Saddam's appointment with the hangman

[miditek]

You explained in detail again why you so much dislike the EU. But what you didn't answer was my question: What about US governments doing business with Saddam in the 80s?

Did you get a chance to see the response about this earlier in the thread? If not, what I'd said regarding U.S. support for Saddam was the fact that there was indeed an alliance, which was intended to use Iraq as a stop-gap or bulwark, if you will, to prevent Persian (Iranian) power and influence from spreading in the region. It certainly looked plausible and even like an attractive option, at least on paper, at the time. Saudi Arabia, in addition to Kuwait, were also contributors to this effort. History will ultimately judge the results.

About arming the Taliban?

The US, or more specifically, the CIA armed the Afghan Muhajadeen, during the Soviet-Afghan War. The Taliban did not appear until the Communist regime in Kabul fell after the Soviet withdrawal in 1988-89. The Taliban actually did not make an appearance until several years later in 1993 and 1994.

However, the key points that I have been making is the America need not answer to the EU regarding the conduct of the war, prisoners at Guantanamo, nor does the Iraqi court owe the EU any explanation for Saddam's sentence whatsoever. If the EU wishes to sit on the sidelines and complain endlessly about the war, that is okay with me. However, the EU missed a great opportunity to shut up when the court handed the sentence down to Saddam.

My criticism of the EU does not preclude the notion that my government is perfect on any count, but the endless complaints coming from the EU regarding American defense and foreign policy is certainly an irritating phenomenon for millions and millions of Americans. I think that the bulk of the EU's criticism is completely ridiculous, and that in the end, they end up sounding like whiners and crybabies.

At least nobody can blame them for doing nothing in international crisis, as the UNIFIL fleet is guided by German ships,

I consider the UNIFIL ground troops to be little more than acting as forward observers for Hezbollah rocket batteries. This does not mean that the Deutsch Marine's presence off of the coast is necessarily a bad thing, either.

or German soldiers are in Afghanistan,

Germany, like all NATO members, are obligated via treaty to come to the aid of any member nation that is attacked. However, I am sure that the young men and women of the Deutsch Heer have served in the ATO (Afghan Theater of Operations) with bravery and distinction. If you know of no American that has thanked Germany for its contribution there, then please allow me to extend that thanks.

Guantanamo (is that what you ment with Gulag? Sorry, my English abilities are limited), because Guantanamo is a tool in the "war on terrorism", which in my (and many others) opinion is simply against human rights.

Sorry, but we'll probably have to agree to disagree here. These are enemy combatants with no military rank or association. There have been some inmates that were released, only to show back up on the battlefield against US forces. Guantanamo may not be Club Med, but it is a far cry from a German or Russian POW camp.

So, I know we differ in opinions and that's nothing bad. Just for example like in this topic, where I expected some controverse discussions about death penalty, I again had to read your accusations based on a mixture of facts and your own imagination against my country.

What specific parts of my posts would you consider to be a figment of my imagination?

Oh, what just comes to my mind: Politic of appeasement is not always something bad. Think of the Cuba Crisis. If GWB was President at those times, WWIII would have been inevitable.

The Cuban Missile Crisis is not exactly what I'd call appeasement. The President convened a special task force known as ExComm- the Executive Committee for the National Security Council. The committee agreed first to impose a naval blockade on Cuba. President Kennedy also condemned the Kremlin publicly for "secrecy and deception."

There was a deal, which essentially meant that Khrushchev removed the missiles from Cuba, while the US did quietly remove a few missiles from Turkey. The Kremlin was embarrassed by the entire ordeal, and it is probably not a coincidence that Khrushchev was removed from power about two years afterward.

Though I might like the music, I don't listen to many cause of Satanistic contents or glorification of violence. I would never listen to the music of right extremist nazi bands (we have them here just as in any other country,

Thank God for that! There are enough problems in life than to go around listening to that type of garbage!

[miditek]

The EU/Europe has over the years-

Well, that seemed like a list of some stuff from the last.. 10 years or so. You have to look at it from another perspective. The last 1000 years have been very depressing...

Amen, to that!

People in the US just have to adapt to the fact that people in Europe are a bit wary of starting armed conflicts, having fought so many senseless wars in the past.

Many Europeans, I am sure, feel that way. However, many Americans considered Gulf War II as an extension of hostilities due to unresolved issues from Gulf War I. Europe has not been completely at peace since the end of WWII, though. There was a rather large loss of life during the modern Balkan wars with Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, and also in Kosovo. The ongoing Chechen wars have also been a rather bloody as well. The US and Israel seemed to get a lot more criticism, than, let's say, Belgrade or Moscow, who seem to frequently get a pass. It is hypocrisy of this type that infuriates many Americans.

You're going to have a hard time to make a rational argument to eg. a German or Russian person that starting wars is no big deal. That's just how things are. I'm not saying you're not free to try, I'm just saying there is not that much sense in beating your head against the wall 400 times trying to do that.

I'd like to think that I don't take war lightly, and consider it be a very serious business.

"Why the hell do people in the US have to adapt to the attitudes of Russians and Eurotrash" you might ask?

