News – Flagging Relations

Middle East

Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan are pretty low at the moment, with Taliban attacks in Afghanistan increasing in number after Pakistan makes an agreement with militants in North Waziristan. Karzai says Musharraf is allowing safe havens for the Taliban in Pakistan, Musharraf says Karzai is just weak and unable to deal with the troubles in his land.

What do you think? Is Musharraf making a deal with Taliban types and damning his neighbor for stability or is Karzai and his government just weak? Personally, I think it’s a little from side A and a little from side B.

A bombing in Israel. An Israeli air strike in Gaza. Israeli raids into Gaza. Lives lost, families broken. All the present and, for the time being, future of Israel and Palestine. Each strike, each disturbance fueling one side or the other to respond, to react. Every reaction, every retaliation only ensuring the continuation of the cycle. Here, the true show that violence begets violence.

Senior US officials are starting to grumble about Iraq not taking care of the death squads. Some are warning that the US will have to step in if the Iraqi government doesn’t. Not that I believe the US military will have grand success in such an endeavor. Just look to the lesson when Israel tried to take out Hamas in Lebanon. Saying is easier than doing, especially when it comes to militants. Kill a few, sure, but there will always be more to step up to the plate.

Here’s something interesting, in a sad and disturbing way. The brother-in-law of the new judge in Saddam’s trial has been shot dead. How might this tragedy effect his neutrality?

The US military rejects claims that an escort of troops for civilian trucks in Iraq fled an attack, abandoning the civilians. Footage shows a US military Humvee leaving the area, which apparently returned 40 mins later, according to an injured survivor. The man himself shot footage.

Now that Jack Straw isn’t foreign secretary in the UK anymore, he’s free to opine that things are bad in Iraq and the US has a part to play in that.

Asia/Pacific

The US back away from Thailand a bit, in response to the successful military coup against civilian Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. No more military aid, though humanitarian will continue. The orchistrators of the coup say they’ll pick a PM to run the place until promised elections come in late 2007.

South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon seems a strong contender to take up the post of UN head when Kofi Annan steps down at the end of the year.

China denies allegations that they harvest organs from executed prisoners for sale. An undercover BBC report said one hospital confirmed it could provide a liver for £50,000 ($94,400), and it could come from an executed prisoner. Question is, are these willingly donated or harvested?

Africa

Human Rights activist hound Morocco to fess up when it comes to suspected secret US detention centers on their soil.

UN Sudan envoy Jan Pronk thinks the UN should stop pushing for a UN peacekeeping force in Sudan and should, instead, focus on strengthening the AU force currently there. It would be nice if the African Union were given the means to handle their neck of the woods. The world might be a better place if people could police their neighborhood.

Europe

Looks like the EU will be limiting how much liquid you can carry with you on the plane as well. I guess I’ll have to drink my drink before I board when I fly out for Xmas this year.

Senior military officers in the UK want to move their troops from Iraq to Afghanistan, thought a more worthwhile and winnable battleground. They’re prevented, however, by them old political arguments.

Americas

More dirt on Abramoff, if anyone still cares. Me, I’m content to let the system do its work.

Bush aides say they can’t release the full NIE for public consumption, cause it would endanger national security. Yeah.. sure. But trust that they’ll show you everything that matters. Yup, don’t you worry your pretty little head, America.

Taking the hype out of identity theft.

General

Experts warn that women who put on or fail to shift excess weight after pregnancy put additional risk on their subsequent pregnancies. Modest weight gain after a first child increased the risk of high blood pressure, diabetes and stillbirth during the women’s second pregnancies. Even a small amount of weight loss can make a considerable difference.

Blaming poor city planning for obesity? Sure, ok.

How much will a Microsoft Zune player cost? $250.

Explainer looks at babies that are born with their organs outside of their bodies. Just reading about it makes me wince.

The Blogs look at Terrell Owens’ hospitalization and the resignation of Hewlett-Packard’s general counsel, the assertion by Anna Nicole Smith’s lawyer that he’s the father of her daughter and reports that traces of methadone were found in her son’s autopsy.

Today’s Papers notes that masking one’s religious identity can be the key to survival in sectarian Iraq, a substantive account of what the new detainee bill actually says, yet another PR flap for George Allen and more in the one page news.

Amusements

Mark Fiore: The Great US Energy Vacation

Christians begin their annual “Oh noes it’s Halloween” complainathon

Army investigates whether Kentucky National Guard women posed nude with their M-16s and covered their breasts with American flag decals

Australian town invaded by elderly tourists who chop down “no parking” signs and terrorize residents. “They can be quite confrontational. They are absolutely brazen, and they won’t be intimidated”

Dogs trained by the MPAA can sniff out pirated DVDs at airports. They also sniff out legal DVDs at airports, which makes the whole thing pretty much useless, but hey, cute doggie

News: U.S. citizen immigrates to Cuba. Fark: Not a political statement, he got in trouble at school and lost his computer and iPod

Teacher strips in class. This is only cool if you like 56-year-old Chinese men

Officer forces prostitute to have sex with him. Prostitute steals his badge, turns him in. Cop calls prostitute to get it back. Hilarity ensues

School suspends four 8th-grade girls because they wore identical outfits on the same day

If you’re starring in a play, be sure to remove the props from your wardrobe before getting it dry-cleaned. Especially if the props are handwritten notes detailing murder-suicide plots

Dustin Diamond explains sex tape, saying his friends film their exploits, exchange the tapes and keep score, awarding points for certain acts. And according to him, these are “profile” people

“Results of the women’s dragon-boat racing event were reviewed after athletes complained of ‘big women with Adam’s apples’. Referees subsequently found that several of the competitors were actually men wearing wigs.”

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop this zorb

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop this old lady

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Today’s theme: College football fans who take things a little too far