The Nine Dwarves just can't catch a break...an economic uptick... then this:
U.S. Says N. Korea Seems Ready for Talks
WASHINGTON - North Korea has dropped its insistence on one-on-one talks with the United States and is ready to accept a U.S. proposal for six-nation negotiations on ending its nuclear weapons programs, the State Department said Thursday.
Officials said they expect the United States and North Korea to be joined by China, South Korea, Japan and Russia to discuss the issue in the near future.
The Bush administration has sought such six-way talks, but North Korea had insisted on a bilateral meeting with the United States to negotiate a nonaggression treaty.
Sometimes the tiger can be seen in the house cat's gaze.
Other times a wooden foot stool carved in the shape of a curled cat offers a comfy perch with a familiar shape.
Marduk's back and in fine fettle, he points out "Only one teeny, weeny, problem" with this story:
Palestinian protests security fence as 'Berlin Wall'
One can hardly be surprised...having spent the past forty years revising history to suit their agenda...the Left no longer knows what is true and what isn't. Factor in the Clintonista ethics of convenience, end-justifies-the-means rationale, pedantic rhetoric, desperate clinging to faded glory and scorched earth campaign techniques and you have a political ideology that is pretty much out of touch with reality and moderate voters.
UPDATE: LGF demonstrates why a fence is necessary and why the Palestinians are on the wrong side of history. Many nations, including ours, have waged wars of independence and died for freedom, but this level of inhumanity will consume their society from within. Do they not see that they are destroying their future, not Israel?
An image for those of you who believe the media's anti-Israel spin.
These statistics give lie to the prevailing wisdom from the Left and the media posture that only innocent Palestinians suffer and die daily.
Okay...I couldn't resist. Picture a crisp October in Sacramento...satellite trucks circle the Davis campaign headquarters as the world awaits the recall election results.
A big ole sombero toss to Michele.
Update: Yes, I know the sky is wrong for the script but the program wouldn't give me the full selection of variables consistantly...but hey! it's free! So sue me.
45 is a fine number for a side arm and this week's Carnival of the Vanities at
Lies Damn Lies and Statistics.
A well deserved Hat Tip to Dan!
Well, well. Well. Senator Ample Arse plans to inject herself into the California recall election. Bad idea. The troubles in Paradise are far deeper than Gray Davis...the entire party is mired in special interest muck. Saving Davis's job isn't going to save the state or the Dem majority in '04. Will the Clinton razzle-dazzle work? Bill Clinton's past endorsements didn't offer much assistance in thwarting a recall. Californians know a pile of steaming horseshit when they see it.
Clinton praised Davis and California for being a model for the nation in setting progressive policies for America to follow.
“When you clear away all the ads and all the arguments and all the attacks, when all the dust settles, the facts remain: Since Gray Davis has been in office, education has improved, the economic policies of the state are better, you’ve done more for working families,” Clinton said.
Earth to Bill.
This recall isn't about the GOP "stealing another election" as DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe lamely complained....or a "GOP plot" as Davis whined on the Today Show. (Note: To the DNC: Please get over yourself and the 2000 election, we've moved on.)
The recall is about Davis totally bolloxing up his job by flushing a booming economy and a huge budget surplus down the drain. Dems are just as unhappy with Davis as GOPers and Indies. True to form, Davis ignored a serious heads-up last Sept. when a Field Poll reported:
In September, the last time the Field Poll surveyed voters on their attitudes toward the governor, 46 percent offered a negative appraisal.
Noting that a majority of voters from every political party now hold a dim view of the governor, Mark DiCamillo, the poll's director, called the results ``by far voters' worst assessment of Davis ever.''
Davis earned similarly poor marks for his job performance. With 65 percent of those surveyed saying they disapprove of his work in office, he has the worst job performance rating of any sitting governor in the 55 years the poll has been conducted.
A July 16th poll tolled Davis's political death knell:
The nonpartisan Field Research Corp. in *San Francisco found that 51 percent of likely voters said they would oust Davis and 43 percent would vote to keep him. Six percent were undecided.
*San Francisco, Liberal utopia, home of the loyal yellow dog, bastion of the Defenders of the Poor™.
Support for Davis's continued to erode as news leaked that Davis may not have been truthfull regarding the state's financial crisis during his re-election campaign. [No Sh*t Sherlock]
Davis has made one ham-fisted move after another.
