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Friday, October 12, 2007

Turkish officials have expressed outrage over a United States congressional resolution labeling the Ottoman Empire‘s World War I era killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians as “genocide”. The Turkish government has warned that the resolution threatens its strategic partnership with the U.S.

The resolution, passed 27-21 by the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs on Wednesday, states that “[t]he Armenian Genocide was conceived and carried out by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, resulting in the deportation of nearly 2,000,000 Armenians, of whom 1,500,000 men, women, and children were killed”. The resolution calls on the President ” to ensure that the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide.”

The World War I era killings, commonly referred to as the Armenian Genocide, have been recognized as genocide by 22 countries, including France, Russia, Venezuela, Argentina, and Canada. The killings have also been officially labeled as “genocide” by 40 of the 50 U.S. states. Turkey acknowledges that Armenians were killed, but calls it a massacre rather than an organized campaign of genocide.

On Thursday the Turkish government released a statement saying that “It is unacceptable that the Turkish nation should be accused of a crime that it never committed in its history.” “We still hope that the House of Representatives will have enough good sense not to take this resolution further,” the statement added. A statement on the Turkish Foreign Ministry web site said that the resolution “will not only endanger relations with a friendly and allied nation but will also jeopardize a strategic partnership that has been cultivated for generations.”

On Thursday, Turkey recalled its U.S. ambassador Nabi Sensoy, and warned of further repercussions. “Yesterday some in Congress wanted to play hardball,” said Turkish foreign policy adviser Egemen Bagis. “I can assure you Turkey knows how to play hardball.”

White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said he was “disappointed” by the vote. While acknowledging that “[w]e understand the feelings that people have about the tragic suffering of the Armenian people,” Stanzel warned that “Turkey is playing a critical role in the war on terror and this action is problematic for everything we’re trying to do in the Middle East and would cause great harm to our efforts.” U.S. President George W. Bush had lobbied against the resolution, saying that it would damage relations between the U.S. and Turkey.

House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi said the resolution will go forward for a vote in the House despite Turkish opposition. “As long as there is genocide, there is a need to speak out against it,” Pelosi said.

Friday, October 12, 2007

Turkish officials have expressed outrage over a United States congressional resolution labeling the Ottoman Empire‘s World War I era killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians as “genocide”. The Turkish government has warned that the resolution threatens its strategic partnership with the U.S.

The resolution, passed 27-21 by the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs on Wednesday, states that “[t]he Armenian Genocide was conceived and carried out by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, resulting in the deportation of nearly 2,000,000 Armenians, of whom 1,500,000 men, women, and children were killed”. The resolution calls on the President ” to ensure that the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide.”

The World War I era killings, commonly referred to as the Armenian Genocide, have been recognized as genocide by 22 countries, including France, Russia, Venezuela, Argentina, and Canada. The killings have also been officially labeled as “genocide” by 40 of the 50 U.S. states. Turkey acknowledges that Armenians were killed, but calls it a massacre rather than an organized campaign of genocide.

On Thursday the Turkish government released a statement saying that “It is unacceptable that the Turkish nation should be accused of a crime that it never committed in its history.” “We still hope that the House of Representatives will have enough good sense not to take this resolution further,” the statement added. A statement on the Turkish Foreign Ministry web site said that the resolution “will not only endanger relations with a friendly and allied nation but will also jeopardize a strategic partnership that has been cultivated for generations.”

On Thursday, Turkey recalled its U.S. ambassador Nabi Sensoy, and warned of further repercussions. “Yesterday some in Congress wanted to play hardball,” said Turkish foreign policy adviser Egemen Bagis. “I can assure you Turkey knows how to play hardball.”

White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said he was “disappointed” by the vote. While acknowledging that “[w]e understand the feelings that people have about the tragic suffering of the Armenian people,” Stanzel warned that “Turkey is playing a critical role in the war on terror and this action is problematic for everything we’re trying to do in the Middle East and would cause great harm to our efforts.” U.S. President George W. Bush had lobbied against the resolution, saying that it would damage relations between the U.S. and Turkey.

House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi said the resolution will go forward for a vote in the House despite Turkish opposition. “As long as there is genocide, there is a need to speak out against it,” Pelosi said.

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Russian President Vladimir Putin heavily criticized the United States in a speech at the 43rd Munich Conference on Security Policy Saturday for what he called its “almost uncontained” use of force in the world.

