The Chickendoves

Have you heard enough about chickenhawks? Go to the Right Wing Nut House and read about The Chickendoves.

Where’s the spirit that brought us Lenin’s October Revolution? Where’s the courage that gave us Mao’s Long March? Where’s the defiance that fueled the Vietnamese in their quest to defeat the United States – a defiance made easier by your ideological ancestor’s cheering them on while calling for the defeat of the United States armed forces on the field of battle.

Face it. The reason there is no anti-war prairie fire sweeping the country is that you and your lefty friends are a pale imitation of the hard-eyed radicals that manned the battlements in the 1960’s. Those guys wanted a revolution. Your generation complains if there’s no wi-fi access. They wanted to foment mass protest. You people can’t function unless there’s a Starbucks within a couple of blocks. They were readers of Ginsberg, Sartre, and listened to songs by Joan Baez. You guys think addle brained Kurt Cobaine was a poet.

The whole world is watching and you’re sitting in front of your computer writing paeans to a witless, anti-semitic media glutton whose anti-American rants and conspiratorial flights of fancy have driven away all but the most willfully deluded among Democrats.

If you do decide to drive to Crawford and support Mother Sheehan, be careful. Your Lexus might get dusty.

It's a Conspiracy

The secret Jewish conspiracy is found out!

The Middle East and Central Asia

It should be obvious to anyone that the establishment of a stable democracy where basic freedoms are respected would "destabilize" the Middle East and Central Asia, and that that would be very good. Let the people living in the countries that neighbor Iraq that something better is possible for them.

RoP Bombs Ferry in the Philippines

From Channelnewsasia.com, At least 30 wounded in Philippine ferry blast

ZAMBOANGA : At least 30 people including children were wounded in a suspected bomb attack on a ferry in an area of the southern Philippines plagued by Muslim insurgents, officials said Sunday.

The explosion went off while passengers were boarding the Dona Ramona ferry at the town of Lamitan on Basilan island, sparking scenes of chaos.

Nick Castro, an aide to Lamitan's mayor, said at least 19 people were initially reported wounded but vice mayor Jimmy Adong said health authorities had confirmed 24 hurt with the figure expected to rise.

Castro said the explosion appeared to have been caused by a home-made bomb although authorities were investigating.

The ferry had been just about to leave for its first morning trip to the nearby port city of Zamboanga.

The area was "in chaos", provincial spokesman Cris Puno said, with those wounded suffering severe burns caused by the blast.

A thick scent of gunpowder hung in the air, he added.

"There were children among those wounded," he said, declining to speculate when asked who could be behind the latest bombing.

The blast at Lamitan port - built using US aid money and opened by the American charge d'affaires Daryl Johnson just days ago - came after Muslim militants injured 26 people in a bomb attack on a parked vehicle and inn on August 26.

Security forces have been on heightened alert for more bombings after three suspects in the Zamboanga blast from the Abu Sayyaf group, a small gang of Islamic militants which once enjoyed support from Al-Qaeda, were freed on bail.

Steel from WTC Recycled

WorldNetDaily reports, Warship built with steel from Twin Towers.

In tribute to victims of the 9-11 attack on New York City, the U.S. Navy is using 10 tons of steel from the World Trade Center to build a new warship that will help defend the nation from terrorism.

The USS New York, a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock, is scheduled to be commissioned in 2008, according to the European edition of the U.S. military newspaper Stars and Stripes.

The article goes on to discuss the appropriateness of remembering and honoring the victims of the attack in this way.

It is appropriate that it is used in a ship that will help us kill our enemies.

Court Rules According to Law - Apologizes

The most overturned court in the land, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has recently ruled that the law applies even when you might not like it.

Court upholds limit on abortion coverage

SAN FRANCISCO — U.S. armed forces medical benefits don't cover abortion costs unless a mother's life is at risk, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said an abortion for a Navy sailor's wife, a Bremerton woman, wasn't covered even after the fetus was diagnosed with a fatal birth defect.

In a 3-0 ruling, the judges acknowledged the ruling was "callous and unfeeling" and said they were not judging the "wisdom, fairness or logic" of congressional legislation that limited abortions under military medical plans.

Lawmakers served a legitimate governmental purpose by denying such benefits because of "an interest in potential life," Judge Richard Tallman wrote for the San Francisco-based court.

The case concerns Jane Doe, whose real identity has been concealed, who had an abortion five months into her pregnancy when doctors said her baby would probably survive only two months. Tests in 2002 showed the baby had anencephaly, a defect that causes a fetus to develop without a forebrain, cerebellum or cranium.

