Moscow could attack US missile system

By FT Reporters

Published: March 5 2007 20:30 | Last updated: March 5 2007 20:30

Russia said it was revising its military doctrine to reflect other powers’ growing use of military force, while a Russian general warned again that Moscow could knock out elements of the US missile defence system planned for eastern Europe.

The comments came as Angela Merkel, German chancellor, added her voice to the heated international debate over the missile defence system by calling for Nato to be given responsibility for defusing concerns over the plan.

“Nato is the best place for discussion of this issue,” she told the Financial Times in an interview, arguing that Washington should step up consultation with its western allies and Russia.

Her statement reflects concerns over increasing east-west tensions since Vladimir Putin, Russian president, delivered a speech in Munich sharply criticising US unilateralism, and the US formally asked Poland and the Czech Republic to host parts of the anti-missile system.

Russia disputes Washington’s claims that the system is not aimed at Russia but designed to intercept missiles from “rogue” states such as Iran or North Korea.

Russia has said that it might withdraw from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty, which outlawed an entire class of medium-range weapons, unless the US drops plans to site the system in eastern Europe.

In the latest warning, Gen Igor Khvorov, head of Russia’s strategic bomber force, said Russian bombers could easily knock out the installations. Since missile defence elements are weakly protected, all types of our aircraft are capable of applying electronic counter measures against them or physically destroying them.

At the same time, Russia’s presidential security council said it was developing a new military doctrine to take account of the growing role of force in the foreign policy of leading states. Without naming the US, it echoed the language of Mr Putin’s complaints about Washington’s unrestrained use of force.

Leading states are paying increasing attention in military policy to modernising their military forces and improving their weaponry, the statement added. Modern forms of armed conflict are being actively implemented, technologies for use of force are being reviewed, the configuration of military presence is being changed, and military alliances are being strengthened.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/793b7e4c-cb55-11db-b436-000b5df10621.html

Russia’s calling for Israel to declare its nuclear weapons

MOSCOW, March 2 (RIA Novosti) - Russia wants Israel, which has never admitted its nuclear status but is nevertheless believed to possess nuclear weapons, to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to establish a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East, the Russian foreign minister said.

"We believe that the practical implementation of a nuclear-free zone will become possible only when all countries in the region, including Israel, join the NPT and subject their activities to the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with Syrian Arab News Agency, published Friday by the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The issue of nuclear arms has became topical in the Middle East ever since the United States began accusing Iran of pursuing a covert nuclear arms program and demanding that it cease its uranium enrichment activities, while Iran, which is an NPT signatory, has consistently maintained that it needs its nuclear program for its civilian energy needs.

Unlike Iran, Israel, a traditional ally of the United States in the region, has not signed the NPT.

"Russia's principled position - that Israel should join the NPT and all Arab countries should join the Chemical Weapons Convention - remains unchanged," the Russian minister said.

http://en.rian.ru/world/20070302/61469114.html

Mathematician Katherine Adebola Okikiolu

Okikiolu comes from a mathematical family, her father is a mathematician and inventor and her mother is a high school mathematics teacher. Her parents met when her father left Nigeria to study mathematics at the same college in England where her mother was studying physics. Her father, George Olatokunbo Okikiolu, has written more mathematics papers than any other Black mathematician.

Okikiolu earned her B.A. in Mathematics from Cambridge University in England before coming to the United States in 1987 to attend graduate school mathematics at UCLA (the University of California, Los Angeles). There, she worked with two mentors, Sun-Yung (Alice) Chang and John Garnett, and was able to solve a problem concerning asymptotics of determinants of Toeplitz operators on the sphere and a conjecture of Peter Jones, characterizing subsets of rectifiable curves in Euclidean n-space. She earned her Ph.D. at UCLA in 1991, and she has been exhibiting first rate mathematical abilties.

After her doctorate, Kate went, in 1993, to Princeton University where she was an Instructor and an Assistant Professor until 1995. From 1995 until 1997 she was a visiting Assistant Professor at MIT. Since 1997, she has been on the faculty in the Mathematics Department of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), first as an Assistant Professor. Also in 1996, Dr. Okikiolu spoke as part of the twenty-fifth anniversary celebration for Association of Women in Mathematics (AWM). In 2002, she gave the Claytor-Woodard lecture at the NAM meeitng st the Joint Mathematics Meetings.

In June 1997, Kate Okikiolu was the first Black to win the most prestigous award for young mathematics researchers in the United States, a Sloan Research Fellowship. In 1997, UCSD promoted her to Associate Professor. The $70,000 Sloan Fellowship was not her only award of 1997. Here is a press release of the White House October 23, 1997, repeated the next day by the National Science Foundation.

Sixty young researchers have been chosen to receive the second annual Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers. The presidential honor is the highest bestowed by the U.S. Government on 60 outstanding young scientists, mathematicians, and engineers who are in the early stages of their independent research careers. The awards, which include a five-year grant of up to $500,000, are made by nine governmental agencies. Twenty of the awards are made through the National Science Foundation. The awards were established by President Clinton in February, 1996, in order to meet the Administration's goals of producing the finest scientists and engineers for the 21st century while maintaining U.S. leadership across the frontiers of scientific research.

Dr. Okikiolu has been researching the "spectral determinant" of a drum, which is essentially the number obtained by multiplying all the individual sound pitches made from a drum note. This number helps describe the shape of the drum. Although this area is largely understood in two-dimensional drums, Okikiolu is investigating the more challenging spectral determinant problem for three-dimensional drums. In a separate project, Okikiolu also studies linear distortions of drum notes and other types of signals. Research in this area may have implications for problems in quantum physics.

For her work aiding inner-city children, Okikiolu plans to make a series of videos depicting model teaching lessons that emphasize real-world perspectives. Designing model dwellings and bridges, constructing useful articles such as clothing and shelves, mending bicycles and painting pictures are "hands-on" activities that Okikiolu believes can acquaint children with mathematical concepts and help them grasp the significance of numbers and measurements.

