Lot's of blogs like Captains Quarters, Powerline, etc are down. Wonder if this is a runup to Mondays festivities? Hat tip to LGF.
Hupitle Angererong2203 reports: Most if not all Hosting Matters sites are down due to a DoS attack. Even mine :( Attack is originating internationally, from a country that HM feels is not going to be interested in pursuing the culprit.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/28/2006 11:31 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Hosting Matters must be incompetent.
When a DoS attack takes place the ISP should already have in place agreements and methods of identifying (and dumping) the offending traffic further up the pipeline.
Some ISPs do that, others don't. I don't understand why so many bloggers still rely on that particular ISP.
#6
Instabackup notes that while originating in KSA, that just means the computers attacking are located there. Could be anybody behind the attack, say anybody with a beard or a turban or a limited view of "tolerance, or maybe just the proverbial swedish grandmother. Who knows?
#7
I patented a solution to DoS long ago.
Patent is owned by Motorola. It works.
Patent is written for cellular but notes same effect with similar modification to MAC layer with ethernet.
Problem is that Robert Metcalfe invented ethernet with broadcast PSIST values for backoff. Metcalfe and all the ethernet (and other network backoffs) implemented these PSIST values as a table. However, when your access attempt curve clips and becomes flat your controller has no way of knowing how deep it is in doo doo and the PSIST values are pretty much static. This broadcast needs feedback to dig itself out of a hole.
Its possible to provide this feedback if, when a device attempts to talk to the ethernet chip it adds a count of failed attempts and a time period. Only a small percentage of devices need to do so to provide valuable statistical data to modify the PSIST values broadcast. Therefore, one does not need to modify the MAC layer. In the MAC layer is an engineering area. A brand of ethernet chip or the chips rom can insert these values into the engineering area. If the brands are the same then they can understand each other and may statistical decisions to dynamicly adjust the PSIST backoff values.
View it as turning the network connection into molassas and then thining back to water when traffic conditions are fine.
BTW... one of the co-inventors with me was the Russian who invented the Woodpecker radar.
#9
It originate in Soddi and was aimed at Aaron's site. At LGF lots of discussion about the sites hosting the Mohammad cartoons being hacked or targeted for DDoS.
Hupitle Angererong2203 was me, btw. In my language that means "The cattle are dying". Props to the first person who gets the reference.
Chimpanzees are our closest living relatives, with at least 95% of the same DNA. We're closer to them than they are to gorillas, so when I see chimpanzees being used as on-screen comedians, dressed up in silly costumes to sell credit cards, I think, Is this any way to treat a relative?
This issue has been on my mind a lot lately. It started when my kids went on a field trip to what was billed as an exotic animal refuge in Malibu. I excitedly tagged along only to find that it was like a shabby petting zoo that rents lions, tigers and a fascinating pair of chimpanzees to productions like "The Gong Show" to perform pathetic tricks under lights in front of loud crowds--conditions that are very stressful. I chose to have that kind of life; these animals didn't.
Sorry, I just couldn't pass on Pamela's Debut on the WSJ editorial page. No ink dot drawing was in the paper. EFL.
#7
So why did the WSJ invite her for an editorial? Circulation numbers down or what?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/28/2006 19:30 Comments ||
Top||
#8
She's still mad because she and Kid Rock were displaced as PWT queen and king by Britney and Cletus.
Personally, I think that if all four of them appeared at the same time on the Jerry Springer Show, it would have torn a hole in the very fabric of the low-cut jeans of the universe.
A cantankerous crocodile chased a man removing a storm-felled tree from its pen before stealing his chainsaw, shattering a few teeth in the process.
The aptly named Brutus, a 4.5m (15-ft) saltwater crocodile kept as an attraction at the Corroboree Park Tavern in Australia's Northern Territory, took offence at the noise of the chainsaw as the man cut the fallen tree, tavern co-owner Linda Francis told Reuters.
"Freddy had climbed out on to the tree and was removing a limb when the crocodile just erupted from his pool about 20m (60 ft) away and used the tree to launch himself up at Fred and the chainsaw," Francis said on Friday.
"Fred virtually gave him the chainsaw, shoved it at him. It was still going and he took the chainsaw onto the ground and proceeded to smash it and it stalled. The crocodile didn't cut himself, just broke a few teeth."
Brutus then took the chainsaw into his pond and played with it for about an hour, destroying it, before losing interest.
#7
Dang, hope theses teeth will grow back, like for sharks... That was the croc equivalent of "You, there, down with the noise, can't you see I'm trying to get a sunbath?! Don't make me climb that tree to give you a lesson! Are you deaf? Awright, that does it, here I come."
Cranky reptile.
World Organization Against Torture (Geneva)
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Sudan Organisation Against Torture (SOAT), a member of the OMCT network, of the release of Ms. Fayza Ismail Abaker (16), Ms. Houda Ismail Abdel Rahman (17) and Ms. Zahra Adam Abdella (17) on 5 April 2006. According to the information received, they were released after SOATs network of lawyers in Nyala submitted an application before the Attorney General in Nyala for the dismissal of the case because of lack of evidence. It is reported that Ms. Amouna Mohamed Ahmed (17), remains in detention and is awaiting trial for murder.