"Offering no explanation for the move, Attorney General Bill Lockyer on Tuesday abruptly canceled a grand jury session exploring obstruction of justice allegations against the Davis administration in the Oracle Corp. software contract."
Then there's the budget...something for everyone to hate...pain for all. The Dems cannot wriggle out of the hot seat into which Davis and their own incompetence has delivered them with glib rhetoric or a Clinton charm fest.
We're pissed...if Senator Clinton wants to waste her political capital on a dead man walking, fine. Bring it.
Well it's official in Ratbag Land ...the Beeb confirms that Uday and Qusay are deaday.
A new audiotape purportedly from ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has said his sons Uday and Qusay died as martyrs for Iraq.
"They are now green birds in the heavens and in the hospitality of the merciful God."
What sweet imagery for the pull quote...little green birds.
One can just imagine tears welling up as the desk editor filed this report.
The BBC is beneath contempt.
Next.
The new conventional wisdom among the chattering and political classes is that America doesn't do "colonial" well...that we are not up to democratizing Iraq and thereby stabilizing the region.
Poppycock. Postwar WWII and Korea puts lie to that bit of hubris.
To be sure much has been opined that Japan and Iraq are not the same. Less than a week after the Iraqi mobilization began, Retired General Wesley K. Clark wades into the debate with a narrowly drawn essay in the Washington Post. Rubbish. Note that Clark carefully avoids the commonalities between Postwar Japan and Iraq.
However, let's first examine the negative similarities: Japan was a defeated nation, armed to the teeth. An aggressive, yet culturally isolated country with a language and customs in which we had little familiarity or expertise. Japan was a deeply divided society with punishing social structures, an inflexible religion and an honor-shame culture similar to the radical Muslim ideal, a culture so different than ours that the gulf seemed too wide to bridge. However as in the Middle East, we had no choice, Japan had to be reformed in a way that it no longer posed a threat to the US or it's neighbors.
Much has been written of MacArthur’s methods, however one feels about MacArthur and the military it shouldn't color the enormity of task and our accomplishments. We'll set aside the General and look at the policy.
From 1948 to 1950 Japan went from a nation unable to feed itself to one that doubled its industrial production and quadrupled its total exports. Since 1950 the economic success of Japan has been a continuing source of astonishment to the rest of the world. We took great pains to provide Japan with tools to succeed, often at a cost to our own industrial base. Roads were designed for driving on the left; this prevented our automotive industry from flooding the country with inventory. The steel industry was demilitarized and the strangle hold of the warlord zaibatsu broken. Power and telephones were restored to the European standard, allowing the Japanese electrical goods industry to flourish independently. Ironically, American industrial expertise and innovations that were rejected by corporate management and American unions led to the Japanese work-production model that was eventually adopted in the US as a countermeasure to Japan's domination of our electrical and automotive markets.
Japan of 1945 and Japan of 1952 were vastly different nations. In 1945 the occupation forces had set about demilitarizing and democratizing Japan, and concentrating the economic power of the zaibatsu, or family combines. Bremer's task is more daunting than MacArthur’s in many ways as he doesn't enjoy a complete truce or surrender of arms and the world's media will continue to focus on what it perceives as wrong rather than the non-sexy nuts and bolts of revitalizing Iraq's economy and rebuilding society.
Dr. Gerd Nonneman, a teacher of Middle Eastern politics at the University of Lancaster in Britain, agrees. He points out that in Iraq the leadership will be deposed and that new political structures will be introduced.
"It does mean that when you put a different administration in place, partly run by a civilian administration, partly by a military commander, you impose a new set of structures that is not going to be all that straightforward. You start with a divided society that has no recent experience of democratic participation or negotiations among themselves. And there are no clear structures ready-made. So it's going to be far more problematic than in the case of Japan."
Problematic, but not impossible, if we look a little deeper into the reconstruction of Japan a pattern emerges that will serve Iraq as well.
In postwar Japan civil liberties were emphasized Article 13 and 19 in the new Constitution, prohibits discrimination in political, economic, and social relations because of Race, creed, sex, social status, or family origin. Compulsory education was extended; efforts were made to make education more a training in thinking than in rote memory, and the school system above the six elementary grades was revised to conform to the American pattern. This last change produced great confusion and dissatisfaction but became so entrenched that it stood after the Americans departed. So successful was the integration of women into the postwar society that Japanese women's role extends to every corner of society and commerce. In fact Japanese women were given economic equality that still eludes their American counterparts.