Dr. Okikiolu's PECASE video project will now feature inner city kids teaching mathematics. The first video is called "Negative Money'' and teaches children to calculate with negative numbers by using the example of debt. It is really a sort of math cabaret, and features kids from Enterprise School in Compton, CA.

RESEARCH

Research areas: Classical Analysis, Differential Geometry, Partial Differential Equations and Operator Theory.

One of Dr. Okikiolu's areas of research is geometric analysis, particularly the determinant of the Laplacian under smooth perturbations. In addition, she is exploring several fields in mathematics. Her work in elliptical differential operators is considered a major contribution, going well beyond what experts had considered feasible, given the current state of knowledge. The Annals of Mathematics, the publisher of her Critical metrics for the determinant of the Laplacian in odd dimensions, is the best American mathematics journal. Her characterization of subsets of rectifiable curves in Rn , is one of the few foundations of the Fractal Instances of the Traveling Sales Problem.

PUBLICATIONS

1. Okikiolu, K. Critical metrics for the determinant of the Laplacian in odd dimensions. Ann. of Math. (2) 153 (2001), no. 2, 471--531.
2. Okikiolu, Kate High frequency cut-offs, trace formulas and geometry. Spectral problems in geometry and arithmetic (Iowa City, IA, 1997), 107--121, Contemp. Math., 237, Amer. Math. Soc., Providence, RI, 1999
3. Guillemin, V.; Okikiolu, K. Spectral asymptotics of Toeplitz operators on Zoll manifolds, J. Funct. Anal. 146 (1997), no. 2, 496--516.
4. Guillemin, V.; Okikiolu, K. Subprincipal terms in Szegö estimates . Math. Res. Lett. 4 (1997), no. 1, 173--179.
5. Guillemin, V.; Okikiolu, K. Szegö theorems for Zoll operators, Math. Res. Lett. 3 (1996), no. 4, 449--452.
6. Okikiolu, Kate The multiplicative anomaly for determinants of elliptic operators, Duke Math. J. 79 (1995), no. 3, 723--750.
7. Okikiolu, Kate The Campbell-Hausdorff theorem for elliptic operators and a related trace formula, Duke Math. J. 79 (1995), no. 3, 687--722.
8. Okikiolu, Kate The analogue of the strong Szegö limit theorem on the 2- and 3- dimensional spheres, J. Amer. Math. Soc. 9 (1996), no. 2, 345--372.
9. Okikiolu, Kate Characterization of subsets of rectifiable curves in Rn, J. London Math. Soc. (2) 46 (1992), no. 2, 336--348.

http://www.math.buffalo.edu/mad/PEEPS/okikiolu_katherine.html

[url]http://math.ucsd.edu/~okikiolu/[/url]

If Atiku or Babangida type were to contest this upcoming election, all in the name of democracy, then I say to hell with democracy.

US generals ‘will quit’ if Bush orders Iran attack

The Sunday Times ~ February 25, 2007

Michael Smith and Sarah Baxter, Washington

SOME of America’s most senior military commanders are prepared to resign if the White House orders a military strike against Iran, according to highly placed defence and intelligence sources.

Tension in the Gulf region has raised fears that an attack on Iran is becoming increasingly likely before President George Bush leaves office. The Sunday Times has learnt that up to five generals and admirals are willing to resign rather than approve what they consider would be a reckless attack.

“There are four or five generals and admirals we know of who would resign if Bush ordered an attack on Iran,” a source with close ties to British intelligence said. “There is simply no stomach for it in the Pentagon, and a lot of people question whether such an attack would be effective or even possible.”

A British defence source confirmed that there were deep misgivings inside the Pentagon about a military strike. “All the generals are perfectly clear that they don’t have the military capacity to take Iran on in any meaningful fashion. Nobody wants to do it and it would be a matter of conscience for them.

“There are enough people who feel this would be an error of judgment too far for there to be resignations.”

A generals’ revolt on such a scale would be unprecedented. “American generals usually stay and fight until they get fired,” said a Pentagon source. Robert Gates, the defence secretary, has repeatedly warned against striking Iran and is believed to represent the view of his senior commanders.

The threat of a wave of resignations coincided with a warning by Vice-President Dick Cheney that all options, including military action, remained on the table. He was responding to a comment by Tony Blair that it would not “be right to take military action against Iran”.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article1434540.ece

It's human nature to go for the latest and the greatest, but when it comes to Microsoft OS, Vista, my advise is to stay put, for now, with your current Win XP or Win 2000. To run Vista, one might need to buy a new computer with lots of RAM. This is a hog, hog heaven. The recommended RAM is 2GB, and according to IBM, one 'll need 4GB of RAM. All those demos Microsoft was showing the audience, were done using 4GB of RAM. Imagine that. How much is 4GB of DDR2 RAM? What of the upcoming DDR3 RAM?

I'll only touch Vista after the first Service Pack, SP1, comes out later in the year. Microsoft is known for shipping not completed or buggy software.

Vista works best with 4GB RAM

February 20, 2007

Configuring a PC around the minimum hardware requirements of an application or operating system is lot like agreeing to live in a basement apartment. Sure, it will work as a place to live, if you don't mind damp and dim living conditions. Such may be the case for Windows Vista's minimum requirement of 512MB of RAM.

Microsoft's on-the-box minimum RAM requirement "really isn't realistic," according to David Short, an IBM consultant who works in its company's Global Services Divison. He says users should consider 4GB of RAM if they really want optimum Vista performance. With 512MB of RAM, Vista will deliver performance that's sub-XP, he warned.

Short has been beta testing Vista for two years and was at the IBM-oriented Share user group conference in Tampa, Fla., last week discussing some of Vista's performance requirements. His XP system has 2GB of RAM, which he calls the "sweet spot" for that operating system, but on Vista, 4GB of RAM may be closer to its "Nirvana," he said.

That's due in part to Windows SuperFetch, which takes data from the hard drive, stores it in the available RAM and makes it readily accessible to the processor. SuperFetch depends a great deal on user predictability and takes snapshots of user activity. If SuperFetch determines that an application is launched at a particular time, it will have it loaded into the available RAM. With more RAM, there's more caching and better software response, said Short.

