Free Republic

Report: Iran successfully test fires homemade missiles www.chinaview.cn 2007-01-24 00:20:50 Special report: Iran Nuclear Crisis The Zalzal and Fajr-5 missiles were fired by the military units subordinate to the Revolutionary Guards' ground forces. (Xinhua/AFP File Photo)Photo Gallery>>>     TEHRAN, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps on Tuesday successfully test fired two types of homemade missiles during military exercises, the local Fars news agency reported.     The Zalzal and Fajr-5 missiles were fired by the military units subordinate to the Revolutionary Guards' ground forces, Commander of the Revolutionary Guards' missile unit Brigadier General Majeed Ayineh said.     Fajr-5 has a...

China successfully carried out its first test of an antisatellite weapon last week, signaling its resolve to play a major role in military space activities and bringing expressions of concern from Washington and other capitals, the Bush administration said yesterday.

I can't help it....My job made me this way. But..I don't care. NEXT!

Migrants face new 'Britishness' test By Philip Johnston, Home Affairs Editor Last Updated: 2:53am GMT 05/12/2006 Tests in the English language and the British way of life will be compulsory from next year for foreigners wanting to settle here, the Government said yesterday. It will bring long-term immigrants into line with people who seek UK citizenship, who already have to sit the tests. Liam Byrne: migrants must recognise responsibilities Last year 180,000 people were granted settlement to stay. Some go on to seek British nationality but others may choose to retain their own while staying permanently. Liam Byrne, the immigration...

Let us test Darwin, teacher says Science teaching materials deemed "not appropriate" by the government should be allowed in class, Education Secretary Alan Johnson has been urged. Chemistry teacher at Liverpool's Blue Coat School, Nick Cowan, says the packs promoting intelligent design are useful in debating Darwinist evolution. Education officials insist intelligent design is not recognised as science. It argues that evolution cannot explain everything so the Universe must have had an intelligent creator. The packs were sent out to 5,000 secondary schools by a group of academics and clerics known as Truth in Science. The Department for Education and...

N.Z. Students Can Use Txt Speak on Tests WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - New Zealand's high school students will be able to use "text-speak" - the mobile phone text message language beloved of teenagers - in national exams this year, officials said. Text-speak, a second language for thousands of teens, uses abbreviated words and phrases such as "txt" for "text", "lol" for "laughing out loud" or "lots of love," and "CU" for "see you." The move has already divided students and educators who fear it could damage the English language. New Zealand's Qualifications Authority said Friday that it still strongly...

This is the Libertarian Purity Test, which is intended to measure how libertarian you are. It isn't intended to be any sort of McCarthyite purging device -- just a form of entertainment, hopefully thought-provoking. I like it a lot better than the more famous "World's Shortest Political Quiz" because I haven't stated the questions with any intent to give an upward bias to a test-taker's score, and because it gives a clearer breakdown between hard and soft-core libertarians. Enjoy, suggest your friends try it out, and see how you compare to other test-takers... A note on meaning: The word privatized...

People are fearful about where nuclear test will lead them By Peter Simpson, in Pyongyang Last Updated: 2:17am GMT 02/11/2006 In the weeks since their leaders tested their first nuclear weapon North Koreans have grown more fearful of their future. The memory of Kim Il-Sung looms large Underneath the calm of Pyongyang, a backwater capital city devoid of traffic and draped in faded political slogans and murals, a tension hangs heavily over the drab housing complexes and near-empty streets. Told repeatedly that they are in a state of war with the South since the end of the Korean Peninsula War...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 27, 2006 – The United States will win the war against global terrorism, Vice President Dick Cheney said at a Missouri military air base today, calling the conflict a test of American character. Terrorists in Iraq are making a stand now, and testing America’s resolve, Cheney told servicemembers at Whiteman Air Force Base, near Sedalia. Although much work lies ahead, “we will prevail in the war on terror, and that victory will mean a better and safer world for our children and grandchildren,” the vice president vowed. The U.S. military is fighting terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq, Cheney...

A senior U.S. envoy has expressed disapproval of a South Korean tourism project in North Korea. The U.S. Secretary of State is expected to ask Seoul to take part in blocking North Korean from trading in banned weapons material.In what he said was his personal opinion, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill Wednesday suggested that a South Korean-built industrial zone in the North Korean city of Kaesong might have some merit. But he criticized a South Korean-funded tourism zone at the North's Mount Kumgang. South Korean tourists take a rest beside a clear stream as they climb Mount Kumgang,...

