Ooh, this should go over real well...especially in areas by military bases....
Veteran leftwing nutcase actress Jane Fonda is the surprise new face of L'Oreal, heading a lucrative advertising campaign at the age of 68. The Monster-in-Law star joins a glittering list of celebrity spokesmodels including Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz after signing to front L'Oreal Paris anti-aging treatment. The $700,000 contract will see Fonda endorse the face cream on billboards and magazines, and the actress - who is a vocal critic of anything America does cosmetic surgery - insists she is perfect for the role. She says, "Somebody's got to give a face to getting old. I'm going to try and organize other women in my profession and my friends to say no to the duck lips and getting rid of the wrinkles. I've just traveled through Sweden and Finland, looking at faces that were real... as opposed to, in Hollywood, (where) everybody is starting to looking alike." Why don't they give that stuff a real challenge and try it on Cindy Sheehan??
#1
I'm under the impression that this French company had been losing sales post-9/11. This may be a desperation move, to give them an American face. Watch sales continue to drop -- Ms. Fonda is well kept for her age, thanks to some good surgeons, make-up artists and stylists, but I don't believe she is the draw she once was. The French do not understand that American women don't take orders from the fashion industry the way they do elsewhere.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/05/2006 20:25 Comments ||
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#4
Lol. Suggested names for the vagina product are now open. Sharon Stone would be a shoo-in for "spokesmodel" (That's gotta be the lamest "occupation" ever, lol.) don't you thinK?
Thirsty Hungarians find surprising cause for drinks special taste
BUDAPEST, Hungary - Hungarian builders who drank their way to the bottom of a huge barrel of rum while renovating a house got a nasty surprise when a pickled corpse tumbled out of the empty barrel, a police magazine Web site reported.
According to online magazine www.zsaru.hu, workers in Szeged in the south of Hungary tried to move the barrel after they had drained it, only to find it was surprisingly heavy and were shocked when the body of a naked man fell out.
The Web site said that the body of the man had been shipped back from Jamaica 20 years ago by his wife in the barrel of rum in order to avoid the cost and paperwork of an official return.
According to the Web site, workers said the rum in the 300-liter barrel had a special taste so they even decanted a few bottles of the liquor to take home.
The wife has since died and the man was buried in a proper grave.
This took far too long and should never have happened in the first place. 50 million dead too long.
The yawn that greeted the announcement this week -- reported on by Joyce Howard Price -- that officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development are now vigorously endorsing and funding the use of DDT in Africa is representative of the world community's general lack of concern over the hundreds of millions of people who suffer from malaria every year. We applaud USAID's decision, even if we regret how long it's taken to reach it.
Put bluntly, malaria's killing spree -- believed to be somewhere in the realm of 50 million people since 1972 -- is worse than AIDS. Of the 500 million annual victims, 90 percent live in Africa. In the sub-Saharan nation of Uganda alone, malaria is responsible for the deaths of 100,000 children under the age of 5 every year. In dollar amounts, the United Nations says malaria costs Africa about $12 billion annually, or about 40 percent of its health expenditures.
None of which is news to those who have witnessed the ongoing genocide for years, pleading with Western nations to lift their unsubstantiated fears of using DDT, whose effectiveness in combating malaria remains unmatched. Consider that in South Africa, which used DDT before banning the substance in 1996, malaria rates jumped from a few thousand every year to 50,000. Despite opposition from the international community, in 2003 South Africa reversed the ban and watched its malaria rates return to their pre-1996 levels. More at the link, including expected Euro whining at US unilateralism.
#1
I remember the numerous, often bloody riots in South Africa demanding to ban DDT, wid the more fanatical activists claiming the SA Govt was using DDT to poison black Africans. DDT was the pre-AIDS AIDS "white man's" anti-Black/African chemical or poison of the moment.
From Pumps and Systems Magazine email letter. Also available on line. We had some info on Hugo's nationalization plans before, but here are some more details.
Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, TX) reports that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has decided to put pressure on the petroleum industry to receive a greater share of revenue from its worldwide influential oil and gas industry.
