"Mr. Gore, we have a developing situation on our hands. I think you might want to know about this."
"What is it Moonbeam, can't you see I'm busy right now? It takes a lot of speeches and self-promotion to save the world, you know, not to mention pay the energy bills on my home in Nashville."
"I understand, sir, and I do apologize but I wouldn't interrupt you unless I felt this was something you couldn't ignore."
"Well alright then, what is it?"
"Uh, well, um [gulp]... Mr. Gore, it seems that the world is starving as a result of your call for reduced carbon emissions."
"Excuse me? That's impossible. Everyone knows global warming is the #1 cause of famine."
"Um, yeah, uh, that doesn't seem to be the case here, sir. It turns out that switching to biofuels in an effort to reduce carbon emissions has triggered a worldwide shortage of food."
[stunned silence lasting for several seconds...]
"Well, slap my ass and call me, Sally, I guess. If it wasn't global warming that was going to push the world into famine, then it was going to be the solution. Boy, oh boy. [scratches head] What to do, what to do? Well, nothing you can do, really. After all, you can't win 'em all, right Moonbeam? Moonbeam? Moonbeam, where did you go?"
[a loud *SLAP*]
"OWWWWWEEEE! What in hell did you do that for? Golly gee, that hurt!"
"Because you told me to, sir... err... I mean, Sally."
Zimbabwe's opposition has challenged election results for about 60 parliamentary seats won by President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party, a lawyer for the Movement for Democratic Change said on Monday. "All in all we have filed about 60 applications to the Electoral Court in respect of the house of assembly seats. The applications are to ensure that the declarations of the results be set aside," MDC lawyer Charles Kwaramba told Reuters.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2008 00:00 ||
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Until the people of Zim rise up and say "no mas" to Mugabee and his army thugs, they will continue to be enslaved. They can't expect help from others until they do this.
Posted by: Jack Slineger4174 ||
04/15/2008 10:57 Comments ||
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Zimbabwe's High Court on Monday refused to order the immediate release of delayed results from a March 29 presidential election, in a major blow to the opposition MDC. Rejecting a Movement for Democratic Change application to force the electoral commission to release the result, Judge Tendai Uchena said: "I dismiss the case with costs."
The MDC says its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, defeated President Robert Mugabe in the vote, ending his 28-year rule. The MDC went to the High Court after a long delay in issuing the result by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC). Judge Uchena did not explain his judgement, but said the court would make it available by tomorrow.
The ZEC opposed the MDC's application and says it is still counting and verifying the votes.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2008 00:00 ||
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Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni accused fugitive rebel leader Joseph Kony on Monday of not being serious about peace talks and hinted his forces could resume operations against the guerrillas.
Prospects of an end to one of Africa's longest wars were dashed last week after Kony, commander of the Lord's Resistance Army, failed to attend a signing ceremony on the Sudan-Congo border, stalling nearly two years of tortuous negotiations. "You have been able to persist until it is clear that it's Kony who is not serious," Museveni told south Sudanese mediators during a visit to the southern capital Juba.
He accused LRA fighters of continuing to kidnap villagers from southern Sudan, Congo and Central African Republic and then forcing them into the rebel ranks.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2008 00:00 ||
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Bristling at criticism in the run-up to the Summer Olympics, China is lashing back at its foreign critics by name. Earlier this week, the state Xinhua news agency called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "disgusting." And if you don't start eliminating trade protections, we'll make sure you'll be seeing a lot more of her!
And on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu lambasted a CNN commentator, Jack Cafferty, for his "vicious" commentary on China. "We solemnly request that CNN, and Cafferty himself, take back the malicious remarks and apologize to the Chinese people," Jiang said at a news briefing.
Protests plaguing the global Olympic torch relay, along with mounting criticism of China's handling of domestic unrest by Tibetans, have embittered many Chinese. As foreign leaders discuss whether to boycott the Olympics' opening ceremonies on Aug. 8, Chinese Internet sites are replete with their own mounting calls for boycotts of foreign goods, souring the mood as the nation prepares to host its biggest international event ever.
A mood of angry nationalism has spurred government officials to lash out at foreign critics, trying to stay ahead of public resentment even fury that foreigners may spoil the Summer Olympics party with what some see as unwarranted criticism. Several foreign journalists, including correspondents for USA Today and The Times of London, say they've received death threats.
China went through similar periods of surging nationalism in April 2005 when anti-Japanese riots erupted in several cities and in 1989 when gangs attacked U.S. diplomatic installations in China after a U.S. bomb hit the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, killing three people.
Russell Leigh Moses, a foreign political scientist based in Beijing, said Chinese officials risk reaping a whirlwind from the nationalist feeling. "There's still the opportunity for enlightened officials to step forward and get a better handle on this anti-Western media sentiment before it truly gets out of hand," Moses said.
In a commentary Sunday, Xinhua said Pelosi, who met last month in India with the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, "is detested by the Chinese people." It accused her of displaying a "stubborn anti-China sentiment and uneasiness about China's peaceful rise."
Cafferty, a resident curmudgeon at CNN, sounded off on China on the program "The Situation Room" on April 9. He said the United States imports "their junk with the lead paint" and its "poisoned pet food" while losing factory jobs to China, a country run by "the same bunch of goons and thugs they've been for the last 50 years."
Jiang, the ministry spokeswoman, said Cafferty "used his microphone to denigrate China and Chinese people" and that his remarks constitute racism.