Putin also criticized US plans for missile defense systems and NATO’s expansion.

Putin said that nations are witnessing an “almost uncontained hyper use of force” in international relations. The Russian President pointed out that only the UN, and not the EU or NATO, can sanction the legitimate use of force. “One state, the United States, has overstepped its national borders in every way.”

Putin stated that the “excessive use of force” showed a lack of capacity for “complex solutions”.

“This is very dangerous. Nobody feels secure anymore because nobody can hide behind international law,” he said, speaking through a translator. “This is nourishing an arms race with the desire of countries to get nuclear weapons,” he told the 250 officials, including more than 40 defense and foreign ministers.

Speaking about the US missile defense system, possibly to be deployed in Poland and the Czech Republic, he stated that Washington’s reasons for the system weren’t plausible. Even such problem states like North Korea would not be able to build any missile in a foreseeable time necessitating such a defensive measure, the President opined.

Vladimir Putin also stated his doubts about the United States’ willingness to really go ahead with disarmament. He said that Russia was strictly adhering to the agreement to destroy thousands of strategic nuclear weapons until the end of 2012. He also said, he hoped the partner was acting in an equally transparent manner and would not keep a few hundred warheads for “bad times”.

The Munich Conference on Security Policy, founded in 1962, is an international forum composed of more than 250 leading politicians, diplomats, military officials, members of the business community, academics and public figures from more than 40 countries. It has become an annual opportunity for world leaders to discuss the most pressing issues of the day.

Monday, January 30, 2006

Yesterday, Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar responded to Wolf Blitzer‘s questions with accusations that Israel is dedicated to establishing a state covering all land between the Nile and the Euphrates rivers. Blitzer pressed al-Zahar who then stated that the blue lines on the Israeli flag represent the two rivers.

Al-Zahar said that the new Israeli state would include Palestine, Sinai, Syria, Jordan and part of Saudi Arabia and that the Knesset lays out the expansion plan. He went on to challenge Blitzer to ask Israeli leaders about the matter.

When the topic turned to whether Hamas has the goal of destroying Israel, the Hamas leader said that it was Israel who has atomic weapons so it is more likely that Palestine would be destroyed than Israel.

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

On Sunday, Team Penske driver Joey Logano claimed his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win of the 2016 season in the FireKeepers Casino 400 at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. The 200-lap race began with Logano starting from the pole position, and featured nine cautions and fourteen lead changes between eight different drivers.

Despite starting first, Logano was quickly overtaken on the first lap by Furniture Row Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. Truex led the race until Logano reclaimed the first position on lap ten, a position he would keep until the the first cycle of green flag pit stops around lap 40. Logano’s teammate Brad Keselowski took the lead during the pit stop cycle by staying out on the track. Keselowski, low on gasoline, led until a caution came out for a spin by Truex around lap 46. During the caution, Keselowski pitted and returned the lead back to his teammate, who led the race until lap 93.

Two other cautions slowed the race between the first caution and lap 93. The first occurred when Kyle Busch’s engine failed around lap 53, forcing the driver to a last-place finish in the race. The other caution was caused by contact between the cars of Chris Buescher, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and A. J. Allmendinger ten laps later. Between laps 93 and 103, Kyle Larson, Ryan Newman, Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson, and Paul Menard led at least one lap. Logano returned to the lead on lap 104, a few laps before a caution when Jeffrey Earnhardt’s car caught fire. After the caution, Logano remained in first until Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott passed him on lap 117.

Elliott kept the lead until lap 149, when he was briefly passed by Logano. Elliott retook the lead for three more laps on lap 150 before returning the lead back to Logano, who led until the seventh caution was called around lap 156 for of a collision between Danica Patrick, Brian Scott, and Casey Mears. Logano held the lead on the ensuing restart and led through two more caution periods that were called in the final 50 laps. The first began around lap 164 because of a collision involving Johnson, Trevor Bayne, and Ryan Blaney, while the final caution of the race was called with about ten laps remaining after Denny Hamlin suffered a tire puncture on the front straightaway and collided into the SAFER barrier. On the final restart, Logano retained the first position and led the remainder of the race to capture the fifteenth win of his career.