Damn! That actually does sound like a question that I would probably ask, political pejoratives and all! Have you been ghost writing for the DNC (Democratic National Convention) again?

Well, the world is a smaller place nowadays and just about everything is interconnected. A truly successful "war on terror" (which I would rather describe as a long-term conflict on religious radicalism or other insanity) will take international cooperation, and it's not the kind of conflict that will be solved militarily. It will have more of the characteristics or an international police operation, and intelligence gathering and cross-border cooperation will be crucial.

To be quite honest, I really don't think that this thing is ever going to be resolved, at least, until The End. Just my $0.02 cents, though. We can have all of the intelligence reports and Interpol/FBI cooperation that is conceivable, and while these are great ideas (that I'm certain are being implemented at this very moment), at the end of the day, there are still going to be at least 100-200 million potential jihadists to contend with.

We can't un-train or un-brainwash or otherwise convince the masses that are willing to die for Allah that terror is a bad thing. Especially when one considers that fact that this is their raison d'etre, and short of destroying Mecca and Medina, there is really little that we can do about it other than stopping as many of them as we can while we can.

e) Austrian arms manufacturer Steyr Mannlicher, last year had sold over 800 .50 caliber high-tech sniper rifles to Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Wonder what happened to those rifles now that we have seen a recent upswing in sniper attacks against Coalition forces (dutifully played over and over again by al-Jazeera's US subsidiary, CNN)?

... do I detect some hint of a call for some sort of gun control in this paragraph?

Not trying to split hairs here Jens, but I do think that there are distinctions to be drawn between arms control and civilian gun control. For instance, if Steyr had sold these weapons to the Swiss or the Swedes, I don't think I'd have very much to complain about.

But when the Austrians are selling military-grade weapons to countries that are sponsors of state terror, and on the US Department of Commerce's embargo list, I think it's safe to say that we can ask Vienna, "who's side are you guys on, anyway?"

After all, it's not the rifles that kill Coalition forces. It's the people firing those rifles? Right?

Your assumption is correct, of course, but let's say that the insurgents' recent sniper campaign would be far less successful and lethal if they were still using the older style Dragonev 7.62X54 rifles, as opposed to the much more modern .50 caliber Steyr weapons, which essentially were at least based on designs from Barrett Industries, here in the States.

Do you think that it is at least possible that certain bureaucrats in the EU are at least sitting back with their arms crossed, and just waiting (and hoping) that things in Iraq completely collapse?

[NeonVomit]

Do you think that it is at least possible that certain bureaucrats in the EU are at least sitting back with their arms crossed, and just waiting (and hoping) that things in Iraq completely collapse?

I think the general feeling was "We're not touching that situation with a ten foot pole, leave us out of it" and of course they want to say "Told you so."

[stratohawk]

@miditek: thanks for the long answer. With more time I'll try to reply more in detail. Let me just pick up one point on which I try to get your understanding:
Of course I know what was the situation when the US helped Saddam Hussein against Iran, or the Mujahedin against the Sovjets. But you have to understand that it looks quite arbitrarily to the rest of the world that one day the US government supports another regime, even if it's a dictatorship (and Hussein is not the only example for that), just for the cause of own political interest, and lateron condemn his leadership, fight him, remove him from power, sentence him to death and claim to free his people and spreading democracy and human rights. That really is hypocrite! I don't know what the Iraqi people think about that. Maybe they even do not know that Hussein got American support in the 80s.
Everybody knows that Hussein was not a bigger threat to the USA or any other country in 2003 than years before. Gulf War '91 is a completely different thing: Then it was obvious that he attacked another country, and in THAT war the US had the great support and even a UN resolution in the back. But the WMD "proofs" that were presented by Colin Powell in the Security Council haven't been based on facts but only on assumptions. I do not want to judge about what really was the reason for GWB to invade Iraq in 2003. But I'm sure that it wasn't his agony of being threatened by Hussein or the drive to help the poor Iraqi people. Because then there would be plenty more countries that need "help".
I can tell you that in my country many people changed their attitude towards US politics in late 2002 and 2003, when it was obvious that Bush prepared for a new war without obvious reasons, and finally after that war started.

[miditek]

Regarding the less interesting topic of the minimum wage.. we're basically both wasting our energy.. the US elections went the way they did, and I'm confident it will be raised some day no matter what we type here... =)

When Speaker-elect Pelosi promised that the minimum wage would be raised "within 100 hours" of the swearing in ceremonies of the newly elected members of Congress, it was basically campaign fiction. While the democrats will have a slender majority in both houses of Congress, she does not have a magic wand that will override a veto from the White House. Unless the president signs the bill into law, it is highly unlikely that Pelosi will have sufficient votes to override Bush- that requires 2/3's of Congress to do so.

Moreover, Pelosi's glowing promises about reforming healthcare neglects to address the failures of Hilary's healthcare taskforce fiasco during the Clinton years.

Social Security benefits allow for some minor cost of living increases, but I do not believe that this rule applies to the minimum wage- it has not been raised in ten years, and the cost of living has definitely seen some increases since that time.

You for instance see yourself at odds with a US "lower class" that is being coddled by expensive government protection, while a lot of the jobs in the US are being outsourced as we speak... here it's the market redistributing wealth on a massive scale, eg. from the US to India. I have a feeling that Marx would probably at least smile at this.. it's almost like some sort of socialist international created by market pressures.