The firestorm began among angry Chinese immigrants in the United States who launched an online petition drive to protest Cafferty's remarks. Coverage quickly crossed into China, where citizens had already launched an Internet campaign against CNN, accusing it of biased coverage in mid-March of an uprising of ethnic Tibetans demanding greater freedom.
A Chinese "anti-CNN" Web site contained plenty of vitriolic remarks against Cafferty by Tuesday. "Nobody should ever take this hyperthyroid rooster too seriously," said one commenter, adding that Cafferty is prone to "anti-Chinese diarrhea." "I was watching CNN when I heard him say that, and I almost smashed the TV," said another of the less profane postings.
Internet demands for boycotts have unnerved some foreign companies. Following the Olympic flame's troubled passage through Paris on April 7, activists called on Chinese citizens to boycott Carrefour, a French supermarket chain that is the largest foreign retailer in China, starting on May 1. Anonymous mobile phone text messages accuse the retailer of backing the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing blames for instigating unrest in Tibet, a charge the retailer denies.
Many Chinese are incensed that a pro-Tibet protester in Paris lunged to snatch the torch from Chinese athlete Jin Jing, who was in a wheelchair. State television in China has portrayed Jin as a hero for hanging onto the torch.
Jiang, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, denied that the government was promoting the boycotts, but she added, "We hope the French side can listen to the Chinese people's voices concerning the recent problems and adopt an objective stance."
Finnish security policy needs to take the growing economic and political strength of Russia into consideration, says Admiral Georgij Alafuzoff, Chief of Intelligence at the Finnish Defence Forces. "Ten years ago experts said that Russia would never be a cause for concern, because it is so weak. Now experts say that in 10 to 15 years Russia could be the world's fifth-largest economy", Alafuzoff said at a seminar in Helsinki on Monday.
Alafuzoff pointed out that Russia's own experts have predicted that Russia will become involved either directly or indirectly in some large conflict in about the 2020s or 2030s. The cause for such a conflict would be competition for political and economic influence. "They are not saying that Russia would attack, or be a direct military participant, but it is nevertheless ready to use military strength for promoting political goals", Alafuzoff said to Helsingin Sanomat.
Possible factors influencing the emergence of conflicts include the crumbling of nation-states, disputes over control of transport connections and natural resources, and the collectivisation of natural resources.
The last two of these are connected with the status of the Baltic Sea. The sea is seen by Alafuzoff as an umbilical cord for Russian imports, which could be one possible reason why Russia is taking a closer look than before at its neighbours in the Baltic Sea area.
The chairman of the Parliamentary Defence Committee, Juha Korkeaoja (Centre Party) spoke about the preparations for a security and defence policy report. Finland spends 1.27 per cent of its GDP on defence. Korkeaoja says that the government's report raises the question of how much Finland should spend on defence in the future.
"I do not believe that the relative proportion of the defence budget can increase significantly", he said to Helsingin Sanomat. "One key question in the long term is also, if we will continue to have conscription. No other EU country has quite the same kind of system that we do."
BRUSSELS (AFP) - The EU Commission on Monday rejected claims that producing biofuels is a "crime against humanity" that threatens food supplies, and vowed to stick to its goals as part of a global warming climate change package.
"There is no question for now of suspending the target fixed for biofuels," said Barbara Helfferich, spokeswoman for EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas.
"You can't change a political objective without risking a debate on all the other objectives," which could see the EU landmark global warming climate change and energy package disintegrate, an EU official said.
Their comments came amid growing unease over the planting of biofuel crops as food prices rocket and riots against poverty and hunger multiply worldwide.
UN Special Rapporteur for the Right to Food Jean Ziegler told German radio Monday that the production of biofuels is "a crime against humanity" because of its impact on global food prices.
EU leaders, seeking to show the way on climat change global warming, have pledged to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent by 2020.
As part of a package of measures the 27 member states have set a target of biofuels making up 10 percent of automobile fuel by the same year.
"We don't have an enormous danger of too much of a shift from food production to biofuels production," said Michael Mann, spokesman for EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel.
Mann, like Helfferich speaking to reporters in Brussels, stressed that the 10 percent target would in part be achieved through higher yields and increased production.
Ziegler also accused the European Union of subsidising its agriculture exports with effect of undermining production in Africa.
"The EU finances the exports of European agricultural surpluses to Africa ... where they are offered at one half or one third of their (production) price," the UN official charged.
"That completely ruins African agriculture," he added.
In recent months, rising food costs have sparked violent protests in Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Haiti, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Mauritania, the Philippines and other countries.
In Pakistan and Thailand, troops have been deployed to avoid the seizure of food from fields and warehouses, while price increases fuelled a general strike in Burkina Faso.
The European Environment Agency, advisors to the European Commission, on Friday recommended that the EU suspend its 10 percent biofuels target.
It argued that the target would require large amounts of additional imports of biofuels leading to the accelerated destruction of rain forests. The agency also questioned the environmental benefits of biofuels.
Also in a recent report the World Bank said bluntly "biofuel production has pushed up feedstock prices".
Meanhwile Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, head of Nestle, the world's biggest food and beverage company, last month argued that "to grant enormous subsidies for biofuel production is morally unacceptable and irresponsible".
"There will be nothing left to eat," he added.
European leaders are aware of the growing body of opinion opposed to biofuels but Dimas has stressed the use of "second generation" biofuels; including leaves, straw and pond algae. Third generation is Soylent Green!
The first generation of green fuels -- biodiesel and ethanol-- are made from wheat, maize, colza, sugar beet etc, also used for human and animal feed.
