Somali warlords veto troops plan

A group of Somali cabinet ministers and MPs has denounced government proposals to deploy foreign peacekeepers.

They issued a statement saying troops from neighbouring Ethiopia and Djibouti would not be acceptable.

The move came as exiled President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed continued his tour of Somalia, as part of plans to relocate the government from Kenya.

A BBC analyst describes the signatories - who all have militia support - as Mogadishu's best-known warlords.

Among those who signed the statement - issued after talks in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi - was Hussein Mohammed Aideed, a deputy prime minister.

Also on the list were Security Minister Mohammed Qanyare Afrah and Trade Minister Musa Sudi Yalahow.

Rival fiefdoms

Somalia has been without an effective government since 1991.

Since then, rival warlords, many of whom are now ministers, have battled for control of the country, and Somalia has been divided into a patchwork of fiefdoms.

President Yusuf Ahmed, who has been in Somalia since Thursday, has repeatedly insisted during his visit that peacekeeping troops from neighbouring countries should be deployed - and he says that most Somalis support the idea.

But the BBC's Grant Ferrett says that without the warlords' support, there is little prospect that the deployment can go ahead.

Ethiopia, in particular, has long been viewed with suspicion by many Somali faction leaders, he says.

Five months after the president took office, he has yet to visit Mogadishu and the government remains in Nairobi.

The longer it stays there, the more divided it appears, our analyst says.

A Seahawks scoop

A person close to a legitimate source told me that Bob Ferguson did not quit his job as General Manager. He was fired. This same source told me that Holmgren probably has one more year to get his act together and make genuine winners outta the team.

While there was no real excuse last year for the mediocre season, there will be less of one this year. After the Jones/Hasselbeck/Alexander trifecta, virtually everything else is gravy. If they can pull an average draft and some average free agent acquisitions, the off season will have been successful.

Shaun Alexander: Will Not Be Traded

Update: Alexander will "absolutely not" be traded, coach Mike Holmgren told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Recommendation: There was speculation after the Seahawks franchised Alexander that it was a setup for trading him to the highest bidder. Holmgren said the Seahawks want to sign Alexander to a long-term deal. Neither side has exchanged numbers yet, however.

Interesting. I'm not too optimistic about this deal.

It's never too early to think NFL Fantasy Draft

"Jethro Franklin, former Packers defensive-line coach: "We had as much respect for Burleson when putting together our defensive game plan for the Vikings as we did for Moss. Burleson is going to be one of the great receivers in the league."

(Side note: Remember Nate Burleson in your fantasy draft.)

(Side note II: Is that the coaching equivalent of choosing "Rocky VI" over "Million Dollar Baby" as best boxing movie?)"

Seahawks Re-Sign QB Matt Hasselbeck To A 6-Year Contract

Whew, they cut that to the wire. I was getting nervous. If they'd had to franchise Hasselbeck, that would have set the whole post season off on the wrong foot.

Bob Ferguson's resignation concerns me, however. The Hawks did make the post season for both seasons he managed the organization.

Now... who's willing to give up two first round picks for Alexander? What would it be like if he stayed?

XBox games

The latest Gameinformer arrived a few days ago, and I found a game or two to watch out for:

Fight Night: Round 2 - I think I'll rent the first one first. Both have received rave reviews, and I enjoy a good boxing game every once in awhile. I already have Rocky, but this franchise is supposed to have revolutionized the boxing genre.

Baseball - I still can't get excited about a baseball video game. I'm not sure why, it just doesn't intrigue me. I think baseball is do large of a game. The games are long, the season is long, the rosters are huge... I can't find anything to lock on to. I like going to Mariners games as much as the next guy, but that doesn't make me want to start my own franchise.

Star Wars: Republic Commando - good review, looks fun. When the price comes down, and when I'm in the mood for squad based Star Wars, I'll come looking.

Dai Senryaku VII: Modern Military Tactics - this is the game that motivated this whole post. There are precious few strategy games for X-Box, and this one received a good review, and has a $20 sticker price. This is on my short list. I really like the sleeper games. Star Wars and Halo and Tom Clancy and NFL games are great, but a little originality can be a wonderful thing. I wonder if the Dai Senryaku I - VI were any good.

Arx Fatalis - I ran across this title on the gamespot web site. This role player slid under the radar but looks quite good. It's a first person RPG in the Morrowind tradition. It's described as original and memorable. Yep, I've added this one to my short list. I'll probably have to go online for it; I don't think I've even seen it for sale locally. Of course, it was so far under my radar, I wouldn't have looked twice if I had seen it.

