July 2006 Archives
Via AP/Yahoo:
BEIRUT, Lebanon - The United Nations has decided to remove unarmed observers from their posts along the Israeli-Lebanese border, moving them in with the peacekeeping force in the area, a spokesman said Friday. The decision came three days after one of the posts of the observer force, known as UNTSO, was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike earlier this week, killing four.
Unfortunately, this means Hezbollah will increase reliance on women and children as shields of choice.
Nice to see some balance for a change. Jan Egeland, the UN guy who was excoriating Israel for "disproportionate response" and violating some fictitional "international humanitarian law" has added a new tune to his repertoire - and it's a very unfamiliar one for most UN staff:
On Monday, he had strong words for Hezbollah, which crossed into Israel, captured two soldiers and killed eight others on July 12, triggering fierce fighting.
"Consistently, from the Hezbollah heartland, my message was that Hezbollah must stop this cowardly blending ... among women and children," he said. "I heard they were proud because they lost very few fighters and that it was the civilians bearing the brunt of this. I don't think anyone should be proud of having many more children and women dead than armed men."
But they are proud. Just as they are proud of targeting civilian areas in Israel with their missiles. Nonetheless, if this keeps up, Mr. Egeland might just get it right. Shame it probably won't be contagious.
Via AP/Yahoo:
Apparently Hezbollah needs more videographers:
UNITED NATIONS - Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Monday he wants the upcoming meeting of key Mideast players to agree on a package to stop the Israeli-Hezbollah fighting and ensure lasting peace between Israel and Lebanon.That package should include a cease-fire, deployment of an international force and the release of two Israeli soldiers abducted by Hezbollah, he said.
Considering past history, not necessarily a move that any party should welcome.
Annan: "We're coming for your daughters, too"
Kit has chapter 2 and chapter 3 of her series about the Pendleton Eight posted. Doesn't disappoint. We disagree on a point or two, but I'll wait until the series is completely posted to comment. Suffice to say that on most of her major points, I agree. These men appear to be getting a raw deal and the military needs to address the problem.
TB found this while surfing yesterday evening:
‘Dateline’ hidden cameras investigate cleanliness of America’s top 10 fast food chains
Fast food: It’s served fast and you eat it fast, maybe too fast to notice the restaurant is a little dirty. The fact is that no one has ever done a national survey looking at the cleanliness of fast food chains — until now. Recently, we took our Dateline cameras undercover for the first-ever investigation of whether America’s top 10 fast food chains are clean and safe. How did your favorite restaurant do?
This is one of the few areas that I think require more regulation and oversight. More frequent unannounced inspections combined with genuinely painful sanctions for frequent violators would help.
I was also shocked to learn that not all states require food handler's training and licensure. While I have no data (I'm still looking), I suspect that states that do have fewer problems.
is being discussed in a series of posts starting today by the always excellent Kit Jarrell of Euphoric Reality. This is not only the must read of the day, but the rest of the series as it gets posted should be watched for as well:
Now imagine that you are sitting in an 8×8 cell, as are seven of your brothers, waiting to find out if your promise to remain faithful will in fact result in your death–not in a hail of enemy fire, not in the blinding explosion of a terrorist’s bomb, but by the sterile needle of a lethal injection, administered by the very country you spent your adult life defending. You have been shackled, wearing a label that says “PVD”: potentially violent and dangerous. You have been here for over a month now, in solitary confinement for almost 24 hours a day, with nothing to do but pray that someone stands up for you, just as you did for them. But hope is dwindling. Your military attorneys don’t have time to help you, and your civilian attorneys are being denied access to evidence that would prove you’re innocent–no autopsy of the man they say you murdered in cold blood, no witnesses, nothing.
Kit also provides links for those who wish to help - also recommended.
It matters little if you believe these men innocent or guilty - they deserve to be treated fairly by the military justice system, and by all indication, they haven't been.