However, according to French Ecology Minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, the methods for utilising the second generation sources are far from complete.
"That will take 10 to 20 years," she told AFP.
The 27 EU nations are due on May 7 to approve strict criteria for the production of biofuels, according to the European Commission.
Speaking in Luxembourg on Monday French Agriculture Minister Michel Barnier, meeting with his EU counterparts, said that food production must be the priority.
What is truly daft is Eurodisney fermenting wheat into fuel ethanol.
Wheat = 40 bushels/acre
Corn = 150 bushels/acre.
Posted by: ed ||
04/15/2008 8:53 Comments ||
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#3
UN Special Rapporteur for the Right to Food Jean Ziegler told German radio Monday that the production of biofuels is "a crime against humanity" because of its impact on global food prices.
While as a *true* humanitarian, I somewhat agree with this (at least the cause-effect thingy), but jeebus, there's actually a UN "Right to Food" expert now? You do know that *behind the scenes*, this actually accomplishes their (the radical enviros) goal of "cleaning the air" and controlling/decreasing the world's population. It appears brutal (and against liberals "support of the little man"), but actually is probably a full-court press that these goons agree with to implement their environmental dreams.
Posted by: BA ||
04/15/2008 9:18 Comments ||
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#4
Socialist don't support the "little man", they control him. It's all about maintaining their elite status. That's what the EU is all about.
Posted by: Jitch, Scourge of the Veal Cutlets ||
04/15/2008 9:35 Comments ||
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#5
"Jitch, Scourge of the Veal Cutlets"
Wow, best name since "Sock Puppet of Doom"!
#6
Agreed, Darrell. Fred and the mods must've tapped into the Halliburton Random Nym Generator last night or something.
Posted by: BA ||
04/15/2008 10:18 Comments ||
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#7
Has anyone calculated the amount of biofuel that will be gained by burning the bodies of the poor who will die in the coming famines? Biofuel is just the latest scheme on the part of the left to kill off masses of the masses. No matter how you calculate it, the extensive use of biofuels produces a net negative.
Posted by: Jack Slineger4174 ||
04/15/2008 10:52 Comments ||
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#8
I suspect this whole hog production of ethanol is being done with a set purpose in mind: emergency fuel.
The US imports about 10M barrels of crude a day. Half of this, about 5M barrels, comes from OPEC. So with our petroleum reserves of about 60 days, and increased production, we might be able to get by with *no* OPEC oil. At least for a while.
#10
I suspect that the whole thing is a bunch of crap. There are not enough vehicles running on biofuels to cause a disruption.
I think we have a combination of (a) folks who prefer other solutions blaming biofuels (b) food exporters in Africa who are now food importers leaving their neighbors hurting and themselves in a desperate plight (see Zimbabwe) causing food redistribution around the globe and thus price spikes (c) the increase in the cost of oil which further spikes the cost of shipping food from here to there.
#13
AFAIKT, no one in the MSM has addressed the fact that at least one entire nation (Zimbobland)has gone off-line in less than three years, and will also not address the ridiculous fantasy fears about GM crops.
One other thought that I've been entertaining lately is the the "boutique" food industry that's fashionable in the States right now is disrupting the previous economies of scale available to farmers and shippers.
Soylent Green 1973 Set in the year 2022, Soylent Green depicts a dystopian future in which the population has grown to forty million in New York City alone. The water and soil have been poisoned and airborne pollution has produced a year-round heatwave from the greenhouse effect. Most housing is dilapidated and overcrowded, and the impoverished homeless fill the streets.
Processed "Soylent Green" ration wafersFood as we know it todayincluding fruit, vegetables, and meatis a rare and expensive commodity. Half of the world's population survives on processed rations produced by the massive Soylent Corporation (from soy(bean) + lent(il)), including Soylent Red and Soylent Yellow, which are advertised as "high-energy vegetable concentrates". The newest product is Soylent Green - a small green wafer which is advertised as being produced from "high-energy plankton". It is much more nutritious and palatable than the red and yellow varieties, but it is in short supply, which often leads to riots.
#15
www.nebraskacorn.org January 11 , 2008
The USDA says Nebraska corn producers produced a 1.472 billion bushel crop in 2007. That compares to 1.178 billion in 2006 and 1.270 billion in 2005. Nebraskas crop averaged 160 bushels per acre, a 2 bushel drop from USDAs November estimate.
Nationally, US Producers raised 13.07 billion bushels of corn in 2007. The national average yield was 151.1 bushels per acre.
Posted by: ed ||
04/15/2008 11:39 Comments ||
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#16
C'mon GB, tell us how it ends, by 'going home' and being processed into that Soylent Green.
Book version is called "Make Room, Make Room."
#18
Book version didn't even contain Soylant Green however.
I'm a fan of the Saturday night Live trailers for the Sequels. Soylant white (liquid paper) is made of People!
Soylant Green is still made of People!!!
Chuck Heston plays a police detective charged with investigating the murder of a Soylent Inc. board member, one who was killed because he learned a horrific secret. Of course, the phrase "Soylent Green is people!" has entered the popular lexicon so it's no real surprise what that secret is. Will Chuck Heston find the murderer? Will he find out the secret? Will humanity learn that it truly is what it eats?
#20
Saw the Movie,all things considered a good, but not great film.
Makes you think, and that's the whole idea.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/15/2008 15:53 Comments ||
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#21
3dc, what kind of soylent are the Nebraska farmers putting on their corn?