There have been a great deal of jobs, particularly in the IT sector, that have been outsourced to India. However, many companies are beginning to figure out that this is not necessarily the best thing to do. The market forces presented Dell with its reaction to this, as a recent Dell quarterly financial report showed that net income (profit) was down by about 50% as opposed to the same period in the previous year. That is one turd that Dell CEO Kevin Rollins will have a hard time trying to polish or otherwise try to convince the Board of Directors that 50% less profits are a good thing. I'm certain it was a major embarrassment for Michael Dell.

At the behest of its major corporate accounts, Dell has been forced to relocate it's corporate tech support call centers back to the US, or else risk losing more business to HP and IBM, which is exactly what has been happening lately. Unfortunately, consumer level support (for the Inspiron and Dimension product lines) are still being handled out of Indian call centers. That is a major source of frustration for end-users, and I pity the people that have these products, and not to mention the non-existent support agreements.

I have corporate customers that have actually paid me to do warranty repair work on Dell-branded laptops, servers, and desktops, when Dell failed to respond in a timely manner, and when technicians that were dispatched to their site, failed to correctly diagnose and repair certain problems with their products. I would simply call Dell support and say, "please, just send us the correct parts, and we'll take care of the rest".

Try googling the keywords "Dell Hell", and I think that you'll see what I mean. Hope that you guys are using IBM Thinkpads (as opposed to a Dell Inspiron) for the next album's production work.

[JensJohansson]

Europe has not been completely at peace since the end of WWII, though. There was a rather large loss of life during the modern Balkan wars with Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, and also in Kosovo. The ongoing Chechen wars have also been a rather bloody as well. The US and Israel seemed to get a lot more criticism, than, let's say, Belgrade or Moscow, who seem to frequently get a pass. It is hypocrisy of this type that infuriates many Americans.

If we leave Israel aside for a second, I think it's because people expect Washington to set a better example than eg. Moscow or Belgrade. That sort of is what you get, it's unavoidable baggage that comes with the position of being the "western super power". People (also a lot of people actually from the US) expect the US to excercise judgement with that immense power.

The Balkan crisis as bad as it was completely dwarfs the last world war in terms of destruction and casualties.. well I think you know that!

But when the Austrians are selling military-grade weapons to countries that are sponsors of state terror, and on the US Department of Commerce's embargo list, I think it's safe to say that we can ask Vienna, "who's side are you guys on, anyway?"

It's very hard to say, Austria is a big place! I'm sure you can find a multitude of opinions in Austria about this. In this specific case, I suppose the Austrian government have to act in accordance with Austrian law.

I know Sweden has some arms manufacturers as well, and Swedish law is pretty complex in this regard and there have been a few "quasi scandals". What can you do?? You're an arms manufacturer... guess it's a little like being a tobacco company... of course everyone knows that your products help cause death, but if it's still legal...

To be quite honest, I really don't think that this thing is ever going to be resolved, at least, until The End. Just my $0.02 cents, though. We can have all of the intelligence reports and Interpol/FBI cooperation that is conceivable, and while these are great ideas (that I'm certain are being implemented at this very moment), at the end of the day, there are still going to be at least 100-200 million potential jihadists to contend with.

I think it will take some time, but radical islam will be erased from the map just the same way radical christianty was erased.

Do you think that it is at least possible that certain bureaucrats in the EU are at least sitting back with their arms crossed, and just waiting (and hoping) that things in Iraq completely collapse?

Some moronic people in general? Sure. Some people at top levels of government? Definitely not. A collapse in Iraq is everyone's nightmare, not just the US's.

You must not confuse the opinions of "some morons in europe" with "europe".

Hope that you guys are using IBM Thinkpads (as opposed to a Dell Inspiron) for the next album's production work.

Weird!!! I am actually typing this from a broken Thinkpad T40. It crashes when you move it ever so slightly. I took the whole thing apart yesterday to see if it was some connector glitch or something on the main board that "looked obvious". Didn't help, same problem. Only I have one extra screw that i have no idea where it went

Two of the guys in the band have Macs, and as we all know they are perfect in every way. Except when they too break or crash. Ask Lauri what happened to all his thousands of photos from the 2005 tour...

[JensJohansson]

It makes sense to increase the minimum wage with inflation. But I don't think inflation went up 40% in the last year. But it probably did go up 40% in the last x years..

I actually don't know when it was adjusted last.

So good, we agree on something... let's just tie minimum wage to the CPI. Which button here do I click to make that happen? Hahahaha

If our businesses can't make decent products, I refuse to let the government coddle them. But I have a lot of faith in the people in this country and I believe that if we maintain an environment in which it is profitable and advantageous for businesses to develop and grow, that we can win. What we need to do as a country is provide the best opportunity for business growth here than any other place, so starting a business here is a more profitable venture than in any other country. And extreme business regulations will not help!

Some people would use the term "corporate welfare" for this. But any economical system is in itself somehow pulling itself up by its bootstraps. Maintaining this environment, for a healthy economy and general prosperity, requires a functioning education system, low levels of crime, low levels of poverty, etc.