I would also recommend writing to your elected officials in Congress. Unless, of course, you live in Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District, where your representative is likely in his favorite rocking chair knitting nooses instead of flags. Those folks should write to someone else's Representative instead.
Last week, Working Families for Wal-Mart put up a new website, Paidcritics.com, the mission of which appears to be providing background and research about the money politics, and personalities behind the anti-Wal-Mart movement.
Natch, the union folks respond by putting up a rebuttal website, A Bunch of Greedy Right Wing Liars Who Work for Wal-Mart. It's mostly drivel, actually. A few insulting profiles of folks on the right, and a link to vote for your favorite make up the bulk of the site. But the veneer of caring about workers is being stripped away as the UFCW steers the rhetoric away from union vs. business toward left vs. right:
Wal-Mart’s new attack website, paidcritics.com, is an unprecedented and dangerous decision by a $300 billion dollar corporation. In fact, this may be the first time in history that a corporation has set up, directly funded, and openly managed a website whose sole purpose is to attack Democrats, and the passionate and handsome staff of our campaign, let alone all of the Americans who want Wal-Mart to become a better employer.
So in response we have launched our very own site, www.ABunchOfGreedyRightWingLiarsWhoWorkForWalMart.com which will provide a more detailed account of Wal-Mart’s right-wing conspiracy including ties to the most extreme element of the Republican Party, Tom Delay, George W. Bush, Karl Rove and John Ashcroft, a biographic summary of the key right-wing operatives involved in the Wal-Mart war room, and an accounting of Wal-Mart’s extensive political contributions to Republicans. To be honest, there is so much good stuff there that it's enough for 2 or 3 more websites (just kidding).
Indeed, at the tope of every page of abunchofgreedyrightwingliarswhoworkforwalmart are pictures of George Bush, Dick Cheney, and Tom Delay - as far as I know none of them work for Wal-Mart. I wonder how their rank and file would view such open political attacks on politicians being paid for by their dues? Is this really the union's charter?
Oh, and "handsome"? Are they trolling for dates as an aside to their right bashing?
As nasty as the union thugs and their supporters are, you'd think they could take as much as they dish out. Not these weenies, though. The cornerstone of the site is a missive about how PaidCritics.com "hurt our feelings". Honest. There are lots of cards people play to redirect away from a losing argument - but seriously, folks, the "feelings" card? My four-year-old stopped using that one last year.
Nowhere on their site could I find examples of lies told on PaidCritics.com. As for greed, PaidCritics.com points out some union greed and abunchofgreedyrightwingliarswhoworkforwalmart.com doesn't dispute any it.
I hope this is the last gasp we're seeing. Certainly the union members would appreciate their dues being spent on something that actually benefits its members for a change.
Oops - forgot to add the disclaimer:
I don't work for Wal-Mart or any of its affiliates, partners, associates, neighbors, casual acquaintances, suppliers, or vendors. I don't belong to a union - but I did have an account at a credit union once. I normally don't shop at Wal-Mart, either. I did, however, get a nice email from Edelman - which I didn't act on until I saw this somewhat slanted AP story. So there.
I'm going on the road for a few days (short family vacation), so blogging will be light.
I hope you all have a terrific weekend!
LB
Via AP/Yahoo:
GRINDELWALD, Switzerland - A large section of stone broke away and tumbled down a famous Swiss Alps mountain Thursday, shrouding a resort in dust but causing no injuries, officials said.
Stone from the east face of Eiger mountain fell hundreds of feet in a thundering, 15-minute avalanche, Grindelwald rescue chief Kurt Amacher told TV station SF DRS.
The more than 20 million cubic feet of stone came to rest on a mountainside, sending up a cloud of dust that shrouded nearby Grindelwald resort for hours. Amacher said no one was injured and no buildings were hit in the rock fall.
Rock on the Eiger had been crumbling in recent days because glacial ice that had been holding it together had melted, geologists said.