Similar changes to the Iraqi educational system would reinforce democratic ideals, empower women, and provide a balance to the divisive, fatalistic religious education that is at issue in neighboring countries.
Japan's agriculture was the quickest of national activities to recover; the Australian's land reform plan was key. Within two years 2 million tenants became landowners. The American occupation immediately gained not only a large constituency, for the new owners had a vested interest in preserving the change, but also a psychological momentum for other changes they wanted to initiate.
Iraq's immense oil and gas reserves will provide a similar means to redistribute wealth from Saddam’s cronies and the Ba’ath Party to ordinary Iraqi’s.
What? No, I am not encouraging the socialization of the oil industry, but we must establish a means of common ownership from which all Iraqi's may financially benefit directly. A common financial incentitive to provide the necessary glue that may bind the various tribal/religious factions into a workable, stable relationship and long-term success in modernizing Iraq and send a warning shot across the bow of Saud Inc. that they cannot ignore…reform or perish in the sweeping modernization that begins in Iraq.
In postwar Japan, two additional factors were also in place. The emperor and the political elite were persuaded to go along with the occupation. At the same time, the Japanese population was united behind the hierarchical political structures. Once the Ba'ath Party is purged will a new elite emerge? This is probably the largest unknown at the moment.
Iraqi society is divided among three main ethnic and religious groups: the Kurds in the north of the country, Arab Sunnis in the center, and the Arab Shiites in the south. Are such divisions are likely to cause postwar conflicts inside Iraq? Perhaps, the key advantage in postwar Iraq is access to information. Japan was an isolated, feudal country. Critics seem to miss this key point: 1945 is not 2003. Modern communications provides the Iraqi street instant access to information. Iraqi's will quickly assess that resistance to reform is not to their economic advantage.
Another key difference that is in our and ultimately Iraq's favor is their high rate of literacy and the expertise to quickly rejoin the world economy. Friendly neighboring countries will also play a part that is ignored in the current woe-is-me hand wringing.
Iraqi-Kuwaiti relations post-Saddam may assist our efforts to reform Iraq and the area. In 1996 Nonneman opined:
If a regime change did occur in Iraq, however, the potential for the development of Kuwaiti-Iraqi relations would be considerable. The first major change that might come about would be a different policy on the reparations issue. Some claims could be refined downwards, but more importantly, the time scale could be stretched and the share of these reparations as a proportion of Iraqi revenues could be reduced.
Secondly, one could expect a slow regeneration of trade and transshipment. Remnants of political distrust, along with the obstacle of the border defenses, and Iraq's initial economic weakness, would preclude a more speedy recovery of these links. Kuwaiti companies would be likely to be eager to participate in the construction business, provided satisfactory financing arrangements could be obtained. Iraq, particularly given its needs, would be a natural and rich market for Kuwaiti businesses, who would have been suffering a long period of recession since the invasion.
As regards oil policy - a key trigger to the crisis - it must be remembered that until the late 1980s Iraq and Kuwait were in fact coordinating their policies: conflict, in other words, is not inevitable. Yet it remains true that the two countries will continue to have diverging basic interests in this field. Kuwait is the typical large-reserve, low-population producer, able to take fairly low prices if this assures market share and future consumption. Iraq, with greater short- and medium-term revenue needs even in a peaceful situation, will naturally require higher prices. Nevertheless, as demonstrated by the Geneva agreement of 27 July 1990, accommodation is possible (provided the political stimulus not to find such accommodation is absent); an arrangement on those lines in the future remains quite conceivable.
Iraq would also become an active participant again in most of the regional functional organizations it was a member of until the 1990 invasion, leading to an increase in Iraqi-Kuwaiti contacts and cooperation in a multilateral framework.
Once the former leadership is deposed I predict that Iraq will quickly proceed to embrace reform at breakneck speed. Iraqi’s have crossed the Rubicon…a new society will emerge, of that we can be assured, what form that society takes will depend on our resolve and if we follow the example of previous successes or retreat to isolation.
Steven Den Beste has a must-read ongoing piece on Iraq-to-date.
Cox and Forkum take on the *scare quote* Quagmire *scare quote* question.