Since June 2005, the Venezuelan government has enacted a law that was originally proposed in 2001 which increased the tax rate up to 50 percent (from the previous 36 percent) to foreign oil companies working within their borders. According to estimates under the provision of this law, foreign operating companies owe Venezuela 's government a total of $2 billion from which Venezuela has already received $54 million since the law first went into effect.
Venezuela has begun to put this pressure on major oil companies at a time when rising oil prices, political instability in the Middle East and new buyers in Nigeria and Asia have put the world's fifth-largest oil exporter in a strong negotiating position. At the same time, Venezuela 's state-owned oil company, known as PDVSA, controls almost every barrel of oil produced in the country, thus placing the company in a very important and influential position.
Companies operating in Venezuela , which have invested over $10 billion in the country's 32 field operation contracts and are currently pumping about 460,000 barrels of oil per day, will have to consider becoming minority partners with PDVSA if they are looking to continue operation. The joint venture between PDVSA and foreign companies requires handing over a minimum of half of its revenues to the state.
Even though foreign companies know Venezuela is not considering the cost of production in their decision to increase "regalia," which is the amount of money paid by those companies to the Venezuelan State for the use of its territory and resources, they accept it as the cost of merely holding onto the possibility of having a part of Venezuela's important and powerful future.
Venezuela 's Oil Reserves Surpasses Saudi Arabia 's
During the 1990s, the price of oil was around the $20 mark and also fell as low as $10 a barrel in early 1999. Ever since the passing of the hydrocarbon law in 2005, President Chavez has been willing to set the price at $50 a barrel. Moreover, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) estimates that the Venezuelan government controls about 1.3 trillion barrels of oil, which is more than the entire declared oil reserves of the rest of the planet. It is even said that Venezuela 's deposits alone could extend the oil age for another 100 years.
During the upcoming OPEC meeting in Venezuela on June 1, 2006 , it is said that President Chavez will ask OPEC to formally accept that Venezuela 's reserves are now bigger than that of Saudi Arabia 's.
PDVSA is hoping to turn Venezuela into the country with the most crude oil reserves in the world. Over the last few years, the Venezuelan petroleum industry has been trying to increase its crude oil production since it is estimated that Venezuela 's crude oil reserves could be greater than 77 million barrels. Lately, the high price of oil, uncertainty about worldwide oil reserves, increases in the demand for energy and recent initiatives to increase regional integration in South America have convinced Venezuela that now is the time to undertake an aggressive expansion project to become the world's oil superpower.
PDVSA has announced plans to reach crude oil production levels of 5.8 million barrels per day by 2012 and 7.5 million barrels per day by 2020. This petroleum industry will concentrate on increasing the crude oil processing capacity through the expansion of existing refineries and investments in plants within the Caribbean and South America .
Joint Venture with PDVSA
Among the terms stated on the guidelines approved by the Venezuelan Congress on March 24, 2006 , companies faced a minimum of 60 percent stake for PDVSA in each field, as well as a jump in royalties from 16.6 percent to 33.3 percent. ChavezŽs declaration on April 7, 2006, explained, "Now that PDVSA and foreign companies have built partnerships, all parties involved are more committed to the cause, thus creating a more solid framework. It's no longer a contract for doing a service, it's a strategic alliance."
The already-signed operating agreements are part of a plan that the Venezuelan government had during the 1990s to give incentives to private investments. They were subcontracting agreements under which private companies pumped around 500,000 barrels of oil per day for PDVSA.
PDVSA will have a 70 percent stake in Teikoku, 75 percent in Chevron, 80 percent in Hocol (owned by Nightsbridge; London , England ) and 75 percent in CNPC (China National Petroleum Corporation; Bejing , China ). Also, PDVSA will have 60 percent in these fields: Kaki, located southwest and southeast from the city of Anaco in the state of Anzoátegui, together with Inemaka (51 percent Inepetrol, 39 percent Polar, 10 percent EPIC; Venezuela); Cabimas, Maracaibo basin, with SueloPetrol (Caracas, Venezuela); Onado, located in Monagas state, with CGC (Argentina); Quiriquire and Mene Grande in the oriental coast, with Repsol; Casma Anaco, eastern Venezuela, with Open (Venezuela); Colon, Maracaibo Basin, with Tecpetrol (Argentina); Pedernales and Ambrosio, in the Orinoco River delta and Lake Maracaibo respectively, with Perenco; Campo Urdaneta, northwestern Venezuela in Maracaibo Basin, with Shell (NYSE:RDS-B); Monogas Sur with Harvest Natural Resources (NYSE:HNR) and Boqueron in eastern Venezuela with BP (NYSE:BP).