Coverage for the abortion was denied, so she sued, claiming an armed-forces health plan owed her $3,000 for the procedure.

The government paid her after a judge ruled in her favor, but then it appealed to get its money back.

The court, reprinting coverage regulations, wrote: "Abortions performed for suspected or confirmed fetal abnormality ... do not fall within the exceptions permitted within the language of the statute and are not authorized for payment."

Key word - statute. Medical benefits in the Armed Forces are set by law. Of course to the pro-abortion lobby the law is unimportant.

Lisa Stone, executive director of the Northwest Women's Law Center, which represented the sailor's wife, said the case was a longshot because federal funds generally cannot pay for abortions except in limited circumstances.

"We believe it was worth it to pursue it because the basis for upholding the government's ban — the interest in potential human life — does not apply here," Stone said. "There is no potential for human life."

Stone said the center was considering its next move. Options include letting the decision stand, asking the court to rehear the case with all 11 judges or seeking Supreme Court review.

Now, if we can get judges to rule according to the law, and not later apologize for it, we will be making some progress.

Soft-Headed Judge Alert

2 Illegal Immigrants Win Arizona Ranch in Court. Notice how the NYT sets the story up to make it look obvious that the illegal aliens were abused, whether or not they ever were.

DOUGLAS, Ariz., Aug. 18 - Spent shells litter the ground at what is left of the firing range, and camouflage outfits still hang in a storeroom. Just a few months ago, this ranch was known as Camp Thunderbird, the headquarters of a paramilitary group that promised to use force to keep illegal immigrants from sneaking across the border with Mexico.
Now, in a turnabout, the 70-acre property about two miles from the border is being given to two immigrants whom the group caught trying to enter the United States illegally.

The land transfer is being made to satisfy judgments in a lawsuit in which the immigrants had said that Casey Nethercott, the owner of the ranch and a former leader of the vigilante group Ranch Rescue, had harmed them.

"Certainly it's poetic justice that these undocumented workers own this land," said Morris S. Dees Jr., co-founder and chief trial counsel of the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala., which represented the immigrants in their lawsuit.

Mr. Dees said the loss of the ranch would "send a pretty important message to those who come to the border to use violence."

Even if true, this is ridiculous.

Bill Dore, a Douglas resident briefly affiliated with Ranch Rescue who is still active in the border-patrolling Minuteman Project, called the land transfer "ridiculous."

"The illegals are coming over here," Mr. Dore said. "They are getting the American property. Hell, I'd come over, too. Get some American property, make some money from the gringos."

The immigrants getting the ranch, Edwin Alfredo Mancía Gonzáles and Fátima del Socorro Leiva Medina, could not be reached for comment. Kelley Bruner, a lawyer at the law center, said they did not want to speak to the news media but were happy with the outcome.

No doubt. I'd be happy too. One of the reasons that I do not post every day is that I work between 10 to 15 hours a day so that I may save a down payment for a house (not a ranch, a house). Who can be unhappy about free property? But, perhaps they were so severely abused that this was warranted.

Mr. Mancía and Ms. Leiva were caught on a ranch in Hebbronville, Tex., in March 2003 by Mr. Nethercott and other members of Ranch Rescue. The two immigrants later accused Mr. Nethercott of threatening them and of hitting Mr. Mancía with a pistol, charges that Mr. Nethercott denied. The immigrants also said the group gave them cookies, water and a blanket and let them go after an hour or so.

Nethercott is certainly not a character with whom I would sympathize, but it does not appear that these illegal aliens were really abused. Also, on another level this is wrong. Property rights are the very foundation of our Constitution, and that is exactly what liberals are now attacking. While the Ranch Rescue people are depicted as "an extreme anti-immigration group", in America people have rights independent of their political views.

Interestingly, the New York Times was very careful to identify every player in this story except the judge.

A Story the MSM Will Not Cover

The New York Times has lamented the lack of news coverage of heroic acts in the War in Iraq. Of course it is not like they themselves aren't a newspaper that can publish such stories and solve that problem, but of course it is better to blame the President.

Reader Lee Keller King emailed this link to me. This will make you proud.

Go and read the story of Brian Chontosh, American hero.

Mexico Depopulates Itself into the United States

What kind of country is it that 40% of its population whats to leave and enter the United States? This includes all classes of people, and a willingness to do so illegally. What kink of outhouse basement is Mexico that such a thing could happen?