OMCT expresses its grave concerns over these events and would like to recall Sudan as a state party of the Convention on the Rights of the Child stating that under article 37 (a) "Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below eighteen years of age" and under article 37 (c), "every child deprived of liberty shall be treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the human person, and in a manner which takes into account the needs of persons of his or her age. In particular, every child deprived of liberty shall be separated from adults unless it is considered in the child's best interest not to do so and shall have the right to maintain contact with his or her family through correspondence and visits, save in exceptional circumstances".
Brief reminder of the situation
According to the information received, Ms. Amouna Mohamed Ahmed, Ms. Fayza Ismail Abaker, Ms. Houda Ismail Abdel Rahman and Ms. Zahra Adam Abdella were arrested on 7 March 2006, by police forces in Seraif IDP camp, Hay AlGeer, West Nyala, Southern Dafur. All four girls are IDPs, who live in Seraif IDP camp and are from the Fur tribe.
It was reported that the four girls were attacked by two armed militias in uniform whilst collecting firewood outside the camp on 7 March 2006, around 11:30am. During the attack, one of the men assaulted one of the girls and attempted to rape her. When the girl resisted, the man began to beat her. In defence, she grabbed the knife she had been using to cut the firewood and stabbed the attacker in the stomach. The four girls then managed to escape and returned to Seraif camp.
Allegedly the girls reported the incident to police officers inside the camp who refused to file the case. In the afternoon of the same day, police officers inside the camp were informed of the death of a stabbing victim. It is reported that this person is the man who was stabbed by the girl. Following this news, the police officers immediately arrested the four girls on suspicion of murder. The girls were initially taken to Nyala Shamal police station, where they were detained for five days and charged with murder under article 190 of the 1991 Penal Code. On 11 March 2006, they were transferred to Nyaka Wasat (Central) police station, headquarters of the police in Nyala, where they are currently being detained. If convicted, the girls may face death by hanging.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/28/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
If only women would join together more often, arm themselves and seek jungle justice, they'd have a lot more rights in third world countries
A SECRET code embedded in the text of a court ruling in the case of Dan Brown's bestseller The DaVinci Code has been cracked, but far from revealing an ancient conspiracy it is simply an obscure reference to a Royal Navy admiral.
British High Court Justice Peter Smith, who handed down a ruling that Brown had not plagiarised his book, had embedded his own secret message in his judgment by italicising letters scattered throughout the 71-page document.
In Brown's book, a secret code reveals an ancient conspiracy to hide facts about Jesus Christ.
The judge's own code briefly caused a wave of amused speculation when it was discovered by a lawyer this week, nearly a month after the ruling was handed down.
But after a day working on it, the lawyer, Dan Tench, said he'd cracked it. The judge's code was based on the Fibonacci sequence, a mathematical progression discussed in the book.
"After much trial and error, we found a formula which fitted," wrote Tench, a lawyer who had nothing to do with the Brown case but discovered the italicised letters when studying the ruling.
The judge's secret message was: "Jackie Fisher, who are you? Dreadnought," Tench wrote in The Guardian newspaper.
Judge Smith is known as a navy buff, and Fisher was a Royal Navy admiral who developed the idea for a giant battleship called the HMS Dreadnought.
Judge Smith has not made any public comment, but Tench wrote that the judge had e-mailed him to confirm he had guessed the secret code right.
Party Time!
Mexico's Congress approved a bill Friday decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine and heroin for personal use - a measure sure to raise questions in Washington about Mexico's commitment to the war on drugs.
The only step remaining was the signature of the president, whose office indicated he would sign it.
Mexican officials hope the law will help police focus on large-scale trafficking operations, rather than minor drug busts. The bill also stiffens penalties for trafficking and possession of drugs - even small quantities - by government employees or near schools, and maintains criminal penalties for drug sales. since the large scale has been a partner with Mexican Military and Politicos, I'd count this as likely as Barry Bonds giving up his HR records due to "personal use" of Musclerama
The Bush administration had no immediate reaction.
The bill, passed by Mexico's Senate on a 53-26 vote with one abstention, had already been approved in the lower house of Congress and was sent to the desk of President Vicente Fox for his signature.
"This law gives police and prosecutors better legal tools to combat drug crimes that do so much damage to our youth and children," presidential spokesman Ruben Aguilar said. still won't stop the shakedowns by Policia
The bill says criminal charges will no longer be brought for possession of up to 25 milligrams of heroin, five grams of marijuana (about one-fifth of an ounce, or about four joints), and half a gram of cocaine - about half the standard street-size quantity, which is enough for several lines of the drug.
"No charges will be brought against ... addicts or consumers who are found in possession of any narcotic for personal use," according to the Senate bill, which also lays out allowable quantities for a large array of other drugs, including LSD, MDA, ecstasy - about two pills' worth, - and amphetamines.
Some of the amounts are eye-popping: Mexicans would be allowed to possess 2.2 pounds of peyote, the button-sized hallucinogenic cactus used in some native Indian religious ceremonies.
Mexican law now leaves open the possibility of dropping charges against people caught with drugs if they are considered addicts and if "the amount is the quantity necessary for personal use." But the exemption isn't automatic.
