From Air Force Link: Former Iraqi citizen returns to serve as Air Force officer.

     The journey to American citizenship and eventual commissioning in the Air Force was a long and dangerous path for Iraqi-born Capt. Rasul Alsalih of the 732nd Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron.

     He was 29 years old and living in his hometown of Samawah, Iraq, when the United States and its coalition partners ejected the Iraqi army from Kuwait in 1991.

    I am always amazed at how strong the dedication that we Americans have to our Nation, wteher we were born here or came here from another land.  Captain Alsalih represents everything that is great about America, and Americans.  He has my unending respect and admiration for the courage he showed in fighting against opression and tyranny and risking all to build a better life.

    "I had a lot of admiration and respect for the military because my experience in the refugee camp gave me a good impression of them -- of how strong they are, how caring they were. They took good care of us in the camp," Captain Alsalih said. "I formed my opinion about the military and I wished to become one of them because they did a good job for us. I still remember the names and the faces of the soldiers who helped us in the refugee camp."

Capt. Rasul Alsalih, a project officer for the 732nd Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron, discusses a construction project with an Iraqi national. An Iraqi by birth, Captain Alsalih fought against Saddam Hussein shortly after Desert Storm and found refuge in an Army camp in Saudi Arabia. He was educated in the U.S. before seeking a commission in the Air Force. He was one of four servicemembers recognized as an "Outstanding American by Choice" this year. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Jonathan Snyder)

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From First Multi National Force Iraq and Combined Joint Task Force-82 and Air Force Link:

Local citizens help Iraqi Security Forces seize terrorist weapons cache in Hillah.

Baghdad dramatically increasing Police Force: Stryker Brigade picks best recruits.

Coalition forces disrupt terrorist operations, 11 detained.

Unyielding dedication: Soldier makes national defense a career.

New U.S. northern cmdr says he hopes diplomacy will resolve Iraq-Turkey standoff.

Father gains sense of son’s last moments in Iraq.

Ramadi war zone now rare bright spot. (I would say that Ramadi is just one bright spot of many, but the story is from the Guardian so what can you expect. - RT)

Marines declare war on garbage.

Another dispute in Iraq presents an opportunity for reconciliation.

Tammimi, Jibouri tribes uphold reconciliation in Diyala.

U.S. Soldiers free Hostage from al Qaeda.

Iraqi Policemen Learn the Basics during Prep Course.

Common-Sense Recruiting, Cutting-Edge Training Lift Iraq’s Air Force.

Petraeus gets Feedback from Surge Troops.

Coalition forces disrupt al-Qaeda in Iraq, three terrorists killed. (Kirkuk)

Coalition forces capture targeted Special Groups member, eleven others detained.

Rock Hammer III disrupts enemy supply network in Baqouba.

British Commitment to Coalition, Oct. 31.

Kirtland gifts reach Afghan school children.

ANSF, Coalition forces kill several Taliban fighters in Oruzgan Province.

Several militants killed, two detained in Ghazni Province.

 A-10 pilot awarded Mackay Trophy.

Children of fallen troops honored at remembrance ceremonies.

CSAF presents Bronze Star to Royal Air Force exchange officer.

F-15C's from the First Fighter Wing, out of Langely AFB.  Offical USAF Photo.

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From the Yomuiri Shimbun: Panel says cram-free education a failure.

     Cram-free education, a main plank of current teaching guidelines, is expected to be declared a failure in an report interim to be released shortly, it has been learned.

     The report, which will be released by the Central Council for Education, an advisory panel to the education, science and technology minister, is the first to publicly admit that cram-free education had failed to achieve the intended results.

     The council has already decided to advise the minister to increase school hours at primary and middle schools.

     Among its main points, the report will say that the cram-free policy led to an excessive reduction in school hours.

     Such self-criticism is a rare move, but the council is believed to have concluded that it is necessary to win teachers' understanding for the policy reversal.

     In 1996, the council proposed encouraging children to develop a "zest for living," including the development of self-expression and care for others.

     As a result, the current official curriculum guidelines aim to increase the effectiveness of teaching by focusing on a narrower range of subject material. The content of primary and middle schools' subjects was reduced by 30 percent, while school hours were cut by 10 percent.

     The Japanese educational system is, from all that I can gather a complete, well fiasco for lack of a better word.  Criticism of it is not exactly thin on the ground and from what I have read this seems to be step backwards.  Why should the central gov't in a nation of 150+ million people be setting the curriculum for every school from Kushiro to Naha?  What Japan desperately needs is decentralization and a reduction in governmental involvement in most aspects of daily life and business.  People tend to excell when government simply gets out of their way and lets them live up to their full potential.  Thats my opinion anyway.