The whole biofuels thingy (at least, ethanol) is a scam. Here in the Southeast, we've been planting TONS more corn in the midst of a drought. In 2006 alone, Mississippi planted somewhere around 10 times as much corn (in acres) than the year before, because they had between 8 and 10 *proposed* ethanol plants in the State being built.
Now, however, the financial side of things has flipped. Just 3-4 years ago, you could get corn at $1.50/bushel and Ethanol at $4.50/gallon. Now, it's the reverse because EVERYONE has switched to ethanol-corn, which is very water intensive, as well as fertilizer (based upon petroleum too) intensive.
I talked to an Ag Professor at UGA (Univ. of GA) who had just come back from the midwest. He said that Illinois and Iowa (our 2 biggest corn States) are now net IMPORTERS of corn to "feed" all the ethanol plants. Now that the financial side of the house has flipped though, many feel that they *overbuilt* ethanol capacity, at least from corn. Some of the southern States are now looking at other *raw materials* for ethanol, such as lumber waste, pine tree cuttings (forestry), and other *organic/non-food* sources.
But, you know it's bad when the beef and dairy farmers of the midwest SHOUT DOWN the heads of the EPA and the Dept. of Ag because of the push for ethanol from corn. Corn prices have risen so high now, that they can't *afford* to feed their cows & hogs, and thus, it affects meat prices. Cause meet effect writ large.
Posted by: BA ||
04/15/2008 16:03 Comments ||
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#22
And what the heck is that dish in the picture? A pot roast or something?
I see nuts and celery, looks like cornbread dressing to me. (Good stuff)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/15/2008 16:09 Comments ||
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#24
GolfBravoUSMC: It's a numbers game. Ethanol can replace up to 10% of the gasoline in a gasoline engine without creating problems. Then there is the strategic reserve, about 60 days worth of crude.
Add to it conservation, and opening the flood gates for new oil in both the US and Canada. It will probably take them at least 60 days to majorly increase production.
So let's say OPEC oil is cut off today. There is a good chance Chavez will also cut off oil. But if he doesn't, that's just another plus. The strategic reserve is directed to the refineries, who are told to operate at full capacity. Retail gasoline is cut with ethanol.
Add it all up, as well as a push to conservation, and the US has maybe six months of kicking the snot out of Iran before we start to feel the squeeze from the lack of 0PEC oil.
#25
I suspect that the whole thing is a bunch of crap. There are not enough vehicles running on biofuels to cause a disruption.
Speaking as a master Mechanic, there's no such thing as vehicles that burn gas only, not only is regular gas mixed 10% with ethanol as a regular thing (Betcha didn't know that) with todays computerized fuel injection systems the requiremens needed to burn 100% alcohol are non-existant, the vehicle's computer makes those adjustments automaticly, you WILL get less mileage because the engines compression ratio is around 8 to 1, where alcohol's best compression ratio is around 12 to 1, but aside rom that (Manufacturing difference only,) you can't do anything about compression without major engine work, at the least, a set of new Cylinder heads with smaller combustion chambers.
But this is an overall bad idea, such high compression engines cannot run regular gasoline, or even the best of premium gasoline, once modified the only fuel it CAN burn is alcohol.
So bst thing to do is mix alcohol with gasoline, that not only strtches the available gas supplies, but alcohol not only raises octane, it's a damn good cylinder cleaner as well.
Best of both worlds, AND IT'S BEING DONE EXACTLY THAT WAY TODAY. (Rant off).
I just get so pissed that people who know nothing about engines and/or fuels spout bullshit and expect to go unchallenged by truth.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/15/2008 19:54 Comments ||
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TBILISI - Georgia will withdraw its peacekeeping contingent from Kosovo later this week, Georgian First Deputy Defence Minister Batu Kutelia said on Monday. We plan to withdraw our peacekeepers this week. This is 180 people, Kutelia told Reuters. He said the withdrawal was to free up troops for deployment in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/15/2008 00:00 ||
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Thank you, Georgia! You redeem the name so blemished by a certain former American president.
Billionaire media mogul Silvio Berlusconi is poised to win a majority in both houses of the Italian parliament and return to power for a third term as premier, television projections indicated.
Berlusconi's People of Liberty party and its allies had 46.2 percent of the vote in the Senate, the upper house, to 39.1 percent for Walter Veltroni's Democratic Party and its partner, according to results from 42 percent of about 60,000 districts. A projection by RAI state television gave Berlusconi a majority in the Senate with 164 of the 315 seats at stake.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2008 00:00 ||
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Center-left leader Walter Veltroni conceded defeat to conservative Silvio Berlusconi in Italy's parliamentary election on Monday. "As is customary in all Western democracy, and as I feel it is right to do, I called the leader of the People of Freedom, Silvio Berlusconi, to acknowledge his victory and wish him good luck in his job," Veltroni told reporters.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2008 00:00 ||
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Adding to the growing mountain of evidence that Barack Obama either intensely dislikes the very country of which he wants to be elected president, or at the very least surrounds himself with those who do, news is breaking that one of Obama's big money donation "bundlers" is virulently anti-military and a supporter of Hugo Chavez -- the well-known Venezuelan dictator famous for his hateful anti-American rhetoric. There is even a photo of Obama "bundler" and Code Pink operative Jodie Evans arm-in-arm with Hugo Chavez. (Evans is the red head in the middle)
Code Pink has been at the forefront of the anti-war movement and has involved itself in many attacks on our members of the military. They've even targeted the wounded for their attacks on the war in Iraq. Because of this connection, pro-troop groups are demanding that Obama return the $50,000 that Code Pink operative Evans gathered from her associates to donate to the Obama campaign.