The new bill drops the "addict" requirement - automatically allowing any "consumers" to have drugs - and sets out specific allowable quantities.
Sale of all drugs would remain illegal under the proposed law, unlike the Netherlands, where the sale of marijuana for medical use is legal and it can be bought with a prescription in pharmacies.
While Dutch authorities look the other way regarding the open sale of cannabis in designated coffee shops - something Mexican police seem unlikely to do - the Dutch have zero tolerance for heroin and cocaine. In both countries, commercial growing of marijuana is outlawed.
The effects could be significant, given that Mexico is rapidly becoming a drug-consuming nation as well as a shipment point for traffickers, and given the number of U.S. students who flock to border cities or resorts like Cancun and Acapulco on vacation.
"This is going to increase addictions in Mexico," said Ulisis Bon, a drug treatment expert in Tijuana, where heroin use is rampant. "A lot of Americans already come here to buy medications they can't get up there ... Just imagine, with heroin."
Tequila suppliers complained to no avail...
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/28/2006 18:03 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
no reponse from McKennedy Amnesty and Open Borders LLC
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/28/2006 18:13 Comments ||
Top||
#2
this will cause havoc.
'mericans will be going on "vacation" junkets galore. ODs overseas as it were. Smuggling will increase and a spike in addicted folks will go up here and in old Mexico.
#4
Also on the peyote ... is that a kilo before or after cleaning the strychnine containing white fibers from the center of the buds?
If it is cleaned that's an awful lot of horrible tasting peyote. The peanut butter run would be to coat it inside some bread to hide the flavor. Then lots of cheap beer to swallow it.
When the puke it up a few mins later the toliet cleaning materials come into play
#5
It doesn't matter how much Cool-Aid one uses, Magic Mushroom tea tastes awful. Or so I've heard.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/28/2006 20:18 Comments ||
Top||
#6
So.... does this mean that I can go to a bar at Lands End in Baja, order a shot of Don Julio and a rail of pure Bolivian cocain from the bar girl, then even it all out with a bong hit?
"What goes around comes around" from same oil trader as before this analysis...
Well Chavez is now buying Russian oil to avoid defaulting on its sales deals. How come?
Venezuela, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, has struck a $2bn deal to buy about 100,000 barrels a day of crude oil from Russia until the end of the year. Venezuela has been forced to turn to an outside source to avoid defaulting on contracts with "clients" and "third parties" as it faces a shortfall in production, according to a person familiar with the deal. Venezuela could incur penalties if it fails to meet its supply contracts. But why the shortfall?
Under President Hugo Chávez, PDVSA's oil output has declined by about 60 per cent, a trend analysts say has accelerated in the past year because of poor technical management. Mr Chávez's push to extend his influence throughout Latin America and the Caribbean with promises of cheap oil for friends and allies may be overstretching PDVSA's finances, however.
Venezuela currently supplies about 300,000 barrels per day of oil and products to Cuba, Nicaragua and others under favourable long-term financing arrangements. This week, Venezuela signed a deal to send oil to town mayors in Nicaragua aligned with the leftwing Sandinista party. So, Venezualans are billions worse off as Chavez plays his childish games to "battle" against the imagined enemy we see in these forums from time to time, a global capitalist conspiracy. The truth however is simply that Chavez has given away the nations wealth on a massive scale.
The global fungible oil market, along with OPEC, the most successful producer cartel in the world, serves the interests of the citizens of producers best. Unlike super-Chav it maximises the value of oil reserves for their owners.
The great game is over. The new game is globalisation of all the other areas of economic activity. The oil market globalised in 1972.
Question:
Are you saying that you approve of the cartelised oligopoly that masquerades as the world oil market? That goes against pretty much every globalisation and market liberalisation text ever written.
Answer:
no, I think the cartel is wrong. I was just pointing out, mainly for some people, that far from the owners of oil reserves getting a poor deal in the alleged global capitalist conspiracy the opposite is in fact true.
Furthermore the great irony is that those who maintain I am wrong, like ..., and that the global oil market is rigged against producers and in favor of the US (I mean consumers LOL) are actually not serving their electorates well at all. Perhaps this isnt really surprising?
And my denoument that the "Great Game" is over is I think something that few outside of the oil industry have realised. The end of the hydrocarbon age is beckoning if not already upon us, thats why big oil is rapidly transforming itself into a manufacturing industry that will produce unconventioanl hydrocarbons and then the successors to hydrocarbons.
OPEC, by their greed, have in fact blown it. What value oil reserves if the world in 20-40 years no longer runs on oil? Most of OPEC have decades more oil to produce than that. Still, its been a lucrative 30 years and its a fine party today. Generational solidarity?
#2
Can we start a "Moonbat Petroleum Services" as an IBC and buy his oil at below market to resell elsewhere as a covert economic warfare op? Think about it...we could bankrupt Hugo and his Bolivarian Revolution and make a killing doing it...
#3
Add to this the "smash and grab" he has done with the big oil companies, and I think he is going to find it hard to attract foriegn investment in the future.
At first it seemed to be nothing more than a routine, if damaging, case of counterfeiting in a country where faking it has become an industry. Reports filtering back to the Tokyo headquarters of the Japanese electronics giant NEC in mid-2004 alerted managers that pirated keyboards and recordable CD and DVD discs bearing the company's brand were on sale in retail outlets in Beijing and Hong Kong.