The minimum wage anyway now seems to me to mostly apply to service or retail jobs, what you might call "completely unskilled labor". Most of the manufacturing of stuff that's sold in the US is done elsewhere much cheaper. But you can't outsource a wal-mart employee.. yet.

[miditek]

Weird!!! I am actually typing this from a broken Thinkpad T40. It crashes when you move it ever so slightly. I took the whole thing apart yesterday to see if it was some connector glitch or something on the main board that "looked obvious". Didn't help, same problem. Only I have one extra screw that i have no idea where it went

When you mentioned that the T40 crashes when it gets moved, can you clarify if it either:

a) Exhibits a STOP (blue screen of death) error

b) The system completely freezes or locks up

c) Shuts down completely,

-or-

d) Reboots and Windows then restarts

Also, does this problem happen only when the A/C power adapter is attached, or does it also occur when the system is running on battery power?

Depending on the exact behavior that the ThinkPad is exhibiting, it is very possible that there could be an issue with the ThinkPad's A/C power adapter input, which is hardwired to the motherboard itself. If this problem occurs only when you move the PC, it is likely a hardware issue as described above. If the PC randomly reboots, hangs, or has a STOP error at other times, then it could be something else.

If you were to call IBM tech support, they would probably also have you upgrade the ThinkPad's firmware (BIOS) to the most current version, (your's would be v. 3.2.1 on the T40, and dated 12 June 2006), as well as the embedded controller firmware to v. 3.0.4 I'll send you a link to these via PM later today. It may not help, but it's worth a look, at least.

If you have a multimeter in your toolbox at home, it could probably show if there is a short or other issue on the A/C power connector. If so, it may need to be resoldered, which is certainly better than having to replace the motherboard itself- that would be rather expensive. I think you are on the right track though by investigating the connectors, but would focus on the power connector at this point.

Two of the guys in the band have Macs, and as we all know they are perfect in every way. Except when they too break or crash. Ask Lauri what happened to all his thousands of photos from the 2005 tour...

Macs are great, and finally, it has a command prompt/BSD-type of shell on the newer models running OS X or later. Lauri was probably a victim of the latest fiasco from Maxtor's or Western Digital's declining levels of quality control on their IDE and ATA drives. An easy way to back up important files like the photos would be to either DVD or a USB flash drive, although your advice to Tolkki about the McFormat command was not a bad idea, either.

At any rate, it's all probably Saddam's fault!

[JensJohansson]

When you mentioned that the T40 crashes when it gets moved, can you clarify if it either: a) Exhibits a STOP (blue screen of death) error b) The system completely freezes or locks up c) Shuts down completely, d) Reboots and Windows then restarts

The display blanks (both the backlight and the actual display dies, I checked by shining a bright light on it) and then a few seconds later it crashes. The crash dump indicates it's something related to the display.. the actual crash "location" is in one of the display drivers. It's either the main PCB or the connector to the display or something inside the actual display. I just gave up yesterday..

Also, does this problem happen only when the A/C power adapter is attached, or does it also occur when the system is running on battery power?

That I actually don't know yet.

Depending on the exact behavior that the ThinkPad is exhibiting, it is very possible that there could be an issue with the ThinkPad's A/C power adapter input, which is hardwired to the motherboard itself.

I had an older thinkpad which actually had this exact problem.. which i fixed. I also TWICE fixed one of Jorg's thinkpads. So yeah... I do know about the "let's solder the power input on the main board" idiocy. Funnily enough, on the T40 they fixed this. The power input is completely (mechanically) detached from the circuit board and there are wires running to a header. So you could feasibly kick the plug in or break it off, and just replace the offending part without having to solder anything when fixing it.

If you were to call IBM tech support, they would probably also have you upgrade the ThinkPad's firmware (BIOS) to the most current version, (your's would be v. 3.2.1 on the T40, and dated 12 June 2006), as well as the embedded controller firmware to v. 3.0.4 I'll send you a link to these via PM later today. It may not help, but it's worth a look, at least.

I had the most recent firmware already... BTW reprogramming the BIOS on a flakey machine could render it completely useless, if it would fail in the middle of the upgrade!! It's definitely a hardware thing. I can make it crash at will "mechanically"... sigh

I did call tech support......... the warranty ran out a few days before it broke. To replace with a new main board would cost appx. twice the current retail price of the same version of T40 .. all fairly typical!

Macs are great, and finally, it has a command prompt/BSD-type of shell on the newer models running OS X or later. Lauri was probably a victim of the latest fiasco from Maxtor's or Western Digital's declining levels of quality control on their IDE and ATA drives.

I think something like that yeah.

An easy way to back up important files like the photos would be to either DVD or a USB flash drive, although your advice to Tolkki about the McFormat command was not a bad idea, either.

Nonono, mac owners don't need backups, because macs are perfect in every way! I'll have some Harddrive McFries with that ..

At any rate, it's all probably Saddam's fault!

I didn't think about that, but you're probably right! I was going to press the stratoforum button to save his life, but now.. now... that fucker. Hanging is letting him off too easy. He should be boiled alive in giraffe sperm and then made use Internet Explorer 4 on Windows 98 for all eternity.