A 100-foot-high rock formation on the Eiger known as the "Madonna" collapsed earlier Thursday.
The Eiger's north face, which towers over Grindelwald, with a mile-high sheer wall and a summit at 13,025 feet is considered one of Europe's greatest challenges to mountaineers.
I wonder how long before some chicken little blames this on Global Warming... No. Never mind. They couldn't be that stupid.
Yes, Greenwald's at it again, showing us the sloppiness of thought that goes into his views of anything done by Republicans:
Following up on yesterday's post regarding Arlen Specter's complete (and hardly unexpected) cave-in to the administration on the NSA scandal, it is now clear that the bill does not have an express amnesty provision in it (see Update II). But every other possible bad thing can and should be said about this bill. Marty Lederman has an excellent and very thorough statutory analysis of the whole travesty, explaining that Specter "introduces a bill, with Administration blessing, that gives the Administration everything it ever wanted, and much, much more."(emphasis mine)
But if you follow the link to this "thorough statutory analysis", you see that it's anything but, as Mr. Lederman freely admits:
The bill is difficult to follow, almost unreadable. I must confess that I've only given it a ten-minute once-over, which is probably more than it deserves.
Greenwald's post only makes sense if you replace the breathless hyperbole about "spying on Americans" and replace it with the truth - "spying on foreign powers and agents of foreign powers". Context reveals all.
Via AP/Yahoo/LMAO:
WASHINGTON - The CIA officer whose identity was leaked to reporters sued Vice President Dick Cheney, his former top aide and presidential adviser Karl Rove on Thursday, accusing them and other White House officials of conspiring to destroy her career.
In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, Valerie Plame and her husband, Joseph Wilson, a former U.S. ambassador, accused Cheney, Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby of participating in a "whispering campaign" to reveal Plame's CIA identity and punish Wilson for criticizing the Bush administration's motives in Iraq.
Since Novak is on record saying that none of these three offered Plames identity (He had to ask Rove), I can't imagine this going anywhere. In fact, this promises to be embarrassing to Wilson and Plame.
If it goes to trial, I hope they televise it.
Added: Considering that they whined about Plame being a "covert" agent being outed and that turned out to be a big fat lie, I can't imagine they'll find a friendly court anywhere.
Via Reuters/Yahoo:
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dell Inc. (Nasdaq:DELL - news) on Thursday said it planned to sharply cut the number of mail-in rebates on products and services, moving to simplify its pricing structure.
The broad decrease in promotions to U.S. consumers and small businesses, which will be implemented over the next 12 to 18 months, come as revenue growth from Dell's personal computer business has declined in recent quarters.
Dell said the "net price" that customers pay for PCs will remain the same.
If I read this correctly, that means they're going to lower prices instead of offering rebates.
Good. As far as I'm concerned, rebates are ruining the computer industry. It's never made sense to me to pay $1000 for a PC and have to wait 6 weeks to get the $100 rebate. If it was their intent to sell the damned thing for $900, let me get it at that price to start with.
Let's hope it starts a trend. Makers of networking products, please take note.
Via AP/Yahoo:
WASHINGTON - The White House has conditionally agreed to a court review of its controversial eavesdropping program, Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter said Thursday.
Specter said President Bush has agreed to sign legislation that would authorize the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to review the constitutionality of the National Security Agency's most high-profile monitoring operations.
As I've said before, this is where issues surrounding the program need to be addressed. Sniping and calls for censure resolutions only serve to display the abject stupidity and opportunism of those who have been using the issue solely for political gain.
More later.
Via AP/Yahoo:
SYDNEY (AFP) - Trees could be growing in the Antarctic within a century because of global warming, an international scientific conference heard.
With carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere set to double in the next 100 years, the icy continent could revert to how it looked about 40 million years ago, said Professor Robert Dunbar of Stanford University.
"It was warm and there were bushes and there were trees," he told some 850 delegates in the Tasmanian capital Hobart, the national AAP news agency reported.