Like hundreds, if not thousands, of manufacturers now locked in a war of attrition with intellectual property thieves in China, the company hired an investigator to track down the pirates. After two years and thousands of hours of investigation in conjunction with law enforcement agencies in China, Taiwan and Japan, the company said it had uncovered something far more ambitious than clandestine workshops turning out inferior copies of NEC products. The pirates were faking the entire company.
#1
I still have a lapel pin of the "great leader" given to me by some NoKo officials (University days, many years ago).
Two things I remember about them:
(1) They drank like fish. I was impressed at how much liquor they could imbibe.
(2) They wore lapel pins.
Only after they left did I realize that particular pins signify rank.
Posted by: john ||
04/28/2006 16:42 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Bizarre rumors persist in Japanese and South Korean media about a hormonal-imbalance condition that leaves Jong-chol with an excess of female hormones. These odd, unsubstantiated reports command a certain following, or at least acknowledgement, within the Southern establishment. Lee Kyo-duk, director of planning and coordination at KINU, has called Jong-chol's condition a "fatal disease" and "allegedly incurable".
The national anthem should be sung in English - not Spanish - President Bush declared Friday, amid growing restlessness over the millions of immigrants here illegally.
"One of the things that's very important is, when we debate this issue, that we not lose our national soul," the president exclaimed. "One of the great things about America is that we've been able to take people from all walks of life bound as one nation under God. And that's the challenge ahead of us."
A Spanish language version of the national anthem was released Friday by a British music producer, Adam Kidron, who said he wanted to honor America's immigrants. Well, then, why didn't he do it in German or Gaelic, since more Americans are descended from people who originally spoke those languages?
When the president was asked at a Rose Garden question-and-answer session whether the anthem should be sung in Spanish, he replied: "I think the national anthem ought to be sung in English, and I think people who want to be a citizen of this country ought to learn English and they ought to learn to sing the national anthem in English."
He made his remarks on the matters during a wide-ranging briefing with reporters. "I think people who want to be citizens of this country ought to learn English," Bush said.
The president's comments came amid a burgeoning national debate - and congressional fight - over legislation pending in Congress, and pushed by Bush, to overhaul U.S. immigration law.
Bush called on lawmakers to move forward on legislation - now stalled - that would revamp immigration laws.
"I want a comprehensive bill," Bush said that includes enforcement as well as giving temporary worker status to some illegal immigrants.
Large numbers of immigrant groups have planned an economic boycott next week to dramatize their call for legislation providing legal status for millions of people in the United States illegally.
"You know, I'm not a supporter of boycotts," Bush said. " I am a supporter of comprehensive immigration ... I think most Americans agree that we've got to enforce our border. I don't think there's any question about that."
His remarks followed release of the Spanish language version of the song, called "Nuestro Himno" or "Our Anthem."
And just in case you wanted to sing along....here's the lyrics....
''Nuestro Himno''
Lyrics Excerpts
Verso 1
¿Amenece, lo veis?, a la luz de la aurora?
Lo que tanto aclamamos la noche caer?
Sus estrellas sus franjas
flotaban ayer
En el fiero combate
en señal de victoria,
Fulgor de lucha, al paso de la libertada,
Por la noche decían: "¡Se va defendiendo!"
Coro:
¡Oh decid! ¿Despliega aún
Voz a su hermosura estrellada,
Sobre tierra de libres,
la bandera sagrada?
Verso 2
Sus estrellas, sus franjas, la libertad, somos iquales
Somos hermanos, en nuestro himno.
En el fiero combate en señal de victoria,
Fulgor de lucha, al paso de la libertada,
Mi gente sigue luchando yah es tiempo de romper las cadenas
Por la noche decían: "¡Se va defendiendo!"
Coro:
¡Oh decid! Despliega aún su hermosura estrellada
AUDIO
#3
Also, the Spanish text is atrocious and stupid. Many words in the proposed text simply dont exist and are deformations of existing words (libertada instead of libertad), ptiful tricks in order to shoehorn the text into the music. Because quite siimply Spanish has a different rythmic than English so finding words who keeep the meaning than the original version AND go with the music AND rhyme is enormously difficult. It ios like translating a poem (very, very, very hard) except with the added complication of having to stick to the music. Not something who can be done by a two bit loser like this guy.
