Typhoon Fanapi kills 18 in southern China

...At 06:00 UTC on September 17, (click here) the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) reported that Fanapi was centered near 23 degrees North latitude, 128 degrees East longitude, about 640 kilometers (400 miles) east-southeast of Taipei, Taiwan. The category 1 typhoon had sustained winds of 139 kilometers (86 miles) per hour at the time. Wave heights were 22 feet. JTWC forecasters predicted that the storm would make landfall in Taiwan on September 19.

Eighteen people (click title to entry - thank you) have been killed and at least 44 are missing after Typhoon Fanapi caused flooding and landslides in southern China, state media report....

I doubt they will be needing the USA financial help though.  That was "B" for billion.  $100 billion.  This is where Wall Street is.  Not the USA.  Tax cuts for WHOM?

September 22, 2010 1:20 AM

Taiwan Nets NT$100B Pledge From HP, Others After China Pact  (click here)


By Dan Nystedt, IDG News
Hewlett-Packard and other companies have together pledged to invest over NT$100 billion (US$3.2 billion) in Taiwan after the island signed a landmark trade agreement with China, boosting business ties....

...One aspect of the ECFA agreement Taiwan's president has struggled with politically is criticism that the deal may cost jobs at home as Taiwanese companies increase their focus on mainland China. The meetings that led to the NT$100 billion investment pledge were meant to assuage those fears.

The investments will create over 12,900 jobs for Taiwanese workers, the island's economics ministry said in a statement.

"There is a special significance to this [success] at the first high-level investment meeting in Taiwan after the June 29 signing of ECFA," the ministry said....


Multi-national companies don't want American labor.  American workers are the best on the planet, but, it costs, you know? 

HP Office locations (click here)

I really don't have much patience for their 'begging for bailouts.'  Sorry to hear how so many people died of a Cat 1 Typhoon. 

Waiting for miners to come home.

Camila Campillay, granddaughter of Mario Gómez, one of the trapped miners, receives a capsule with messages from him. Photograph: Ariel Marinkovic/AFP/Getty Images

...With efforts to free them (click title to entry - thank you) advancing faster than expected, the 33 men are receiving media training and lessons in how to deal with any financial benefits they may receive....

Woodward certainly knows when to market a book. Just before an election when pundits will be hungry for it.

Bob Woodward has written over a dozen bestsellers as well as continuing to report for the Washington Post Photo: EPA

...Now 67, (click title to entry - thank you) since winning global fame along with Carl Bernstein for breaking the Watergate scandal and forcing Richard Nixon's resignation in the early 1970s, he has written more than a dozen bestsellers, while continuing to report for the Washington Post.
His books are mostly inside stories of governments or institutions. They are painfully thorough, typically involving hundreds of interviews. They are notable for the blow-by-blow, memo-by-memo, meeting-by-meeting account of how momentous decisions were reached. Obama's Wars is his 16th.
The revelations are often telling. Former CIA director George Tenet will always be remembered in part for telling Mr Bush that finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was a "slam dunk"....

I haven't read the book, but, the gossip about it tells me only one thing.  President Obama has surrounded himself with critics.  He did that intentionaly.  Even his Vice Prsident was is opponent.  He takes all opinions seriously and seems to thrive on it.

If I were to purchase the book by Woodward, I would read it to know how folks are thinking and not about how people are 'getting along.'  I wouldn't expect to hear a great deal of harmony in this White House.

I trust President Obama, I don't need to know the details.  I just need to know he is doing his level best to get the job done.

Not quite a week ago I was listening to a 'toxic radio' station, 90.1FM out of Buies Creek, NC.

Buies Creek North Carolina is the home of a Christian Conservative University called Campbell University, so the Anti-American tilt of this station didn't surprise me.  I frequently listen to 'toxic stations' to find out what kind of nonsense they are spewing.  But, this was different.

The commentator was criticizing the Hispanic Sports Journalist for the incident in the New York Jets Locker Room.  

What I found really odd about his commentary, was the 'idea' that a 'woman's silhouette' was to blame for bad behavior by football players.

Now either this commentator was completely a moron to even 'go there' as everyone knows what comes next after such a comment is a burka, or he was 'sliding one by' on an agenda of hatred.

