Maliki, Diem, Solar power, Alkatiri

Sadr City raid a flop?
latimes
Prime Minister Nouri Maliki..

.."We are going to request some explanations from the multinational forces to prevent a similar incident and to ensure coordination with the Iraqi security forces," the Iraqi leader said.
..Maliki also went out of his way to praise the anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr for seemingly rejecting violence against other Muslims. Sadr has not renounced killing U.S. troops. American commanders believe that his militia, the Al Mahdi army, is behind most of the attacks against their troops.
..at least 91 American troops killed this month.

Ngo_Dinh_Diem

The Americans, who had heretofore strongly supported Diem, gave evidence of wavering, and this was all that a group of soldiers needed to depose him. Diem was overthrown and murdered on Nov. 2, 1963.

---

25 October 2006..ecoearth

Australia has announced plans to build the world's biggest solar power station as part of a radical rethink on climate change.
.. would contribute A$75 million towards the cost of the photovoltaic solar power plant.
154 megawatt cost A$420m ($318m) ..be built by Melbourne-based Solar Systems.
Capital cost US$2.06 per Watt (cf Sizewell "B" 1995 $3 per Watt)
..mirrors which concentrate the sun's rays 500x
[onto high temperature PV cells - the hard part was the adhesives. I believe the cells are liquid cooled solar-power]

..the government would also put A$50m into an A$360m pilot project to reduce, capture and store carbon dioxide emissions from a coal-fired power station ..
[I fear that CO2 sequestration is a big-carbon boondoggle. The volumes involved are huge, and I remain to be convinced the geostrata are available. Scientific American is bullish on sequestration. The $ amounts mentioned are trivial in the face of the problem, and in the face of current breaks for big carbon]

---

Timor-L'este...
smh

an Australian soldier was also involved in a shooting incident yesterday, the Australian Defence Force says, amid violence in Dili in which at least two people died and dozens were injured.

East Timor's army is also preparing to address the nation declaring its troops should no longer be confined to barracks because of the lawlessness, sources in Dili said last night.

The army's top officers will declare that the forced removal from office of former prime minister Mari Alkatiri amounted to a coup and that those responsible should be investigated by East Timorese, sources said.

The army was expected to make the address last night but state television went off the air, citing technical problems.

If the army goes ahead with the address it would be seen by Dili's political elite as criticism of the President, Xanana Gusmao, who is strongly supported by the Prime Minister, Jose Ramos-Horta. Mr Ramos-Horta is visiting the Pope at the Vatican.

Maliki Diem Solar power Alkatiri