After the race, Logano, who led a race-high of 138 laps, praised his team, saying “Team Penske gave me a great race car. Everyone did a great job figuring out exactly what this car was going to do. This is Ford’s backyard, Roger [Penske]’s backyard; this is a great win”. Elliott, who finished second in the race, expressed disappointment with his result, claiming he “messed up” by not using the correct gear. Larson, Keselowski, and Kevin Harvick completed the top-five finishers, while Carl Edwards finished in the sixth position. Tony Stewart finished seventh ahead of Austin Dillon and Jamie McMurray, who finished eighth and ninth. Kurt Busch completed the first ten positions with a tenth-place finish. In post-race inspection, Larson’s car did not pass laser inspection, prompting NASCAR to impound his car so it can be further evaluated. Any possible penalties are to be announced in the next week.

In the drivers’ championship, Harvick led Kurt Busch and Keselowski with 526 points. Edwards and Logano were fourth and fifth with 472 and 455 points. Elliott was sixth with 453, followed by Johnson with 441. Truex was scored eighth ahead of Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth, who completed the top-ten. The 2016 season is scheduled to continue on June 26 with the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.

Thursday, January 19, 2006

The Delhi High Court expressed its displeasure to the civic authorities on their continued failure to resolve the problem of marauding monkeys in the court premises. The court was in session when the public interest litigation filed by a Supreme Court lawyer was brought to its attention.

The petitioner Mr.Nirmal Chopra argued the case and explained how the simians showed up during work hours and attacked people and snatched food from them. The rhesus monkeys have also been blamed for damaging furniture belonging to the lawyers and courtroom fixtures such as electrical fittings. According to Mr.Chopra India‘s Wildlife Act of 1972 empowers civic authorities to kill or hunt animals when they endanger human life. He said that the lawyers from the Tis Hazari court had requested the state government and the municipality to tackle the situation but no action had resulted.

The lawyer for the civic authority was quoted by the Press Trust of India as saying that catching monkeys was no longer its responsibility. The court was informed that a monkey catcher hired by the municipality had required 72 stitches after being mauled during an operation. After this incident the work had to be halted because other monkey catchers refused to take up the job.

The court gave the civic authority four more weeks to catch the monkeys that are disrupting work at the Tis Hazari courts. “If you cannot perform your statutory duty, then close down your institution” the court is reported to have told the counsel.

Delhi is known to suffer from trouble brought on by monkeys. The animals are reported to invade homes, schools and government offices in the city. Scores of animals have moved in as the city expands into surrounding forests. In an effort to control the problem, the Delhi administration captured about 500 monkeys and took them to the outskirts of the city last year.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

The death of Michael Jackson on Thursday has caused retail demand for his songs and for memorabilia to increase.

Yesterday, the top nine selling items at Apple’s iTunes Store were albums by Jackson, with first and second being a “hits” album and the 1982 album Thriller.

Amazon.com similarly reported selling more Jackson merchandise in the 24 hours following his death than it had sold in the preceding 11 years, and that sales of Jackson CDs accounted for 60% of its total business on Thursday. Yesterday morning the top seller in the album chart for Amazon’s U.K. division was Off the Wall, followed by Bad and Thriller in second and third places, respectively.

Many stores, including Graywhale CD Exchange in Salt Lake City, several record stores in Danville, Virginia, and many retailers in New Zealand, have all reported selling out of Jackson’s CDs and DVDs. The flagship store of Tower Records Japan, in Shinjuku, sold out of several of Jackson’s DVDs and ran low on several other items including CDs. The Danville Register Bee recommended to its readers that if they had record players they should investigate antique and charity shops, after one antique shop reported discovering three Jackson Five vinyl albums in its basement.

The effect of the increase in sales had an effect on stock prices. Midday yesterday, Apple shares rose around 2%, Amazon shares rose around 1.3%, and eBay shares rose by 0.64%. Stock market analysts predict that this will be a short-term effect, however. Scott Fullman, an investment strategist at WJB Capital Group in New York, stated “This is going to be one of these events that will have an immediate impact and then wane out in a week or two.”.

In Las Vegas, 21 items of Jackson memorabilia, including handwritten lyrics for Jackson’s song “Bad” and the shirt that Jackson wore on his Victory Tour in 1984, sold at auction yesterday at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino for a total of USD$205,000, with the shirt, at USD$52,500 the most expensive individual item.

eBay has reported an increase in individuals auctioning Jackson memorabilia. These range from records to a Fedora hat signed by Jackson.

