Friday, December 29, 2006

2006... the summary

As always, the year we are just about to leave was full of events, and in order to remember, I will report the most important ones... by category...

Politics...

Ariel Sharon, Israel Prime Minister suffered massive hemorragic stroke and fell into coma, after 4 months he is replaced by Ehud Olmert... Hamas wins the elections in Palestine.... first Kosovo's President Ibrahim Rugova dies... a coup to oust Philippine's President Gloria M. Arroyo fails... Slobodan Milosevic, the Serb war criminal, is found dead in his cell in The Hague... Sweden's Foreign Affairs Minister Leila Freivalds resign following scandals about Tsunami relief aids... ETA declares permanent ceasefire in Spain... Montenegro declares its independence... women allowed to vote for the first time in Kuwait... North Korea test fires seven missiles including long range Taepodong-2... Israel invades Lebanon starting a new conflict in the region... Chechen rebel Shamil Basayev killed... Fidel Castro relinquishes power to his brother Raul due serious illness... new regulations for air transportation safety put in place... Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is exiled following a military coup... new Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe succeeds Junichiro Koizumi... South Korea Ban Ki-moon is elected new U.N. Secretary General... Brazil's President of humble origins Luis Inacio Lula da Silva is re-elected... Iraqi former dictator Saddam Hussain is sentenced to death for crimes against humanity... Russian anti-Kremlin journalist Anna Politkovskaya is liquidated by a hitman in Moscow... US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld resigns as the Repubblicans lose the mid-term elections, he is replaced by former CIA director Robert Gates... foreign intervention is needed in Tonga due to heavy social unrest... Iran and Syria recognize Iraq's government... Lebanon's Minister of Industry is assassinated in Beirut... Alexander Litvinenko, defector and former KGB spy and outspokenly anti-Kremlin, killed with a lethal dose of radioactive material in London... military coup in the Fiji islands led by Commodore Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama... egocentric Turkmenistan dictator Suparmurat Niyazoz dies... Ethiopian military attacks Somalia's Islamic militants and take control of Somali capital Mogadishu...

News...

US Vice-President Dick Chaney accidentaly shoots a friend during hunting... 53.1 million British pounds stolen in the biggest robbery in UK history... 1 billionth song purchased from Apple Itunes Store... new kind of shark discovered in Mexican waters... billionaire Warren Buffett donates US$ 30 billions to the Gates foundation... Quinghai, the world's highest railway opens, connecting China to Tibet... Zuleyka Rivera becomes Puerto Rico's 5th Miss Universe... Austria's Natascha Kampusch escape after being kidnapped for 8 years... Edward Munch's painting The Scream recovered in Oslo by police... Taipei's airport Chiang Kai Shek, in a politically driven move, is renamed Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport... after 40 long years of development, the new Bangkok Suvarnabhumi airport opens and replaces Don Mueang airport, and to describe it with my friend's Tad words, it's so FUGLY, it's so dark it looks like a f**king garage, and I agree...Google buys YouTube for US$ 1.65 billion... Jeffrey Skillings, one of the people responsible for the Enron financial collapse that ruined thousands of people, sentenced to more than 24 years of prison... in Sadr City, a coordinated attack with multiple car bombs and mortars kills an unprecedented 215 people... the Chinese River Dolphin (Baiji) is declared extinct... a Lybian court sentences 5 Bulgarian nurses and 1 Palestinian doctor to death for allegedly infecting hundreds of children with HIV, while an unheard independent study found the inhuman conditions of the facilities to be the main culprit... Bangladesh Muhammad Yunus, a banker and economist, who developed the concept of microcredit for entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for regular loans is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his fight to poverty... James Brown dies...

News we wouldn't want to report...

