Stop The Presses! Nothing really new in this one, but the emphasis is on the fact that Iran has no intention of giving up uranium enrichment. From AP:
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran said Tuesday it was ready for "serious negotiations" on its nuclear program, but a semi-official news agency said the government was unwilling to abandon nuclear enrichment — the key U.S. demand.Top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani delivered a written response to ambassadors of Britain, China, Russia, France, Germany and Switzerland to a package of incentives aimed at persuading Iran to roll back on its nuclear program.
Larijani refused to disclose whether the response included an offer to suspend uranium enrichment, and no details of Iran's response were released. The state-run television quoted Larijani as telling the diplomats Iran "is prepared as of Aug. 23 to enter serious negotiations" with the countries that proposed the incentives package.
But the semi-official Fars news agency reported that Iran rejected calls to suspend "nuclear activities" — or uranium enrichment — and "instead has offered a new formula to resolve the issues through dialogue."
Very definitely OT, but all fellow Brits ought to know about this - perhaps everyone else ought to keep an eye out for it too in their own countries. Can't think where else to post it. If it gets deleted, I'll understand, and I apologise in advance.
Halal food
As an Arabic speaker (as well as British, born and bred) I have noticed an increase in fast food outlets having the word "Halal" written on their menu in a purely Arabic script.
This is presumably to ensure they get the Muslim business but indirectly does not exclude non-muslims who predominantly cannot read Arabic and would, most probably choose to purchase their fast food meal from another outlet if they were aware that the product they were purchasing was in fact Halal.
Please send any such leaflets to your local Trading Standards as it is illegal under a 1996 food labelling act. Look out for the Arabic script, it is usually tucked away on the menu somewhere.
Peter Williams,
That's not me: SHM.
NO Deal. It's either our way or the highway. The Iranian short pres. ought to be told just that. He's either ready for talks and stops enrichment, or he's not ready for talks.
I think one of the perks for him taking the package was some kind of planes. He would accept the deal and use the planes to deliver his weapons.
No deal.
What's mine is mine, what's yours is negotiable.
Iran is willing to negotiate how much jizya they will receive, and on what timetable. In exchange, they will do everything they were doing before, except perhaps, in their Islamic "generosity," will be a bit less ostentatious about their public defiance of civilization.
Should they force the west into a shooting war, we must, without fail, seize their oil fields. Then, with a gun to their collective head, we can "negotiate" on what timetable we will return those oil fields, only AFTER paying our current military expenses and only AFTER paying full reparations for all the conflicts they and their Hizbollah stooges have dragged us and our allies into since 1979. That should take about 20 years of production, I would guess. Symbolically, the first reparations should go to the families of the embassy staff who were taken hostage for 444 days in 1979.
Someone some time ago wondered when Iran would test a nuclear weapon. A uranium bomb does not need testing. Iran would do it only for show. The 1945 uranium bomb, "Little Boy," was not tested. Well, it was - 1200 feet above Hiroshima. It was a plutonium bomb that was tested at Alamogordo.
Pelayo, terrific observation and nice job drawing on a piece of history that few realize. It's also interesting that the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs differed in detonation mechanisms as well, as one (Little Boy) was a gun-design and the other an implosion bomb (Fat Man). I guess the critical question is: who pulls the wartime nuclear trigger next? After all, it's been a 61 year hiatus. I have my money on someone who misinterprets TROP. I'm so insensitive...
Iran rejected calls to suspend "nuclear activities" — or uranium enrichment — and "instead has offered a new formula to resolve the issues through dialogue."
"Dialogue" to an Iranian Cleric means:
Let's discuss the many reasons why Iran is entitled to have nukes.
From Neal Boortz:
SO NOW IRAN WANTS TO TALK
No doubt fearing economic sanctions that could put a dent in their massive oil profits, Iran sent out word to the world yesterday that it was willing to talk about its nuclear program. More talk. Just dandy.
But what are they prepared to do?
According to reports coming out today, absolutely nothing. Are they prepared to give up their nuclear program and stop enriching uranium? According to an Iranian news agency, absolutely not. So what is there to talk about?
Nothing. But Iran knows what it's doing.
You see, Iran wants to make the United States look bad. So they announce in a big, loud voice that they're willing to negotiate, but not on the key demand that they stop enriching uranium and pursuing nuclear weapons. The Bush Administration will send John Bolton to the podium to announce that there's nothing to talk about....so we'll look like the bad guys for being inflexible and unwilling to negotiate. The dumb masses will completely ignore the fact that Iran says they will not budge on the core issue ... and will focus on the fact that the U.S. is not willing to talk.
But you can expect the usual Euro-weanie suspects to line up in their usual appeasement pose. These countries know they can ignore the threat and, if the past is prologue as they say, depend on the United States to bail them out militarily when the going gets really rough. Then, of course, they'll end up resenting us even more because of their dependency.
We need to issue our own statement to Iran: get rid of your nuclear program, or we'll do it for you.
NUFF SAID
Iran Will Not Stop Enriching Uranium, CBN video, 8/22/6
http://www.terrorfreeoil.org/videos/ES082206.php