Hardware vendors, of course, will offer systems built on Microsoft's minimum hardware requirements called "Windows Vista Capable," configured with 512MB of system memory and a processor that is at least 800MHz. But their heart may not really be in it.

For instance, Dell offers a Windows Vista Capable configuration that isn't capable of much, according to what Dell says about it on its Web site: "Great for, Booting the Operating System, without running applications or games." Dell recommends 2GB of system memory.

Microsoft may be using PCs loaded with 4GB of RAM for some of its customer demos; At least that's what Ann Westerheim, president of Ekaru LLC, reports. A Microsoft representative recently demonstrated Vista on a system with 4GB of system memory to some of its customers, and the performance was so impressive that it drew some "ohs and ahs" from the audience, said Westerheim. The Westford, Mass.-based company provides technology services for small and mid-sized business. Westerheim said that for her personal use she may configure a system with 2GB RAM, only because of the cost of loading 4GB on a laptop.

Mueez Deen, director of graphics memory and consumer DRAM at Samsung Electronics, also recommends 2GB of RAM, calling that amount the "optimal density for the complete Vista experience, economically and technologically."

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9011523

4Play ~ Do you know anything about New Orleans?

The Big Easy is, on average, eight feet below sea level. Tall levees to the north and south keep the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain from pouring into the center of the city. And an intricate system of pumping stations and canals keep the land dry, even after heavy rainfall. Without this drainage system, much of the city would be engulfed in water. New Orleans occupies swampland created by millions of years' worth of silt deposits from the Mississippi River. As a result, the ground is wet and spongy, and prone to flooding from rainfall and hurricanes.

Ironically, all the pumps, canals, and levees that work so hard to keep New Orleans above water are actually causing the city to sink at a rate of three feet per century. Some scientists predict that by the year 2100, the "City That Care Forgot" will be under water. Does New Orleans have a deep-sea Mardi Gras in its future? Scuba gear or not, it's interesting to ponder.

http://ask.yahoo.com/20041005.html

Who is responsible for these levees? It's not the Mayor. It's not the Governor. It's the US Government. Your dim mindset blames both the Mayor and the Governor for failing to evacuate a Metro population of 1.4 million people. It shows that you don't know how the system works in US. You should be ashamed of yourself in that your only defense are these polls. It was Bush that cuts the fund that the US Army Corps of Engineers needed to maintain the levees.

I'm disappointed that I need to help you do your own homework at this age. Here is what your dearest BBC says:

Video showing President George W Bush being warned on the eve of Hurricane Katrina that New Orleans' flood defences could be overcome has emerged. It shows plainly worried officials telling Mr Bush very clearly before the storm hit that it could breach New Orleans' flood barriers. In the past, the president has said nobody anticipated a breach but the video shows Michael Brown, the top emergency response official who has since resigned, saying the storm would be "a bad one, a big one". "We're going to need everything that we can possibly muster, not only in this state and in the region, but the nation, to respond to this event," Mr Brown says.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, shown the footage for the first time at a press conference, told Reuters he was "shocked" by what it revealed. "It surprises me that if there was that kind of awareness, why was the response so slow?" he asked.

Mr Bush has accepted he shared some of the responsibility for the flawed response to Katrina and the White House has talked of the "fog of war" rendering decision-making difficult. Michael Brown told AP this week that he did not "buy the 'fog of war' defence".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4765058.stm

Post-flood city wrestles with race issue

Race, class, money and power are inextricably linked in the US, and the flooding of New Orleans is proving a textbook example of how they intersect. "In the wake of the flood, a small group of powerful business leaders and developers - the old blue-blood elite - took it upon themselves to plan the city into the next 20-30 years," says Lance Hill, executive director of the Southern Institute for Education and Research at Tulane University.

The problem was that "virtually no African-Americans" had returned to the city when those plans were being formed, says Mr Hill, who describes himself as a white liberal. There were proposals not to rebuild historically black neighbourhoods, which alarmed African-Americans, he says.

"African-Americans who were displaced became deeply suspicious that their homes were going to be bulldozed, their jobs taken away and their hospitals closed. "There was a general fear that they were being locked out of the city," Mr Hill says.

He says he believes the intention was to exclude poor people. But because the city had been racially segregated for generations, the practical effect was to exclude blacks. "If you want to eliminate a high concentration of poor African-Americans by eliminating a neighbourhood, you also eliminate working-class, middle-class, even wealthy blacks," he says.

Mayor Ray Nagin may have been trying to take advantage of those African-American sentiments with his widely-reported pre-election comment that New Orleans should remain "a chocolate city". Mr Nagin, who is black, was first elected mayor in 2002 with overwhelming white backing and lukewarm black support.

But in the face of African-American anger at his support for rebuilding New Orleans in a way that might exclude them, he reversed course. That alienated the city's white elites and forced Mr Nagin to seek black votes, Mr Hill says. He was re-elected this year with about 80% of the black vote about 20% of the white vote - a dramatic reversal of his 2002 showing. "Now the mayor has a vested interest in bringing back the black community," Mr Hill says.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/5283522.stm

Donzman ~ So you're able to verify it from Canada? Abi, you've being conditioned that your race can't do any better?

Tornadoz ~ I feel your pain. Pele.

I'll prefer these three languages to an Arabic text, anytime, any day. Edo (Bini) should be the fourth major local language, since many of the delta tongues are related to it. By the way, what's your mother tongue?

Institute discovers herbal cure for AIDS

From Iyabo Lawal, Ibadan

Monday, February 19, 2007

HOPE of a lasting cure to the dreaded HIV/AIDS brightened at the weekend as the Executive Director of the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN), Dr. Solomon Badejo, disclosed that the institute has discovered medicinal plants for the treatment of the disease and other similar ailments.

An elated Badejo disclosed this in Ibadan, Oyo State capital while conducting the Minister of Environment, Housing and Urban Development, Chief Helen Esuene round the institute.

The institute's boss listed the scientific breakthroughs recorded by the team of researchers and solicited government's efforts at sustaining the feat.

He explained that the digitisation of African type specimens under the API programme sponsored by the Andrew Melon Foundation, U.S.A, was in progress.