Also for sale on eBay and elsewhere are tickets to the This Is It concerts, at the O2 arena, where Jackson had been scheduled to perform. Ticket sellers such as Ticketmaster, Seatwave, and AEG Live have announced that they will be refunding concert tickets. But under standard contract law such refunds only apply to the original purchasor of the ticket, who dealt with the ticket companies directly. Anyone buying a ticket on eBay only has recourse against the seller on eBay that they bought from, and even then only if it was explicitly stated in the terms and conditions of the particular eBay sale that a refund was available.

At the 2009 Glastonbury Festival, stalls have been selling commemorative T-shirts to Festival attendees, with various different slogans including “Michael Jackson R.I.P 1958–2009” and “I was at Glasto 09 when Jacko died”. T-shirt vendors also appeared outside of the UCLA Medical Center where paramedics took Jackson, proferring for USD$10 T-shirts with the slogan “in loving memory of Michael Jackson” and a silhouette of Jackson, although they had few takers.

In Union Square in New York, one street artist was selling hand-made buttons that have pictures of Jackson’s album covers on them. In Times Square, another T-shirt vendor was selling T-shirts printed with copies of the front page of USA Today that reported Jackson’s death.

One observer, Allison Southwick (a Better Business Bureau spokeswoman), commented “I’m honestly expecting to see a Web site pop up by the end of the day selling Michael Jackson commemorative plates.” Whilst such commemorative plates have yet to appear, collectors have been offering commemorative stamps of Jackson for sale on eBay and elsewhere. Several commemorative stamps of Jackson already exist. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines issued $5, $2, $1, and 60¢ Michael Jackson stamps in 1985, as part of its Leaders Of The World series. Tanzania issued a 350s stamp, part of a Famous Black Entertainers set, in 1990. Guinea issued a 500f stamp in 1991. St Vincent issued another $2 Jackson stamp in 1991, as part of Famous Entertainers series. And Grenada issued a 60¢ Jackson stamp, part of its Gold Record Winners series in 1992.

Gore Vidal once remarked of the death of rival Truman Capote that it was a “good career move”. The death of an artist does serve to increase the popularity of their works. People have speculated whether this will be a temporary or a permanent thing for Jackson.

Jim Lentz, who is the Chief Operating Officer of American Royal Arts (a memorabilia dealership in Boca Raton), asked “Is he Elvis or Marilyn Monroe, or is he Mike Tyson?”.

Elvis Presley died at 42, officially of heart failure. Stores sold out of his records and souveniers within hours of the news of his death. In the 20 years following his death, RCA Records sold approximately 400 million of his recordings.

In the days and weeks immediately following Presley’s death, RCA had to sub-contract pressing to other companies, as it was unable by itself to keep up with demand. Sony Corporation announced yesterday that it had received “unprecedented” levels of orders for CDs of Jackson’s music, and was considering boosting production. It had received 150,000 orders for CDs at its music unit in Tokyo. “The amount is unprecedented for one day and we think we need to consider increasing the production of CDs that we plan to sell from July.” said a spokesman for the company. Amazon has been informing customers buying Jackson CDs that they might have to wait between 1 and 3 weeks for their orders to be shipped.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Noel Edmonds, a British television presenter, has said that he is not paying the television license fee in protest at the way the BBC “badgers, hectors and threatens” people who avoid paying the fee.

“Auntie’s put boxing gloves on. I’m so incensed by the idea that I’m guilty of something that I actually cancelled my licence fee a few months ago,” said Edmonds, making his non-payment of the fee public on the BBC Breakfast television program.

“There are too many organisations — and the BBC is a fabulous organisation — that seem to think it’s OK to badger, hector and threaten people,” he continued. “When I was at the BBC, it promoted the licence fee by saying how wonderful it was because — let’s face it — the BBC licence fee is astonishing value,” added Edmonds explaining the way he believes the license fee should be promoted.

Edmonds also claimed that TV licensing “haven’t found me, and nobody’s come knocking on the door.” This is despite adverts by the organisations that, according to Edmonds, say “we know where you are.”

TV Licensing responded to Edmond’s comments by saying that “while we would always prefer people buy a licence rather than risk prosecution and a fine, TV Licensing has a duty to enforce the licence fee on behalf of the honest majority who pay.”

“Unfortunately some people will only buy a licence when warned of the consequences of being unlicensed.”