[Stratofanius]

Hanging is letting him off too easy. He should be boiled alive in giraffe sperm and then made use Internet Explorer 4 on Windows 98 for all eternity.

Haha you're absolutely right!

[Frantic Eyes]

While I can understand NeonVomit's talking point of Saddam spending the rest of his life in prison cell; my own view is that life in prison pales in comparison to an eternity in Hell.

As for an eternity in Hell... what if Saddam converted in his death cell?

[browneyedgirl]

While I can understand NeonVomit's talking point of Saddam spending the rest of his life in prison cell; my own view is that life in prison pales in comparison to an eternity in Hell.

As for an eternity in Hell... what if Saddam converted in his death cell?

What IF Catfish could have kittens? :

Thats between him&God, don't ya think?
But, get a grip, most likely he didn't comvert because indications are, Muslims hate Christians.

[miditek]

When you mentioned that the T40 crashes when it gets moved, can you clarify if it either: a) Exhibits a STOP (blue screen of death) error b) The system completely freezes or locks up c) Shuts down completely, d) Reboots and Windows then restarts

The display blanks (both the backlight and the actual display dies, I checked by shining a bright light on it) and then a few seconds later it crashes. The crash dump indicates it's something related to the display.. the actual crash "location" is in one of the display drivers. It's either the main PCB or the connector to the display or something inside the actual display. I just gave up yesterday..

Based on your descriptions, it is quite possible that the integrated AGP card is in the process of failing, particularly if the error is referencing the agp440.sys or a similiar driver. I've seen this sort of thing before, and it would definitely qualify as one of those Excederin moments.

Also, does this problem happen only when the A/C power adapter is attached, or does it also occur when the system is running on battery power?

That I actually don't know yet.

Depending on the exact behavior that the ThinkPad is exhibiting, it is very possible that there could be an issue with the ThinkPad's A/C power adapter input, which is hardwired to the motherboard itself.

[I had an older thinkpad which actually had this exact problem.. which i fixed. I also TWICE fixed one of Jorg's thinkpads. So yeah... I do know about the "let's solder the power input on the main board" idiocy. Funnily enough, on the T40 they fixed this. The power input is completely (mechanically) detached from the circuit board and there are wires running to a header. So you could feasibly kick the plug in or break it off, and just replace the offending part without having to solder anything when fixing it.

I've had to do similiar operations several times this year on Compaq, Toshiba, and several other system types, and it's certainly aggravating. Reviving a dead MS Exchange server is much worse though.

I just picked up a T30 ThinkPad this morning from a client that was getting a "Missing Operating System" error. The owner asked me what that error means, and I told him, "It means that you've downloading way too much porn!"

If you were to call IBM tech support, they would probably also have you upgrade the ThinkPad's firmware (BIOS) to the most current version, (your's would be v. 3.2.1 on the T40, and dated 12 June 2006), as well as the embedded controller firmware to v. 3.0.4 I'll send you a link to these via PM later today. It may not help, but it's worth a look, at least.

[I had the most recent firmware already... BTW reprogramming the BIOS on a flakey machine could render it completely useless, if it would fail in the middle of the upgrade!! It's definitely a hardware thing. I can make it crash at will "mechanically"... sigh

You're certainly right about that. Some systems that I've worked on have a utility to back-up the previous firmware, before upgrading, and even then, it can still fail if the original image can't be restored.

I did call tech support......... the warranty ran out a few days before it broke. To replace with a new main board would cost appx. twice the current retail price of the same version of T40 .. all fairly typical!

The best price that I could find for FRU# (Field Replacement Unit)"91P7998 Thinkpad T40 Sys Board"
was for $362.00 from DMD Systems Recovery. Their US telephone number is (602) 307-0180, although I'd make sure that the FRU numbers match. They are located on the web at dmdsystems dot com and their internal part # is 5536.

Possibly a good deal, if you actually have time to replace the board yourself, although a new system is always an option.

Macs are great, and finally, it has a command prompt/BSD-type of shell on the newer models running OS X or later. Lauri was probably a victim of the latest fiasco from Maxtor's or Western Digital's declining levels of quality control on their IDE and ATA drives.

I think something like that yeah.

An easy way to back up important files like the photos would be to either DVD or a USB flash drive, although your advice to Tolkki about the McFormat command was not a bad idea, either.

[Nonono, mac owners don't need backups, because macs are perfect in every way! I'll have some Harddrive McFries with that ..

Too bad Symantec does not offer a version of Ghost for the Mac.

At any rate, it's all probably Saddam's fault!

He should be boiled alive in giraffe sperm and then made use Internet Explorer 4 on Windows 98 for all eternity.

With a 56k dial-up connection!

[browneyedgirl]

Hanging is letting him off too easy. He should be boiled alive in giraffe sperm and then made use Internet Explorer 4 on Windows 98 for all eternity.

No, the worst punishment of all: using the first WebTV Classic version. 'nuff said!

[JensJohansson]

Based on your descriptions, it is quite possible that the integrated AGP card is in the process of failing, particularly if the error is referencing the agp440.sys or a similiar driver. I've seen this sort of thing before, and it would definitely qualify as one of those Excederin moments.