The FRIN boss also informed the minister of the institute's development of the use of sawmill wood wastes - principally sawdust - and wood shavings from sawmills and plant markets, for the production of ceiling boards, floor tiles and wall tiles.

Badejo added that FRIN had established and continue to maintain the largest Forest Herbarium (FHI) in West African with a collection of 107,294 plant specimens inclusive of the documentation of the medicinal uses of some of the plants.

http://odili.net/news/source/2007/feb/19/28.html

Institute discovers herbal cure for AIDS

From Iyabo Lawal, Ibadan

Monday, February 19, 2007

HOPE of a lasting cure to the dreaded HIV/AIDS brightened at the weekend as the Executive Director of the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN), Dr. Solomon Badejo, disclosed that the institute has discovered medicinal plants for the treatment of the disease and other similar ailments.

An elated Badejo disclosed this in Ibadan, Oyo State capital while conducting the Minister of Environment, Housing and Urban Development, Chief Helen Esuene round the institute.

The institute's boss listed the scientific breakthroughs recorded by the team of researchers and solicited government's efforts at sustaining the feat.

He explained that the digitisation of African type specimens under the API programme sponsored by the Andrew Melon Foundation, U.S.A, was in progress.

The FRIN boss also informed the minister of the institute's development of the use of sawmill wood wastes - principally sawdust - and wood shavings from sawmills and plant markets, for the production of ceiling boards, floor tiles and wall tiles.

Badejo added that FRIN had established and continue to maintain the largest Forest Herbarium (FHI) in West African with a collection of 107,294 plant specimens inclusive of the documentation of the medicinal uses of some of the plants.

http://odili.net/news/source/2007/feb/19/28.html

Intel remains the leader. It's like NVidia Vs ATi. Unfortunately, NVidia has acquired ATi, I hope Intel don't do that to AMD. But I still love my AMD but next time, i'll go for the ones on the Apple MAC!

Christino ~ Nvidia did not acquire ATi. It was AMD that bought ATi.

[url]http://www.amd.com/us-en/Corporate/VirtualPressRoom/0,,51_104_543~110899,00.html[/url]

muyibaba:

what about pentium 4 1.7ghz,384mb.how do you think it will go?

muyibaba ~ Don't even bother. Stay put with the Win XP or Win 2000 you currently have. To run Vista, be prepared to buy a new computer.

For Vista, I'll recommend AMD (Opteron or X2) or Intel Core Duo with the following specification:
2GHz Processor Speed
1GB DDR2 RAM

Avoid Intel Celeron at all cost.

The mayor of New Orleans(Black) and the Governor for whom primary responsibility lies for evacuation did nothing.The Fed Govt can only help when the states request it,that is why most Americans attach greater blame to the Mayor and the Gov than the President.Most people who died in Katrina were not Black.

4Play ~ You live in the UK, but you seem to know more about America than those that live there. Where do you get your newsfeed from? BBC? You're blaming both the Mayor and the Governor for Katrina. Are you on Prozac?

xtycod ~ It's always good to look at oneself in the mirror. You might be feeling good with your cheap shot, but remember that outsiders that are visiting this site, 'll not distinguish one from the other. Everyone, including you, 'll be lumped together and laughed at. I don't need to be explicit, but common sense should easily fill in the blank for you.

Kudos to Obasanjo and his administration on this issue. Naija is a Secular State. Arabic letters should not be forced down the throat of non-adherents. Hausa is a beautiful language that one 'll love to learn, but do I need to first learn Arabic?

There are obvious flaws in the make up of the country, and its governance. And if these flaws are not corrected through Sovereign National Conference, I'll be shocked if the nation continues to exist in the next ten years.

Good Riddance, that's long overdue.


Why new coins, notes bear no Arabic inscriptions, by Soludo

From Adamu Abuh, Kano

WITH the stage set for the re-introduction of lower denominations of coins and notes, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has given an insight into the rationale for using local languages instead of Arabic inscriptions on the new denominations.

The redesigned notes and coins will be in circulation from February 28.

At a grassroots sensitisation forum on the new notes held at the Kano branch of the CBN yesterday, Soludo said the quest to promote national literacy in Nigeria's major languages informed the decision to drop Arabic inscriptions from the denominations. He also said that the choice of the three major local languages on the redesigned notes and coins was aimed at strengthening national unity.

The repackaged notes of N5, N10, N20 and N50 have their values translated into Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba languages. Also, the redesigned coins of N2, N1, and 50 kobo denominations which are more convenient to carry will be introduced through the commercial banks on the same day.

The decision by the CBN to remove the Arabic inscription, which was conspicuous on the existing denominations, has attracted harsh comments from a section of Nigerian Moslems, who deemed the action an affront to the Islam.

But the CBN chief, who discountenanced the notion, said government's decision was not informed by any religious sentiment. The Federal Government, he added, has no disdain for the Arabic Language, in which the Holy Quran is written.

Soludo said: "It is not eliminating Arabic inscriptions; it is re-writing the Hausa language in a form that everybody will be able to read. What is written in Hausa can be read by every other Nigerian who is not Hausa.

"The Hausa inscription has not been scrapped. It is only that it has been written out, the Igbo one is also written out, the Yoruba one is equally written out. That is the only change and it is part of the promotion of national unity and national literacy in our various languages."

The CBN chief said the new notes, made of polymer, and coins would ease business transactions among Nigerians. On the benefits of introducing the new coins to the economy, Soludo said: "Prices move in multiples of N5, now you could have a price of something for N57.50 kobo, N58.50 kobo and you get your balance back. But before, you could only have N67, N65. All Nigerians should go back to the use of coins."

http://odili.net/news/source/2007/feb/16/56.html

Saudis to purchase nuclear option, advanced missiles and spy satellites off the shelf from Pakistan and Russia

February 15, 2007, 3:27 PM (GMT+02:00)

Moscow will assist in Saudi development of a civilian nuclear program and build six research satellites for the oil kingdom. DEBKAfile’s Gulf intelligence sources report this was agreed in the talks held in Riyadh earlier this week by visiting Russian president Vladimir Putin and King Abdullah. Israeli military sources report that Moscow in fact undertook to provide Saudi Arabia with half a dozen military surveillance satellites, launch them and set up ground control centers, thereby making the oil kingdom the first Middle East national with a multiple spy satellite capability for tracking the military movements of its neighbors, including Iran and Israel.