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From the Chosin Ilbo: Bush Sends Tougher Message to N.Korea.

     U.S. President George W. Bush has warned North Korea against failure to fulfill its part of a six-nation agreement whereby it is to disable nuclear facilities by the end of the year. “There will be consequences to the North Koreans if North Korea renege on their promises,” Bush said in a press conference at the White House. “They have declared that they will show us weapons and get rid of the weapons programs, as well as stop proliferation … If they don't fulfill that which they've said, we are now in a position to make sure that they understand that there be consequences.”

     So the US continues to take the hard line with the North Koreans, while the Japanese have from a all pressure approach to one of pressure and dialog, with the hopes of making more progress than in the past.  From the Yomuiri Shimbum: Govt's new North Korea line: More carrots, less stick.

     Reflecting Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's intentions, the government increasingly has been focusing on dialogue in its diplomatic relations with North Korea," revealing a shift in the foreign policy line from that taken by the Abe administration, which favored pressuring the country.

     "If some of the abductees return to Japan, I think we can consider that to be 'progress' on the abduction issue," Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura told reporters Friday at the Diet.

     Suggesting that the government might lift sanctions on, or give aid to, North Korea in phases, Komura said: "We may take measures in accordance with the [degree of] progress. That's a matter of course when it comes to improving relations with North Korea."

     Aiming at the return of all abductees, the Cabinet of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe repeatedly emphasized that it would never provide assistance to North Korea without progress on the abduction issue, while avoiding clarifying how it defined "progress." Abe said, "It's us who decide the definition of 'progress,'" and former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said, "We don't think we can call it 'progress' if North Korea merely promises to continue its investigation into the issue and offer [any] information."

     I am aware of the apparent progress of the six party talks, but I remain very wary of North Korea, they have decieved in the past nad may yet do so agian.  Witht he reports filtering out about their involvement with the Syrian nuclear program we should not let up one bit, but rather tighten the sanctions untill we have the full and toatl truth.  The economic and military impact of the various embargoes against North Korea are working as this valuable tidbit from the China Post shows: North Korea stops spy flights due to fuel shortage.

     SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea has suspended flight training for military aircraft aimed at infiltrating special operation forces in rival South Korea because of fuel shortages, a news report said Sunday.

     Yonhap news agency, quoting unidentified government and military sources, said the impoverished country's military has had to halt training flights of the Soviet-designed AN-2 planes as the fuel shortages have been worsened by soaring oil prices.

     "We found (North Korea) is diverting fuel oil for AN-2 planes to training of other aircraft, and that is why their flights have been suspended for a long time," Yonhap quoted a South Korean government official privy to North Korean affairs as saying.

     Of course US efforts aren't helped by the pussyfooting at the State Department, which as always wants to talk about thing forever and a day without getting anywhere nearer to a solution. The dust up between State and everyone else over the Nork's involvement with the Syrian nuke program is case in point. From the Chosin Ilbo: U.S. Leaders at Odds over N.Korea-Syria Nuke Connection.

     Suspicions over a nuclear connection between North Korea and Syria are dividing the Bush administration in the U.S., the New York Times reported Saturday. "A dispute has broken out between conservatives and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice over the administration’s pursuit of diplomacy with North Korea in the face of intelligence that North Korea might have helped Syria design a nuclear reactor," the daily said.

     In recent days, Vice President Dick Cheney has reportedly urged Rice to reconsider her North Korea policy, pointing to the rumor. Rice reportedly countered this by saying that President George W. Bush was briefed on the intelligence and issued a statement in support of talks with Pyongyang early this month.

     If we continue to pressure North Korea we can force them to put all their cards on the table, because they know that it is their best interests to do so.  If they continue down the nuclear path and help others to do so things might get a bit, kinetic as it were.  And in that case they would loose, so it is better to give it up and avoid the alternative.

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Nintendo says: "Wii are Rolling in Money!"

From the Asahi Shimbun: GAMES: Nintendo '07 sales to top 1.5 trillion Yen

     Nintendo Co. said Thursday that its popular Wii and DS videogame consoles will lift its consolidated sales to 1.55 trillion yen for fiscal 2007, 10.7 percent more than its earlier estimate.

     The company's group sales for the year ended March were 966.5 billion yen.

     Nintendo on Thursday reported a consolidated net profit of 132.4 billion yen on sales of 694.8 billion yen for the six months through September.

     Net profits increased by 2.4 times from the same period the previous year, and sales by 2.3 times.