And a few years ago they were whining about deforestation. There's just no pleasing some people.
It's certainly shaping up to be a bad week for Glenn Greenwald.
Prior to the publication of his book, he used his blog mostly to attack the administration and float odd ideas like abolishing article III of the constitution, instead advocating having guilt and innocence established by legislative decree. Since he got back from the book tour, he's posted 13 times - 9 of them specifically to attack conservative bloggers.
Since his blog is no longer a test market for his book ideas, it's now developing a personality. Unsurprisingly, it's not a pretty one.
Update (6:00 AM EST 13 Jul 06): Look who's found a new home!
Hopefully this won't survive the House:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. customs and border security agents would be banned from seizing prescription drugs that Americans import from Canada under a measure passed by the Senate on Tuesday.
The Senate voted 68-32 in favor of the provision, with supporters saying the federal government should stay out of the way of Americans seeking cheaper medicines in Canada for personal use. Many Americans import prescription drugs from abroad even though the practice is illegal.
I understand the emotional side to the argument. But Canada isn't the answer to drug costs. And ordering law enforcement to ignore the law is just plain stupid.
If this survives, expect Canada to crack down from their side. "Cheap" drugs will be no more available than before, and we'll have busloads of seniors going to Canada not for drugs, but for their court dates.
N.Z. Bear is trying to get some ideas moving to mitigate DDOS attacks such as the one that kept Protein Wisdom down recently.
Conversation seems to have died down, though. I hope it picks up again, as it seems to me a worthwhile effort.
From this morning's AP coverage of the video of the two mutilated soldiers:
It said that as soon as fighters heard of the rape-slaying, "they kept their anger to themselves and didn't spread the news, but were determined to avenge their sister's honor."
The 4:39 minute video shows two bloodied bodies in torn military uniforms lying near a curb on a bridge over a canal. One of them, partially naked, has been decapitated and his chest cut open. The other's face is bruised, the jaw apparently broken, and his leg has long gashes. Fighters are shown turning the bodies over and lifting the head of the decapitated man.
I don't know about you, but when I see this, I have a hard time thinking of those that did it as "fighters".
If you have any doubts about what kind of people our troops face in Iraq and elsewhere.
If you have any doubts about why we have to stay and finish the job.
If you have any doubts about why it's so important to help the middle east join the 21st century.
Don't go unless you can handle extremely graphic images. There are plenty of warnings, please read and heed.
Although if it were up to me I'd make this required watching for nearly every adult in the U.S.
But I've been caught up in a few priorities at both work and home.
I should be posting a few items this evening...
$55.5 million on Friday. Wow.
Of course, we're going to go see it as well - but we'll wait until we don't have to wait in long lines to get in. We liked the first Pirates of the Caribbean so much we bought the DVD.
Via Reuters/Yahoo:
LONDON (Reuters) - A plane with 200 people on board crashed in Russia on Sunday, the Interfax news agency reported.
The agency quoted the Russian Emergencies Ministry as saying that the Airbus A-310 passenger plane on a flight from Moscow to Irkutsk was carrying 192 passengers and eight crew members when it crashed in Irkutsk.
More when I get it...
Update: At least 150 dead:
RIA news agency said during its final approach, the plane overran the runway, crashed into a building and caught fire.
Via AP/Yahoo, in an article that tries to blunt the message as best as possible:
WASHINGTON - The federal deficit appears on track to register less than $300 billion for the budget year ending Sept. 30, as surging tax revenues continue to signal significant improvement over White House estimates released in February — though only modest gains over last year.
Modest, eh? Later in the article:
Indeed, tax collections are surging at a 13 percent growth rate, reflecting particularly strong growth in taxes paid on corporate profits and income taxes paid by wealthier people and small businessmen who pay taxes quarterly instead of having them withheld by employers.
Since when is 13 percent "modest"? For those of you in the "we can't afford tax cuts" club, please stop lying about the effect of tax cuts. Spending is the problem.
