RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Fortress of Awesome Chat Dave's Random Ramblings

Sure enough, the Pals and Iaraelis are now arguing about the withdrawal from Gaza and the West Bank. The Israelis say we'll pull out from Gaza first, and if you keep a lid on the violence, we'll pull out of the rest. The Pals say we can't do a thing while we're under your boot. Deadlock, yet again.

Boeing and Airbus are in a race to produce bigger and better passenger jet liners, with Airbus touting a monster which accomodates 530 people. Emirates Air has placed an order for 3 of the beasts. Experts are saying this reaches the end of the line for the traditional cigar with wings, and that now the big companies will need to co-operate to produce a flying wing, where the fuselage and the wing meld together. Unlikely, as Boeing and Airbus are fierce competitors. Still, it would be cool to see.

Napster's Ghost: despite the music industry's intensifying battle against online piracy, a new crop of Web sites are brazenly offering entire pirated CDs for free downloading even before they are released. Two of these sites -Listen4ever and 21st Century MP3 - recently offered complete versions of forthcoming albums by Bruce Springsteen, Linkin Park, Def Leppard and R. Kelly. Personally, I can't see the music industry holding out forever. Bertelsmann bought Napster last year, in a move criticised as being too hip and not smart, but I think in the long run that's where the music industry is headed.

Nigeria has warned Miss World contestants to steer clear of parts of the country practising sharia law during the pageant's finals in the capital, Abuja, in November.
The contest has been threatened with disruption by Islamist groups from Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north, with many objecting to the swimsuit parade. At least two women have been sentenced to death by stoning for having sex outside marriage in the 12 Nigerian states which impose Islamic law. Others have been flogged for being improperly dressed.

Nigeria applied to host the event after a Nigerian, Agbani Darego, became the first black African to win the title last year. Her victory caused widespread rejoicing in the mainly-Christian south, with some commentators saying it would offer hope in a country where women are often forced into prostitution, and where people-trafficking is rife. It is not the first time Miss World has fallen foul of local mores. India, host in 1996, moved the swimwear contest from Bangalore to the Seychelles after protests from Hindu extremists, which included one protester setting fire to himself.

Norfolk Island is a little island to the east of Australia, and its ordinarily a very safe place - no locks on doors, people leaving srufboards on the beach for days at a time, and that sort of thing. It has a terrible history though - it was originally settled by the Bounty mutineers, and was for a long time a hole of a gaol. The recent idyllic caml has been disturbed. Norfolk Island's 2,000 residents are being called up for fingerprinting today in an attempt to solve its first murder case in 150 years. Two tourists discovered the body of Janelle Patton at a picnic spot on Easter Day. She had been stabbed, beaten and wrapped in black plastic, but her body was still warm. Before police could be flown in from Australia a downpour washed away crucial evidence, and the site of the murder has never been established. Investigators turned to mass fingerprinting when all other trails ran cold.

Finally, Italy is facing an invasion of Argentinians and Brazilians. Italy is braced for a mass return of economic migrants as thousands of South Americans of Italian origin have applied for passports in recent months. Since the beginning of the year Italian consulates have issued 13,000 passports to Argentinians of Italian origin, almost double the figure for the whole of 2001. Around 300,000 more have applied for passports and many more might do so if the economy fails to pick up: 40% of Argentina's 24 million people are at least partly of Italian origin. In Brazil, 25 million people can trace roots back to Italy and 150,000 are currently applying for Italian passports. A massive influx of economic refugees could severely stretch Italy's public finances, as returning immigrants are entitled to the same social security provisions as other citizens.

One way of stemming the tide is to erect bureaucratic hurdles. In Argentina, consulates have reduced opening hours - at the Buenos Aires consulate they accept 80 personal files a week, 3,000 a year. Someone turning up today will have a first appointment in three years time, in 2005. Got to love red tape.

All right Im a bit pissed but still got a serious question to pose....in relation to Dave's rants

If a female Muslem who wears a partial wrap (ie doesnt cover her face) wishes to counsel your daughter wife sister etc......are you being RACIST if you tell that Muslem NO as you believe she would not give a true reading based on ....say US culture.....further would you wish said female to see a Male Muslem for therapy?
IF you say NO are you racist?

And IF you compare the Muslem's beliefs toward women as to the beliefs of the KKK to blacks etc etc are you again being racist?????

pissed drunk yeah...

so will comment more later

The King of Swaziland spent US$55 mil on a private jet last week. This is half of what is estimated by aid agencies to be needed to save 250,000 Swazilanders from starvation this year. Where is the Authority when you need them? Its stuff like this which makes me question sovereignty. If someone in power does something so selfish and stupid, isn't there an obligation on someone to take over the government and impose some accountability?

Let's roll.

Edited from the Guardian:

The UN has gathered enough evidence to begin a criminal investigation into the allegation that almost 1,000 captured Taliban are buried in mass graves in Afghanistan, it was revealed last night. A UN memo leaked to the American magazine Newsweek, said disturbing evidence had been uncovered which substantiated the rumours of mass graves in an area called Dasht-i-Laili. The captives allegedly died after being packed into sealed cargo containers en route from Konduz to the Northern Alliance prison at Sheberghan.

The Newsweek report cites the discovery of bodies with little clothing and no obvious trauma as consistent with the claim that they had died of suffocation in the containers. A witness quoted in the memo put the number at 960.

There appears to be no evidence that the US knew of the
deaths, nor that American officials saw or were involved in
putting prisoners into unventilated trucks.

The Guardian reported in June that a former chairman of
Amnesty International was calling for an independent inquiry into claims that US troops tortured Taliban prisoners and were complicit in the disappearance of thousands of others during the war.

The call by Andrew McEntee, now a human rights lawyer, was
based on a British-made documentary which described
thousands of Taliban fighters being corralled into the containers after the battle of Konduz in November.

At the time the jail in Sheberghan, in north-western Afghanistan was under American control. The film, Massacre at Mazar, claimed that large numbers of prisoners died on the journey.

The footage showed areas of compacted red sand, apparently
caked with blood, traces of bones, including jaws, and pieces of clothing. But only 15 bodies had been found, the programme said.

Washington would not be drawn last night on whether it
supported a full-scale inquiry. The militia leader whose forces allegedly carried out the killings is General Abdul Rashid Dostum, reputedly one of Afghanistan's most ruthless warlords. His spokesman told Newsweek that many people had died of suffocation, but he put the total at 100-120. He said some "were seriously injured and had died en route".
During the war US soldiers stayed close to Gen Dostum, but it remains unclear how much US officials knew about the
treatment of prisoners.

"Considering the political sensitivity... and related protection concerns, it is strongly recommended that all activities relevant to this case be brought to a halt until a decision is made concerning the final goal of the exercise: criminal trial, truth commission, other etc," the UN report said.

The first evidence of using abandoned containers for executing captured enemies was noted in a 1997 UN report. About 1,250 Taliban were left in containers in the desert sun after an assault on Mazar-i-Sharif. The dead were later found to have been grilled black. When the Taliban captured Mazar in 1998 they killed several hundred in a similar fashion.

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Well, yuk.

And how does this play with the Interntaional Criminal Court?

Setting aside US soldiers being tried, how embarrassing if those warlords who are Western allies are tried in the court for grilling and suffocating captive Taleban?

But according to W, the only reason anybody hates us is because we love freedom.

[Dr Evil voice] Riiiiight.[/Dr Evil voice]

*15 minut jungle sectiom*