         The Nintendo DS handheld game player sold a record 13.35 million units during the six-month period.

     Accumulated sales of Wii game consoles totaled 13.17 million units at the end of September, with 72 percent of that in overseas markets.

  Nintendo continues to rake in cash from the Wii and DS, while Sony continues to slash prices on the PS3.  Sony is suffering not only from the PS3's higher price point but continued support for the PS2 from software companies, with many games for the PS3 being released for the PS2 at the same time.  If Sony wants to climb back to the top it is going to take more than price cuts to convince people to put aside their PS2's in favor of PS3's.  Unfortunately for Sony I have zero ideas as to how they can do that.

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From Defend America, First Multi National Force Iraq and CJTF-82:

Senior Citizen Stops Suicide Bomber.

Paratroopers Sign Up for Another Tour.

Concerned Local Citizens turn in three IEDs. (Kalsu)

Kidnapped Catholic priests freed in Iraq.

Iraq boy treated for defect with U.S. help.

Prince honours reservists for Iraq tour.

Gov’t in attempt to extend troops’ mandate in Iraq.

Tip leads to cache in western Baghdad.

Army Engineers work to improve Maysan’s electrical system.

Key Madrid train bombins suspect killed in Iraq: report.

Iraqi Army visits school children in Jerf Al-Mila.

Soldiers find huge weapons cache.

Coalition forces disrupt al-Qaeda: 11 killed, two detained.

ANSF, Coalition forces defeat insurgents for second time in 2 days.

ANSF, Coalition forces focus on Haqqani network.

Afghanistan milestone has special meaning for Bagram Airmen.

And in 1950, 1965, 1983, 1990, and 2001 or any other time

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From the Shuttle Section at NASA: Space Shuttle Discovery is Ready.

     The countdown to launch of space shuttle Discovery on the STS-120 mission is proceeding smoothly at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA Test Director Steve Payne announced at this morning's countdown status briefing.

     "At this point in the count, we're on schedule, our systems are all good and we're in great shape," Payne said, adding that the launch team is not tracking any technical issues.

Image above: Attired in training versions of their shuttle launch and entry suits, the STS-120 crew members await the start of a training session in the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility at Johnson Space Center. From the left are astronauts Pamela A. Melroy, STS-120 commander; Daniel M. Tani, Expedition 16 flight engineer; George D. Zamka, STS-120 pilot; Douglas H. Wheelock, Scott E. Parazynski, Stephanie D. Wilson and European Space Agency's (ESA) Paolo Nespoli, all mission specialists. Image credit: NASA

     Shuttle Launch tomorrow at 11:38am EDT, 10:38 CDT, 9:38 MDT, 8:30PDT and some god awful hour in Hawaii.  I as usual will watch live on NASA TV or over the internet, you should too.  The mission is STS-120, which will deliver the Harmony node to the ISS. Full info about the mission plan here: Mission Overview.  and about the payload here: Payload Information.

Discovery Ready on the launch pad for STS-120.

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Tachikoma Robot

Sadly this to be found at the bottom of the page "The robot is not for sale, just for DVD promotion."

I want one of these things so bad, but I can't have one.  If it is any cosolation no one else can either.  Still this thing would make them a bundle if they would sell it. 

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Its Nice to be ahead of the curve sometimes.

From the China Post: Who's afraid of the Dalai Lama? China's Communists, apparently.

     Wednesday the Dalai Lama received the Congressional Gold Medal, Congress's highest civilian honor, and China is throwing a fit. "We are furious," the Chinese Communist Party's secretary for Tibet, Zhang Qingli, declared this week. "If the Dalai Lama can receive such an award, there must be no justice or good people in the world." In recent days, China has abruptly withdrawn from a summit on Iran and canceled a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who received the Dalai Lama in September. Beijing, which according to The Post "solemnly demanded" that the Bush administration cancel Washington events planned for the Dalai Lama, is determined to punish and intimidate anyone who might pay tribute to Tibet's Nobel laureate.

     Why is the mighty People's Republic of China so petrified of this 72-year-old Buddhist monk? True, the Dalai Lama is no ordinary scholar and teacher; he is the living symbol of the Buddhist faith. It seems that Beijing's cadres fear his moral authority and do not want the international community to examine their record in Tibet, because they have a lot to hide.

