| |
|
10. oktober 2006
|
|
Walid Phares argues many pundits fail to understand Jihadis:
The academic, expert, and journalistic assertions that Jihadists in general and Salafists in particular, are initially local, then become international, is derived from how Western scholarship monitors the Islamists actions but in many cases fail to analyze the motives and thinking process of these Jihadists. The Salafists for example, do not consider their Jihad as solely confined to a particular country, even if their actions are restricted to the boundaries of a particular country. Salafists and other Jihadis are international by essence, by ideology, and by ultimate goal. It is not the foreign policies of Western powers that "open their eyes" on the necessity of initiating action internationally, but it is their analysis of the feasibility of such action, in conformity with their ideology.
Jihadis who commit local acts exclusively nevertheless are convinced they fight a global struggle where they can.
7:04:38 PM 
|
|
Bill Gertz in Washington Times:
U.S. intelligence agencies say, based on preliminary indications, that North Korea did not produce its first nuclear blast yesterday.
U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that seismic readings show that the conventional high explosives used to create a chain reaction in a plutonium-based device went off, but that the blast's readings were shy of a typical nuclear detonation.
"We're still evaluating the data, and as more data comes in, we hope to develop a clearer picture," said one official familiar with intelligence reports.
"There was a seismic event that registered about 4 on the Richter scale, but it still isn't clear if it was a nuclear test. You can get that kind of seismic reading from high explosives."
The underground explosion, which Pyongyang dubbed a historic nuclear test, is thought to have been the equivalent of several hundred tons of TNT, far short of the several thousand tons of TNT, or kilotons, that are signs of a nuclear blast, the official said.
The official said that so far, "it appears there was more fizz than pop."
AP quoting Xavier Clement of France's Atomic Energy Commission:
His agency estimated the North Korean blast at around 1 kiloton or less _ equivalent to the explosive force of 1,000 tons of TNT. For a nuclear device, that would be so weak that the French defense minister suggested that "there could have been a failure" with the North Korean reported test.
Clement said it could take days before scientists can declare with certainty whether the explosion was nuclear. And when blasts are very weak, "we could be in a situation where we cannot tell the difference between the two," he said.
The New York Times has a longer discussion of different reactions:
Philip E. Coyle III, a former director of weapons testing at the Pentagon and former director of nuclear testing for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a weapons design center in California, said the small size of the test signaled the possibility of what might be described as a partial success or a partial failure.
“As first tests go, this is smaller and less successful than those of the other nuclear powers,” he said.
Perhaps the North Koreans wanted to keep it small, he added. “But if it turns out to be a kiloton or less,” Dr. Coyle said, “that would suggest that they hoped for more than that and didn’t get it.”
Hot Air has a roundup of sources discussing whether it was a dud or even a hoax.
This all makes Russian defense minister Sergei B. Ivanov, who asserted a "5 to 15 kilotons" explosion, an strange outlier in international reactions.
11:46:23 AM
|
|
Well, with all the nuclear postings yesterday, we need some lighter news. And nothing is better than the old chestnut about differences between blondes, brunettes and redheads, in this case confirming some prejudices about the latter: Redheads 'have more sex than blondes or brunettes'
The study by Hamburg Sex Researcher Professor Dr Werner Habermehl looked at the sex lives of hundreds of German women and compared them with their hair colour.
He said: "The sex lives of women with red hair were clearly more active than those with other hair colour, with more partners and having sex more often than the average. The research shows that the fiery redhead certainly lives up to her reputation."
He added that women who dyed their hair red from another colour were signalling they were looking for a partner, and added: "Even women in a fixed relationship are letting their partners know they are unhappy if they dye their hair red. They are saying that they are looking for something better."
All right, guys, watch out if your significant other comes home with red hair.
Psychologist Christine Baumanns, however, says this effect has nothing to do with the natural tendencies of women with various hair colours. It's the men's fault. Didn't you know it?
She said: "Red stands for passion and when a man sees a redhead he will think he is dealing with a woman who won't mess around, and gets straight to the point when it comes to sex."
It's another one of those myths that may be true if you already believe in it.
1:01:54 AM
|
|
|
© Copyright 2006 Jan Haugland.
Last update: 01.11.2006; 20:03:28.
|
|
|