"The betting is that this was an attempt at a nuclear test that failed," a senior administration official said. "We don't think they were trying to fake a nuclear test, but it may have been a nuclear fizzle." Other tests from air sampling conducted by the U.S., Japan and China found no trace of radioactive material. The conflicting information provides a window into the mountain of information that government officials are weighing.

Diabetics Warned About Fake Test Strips From Associated Press October 14, 2006 6:26 AM EDT WASHINGTON - The government warned diabetics Friday to watch for counterfeit versions of test strips commonly used to monitor blood sugar levels. The test strips, for use in glucose monitors made by a Johnson & Johnson company, were distributed nationwide, the Food and Drug Administration said in a public alert. The phony test strips are for use with various models of LifeScan Inc.'s OneTouch brand of blood glucose monitors. LifeScan is part of New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson. The counterfeit test strips could give...

THE United States has told Japan it has detected radioactive elements in the atmosphere over the vicinity of the Sea of Japan following North Korea's announced nuclear test, reports said today. Jiji Press reported the result of the US investigation was preliminary, while Kyodo News said Tokyo had yet to conclude the nuclear test was actually carried out as claimed, with both reports citing unnamed government sources.

Four days after North Korea tried to set off its first nuclear bomb, U.S. intelligence agencies think the blast detected by seismic sensors was a plutonium-fueled device that did not fully explode. "The working assumption is that what happened, more likely than not, was an attempted nuclear test that fell far short of being successful," said one U.S. official familiar with the latest intelligence assessment. There is still no confirmation that North Korea succeeded in creating a nuclear explosion, and so far no radioactive particles that would confirm a successful nuclear test have been detected. The Washington Times first reported...

Competitive deterrence China is behind the North Korean test, its neighbours say. 10 October 2006: We may dismiss this as a fancy conspiracy theory. But China's proximate neighbours believe it. They believe China primed North Korea's first nuclear test and all the subsequent outrage is phoney. Today, China appeared to be willing for more cutting sanctions against North Korea, but ruled out war. Chinese financial aid, oil and food keep North Korea's Stalinist leadership in power. The biggest objection to the conspiracy theory is that nuclear North Korea would provoke the nuclearization of Japan, which is already getting militaristic under...

SEOUL, South Korea - Tensions rose along the Korean Peninsula Wednesday as North Korea warned of physical retaliation for increased U.S. pressure over its reported atomic test, and South Korea discussed preparations for a nuclear attack that could include an expanded conventional arsenal. North Korea said in its first formal statement since the test that it could respond to U.S. pressure with "physical" measures. "If the U.S. keeps pestering us and increases pressure, we will regard it as a declaration of war and will take a series of physical corresponding measures," the North's Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried...

At the link, above (this link will be good for a few more hours). North Korea's top diplomat to the UN, Mr. Park, strolls the streets of NYC yesterday, spouting additional DPRK nuclear threats, smirking, and stating that the UN should in fact "congratulate our scientists and researchers". Smirking later in the brief video when in a UN meeting, shaking hand of DPRK diplomatic colleague, etc..Japanese TV Windows Media Clip 300K. Smirking starts at 10 seconds into clip--be patient for the load. Additional threats issued later, in Korean, and subtitled into Japanese.http://meta.cdn.yahoo-streaming.jp/cgi-bin/yahoo/news.asx?cid=20061010-00000051-nnn-int-movie-000&media=wm300k

North Korea's apparent nuclear test last night may well be regarded as a failure of the Bush administration's nuclear nonproliferation policy. Since George W. Bush became president, North Korea has restarted its nuclear reactor and increased its stock of weapons-grade plutonium, so it may now have enough for 10 or 11 weapons, compared with one or two when Bush took office.

The international community has been reacting to North Korea's announcement that it has tested a nuclear weapon.WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN TONY SNOW A North Korean nuclear test would constitute a provocative act, in defiance of the will of the international community and of our call to refrain from actions that would aggravate tensions in northeast Asia... We expect the Security Council to take immediate actions to respond to this unprovoked act." JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER SHINZO ABE "North Korea's nuclear weapons test can never be pardonable. But we should collect and analyze more intelligence on the matter in a cool-headed manner." CHINESE...

Does anyone here think is is fishy that a claimed 400kt was a 5kt poof? Does anyone here think this is a conventional detonation of a few thousand tons in a shallow surface location to create the appearance of a nuke? No nuclear signature, no leak. Is that suspicious? Is North Korea simply trying to save face and collect money?