What was it Der Bingle called Bob Hope in many of their road movies? Sweetness. I know there is an entire generation that only knows Bob Hope as an old right-wing fart. Hope's monologs were often sharp, but never pointedly partisan or mean...he mocked Washington's failings...whomever was in power caught the barb.
Those of us who have reached a certain age remember a different Bob Hope....the fast-talking, wise-cracking, back-tracking hustler.. the vaudville tap dancing, singing buffoon...a pretty girl's naive dupe... Second Banana extraordinaire.
Most of Hope's solo films were parodies "The Big Broadcast of 1938" sent up his radio career and provided his theme song "Thanks for the Memories". Many took on of the genre or directors of the day. "My Favorite Blond" poked gentle fun at Hitchcock. "My Favorite Brunette" lampooned the noir hard-boiled detective popularized by Raymond Chandler..."My Favorite Spy" mocked Casablanca.
Hope and Crosby honed the buddy comedy to low-brow art with the Road series...their infamous politically incorrect "Patty Cake" routine became a running gag in the series...it's still funny...because the audience is in on it...from opening con to resolution.
Hope's delightfully inane, scheming, guiless Ace Lannigan, Fearless Frazier, Turkey Jackson and Hot Lips Barton continue to influence comedy. Woody Allen admits he's been doing Hope most of his career and Johnny Carson credited Oscar hosting schtick to Hope.
But most of all we remember this Bob Hope:
USO Show Germany 1945
....and this one.
Bob Hope cracks jokes to an audience of thousands of GI's massed in an open-air theater in Cu Chi, 20 miles northeast of Saigon during a 1969 Christmas tour of Vietnam. (A.P. file photo)
Sol Stern's editorial in City Journal "Israel Without Apology" is a must read for anyone not clear on the concept that the Left is full of shi'ite.
Three decades ago, I was a Berkeley New Leftist with a political and personal problem. I had been born in Israel, and, though I didn’t consider myself a Zionist, I certainly didn’t want to see the Jewish state disappear. Yet my comrades on the Left were starting on a long march whose ultimate objective was to demonize Israel and turn it into a pariah among the nations. At Bay Area meetings, I heard Israel denounced as an imperialist aggressor that had “ripped off” the land from the native population and had aligned itself with the most reactionary forces in the world. The Arabs, on the other hand, were the truly victimized, the wretched of the earth, right up there in the pantheon of our movement’s other heroes, the Cubans and the Vietnamese.
Thanks to Pejman for another excellent find... best wishes and prayers to his family.
"The huge contingent of American cycling enthusiasts also said they found no hostility among French hosts and fans along the route. 'I didn't pick up anything,' said Charles Pahl of Minneapolis, wearing a red, white and blue jersey of Armstrong's U.S. Postal Service team. 'I was surprised. I thought there'd be a little [anti-Americanism],' he said. 'They were just as gracious as ever.' "
BWAHAHAHAHA!
As if.
via WaPo
Congrats to Lair, Meryl and Michele for their splendid effort. It was fun. Sleep well.
A big pat on the back to their readers, bloggers, friends and fans who pledged/donated $14,950 to Magen David Adom during Blogthon 2003.
The marvelous Marduk earns a special place in my heart for his generous pledge sponsoring an hourly French insult. When you care enough to give the very best.
The Blogosphere is often protrayed by old media as an incestous, shallow place full of thunder and ego. Bullshit.
Kudos to all Blogathon 2003 donors for supporting their favorite charities and causes.
Apart from donating to worthy causes and entreating our politicans... we can do something about the hatred and bias creeping into our society like a silent cancer. Americans must guard against anti-Semitism slipping into our conversations, humor and mindset...it is not harmless, clever or chic...it emboldens fanatics to murder.
Just as we stood together forty years ago and declared that Jim Crow and segregation were finished, we must not allow another ancient racial hatred to germinate and florish in our society.
Lynn B, of In Context, sent this to Meryl last night...it expresses my thoughts far more clearly:
"Someone suggested to me recently that the roots of American anti-Semitism are just a carryover from Europe. I don't think so. Anti-Semitism is an ingrained part of Euopean culture, too old and too deep to exorcize in a generation or two. Not so in America, where I believe we really did cast off a lot of the old baggage. American anti-Semitism is a new creature with shallower roots and it's less subtle as well, harder to disguise."
Yes, yes, I know. A gratuitious title designed to troll in searches for a worthy cause. Naked or not...Check out Blogathon 2003 ...blogging, web cams, chat rooms and more...get crazy... stay up all night. Make a pledge or sponsor your favorite blogger...make a difference.