#4
For those who dodn't understand Spanish here is my translation (I am a native Spanish speaker, Spanish fgrom Spain not from South America BTW)
It dawns do you see it, at the light of the aurora
what we so much hailed at the sunset (1)
Its stars, its spans,
flated yesterday in the fierce fight
in sign of victory
Blare of fight, at the step of the freedom (2)
By the night they were saying: It is defending itself"
Chorus
Oh, say, does it still deploys (3)
Voice (4) over its starred beauty
Over land of free (5),
the sacred banner (6)
Its stars, its spans, THE (7) freedom, we are equal
We are brothers in our hymn,
In the fierce fight, in sign of vicory
Blare of fight, at the step of the freedom
My people continue fighting,
It is time to break the chains
During the night they were saying: It si defending itself"
Chorus
Oh, say, does it still deploys
(1) Here the original text has incorrect Spanish grammar
(2) Word who doesn't exists in Spanish
(3) The original Spanish word means deploy, unfold not display
(4) Voice or scream
(5) free without telling more (eg free men) is quite atrocious in Spanish or French
(6) And sacred has a strong religuous meaning in Spanish, specally when you tell bandera sagrada like in the song instead of sagrada bandera (unlike normal spanish practice sagrada is usually placed before the name
(7) Freedom would sound better in English but in the Spanish it says LA libertad not libertad
#5
Let's get Ricky Martin to write the lyrics. Something with a catchy beat, like "La Vida Migra"
Posted by: ed ||
04/28/2006 17:06 Comments ||
Top||
#6
I notice the title reads "Our Anthem", not the "American Anthem". And with the manipulation of lyrics - not just a bad translation - I'd say trademark infringement at the least!
And remember, our progressive friends want us to honor all other cultures equally.
KARACHI: Fifty-eight people, both men and women, lost their lives in 2005 only because they had married on their own will. They were among 1015 people murdered in the name of honour in the same year, said a report issued by the Madadgaar Help Line database recently.
The report, based on news clippings from twenty-six newspapers of Urdu, English and Sindh languages, says that despite the enactment of a law to curb violence against women, cases of karo kari or honour killing are still going on unabated. The report says that the data does not necessarily presents the real picture. According to an estimate, only 10 percent cases of honour killing are reported in the media.
And virtually none of them are punished.
The report says that more than 473 incidents of honour killing were reported from Sindh, 337 from Punjab, 129 from Balochistan and 76 from NWFP during 2005. Those killed included 563 married women, 75 unmarried women, 373 men and six children.
In 380 such cases the perpetrators were never nabbed. In most of the cases, the killers were close relatives of the victims. The report says that 146 married women were killed by real brothers, 240 by husbands, 60 by in laws, 11 by real sisters, two by stepsons, one by stepbrother, one by former husband, one by mother and 71 by other relatives. Whereas newspaper reports about unmarried women show that fathers were the perpetrators in 49 cases, paternal uncles in 33 cases, real brothers in 16 cases and real sister in one case.
Total 618 of the victims were killed on the charge of indulging in zina and 337 for allegedly maintaining illicit relations.
The report said that when attacked, 901 of the victims died on the spot while 5 received serious injuries. 91 of the victims sustained murderous attack. According to the report, in 17 cases victims were found dead but it could not be ascertained how they were killed.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/28/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"indulging in zina"
So that's what the kids are calling it these days.
They may be a border crossing light years away from fulfilling their American dream, but Mexican lawmakers are preparing to launch a national space agency they hope could one day stand tall beside the United States' NASA.
Words fail....
Mexico's lower house passed a law on Wednesday, which if approved by the upper chamber, would create a space agency to coordinate research and work with universities and the private sector to launch communication and weather satellites.
With an initial budget proposal of chump change less than $2 million, the backers of the Mexican Space Agency say it would struggle to challenge its northern neighbor's National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I think that comes under the heading of "no sh*t"
but hope it would draw Mexico into the international space community, bringing access to cutting-edge technology and research.
"We'd love it to become the Mexican NASA, Can you say "oxymoron"? With the emphasis on the moron,
but obviously the levels of investment are incomparable. Meaning they intend to send more illegals here to send American money back to them?
It's very distant, perhaps not in the vision but in resources," a spokesman for the Mexican Congress's Science and Technology Commission, which drew up the law, said on Thursday.
The spokesman said the agency would help Mexico advance in diverse fields of science and technology, including robotics, electronics and telecommunications. Advance from what? Zero?
The commission hopes the law will be swiftly passed in the Senate, allowing the agency to start operating next year.
However, not all politicians support the plan. The ruling National Action Party, which has a minority in Congress, voted against the initiative, saying the money would be better spent lining their pockets on eradicating widespread poverty.
Whether it passes or not, they'll figure out some way to blame US for their failures. That they've got experience in.
You really can't make this stuff up.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/28/2006 16:23 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
This is good. They need somebody up at the space station to clean the toilets.
#2
You really should read up on Mexico a bit before you make these kinds of statements. Mexico does have its own nuclear reactor for instance, and decent technical talent. For the most part the mexicans are industrious hard-working people. Even the poor are basically honest. We have a problem because of the failures of our own government, we, in effect, write a blank check for anyone who wants to come across an open border.
I laugh at how many people think mexico is desert and burros. My wife used to think that way until I took her down there.
Now think about how NASA spends fortunes to do things that can be done cheaper. Mexicans are used to doing things on the cheap and are suprisingly good at innovating. It would not surprise me if in a few years, assuming decent funding levels, they actually could put a satellite into space.
If you think I am blowing hot air here I advise you to read this article.
Posted by: DanNY ||
04/28/2006 23:12 Comments ||
Top||
#3
I've been to Mexico a couple of times. Can't say I was all that impressed.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/28/2006 20:12 Comments ||
Top||
#5
See tw for Rantburg certified steel wool to scrub your eyeballs.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/28/2006 20:13 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Running low on money to add to her kid collection maybe? I hear she wants to wrest the title from Mia Farrow by 2010. Which is possible since Mia got outta the business since, you know, the Soon Yi thing...