This Saudi-Russian venture has got Israel worried because it will enable Riyadh to pick up highly sensitive intelligence on its military movements and relay it to Egypt and the Palestinians.

This development confirms DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s previous disclosures that the Saudis do not intend wasting time developing their own military capabilities but are going shopping for finished products.

On Jan. 21, Saudi rulers favored visiting Pakistani president Gen. Pervez Musharraf with exception honors when he arrived at the outset of a tour of five Arab capitals. DEBKA-Net-Weekly described King Abdullah as personally welcoming the visitor and driving him in the royal convoy to a palace outside the capital where they were closeted alone for three hours. The king also conferred on the Pakistani ruler the King Abdul Aziz Award.

This ceremonial led up to an epic accord of 7 secret clauses on the terms in which Pakistan would make nuclear weapons available to, and sell, Saudi Arabia nuclear-capable missiles. DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s sources revealed that Musharraf undertook to make them available in the event of a nuclear emergency facing Saudi Arabia, the Gulf emirates, Egypt or Jordan. A mechanism was thus set up for Saudi Arabia to potentially beat Iran to the draw in acquiring a nuclear bomb, as well as controlling the security of its allies.

http://debka.com/headline.php?hid=3838

Switzerland submits to Tehran a proposal for solving crisis over Iran’s nuclear program ~ over Washington’s objections

February 14, 2007, 12:30 AM (GMT+02:00)

Our intelligence sources reveal that Monday, Feb. 12, the six-point proposal secret Swiss emissaries delivered to the Iranian government ten days ago was accepted.

Its six points are revealed here for the first time:

1. Iran will be allowed to produce a predetermined quota of enriched uranium against its pledge not to exceed this limit or produce it up to weapons grade.

2. International nuclear IAEA inspections will be expanded to encompass nuclear weaponization activity.

3. In return for Tehran’s acceptance of 1. and 2., the IAEA will supply Iran with advanced nuclear technology and Russia will release nuclear fuel rods to power its Bushehr atomic reactor.

4. UN Security Council sanctions against Iran will not be stiffened.

5. The US and Europe will promise to desist from any military attack on Iran.

6. America and Europe will close down their clandestine support programs for Iran’s disaffected minorities, such as the Arabs of Khuzistan and the Kurds.

DEBKAfile’s sources report that the Swiss go-betweens were received by aides of former president Hashem Rafsanjani, whose word as one of supreme ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ‘s closest advisers counts for much in the Iranian capital. Those aides, according to Swiss sources, were “more than interested” in the proposal and intimated that if Washington could be won over negotiations could go forward to solve the controversy over Iran’s nuclear program.

They also disclose that the Swiss diplomats who brought the proposal to Tehran had also involved themselves in mediation efforts in the past two years to persuade Syrian president Bashar Assad and Hamas leaders in Damascus to agree to talks with Israel. Israel rejected both initiatives.

Bush administration officials suspect that the outgoing French president Jacques Chirac is quietly sponsoring the Bern government’s initiative.

Our Iranian sources disclose Tehran attaches high hopes to the Swiss plan. The two sides are working on a “non-paper” which European Union’s foreign policy executive Javier Solana will be asked to present in Washington

http://debka.com/headline.php?hid=3830

U.S. Caves In on North Korea

By Mike Whitney

02/08/07

The US has talked tough without achieving anything. Han Seung-Joo, South Korea’s former foreign minister (UK Guardian)

There’s been plenty of saber rattling and bold talk about forcing North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program, but after a six year standoff, Bush has decided to give in to Kim Jung Il’s demands. The Western media is characterizing the new developments as a “breakthrough”, but, in fact, Bush has retreated on every issue of consequence. It is as close to a total foreign policy failure as one can possibly imagine. Nothing has been achieved. The bottom line is this; Kim refused to budge from his original position, while Bush completely capitulated on his.

This suggests that there may have to be a serious reworking of Dick Cheney’s famous maxim that “We don’t negotiate with evil; we defeat it”. Wrong again, Dick.

The so-called “breakthrough” took place last month in a face-to-face meeting between Washington and Pyongyang in Berlin. The meeting was kept secret to conceal the administration’s willingness to meet one-on-one with their North Korean counterparts. Up until then, the chest-thumping Bush had refused to negotiate in person; choosing instead to hide behind the six party talks. Kim’s detonation of a nuclear bomb last summer triggered a sudden reversal in the administration’s approach. (Iran has probably noticed Bush’s eagerness to negotiate with nuclear-armed states.)

“According to Japan’s Asashi newspaper, the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding under which North Korea would make steps towards denuclearization at the same time as the US resumed annual shipments of 500,000 tonnes of oil, which were halted in 2002.” (UK Guardian)

If this all sounds familiar, it is because the deal is identical to the Agreed Framework that was worked out by the Clinton administration in 1994 (and which the Bush administration stubbornly refused to honor for 6 years). The only difference now is that North Korea has nuclear weapons.

The new agreement will drop US sanctions against the North and stop freezing their foreign banks accounts, a violation of international law. Kim will be expected to cease his nuclear activities at the Yongbyon reactor and allow inspectors from the IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog agency, to resume their work.

Kim agreed to all of these conditions 10 years ago; his position has never changed. Only Bush has backed-down. US envoy, Christopher Hill, has tried to put a brave face on Washington’s capitulation saying, “I sense a real desire to have progress.” Progress?

Those who have followed the issue won’t be so easily fooled. The administration is sending up the white flag and calling it victory. They’ve back-pedaled on every point of dispute and now they’re back to square one.

Other parts of Clinton’s “Agreed Framework” are still being hammered out, but it is nearly certain that Bush will be required to meet the terms of the original deal and provide food and two lightwater reactors for electrical power. More importantly, Kim is bound to push for security guarantees which are now de rigueur for any nation negotiating with the war-mongering US. The North will demand a written assurance (Treaty) that the administration will not preemptively attack them. (The US National Security Statement claims the right to preemptively attack whoever it chooses depending on US national interests)

A signed treaty with North Korea would be a giant leap forward for nuclear nonproliferation as well as world peace.