Most of the oil companies are operating in the Orinoco Belt located in eastern Venezuela , which holds the world's largest reserve of heavy crude oil. Sincor ( Sincrudos de Oriente , Venezuela ), which processes heavy crude into more marketable light oils, is also being jointly run by Total ( Courbevoie , France ). The relationship between Total and Venezuela began last year when the government decided to increase regalia for Sincor from 1 percent to 16 percent and then accused Sincor of overproducing and threatened to levy a surcharge of 30 percent on every barrel produced above the 100,000 barrel per day mark.
Venezuela 's government ordered BP, one of the world's largest energy companies, to pay $61.39 million in back taxes for 2001-2004. At the same time, ENI (NYSE:ENI)( Tripoli , Italy ) will have to pay $46 million in unpaid taxes accumulated during this same period. These companies were given until the second week of April to either pay up or face fine increases of 25 percent to 200 percent.
PDVSA Takes Control Over Oil Fields
According to Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez, on April 1, 2006 , Venezuela took control of two oil fields operated by Total and Eni since they failed to reach an agreement with President Chavez to transfer into a joint venture with PDVSA. Total (NYSE: TOT ) operated the Jusepin field in northeastern Venezuela , which was producing almost 35 million barrels per day of crude oil.
Meanwhile, ENI ran the Dación operating contract, a field located in the northeastern region of Venezuela and produced almost 60,000 barrels per day. According to Christophe de Margarie, TotalŽs Director of Exploration and Production, even though the oil company is willing to negotiate with Venezuela 's government, if they do not reach an agreement, Total will sell the activities in question.
Due to the fact that ENI has delayed the payment of nearly $68 million worth of profit tax, Venezuela 's tax authority known as Seniat will take the Italian oil company to international arbitration. Moreover, PDVSA has also taken over operations in the Maulpa field, which is operated by Inemaka, the Sanvi-Guere field by Teikoku, and the Guarico Occidental and Quaimare-La Ceiba fields by Repsol YPF.
Every company operating in Venezuela , with the exception of ExxonMobil ( Irving , Texas ), signed the deal before the imposted deadline on December 31, 2005 . Exxon Mobil has been the challenger to the government since it was the only company to reject the new joint venture agreements. ExxonŽs strong attitude is supported by the company's position in Venezuela since it continues to hold a 41.7 percent stake in the 120,000 barrel per day Cerro Negro heavy oil-upgrading project in the Orinoco belt with BP and PDVSA as partners.
In March 2006, Tillerson, ExxonŽs Chief Executive, said that at least for this moment, he would avoid making any major investments in Venezuela . This country has repeatedly been a challenging operating arena for this company ever since they started with their $3 billion petrochemical project in February 2006.
PDVSAŽs lawyers are drafting the final contract for each of the 32 new E&P joint ventures that have been established between PDVSA and the foreign oil producers after the national assembly approved a contract model on March 30, 2006 . These contracts will last up to 20 years.
The foreign oil companies participating in this joint venture are Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDSB LN), Chevron (San Ramon, California), ENI, Total, Teikoku (Tokyo, Japan), Repsol (NYSE: REP España), West Falcon Samson (Tulsa, OK), Perenco (Caracas, Venezuela), Petrobras (NYSE: PBR)(Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), Vinccler (Caracas, Venezuela), China National Offshore Oil Corportation (Beijing, China), and Harvest Natural Resources (Houston, TX).
Overall, President Hugo Chavez, driven by his desire to avoid multinational exploitation of Venezuela's resources and to create new markets for the countries benefit, it seems more and more like he is trying to change the country's investment plans toward those that fit with the Venezuelan government's foreign policy objectives.