LOS ANGELES. April 28, 2006. The design of most modern sportswear puts many Muslim women athletes in a curious bind: adhere to their faith and have their motions hampered or compromise their beliefs in the name of athletic performance?
The Koran requires women to cover everything except their faces, hands, and feet, says Tayyibah Taylor, editor-in-chief of Azizah Magazine, a publication geared toward Muslim-American women. "The idea is that your modesty in dress and behavior is a passport to public space," Taylor said. "It makes the statement that a Muslim woman's body is not a part of the public conversation." Let me suggest that Islam doesn't want Muslim woman to be part of the public conversation at all.
Recently Muslim women living in a Somali refugee camp in Kenya were given unique new volleyball uniforms. Designed through a partnership between Nike and the United Nations, the uniforms permit the women athletes to dig, spike, and set while covering their bodies and heads in a way that remains true to their faith.
But don't look for such specialized gear at your local mall or sporting-goods store just yet. Nike spokesperson Alan Marks says the Beaverton, Oregon, company currently has no plans to commercialize the product. And most other major sportswear manufacturers have no lines specifically targeting Muslim women.
Today a scattering of small companies is the only commercial source of sportswear for the modest-minded. Finding appropriate exercise wear is something that Muslim women have struggled with for years, says Laila Al-Marayati, spokesperson for the Los Angeles, California-based Muslim Women's League.
She says some women and girls choose to work out in long-sleeved shirts and sweatpants, but that is only a partial solution. "Muslim women sometimes will prefer to go to all-female gyms or work out at home, so they can exercise comfortably and not be overwhelmed with heat exhaustion," Al-Marayati said.
Too bad they haven't yet come up with a light, breatheable fabric for their burqas.
An additional challenge is the need to keep the head covered with a hijab, a head scarf girls begin to wear in early adolescence. "As an active Muslim girl, I found it difficult to participate in most sports, because of all the excess clothes we were wearing. And the veilvery unpractical when playing sports," Aheda Zanetti wrote in an email to National Geographic News.
Muslim girls football with veils and burqas: hmmm, wonder if I can sell that idea to ESPN3 ...
Zanetti is the owner of Ahiida, an Australian company that designs women's sportswear. "All of that excess fabric had to go, and that's when I introduced the Hijooda hijab shaped like a hood," Zanetti wrote.
The Hijood is a close-fitting head covering made of a lightweight fabric.
"We modeled it on a white hood seen in parts of America a hundred years ago."
A Danish company called Capsters produces a similar product. Designer Cindy van den Bremen says her goal was to develop a sportier hijab for girls to wear in school gym classes.
Zanetti also developed a line of swimwear for Muslim women, which incorporates a long-sleeved top, close-fitting hood, and long pants, all made of a stretchy, lightweight fabric.
The spandex burqa!
Turkish clothing manufacturer Hasema likewise produces modest yet fashionable swimwear for women, men, and girls.
That's welcome news to girls like Zarina Jalal, a high school student who lives just outside of Albany, New York. "If there was a way that I could do swimming without baring myself as much as I'm required to, then I'd definitely take up swimming more often," she said.
"Unless my husband tells me to stay home and cook him a chicken, of course."
Jalal gave up soccer in middle school because of the requirement to wear shorts as part of the team uniform. She says clothing requirements can be a barrier for Muslim girls who want to play sports. "The stereotypical clothing when you're doing anything athletic competitively is a very big turnoff for Muslim girls, in my opinion," she said.
Taylor, of Azizah Magazine, sees great market potential for sportswear more appropriate for Muslim women. "In another 15 years there's going to be a sizeable Muslim consumer market and lots of demand," she said. "I think we're where the Hispanic market was 20 years ago, and today the Hispanic market is a big consumer market."
Arun Jain, a marketing professor at the University of Buffalo in New York State, agrees. He says, given the growth potential of the Muslim community in the United States, major sportswear manufacturers could be missing out on an opportunity to break into an emerging market. "I believe it's a strategic blunder on their part," Jain said. "My feeling is that they don't think there's that much buying power, but I am certain that they're mistaken.
"If customers are given what they are looking for, they will be willing to pay, even at a higher price," he said.
Yuka Nakamura, a doctoral candidate in physical education and health at the University of Toronto in Canada, has studied Muslim women's participation in sports. She says there's definitely a need for modest sportswear, even beyond Muslim communities. She cites a program at a pool in Calgary, Canada, that tried to encourage more Muslim women to take up swimming by allowing them to wear T-shirts in the pool. "It wasn't just Muslim women who wanted this," she said. "An increasing number of women felt more comfortable being covered up and even larger men who felt uncomfortable in a bathing suit and preferred to be in a T-shirt."
Azizah's Taylor agrees. "It's not only Muslim women who are making attempts to be modest when they go out," she said. "There's also a contingency of Christian women and Jewish women and others who just don't feel that they need to show their bodies. Other women are striving to be modest as well."