Well, here's the story. Poll: 40% of Mexicans want to move to U.S.

More than 40 percent of Mexican adults say they would move to the U.S. if they could, and 1 in 5 say they would do so illegally if necessary, according to surveys released yesterday by the Pew Hispanic Center.

Surveys of 1,200 Mexican adults in February and 1,200 in May, conducted in their homes, show that Mexicans' rising education levels have not weakened the desire to live and work in this country.

More than a third of Mexican college graduates say they would come to the U.S. if they could, and more than 1 in 8 would do so even if they had to enter the country illegally, according to the surveys, the first of their kind.

"Contrary to what people might expect, the inclination to migrate isn't contained among Mexicans who are poor or poorly educated or with limited economic prospects," says Roberto Suro, director of the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research group in Washington. "They're distributed across the whole breadth of Mexican society."

Mexicans' willingness to come is driven by a desire to improve their economic status and join friends and family already there, Suro says.

Despite improvements in the Mexican economy, "people with college degrees believe they have greater economic opportunities by migration to the U.S. - even illegally - than they would staying at home," Suro says. Mexicans are coming from richer, urban areas as well as poor, rural regions, he says.

More than half of Mexicans say they would be inclined to come if the U.S. established a temporary worker program.

So, how far does this go before it would constitute depopulation? It would be nice if Mexico could get a grip on itself, be a bit less obscenely corrupt, and maybe create a real country. it is, I know, far too much to ask for.

It least these are people from a Christian culture who like the U.S. the way it is, and have moral values as well. Certainly they make for a better immigrant than some.

We absolutely need to get control of our border.

Pool of Siloam - Found

Via Touchstone Magazine's Mere Comments;

Pool of Siloam: It's There

The story of the man born blind, who was then healed after Jesus anointed his eyes with clay and then sent him to wash in the pool of Siloam, is one of my very favorite biblical stories. The man comes to believe in Jesus as the Son of God after being challenged by the Pharisees. It is during the argument with them that one can see his understanding grow into belief and faith. What a terrific story!

Boycott Beijing - 2008

Yep.

A New Wave of Repression Justified by the Olympics

While a wide majority of International Olympic Committee (IOC) members were voting, on July 13, 2001, to attribute the 2008 Summer Olympics to Beijing, Chinese police received an order to step up their executions of delinquents and intensify repression against "subversive Internet users". IOC members, encouraged by their president, Juan Antonio Samaranch, who personally supported China's bid, paid no attention to the repeated calls against the Beijing bid.

The piece concludes with an apt observation.

The Olympic movement was discredited in 1936, when it allowed the Nazis to make the Games a spectacle to glorify the Third Reich. In 1980, in Moscow, the IOC suffered a terrible defeat when more than 50 countries boycotted the Olympics. The Netherlands, Germany, the United States, Egypt and so many others refused to countenance the Soviet regime. In 2008, the international sporting movement must refuse to tolerate one of the world's bloodiest dictatorships.

Read the whole thing.

Labor Camp Boss Flees to Canada

Han Guangsheng was the overseer of labor camps near Shenyang, China and has fled to Canada because he was sickened by his work and the corruption of the Chinese Communist government.

Former Chinese Labor Camp Chief Says Regime "Sickened" Him

TORONTO—A former overseer of labor camps from the northeastern city of Shenyang, Han Guangsheng, has said he defected while on a trip to Canada because he was sickened by the level of brutality, human rights abuses and corruption in the Chinese Communist Party.

Toronto-based Han moved from a privileged position of relative luxury as the head of the Shenyang municipal judicial bureau, to a tiring life running a one-man delivery business after he defected during a visit to Canada four years ago, he told RFA's Mandarin service.

"Even though I was a high-ranking official in China...I didn’t constitute a complete human being, because I had to live my life wearing a mask and act against my conscience," Han told RFA reporter Xi Hong.

"I was greatly pained. I saw myself as just a high-paid slave and lackey. After I came here, life was very hard but I became a true human being," said Han, who also served as deputy police chief for the city.

Are there others like him? You bet.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce reported last year that 4,000 officials had escaped the country in recent years, taking an estimated five billion yuan (U.S.$617 million) in embezzled funds with them.

Chinese law enforcement agencies are hampered by a lack of extradition treaties and a poor human-rights reputation, which makes Western governments reluctant to hand over suspects who may face execution.

No one has accused Han of embezzlement, and it should be expected that the Communists would make this accusation of any official who fled and took so much as a single yuan with him.