You might like to sponsor Lair, Meryl or Michele blogging for Magen David Adom. Their combined goal is $60,000 for a new ambulance.
• Michele is running a '60's, '70's, '80's pop culture theme...with a very cool "Day By Day" Blogathon 2003 panel
• Watch Lair bake bread whilst herding cats on camera ( Yes, he washes his hands...mostly) and generally making me laugh.
• Meryl is spinning tunes and covering stories from the blogside. Don't miss her Hourly French Insult:
"Did you see the new bomb the government came up with? It weights 21,000 pounds. The Air Force tested this bomb in Florida and the bomb blast was so strong at Disneyworld 25 French tourists surrendered." —Jay Leno
Go there. Now.
Do it...go, donate to a cause near and dear to your heart.
You know you want to. Naked.
No posting yesterday as I fumed over the sad state of our State.
:::Rant Warning:::
In five years Calfornia has gone from powerhouse to Sweden-by-the-Pacific. Gray Davis and the Democrats are driving business and jobs from the state with punishing benefit mandates, onerous energy costs, skyrocketing living costs, and a crumbling infrastructure. The recent calamitous credit downgrading will send a chill through the nation's fiscal markets and the California economy for a decade.
So what you say? The fat cats deserve it. California has far more working poor and middle class than Felinus Chubbius. Those who can afford it least will bear the brunt of their misguided polices in increased fees and taxes as well as diminished employment opportunities as employers bail for the Southeast or across the stateline to Nevada.
Three of the new laws are particularly harsh.
• First, California recently approved the nation's only paid family-leave act. Starting in July 2004, employees can request six weeks' leave every year (which can be taken days at a time) to care for a new baby, a sick relative, or a host of other medical tasks a state agency deems legitimate—even migraines qualify. Companies themselves have no say in the decision. Workers earning as much as $69,000 will collect 55% of their pay tax-free (highly compensated workers would collect a much smaller percentage). All employees—even those with no intention of taking time off—will pay a small payroll tax into a state fund that will foot the bill for workers on leave. Companies worry that so many people will take advantage of the generous leave policy that the state fund will be quickly depleted—and that businesses will be forced to assume most of the costs.
• Second, the legislature made workers' compensation more expensive by mandating a large increase in benefits. California businesses now contribute the highest premiums by far per $100 of employee wages: $5.85, vs. a national average of about $2.50.
• Third, California is imposing onerous rules on overtime. Federal law requires that companies pay overtime when employees work more than 40 hours a week. But California companies must pay it to anyone who works more than eight hours a day, a particular hardship for businesses whose employees choose to log, say, four ten-hour days, or for call centers, where flexible schedules often entail 12-hour days.
As usual the money to fund the mandates will come from the workers paycheck and the taxpayers wallet. You can be damned sure the Political class will not feel the sting of their policies.
"Unlike the nearly 131,000 state workers who will begin swallowing a 5 percent reduction in their take-home pay beginning with checks issued at the end of the month, Gov. Gray Davis' Cabinet officials and other gubernatorial appointees' "voluntary" 5 percent pay cuts came to an end this month.
The state, in the absence of a budget, can't increase the pay of its workers, regardless of previously agreed-upon contracts, senior state officials ruled earlier this month."
Davis recently tripled the vehicle registration "fee" ...yes TRIPLED.
"It's a horribly regressive and unnecessary tax," said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, which plans to file a lawsuit challenging the fee hike. "It is a tax that hits low-and middle-income Californians the hardest."
So much for the defenders of the "poor".
Disasterous energy policy, if you could call Davis's bungling a policy, that has driven electricity rates through the roof. Program cuts across the board effecting the elderly, mentally ill, disabled and of course The Children™....boondoggle after boondoggle continue unabated as the Dems admit they are stalling the budget process for political gain.
Then there's this absurdity in today's Chronicle:
Both Huffingtons, Audie Bock, Condit possible candidates
Recall supporters were scheduled to hold a rally today in Sacramento, where GOP Congressman Darrell Issa -- the only declared gubernatorial candidate from a major party -- was set to appear alongside businessman Bill Simon, who is preparing his team for a run after losing to Davis in November. State Sen. Tom McClintock, who has formed an exploratory committee, also is expected to attend.
Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan remained noncommittal. "My plan for today is to do a lot of thinking, a lot of talking," said Riordan, who said he "definitely" would not run if actor Arnold Schwarzenegger entered the race as a Republican.
He said a decision could come in the next few days.
Meanwhile, supporters of former Democratic Rep. Gary Condit say the congressman -- whose life is the subject of a documentary called "Public Service: The Private Campaign of Gary Condit," to premiere Aug. 8 in Sacramento -- is being urged to consider a run as a Democrat.
And, in another twist, the ballot could list at least one other former Sacramento lawmaker who has been, at turns, a member of the Green Party, an independent -- and a Democrat.
Audie Bock, the only Green ever elected to the Assembly, is a former client of GOP political consultant Sal Russo, who ran her unsuccessful independent campaign against Assembly Democrat Wilma Chan and her derailed effort to challenge Rep. Barbara Lee of Oakland.
Looks like California will get it's Terminator...either Davis survives the recall or Arnold becomes Governor...either way we're fucked.
So what, I hear you say...just a bunch of whining arugula munchers. Follow this clueless asshat's advice
...let's just float a Dean/Kerry (Kerry/Dean?) presidential ticket out there to the cosmic Void, see how it plays, shall we?
and you'll be California Dreamin' too.
Thanks to Merde in France for pointing out yet another example of French perfidy.
Did Chirac say what AFP heard?
Versions differ over Malaysian comments
By John Vinocur (IHT)
Thursday, July 24, 2003
PARIS: When two virulent opponents of American involvement in Iraq like President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad of Malaysia get together, the language of disapproval of U.S. policy normally gets a full workout. But this was a notch above standard.
Chirac, in Putrajaya on Monday to receive the Kuala Lumpur World Peace Award from Mahathir, said, according to Agence France-Presse, that the world could no longer submit to the law of the jungle and needed to create an international organization that could eliminate unilateralism.
For Chirac, what was required instead, according to the report in AFP's French-language service, "is an international structure, an international mechanism that can do away with unilateralism and bring multilateralism."
"We can no longer accept the law of the strongest, the law of the jungle," Chirac was quoted as saying.
The French news agency in turn attributed its version of Chirac's remarks to the official translator during award ceremonies in conjunction with Chirac's prize.
In the carefully measured vocabulary of official French criticism of the United States - not specifically mentioned by Chirac - the nonetheless clear juxtaposition of America with "law of the jungle" would be something new and evocative
The International Herald Tribune concludes with this heart warming quote:
Chirac was honored, the AFP dispatch said, for his 'resolute opposition to the war in Iraq and the courage he demonstrated in placing himself on the side of the oppressed.'
Oppress THIS Jacques.
This story is so freeping stupid that I can't believe Rueter's wastes bandwidth delivering such drivel to my mailbox.
Poll shows many Germans see U.S. behind Sept 11
BERLIN, July 23 (Reuters) - Almost one in three Germans below the age of 30 believes the U.S. government may have sponsored the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, according to a poll published on Wednesday.
And about 20 percent of Germans in all age groups hold this view, a survey of 1,000 people conducted for the weekly Die Zeit said.
Not exactly stunning information when a representative poll of the Allensbacher Research Institute in 2001 shows, that 22% of Germans under 30 years "believes in visitors from out of space" (pdf- table 3, pg 3 in German)
Reuter's wouldn't spin an anti-American story just for the hell of it... would they? Glenn thinks so, I do too.
Bechtel to Hire 25,000 Iraqis to Rebuild
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Construction giant Bechtel Corp. said on Wednesday it plans to employ 25,000 Iraqis, mostly through subcontractors, for infrastructure projects throughout the war-ravaged country.
"That's the way to get the (Iraqi) economy moving again," said Bechtel spokeswoman Valerie Kazanjian, noting the 25,000-strong work force will be employed throughout Iraq.
Bechtel in April won a contract from the United States Agency for International Development worth up to $680 million over 18 months as part of the U.S.-led effort to rebuild critical infrastructure throughout Iraq.
The San Francisco-based company's projects in Iraq include repairing 28 water facilities and nine sewage plants. Privately held Bechtel also is repairing a fresh-water canal, 1,300 schools and clinics, and airports in Baghdad and Basra.
Additionally, the company is repairing a seaport and upgrading Iraq's telephone and electrical systems.
