News – Sudan: Not so massive a problem?

Africa

Despite the very real suffering in Sudan, American warnings of an apocalyptic humanitarian catastrophe in Darfur are widely exaggerated or so it is alleged by international aid workers in the region. USAID has estimated that 350,000 and a million people could die in Darfur by the end of the year and Colin Powell continues to accuse the Sudanese government of presiding over a ‘genocide’ that could rival those in Bosnia and Rwanda. However this account has been challenged by eyewitness reports from aid workers and by a new food survey of the region by the UN World Food Program that says that although there are still high levels of malnutrition among under-fives in some areas, the crisis is being brought under control.

Is division the only lasting solution for Darfur?

Iraq

Another series of car bombs in Baghdad and Mosul end 21 lives and wound over 100. One of the bombs was another hit at one of the entrances to the fortified green zone, another went off as a U.S. military convoy was passing along Baghdad’s Sadoun Street. The third was outside a primary school , where two children were among the seven dead. Meanwhile US forces remain aggressive with operations in other towns largely held by rebels and further air strikes in Falluja. And Ren gets sick of hearing about the death, often wishing it would end.

A review of Italy’s press shows them in near unanimous support for the reported decision of the Italian government to pay ransom for the release of Simona Torretta and Simona Pari, the two hostages held in Baghdad

Israel/Palestine

Despite Israel’s aggressive offensive into Gaza, Hamas militants continue to shoot their makeshift Qassam rockets into Israeli towns. One hit a college campus in the southern Israeli town of Sderot, lightly wounding a man.

And Sharon has vowed to widen the assault until it puts an end to the Hamas rocket strikes against Israel. In other words, this will continue for the foreseeable future.

Chris McGreal in Jabaliya finds Palestinians furious at Israel’s occupation and worried about the militants.

Afghanistan

With less than a week to go, Karzai is back in Afghanistan to keep his favor in the upcoming elections. It seems the first of our grand elections is here. Considering Afghanistan is a bit more ‘quiet’ than Iraq, this is the first test to see if these newly ‘liberated'(I’ll let others argue over terminology and set myself to neutral on it) countries can generate an election that the majority of the world will nod at and consider truly representative.

Iran

Iran’s rebuffed a proposal from Kerry where the US would provide them with nuclear fuel if they give up their ability to make it themselves. Foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said it would be irrational for them to jeopardize their nuclear program by relying on supplies from abroad. It seems unlikely Iran would ever agree to something like that, especially coming from a country that likely wouldn’t have a problem quelling that supply as a bargaining chip in the future.

US

U.S. scientists Richard Axel and Linda Buck won the 2004 Nobel prize for medicine or physiology(They’re already on the bottom of the list) today for their work on genes that control the sense of smell. The two found a gene pool which contains the blueprint for receptors or sensors in the nose that identify odors. They published their fundamental study in 1991.

Condi Rice says she knew that some of the prewar intelligence on Iraq was questioned, but that the threat of him developing nukes was deemed credible anyway. The whole ‘based on a wider body of evidence’ thing. Energy department experts said thousands of aluminum tubes purchased by Iraq, and cited by the vice-president, Dick Cheney, as “irrefutable evidence” of Saddam’s nuclear ambitions, were more likely destined for small-arms manufacture. Personally, I don’t find my opinion changed much. They should have laid out the theories and the caveats. Then I would have at least a modicum of respect for the current administration. As it stands, I don’t because they’re a pack of deceitful bastards, even if they have ‘good intentions’. Not that I believe Kerry will be better. He might, but I’m not holding my breath, really.

Her at home, as our own elections near, we must decide on just how much security to place on election day. Too little is a risk(albeit, an indefinable one, not knowing the pure risk of a real attack) and too much could scare voters away from the polls. But you’re not just voting on those two bozos, there are likely to be a cluster of initiatives on many state ballots this year. Meanwhile the candidates continue to slug it out, with Kerry saying Bush is avoiding the truth on Iraq and Bush deriding Kerry’s “global test” remark from the debate.

Mount St. Helens is rumbling anew, increasing the likelihood that the Washington mountain will erupt. The US Geological Survey kept its warning level at a Level 3-Volcano Alert and is keeping the curious from getting close as a precaution. The Wikipedia page linked above is likely to change as it covers this latest activity.

The privately built SpaceShipOne will be blasting off soon for it’s second flight, in a week to win a $10 million Ansari X prize for the first commercially viable manned spacecraft. The flight is being closely monitored by entrepreneurs hoping to profit from developing commercial space, and by Federal Aviation Administration officials and lawmakers who must regulate the new industry. The only competitor for the prize is the Da Vinci Project of Toronto, Canada.

On a mundane note of silliness, the man picked for the third raking job at the CIA has pressured to resign after twenty years.. for shoplifting. Michael Kostiw, picked by new CIA Director Porter Goss to be the agency’s executive director, was caught shoplifting in late 1981 at CIA headquarters in Langley.

The disabled are among those who are fans of e-voting, with features that give them the ability to vote privately. Personally, I like the concept of e-voting as well. It’s the currently offered machines, such as those from Diebold, that thrown the security of the vote into deeper jeopardy than it is now. Security first, features second.

With the recent revelation of Vioxx’s dangers, some are questioning the FDA’s clinical trials, saying they should be longer and some say they enroll too few patients. Meanwhile there is pressure from the industry and elsewhere to approve drugs more quickly. Personally, I’ll take safety, yet again. If the trials are capable of missing this effect of Vioxx, who knows what sort of mistakes will be made with even shorter clinical trials? And all for the profits of the indutry? I think not.

The US Postal Service is backing away from allowing people to make postage stamps with their own images at Stamps.com. They need time to think the program over. Sure, some people make them with cute pictures of their pets, but others use images of such infamous folk as the Unabomber. The Smoking Gun has claimed success in getting said questionable images past the site’s censors.

New York Times reporter Diana Jean Schemo has called on Kissinger for the fourth time in four months to get his comment on a news story about him and been declined because Kissinger is currently ‘traveling’.

Explainer muses the rules of campaigning with the troops

General

Meet the guys who crafted the special effects for Halo 2, the most anticipated game of the year. Mind you, I’m not focused on it. Unless they make it for Macintosh or Gamecube, I don’t really care. And considering Microsoft’s abysmal performance in providing for PC and Mac with the first Halo, I don’t anticipate Halo 2 will even be an option for a few years, if it becomes anything more than Xbox only at all. I still haven’t gotten Halo, even though I’m curious at the gameplay. I won’t buy it for anything more than 20-30 bucks. More likely I’ll wait until it gets to 20. Ren is deeply conscious of how his platforms are treated. Those who treat them well get his green. I’m delighting in Knights of the Old Republic right now, bought for full price.

Amusements

Regional airport shutdown because of a vibrating sex toy

Wacky Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis places entire Cincinnati area on elevated terror alert for no reason whatsoever

Fox News apologizes for posting fake John Kerry quotes such as “Didn’t my nails and cuticles look great? What a good debate” on its website

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop this penguin waltzing around

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop this ninja kick

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop these members of the National Dance Company of Korea