During the 2006, there were a lot of tragedies ranging from natural disasters to wars and terrorist attacks to job related accidents to transportation accidents, to crowd and housing related deaths... and even if nothing came close to the 2004 Tsunami's 230.000 casualties, there were 1800 death in the Philippines due to a mudslide, 65 in each Mexico and Poland in mines related accidents, 362 pilgrims died in a stampede at the Hajj, 1400 in Egypt when an overloaded boat capsized, 6000 as a result of a earthquake in Indonesia, 56 in Moscow when a hospital was set ablaze, 76 in Mecca when a hotel collapsed, 265 in Nigeria when a Oil pipeline exploded, hundreds in the Philippines for the latest hurricane, plus 48 more in Bahrein, 38 in Germany, 23 in Poland, 41 in Yemen 45 in Russia in different kinds of accidents, and tens more in USA, Romania, China, Japan and Australia mainly in mines related accidents plus many more in bombs related deaths in Varanasi, Mumbai, Israel and Egypt. Needless to say, hundreds more have perished in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Congo and all other war-torn and famine striken countries... for aviation, at least seven major accidents were registered for a total of 623 victims...

Sports...

Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant scored an NBA all-time second best 81 points against Toronto, and I was there to witness that... the Winter Olympics were held in Turin, and I was there too... the Pittsburgh Steelers stole, with the help of the refrees, Superbowl XL against the Seattle Seahawks to win the NFL title... Barcelona defeated Arsenal to win the the UEFA Champions League... CSKA Moscow won the Euroleague of basketball, beating two times champs Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv in the final in Prague... Spain won the World Championships of basketball held in Japan... the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Edmonton Oilers to win the NHL Stanley Cup... the Miami Heat held off the Dallas Mavericks to win their first NBA title... USA's Floyd Landis won the Tour de France only to be the first winner in the race history to be disgracefully disqulified for failing a doping test... Italy wins the Football World Cup in Germany defeating France in the final, it's Italy's 4th win, second only to Brazil with 5... the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Detroit Tigers to win the World Series of the MLB... talking about outstanding accomplishments, Andre Agassi retires after being only one of five professional male tennis players to win all four Grand Slam tournaments, and the only one to add an Olympic Gold medal and a Davis Cup to his 8 Grand Slam titles and his 60 tournament victories... Roger Federer won 3 majors this year, bringing his total to 9. He is 6th all time, one major behind Bill Tilden, 2 behind Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver, 3 behind Roy Emerson and 5 behind all time leader Pete Sampras, all long retired. Federer could surely jump to number 2 spot in this list in the next year or two, having already passed historic players such as Connors, McEnroe, Beckers, Lendl and Agassi... Michael Schumacher retires as the greatest Formula 1 driver ever, as he holds nearly every record including most driver's championships, race victories, fastest laps, pole positions, most races won in a single season and he leaves with 7 titles (2 with Benetton, 5 with Ferrari), 2 more than Argentinian great and previous record holder Juan Manuel Fangio... Tiger Woods won 2 more majors, the British Open and the PGA Championship, bringing his total to 12 and trailing only Jack Nicklaus by a mere 6 majors at age 31...

Friday, December 15, 2006

Shouldn't they set the example?

Back again, with news from around the world... this time, I would like to focus a bit on controversial people, and their actions...

So here we go...

Fidel Castro... he's been sick for a long time now, and he hasn't been on TV or able to attend even the celebrations for his own birthday...
COMMENT: How is it that makes it so hard to give up power that you anyway maintained with a dictatorship? Come on, you only have one life, I'm sure if you look around you will find better things to do than having a 50 years stand off with USA... knock it off... and give democracy a chance before you go to hell...

Augusto Pinochet... after splitting his country in two when he was alive with a repressive and murderous policy, he split the country in two when he died...
COMMENT: he was a pig when he was alive, so that makes it pork now... right? He had a good ally in UK, always backing him up... first with the "illustrious" Margareth Thatcher, who defined him as a friend (hey, everyone wants friends like him!) for his help during the Falklands war (or should I call them Malvinas??), and recently in "even better than illustrious" Tony Blair, when wanted by Spain, they didn't detain him and allowed him to return to Chile... his victims, first and foremost Salvador Allende, but also the thousands of murdered, never had justice, but since there is a justice, he is already burning in hell waiting for Castro to join any time soon...