     It has been 48 years since the Dalai Lama eluded capture by the People's Liberation Army and escaped to India, whereupon Chairman Mao Zedong began to plunder Tibet's wealth and murdered more than 1 million of its people. In the mid-1990s, the Chinese politburo implemented the "Strike Hard Campaign" that declared Buddhism "a disease to be eradicated." News of major protests in Tibet has not been widely disseminated in recent years, and now the survival of Tibetan civilization has reached a tipping point. In 2000, China launched a vast infrastructure campaign called "Opening and Development of the Western Regions" and embarked on a new phase of subjugation and control. Construction of rail and road links to Tibet, such as the Qingzang railway that opened last year, has accelerated Beijing's surveillance of Tibetans and has advanced the Sinofication of the Himalayan and Turkic peoples who inhabit China's western territories.

     Have no doubt the Chinese really do fear the Dali Lama and anyone else who can bring attention to their deplorable behavior towards the people of Tibet and elsewhere.  The more he and others like him are recognized and honored in the west the more internal trouble it creates for China, so lets give him the Presidebtial Medal of Freedom next year just to show the Chicoms that we haven't frogotten about Tibet and their repression of her.

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     Weak nations talk about how strong they are, while strong nations let that power speak for its self.  The US is a strong nation, while Iran is most definately a weak nation. They talk, we demonstrate compare and contrast.

The US:

And Iran:

From the China Post, but just about everywhere really: Iran can fire 11,000 rockets a minute: commander.

     TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran is capable of firing 11,000 rockets into enemy bases within the first minute after any possible attack, state-run television quoted a top Revolutionary Guards Corps commander as saying Saturday.

     Gen. Mahmoud Chaharbaghi, the missile commander of the Guards, said Iran has identified all enemy positions and was prepared to respond in less than a minute to any possible attack.

     "Enemy bases and positions have been identified. ... The Guards ground force will fire 11,000 rockets into identified enemy positions within the first minute of any aggression against the Iranian territory," the television quoted Chaharbaghi as saying.

     Of course what the Iranians fail to mention is that most of these raockets are in fact just that unguided free flight artillery rockets whose accuracy is measured in hundreds of meters, and are of highly limited range.  Typical artillery rocket systems have maximu ranges of between fiteen to fifty miles for the larger system.  And the longer ou fling them the less accurate they become.  This is the main reason that the US MLRS and HIMARS systems use cluster munition warheads, rather than relying on one wrahead to hit the target each rocket carries over 600, making accuracy less of an issue.  As for their guided systems, thes are all either old Soviet system dating form the fifties and sixties or indeigenous variations thereof.  Alot of them are little better than upgraded Scuds, which itself is directly descended from the less than stellarly accurate V-2.   This is just more saber rattling by a nation that really doesn't have much in the way of sabers to be rattled.  The Iranians know how weak they are and this kind of posturing just proves that to anyone who looks at the reality of the Iranian's capability versus their daft proclamations.

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     Czar Putin must be really worried about the US missile defense program given how often he and his underlings have been lambasting the expansion of the program to include US allies in Europe and Asia.  I can't but help to wonder if their nuclear forces are less capable than we currently believe if they are this worked up over a system that is currently aimed at small scale threats ike Iran and North Korea.  More likely they see it as a counter to any potential nuclear blackmail they may need to try in the future given the rather pathetic state of Russia's conventional forces.  If you can defend against a limited attack you can only threaten a general attack that will result in your destruction as well, so they want to impede any missile defense efforts that will limit their options.  Nations act in self interest first and foremost, and Russia is no exception, but she should recogonize that she has very limited weight on the international scene in this day and age.

From the Japan Times: Russia opposes Japan missile defense.

     MOSCOW (Kyodo) Russia is concerned about the Japan-U.S. project to develop a missile defense system, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a recent interview.

     The project is "a subject of concern from our side," Lavrov said Friday in a written response to questions prior to his visit to Japan later this month.

     "We are opposed to the construction of a missile defense system aimed at securing military superiority," he said in Russian, arguing the system could be directed at Russian and Chinese strategic arms.

     It is believed to be the first time Lavrov has publicly expressed strong concern over the U.S.-Japan defense system.

     Of course left unsaid in all this is that moscow has maintained a missile defense system since the 1960's and updates it regularly to deal with new threats.  It is ok for them to defend themselves but not for anyone else.  That is typical Russian chauvanism, one that clouds their view of the world and creates a lot of problems for them internationally on issues like this.  Putin needs to realize that Russia will never be a superpower and that no matter how much wealth he is able to bring into the country by selling off its natural resources he will never be able to match the west in terms of economic, military and political might.  Then maybe we could be free of all the hypocritical blather eminating from Moscow these days.