Han does not make any claim to purity, but is looking for freedom.

"The way I see it, being an official in a corrupted political system, I’m afraid I cannot claim I am completely innocent," he told RFA's Mandarin service.

During his time in the Shenyang municipal government, Han oversaw the mass round-up of members of the banned spiritual movement, the Falun Gong in his area.

"At that time (1999), I protested that the labor camps were for housing criminals and not suitable for members of the Falun Gong."

The deputy municipal Party secretary told Han he had to obey orders, and said that the secretary, not Han, would take responsibility if anything went wrong. "During that period of arrest, I was a torn man," Han said.

He said that many of the Falun Gong followers were ordinary people, mostly women from respectable homes. "No matter how you look at the situation, these people were the true victims. Although I was a man of conscience, I was not able to disobey my superiors," he said.

"I can truly say I’ve not been completely innocent. But, I still have my principles. My conscience is my last defense," said Han.

Still, the Canadian government cannot seem to figure out who to keep and who to deport. We are already familiar with her protection of Islamic terrorists, here we see something else.

Han's application for political asylum in Canada was rejected in April, and he faces possible deportation after the federal Immigration and Refugee Board ruled him ineligible to stay in Canada because he was a "willing accomplice" in crimes against humanity in his former job.

Lai Changxing, a former official accused of running a massive smuggling network, is one of those near the top of China's most-wanted list. But Lai has been able to stay in Canada since fleeing there in 1999 while his legal case works its way through the Canadian judicial system.

The Canadians need to figure it out. Keep the guy who wants to shed his past and make an honest and free living and deport the criminal (that would be the smuggler, for you Lefties™ who cannot tell the difference).

Grieving Mom Becomes Political Tool

Matt Drudge has this, BUSH PROTESTING MOM CALLS FOR 'ISRAEL OUT OF PALESTINE'; VOWS NOT TO PAY TAXES

Anti-war protestor Cindy Sheehan, whose soldier son Casey was killed in Iraq, is calling for Bush's "impeachment," and for Israel to get out of Palestine!

"You get America out of Iraq and Israel out of Palestine and you'll stop the terrorism," Sheehan declares.

Sheehan, who is asking for a second meeting with President Bush, says defiantly: "My son was killed in 2004. I am not paying my taxes for 2004. You killed my son, George Bush, and I don't owe you a penny...you give my son back and I'll pay my taxes. Come after me (for back taxes) and we'll put this war on trial."

"And now I'm going to use another 'I' word - impeachment - because we cannot have these people pardoned. They need to be tried on war crimes and go to jail."

Sorry, but she loses any sympathy that I may have had for her. Many people lose family members and loved ones without coming to this.

The comment about Israel shows that I really comes down to Left™ hatred. I would like one of these idiots to tell me where the Jews are supposed to go, or do they think that the PLO and Hamas will let them live in the middle east in peace?

Of course we all know what the real answer is, but we conservatives are the ones who are collectively "Hitler".

Russian Sailors Tell Story

Russian sailors from the rescued AS-28 mini-submarine describe their ordeal.

Sailors Recount Darkness and Frigid Temperatures Aboard Russian Sub Snagged on Cables for 3 Days

The seven men endured darkness and frigid temperatures for three days until their Russian mini-submarine was freed Sunday from the Pacific floor by a British remote-controlled vehicle as oxygen supplies dwindled.

"It was cold, cold, very cold. I can't even describe it," one crew member with reddish hair said as the sailors walked ashore with dazed looks and bloodshot eyes after their vessel was cut loose from cables that had snagged it.

The men aboard the AS-28 mini-submarine _ six sailors and a representative of the company that made the ship _ had opened the hatch and climbed out without assistance, officials said.

Six were taken to a hospital on the mainland for examination, waving to relatives as they went in. The seventh was kept aboard a hospital ship for unspecified reasons. They appeared to be in "satisfactory" condition, naval spokesman Capt. Igor Dygalo said.

At the edge of the gangplank leading off the ship that brought the crew to shore, the submarine's commander Lt. Vyacheslav Milashevsky held a long and solemn salute, then a slight smile crossed his face.

He was pale but told journalists he felt "fine" before climbing into a van with the others for the trip to the hospital. Another crew member in the van looked from side to side, gazing at the green trees and gray skies.

Milashevsky's wife, Yelena, said earlier that she was overjoyed upon hearing about the rescue. "I was happy. I cried from happiness. I danced," she told Channel One television.