The longer I listened to him, the more I realized this commentator was about bigotry and hatred and not at all about sexism.

The day I listened to this idiot was the same day President Obama introduced 'The Dream Act" to Congress and the American people.  

Dream activists (click title to entry - thank you) are putting the pressure on Sen. John McCain to support the Dream Act – a bill he co-sponsored back in his maverick days. His vote could be key to winning passage, but his new-found dedication to just simply building the dang fence makes him an unlikely supporter....


See, Inez is a Hispanic woman. Do I have to paint the picture for you? Maybe I do have to make the commentary I heard more explicit, because, it is some of the MOST outrageous stuff I ever heard.


What the commentator said, with the help of a female caller, was that due to illegal immigration we were losing our culture.  Get the picture now? 


The illegals, of which I do not believe Inez has a problem, were 'taking over' the USA in an invasion that would 'undermine' every aspect of 'the white Anglo-Saxon protestant' culture that existed.  They went on and on and on and the input was that Hispanic women don't care about morality.  They dress to exploit VULNERABLE men at every turn and they were going to be destroying the American landscape with their lack of Christian values.



Poison?  Yeah.  Bigotry?  Yeah.  Hatred?  Yeah.  But, more than that, it was a way of 'triggering hate' on the very day and nearly at the very moment President Obama was making his speech.


Now, if the news media has this LEVEL of 'immediate' toxic agenda for their listening audience they should not be retaining their licenses.


The 'radio air waves' are owned by the people of the USA and if they are chronically barraged by hate and bigotry in a way that definitely spells POLITICS Right Wing Style then it needs to end and it needs to end with immediate intervention by the FCC.  


Inez is in a minority.  She is a woman in a man's locker room making a career on interviews and commentary.  She is also a Hispanic woman.  She has the right to dress anyway she wants.  She has made it to her pinnacle at this point in her career and no commentator needs to criticize her for 'making it.'  She has arrived, has an audience and sells commercial products for that station.  End of discussion.  

That picture is of a woman with nearly her entire body clad in appropriate sports apparel.  I don't want to hear it anymore and the commentator from 90.1 FM should have his license immediately pulled for the hate mongering he conducted.

Will Afghanistan ever 'be safe' for human life?

27 militants killed in E Afghanistan  (click here) 
English.news.cn   2010-09-22 15:49:49
KHOST, Afghanistan, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Afghan and NATO-led troops eliminated 27 Taliban militants in Khost province east of Afghanistan, an Afghan military officer in the province Mohammad Irsar said Wednesday.
"The joint operation conducted in Mirsamar village of Spirai district late Tuesday night which left 27 rebels dead," Israr told Xinhua.
Air power had also been used during the operation, he further said.
Taliban militants who vowed to intensify their activities against Afghan and NATO-led troops have yet to make comment.
Using airpower against Taliban in southern Kandahar province left six militants dead on Tuesday while a helicpter crashed in the neighboring Zabul province left nine NATO soldiers dead on the same day Tuesday, NATO-led troops confirmed in statements.



Afghanistan: Electoral Institutions in a crucial phase  (click title to entry - thank you)