NFL deadlines

The deadline to designate franchise players is a little over a day away, and there's still no word on a contract for Hasselbeck. If they don't finish the deal, he may get the franchise tag, thus releasing Alexander to free agency.

I agree with other writers that the QB Franchise amount of 8 million is more than Hasselbeck is worth. He's good, but he's not among the best three in the league. On the otherhand, he works well with Holmgren and Holmgren's offense and is definitely a first rate QB that we're lucky to have.

I'm sticking with conventional wisdom: Hasselbeck will get a conventional contract, either within the next few days, or during free agency. Alexander will get the franchise tag. The Hawks will use an early round pick to draft an RB who will then be groomed for the '06 season. Assuming they do find a way to keep Alexander around for another year (which is a big assumption), I suppose anything can happen. His skin may thicken, he may repair his relationship with local media (if Hasselbeck can do it, anyone can), he and Holmgren may finally bond the way Holmgren and Robinson seem to have bonded.

Eh, who am I kidding. The Alexander / Seahawks relationship is on borrowed time.

More team comics: Johns's Teen Titans

Geof Johns is nailing the teen youth group vibe with his work on the current Teen Titans. I like it. He's working the niche and he's doing it well, all while staying true to the fight comic super hero genre.

All the kids come together to get away from their respective home lives. Robin gets some Batman free time; Superboy can forget about his Kent/Luthor clone dilemmas, you get the idea. It all happens in a semi protected, adult sanctioned, yet adult free teen-space.

And they use their powers to fight evil.

Walter Jones: Yes, he is the best Seahawk, now why can't I buy his jersey?!

KIRKLAND - The Seattle Seahawks have signed All-Pro left tackle Walter Jones to a multi-year contract, the team announced Wednesday."It's a great feeling, I always wanted to stay in Seattle," said Jones, who signed the contract at home in Alabama. "My goal now is to help the team get to the next level, get to that big game, the Super Bowl.""It's a big thing for the Seahawks," said Mike Reinfeldt on the signing. "He's been such a good player, five Pro Bowls, and he's such an integral part of what we do; and I hope getting him signed gives us some momentum with the other guys. Walter's a great player, he wants to be here, he's a good team guy, he's a good guy in the lockerroom, and hopefully it sends the message to the other players that keeping it together is important to everybody."
Jones completed his eighth season in 2004 and was named to his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl, fifth career, and earned Associated Press First-Team All-Pro honors for the second time in his career (2001).
The Seahawks named Jones their franchise player from 2002-04, spending each offseason unable to agree to a long-term deal until today. "It feels kind of weird," said Jones on not facing another franchise tag. "You never know what's going to happen when the season is over, and I got the call yesterday that the deal was done, and I'm glad that it got taken care of."Not having to use the franchise tag on Jones gives the Seahawks more leverage in some of the other free agent negotiations going on.
Originally selected by the Seahawks as the sixth overall pick in the 1997 draft, Jones has started all 122 career games played at left tackle.And of course, this means a return to Cheney and training camp this summer for Walter. "I'm going to have to ask some of the guys what to do once I get there, I haven't been there in so long," said Jones. "But I'm looking forward to it."

Suddenly I love Walter Jones. He's the ultimate side kick to the starting quarterback. His job is to watch the QB's back, and he's (arguably) the best there is at what he does. Even when he skips training camp, he works out at home and shows up ready to play when the season starts. That's the perfect balance between the individual and the team. He wanted his money, but he didn't let his profession suffer as a result.

I want his jersey, but I guess they don't make jersey's of offensive linemen, even when they're among the best in the league.

Team comics

I'd like to read a team book that really explores team dynamics. What readers normally get is either Melrose place soap opera dynamics or best of the best, special forces style cohesion. As any project manager, or team sports athlete can tell you, that doesn't tell the whole story. X-Books seem to capture the dynamic of a group of high school friends who have known each other for decades, the old Defenders comics had a little of the jury duty on adrenaline feel to it; both are valid enough.

I want Professor X as the college football coach, Cyclops as the senior quarterback, Colossus as the sophmore left tackle. I'm geeking out on the roles, and that's completely beside the point. The interesting part is the training, the playbook, the practice. The team heads out and tries to execute that training. Half time adjustments etc.

I want the NYPD Blues version of the Avengers. Professionals who are stuck with each other, doing their jobs on a daily basis, managing adversity, with their each unique lives to go home to at the end of the day. Oh yes, they carry pagers.

