The gibbous moon wanes – if you look closely at the top of the shadow waning, you will see some definition, a chasm or crack in the crater wall. You can also see some definition in the crater walls near the creeping shadow. This takes clicking on the thumbnail and using the magnify feature of your browser or downloading the photo and enlarging with photoshop.
Month: November 2007
French Intifada Restarts
The story is at Little Green Footballs — but this is the first real test for Sarkozy since entering office. Let us hope he responds firmly. More from La Parisienne via Nidra Poller:
Le Parisien reports that they burned down a Peugeot dealership, sacked a train station and shops, tore up a McDonald’s, stole the day’s receipts and attacked customers, smashed and burned cars, and are still going strong. A police commissioner who tried to talk to the mob was attacked with iron rods; his face and skull are fractured. A police station was burned down, seven policemen were injured.
Interviewed by Le Parisien, the uncle of Moushin Souhhali, one of the victims, says he understands the rage; it’s terrible to lose a 15 year-old boy. His body, claims the uncle, was dumped at the fire station with no respect. The police who, in his opinion, caused the accident were nowhere to be seen. He heard they were speeding. His nephew was a good boy, not a delinquent.
He’s a good boy – he just happened to be on a stolen motorcycle.
UPDATE: More this morning at AP
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La Belle Lune
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Ok this first try is a bit too bright, not enough contrast so I dropped the next one down to ISO 100…
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Tonight’s Full Moon Obscured by Clouds
Tonight’s full moon obscured by clouds, I had to set ISO to 1600 to get this.
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And since that came out dreary and dim, here’s an object d’art to muse upon.
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Vlaams Belang Split Initiative Voted Down: Belgium United?
In a new alliance of Northern Flemish Centrist parties and the liberal left parties has voted down the latest provocative move by Vlaams Belang to split Belgium. From Euronews:
A move by Belgium’s far-right Vlaams Belang to split the country in two has been blocked by lawmakers from the Flemish north and French-speaking south teaming up to vote it down. The parliamentary ballot amounted to a rare display of unity between the two sides. The political deadlock between them has left the country without a government since elections almost six months ago. And the crisis is not over yet.
Francophone liberal, Didier Reynders, commented: “A step in the wrong direction’s been avoided but there’s nothing extraordinary in that. It’s normal MPs didn’t vote to debate a law to end Belgium.”
While the politicians argue, ordinary Belgians have been organising marches calling for national unity. The presidents of both houses of Parliament are to report to King Albert today on the latest efforts to find a compromise over state reforms and form a coalition.
Video from Euronews here.
This still leaves the country with interim government, possibly until elections are held in 2009, and it leaves the BHV resection question still open.
Both sides of the issue are highly polarized, and it’s hard to find objective sources. With several factions on the left and the right continually backbiting both their opponents and their allies, it’s hard to gather just the base facts in one spot. These are the two best sources I could find for background :
The American Chamber of Commerce, Belgium outlines some of the potential outcomes here.
This financially-focused article outlines the bare facts, and the possible financial ramifications of a split. Alpha
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The Downside of Windpower
This New York Times article details some of the downside to windfarms that I described last year, it’s a good read to understand all of the issues and costs of wind-generated power. Some solutions could be batteries, capacitors, etc. but those also come with environmental costs. Windfarms are a semi-viable source of energy, but to overcome the issues it will take a reasoned approach and engineering.
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Pakistan Update: All Challenges Gone?
The Musharraf-selected Pakistan Supreme Court has now cleared the final challenge to President Musharraf’s election in parliament from October, and it’s expected that he will be sworn in when he returns from the pilgrimage to Mecca. Unknown at this time is whether or not he will stay true to word and remove his uniform by resigning his post as Chief of Staff, Army.
He has to be somewhat confident, otherwise he would not have left the country with so much apparent strife over the PCO in the background. Is it Megalomania, or does Musharraf know the people of Pakistan better than most think he does? Time is the arbriter of all.
Meanwhile also in Saudi Arabia, Nawaz Sharif says that he will return in two days:
LAHORE: Former premier Nawaz Sharif has said that he is determined to return to Pakistan within two days and that President General Pervez Musharraf visited Saudi Arabia to discuss the issue of his return with the Saudi king, BBC reported on Wednesday.