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     The only reason the Chicoms are getting so upset over the whole visit of the Dali Lama with the president and the award he is recieving from congress is easy to spot.  He is right and they are wrong, and by honoring him the US is acknowledging that fact.  their occupation of Tibet is not an internal matter, as they so slef righteously claim, but rather the continued and illegal occupation of one sovergien state by another.  This is just further proof that tgers can't change their spots and communists can't take criticism.

From the Bangkok Post: US honours Dalai Lama, angers China.

     Washington (AFP) - US President George W. Bush on Wednesday asked China to open talks with the Dalai Lama, hours before attending a Congress ceremony honoring the Tibetan spiritual leader that has angered Beijing.

     "It's in their interest to meet with the Dalai Lama and I will say so at the ceremony today in Congress," Bush said before the controversial event where the Dalai Lama will receive a US Congressional Gold Medal - the highest civilian award bestowed by US lawmakers.

      It will be the first time a sitting US president appears in public with the 72-year-old Buddhist figurehead.

      Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi had warned that Bush's private meeting with the Dalai Lama on Tuesday and the Congress ceremony represented "a severe violation of the norms of international relations."

      He accused the United States of having "severely hurt" China's feelings and interfered in its internal affairs.

     In regards to china's "hurt feelings," they can kiss my ass and get the fuck over it.  We have every right to honor whom ever we want for wahtever reason we want, so why don't the Chinese stop meddling in our internal affairs.

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Both From the Yomuiri Shimbun:  New antiterrorism law to last 1 year.

     The government decided Monday that a bill to establish a new law to continue the refueling mission by the Maritime Self-Defense Force in the Indian Ocean will include a one-year time limit.

     The new law, which would replace the Antiterrorism Law due to expire on Nov. 1, will not contain a clause stating that the government must periodically report on the MSDF's activities to the Diet.

       The rational for the new law is clear, but the editors at the Yomuiri and I are in agreement that a permanent solution is needed.  Japan is hamstrung by the need to pass a law in order to respond to each new crisis, and needs tp put in place a permanent law spelling out when and when not the SDF can become involved.

Japan mustn't quit war on terrorism.

     Japan must not abandon the war that the international community is waging against terrorism. It is a matter of course for the government and the ruling camp to do their utmost to quickly establish new legislation to replace the current Antiterrorism Law. The main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, for its part, will be tested on how it handles a bill for the new law.

     The government has submitted to the Diet the bill for the new antiterrorism law to allow the Maritime Self-Defense Force to continue its refueling mission in the Indian Ocean.

     The new law will limit the Self-Defense Force's antiterrorism support activities to the MSDF's refueling and water supply mission. The subjects of the mission will be limited to other countries' vessels participating in maritime interdiction activities to prevent the movement of terrorists and the transportation of weapons and drugs.

Permanent law needed.

     The government initially sought a two-year term for the new law. However, in consideration of New Komeito's view that having it enforced for one year would make it easier to maintain civilian control over the MSDF mission, the government set the term of the law at one year.

     But for Japan to properly tackle the war on terrorism, which will be a long and difficult task, the term of the law that governs the nation's efforts for the war should be longer. After the law is established, creating a permanent law regarding the overseas dispatch of the SDF likely will become a topic of discussion.

     Of course this would all be a moot point if the Japanese consitution is amended to remove article nine or the Japanese goverment decides that it can simply ignore article nine and get away with it.  I talked about that here and here.

JDS Murasame, DD-101. The lead ship in a class of nine multipurpose destroyers laid down in 1991.

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     Ah, the 1911A1, perhaps the finest self loading handgun ever created.  A testament to its quality and reliability is that after ninety six (96) years it is still the preferered side arm of anyone in the US military who can lay their hands on one.  The Beretta M-9 is a good gun sure, but the 1911 is the 1911.  It is the supurlative of sidearms, accurate, reliable, rugged and good looking to boot.  That and it fires nice big and heavy 45 caliber ammo that will put some one down and keep them there.  Now modern bullet technology means that any good hollowpoint im 9mm or larger will do the job, but due to the US's cotinued observance of an outdated and scientifically disproven treaty soldiers on the battlefield are limited to ball ammo, in which case bigger is most definately better.  But then again a 9mm or .355 inch JHP will probably grow to be about 12.7mm or .5 inch at full expansion while a .451 or 11.7mm JHP will probably be nearly .750 to .800 inches or 22.5 to 23.25mm in size and a bigger hole is a better hole no matter how you slice it.