Complete Shutdown at Cardon Refinery in Venezuela
Industrial Info Resources reports that on April 14, 2006 , an electrical fault at substation T-31 led to a power outage, which paralyzed operations at the Cardon refinery in Venezuela . PDVSA said that a flaw in the substation caused the electrical fault, which affected the refinery's vapor, air, and power services, forcing the shutdown.
This refinery, which normally processes 305,000 barrels per day, together with Amuay and Bajo Grande form the Centro de Refinacion Paraguana CRP ( Paraguana Refining Center ), which is the biggest refining center in the world. This has a capacity of 955,000 bbl/ day, and it is Venezuela 's main source of gasoline exports.
PDVSA guaranteed continued fuel supply to domestic and international markets since the state oil company claims to have sufficient reserves to keep up regardless of the interruption. Moreover, PDVSA declared that production has been partially restored at the Cardon refinery since the shutdown and that it is currently producing 200,000 barrels a day. Miguel Hernandez, PDVSAŽs international public relations manager, told Industrial Info Resources that the Cardon refinery will not be back fully into operation until at least April 20, 2006 .
According to Hernandez, the Amuay refinery has not been affected due to this power outage at the Cardon refinery. On March 29, 2006 there was an explosion at the Amuay refinery due to a gas leak during a routine maintenance inspection where one of the hydrogen compressors was in the process of being shutdown. Due to this explosion, different units, such as the hydrotreater 1 and 2, as well as the VGO unit, shutdown, forcing other units to produce well below normal capacity even to this day.
PDVSA highlights that the shutdown at the Cardon refinery will not affect domestic and international markets, although it is known that an interruption of operations in a refinery complex of this size translates into global losses of millions of dollars. A complete shutdown at Cardon can only bring about negative consequences to the international market and especially the United States since Venezuela is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter and one of the top suppliers to the United States .
Explosion at Amuay Refinery in Venezuela has Worldwide Effect
On March 29, 2006, there was an explosion at the Amuay refinery located on the Paraguana Peninsula in the northwest of Venezuela, reports Industrial Info Resources.
This explosion triggered the immediate activation of the safe plant-shutdown protocol, which brought about a large decrease in international supply, as well as particularly affecting the USA 's gasoline prices. Amuay together with the Cardon refinery form the Centro de Refinacion Paraguana ( Paraguana Refining Center ), which is the largest refining center in the world with a total processing capacity of 940,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
According to Venezuela 's state-owned oil company, PDVSA, a gas leak may have been the cause of the explosion. This happened during a routine maintenance inspection where one of the hydrogen compressors was in the process of being shutdown. Due to this explosion, different units, such as other hydrotreaters and the Vacuum Gas-Oil (VGO) units were also forced to shutdown. This not only resulted in the production of a higher sulfur content in the refined products, but also brought about a domino effect in other areas consequently forcing other units to produce well below their normal capacity even to this day.
Units such as the flexicracker, delayed Coker, VGO 2, and VGO 3 units were all affected. Due to the explosion and its consequent shutdowns, the normal rate of 635,000 barrels of crude oil per day was curtailed to nearly 469,000 barrels per day.
PDVSA guaranteed continued fuel supply to domestic and international markets since they claimed to have sufficient reserves to keep up regardless of the interruption. But, recent information shows that due to the interruption, the sulfur content could not be lowered in the final gasoline product, resulting in two cargoes carrying 300,000 barrels heading to the United States needing to be deferred elsewhere. According to estimates, all the units at Amuay will return to normal rates as soon as the hydrotreater units 1 and 2, and the VGO unit returns to normal.
Also, since there were three operators killed in the most recent explosion, as well as a total of seven deaths in the Paraguana Refining Center between 2005 and 2006, many are demanding that an investment be made in the safety and maintenance departments of the complex.
Antecedents
In April of 2005, a power failure at Venezuela 's large Amuay oil refinery meant that the plant had to shutdown its processing units, thus reducing oil supplies significantly. The failure was caused by a breakdown in the supply system to the steam-generation boilers in the CRP block 29, which resulted in disturbances to the generation of electricity.