If a Muslim woman wants to wear a T-shirt in a pool because she's uncomfortable, fine. If she wants to wear a hajib to demonstrate her piety to God, no problem. If she feels she has to wear a burqa because if she doesn't some hard boyz from the 'Committee for the Protection of Virtue' are going to beat the crap out of her, then we have a problem. Wonder if any of the people quoted in this article understand the difference?
No, all that misogny has to go. The fear of death that muslim women feel in simply living free in view experience.
Covering the women is not going to stop the inherent randiness and permanent woody of adolescent male muslims. If they grew up with women and able to see the faces of their mothers and sisters, they might learn to wank instead of hide and kill.
On a rainy Friday afternoon at Deer Valley High School, after most students had left for the weekend, 15 students attentively listened to Nazir Samadi talk about how to tell if a woman had attempted to seduce a man.
As president of the school's Muslim Student Association, the 16-year-old Afghanistan native held court, chanting and reading aloud from the Quran and translating the Arabic passages into English. According to the holy book, if the man's shirt was ripped from behind, it was the woman who tried to seduce him as the man tried to escape. If it was in the front, then it was the man who did the seduction.
The surah, or chapter, came from Yusuf, known as Joseph in the Bible, and focused on his time as a slave in Egypt. When Nazir told the class how handsome Yusuf is, the girls giggled. As he explained, the king of Egypt's wife tries to seduce Yusuf, but he denies her. When the other women hear of this, they gossip, Nazir translated. "No offense," Nazir said after he finished translating. "I'm just saying."
Now in its second full year, the Muslim Student Association has attracted as many as 110 students to its weekly club meetings. While much of the focus is on Islam and the Quran, Nazir and others who speak and read Arabic started teaching the language about a month ago.
Predominately Muslim, the club attracts students whose families come from around the world: Palestinians born in Kuwait and Texas, Pakistanis, Afghans, Cambodians and two brothers whose parents are Palestinian and Panamanian.
There are a number of club members who are not Muslim who attend the club and do so out of their own curiosity, said senior Aiysha Rahman, 17, who is one of the club's founders. But there are still passing comments around the campus.
"Usually, it's fine, but occasionally, you hear someone say something stupid like, 'When are you going to bomb me?'" said freshman Ismail Aljishi, 14, who attended the meeting with his brother Bader, 16. "It's typically annoying, but I don't knock him out. He's just ignorant. He doesn't want to kill me."
Nazir later said that being a Muslim-American is an honor, even with racist comments, because he gets to live in a free country.
"We have water whenever we want," he said.
Students such as Aiysha and Nazir excitedly agree that they'd like to see Arabic taught in school because it will benefit them in the future with business and travel in the Middle East.
Moreover, reading the Quran in Arabic is considered a good deed. "Plus it sounds cool," Nazir said.
Finding teachers can be difficult, however. The club's adviser, for instance, doesn't know Arabic.
After finishing the chapter but before starting a debate over the origin of the universe, the students discussed ideas for the school's upcoming Multi-Cultural Week, and plans for a picnic.
"What if someone gives the call for prayer on the mic?" Nazir said. "That would be sick."
Does the Rantburg image library have one of Tom Sawyer getting others to whitewash the fence for him?
God Bless America. I came from the worst hole in the universe. Now, let me teach you how to create that hole because my religion demands it. But thanks for the water I have now.
Gas prices are rising, as are mortgage rates. House prices in many once-hot markets have started slipping. The American automobile industry shows no sign of recovery. And the paychecks of most workers have not even kept up with inflation over the last four years.
Yet the national economy continues to speed ahead, with families and businesses spending money at an impressive pace. Forecasters expect the Commerce Department to report this morning that the economy grew at a rate of around 5 percent in the first quarter, the biggest increase since 2003.
The industries leading the way are ones that have been receiving far less attention than cars or real estate, though they have been adding thousands of new workers each month. In the last year, hospitals, doctors' offices and other health care employers have created almost 300,000 jobs; restaurants have added 230,000; and local governments including schools have added 170,000.
Testifying before Congress yesterday, Ben S. Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, suggested that the Fed would soon take time out from steadily raising its benchmark short-term interest rate to weigh the impact of its two-year money-tightening campaign. While he is counting on growth to slow to a more moderate rate, Mr. Bernanke said, "The economy has been performing well and the near-term prospects look good."
Americans seem to have noticed the boom, too. Although polling suggests that they are deeply unhappy with the war in Iraq and worried about the price of gas, they report being generally pleased with the state of the economy. A well-known index of consumer confidence has risen to its highest level in four years, according to the Conference Board, a research company in New York. In the most recent CBS News poll, conducted last month, 55 percent of respondents rated the economy as good, even though 66 percent of Americans said the country was on the wrong track. In 23 years of polling by CBS, only once in late 2005 did a higher percentage of people say the country was on the wrong track.
The NYT can always find the black lining in the silver cloud.
Like Mr. Bernanke, many professional economists and ordinary Americans expect economic growth to slow in the rest of the year, surveys show. Higher oil prices will effectively shift some money from the United States to the Middle East and elsewhere, and higher interest rates will make it more expensive for businesses and households to borrow. But for now, the economy is on a fast track. The fact that interest rates remain low, despite the Fed's rate increases of the last two years, is a big reason. The average rate on a 30-year conventional mortgage was 6.3 percent last month, lower than at any point in the 1970's, 1980's or 1990's, according to the Fed.