New main board.. maybe some day. It ended up getting worse and then finally not starting at all, so presently I'm copying stuff from the hard drive to another computer using a little 2.5" USB2 box.. fuckfuckfuckfuck

The best price that I could find for FRU# (Field Replacement Unit)"91P7998 Thinkpad T40 Sys Board"
was for $362.00 from DMD Systems Recovery. Their US telephone number is (602) 307-0180, although I'd make sure that the FRU numbers match. They are located on the web at dmdsystems dot com and their internal part # is 5536.

Why thanks!! I might just buy a whole new machine and maybe a new main board some time when they are cheaper =) For the moment I'm using a borrowed laptop. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck

Too bad Symantec does not offer a version of Ghost for the Mac.

Well nowadays.. just log in as root and use 'dd'

He should be boiled alive in giraffe sperm and then made use Internet Explorer 4 on Windows 98 for all eternity.

With a 56k dial-up connection!

YES!!!!

[miditek]

As of Tue 26 Dec 2006, Iraq's highest appellate court has reject any further delays in Saddam's verdict, and has ordered the death sentence to be carried out "within the next 30 days.", on orders of Judge Aref Shahin. The court has also upheld the capital sentences of former Intelligence chief Barzan Ibrahim as well as former Revolutionary Court leader Awad Hamed al-Bandar.

The method of execution will be death by hanging, as prescribed by the court, which also rejected Saddam's request for a firing squad. Hopefully, the next one to be caught/captured or killed will be radical cleric/terrorist Muqtada al-Sadr.

[NeonVomit]

I still think he's getting off light.

And there are a few others who deserve to be tried, but will never see justice...

[stratohawk]

Saddam's death might cause only more riots in this bloody disrupted country.

I'm curious about the next steps in US foreign politics concerning Iraq. At least GWB has indirectly admitted that big mistakes were made and that there cannot be a "victory", not in terms of military aspects.
Those poor people... Imagine living in a city where per day maybe a hundred people die by snipers, car bombs, militia attacks. But how to solve that crisis? There are no answers.
And it's not only the fault of Western governments. The islamic groups that are fighting each other (at the edge of a civil war) are of course responsible themselves for the countless killing of innocent people.

[miditek]

Saddam's death might cause only more riots in this bloody disrupted country.

Hopefully not, as Saddam, his half brother, and another henchman are now dead, as of this writing at 11:16PM EST (GMT -5), although there have been reports of celebratory gunfire in Baghdad.

I'm curious about the next steps in US foreign politics concerning Iraq. At least GWB has indirectly admitted that big mistakes were made and that there cannot be a "victory", not in terms of military aspects.

Of course a military victory can be achieved- via disarmament of the militias, and by any means necessary. If the Iraqi army, as well as the Republican Guard can be vanquished within 100 hours (Gulf War I) and in a few days (Gulf War II), then these militias can also be disarmed, if the allied forces are actually permitted to do so. al-Sadr should also be tried and hanged for his recent atrocities as well.

Those poor people... Imagine living in a city where per day maybe a hundred people die by snipers, car bombs, militia attacks. But how to solve that crisis? There are no answers.

Again, it's too pessimistic of a view, Stratohawk. Order can be restored, but it may take brutal means including from the Iraqis themselves to do so. Effective leadership is needed. As bad as the situation is around Baghdad, it pales in comparison to having their city reduced to ashes (filled with tens of thousands of corpses and starving survivors), as many WWII-era cities, such as Stalingrad were.

Iran and Syria must be "persuaded" that an unstable Iraq will only cause the war to spread to their own countries. To hell with negotiating with those two, the borders can be controlled via satellite surveillance, as well as with minefields.

Any unauthorized convoys with weapons and supplies for the insurgents of either side should be immediately destroyed. Iranian Revolutionary Guard officers were recently captured in Baghdad, with two being held and two more still, being deported.

Any Iranian or Syrian troops caught inside the country should be detained, under the threat and promise of a trial and execution for spying and espionage during a time of war, which is permissible under the Geneva Protocols.

And it's not only the fault of Western governments. The Islamic groups that are fighting each other (at the edge of a civil war) are of course responsible themselves for the countless killing of innocent people.

It's basically a Sunni vs. Shiite vendetta, since both are much more concerned with getting "justice" (read: revenge), than they currently are with instituting a parliamentary democracy. Scores will have to be settled first, but it will eventually end, and probably by brute force, curfews, and eventually, martial law will probably have to be declared by the Iraqi government for a time.

The Kurds are also autonomous once again, and at the very least, that is a large sector of the country that is doing pretty well now.

[NeonVomit]

Hopefully not, as Saddam, his half brother, and another henchman are now dead, as of this writing at 11:16PM EST (GMT -5), although there have been reports of celebratory gunfire in Baghdad.

With all the gunfire and explosions in Baghdad of a decidedly NOT celebratory nature, how can anyone tell the difference and then make a report of that? Is there so such thing as 'happy sounding gunfire' so as to tell it apart from the 'angry gunfire'?

