More N. Korean soldiers had crossed border to capture defector: Seoul official SEOUL, March 4 (Yonhap) -- Two or three North Korean soldiers had crossed the border with the South to capture a defecting compatriot, but returned to their territory after warning shots were fired by South Korean troops, a military official here said Thursday. The North Korean soldier defected to the South by crossing the eastern front line late Tuesday, expressing his wish to live in the South. The South Korean government has yet to reveal the soldier's identity and is investigating the specific route and motives behind his...
China remained the top holder in the ballooning US debt last year, revised data showed, after earlier indications it had been eclipsed by Japan drew speculation about Beijing's motives. Revised data released late Friday by the Treasury Department indicated that while China had cut back on its bond holdings, the level was still well above that of Japan. China held 894.8 billion dollars in Treasury securities at the end of December, more than the 755 billion dollars estimated earlier in the month. But it was still down from a revised 929.0 billion dollars in November. Japan in December held 765.7...
Health Care: Remember Cuba's vaunted medical missionaries — those who treated the poor abroad for nothing, supposedly out of selfless motives? A lawsuit shows they were nothing but a communist slave racket. It ought to bear a few lessons for our own country as the role of doctors in the health care debate drags on. Back in 1963, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro launched a much-praised initiative to share Cuba's medical doctors with the poor around the world. The idea, of course, was to appear to be acting on higher motives than the profit-driven doctors in free societies. It was small...
Final rules set out by the Crown Prosecution Service will make it clear that those who help others end their lives are unlikely to face court if they acted out of compassion. However the factors against prosecution are likely to be altered from existing draft guidance, after it was claimed that they would leave the most vulnerable members of society at greater risk while providing immunity to spouses regardless of their motives. It marks a legal milestone as the law against assisting suicide is in effect being changed without the involvement of Parliament, on the orders of the Law Lords....
A while back, I posted this blog on an Israeli’s response to the Goldstone Report. Now, at his website at TheAtlantic.Com, Andrew Sullivan is asking me and PJM to “take down this racist post and apologize.” He also accuses me of “McCarthyism” and “of being unhinged on the matter of the Middle East” and of moving towards “grotesque slanders of the ‘treasonous’ motives of a man like Goldstone.” It seems like every time a centrist conservative like myself makes a charge a liberal disagrees with, the response is the ad hominem path of accusing me of McCarthyism or of being...
President Obama today at the National Prayer Breakfast raised the issue of his own eligibility for office – saying that people shouldn't be questioning his "citizenship." Talking about the issue of "civility," he said, "Now, I am the first to confess I am not always right. Michelle will testify to that. But surely you can question my policies without questioning my faith, or, for that matter, my citizenship." Obama continues, "Challenging each other's ideas can renew our democracy. But when we challenge each other's motives, it becomes harder to see what we hold in common. We forget that we share...
It may surprise readers to learn that in 2009 Vietnam was Russia’s best customer for its arms exports (www.defensenews.com, January 21). During 2009, Vietnam bought six Russian kilo-class submarines and 12 Su-30MKK fighters (Hanoi, VNEXpress, December 16, 2009; Kommersant, December 18; Interfax, December 15; RIA Novosti, December 4). While Vietnam most likely bought these weapons to counter the growing might of the Chinese navy and its continuing claims to the Spratly Islands off Vietnam’s coast, the motives for both sides are deeper. Although Vietnam’s fleet is antiquated, it clearly has decided to develop those capabilities to counter China’s claims and...
Economist James Tobin — who served on the Council of Economic Advisers and as a consultant to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve four decades ago — is back in the spotlight. While his proposal to tax all foreign exchange transactions in 1972 was never implemented, U.S. politicians resurrected and expanded upon the "Tobin tax" when the House Democrats proposed to tax large financial transactions late last year. Their plan, not limited to currencies, would also encompass stocks, bonds and derivatives. While their motives remain to raise tax revenue for state and federal deficits, this could have a...
The U.S. government announced on January 6 that it awarded the defense manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, a contract to build the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles for Taiwan. The agreement is part of an arms package that the United States agreed to sell to Taiwan in 2008 (eTaiwan news, January 7). The Indian government also recently declared that it was expanding its anti-ballistic missile system to include an anti-satellite program (ASM) (Space News, January 4). Following these announcements the People's Republic of China (PRC) announced on January 11 that it had successfully tested a "ground-based, midcourse missile interception technology." The Chinese...
The U.S. government announced on January 6 that it awarded the defense manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, a contract to build the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles for Taiwan. The agreement is part of an arms package that the United States agreed to sell to Taiwan in 2008 (eTaiwan news, January 7). The Indian government also recently declared that it was expanding its anti-ballistic missile system to include an anti-satellite program (ASM) (Space News, January 4). Following these announcements the People's Republic of China (PRC) announced on January 11 that it had successfully tested a "ground-based, midcourse missile interception technology." The Chinese...
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
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