this page, there is an additinal list of those Venezuelan blogs which have agreed to participate, as a way o having people learn about what is going in in our country and raise international awareness, as well as a link to politicaobscura which initiated the idea. we would love for everyone that has a blog or page to participate! [Miguel Octavio: Venezuela] comment () trackback ()  12:01:38 PM     Britain to Send 26,000 Troops to Gulf [AP World News] That's a really huge number of soldiers for the British Army to spare. I hope the US will bring along an extra 26,000 M-16s so the British soldiers will be able to pick up working rifles when their horrible SA80A2s stop working. comment () trackback ()  11:56:29 AM     Indian Navy - India hopes to ink a deal in March for the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, Tu-22 bombers, and nuclear powered submarines from Russia. IANS: Russian bombers, submarines to beef up Indian arsenal [nosi News] Defence Minister George Fernandes, who visited Russia last week at the head of a high-level Indian delegation, has said the two sides hope to clinch deals for leasing four Tu-22M3 long-range bombers and two Akula-class nuclear submarines by the end of March. These deals will be part of a multi-billion dollar package that includes the sale of Russiaâs decommissioned 44,500-tonne aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov to the Indian Navy. Although the article focuses on the submarines' role as a nuclear deterrent, the Akula class is not primarily intended for that role. It's actually an attack sub intended to kill other submarines and surface ships, like the US Los Angeles class. It can carry cruise missiles (also like the Los Angeles class), which is where the nuclear deterrent comes in. The US Navy uses its attack subs to protect carrier battle groups (among other things). I wonder if the Indian Navy intends to use their subs this way in addition? comment () trackback ()  10:26:46 AM     WSJ.  The Bush "impending war effect" strikes again.  US economy grew at 0.5% in 4th quarter.  Likely headed for a double dip.  "I see a recovery, and it is waaaay out there." [John Robb's Radio Weblog] Hmm. I can't read the Wall Street Journal article myself, since it requires registration, but I'm rather suspicious. I find it very difficult to believe that any major newspaper would be foolish enough to push such an incredibly simplistic explanation for the state of the economy. In fact, given the tone of John Robb's post, as seen in the photo and caption, I think it likely that the actual article is simply a factual report on economic growth (or lack thereof), and the "war effect" bit is an example of gratuitous leftist Bush-bashing. comment () trackback ()  10:14:58 AM     Only Online: Murder Trial Details. A Canadian judge's ban on media publication of details from an alleged serial killer's preliminary trial poses the question: Should the order apply to U.S. news websites, too? By Charles Mandel. [Wired News] This isn't the first time Canada has tried to ban publication of details on a murder trial. All it really accomplishes is to demonstrate the ignorance of Canadian judges. Not only can non-Canadians post anything they like, even Canadians can publish stories with impunity so long as they post them anonymously to servers physically located outside Canada. comment () trackback ()  9:26:58 AM     Seven questioned after mosque raid. Police are holding seven people after raiding a London mosque, but its cleric says they will find no link with terrorism. [BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition] Scotland Yard said the "intelligence-led" raid was linked to the discovery of the poison ricin in nearby Wood Green earlier this month. Looks like I was right about the connection. comment () trackback ()  9:11:56 AM

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