Of course a military victory can be achieved- via disarmament of the militias, and by any means necessary. If the Iraqi army, as well as the Republican Guard can be vanquished within 100 hours (Gulf War I) and in a few days (Gulf War II), then these militias can also be disarmed, if the allied forces are actually permitted to do so. al-Sadr should also be tried and hanged for his recent atrocities as well.

*coughVietnamcough*

Gulf Wars I & II were conventional wars. This is not a matter of anyone being 'allowed' to do anything.

This is a guerrilla insurgency. Totally, totally different from conventional warfare, as anyone with knowledge of military history and techniques will tell you. I recieved some training in guerilla warfare during both the ACT (Advanced Combat Training) course and Sargeant school I went through in the army, and I have to say it is the direct opposite from the conventional training with my unit I recieved. One of our more insane instructors ordered us to forget everything we learned about functioning as a unit during his sessions... perhaps this is an extreme viewpoint, but it should give you an idea.

Those poor people... Imagine living in a city where per day maybe a hundred people die by snipers, car bombs, militia attacks. But how to solve that crisis? There are no answers.

There are no answers. This whole thing is a sorry, sad, disasterous mess and I've been saying that since before the invasion even took place. Not pessimism, realism. The majority of the American electorate seems to agree with me here, so I'm not talking complete rubbish...

Iran and Syria must be "persuaded" that an unstable Iraq will only cause the war to spread to their own countries. To hell with negotiating with those two, the borders can be controlled via satellite surveillance, as well as with minefields.

Minefields, yeah, not enough of those around! When 6-year old Ahmed treads on one in 15 years time while retrieving a wayward football, he'll be glad he sacrificed his leg for a greater cause.

Of course, no one will really care that much since he is an Arab and not American/European. "Filthy sand niggers."

Any unauthorized convoys with weapons and supplies for the insurgents of either side should be immediately destroyed. Iranian Revolutionary Guard officers were recently captured in Baghdad, with two being held and two more still, being deported.

The Iraqi president wasn't too happy about that. Not someone you want to upset, if you ask me....

And how can you tell an unauthorised convoy from a satellite? What if it's some guy selling sheep? (a common activity in that part of the world, I am led to believe.) Oh wait, they don't matter, they're just 'collateral damage'.

Watching cars going down a road isn't like checking aircraft and flight plans, if that's what you're thinking of. At all.

Boots on the ground. No other way to do it. Do it properly or not at all. That would then bring on another whole host of problems, manpower shortages being one of the big ones I'd suspect oh wait *draft draft draft draft* "Nah screw it, we'll lose the elections even suggesting breathing something that even rhymes with it, like "raft"..." I bet most politicians are scared of even asking for a draught beer in a public place...

Not to mention pissing off even more people.

Any Iranian or Syrian troops caught inside the country should be detained, under the threat and promise of a trial and execution for spying and espionage during a time of war, which is permissible under the Geneva Protocols.

I can see the diplomatic, and therefore economic and humanitarian catastrophes that would cause... is that what the world and especially the US really needs more of now?

Oh, and I thought the official line was Iraq is not in a civil war (ha ha ha, good one!)... doesn't the Geneva Protocol need it to be a war? Just wondering.

And it's not only the fault of Western governments. The Islamic groups that are fighting each other (at the edge of a civil war) are of course responsible themselves for the countless killing of innocent people.

It's basically a Sunni vs. Shiite vendetta

Here's an idea; get out of Iraq, and let them kill each other as that's what they want... oh wait, oil. Luvly, bubbly, jubbly oil$$$$.

Carry on.

The Kurds are also autonomous once again, and at the very least, that is a large sector of the country that is doing pretty well now.

And US ally Turkey is just thrilled about this, I bet...

The whole Iraq thing is a lost cause, and has been from the beginning. Being there is bad, leaving is possibly, but not definately, worse. Sort of like, should you get out of your neighbour's yard asap, or stick around to clear up the mess that you made partying there the night before when he doesn't want you there?

I say to the US administration and military 'Sux to be you!' since I really don't know what else to say, just glad it's them and not us... the everyday Iraqi however is trickier. Poor bastards. Cursed, and no one deserves any of that.

[MetalPlatypus]

And let us not forget to ask the most important question of all: Why is United States of America in Iraq? For sure not to "liberate the Iraqi people and establish democracy". Was Iraq a threat to middle east? No it wasn´t. Then why is USA there? Use your brain and common sense and you´ll come to the right conclusion.

[browneyedgirl]

And let us not forget to ask the most important question of all: Why is United States of America in Iraq? For sure not to "liberate the Iraqi people and establish democracy". Was Iraq a threat to middle east? No it wasn´t. Then why is USA there? Use your brain and common sense and you´ll come to the right conclusion.

Yes, we know---it's like a stuck record. O-I-L.
When the USA leaves Iraq, we will see how many oil wells&pipelines they slap up there.

[NeonVomit]

And let us not forget to ask the most important question of all: Why is United States of America in Iraq? For sure not to "liberate the Iraqi people and establish democracy". Was Iraq a threat to middle east? No it wasn´t. Then why is USA there? Use your brain and common sense and you´ll come to the right conclusion.

Yes, we know---it's like a stuck record. O-I-L.
When the USA leaves Iraq, we will see how many oil wells&pipelines they slap up there.