Via AP/Yahoo:
WASHINGTON - U.S. employers added a disappointing 121,000 jobs last month, wary of bulking up payrolls with the economy slowing and energy prices rising. Wages rose sharply, fanning inflation worries.
We're still at near-historic lows in unemployment, and for months the complaint was that wages weren't keeping up. Now wages are increasing, and that's suddenly a bad thing?
OK, I don't hunt. But I have nothing against it, either. I just wish hunters in general were more honest about why they do it. It does seem to me that this was a creepy and unsporting idea:
The idea was this: Hunters sign up on the web site and pay some $1,500 or more. They schedule a session, then log on at their appointed time to watch a feeding station on the computer screen. The animal that was ordered—from wild hogs to antelope—is in the area, and when it approaches the food, the hunter moves on-screen crosshairs into place. A click of the mouse fires a rifle to kill the animal.
The armchair hunter's trophy animal would then be mounted and shipped for display.
And I don't buy the notion that this was all for the handicapped, either. Not at $1500 a pop. On the other hand, this is going to curb some fashion trends:
"Responsible hunters know there's no sport in shooting an animal remotely while lying in bed and wearing camouflage pajamas," Markarian said in a statement today.
I guess there's no longer a reason to make your bedroom look like a hunter's blind anymore. It's just as well - too easy to lose the baby in all that camouflage.
Well, it looks like NJ's casinos are back in business.
I guess that's a bad thing here in Delaware, since the casinos here enjoyed increased business while the competition was down.
On the other hand, we have Biden shilling for 7-11 and Dunkin' Donuts to make up for it....
That's what they're reporting on Fox News. Apparently the track of the long-range Taepodong-2 missile fired the other day was studied by Japan, and the conclusion is that had it not failed it could have been headed for the Hawaiian islands.
So far haven't seen it on the web - I'll put up a link as soon as I have it.
This is significant, though, since it may be viewed as more provocative than previously thought.
Here it is - but it's a mixed bag, as there's also some indication that the missile was out of control from the time it launched. If so, it's hard to believe that any trajectory analysis could be accurate:
The long-range missile, the Taepodong-2, which some fear is capable of hitting the western United States, failed almost immediately after launch, said a senior U.S. official with direct knowledge of the intelligence on the testing.
It spun out of control seconds after it was launched and the North Koreans never had operational control of the missile, the official said. It failed so quickly, the official added, that the United States was never able to ascertain in what direction it was headed.
But Japan's Sankei newspaper, citing U.S. and Japanese sources, reported Friday that the missile was aimed at an area of the ocean close to Hawaii.
Via Reuters/Yahoo:
Study finds breast feeding wards off bed-wetting
Now if they can figure out what drives bet-wetting boobs to start blogs...
North Korea apparently has a few more missiles ready to launch:
SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea has three or four more missiles on launch pads and ready for firing, major South Korean newspapers reported Thursday.
The missiles are either short- or medium-range, reported Chosun Ilbo, one of South Korea's largest dailies. It cited an unidentified senior South Korean official.
Another major paper, JoongAng Ilbo, carried a similar report.
The North has also barred people from sailing into some areas off the coast until July 11 in a possible sign of preparations for additional launches, Chosun Ilbo said.
You think this will turn China's head? Or the Russians?
Not holding my breath.
Via AP/Yahoo:
HOUSTON - Early inspections have revealed no damage to the space shuttle Discovery, NASA said Wednesday after a day of checking out the spacecraft with on-board cameras. That means that when the shuttle meets up with the international space station Thursday morning it likely won't need emergency repairs while hooked up with the orbital outpost — unlike last year's daring spacewalk fixes.
Discovery's delicate heat shield and everything else appear at first glance to be in near perfect shape, NASA officials said, although it's still very early in the analysis.
There had been some concern after launch when video showed several pieces of foam coming loose. They still have some more checking to do, but this looks very promising.