Experts say this paralysis was due to the lack of experience in the maintenance of the flexicoker. This failure, in turn, affected all the production and transmission services: steam production, water and electric energy, leading to an interruption of the whole complex. The accident took place while the major maintenance of the flexicoker, which reduces viscosity and metal content of heavy oils, was in progress.
Due to the fact that this unit was down for more than three weeks as a result of the power outage it suffered in April of 2005, almost two million barrels of unleaded gasoline were lost due to the paralysis of the refinery.
In December of 2005, PDVSA shutdown two pipelines supplying nearly half the petroleum supply for the complex. These pipelines, which supplied the refinery with 400,000 barrels a day, were back in operation within four days.
However, according to PDVSA, there was no interruption to production since the refinery maintains a five-day supply of crude on-site. Meanwhile, political speculation by the Minister of Energy continued to point at anti-government groups and their protests as the culprit to the outage that occurred earlier that year.
In such a major refinery complex, an interruption of operations no matter how brief, translates into global losses of millions of dollars. If something unusual happens in one of the systems within the refinery and it is not properly controlled as soon as possible, it tends to generate a domino effect involving all of its systems. Once the complex comes to a halt, it may take days to restart.
Having to shutdown a substantial portion of this complex, especially in these days of high oil prices and demand, can easily cause a major catastrophe for the Venezuelan oil industry, leaving a devastating impact on the world economy.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/05/2006 17:22 ||
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#1
Hard to understand why Hugo has to buy 100,000 bbl a day to fullfill contracts.
PDVSA has announced plans to reach crude oil production levels of 5.8 million barrels per day by 2012 and 7.5 million barrels per day by 2020
Oil production has dropped 60% since hugo fired all the PDVSA professionals.
#2
Sprocket-boy has a great opportunity to be swimming in oil money. But by nationalizing oil assets, and socking it to the companies, like Chevron, BP, even the Chicoms, Hugo will find that investment will start drying up, because outside investors will be gunshy about putting money in a place where the rules can be changed on a whim. I think that Hugo's days as pres and possibly an organism on this earth are numbered.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/05/2006 21:31 Comments ||
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#3
But to be replaced by what?
I look around at ZimBob, Chubby here, dEvo, etc and the only likely replacements are just more of the same.
Actually, as I see it, it's the same most everywhere. We see the domestic politics equivalent everyday - where are the Good Guys? Who will step forward and, being squeaky clean and possessing real guts, clean up [insert mess here]?
Rare as hen's teeth, "good" cojones seem to be the rarest commodity on the planet.
#4
BTW, I'm not saying we shouldn't cheer (if not assist in) the demise of such creatures, just that the replacement candidate pool needs a heavy dose of chlorine as well.
The world has dire need of good people willing to stand and deliver - and as far as I can see the only forge creating such people in quantity is our professional military, though I would guess there are (possibly) other sources.
EFL:Who says communism doesn't work? It does for El Jefe...
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cuban President Fidel Castro was furious when Forbes magazine estimated his fortune at $550 million last year. This year, the magazine upped its estimate of the communist leader's wealth to a cool $900 million. Probably all royalties on Che Guevera T shirts...
Castro, who says his net worth is nil, is likely the beneficiary of up to $900 million, based on his control of state-owned companies, the U.S. financial magazine said in its annual tally of "Kings, Queens & Dictators" fortunes on Thursday.
Castro had said he was considering suing after Forbes released its 2005 list, scoffing then his wealth was estimated to be close to that of the queen of England. That "full disclosure" thing scare him off maybe?
"Do they think I am (former Zairian President) Mobutu (Sese Seko) or one of the many millionaires, those thieves and plunderers that the empire has suckled and protected?" he said last year, referring to his capitalist archenemy, Washington. Nope. Fidel's a self made man. He doan need no steenking empire protection!
This year, Castro would be well above the British monarch. Queen Elizabeth came in with some $500 million in estates, gems and a stamp collection built by her grandfather. The list does not include Buckingham Palace or the crown jewels. Which are now owned by GoldenPalace.com...