Bush actually said something clever a while ago, that America is addicted to oil and that it should find other ways of producing energy. Totally true.

That way, they can leave the middle east alone and let everyone there kill each other as they please and not need to have a part of it. Let China or India deal with that mess, they've both got rapidly developing and expanding economies and desperately need more oil. Plus massive populations and therefore armies to throw into conflicts which will no doubt arise.[/url]

[MetalPlatypus]

And let us not forget to ask the most important question of all: Why is United States of America in Iraq? For sure not to "liberate the Iraqi people and establish democracy". Was Iraq a threat to middle east? No it wasn´t. Then why is USA there? Use your brain and common sense and you´ll come to the right conclusion.

Yes, we know---it's like a stuck record. O-I-L.
When the USA leaves Iraq, we will see how many oil wells&pipelines they slap up there.

I find nothing funny in this matter. Both Iraqi people and American soldiers are dying there daily. What is the most amazing thing is, that nobody is doing anything for this invasion. It is truly unbelievable, that in our days, a country can be attacked in that way, "rebuilt" by giving most of the jobs to American companies and nobody is doing anything.
I am not saying that Hussein was a saint, far from that, but I still believe that Iraq was no threat to the middle east, might have financed loads of terrorist groups but so is USA and has always been. Even Al Qaeda at one point. There were no weapons of mass destruction and thus there was no other reason to attack Iraq but oil. USA attacked Iraq without mandate from United Nations, that it is part of (despite the huge debt in membership fees, which shows something what it thinks about the UN). This makes the war an international crime and George Bush et al criminals that should be brought to the trial the same way Saddam Hussein was and Milosevic etc. But this will never happen, because USA is a superpower and no country dares to oppose it, except North Korea and the like. Democracy has been killed in Iraq, not established.
The war in Iraq can never be won and is never been intended to be won. It is just a camouflage as the oil is being pumped to the barrels and shipped to USA. They will have to stay there a long time, perhaps 10 to 20 years says one estimation. The price they are going to pay in dead soldiers is going to be huge. But that doesn´t matter when the ice cold politics in the corridors of power have decided otherwise.

[browneyedgirl]

MP, you want to make a $50 bet with me that the USA will NOT be in Iraq in 10-20 years? I will buy a plane ticket&gladly fly to your country to collect that $50, too!
And, I find NOTHING funny at all about the Iraq situation. And I got no thrill from Saddam's death--although I do believe he brought his fate upon himself.

People love to sling shit&insult&hate the USA, but a large portion of those who do this have no qualms benefiting in a monetary way from the USA. Right, MP? I said, RIGHT, MP?

[Morgana]

Maybe I'm answering too late but in some case I'm agree with Stratohawk (and I was sure that he will express himself right that way he did). I think that nobody deserves death for his/her sins. And all of us will get what he deserves but not here on the Earth. There will be the last judgement, and every man will learn what he deserves. Nobody has the right to judge, only God has. Let other people live and finish their days in prisons, and Saddam could have this opportunity too. After his death of ilness or old age he would get what he deserves THERE. But killing.... No!

[browneyedgirl]

MP, you want to make a $50 bet with me that the USA will NOT be in Iraq in 10-20 years? I will buy a plane ticket&gladly fly to your country to collect that $50, too!
And, I find NOTHING funny at all about the Iraq situation. And I got no thrill from Saddam's death--although I do believe he brought his fate upon himself.

People love to sling shit&insult&hate the USA, but a large portion of those who do this have no qualms benefiting in a monetary way from the USA. Right, MP? I said, RIGHT, MP?

Bump! On next page!

@Morgana, I agree with you about Last Judgement---All of us will have lots of explaining to do to the Man upstairs. People may find that the humanist philosophy became their undoing.

[Stealth]

@Morgana, I agree with you about Last Judgement---All of us will have lots of explaining to do to the Man upstairs. People may find that the humanist philosophy became their undoing.

I, on the other hand, think that if by any chance there is a Man upstairs (and I really believe there isn't) HE would have lots of explaining to do. I would sit down, make myself comfortable and listen to what he/she has to say in his/her defense.

[Stealth]

To think that the execution was a valuable lesson is naive. It wasn't a lesson for anyone. If anything, the violence will increase because of all those who want to avenge Saddam's death. People will not feel intimidated or afraid as a result of the execution. Many are already saying that Saddam is a hero because he was very calm during the execution and kept his cool; he even refused to cover his face. So, the execution has only glorified Saddam's image in the eyes of many, which is counterproductive in terms of the original objectives sought by those who tried Saddam.

[browneyedgirl]

Leaders like this always have their followers. There is always a fringe group who believes in some evil leader no matter what rottenness he does. Heck, there are still people who idolize Hitler, even in this day&time. So, the fact that there might be people who think Saddam is terrific doesn't surprise me..... Although I think the concept of Saddam being someone's hero is totally insane. And, if these people have a deathwish and want to follow in Saddam's footsteps the same fate awaits them, too.

I agree with Koko in that leaders who do this type of mayhem deserve the death penalty--like terrorists who commit mass murder&serial killers. They know what they are doing.