Six years of failed policy, as well as wars that stretch across Central Asia and the Middle East, have finally pushed the blundering Bush administration to the bargaining table. The lesson is unavoidable: Bush CAN be forced to act rationally when all other options have been thoroughly exhausted. Perhaps, we can glean some small amount of hope from that.

South Korea’s former foreign minister, Han Seung-Joo, summarized the latest diplomatic developments saying:

“The US and South Korea will play this up as a big success. But they are going back to where they were before. The US has talked tough without achieving anything. They have reached a new status quo in which North Korea is a nuclear weapons state”.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17006.htm

Israeli Defense Minister admits war against Lebanon was not to free two captured soldiers

Global Research, January 31, 2007

The real purposes of the Israeli war against Lebanon are being disclosed, day after day, to show that the war was planned in advance to eliminate Hezbollah. After the Israeli's Interior Minister admitted that the July war did not aim to "free" the two Israeli captured soldiers, and after what the newspapers and the occupation soldiers said about trainings, aimed to start the war in addition to reports inside the General Staff that revealed ready plans to launch a war against Hezbollah, the Israeli War Minister, Amir Peretz finally admitted that the war was not to "free" the two captured soldiers but it aimed to confront the mounting threat of Hezbollah. He said that Israel would have found itself facing more difficult and more dangerous threats if it did not confront Hezbollah in that war.

Peretz affirmed, with or without his knowledge, what Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has said before when he said that it is impossible for any state to launch a war like the July war just to "free" two captured soldiers. The War Minister said, "Is there anyone who really believes that the capture of the two soldiers in the north was the reason that led to the war? There was an accumulation of the incidents before the war which led us to be very cautious to more serious threats. If we did not confront them, we would have found ourselves, after several years, in front of harsh mounting threats and more dangerous than we have discovered." After Israel failed to achieve the goals it had put for the war and mounted questions over ending the war before freeing the two captured soldiers, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert could only say that "we are not ready to have more casualties among the Israeli soldiers in order to regain two soldiers."

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=20070131&articleId=4650


The two Israeli Soldiers were captured in Lebanon

The militant group Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers during clashes Wednesday across the border in Southern Lebanon, prompting a swift reaction from Israel, which sent ground forces into its neighbor to look for them. The forces were trying to keep the soldiers' captors from moving them deeper into Lebanon, Israeli government officials said on condition of anonymity.

http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/israeli_solders.html


Bush 'helped Israeli attack on Lebanon'

Dan Glaister in Los Angeles
Monday August 14, 2006
The Guardian

The US government was closely involved in planning the Israeli campaign in Lebanon, even before Hizbullah seized two Israeli soldiers in a cross border raids in July. American and Israeli officials met in the spring, discussing plans on how to tackle Hizbullah, according to a report published yesterday.

The veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh writes in the current issue of the New Yorker magazine that Israeli government officials travelled to the US in May to share plans for attacking Hizbullah.

Quoting a US government consultant, Hersh said: "Earlier this summer , several Israeli officials visited Washington, separately, 'to get a green light for the bombing operation and to find out how much the United States would bear'."

The Israeli action, current and former government officials told Hersh, chimed with the Bush administration's desire to reduce the threat of possible Hizbullah retaliation against Israel should the US launch a military strike against Iran.

"A successful Israeli Air Force bombing campaign, could ease Israel's security concerns and also serve as a prelude to a potential American pre-emptive attack to destroy Iran's nuclear installations," sources told Hersh.

Yesterday Mr Hersh told CNN: "July was a pretext for a major offensive that had been in the works for a long time. Israel's attack was going to be a model for the attack they really want to do. They really want to go after Iran."

An unnamed Pentagon consultant told Hersh: "It was our intention to have Hizbullah diminished and now we have someone else doing it."

Officials from the state department and the Pentagon denied the report. A spokesman for the National Security Council told Hersh that "The Israeli government gave no official in Washington any reason to believe that Israel was planning to attack."

Hersh has a track record in breaking major stories. He was the first to write about the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and has written extensively about the build-up to the war in Iraq. He made his name when he uncovered the massacre at My Lai during the Vietnam war. Most recently he has written about US plans for Iran, alleging that US special forces had already been active inside the country.

[url]http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1844021,00.html[/url]

I read a response from yahoo tech that microsoft actually owns 47% of Apple.If that is true,then there is absolutely no copying from microsoft.They are simply doing bizness.Throwing slangs and calling vista "ye ye" will not change a thing.They own the market,most of it,that is. So if you can't beat them,join them.The truth is,every industry has its problems.It's not like Mac and others are problem free.It's not also like they are not worth the money.With time,they will repair all or most of the bugs and vista will be great.Give it time, it always works. The bottom line is,there is freedom of choice.

sisisisi ~ Do not believe that. The Anti-monopoly commission in both US and EU will never allow that to happen. Monopoly means no competition.

In the mid-80's, Apple had sued Microsoft for infringing on its IP, intellectual properties, by copying Apple's OS, operating systems. Around that time, Apple founder, Steve Jobs had being forced out by the CEO, Sculley. Jobs went on to create another Computer company, NeXT. Apple was ran aground ~ be careful of an MBA running a company.

Amelio replaced Spindler. He discontinued the Copland operating system project, the next-generation operating system for the Macintosh and decided to buy Be Inc., makers of BeOS, but negotiations stalled when Be CEO Jean-Louis Gassée wanted $400 million but Apple was offering $125 million. Amelio later bought Steve Jobs' NeXT in February 1997 for $429 million. Amelio later admitted he overpaid for NeXT. NeXT's operating system became the basis for Mac OS X and that was how Steve Jobs was brought back in 1997.