#4
Funny how Castro uses the "empire" tag (sorry, Empire); seems like Toni Negri and the antiglo neo marxists are in, even to the old guard. You've got to adapt, I guess.
#7
The man reportedly dearly loves his daily or weekly imported Spanish hams for din-din - meanwhile, even CBS's 60 MINUTES shows film footage of Cuban hosfraus/shoppers scrounging for food to eat from the normal sorry-looking measlings, iff any, in Cuban markets. What matters to the State is the appearance of subjective or surreal "quantity", NOT the BLIGHT SORES.
Russian newspapers looked back six decades on Friday as they reacted with alarm and indignation to Dick Cheneyâs rebuke of Russia in Vilnius, some warning it marked the dawn of a new cold war.
Russiaâs state-owned Channel One TV news on Thursday night ignored the words of the US vice-president. But most Moscow newspapers â government-controlled and independent â carried it on their front pages on Friday.
They presented it variously as carrying echoes of the speech in Fulton, Missouri, in 1946 when Sir Winston Churchill warned of an âIron Curtainâ descending across Europe, or the 1945 Yalta conference where Europeâs post-war map was drawn up. Some suggested Mr Cheneyâs remarks would drive Russia into the arms of China.
Many highlighted the fact that Mr Cheneyâs speech was delivered in Lithuania to the Community of Democratic Choice, the nine-country group of former Soviet republics and satellites set up by presidents Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia and Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine.
hey said it marked a potentially fatal split in the Commonwealth of Independent States, the body grouping 12 former Soviet republics founded in the USSRâs dying days.
Kommersant, the business daily, was most strident, headlining its coverage: âEnemy at the Gate: Dick Cheney made almost a Fulton speech in Vilniusâ. The paper, recently sold by exiled Russian âoligarchâ Boris Berezovsky to a business partner and usually considered liberal and anti-Kremlin, warned that Mr Cheneyâs words showed âthe cold war has restarted, only now the front line has shiftedâ.
Komsomolskaya Pravda, Russiaâs best-selling daily and seen as pro-Kremlin, drew comparisons with the Yalta conference. It published a map highlighting the countries that met in Vilnius, with the sub-heading: âAsia has stayed with Moscow, but former socialist Europe has gone over to the American side.â The new pro-democracy group had formed a âpowerful cordon sanitaire along our bordersâ.
âWhat is Russia to do?â the paper asked. âEvidently it needs to strengthen links with Belarus and central Asia. And get friendly with China, to counterbalance this western might.â
Vremya Novostei, a popular daily, said the new pro-democracy community was being created by the American leadership ânot only to be an alternative to the CIS, but its grave-diggerâ. Trud, controlled by the media arm of Gazprom, the natural gas giant, said a new bloc had formed âthe commonwealth of the disgruntled with Russiaâ.
Official reactions were more measured, but no less piqued. Dmitry Peskov, deputy Kremlin spokesman, said the presidential administration viewed Mr Cheneyâs words with âincomprehensionâ â particularly his warning over Russia using its energy might to âblackmailâ its neighbours.
âWe canât agree with a lot of his speech,â Mr Peskov said. âWe canât agree that Russian companies are intimidating people, intimidating neighbouring countries, which need oil and gas for the development of their democracies and their economy.
âRussia and Russian companies for many decades, including during the cold war, were reliable suppliers of energy resources to Europe. And we remain reliable suppliers,â Mr Peskov added.
He said Mr Cheneyâs speech made no mention of the âsuccesses that Russia has achieved in the area of democracy, in the area of freedom of religion. Fifteen years ago, no one in Europe could have imagined that we would follow such a path.â
âIf weâre talking about some kind of change of approach, this should be officially communicated, and not by means of a speech at a conference,â he said.
#2
Official reactions were more measured, but no less piqued. Dmitry Peskov, deputy Kremlin spokesman, said the presidential administration viewed Mr Cheney's words with "incomprehension" â particularly his warning over Russia using its energy might to "blackmail" its neighbours.
Didn't Roosevelt use oil as a weapon against Japan prior to Pearl Harbor? Just asking.
#3
Roosevelt, yes; he was trying to use sanctions to convince them to be less warlike.