Ehud Olmert.... he finally admitted Israel has nukes... he tried to say he meant something different and back up, but you know, too late... it was known anyway...
COMMENT: it was known anyway, you can play the world for fool, but you really think it's fool? So, now, how do you deny Iran a nuke when you have it yourself?? Difficult position to defend, mr. Prime Minister... ooops

George W. Bush... on nuke related matters, six parties talks on N. Korea nuclear program are set to resume soon... but for now, N. Korea has set a list of pre-requisites that are threatening to halt once again the talks.
COMMENT: Aren't the USA the only country that ever used the nuke anyway? So how, again, can you deny someone else to have it when you keep your stockpile and are a threat for them? Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending neither Iran nor N. Korea, but if you try to tell me the USA is a democracy and the other two are a danger for the world, try again... Isn't George W. the one who openly LIED to the entire world about WMD in Iraq? Isn't he the same who, with the help of his brother Jeb, didn't allow a recount of votes in Florida which would have probably have given victory to democrat Al Gore? Aren't the USA the same country that financed Chile's bloody coup to put Pinochet in power and that costed thousands of lives just to prevent a country's comunist, but DEMOCRATICLY elected, president to be in office? Aren't the US who keep detainees without a fair trial in Guantanamo? And what the hell are they doing in Guantanamo anyway, isn't that on Cuban soil?Do I really have to continue my list of un-democratic, above the law actions?? And how come Clinton gets impeached for a blow job, which is his and his wife's problem, and W. doesn't get impeached after lying to the whole world? Pinochet and Castro, make some space....

Kim Jung Il... N. Korea president, determined to defy the world and continuing his nuclear program... very "sensitive" and touchy person, easily offended, likes luxury while his people starve so much that the luxury blockade imposed by the western countries plus Japan is now at the center of talks BEFORE the nuke talks may resume...
COMMENT: There is never enough space in hell for Il and all his affiliates... I hope they tumble sooner rather than later, they are the worst kind of people...

Tony Blair... he backed up W. in his fake war for WMD in Iraq, and it's getting more and more controversial at home, where it seems that every step he takes, he craps...
COMMENT: Mr. Blair, lying to the world after all isn't such a great idea, so why doing it? And you had to keep lying to cover up your previous lies... You were the people's choice, now you are the people's choice to go... so go...

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, continuing to deny the Holocaust and continuing to rediculize the world and its attempts to put a halt to Iran's nuclear program...
COMMENT: enough playing the world for fool, enough denying such a tragedy, enough changing day in and day out conditions to never achieve an agreement and stop the nuke program, enough using the "wiping out" expression... and enough using religion as a shield for your actions... leave God alone, He doesn't want to be named by you... not in these contexts...

Middle East pepole vs China/India... China and India have been arguing over border disputes for-basically-ever (what a surprise, they never do that), but last month they put aside their differencies and signed some economic agreements that put together the workforce of the two most populated and fastest developing countries, slowly but surely changing the economic geo-politics of our world...

COMMENT: if only all the people in the Middle East paid attention to that...

Hu Jintao and Hu Haifeng... President Hu is so keen in showing how well China is developing, and how well its comunist system works... how it can be an example for the world...

COMMENT: but how come that Chinese people are so much double faced? In one way they care so much of "losing face" and behave so that you like what you see... on the other, they are one of the most corrupted people in the world, they use State funds to finance lovers and red light parties, and their lavish life style and now, somehow, President Hu awarded his son's company a contract in the excess of 300 million dollars to install security machinary in every Chinese airport... what a coincidence, if you ask me... call it as it pleases you, comunism, capitalism, democracy... power and money appeal to everyone up there, so please stop pretending... you are all a buch of corrupted scumbags...

Valdimir Putin, former KGB Colonel, President of USSR...

COMMENT: well, he is the President of Russia, but the way he disposes of everyone who disagree with his politics is just so USSR-style... and all the major posts in political and economical institutions are manned by his friends, there is very little of democratic in his actions... including praising the Israeli President for being "a man" since having been accused of raping more than 10 women... how low can you get?

As the great Louis Armstrong used to sing, what a wonderful world....

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Becoming uncle... how does it feel?

Im going to become uncle in mid January when Andy and Maria will welcome their daughter... and next July I will be uncle again when Tad and Mateja will get their kid... it's a rollercoaster of emotions, I didn't expect it... I cried when I saw Andy's daughter ultrasound scan and I cried again now in the stupid Coffee Bean shop in HK after I spoke to Tad for over 30 min on the phone... wow... I'm overwhelmed and and I didn't expect to feel this way... speechless, really...

All I can say is that I love you all guys...