Steve Jobs instigated the Board of Directors to fire the CEO, Amelio, for non-performance. Amelio was ousted in the board room coup and Steve Jobs was made an interim CEO. All the analysts had written Apple off. Jobs was able to convince the board of his plans to revitalize the struggling company ~ iMac, Mac OS X, Cube, iPod, Airport, iTune, iMovie, Final Cut, just to name a few. What of the recently announced iPhone? Oleku.

In 1997, Microsoft and Apple settled out of court for an undisclosed amount and they both cross licensed their IP, which allows Microsoft to freely copy the Mac OS code and vice-versa. In addition, Microsoft invested $150 million in non-voting shares in Apple, which was about 3% of Apple. By 2000, Microsoft had sold its Apple shares, and even made a profit out of it. How did 3% share become 47% of Apple? Misinformation.

http://news.com.com/MS+to+invest+150+million+in+Apple/2100-1001_3-202143.html

If you have the cash and want piece of mind, buy an Apple. You can create a partition on Mac that will run Windows and all its applications natively. And switch between Apple, Windows, Linux and Unix in real time. The upcoming Mac OX v10.5 Leopard, will blow Vista a mile away. It should be available by Spring.

http://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/

Microsoft Vista available in Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba before December

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Activities marking the most significant product launch in Microsoft’s history have started with the release to consumers of the Windows Vista operating system and Microsoft Office 2007.

The two flagship products, which were previewed by the Nigerian Press and released to Nigerian business customers last November will be available in more than 70 countries, in 19 languages with 99 languages anticipated by the end of the year, including Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.

Announcing the launch events, Microsoft Nigeria Marketing Manager, Victor Okigbo, said:"The Nigeria launch event is part of a global schedule. We will launch Windows Vista and Microsoft Office in Abuja on the 20th of February and in Lagos on the 22nd of February."

"With the product available in over 39,000 retail stores worldwide including our local PC Outlet Store at the Palms Shopping Mall, Lagos, you can, of course, buy a copy from retail outlets right away. In fact, one very lucky Nigerian shopper will get an invitation to the Feb 22 launch event in Lagos and a copy of Windows Vista signed by Microsoft Chairman, Bill Gates."

Okigbo further disclosed that Microsoft Nigeria is collaborating closely with business partners and distributors such as HP, Intel, Coscharis Technologies and Technology Distributors (TD) as part of the product launch process and as such the launch events will include high-impact product demonstrations.

Windows Vista and the 2007 Office system deliver innovations in interface design that transform the desktop and make these two products visually exciting and significantly easier to use. New capabilities make it easy for anyone to create and share digital content like photos, music and videos, and participate in digital communities by posting blogs, creating Web sites or playing games online.

Describing the new products, Okigbo said, "The way that Nigerians work, play and communicate will be profoundly affected by the launch of these products: Vista is by far the most stable, secure and technologically advanced version of Windows to date; Office has a radically redesigned user interface that boosts productivity in a significant way. We are excited that Nigerians will have the opportunity to experience the impact of working and playing with these products."

The new versions of Windows and Office also deliver advances in security and family safety to help parents guide their kids to explore the Internet more safely, while also safeguarding their personal information so that they can share experiences, shop and have fun with greater confidence.

One example in Windows Vista is the Parental Control Panel, a feature that provides a central location where parents can manage Internet and computer access and receive reports about which Web sites their children have visited and the amount of time they have spent on the computer.

In addition,features like Windows Defender help protect consumers against attacks by spyware and malicious Web sites.

But despite all the razzmatazz that accompanied the release of the Vista Windows, only very few customers will be queuing up to buy a copy as most users of lesser vision of Windows are not expected to upgrade but acquire Vista only when they buy a new computer.

However, the launch of Windows Vista is also expected to unleash a flood of new next-generation hardware devices. Currently, there are more than 1.5 million devices and peripherals on the market that work with Windows Vista, including more than 2,000 that are Windows Vista Certified.

Among the new devices available today that are designed specifically to work with the features of Windows Vista are the TouchSmart PC from HP, which includes a touch-sensitive screen; the Toshiba Portege R400, which features a SideShow display that lets users view their e-mail without turning on the PC or opening the lid; and the OQO model 02, a new ultra-mobile device that optimizes entertainment and communication on the smallest mobile PC form factor available.

On the Nigerian scene, two variations of Zinox’s recently launched, Zinox Divine Notebook are designed to work with Windows Vista.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potentialities. Microsoft opened its offices in Nigeria in the year 2000.

http://odili.net/news/source/2007/feb/14/801.html

Two-thirds of Germans back Putin's U.S. criticisms

Tue Feb 13, 9:19 AM ET

BERLIN (Reuters) - Around two in three Germans support Russian President Vladimir Putin's view that the United States is on a mission to become the world's "one single master," according to a poll released on Tuesday.

A survey of 1,000 Germans showed 68 percent supported the attack made by Putin on Washington at a high-profile Munich security conference over the weekend, the poll by Emnid for N24 television showed.

Twenty-two percent of those surveyed disagreed with Putin's accusation that the United States was making the world a more dangerous place by pursuing policies aimed at making it the sole superpower.

A large majority of Germans opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and view President George W. Bush with deep suspicion, despite efforts by Chancellor Angela Merkel to bolster bilateral ties.

The Emnid poll also showed 62 percent of Germans were not concerned about stronger Russian military might.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070213/wl_nm/germany_putin_usa_poll_dc;_ylt=A0WTUdr0ydFF1oUBtQZvaA8F

February 13, 2007

Putin Orders Russian Military Forces To Attack US Forces During Iran Invasion

Russian Military Analysts are reporting today that President Putin has issued orders to the Russian Interior Ministry to immediately dispatch Spetsnaz (Special Forces) troops to Iran to protect vital Russian assets, including the Bushehr Nuclear power plant.

These reports state that this order from President Putin to the Interior Ministry includes the phrase, against any and all hostile forces, and which analysts state is a direct threat to US and Israeli Forces currently massing for their planned attack and invasion of Iran.

According to these reports, President Putin was strongly lobbied by Saudi Arabia to create a buffer against further US aggression in the Gulf Region, and which the Saudi King in his talks with President Putin this week stated his belief that the United States after attacking Iran would then set its sites upon his oil rich nation. The fears of Saudi Arabia about an American takeover of their oil fields was further confirmed this week with the pronouncements of US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns to end US oil purchases from Venezuela, and which would leave only the Saudi Kingdom able to make up the difference in lost oil to the Americans.