Healthy economic growth in other countries, including China and India, is also playing a role. Although this country buys far more from those countries than it sells to them, strong global growth is lifting American exports, economists say. Last week, the International Monetary Fund predicted that the world economy would grow at 4.9 percent this year, up from 4.8 percent in 2005.
In the short term, the bigger economic risks may be that interest rates or gas prices reach a tipping point that damages growth. James W. Paulsen, chief investment strategist for Wells Capital Management, noted that in past decades the economy often continued to flourish even as interest rates were increasing until long-term borrowing costs jumped above 6 percent. At that level, companies often struggle to make a large enough profit to cover their costs, so they stop expanding. "There's no magic number," Mr. Paulsen. "But it does seem like the relationship changes around that 5œ or 6œ area." The rate on 10-year Treasury notes closed at 5.07 percent yesterday, up from 4.55 percent at the end of February.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/28/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Where is this mythical 'expanding economy'? What state? what city? you never see that information. I sure haven't seen it. The economy in Illinois is slowing noticeably, going from slow to static and the gas price increase has locked up the brakes. For example IL lost 100,000 jobs in the last 3 years.
#9
I've worked in the engineering construction industry for 30 years. It never been this busy in my time. The contractor rates have never been this high. The next five to ten years are gonna be very profitable.
#10
Typical LLL Moonbat response: "Nobody has come to my door and personally asked me to take a job, so the economy must suck." or "My job as a fry cook at McDonalds hasn't earned me anymore money over the past seven years, so the economy must suck." or: "My organic earthworm farm and ocra garden hasn't turned a profit, so the economy must suck." and finally: "I haven't been able to find a job even though I have a Masters Degree in Art history with a minor in ethnic studies, so the economy must suck." You really have to feel pity for them.
#11
I've seen that the economy in the northeast and larger cities in the rust belt is still sucking and people are leaveing in droves. However, in the flyover states and the south things are booming. Ironically, the states with the heaviest taxes have the worst economies. Cause and effect chums. You tax the hell out of people and buisnesses, they leave for better places.
I'm afraid that's wrong - the stock is tanking, but the business is doing fine. It ended 2005 with a 7.5% net profit margin. The average for American industry is about 5%.
Liberals are capitalists when it comes to running businesses in which they have an ownership stake. They will fire people, avoid taxes and push for special exemptions as much as the next person. That's why liberal-run media businesses do as well or even better than conservative-run media businesses like Hollinger and Reader's Digest, both of which have been *losing* money for a while.
#13
Sorry guys, but outsider perspective thinks US not doing so well on macro level.
US$ has tanked, USDX shows big loss of buying power internationally. That is partly why oil prices are so high, gold has gone from $250/oz to $650-odd/oz since 2001.
Greenspan and now Bernanke have been printing US$ like there's no tomorrow.
Inflationary policies are a big temptation with a fiat currency, and the US has a big deficit plus a billion-dollar-a-day project in Iraq.
The Dow is still hovering around 2001 levels but in real terms internationally (in terms of the fallen dollar) imagine it around the 6,000 level.
My Aussie dollar that only bought 50c US a few years ago now buys about 75c US.
That means I can buy heaps more for my dollar of either shares on the Dow/Nasdaq or US property etc.
And I can only see the US$ falling further: it makes sense to inflate with a big deficit and large military expense.
So economy not in the best of shape, and US$ losing buying power.
Posted by: Captain America ||
04/28/2006 12:02 Comments ||
Top||
#15
I've worked in the engineering construction industry for 30 years. It never been this busy in my time.
I work at the HQ of a large retail chain. Last year was the best year in close to 20 years.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/28/2006 13:19 Comments ||
Top||
#16
"You really have to feel pity for them."
No, I don't, #10 Cyber Sarge.
Actions/choices have consequences.
I never pity self-made morons.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/28/2006 13:42 Comments ||
Top||
#17
"And I can only see the US$ falling further: it makes sense to inflate with a big deficit and large military expense."
Which in turn makes US exports cheaper to acquire than many overseas competitors. You could almost say its a "wheels within wheels within wheels" kinda deal. You get the choice as of either having a high value dollar that gets you lots of stuff for your buck but not necessarily higher wages to buy more stuff, or temporarily inflation which in turn leads to higher wages, higher amounts of money circulating in the national economy (remember more money earned, less taxes usually results in more money retained to spend) and potentially higher amount of exports being sold because they cost less. Over long term this is not a good thing so the dollar will need to correct itself.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Chimpanzees are our closest living relatives, with at least 95% of the same DNA. We're closer to them than they are to gorillas, so when I see chimpanzees being used as on-screen comedians, dressed up in silly costumes to sell credit cards, I think, Is this any way to treat a relative?
LOS ANGELES. April 28, 2006. The design of most modern sportswear puts many Muslim women athletes in a curious bind: adhere to their faith and have their motions hampered or compromise their beliefs in the name of athletic performance?
On a rainy Friday afternoon at Deer Valley High School, after most students had left for the weekend, 15 students attentively listened to Nazir Samadi talk about how to tell if a woman had attempted to seduce a man.