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Andrea Bargnani, November report.

Andrea Bargnani, the lone Italian player to play in the NBA, the first ever European selected number 1 at last June daft, begun the season with high expectations.

His numbers started off not too well, with his foul prone defense and sub par rebounding limiting his time on the floor. However, as the days passed, he gained confidence, and it seems that his coach gained confidence in him too. So his minutes increased dramatically, together with a better scoring. Still needs to work on his rebounding, but in the last games his scoring numbers are as high as last year in Italy, prompting some ESPN.com expert to write that his potential is much bigger than expected. Coach Peterson predicted him to produce important numbers comes January. We will see, and I will surely keep you informed.

So here are Bargnani's stats for November, in avarage:

15:47 minutes played, 42.5% FG, 33.3% 3-pointers, 82.1% FT, 2.53 Rebs, 0.4 Assists, 0.26 Steals, 0.73 TO, 0.6 Blocks and 7.4 Points, 2.66 PF.

His highs and lows:
Minutes played:
high of 30:31 on November 29 at Dallas,
low of 06:18 on November 8 against Philadelphia
FG%:
high of 66.6% on 6-9 shooting on November 28 at Oklahoma City,
low of 0% on 0-3 shooting on two occasions
3%:
high of 66.6% on 2-3 shooting on November 28 at Oklahoma City,
low of 0% on 0-2 shooting on two occasions
Rebs:
high of 5 on two occasions,
low of 0 on two occasions
Assists:
high of 2 on two occasions,
low of 0 in few occasions
Blocks:
high of 2 on two occasions,
low of 0 on few occasions
Points:
high of 16 on November 28 at Oklahoma City,
low of 0 on November 8 against Philadelphia

His team, the Toronto Raptors, in November posted a record of 5 Ws and 10 Ls, 33.3%.
Toronto averaged 98.06 points, and its opponents 101. On the Ws, Toronto outscored its opponents by 99.2 points to 88.6, while when losing Toronto was outscored by 107.2 to 97.5. They enjoyed a not so special winning streak of 2 but also suffered a losing streak of 6.

Bargnani has a streak of 17 consecutives FTs going into December.

News flash

Hi everyone (I mean the 3 or 4 people out there that actually read what I write...), I have been way too overloaded in the past weeks to be able to keep up with life, but now I should be able to take a little break and finally play catch up again...

Let's start off again with something "simple"... some news from around the world that kind of caught my attention...

First, and foremost, news from the IHT, that left me puzzled on my flight to Dubai, reporting as follows:

The massacre at Srebrenica 11 years ago is one of the most shameful failures in history of international peacekeeping. Those who were entrusted with protecting this Bosnian Muslim enclave failed in the most comprehensive way possible. The events at Srebrenica in July 1995 are well chronicled. Almost 8000 were killed when Bosnian Serb forces overran the settlement. The Dutch peacekeepers surrendered and even assisted with the evacuation. The Serbs shot the men and boys in cold blood and buried the bodies in mass graves. This massacre could, and should, have been prevented. It beggars belief that the Dutch government has now awarded medals to the troops who so abjectly failed. Even though the ignominy was shared with the U.N., it was primarily the reputations of the Dutch troops and the Netherlands that was tarnished by Srebrenica.
COMMENT: The Dutch clearly failed to defend, but why? They were sent in such a low number of troops, they were simply overwhelmed and outnumbered and clearly feared for their own lives. So it was a failure of who sent them there in such a state. I was told they suffered great psychological difficulties once back, as everyone pointed at them for that failure. Suicide amogst troops was high. Tragedy in the tragedy. However, awarding them a medal is wrong, just like sending them there outnumbered and outweaponed, and 2 wrongs normally dont make one right.

I read on the Corriere.it that finally the French (not all of them, of course!) have gone to court to attack the validity of last July's world cup final lost against Italy. As you all remember, it was the infamous game were Materazzi made some comments about Zidane's sister after a heated exchange of words (which happens in every game!!), and Zidane was red carded following him headbutting Materazzi as retaliation (Zidane had a long history of bad gestures like this one...).
COMMENT: After the final, Zidane was suspended 3 games for the gesture and Materazzi 2 for the words. It is unheard that anyone has been suspended for such a thing, let alone retroactively. Thanks to the two top FIFA people, the Swiss J. Blatter and the French (surprise surprise!) M. Platini. They set a very dangerous precedent, I want to see everyone red carded and suspended 2 games as soon as they insult someone. Always. And as for the French going to trial to try to invalid the result, only 2 words: Sour Losers!!!