Catherine Moy of Human Events details some of Code Pink's campaigns against our wounded troops in her latest blog posting.
Code Pink has also waged a campaign of psychological warfare against America's wounded warriors and their families by protesting at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, targeting them with signs bearing messages such as Maimed for a lie and Enlist here and die for Halliburton, the joint statement from pro-troops groups said.
Moy also recounts that Evans sat on the board of directors for a radical environazi group called Rain Forest Action Network (RAN) a group also connected to the Animal Liberation Front and the Earth Liberation Front, groups that the FBI have reported are responsible for more than 600 criminal acts causing more than $43 million in damages over the last few decades.
Evans has been an organizer and operative of Code Pink since September of 2002.
Melanie Morgan also gives us a little reminder of some more of Code Pink's greatest hits:
Kicked out of Pakistan after protesting the Pakistani governments efforts to combat the jihadists operating in that country, Code Pink's leaders have also been some of the strongest proponents of former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's regime. Code Pink leader Medea Benjamin even renounced the United States and moved to Cuba before being kicked out by the government there. Turns out, even tyrants have standards. Who knew?
These are pretty radical organizations that sponsor some pretty dangerous and fierce anti-capitalist, anti-American campaigns. Is this the sort of extreme hater that a candidate of "change" and a candidate that says we should "come together" should be accepting assistance from? Should a candidate that wants a "new" politics be so happy to take the donations of someone who has led groups that have perpetrated acts of domestic terror? Should Barack Obama be so quick to accept money from a woman who has planned campaigns to harass our wounded soldiers as they try to heal in the hospital?
Another pressing question is, will the MSM report this story? Will the MSM tell the country that their vaunted candidate of "change" and "civility" is working with people responsible for acts of terrorism against Americans?
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) began airing a 30-second ad on Pennsylvania television on Monday needling Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) for controversial remarks he made at a San Francisco fundraising reception.
The ad uses ordinary voters in man-on-the-street style to argue that the remarks, delivered privately but publicized on Friday, show Obama is out of touch. The ad is called Pennsylvania and began airing a week to the day before the crucial Keystone State primary.
The ad only uses a portion of Obamas comment about small-town Pennsylvanians and Midwesterners, which was posted by The Huffington Post: [I]t's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
Heres the script of Clintons new ad:
Clinton: I'm Hillary Clinton and I approve this message.
Announcer: Barack Obama said that people in small towns cling to guns or religion as a way to explain their frustrations.
Woman 1: I was very insulted by Barack Obama.
Man 1: It just shows how out of touch Barack Obama is.
Woman 2: I'm not clinging to my faith out of frustration and bitterness. I find that my faith is very uplifting.
Man 2: The good people of Pennsylvania deserve a lot better than what Barack Obama said.
Woman 1: Hillary does understand the citizens of Pennsylvania better.
Woman 3: Hillary Clinton has been fighting for people like us her whole life.
"I'm John McCain and I approve of most of this message too."
Posted by: Mike ||
04/15/2008 08:26 ||
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"Have you gone beserk? Can't you see that man is a ni?" -- Governor William J. Le Petomane
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The leader of the world's 1 billion Roman Catholics has been to the White House only once in history. That changes this week, and President Bush is pulling out all the stops: driving out to a suburban military base to meet Pope Benedict XVI's plane, bringing a giant audience to the South Lawn and hosting a fancy East Room dinner.
These are all firsts. Bush has never before given a visiting leader the honor of picking him up at the airport. In fact, no president has done so at Andrews Air Force Base, the typical landing spot for modern leaders.
A crowd of up to 12,000 is due at the White House on Wednesday morning for the pope's official, pomp-filled arrival ceremony. It will feature the U.S. and Holy See anthems, a 21-gun salute, and the U.S. Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps. Both men will make remarks before their Oval Office meeting and a send-off for his popemobile down Pennsylvania Avenue. The White House crowd will be the largest of Bush's presidency. It even beats the audience last spring for Queen Elizabeth II, which numbered about 7,000.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/15/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
"The Vatican is a very adult place,"
Which sure beats that rotunda edifice down Pennsylvania Avenue, no wonder George is picking the man up at the airport. Wouldn't you go out of your way to spend some adult time after 8 years surrounded by the kiddies?
#2
this Pope has really twisted Islamist panties in a bunch too, so Bush meeting him helps
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/15/2008 8:10 Comments ||
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#3
Now, if only he'd baptize some former Muslim on the White House lawn and have a showing of Fitna. That'd *really* tweek their panties, Frank.
Bush's "moral relativism" quote is spot-on. One of the biggest issues (that underlies virtually all other *issues* we deal with nowadays) in the fight for our nation too.
Posted by: BA ||
04/15/2008 9:11 Comments ||
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#4
Lets see...
Bush visiting with the Pope. Carter visiting Hamas.
No further description needed on the differences between Dems and Repubs.
#6
WAFF.com > SAUDI ARABIA: PACT OF RESPECT FOR ALL RELIGIONS REJECTED [Saudi Shoura], as due to certain -ISMS NOT VIEWED BY SAUDI ARABIA/SHOURA COUNCIL AS BEING DE FACTO RELIGIONS-FAITHS e.g. BUDDHISM, QADIANISM???
*FARSINEWS > LAVROV: IRAN WAR DETRIMENTAL TO ME PEACE [ + hints possibly even agz WORLD/US-RUSS PEACE]???. WIll have to start from scratch.
Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama says his remarks about "bitter" working class voters "clinging to guns or religion" were ill-chosen. But the Illinois senator, who is leading his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, hit back at his opponents, accusing them of twisting his words for political gain.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
FOX NEWS + MSNBC > Dem analysts argue that the real sigificance of Obama's new "bitter" controversy is being overlooked, i.e. THAT THERE ARE MANY OR MILYUHNS OF DEMOCRATS + PRO-LEFTIES IN AMER WHOM ARE CONSERVATIVE, BELIEVE IN GOD + GUN OWNERSHIP + PRO-LIFE, etc. BUT WHOM ALSO HOLD THAT THE PREMISES OF CONSERVATISM IS NOT AGZ OR INCONSISTENT WID MAINSTREAM PREMISES OF LIBERALISM???
#2
"Barack Obama says his remarks about "bitter" working class voters "clinging to guns or religion" were ill-chosen."
Do you notice that democrats a) seem to forget the last part of the sentence that those bitter folks also can't accept folks not like themselves (ie the bitter are bigots). b) Most liberals agree with the sentiment expressed but wish that it wasn't expressed quite that way.
#3
Hey, it's what they really think. It boggles the mind to consider that LIBERALS are attacking working class ordinary folk. They really have gone off the deep end.
#4
Good pic, and probably easy to find too. I've noticed for months that he has a tenancy to stand with his chin in the air, looking down his nose at voters. So now we know that he walks like a duck. His comments in SF shows that he talks like a duck. His mentor Rev. Wright shows that he hangs out with ducks. Any reasonable conclusions to make?
#5
I live in semi-rural America. I see those bitter folks, the one's who can't get a parking space close enough to the front door of Walmart, an edifice that populates rural America far more than any neighborhood Obama ever lived or transits. Their rural education is good enough to read Thailand, Malaysia, and China on the clothes and products they can actual afford to purchase. By the size of the lines at the checkout counters, they don't seem to have much problem with international trade. Neither do the hundreds of employees who'd otherwise never get a job at the old Mom & Pop stores that at best charged more than 30% for similar commodities. The bitterness they show at the little table outside the front door manned by the local church group isn't about the need to donate to the local family needing assistance to tie them over because of death or severe disability, but because the pain they suffered was just as likely the result of drunk or impaired driver in this country illegally. That bitterness is reserved for a government that won't enforce its own laws for the safety of its own citizens. The same government which in the rural areas couldn't make it to your home in an hour's driving time, so one of those shopping bags is hold another load for the home security device which 'elitists' don't want you to have.
#6
So now we know that he walks like a duck. His comments in SF shows that he talks like a duck. His mentor Rev. Wright shows that he hangs out with ducks. Any reasonable conclusions to make?
well...if he...weighs the same as a duck...he must be.. ah.... a WITCH!
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/15/2008 8:13 Comments ||
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#7
Oh, what do you smelly people know? You *really* believe your my "boss"???
Posted by: Harry Reid ||
04/15/2008 9:06 Comments ||
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#8
In Obamaland "ELITIST TAG" rejects YOU!
"Twisting the words"? No it was pretty evident what Obama said and meant in the company of his peers.
Nice to see the mask torn off of the rich elitist socialist race-hustlers for once. Even nicer he did it himself.
#9
Today is tax day. Anyone who even considers the possibility of voting for this liberal shill deserves to have their taxes raised by two percent. Those who actually do vote for him deserve to have them raised ten percent.
I'm sick to death of both parties thinking there's no end to either my wallet or my patience. Most people in the middle class get damned little for the money they pay. It's time would-be big tax-and-spenders like this jerk get kicked square in the balls by the voting public.
Posted by: Thaimble Scourge of the Pixies4707 ||
04/15/2008 9:10 Comments ||
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#10
"How dare you call me elitist! Overseer, I command you to thrash that insolent peasant to within an inch of his life--and let that be a lesson to the rest of you!"
Posted by: Mike ||
04/15/2008 9:23 Comments ||
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#12
elitistn. - Someone who believes in rule by an elite group.
Lets cut through the crap here. Senator Obamas sweeping generalization may have seemed as an offensive reference to all people from rural America. However, in reality he was focused on the specific target demographic of Staunch Union Democrats. These are the guys at the end of the bar that voice legitimate complaints such as government intrusion, high taxes, and gun-grabbers. Yet, year after year, these same guys will predictably vote for the candidate with a D after their name. And usually its for no specific reason other then these candidates profess to Represent Labor. The Democrat power-brokers, such as Obama (And ironically Senator Clinton), know that without union influence its difficult, if not impossible, to manipulate this group for their greater party interests. Moreover, it means less union dues funneled into their political coffers. However, the real telling portion of Obamas statement is his belief that this group (As a result of job loss or more specifically no Union manipulation) has an antipathy to people who aren't like them. This reoccurring theme appears to be the reminiscent influence from Obamas longtime Reverend and spiritual advisor Whitey just dont get it.
#14
So now we know that he walks like a duck. His comments in SF shows that he talks like a duck. His mentor Rev. Wright shows that he hangs out with ducks. Any reasonable conclusions to make?
That hillarity is out there behind a blind with a 6 shooter? His words, not mine! Watch out o-hole, I hear she is like Annie Oakley - you know, cabin trash.
Seriously, but the all-factory reigns down since I don't think I have misheard you on at least 15 important points. He has had so many mulligans that he might even be able to beat Kim Jong in a round of golf.
When are the richies going to realize that he has pandered to so many bases that it will be timewise impossible to repay all favors so they are not going to get their money's worth?