Published on 2010-09-22 9:27:11
French. News. Cn

KABUL, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) - The Afghan electoral institutions are now entering a crucial phase of their mission after the parliamentary elections held September 18 and they must be able to work independently, said Tuesday Special Representative of UN Secretary General for Afghanistan, Staffan de Mistura.
"The Independent Electoral Commission has shown considerable strength and determinan in his decision before election day. The post-election days are just as critical: transporting ballots and other sensitive materials to the main center for counting votes, organize the process to ensure that irregularities are detected and that voting ballots are counted carefully, "said Mr. de Mistura said in a statement.
The Special Representative said that the Election Commission had significantly improved the organization of these elections compared to last year, in a context marked by insecurity and logistical difficulties.
The Head of Mission United Nations Assistance in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said that the Electoral Complaints Commission was an equally important role to play. "Anyone who has evidence of election violations should complain to the Commission," he said.
According to him, "the electoral institutions of Afghanistan are now entering a critical phase of their mandate enshrined in the law to finalize the election. They "must be able to act completely independently, free from any interference. The independence of these institutions is crucial for the credibility of the finalization of the electoral process, "he has said.
On Saturday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon hailed the courage and determination of men and women of Afghanistan who went to vote in parliamentary elections. More than 2,500 people, including about 400 women, vying for 249 seats in the Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of Parliament of Afghanistan.
In a report released Tuesday, Ban Ki-Moon returns to the developments in Afghanistan since June He said the International Conference held in Kabul in July demonstrated the commitment of the Afghan government to exercise greater control over its future. "It should congratulate the Afghan government, including national security forces, for this historic achievement, which also required extensive logistical preparations and organization," he writes.
The Conference resulted in commitments by mutual agreement, including on the establishment of a framework, timetables and benchmarks for the new national priority programs, progress towards the empowerment of the Security Afghans, improving governance and the fight against corruption.
"The rapid implementation of these commitments will be essential to maintain the positive momentum of the process of Kabul and urge the international community to provide all necessary assistance to support the process, taking more account of Afghan priorities," said Ban said in its report to the Security Council and UN General Assembly.
In general, the Secretary-General believes that much progress in Afghanistan are fragile and continues to be threatened by the deteriorating security situation.
"The pursuit of electoral reform in the long term remains an important priority. We need the debate on this reform begins at the earliest, "he writes. "A key part of the activities of UNAMA since the elections of September 18 will focus on the electoral reform agenda with the government, electoral institutions and all relevant international and Afghan partners.
See also:
Disappearance of two election officials and thousands of petitions filed in the Afghan election
Ghazni (Afghanistan), Sept. 21 (Xinhua) - Two election officials of the Afghan Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) have disappeared from the parliamentary election on Saturday as nearly 3,000 formal complaints have been filed so far by individuals in the country plagued by militancy.

Hostages are the new currency for extremists.

The abduction of five French in Niger claimed by Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)  (click title to entry - click here)
PARIS, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) - The organization AQIM has released Tuesday September 21 Message on the Al-Jazeera, claiming the kidnapping of five French in Niger last Thursday.
In an audio message from his spokesman issued Tuesday evening by the television channel Al-Jazeera in Qatar, the organization of Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility for the operation of the kidnapping of seven people including five of the French company Areva and Satom, informing the French government that "the Mujahedeen will subsequently submit their legitimate demands."
"We also warn (the French government) against any other stupidity," said the spokesman, referring to a military operation.
The track al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb had been raised as early last week by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner on the antenna of the radio station Europe 1. "At present, based on clues, we are able to say that the group that carried out the kidnapping is unacceptable to a group affiliated to the group of Abu Zeid is itself related to the nebula Al-Qaeda ", said a little rain early in the Nigerian government.
Areva said on Tuesday authorities had received a Nigerian letter dated 1 September, which drew threats of kidnappings in the region of Arlit.
Five French, four employees of the French nuclear group Areva and a Togolese and a Madagascan, were kidnapped Sept. 16 on the site of Arlit (northern Niger) before being transferred to Mali.
After the kidnapping, France sent military planes to fly reconnaissance Sahelian countries and try to find the hostages.
"We will not communicate on any measures taken by France to free the hostages, but there is obviously not idle .. "Said the spokesman of the General Staff of Armed Forces (EMA), Col. Thierry Burkhard Several special forces commandos under the Special Operations Command (SOC) s were preparing to 'fly to the region, according Sources close to the Defense Ministry, the Quai d'Orsay, however, asserted that "no French troops were engaged on the ground" and therefore not involved in the current Mauritanian army offensive against fighters of Al-Qaeda
In Paris, French President Nicolas Sarkozy met Tuesday evening a small board of defense and security at the Elysee Palace on issues of terrorism and hostages.
The government and police have reported in recent days of major terrorist threats to France.
Founded in 2007 in Algeria, AQIM had about 300-400 people, according to terrorism experts. Armed and knowledgeable, funded by the trafficking and hostage taking, members of the group travel across the Sahel.
Running a French hostage Michel Germaneau, held in the Malian desert since last April 19 and killed on July 25 last, was claimed by AQIM "in retaliation for a raid by French and Mauritanian forces .