Reading on the Budapest Post that an entire nation, Hungary, is mourning its beloved football hero Puskas. Puskas played the best part of his career with Real Madrid, in exile from troubled Hungary, repressed by USSR at that time. At the funeral are expected representatives of the clubs where he worked for, and the estimated costs are 932.000 US$.
COMMENT: Puskas was a football hero, but no HERO. He didn't stop the USSR invasion, he didn't free Hungary, he simply kicked a football around for a fat paycheck. That he was in exile, was true, but it was a golden one compared to thousands of people who left Hungary to go and try to get a simple job and democracy in freezing Iceland or Canada. And with Hungary on the brink of bankruptcy, I personally would have a better way to spend a million dollars.

You all have heard about the poisoning of former KGB spy Litvinenko. It's been quite something, using the radioactive material Polonium 210 to dispose of him. Sources say the Kremlin could be behind this killing, just like behind others involving prominent people openly opposing Putin.
COMMENT: While we need evidence to accuse someone, it's clearly a job ordered from high above, just like the others. Putin, a former KGB colonel himself, wouldn't stop in front of anyone to achive what he wants, and infact, he hasn't stopped. If police will ever be able to prove who did it and how all this happened, it's another story. On the other hand, it looked like I was watching a MI movie. It's been a while since reality surpassed fiction in a spy matter.


Read on the South China Morning Post that police in China is cracking down on prostitution, and the in up-and-coming southern city of Shenzhen police arrested a good deal of prostitutes and pimps and then paraded them in the main square naming them in front of a large crowd to shame them before being locked up in jail without trial. Outcry from many Chinese have been reported as this was something done during the violence of the cultural revolution and recalls parts of the past that many Chinese would like to forget.
COMMENT: What was the mayor of Shenzhen thinking? Was he thinking at all? Who is without sin throw the first stone. I guess no stones thrown, am I right? Anyway, most prostitutes are forced to do that kind of life, having been lured away from home with the promise of a highly paid job. Did the police arrest the rich and famous who actually use these women? I say it again: did the police arrest any of the powerful and criminal who "enjoy" the services of these women? Of course not, they are scared as shit. So next time, parade your fears to do your job well, mr. Mayor and mr. head of Police. Morons.

Read on the Gulf News that the first case of child slavery since the 1960s has been reported by police in Hong Kong. The auntie purchased an 11 year old girl from her brother for HK$ 1000 (about 100 euros, my friends, that's all a child is worth) to do unpaid household jobs from 5am to 10pm. When police discovered her, tipped by some neighbors, they reported that she was beaten up daily by her auntie and 3 cousins, and it took her a month in hospital to recover. The auntie has been prosecuted and the child returned to her family in China.
COMMENT: auntie, hope you get locked up for life. The child returned to her family? Ok, it was under strict supervision, but under no circumstances a father should ever sell her own daughter. Lock him up for life too. Child? Take her to a rich family somewhere nice, send her to school and let her build a good life, she deserves it.

Seen on CNN, probably the last speech of Kofi Annan before stepping down as Secretary general of the U.N.. Some of the people saw it as an indirect attack to the U.S. foreign policies. He denied that, but those people didn't see it wrong, as the U.S. basically didn't apply any of the following. He said he has learned 5 valuable lessons while in office, all of them interconnected with each other, whereas President Bush cleraly didn't. Here are the lessons learned by mr. Annan:
1- Security comes from guaranteeing security for everyone else too
2- We are all responsible for each other's welfare
3- Need for respect for human rights and the rule of law
4- States and governments must be accountable for their actions
5- Need for working together through multilateral institutions.
COMMENT: Nice words, mr. Annan. I agree with them. But shall we first discuss now the Iraq food for oil program's scandal where your son was directly involved and implicated and was so quickly "forgotten" ?

Read on the internet, total death toll so far in the Iraq war is in the excess of 65.000.
NO COMMENT.