     As for simplicity, here she is fully detail stripped, and to get to this point all you need is either a combination tool which is little more than an L shaped piece of steel that doubles as a screw driver and punch.  In a pinch the gun can be stripped with nothing more than a round of 45acp ammo and its own parts doubling up as tools, now that is genuis.  Shown in the pics above leaning against a box of Federal 230 grain Hydrashoks.  I feel for my readers who live in less civilised and forward thinking places where owning such a fine weapon as this verboten.  As for me, I need to get off my backside and get me a licensce to carry concealed.

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From the Voice of America via the Chosin Ilbo: Taipei Rejects Chinese President's Offer of Peace Talks.

     The Taiwan government has rejected China's offer of peace talks. Beijing's offer came Monday during the opening of the Communist Party's 17th Congress. Chinese President Hu Jintao called for negotiations with Taiwan to reach a peace agreement. But authorities in Taipei objected to Beijing's precondition that Taiwan accept the "one-China" principle.

     But in Taipei, government spokesman Shieh Jhy-wey rejected the offer of negotiations.  Shieh says Taiwan will not discuss peace, unification or anything else with a country that, in his words, oppresses Tibet, kills its own citizens, and supports the military government of Burma.

     Nor should they accept a one China position, because nothing could be farther from the truth, Taiwan is an independant and democratic nation.  It is right of them to reject a settlement that would infringe upon their sovergienty.  Mr. Jhy-wey was absolutely on point with his governments asessment of the Chicoms and their refusal to negotiate with them.  And to his list of crimes the PRC has committed may I add that they support North Korea, kill unborn babies against their parents will, imprison religous followers and opress anyone who speaks out against them, and I may add that is the short, short list.

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     The recent huffing and puffing from China over the President's meeting with the Dali Lama makes me aask once again why we bother to give the murdering bastards in Beijing the legitimacy of full diplomatic recognition and not do the same to Taipei?  If we adopt a two China policy the PRC would have to accept it or accept the risk  of all the business they do with the US dissapears and their economy hits the wall and the social upheavals that would bring with it.  We need to stop dicking around and face up to the facts with the PRC, thery are our enemies, and we should do everything we can to support our friends rather than offering deference to our enemies.

A quick comparison between the two.

From the Yomuiri Shimbun: China still curbing freedom of speech.

     "The Chinese government still strictly controls free speech, but don't you think freedom [in society] has been gradually spreading thanks to social changes in the past 20 to 30 years?"

     I asked Chinese author Zhou Qing this question after he delivered a speech in Tokyo earlier this month.

     He replied: "[Government] control of free speech remains unchanged. [What appears to be freedom] is merely superficial. What made you think such a thing?"

     The Beijing-based author was promoting his book on the danger of Chinese food, titled "What Kind of God: A Survey of the Current Safety of China's Food."

     Though I intended to ask for his opinion on freedom of speech in China, Zhou apparently thought I lacked a proper understanding of the situation in the country.

     "I find your [question] absurd. [So-called liberalization] is not the result of changes made by the Chinese government. It's a result of pressure from the international community," he said. "Dictators will never change."

     Zhou, who took part in the pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in 1989, was later arrested and imprisoned for nearly three years.

     After his release, he was labeled a traitor by the government, which restricted his activities as a writer. But he refused to give up his career, despite such pressures.

     By far the most pongiant remark is at the end of the interview, and sums up the innate desire of the people of China to be free of the shackles of their repressive regieme.

     "I hid in mountains in the Ningxia autonomous region [of north central China], where I was given refuge by local residents. They fed me eggs every day, a valuable item for them. I was very impressed and believed China would become democratized one day," he said.

     For comparison this took place recently in Taipei, I wonder how the goverment of the PRC would have reacted if this had taken place in Beijing.

From the China Post: Thousands march in Taipei for gay rights.

     TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Thousands of homosexuals staged a Gay Pride march in Taipei yesterday to demand equal rights and the legalization of gay marriage.

     The parade took a carnival-like mood with marchers waving rainbow flags, colorful balloons and signs. Some were dressed in flamboyant period costumes, with brides and grooms, nurses and sailors while others only wore swim trunks despite the cool weather.

      I want some one, anyone in theis administartion or the next one to finally stand up to the Chicoms and tell them that they can either learn to live with the fact that there are two Chinas, or that their is only one, and it is not theirs.  But sadly I know that business will override principles once again in our dealings with the thugs of Beijing.

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From Fox News: North Carolina Rep. Walter Jones Calls for Inquiry of Army General Involved in Soldier Scrutiny.

     WASHINGTON —  Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., has asked the Pentagon to open an investigation of a high-ranking Army official who is at the center of two probes involving possible wrong-doing by U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

     Jones said he believes Lt. Gen. Frank Kearney has overstepped his authority in the investigations and in turn is hurting troops' morale.