Obama has not helped himself in his efforts at damage control. First, he said he was just telling the truth, but edited the truth he was telling...
Obama then argued that he was really complimenting small-town voters. At the CNN Compassion Forum Sunday night, he said, "you know, Scripture talks about clinging to what's good." This works only if you close your eyes to the rest of Obama's original sentence, since surely he wasn't saying it's a good thing to cling to xenophobia and racism...
It's hard to keep a straight face when you're accused of being out of touch by a guy who thinks the whole country is worried about the high price of arugula or that you hunt ducks with a six shooter.
#20
Talking about "angry people" yesterday crossing the street I passed in front of a stopped beautiful Candy-Apple Green car, I tapped on the window to say "Beautiful car" and got cussed out by the (Black) Driver, he obviously thought I was upset about something, or just had a chip on his shoulder, whichever it was he wasn't listening, so never heard "Nice Car" just whatever he wanted to hear.
Too bad.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/15/2008 16:04 Comments ||
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The communists who run India's Kerala state paying mass homage to their Chinese masters
Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 15 (PTI) As the Olympic Torch goes through a torrid run facing protests over Chinese crackdown in Tibet, Left-ruled Kerala is gearing up to give moral support to the Beijing Games in a big way when the torch relay arrives in India on April 17. The state Sports Council will mobilise people across the state not only to take a Olympic pledge but also resent the protests being staged in different parts of the world against the Beijing Olympics over the Tibetan issue, council president T P Dasan said here today.
"Protest against the Olympic torch run was in effect a protest against Olympics and the spirit values for which it stood," Dasan said. Tibetan issue was not something that cropped up after the Chinese capital was selected for holding the Olympics.
Dasan appealed to the sports lovers and all those who believed in democratic values to assemble to pledge support to Beijing Olympics. Sports lovers, athletes and players of different discipline would gather in the state capital, district headquarters, sports schools and camps to take the pledge to uphold Olympic values.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/15/2008 16:45 ||
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Because rioting is the best way to get the 'lectricity turned back on, doncha know ...
MULTAN, Pakistan - Thousands of people angered by power cuts staged a violent protest in the home city of Pakistans new premier on Monday, leaving 40 people wounded and 50 under arrest, police said. Multan is the home city of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.
Police fired in the air and launched tear gas shells to disperse demonstrators in the central city of Multan after they attacked the office of the state electricity company and set fire to a bank, they said. Television footage showed a furious mob beating several power company employees with wooden planks, setting fire to motorbikes and rampaging through the streets.
Brilliant, just brilliant, the intelligence of a Pak mob never ceases to amaze ...
More than 40 people were wounded including 11 power company employees, seven policemen and two television cameramen, local police officer Mirza Mohammad Ali said. Police have detained some 50 people for incidents of violence, Ali said. Witnesses said 21 protesters from local textile factories forced to shut down by the outages lasting several hours were among those injured in the rioting.
Pakistan suffered major outages earlier this year which authorities blamed on a lack of water for hydropower facilities. The country suffers an overall lack of power generating capacity. In March the countrys biggest city, Karachi, was blacked out when the main power utility accused the local electricity company of refusing to pay a half-billion-dollar bill.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/15/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Food riots. Electricity riots. Good entertainment for the Pak animals. Nothing they'd rather do than rant, rave, slobber spittle, and burn things down. Don't worry, your brethren Muzz from Saoodi will come thru with a big pile of money to carry you thru. Not!
#6
FARSINEWS > MUSHARAFF MULLS TALKS [Iran-Paki] TO BUILD IRAN-PAKISTAN-RUSSIA OIL PIPELINE; + IRAN TO CONSIDER INVESTING IN ANGOLAN OIL FIELD; + TOPIX > IRAN WANTS TO BUILD CENTRAL ASIAN SUPERHIGHWAY TO SIBERIA AND PACIFIC.
#2
Honest to goon-ness maoists... and not the make believe campus type either... these maoists are quite serious about the need to "eradicate class enemies" They idolize the khmer rouge, claiming that the western propaganda has unfairly tarnished the name of Pol Pot and his henchmen.
They're gonna be writing the new Nepal constitution... that will be an interesting document...
I figure ten years of butchery before the Indian army is forced to invade...
Posted by: john frum ||
04/15/2008 7:29 Comments ||
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#3
Buy Jimmy Carter has blessed them... so things are sure to work splendidly...
Posted by: john frum ||
04/15/2008 7:30 Comments ||
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#4
Jimmy Carter has blessed them
Could've saved the lecture (post-1) and just mention this John.
#8
We can hope OldSpook was being sarcastic, chomolangma. There have been articles here for several years about the interactions between Nepal's Maoists, the king, and the Nepalese people. I've a friend who went there for several summers after he graduated from medical school, as part of a travelling eye clinic. He had only good things to say about the locals he met over there.
Dubai authorities have impounded two ships suspected of damaging undersea telecom cables in the Middle East earlier this year. One of the ships has reportedly been released after paying for the damage. The cable cuts, which disrupted Internet traffic in much of the Middle East, India and Pakistan, sparked a flurry of conspiracy theories that the series of outages in the region were not a coincidence.
Reliance Globalcom, whose FLAG Telecom unit maintains the cables, contacted authorities after studying the satellite images of the ship movements around the area of undersea cable damage. The Hindu reports that Dubai Port Trust officials believe the two ships, MV Hounslow and MT Ann, improperly dropped anchor in the area. The cables then were damaged by "jerks and force of the ship(s)" the port said.