While everyone is still reflecting on today's death of Kenneth Lay and the Enron scandal he was recently convicted in, it's worthwhile to note that most people in business act responsibly - it just doesn't make the news.
Here's a rare case of someone doing something right making the news - and Kudos to PepsiCo and the ethics of their employees:
ATLANTA - Three people were charged by federal prosecutors on Wednesday with stealing confidential information, including a sample of a new drink, from The Coca-Cola Co. and trying to sell it to rival PepsiCo Inc.
The suspects include a Coke executive's administrative assistant, Joya Williams, who is accused of rifling through corporate files and stuffing documents and a new Coca-Cola product into a personal bag.
Williams, 41, of Norcross, Ga., and 30-year-old Ibrahim Dimson of New York and 43-year-old Edmund Duhaney of Decatur, Ga., were arrested on charges of wire fraud and unlawfully stealing and selling Coke trade secrets, federal prosecutors said.
OK, kinda ordinary so far. The real story is that the corporate culture at PepsiCo resisted temptation and helped nab the bad guys:
According to prosecutors, on May 19, Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo provided Coke with a copy of a letter mailed to PepsiCo in an official Coca-Cola business envelope. The letter, postmarked from the Bronx in New York, was from an individual identifying himself as "Dirk," who claimed to be employed at a high level with Coca-Cola and offered "very detailed and confidential information." "Dirk" was later identified as Dimson, the FBI says.
Coca-Cola immediately contacted the FBI and an undercover FBI investigation began.
Prosecutors say Williams was the source of the information Dimson offered to provided Pepsi. They say that "Dirk" provided an FBI undercover agent 14 pages of Coca-Cola documents marked classified and confidential. The company confirmed that the documents were valid and highly confidential and were considered trade secrets. Williams works for a senior Coke manager, though the company would not say Wednesday which one. The company also would not say if she has been fired.
Prosecutors say "Dirk" requested $10,000 for the documents.
Later "Dirk" produced other documents that Coca-Cola confirmed were valid trade secrets of Coca-Cola and highly confidential. He also agreed to be paid $75,000 for the purchase of a highly confidential product sample from a new Coca Cola project, prosecutors said.
Then on June 27, an undercover FBI agent offered to buy other trade secret items for $1.5 million from "Dirk." The same day a bank account was opened under the names of Duhaney and Dimson, and the address used on the account was that of Duhaney's Decatur residence, prosecutors said.
Video surveillance showed Williams at her desk at Coke headquarters going through multiple files looking for documents and stuffing them into bags. She also was observed holding a liquid container with a white label, which resembled the description of new Coca-Cola product sample before placing it into her personal bag, prosecutors say, adding that Coca-Cola later verified the sample was genuine and is in fact a product being developed by the company.
Dimson, Williams and Duhaney were arrested in Atlanta on Wednesday, the day the $1.5 million deal was to take place, prosecutors say.
I sincerely hope that the person at Pepsi who received that letter and did the right thing is getting some serious reward - in today's world where business is highly competitive and far too often cutthroat, this individual is an ethics hero.
That's the title of a post yesterday from Captain Ed about a proposal to arm insurgents under the presumption that they would take on Al-Qaeda in Iraq. Here's a little from the USA Today article it's based on:
BAGHDAD — Iraq's government is studying a request from some local insurgent leaders to supply them with weapons so they can turn on the heavily armed foreign fighters who were once their allies, according to two Iraqi lawmakers.
Leaders claiming to represent about 11 insurgent groups asked for weapons to fight foreign al-Qaeda elements in Iraq, said Haider al-Ibadi, a Shiite lawmaker and member of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Dawa Party.
"They want to take part in the war against terrorists," said al-Ibadi, who supports the proposal. "They claim they could wipe out the terrorists and work with the government."
Captain Ed, notably, thinks it's a bad idea:
Still, it sounds too cute. They want arms to fight the terrorists. If the native insurgents want that, they should have enlisted in the Iraqi Army. These groups could simply provide the Iraqi Army with their intel and let the government handle the problem.