     "When men and women are asked to go to war for this country, then in my humble opinion they should be given every benefit of the doubt, and if there are any questions then they should not be handled in the press," Jones said in an interview with FOX News.

     I, and I am sure a lot of other people are glad to see that the highly questionable behavior of Gen. Kearney is finally being looked into.  It has been a point of serious contention and complaint among personel in the Afghan theater and people back home for some time now.  His continual invetsigations into behavior that has been deemed perfectly acceptable, and his sudden withdrawl of  a USMC unit for being too aggressive should have raised flags on the hill some time ago, or if not their then at the Pentagon.  If nothing else he needs to be removed from command and sent to job where he can do no further harm to our efforts in Afghanistan.

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From the New york Times of all places: China opens 17^th Party Congress.

      President Hu Jintao promised to address social fissures, a degraded environment and rampant corruption during his second term as China’s top leader, but he all but ruled out more than cosmetic political reform in his opening address on Monday at the 17th National Congress of the governing Communist Party.
 
     Mr. Hu spoke extensively about his “scientific view of development,” a set of lofty, vague principles supporting harmonious economic, social and political development.

      The congress will enshrine the phrase “scientific view of development” into the party’s constitution alongside the political slogans of Mao, Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin, elevating Mr. Hu into the pantheon of leaders as he begins his second and final term as party general secretary, head of state and military chief.

     The Chinese won't cahnge because the people at the top benefit from keeping the sytem as it currently is.  And to do so would be to admit that all of China's problems are in fact of the state's and therefore, Party's making.  Here is a fine example of that, form the Tai Pei Times: Millions more relocated for PRC's Three Gorges Dam.

     Four million more people are to be relocated away from China's Three Gorges Dam area, state media reported yesterday, weeks after officials warned of a potential "environmental catastrophe" there.

     Already 1.4 million people have been forced to leave their homes to make way for the world's largest hydropower project, which started operations last year, but the new announcement has radically expanded the resettlement project.

     The 4 million residents who will be "encouraged" to leave their homes live near the dam's reservoir, which extends for 600km, the China Daily reported, citing local officials.

     So many people saw this coming, and gave repeated and vocal warnings makes this all the more tragic for the simple peasants who are being forced from their homes.  Hubris drove this project, and now it is rearing its ugly head and turning on its creators.  The Chinese are having to spend more and more of their time holding their fragile and restive nation together as these two pieces from the City Journal demonstrate.

Breaking the Chinese Code

     Welcome to the People’s Republic, land of “harmony” and “community.”

     First: “harmony.” For the Chinese government, it means “suppression of individualism.” Errant thoughts threaten central control of the masses. Dissent is bad and punishable. John Stuart Mill correctly wondered whether, under an autocratic regime, “there would be any asylum left for individuality of character; whether public opinion would not be a tyrannical yoke; whether the absolute dependence of each on all, and the surveillance of each by all, would not grind all down into a tame uniformity of thoughts, feelings, and actions.” In China, the reigning belief is that nonconforming ideas will fracture the enforced consensus and produce factionalism. There seems to be no James Madison in power who can raise his head and point out that having numerous factions enables governance of a large country.

     Chinese leaders fear the huge and growing gaps between urban and rural, rich and poor, coastal and interior residents, and those with and without “guanxi” (connections). Inharmoniousness is rife. Preaching harmony is a desperate measure, and it is not enough. The hopeful view: this is stop-gap rhetoric while national policy shifts from economic development to the more intractable issue of societal development in an authoritarian state. But the hopeful view may not reflect reality.

     The desperation of the Chinese is beginning to become apparent, despite their best efforts the lid is nearly constantly threating to come off.  For now the pot simmers, but the risk of a massive boil over is always right there.

     But the “community” is not quite what it seems. All residents in the harmonious community are equal, but some are (much) more equal than others—in Orwell’s trenchant phrase. Three distinct populations exist in a community—residents, visitors, and migrants—and they have very different rights. China has some 200 million migrants, well more than 10 percent of the workforce, and they constitute up to 28 percent of a city’s population. Migrant workers are akin to illegal aliens in the United States. Their labor helps staff the factories, but their families, who would strain the capacities of community services, are unwelcome. Therefore migrants aren’t officially members of the “communities” where they live. This may help explain why officials assert that the community, not the family, is the “basic unit of society.” If the families of migrants are excluded, how could the family possibly be that basic unit?

The only real change to China will come only when the people force the corrupt and illegitimate Communists from power and take back what is rightfully theirs.

The Empire of Lies.