The men had worn thermal suits to protect them against temperatures of about 40 degrees and were told to lie flat and breathe as lightly as possible during the rescue effort, officials said. To conserve electricity, lights were turned off and contact with the surface was kept to a minimum.

The crew member with reddish hair said he felt OK and was eager to be reunited with his wife and daughter. He was then ushered in the van taking the men to the hospital and did not reply when asked his name.

Russian authorities thanked the British and praised the international effort that included the United States, but criticism quickly arose over why the nation's once-formidable navy needed outside help.

...

Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, who supervised the rescue operation from a navy ship, clenched his fists and shook them in happiness when he saw the red-and-white-striped sub surfacing.

"We have seen in deeds, not in words, what the brotherhood of the sea means," he said. [Yes, we submariners do see each other as belonging to a brotherhood even across international boundaries. - ed.]

On Monday, he promised that the navy's rescue capabilities would be improved.

"The condition of the rescue service is one of our priorities and I will demand that they are maintained on the highest level," Ivanov said at a news conference.

Read the whole story, there is some interesting detail. And yes, it was fishing nets.

Again, thank God that they are safe.

Sign This Petition

Lump on a Blog has a piece on the efforts to deny the new terrorist President of Iran a visa to enter the United States to speak at the (terror supporting) UN.

The centerpiece is from the Financial Times

From the Petition;

WE, the undersigned, as members of the civilized freedom-loving people of the world, call urgently to prevent Terror/ Torture Master Ahmadinejad entering United States:

1- Mahmood Ahmadinejad is not elected president of Iran. Great Majority of Iranian people boycotted sham election and they have not participated in the recent Islamic election.
2- Ahmadinejad stepped on a picture of an American flag on his way to vote. Iranian nation have deep respect for all countries flag specially the American flag which is a cherished national symbol of freedom-loving American people and home of million Iranian-American people. Ahmadinejad is not a representative Iranian Nation.
3- Ahmadinejad plotted many dissident's murder and was directly involved in the 1989 assassination of Iranian exile Kurdish opposition leader Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou and two other Kurdish politicians in Vienna, Austria. A murderer and Terrorist is not a representative of freedom-loving Iranian Nation.
4- According to Ahmadinejad himself, he has executed at least 1000 freedom-loving Iranian people in the prison and he was known as “Tir Khalas Zan”, literally meaning “he who fires coup de grace”. Many female former political prisoners raped by Ahmadinejad. Such a dirty person and virus is not president of Iran.
5- Ahmadinejad is responsible for “Lovers of Martyrdom Garrison” in Iran that would recruit individuals willing to carry out suicide operations against Western targets. Do not allow this Terrorist to put his foot on US soil and enter UN.
6- Ahmadinejad played a central role in the seizure of the United States embassy in Tehran in November 1979 and he was key American hostage-taker for the 444-day.

How can you accept and allow this Brutal Man, Thug, Terror and Torture Master to put his foot on US soil and attend the UN General Assembly in New York?

Read his post and then go and sign the petition.

Grave Danger for South Korea

At least one writer in South Korea sees the danger of coddling the North. We Boost North Korea's Confidence at Our Peril by Kim Dae-joong

The North Korean regime seems to have gained in self-confidence regarding its relations with South Korea. A recent squabble over taking down a statue of General Douglas MacArthur, a hero of the Korean War to some, and a remark by Prof. Kang Jeong-koo of Dongguk University that the Korean War was fought for "unification” send a signal the National Liberation forces, hibernating since their suppression by South Korea's anti-Communist forces, are emerging above ground. Amid a climate where leftist or pro-North Korean forces in the Roh Moo-hyun administration have boosted aid to the North and increased the frequency of inter-Korean events while promoting the posthumous award of a medal to a leader of the former Korea Communist Party, the NL forces are at last showing their faces above the parapet to ride anti-American sentiment and a mood of inter-Korean cooperation.

A North Korea expert says the NL, pro-Pyongyang forces that infiltrated campuses and academic circles, have concentrated on education and propaganda since the 1980s democratization movement following a time in hiding under the military regimes. Now, he says, they are reasserting themselves on the back of Seoul’s "sunshine policy" and a new mood of nationalism. Recently, too, a retired general involved in a drive for a veterans body to counter the Korean Veterans Association proudly revealed that his father was a member of the South Worker’s Party of Korea, while a protester at a rally against the MacArthur statute reportedly shouted, "Yes, I'm Red. What are you going to do about it?"

...