Frankly, I think it's worse than a bad idea. And based on the offer being made public, (certainly AQI has access to the news) something about this story doesn't smell right. I see three possibilities:
A) If the offer is genuine, then Haider al-Ibadi is either stupid or has sold out the insurgents. AQI isn't likely to trust these 11 groups enough to let them get close now that the offer is public. Indeed, they'll change their hiding places now, making the insugent's intel useless. And the insurgents themselves will now become targets of AQI.
B) The second possibility is that the offer was extended just so that the insurgents can re-supply their dwindling weapons caches. Unless AQI was in on the scam, it may have backfired as the insurgents may fall from AQI's good graces due to the offer being made public.
C) The third possibility is that there was no offer at all. The Iraqi government introduced a bogus proposal to drive a wedge between the insurgents and AQI. This could force the insurgents to be more cooperative in the bargaining efforts, and maybe bring more of the groups to the table.
The scenario in the article doesn't work at face value. Insurgents not only have intel, they have it because they are the ones giving shelter to AQI (who else would?). The terrorists are far more ruthless than the insurgency, and I'm sure the local fighters have a healthy respect (read: fear) of that fact. I can't imagine that any of them would offer up AQI without demanding secrecy.
So the real question, then, is why did the Iraqi government give this to the press? This has to be either a blunder or a ruse.
Via CNN:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- North Korea launched a long-range Taepodong-2 missile early Wednesday in an apparently unsuccessful test that failed in flight, a senior State Department official said.
North Korea also tested at least two smaller missiles, U.S. sources told CNN.
Both missiles were launched from a site other than the one intelligence officials have watched for weeks ahead of the long-range missile test, a senior State Department official said.
AP reports the smaller missiles were scuds.
The State Department is also speculating about the timing of the launches:
The senior State Department official said the launches were timed to coincide with the launch of the space shuttle Discovery from Florida, calling it "a provocative act designed to get attention."
Just my own speculating - the shuttle launch may have been siezing an opportunity - launching on a major US holiday may have been the original goal.
Expect further isolation of North Korea. Kim Jong Il has not done himself a favor today.
Update - confusion over how many and what kind of missiles - AP now says four missiles, none were long-range.
Update 2 - AP now agrees with CNN, saying "at least 3 missiles" and that one was the long-range Taepodong-2.
Update 3: Fox News has the label: "Two scuds and a dud".
Update 4 (6:50 PM EST): Fox News: 6 missiles total
N. Korea is engaging in very serious provocation - it will be very difficult for even China to ignore.
Update 5: CNN settles for 5. I give up. Time to take the kids to watch some friendlier fireworks.
Update 6: Fox News: back up to 6 again. Sigh.
Update 7 (6:30 AM, 05 July): 7?
I hope that one and all have a safe and happy holiday. Regular blogging will resume tomorrow.
There's a new conservative talk radio network that started today - Wide Awakes Radio.
I've been listening for the last 2 hours - it's been interesting. They're having an abundance of first day glitches fueling some added spontaneity. While some might find it somewhat embarrassing, I think it's a fascinating view into just how difficult it is to put together a seamless live broadcast.
Over the coming days, I'm sure the glitches will fade. I'm looking forward to listening in on all of the hosts (schedule here), but particularly the Kit And Heidi show (Euphoric Reality) and Ric Ottiano (Release the Hounds!), representing two of the blogs featured on my incredibly short and highly selective blogroll.
Best of luck, folks, on the new venture!
Update: Apparently they have a limited amount of bandwidth available and they're swamped. So if you're having problems getting to their blog or the live stream, keep trying!
AP reports that leaks and media outlets divulging classified information is a global problem.
Warning - the article lists to port - it's not hard to figure out where the author sides. Nonetheless, it's a roundup that adequately shows the opportunism of the media in other countries.