How about the limited series pickup basketball team (well, we have seen that: the original Secret Wars). Consider the NFL draft and what it could mean for a group of teams. Mix in rookie talent that needs a year to develop and what that means in a life or death situation.

Compare the New England Patriots with the Indianapolis Colts, add super heroes.

This isn't enough to carry a team book, it won't bring in new readers. It could make existing books better.

The Watchtower

I have a mystery at work: someone is leaving copies of the Watchtower in one of my waiting areas at work. Needless to say, we can't be perceived as preferring one religion over another. I suspect that a frequent flier family is 'contributing' their old magazines to our waiting room.

Battlestar Galactica

That new Battlestar Galactica show isn't too bad. It does have a feel of filler episodes though, which bugs me. I long for the dramatic television series that doesn't waste the majority of its air time on pointless subplots with nothing to do with the show's underlying premise.

This episode spent too much time on its Patriot Actesque analog.

The "meeting"

Before the Condo Association meeting could be called to order, it had erupted into useless chaos.

The owner who isn't an owner came to the meeting, like I thought she might, and she brought a power of attorney with her. I'll admit it was a good move that I hadn't expected. While I didn't see the paper myself, it was evidently not notarized.

The pointless arguing continued for a few minutes, but I can only tolerate so much of that sort of thing. I wound up interrupting to call for a motion of postponement. Our "Acting President" is hopeless at parliamentary procedure, and was ready to end the meeting based on the motion. I called for the second. We then had the vote, and the motion passed.

The whole thing has not been handled well by any of the interested parties:

Assuming that the power of attorney is legitimate, it still makes disrupts the "100% owner occupied" nature of our complex. We have rules that state exceptions must be authorized by the board, and can last no longer than six months. These rules are in clear violation by two of the owners. A valid power of attorney would give those individuals voting rights (technically by proxy) at the association. I have to double check the letter of our rules, but there are provisions for votes by proxy.

We really could have had the meeting, talked about the issues, looked at last year's finances and come up with a plan for moving forward. We should have had a discussion about whether to permit the two 'non-owners,' we should have voted, we should have continued with the meeting. Instead, we really had a worse case scenario. The fighting took over the meeting and absolutely nothing was accomplished.

I want to be the next president, only because I may be the only one with the knowledge and the ego to run a meeting with these people. The funny thing was, when I stuck my nose in and guided us into some procedure, the others followed right along. That gives me hope that it can be done. I don't care what we accomplish, I just want it to be done in an organized, democratic way.

Yahoo! News - Democrats Ready to Follow Howard Dean's Lead

Yahoo! News - Democrats Ready to Follow Howard Dean's Lead

We Democrats got nothing left. Dean's the only game left. I don't know if he can win at the national level, but it doesn't matter now. The only chance we have left is to take some stands and fight. Really fight.

No party can win on a national level if it alienates the middle, can it?

Condo Association Meeting today

The Courtland Condo Community (er somethin' or other) Association annual meeting is today, and it promises to be interesting.

The association has had a year filled with conflict, confusion and change. One way or the other, this is the dawn of a new day. Of the community's eight units, two have new tenants. Another has been here less than a year and hasn't seen an annual meeting before. *Counts on fingers* That's 3/8ths new blood or about 38%.

There is definitely an expectation for the new folks to step up and participate. This is a good thing, because the old group has had too much chaos, too much history, too much drama, and it sounds like they don't know how to run a meeting or run parliamentary procedure.

Just the day before the meeting there seems to be ... irregularities with a few of the units. Specifically, the owners who have made the loudest assertions of an illegal board, the owners who have threatened legal action if improper conduct is proven and not rectified, owners who have suggested that the rest of the group is racist, those owners may not actually 'own' their unit. If they don't own the unit, they don't have a place in the association. In fact, according to the by-laws, the board of directors of the association has the right to evict them.

I'm a little concerned that last year's board wants to delay elections because of this discovery. This election is already a month overdue, and our only chance at civilization is to stay organized and to follow the appropriate laws, by-laws and rules to the letter. This is the only way we can differentiate justice from infighting, and to avoid a witch-hunt.

Patriots win again.

Everyone who cares already knows: the New England Patriots won Superbowl XXXIX. Terrell Owens started, had a good game, didn't destroy his ankle, and the Philadelphia Eagles still lost.

This was the first Superbowl to begin the 4th quarter with a tie.

The next stop is the Probowl, then the draft, training camp, preseason, and finally it starts again next fall. Like all good fans, I believe next year just might be the one.

I look like this. 

Which service?

I've decided to start a blog, but I'm not sure which service to use. We'll see if I stay with Blogger.