Bechtel last week completed its first project in Iraq, a 3-km (1.86 mile), four-lane bridge bypass on a major highway in western Iraq. The bypass was largely finished by subcontractor Al-Bunnia Trading Co. of Baghdad, according to Bechtel, which has said it seeks to subcontract at least half of its work in Iraq to Iraqi firms.
Bechtel told Reuters on Wednesday that of 49 subcontracts it has awarded for work in Iraq, 18 of have gone to Iraqi companies. Bechtel also has contracted with British and U.S. companies, including Lockheed Martin Corp., Motorola Inc. and London-based Olive Security, for work in Iraq.
Looks like Iraq's French telephone system is kaput.
Seems the folks over at Euro Observer may be at cross puposes...so which is it? the EU is a roaring success or the UK is creaming them?
British firms are beating their European rivals.
The UK is home to six out of the ten best performing companies in Europe, according to a new survey by Standard&Poor's and Business Week. Europe's economic powerhouse, Germany, was unable to boast a single firm in the top 20.
then there's this:
Europe to close gap with US as business location
The EU has received some much needed good news as a business location. The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has said that Western Europe "will close the gap somewhat with North America".
The EIU - a well respected research agency - ranks the 60 biggest countries in the World according to 70 criteria which affect the attractiveness of a state as a business location.
EU countries are well placed, with 6 countries - Holland, Finland, the UK, Denmark, Ireland and Sweden - in the top 10. The highest placed EU country is Holland, which was ranked second after Canada. The lowest ranked country was Greece, at 31st.
Note that France and Germany were not in the top ranks.
Joanie spins new a metaphor as Carnival of the Vanities checks into Blogger General Hospital.
The Carnival's EKG looks good, the Orthopod proclaimed sturdy legs and of course Dr. Katz recognizing our collective need, wrote scripts for mood altering meds.
July 22, 2003
Release Number: 03-07-68
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
STATEMENT REGARDING OPERATION IN MOSUL, IRAQ
Statement from US Central Command:
On Tuesday, July 22, forces associated with the 101st Airborne Division and Special Operations Forces conducted an operation against suspected regime figures at a residence in Mosul, Iraq. The site is currently being exploited. Four Iraqis were killed in the operation. We have confirmed that two of the dead were Saddam’s sons Uday and Qusay.
This morning in my back garden a floral play unfolded in three acts. A few Water Hyacinths float in a container pond...the bamboo fountain trickles it's eternal watersong...oblivious to the scope of their tiny world...they began to bloom.
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Update: Yesterday's effort was the out-of-town-tryout...a renamed, expanded show opened this morning...stay tuned for the afternoon matinee.
The db issue has been resolved...now on to the new site design.
Thanks for stopping by when nothing was going on...not sure if that speaks to your morbid curiousity or my sloth...but watch this space for a new, more foolish version of fools blog.
~f
Is this Jay Leno or John Kerry? Swear... they coulda been separated at birth.
I wouldn't elect Kerry dog catcher...in fact he'd have a better chance running for the presidency.
Oh.
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
via Matt Drudge
Well, this really sucks. Still no fix. It's not like there is anything to comment upon or anything...it's pretty much the same old, same old. Bush bashing Liberal weenies trying to lather up an issue to save their moribund party and collective asses.
::YAWN:::
In late 1896, John Phillip Sousa and his wife took a much-deserved vacation to Europe. While there, Sousa received word that the manager of the Sousa Band, David Blakely, had died suddenly. The band was scheduled to begin another cross-country tour soon, and Sousa knew he must return to America at once to take over the band's business affairs. Sousa tells the rest of the story in his autobiography "Marching Along":
"Here came one of the most vivid incidents of my career. As the vessel (the Teutonic) steamed out of the harbor I was pacing on the deck, absorbed in thoughts of my manager's death and the many duties and decisions which awaited me in New York. Suddenly, I began to sense a rhythmic beat of a band playing within my brain. Throughout the whole tense voyage, that imaginary band continued to unfold the same themes, echoing and re-echoing the most distinct melody. I did not transfer a note of that music to paper while I was on the steamer, but when we reached shore, I set down the measures that my brain-band had been playing for me, and not a note of it has ever changed."
Our collective brain-band has been playing Sousa's feel-good tune ever since. Is this a great country or what? Turn up your speakers and ENJOY!
* Streaming audio courtesy of the Dallas Wind Symphony.