     Before the totalitarian reign of Mao Zedong and his immediate successors, never in human history had an entire nation been under such intense surveillance. The Chinese not only had to speak alike; they had to think alike. The Communist Party regulated every aspect of private life. In the sixties, it even sought to anesthetize all feeling, commanding hundreds of millions of Chinese to repeat mindlessly the slogan of the day; one of Mao’s sayings would have to preface any “personal conversation.” A few second-rate books were the only permissible reading material, and eight revolutionary operas provided the sole entertainment. Placed everywhere—city squares, railway stations, factories, and offices—Party loudspeakers blared martial music from dawn to dusk, making it physically impossible for people to speak or think. The state imprisoned and killed untold numbers of its subjects.

     Things have obviously changed, much for the better. China is no longer totalitarian. Yet the 60-million-member Communist Party, if subtler, remains cruel and omnipresent. When I met Madam Ding Zilin at the Golden Carp Café, I had to lean in close to listen. In Beijing, true privacy is only possible in such a public place. Ding Zilin felt that the security agents who shadow her every movement wouldn’t be able to record her confidences above the noisy laughter and the clamor of the waitresses moving to and fro.

     Another sign of the desire for freedom, particularly worrisome to the authorities, is the explosion of peasant revolts in the Chinese countryside. The countryside is an immense universe, immutable and mysterious even for Chinese city dwellers, who go there only to honor the tombs of ancestors. Traveling to a village is like taking a journey in time; old China emerges, and modernity seemingly slips away. It also is to encounter China’s communication problem: peasants, unfamiliar with the national language, speak only in regional dialects—though television, the great linguistic and cultural leveler, is making the country more homogeneous by the day.

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The Earth rising over the Moon, photographed by Astronaut Bill Anders of Apollo 8, December 24, 1967.  NASA Photo.

     I have never really said this out loud, but one of my deepest wishes is to be an Astronaut.  I would give just about anything to be able to float in the void of space or to stand upon the hauntingly beautiful surface of the moon and look back at the planet that we all call home.  While the number of men and women who have ventured into space is small, and only twelve men, Americans all have had the chance to set foot on a heavenly body that is not Earth.  My envy of them beggars description, yet I also know that perhaps I too, may have a chance to do the same.  Many years of my life lay yet before me, and the nature of space travel is constantly evolving.  I do not know what it is about spaceflight, or even flight in general that entrnaces me so, perhaps it is the beauty of seeing the eath from above, or the feeling of freedom that soaring through the skies briings with it.  Whatever it is it has held me fascinated for as long I can possibly remember.

     But even if I never have the chance to look down upon our graceful and magnificent blue orb I can still look up into the heavens above and allow my self to be lost in the simple beauty of the stars, planets and other celstial wonders, and all of their vast and unexplored secrets.  What makes humanity so unique among all of God's creatures is that we, and we alone strive for knowledge simply for the sake of having that knowledge.  We are propelled to explore space for the same reason Edmund Hillary climbed Mt. Everest, because it is there.  Even when it is beyond our capability to explore first hand our celestial meighbors we find a way to go and visit them none the less.  The may be machines, but in their own way the are an extension of human life, and proof our exsistence.  For they will remain wher they are long after all of us are gone onto whatever awaits in the next life.  They shall remain, proving that we where here, and that we did all we could to find life beyond our own world and to learn all we could about everything we could.  Sometimes even robots get homesick I guess, at leat that was what I thought when I first saw this picture.

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     The Noble Peace Prize went to Al Gore and his buddies at the IGPCC.  This merely adds more weight to what we have known for a long time, outside of the awards for the sciences and other measurable fields the Noble Prize is all about treanzie politics than rewarding the good work of people who are actually trying to bring peace and democracy to their part of the world.

A suitably indignant piece from the Wall Street Journal: Not Nobel Winners.

     In Olso Friday, the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize was not awarded to the Burmese monks whose defiance against, and brutalization at the hands of, the country's military junta in recent weeks captured the attention of the Free World.

     The prize was also not awarded to Morgan Tsvangirai, Arthur Mutambara and other Zimbabwe opposition leaders who were arrested and in some cases beaten by police earlier this year while protesting peacefully against dictator Robert Mugabe.

     Or to Father Nguyen Van Ly, a Catholic priest in Vietnam arrested this year and sentenced to eight years in prison for helping the pro-democracy group Block 8406.

     Or to Wajeha al-Huwaider and Fawzia al-Uyyouni, co-founders of the League of Demanders of Women's Right to Drive Cars in Saudi Arabia, who are waging a modest struggle with grand ambitions to secure basic rights for women in that Muslim country.

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