Nawaz told BBC that he was expecting a call from Saudi authorities within a day or two so that he could return to Pakistan. “If I have to return to Pakistan then I must return within the next two days because I will need three days to file my nomination papers,” he said.
“[The Saudi government] feels very strongly that I have a duty to perform in Pakistan and a role to play,” Sharif told AP.
However, he said he did not know whether Saudi leaders had actually communicated that to Musharraf when he held talks with them in Riyadh on Tuesday, or if Musharraf had agreed.
Benazir Bhutto has rebuffed calls to boycott the polls and has come to see this contest for what it is: the election to see who will be Prime Minister, coupled with the general elections that will create the face and the form of the new government.
While Musharraf has been mercurial with his timeline on promises, he has stayed true to his overall goal of moving to elections and democracy as measured over time — applying what dictatorial force that he must to inch the country that way. If the elections do occur, and a new government is sent forth, it will become a historic first. (The first full-term Government replaced by Democratic elections — if Pakistan can do that again in five years, then that is something.)
His manipulations have been extremely heavy-handed at times – the suppression of the press, the round up of dissidents, and the PCO itself were all certainly over the top.
However I’m not sure whether the Supreme Court move was uncalled for as it had turned into a political circus by delay of decision on the challenges, and by trying them in the court of public opinion and the press rather than by clear jurisprudence. The court certainly would not have made the 11/15 date with all of the decisions from what I was seeing, and it appears to me that Musharraf probably had handed them a deadline to have the decisions done by.
In the background of this the ex-Chief Justice, Chaudry Iftikhar, is still under house arrest, and lawyers are still protesting and being rounded up. The lawyers represent a small faction without real party, platform, or leader who can communicate. If they allied with one of the main parties it would add to their clout, but that would also take from them forever the mantle of non-partisan justice.
The provinces have interim governments as the old terms expired in the normal run-up to elections, and the care-taker governments are mostly in-place. The mainstream parties, PPP, PML-Q, and PML-N have candidates flocking to fill out their nomination forms at all levels, so they are all treating this as real, and the main parties don’t appear to be boycotting as some fringe parties are trying to convince them to do.
So now on to the main contest in January, and who knows what will come of that? In theory any new government formed could put challenge again to the President if the uniform is not gone, and at that time they would have strong and indisputable backing.
[The information in this report is variously compiled from The Daily Times, Dawn, and The Frontier Post, the opinion and analysis is purely mine.]
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A Gibbous Moon Near Rounded Full
A gibbous moon near rounded full, too bright for ISO 800, knocked it down to 400 for this.
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Hostage A Year and Four Days
There are 305 Private Security Contractors held captive in Iraq and Iran according to Brookings institute;this is the story of one.
There are 305 Private Security Contractors held captive in Iraq and Iran according to Brookings institute; this is the story of one.
Jonathon Cote has been captive a year and three days. Alone and hostage on foreign sands, he and his fellow security contractors were captured on November 16th last year. The parents and friends have done all they can to free them, but to no avail yet.
Update: after research into the Brookings institute report I’ve updated the header – overall 305 hostages have been taken, most are now freed or dead. See Update post here.
They are likely in Iranian hands just judging from the facts. [ this is pure speculation on my part only.] The hostage tapes were broadcast on Iranian Television first in December last year, and nothing goes on the air there without state consent. The “Iraqi” who sold the convoy out sounds more like a Basiji/Quds force member than the opportunist disgruntled employee originally painted by the news stories. Disgruntled employees usually aren’t able to gather a force of forty and set up roadblocks with Iraqi Police uniforms at a day’s notice either.
The State Department, and the Politicians have all been polite and they have done a lot, but the reality is that they have not accomplished much. Jonathon is from Buffalo, and was attending the University of Florida. So he’s a constituent of Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton, and he’s a native of Rudy Guiliani’s state.
The real scandal and outrage in this is that most Americans don’t even know these hostages are held. The story received nationwide coverage from CNN and Fox as it broke, but since then the coverage has been regional only.