President Putin in his speech before the Munich Security Conference this past week further warned the United States against its planned military expansion, and as we can read:

It is world in which there is one master, one sovereign. And at the end of the day this is pernicious not only for all those within this system, but also for the sovereign itself because it destroys itself from within. And this certainly has nothing in common with democracy. Because, as you know, democracy is the power of the majority in light of the interests and opinions of the minority.

Incidentally, Russia is constantly being taught about democracy. But for some reason those who teach us do not want to learn themselves.

I consider that the unipolar model is not only unacceptable but also impossible in today’s world. And this is not only because if there was individual leadership in today’s world, then the military, political and economic resources would not suffice. What is even more important is that the model itself is flawed because at its basis there is and can be no moral foundations for modern civilization. Along with this, what is happening in today’s world is a tentative to introduce precisely this concept into international affairs, the concept of a unipolar world.

Unilateral and frequently illegitimate actions have not resolved any problems. Moreover, they have caused new human tragedies and created new centers of tension. Judge for yourselves: wars as well as local and regional conflicts have not diminished. Mr Teltschik mentioned this very gently. And no less people perish in these conflicts, even more are dying than before.

Today, we are witnessing an almost uncontained hyper use of military force in International relations, force that is plunging the world into an abyss of permanent conflicts. As a result, we do not have sufficient strength to find a comprehensive solution to any one of these conflicts. Finding a political settlement also becomes impossible. We are seeing a greater and greater disdain for the basic principles of international law. And independent legal norms are, as a matter of fact, coming increasingly closer to one state’s legal system.

One state and, of course, first and foremost the United States, has overstepped its national borders in every way.

Virtually unknown to the American peoples themselves are that their Military Leaders plans do not call for a World based upon democratic ideals, but are instead based upon the ancient Roman model of establishing American based protectorates around the Globe to insure the survival of the United States against both Russia and China, and who their Defense Secretary recently warned the US Congress:

Gates told the House Armed Services Committee: We need the full range of military capabilities, including ground combat forces to battle large armies and nimble special operations troops to scout out terrorist threats. We don't know what's going to develop in places like Russia and China, in North Korea, in Iran and elsewhere.

Moscow has demanded Washington’s explanation of the U.S. defense secretary’s Wednesday statement on uncertain prospects of developments in Russia, North Korea, Iran and China, a Russian foreign ministry spokesman said Monday.

http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index983.htm

Putin of Russia has dared the West to cross the Rubicon. Would Bush be bold enough in responding in kind to the Russian Bear? The Cold War never ended, it just metamorphosed. And the more things change, the more they remain the same. Putin has drawn the line on Iran. US, Europe and Israel 've being forewarned that Russia will defend Iran. Iran is harmed to the teeth and willing to die for their Mahdi. Jews are not ready to die because many of them are fleeing Israel, life is too sweet. It is the dumb Christians in uniform that will be sacrificed to the Semitic gods.

I had already made a prediction that Israel, Mecca, Medina and much of Middle East 'll be destroyed. And there is no god that will shed tears. And I'll like to know which of these gods 've the biggest balls ~ Yahweh/Jehovah/Jesus or Allah/Mohamed. I hope that the Nuclear fallout plus the radiation sickness does not fall anywhere South of the Sahara.

A brilliant mind can easily see the conflict as a Superpower Proxy War.

Here is a clip on Putin warning the West, as reported in the Western media. Imagine what's is not being reported. The media is US first line of attack ~ by demonizing a military target while conditioning the dumb populace in supporting the military conquest.


Putin Hits U.S. Over Unilateral Approach

MUNICH, Feb. 10 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin, in some of his harshest criticism of the United States since he took office seven years ago, said Saturday that Washington's unilateral, militaristic approach had made the world a more dangerous place than at any time during the Cold War.

"The United States has overstepped its national borders in every way," he said in an address at an annual international security conference here. "Nobody feels secure anymore, because nobody can take safety behind the stone wall of international law."

Putin criticized the expansion of NATO, saying the alliance's placement of military forces on Russia's borders reduces "the level of mutual trust." He said the U.S. desire to place antimissile systems in Eastern Europe could further upset the international balance of power and embolden the United States in its foreign policy decisions.

The Russian president defended his country's arms sales to Iran as a way of reaching out to that Middle Eastern power, which is under pressure from the United States and Europe to curtail its nuclear program. Russia has supplied some air defense weapons to Iran because, he said, "we don't want Iran to feel cornered."

Dozens of foreign and defense ministers and other officials, including U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and an American congressional delegation, attended the meeting. An Iranian nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, also was present and is scheduled to address the conference Sunday after Gates speaks.

Several U.S. politicians in attendance sharply criticized Putin's remarks, which Russia specialists said were familiar in their assertiveness but unusual in their hostility toward the United States.

The White House also reacted strongly. "We are surprised and disappointed with President Putin's comments," spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in a statement. "His accusations are wrong. We expect to continue cooperation with Russia in areas important to the international community such as counterterrorism and reducing the spread and threat of weapons of mass destruction."

Putin called on the West to resist pushing Russia to be more democratic and more respectful of human rights. "Russia is constantly being taught democracy, and the people who try to teach it don't want to learn it themselves," he said.

Putin ended his critique of the post-Cold War world by attacking the West's view of international relations. Stability and economic justice, he said, should be "not only for the chosen ones, but for everybody."

During Putin's 32-minute address, several members of the U.S. delegation frowned or looked away. Gates, a professional Sovietologist, stared down at notes he was writing. Asked for comment afterward, Gates smiled and shook his head.

After speaking, Putin took questions from the audience, elaborating on several points but backing down from none of them. Explaining his view that the world is now more dangerous than it was during the Cold War, he said that back then, "it was a fragile peace, a scary peace, but it was fairly reliable, as it turns out. Today it is less reliable."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/10/AR2007021000524.html?nav=rss_email/components