But it is a fantasy that it would contribute to security on the Korean Peninsula and peaceful coexistence if North Korea took advantage of this mood, as the pro-Pyongyang forces would have us believe. We need only to listen to North Korean defector Kim Tae-san, who said the only way for North Korea to survive its structural food and power shortages “is eventually to get a hold over all of South Korea -- that is Kim Jong-il’s innermost aspiration." That these developments are taking place even as North Korea’s dismal human rights record and its desperate economic plight and food shortages are exposed to the glare of world attention is one the great historic ironies.

Liberals in South Korea who appease evil, as they do everywhere, could precipitate one of the great tragedies of history. Should the Dear Monster geat his hands on South Korea - "unifying the peninsula" then millions of innocent people would be simply murdered even after the completion of the conquest. It does not seem to us now that this is possible, but the past two generations of South Koreans have no experience with war or communism and have been thoroughly propagandized by the same kind of academic Leftists™ that we have here in the United States.

South Korea needs to inflict political defeat on her liberals in order to stay secure in her fight against Communism, as we in the U.S. have to defeat our liberals in out fight against Islam.

Neither of us can afford to lose the fight.

Submarine Emergency - Pray For Them!

Some of my brother submariners are in extremis.

U.S. relief crew on way to Russian sub

The drama started Thursday when the propeller of the AS-28 mini-submarine became entangled in fishing nets or cable during a military exercise off the Kamchatka Peninsula on Russia's east coast.

The mishap left the sub nearly 625 feet down on the Pacific floor in Beryozovaya Bay, 43 miles south of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on the southern end of the peninsula.

The sailors could not swim to the surface nor could divers reach the vessel because it is too deep at 190 meters (623 feet) below the surface, said Russian navy spokesman Capt. Igor Dygalo.

Interfax reported Federov as saying early Saturday that the sub had been dragged 100 meters closer to the coast in an effort to get it to shallower water.

Crew members understand their situation and are not panicking, Dygalo said.

They were asked to lower their physical activity level, save electricity, and try to keep themselves warm. He said crew members had enough food and water for five days.

A U.S. Air Force C-5 carrying two robotic submersibles and 40 submariners, divers and other experts left Friday afternoon from the San Diego North Island Naval Station in California for the estimated 10-hour flight to Russia.

Once there, the crew and the rescue vehicles -- called Super Scorpios -- will be put aboard a Russian surface ship and taken to the site.

The Super Scorpios -- equipped with video cameras, lights and agile robotic arms that can cut up to one inch of steel cable -- will be piloted remotely and used to untangle the mini-sub, the Navy said.

Thank God that the Russians quickly asked for our help, and pray that we can succeed.

UPDATE:
The Russian Commander of the Pacific Fleet says that they have sufficient air until Monday. I pray that he is right.

Here is a Euronews report with video.

UPDATE 2
The Brits are an the way also. Here is video from the BBC that includes a look inside of a similar mini-submarine.

Hurry, hurry.

UPDATE 3

SUCCESS! Thanks be to God!

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, Russia -- A Russian mini-submarine that was trapped for nearly three days under the Pacific Ocean surfaced Sunday after a British remote-controlled vehicle cut away the undersea cables that had snarled it, news agencies reported.

The AS-28 made an emergency surfacing and appeared on the water at around 4:26 p.m. local time, ITAR-Tass and RIA-Novosti reported. The condition of the vessel's seven-member crew was not immediately known, though naval officials had been in regular contact with the crew, who faced dwindling oxygen and chilly temperatures.

When Countries are Bad Credit Risks

Many think that forgiving the loans of third world countries is a good thing to do. They forget that people (or companies, or countries) that do not pay on their loans do not get new ones.

Mugabe rebuffed by China

"While they (the Chinese) are willing to provide infrastructural help on generous credit terms, they are not willing to throw huge amounts of money at us," according to an anonymous Zimbabwean official who was party to the talks.

Chinese officials fear the loan would never be repaid. Mr Mugabe had offered China farming concessions and even stakes in foreign-owned mines in his country but this was not enough, the paper said.

In the past, Mr Mugabe has tried to swing similar deals with Libya, offering generous cuts of the farming and mining sector in return for petroleum and hard cash. Three years ago Libya abruptly suspended trade with Mr Mugabe because the promised concessions never materialised, leaving the north African country with a sizeable debt it is unlikely to recover.

To forgive all loans to the third world, rather than assist in developing an economy, will condemn millions to continued misery.

Of course the subject country must be willing to develop a free market.