Indeed, the finest piece I’ve seen regarding it is this one by Dan Herbeck in The Buffalo News — please follow the link and read the full tale, there is both hope and sorrow to be found in it. Excerpt below:
Jon encountered dangerous and disturbing situations from almost the first day his boots hit the ground in Kuwait. He and Skora felt lucky to be alive after their first mission together.
They were ambushed in Baghdad, where they had been sent to pick up an Iraqi man from a hospital. Skora was driving the lead car in the security detail, with Jon riding shotgun.
“We were leaving Baghdad, and we were set up. Somebody knew we were coming and blocked off the road in front of us,” said Skora, 36. “We started to go down a detour, and suddenly, we were taking fire from the rooftops all around us. About 20 people were firing on us.
“It only lasted about 30 seconds. I got us out of there, but it was very harrowing. Jon kept screaming, ‘Mike, get me out of here!’ I told him to look for the targets and fire back. Jon settled down and did that.
“Afterward, Jon wouldn’t believe what we went through. It was as bad or worse than anything we saw in the Army.” [Editor: Jonathan served a tour with the army in Afghanistan, and one in Iraq. Most private contractors are folks who have also served their country in military or police forces.]
Compare the regional-only coverage you see in this story to the hostage crisis in Iran, or the recent capture by Iran of the British sailors, and the Korean NGO hostages. While these are private security contractors it is no secret that they are doing brave duty and that without these contractors we might as well fold up and get out now — for we will lose and the Iraqi people will lose without their very necessary aid.
Without contractors NGO workers don’t get protection, the supplies don’t get to our troops, and the Iraqi officials bravely trying to make a new future get assassinated. Rebuild comes to a halt, and the chaos once again starts.
I also wonder what has happened to America after reading the “he knew what he was getting into” comments at this story (Please read to the end, where Jonathan’s brother, Chris, responds.) I have to ask the callous commentors this: What if it were your son or brother?
Jonathan served his country and served it well, he and his family deserve nothing less than our full respect, thanks, and support.
Here’s the disclaimer: I work with Jonathan’s Dad, Francis Cote, and he is remarkable — he continues to do an excellent job day-in, day-out, while carrying this burden of sorrows, doubts, and worries.
If you did not know the tale you would not know anything was amiss from his persistent good cheer and that is as it should be. When you ask directly he is quite willing to talk about it, and you can sense the hope he carries as he speaks each word. Francis served 20 years with the Marines, perhaps something he learned there helps him carry this, but he tells me it’s his faith in God. I would hope that I would have the character and strength to bear up as well if it were my son.
When you ask about Jonathon then he will bring you up to date in the latest efforts, and ask that you pray for him. The family passes out cards with Jonathan’s picture and asks that you pray for him; and in most cubicles where I work you will see them on the walls. However more than those who I work with need to know about Jonathon, and more prayers are needed.
What can you do for Jonathon? You can spread the word, you can tell the tale and let people know that 300+ contractors are held hostage. You can pass this on to other blogs, you can write letters to the State Department and the Congressional leaders in New York state.
If you want to do a you-tube question for the Presidential Debates then perhaps you should ask about him and the others held hostage – after all the two lead candidates do hail from Jonathon’s home state. Here is the website for Jonathon and the others held captive with him. Otherwise the family would like your prayers for Jonathon, captive a year and four days.
As you sit down to give thanks in a few days please remember both those who are home, and those brave captive souls who are away – waiting on their Thanksgiving day.
UPDATE: Not ready for My Burqa has more: the State Department informed the families three weeks ago that the hostages are still alive.
Here’s the KC Star story on John Young, one of the other hostages with Jonathon.
Other resources: US policy for Hostage situations (PDF Link)
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New Bin Laden Sightings
There are new rumors of Bin Laden, and Bill Roggio has coverage at the Weekly Standard.
To add to the mix I will insert below excerpts from my posts last year on this:
8-20-06:
Potentially a Bin-Laden sighting from India, this could be more credible than some past false sightings just due to the pressure being exerted both sides of the Kashmir and in Afghanistan on Terror groups right now. There are also a couple of Special Task forces in the area from the US, and they have disappeared from the map and the news. Let’s hope they are up to something real good. Continue reading “New Bin Laden Sightings”