The action was taken after Reliance Globalcom provided details of its analysis of satellite images documenting the ship movements around the area of undersea cable damage. "The matter has been brought to the notice of appropriate authorities which are taking necessary action," the Reliance Globalcom official told The Hindu.
The National Terror Alert reports that a Korean ship was released after an official admitted that the vessel was in the area and made a payment of $60,000 to compensate FLAG Telecom for repairs. The second ship, which belongs to an Iraqi company, is still being held in Dubai, the report said, quoting Dubai police officials.
Muslim leadership still wondering what all the fuss is about.
Traveling on his first papal journey to the United States, Pope Benedict XVI confronted the clergy sex abuse scandal, saying Tuesday that he was "deeply ashamed" of the problem and vowing to keep pedophiles out of the priesthood.
Benedict had only begun his six-day journey when he addressed sex abuse, the most painful issue for the Roman Catholic Church in the U.S. The American church has paid more than $2 billion in costs related to the scandal since 1950 the majority of that in just the last six years. "It is a great suffering for the church in the United States and for the church in general and for me personally that this could happen," Benedict said. "It is difficult for me to understand how it was possible that priests betray in this way their mission ... to these children."
"I am deeply ashamed and we will do what is possible so this cannot happen again in the future," the pope said on the flight from Rome to Washington, speaking in English as he responded to questions submitted by reporters ahead of time.
Benedict pledged that pedophiles would not be priests in the Catholic Church. "We will absolutely exclude pedophiles from the sacred ministry," Benedict said. "It is more important to have good priests than many priests. We will do everything possible to heal this wound."
The pope's promise failed to mollify advocates for abuse victims, however. They said the problem is not just molester priests, but bishops and other church authorities who have let errant clergymen continue to serve even after repeated allegations. "It's easy and tempting to continually focus on the pedophile priests themselves," said Peter Isely, a board member of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. "It's harder but crucial to focus on the broader problem complicity in the rest of the church hierarchy."
Benedict's pilgrimage is the first trip by a pontiff to the United States since the case of a serial molester in Boston triggered a crisis that spread throughout the United States and beyond in 2002. Hundreds of new accusations many dating back decades have surfaced each year since. There were 691 new accusations in 2007 alone, according to an annual report from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
As head of the Vatican agency that enforces adherence to Catholic doctrine, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was heavily involved in gaining Vatican approval for the reforms U.S. bishops proposed for the American church. The bishops have since released several reports analyzing the scandal and have pledged that all credibly accused priests will be pulled from public ministry.
Pedophilia is "absolutely incompatible" with the priesthood," Benedict said.
Vatican officials selected four questions to be read by the journalists to the pontiff aboard the plane.
Benedict described his pilgrimage as a journey to meet a "great people and a great church." He spoke about the American model of religious values within a system of separation of church and state.
President Bush planned to make the unusual gesture of greeting Benedict at Andrews Air Force Base the first time the president has greeted a foreign leader there.
The pope said he will discuss immigration with Bush, including the difficulties of families who are separated by immigration. While the pope and Bush differ on such major issues on the Iraq war, capital punishment and the U.S. embargo against Cuba, they do find common ground in opposing abortion, gay marriage and embryonic stem cell research.
White House press secretary Dana Perino, asked about the pope's comments regarding the clergy sex abuse scandal, said she wouldn't rule out that the topic would come up in conversation between the pope and the president. But she added that "I don't think it's necessarily on the president's top priorities" for his agenda in talking with the pope.
Perino said the two leaders would likely discuss human rights, religious tolerance and the fight against violent extremism. As for the war in Iraq, Perino said, "Obviously, there were differences years back." She downplayed those, emphasizing instead a strong bond between Bush and the pope.
Benedict "will hear from the president that America and the world need to hear his message, that God is love, that human life is sacred, that we all must be guided by common moral law, and that we have responsibilities to care for our brothers and sisters in need, at home and across the world," Perino said.
A crowd of 9,000 or more is expected at the White House Wednesday to greet Benedict on his 81st birthday. Aides say he is in good health.
After making little headway in his efforts to rekindle the faith in his native Europe, the German-born Benedict will be visiting a country where many of the 65 million Catholics are eager to hear what he says. A poll released Sunday by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University found eight in 10 Catholics are somewhat or very satisfied with his leadership.
On Friday, Benedict will address the United Nations. The day before, he will celebrate Mass at Nationals Park in Washington. His final event of the week will be another big Mass, this time in New York's Yankee Stadium on Sunday.
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.
Bristling at criticism in the run-up to the Summer Olympics, China is lashing back at its foreign critics by name. Earlier this week, the state Xinhua news agency called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "disgusting."
BRUSSELS (AFP) - The EU Commission on Monday rejected claims that producing biofuels is a "crime against humanity" that threatens food supplies, and vowed to stick to its goals as part of a 
TBILISI - Georgia will withdraw its peacekeeping contingent from Kosovo later this week, Georgian First Deputy Defence Minister Batu Kutelia said on Monday. We plan to withdraw our peacekeepers this week. This is 180 people, Kutelia told Reuters. He said the withdrawal was to free up troops for deployment in Afghanistan.
Billionaire media mogul Silvio Berlusconi is poised to win a majority in both houses of the Italian parliament and return to power for a third term as premier, television projections indicated. 
Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama says his remarks about "bitter" working class voters "clinging to guns or religion" were ill-chosen. But the Illinois senator, who is leading his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, hit back at his opponents, accusing them of twisting his words for political gain.