Anyone else for sanction?
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/05/2006 17:44 Comments ||
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#4
*"Drive Russia into the arms of China... get friednly with China" > ahem, thats one of the strategic anti-American objectives what GORBACHEV in the '80's intended to do in the first place.
* "Former Socialist Europe has gone over to the American side" - CLINTONISM > presumes America is a SOCIALIST-PRE/PSUEDOCOMMUNIST NATION ALREADY.
Clintonism > Fascist/Fascism, i.e. Ultra-Rightist or Rightism-based SOCIALISM, = De-Regulated or pro-Competition COMMUNISM/LEFT-BASED MARXISM-SOCIALISM. A Fascist Amerikan ergo = Half-A-Commie/Leftist-Socialist, a Semi- or Partial LeftSocialist or Communist.
"Cordon Sanitaire" or Cordon Solitaire > The Failed Left > its America they want surrounded and isolated. The Commies-Maoists are trying to destabilize INDIA-SOUTH ASIA becuz, among other reasons, they need as much HUMAN CANNON FODDER they can get to offset America's miltech-battlespace dominance, i.e. "America to run out of beans-and-bullets before Communist SOcilaist armies run out of bodies". Other then thier mani of POWER, the Commies and antiAmer SOcialists have got nothing to lose escept the human econ units Leftism-Socialism espec Communism can't take care andor won't take care off anyways - you know, the reason why FIDEL CASTRO is worth US$900Milyuhn, has exclusive expensive resorts ala JOHN KERRY + MANSION-GATE, and has special SPANISH HAMS flown in daily or weeekly [HAM-GATE]while his Cuban people and Army slowly but steadily starve.
ONE of the notorious serial gang rapists has had his sperm frozen at taxpayers' expense so he can have a family when he is released from jail.
Court documents state the man, 22, cried after being told by doctors he will probably be sterile following chemotherapy for cancer.
His solicitor Ross Hudson yesterday defended the move.
"It is a misrepresentation to say that a rapist has had his sperm frozen," Mr Hudson said.
"Independent of him being a convicted rapist, he has had Hodgkin's disease and it was as a consequence of that a sperm sample was taken possibly for future use."
The man was 17 at the time of the serial gang rapes in 2000 and cannot be named. He led one gang rape by 14 men on a girl in a toilet block.
"I think he is being incredibly optimistic in thinking he is going to be released from jail and develop a loving and caring relationship with someone who wants to have his children," NSW Rape Crisis Centre co-ordinator Karen Willis said.
He was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, a cancer of the lymphatic system, a month after being jailed with Bilal Skaf in October 2002 over the attacks on young women across Sydney's west. Before raping one woman, aged 19, the man asked her if she liked it "Leb style". He raped her a second time after she had been forced to have sex with 14 other men, some of them several times.
After his cancer diagnosis, he was admitted to Long Bay jail's hospital and escorted under guard for treatment to Prince of Wales Hospital, where the Department of Corrective Services has a secure annex.
It is understood the option to have sperm stored cryogenically before beginning chemotherapy was offered because of his age. He has been single since his girlfriend dumped him following his conviction.
Medical treatment for prisoners is paid for by Justice Health, a division of NSW Health, as part of their duty of care.
Justice Health refuses to comment on individual cases and did not return calls yesterday.
But in a report to the Court of Criminal Appeal, clinical psychologist Marianne Plahn-Williamson said the man was on anti-depressants to cope. "(He) told me that his doctors felt that he was probably sterile for the rest of his life. (He) told me that on several occasions he lost his composure and cried," her report said.
Jailing the man for a maximum of 32 years in October 2002, Judge Michael Finnane said he showed "arrogance . . . and contempt for women".
A man has been charged over yesterday's car accident that critically injured Sophie Delezio, the five-year-old Sydney girl who received burns to 85 per cent of her body when a car careered into her kindergarten in 2003.
Yesterday, a car struck Sophie as she was pushed in a stroller across a pedestrian crossing at Seaforth in north Sydney.
Sophie lost both feet and some fingers in the crash almost two-and-a-half years ago.
The 80-year-old driver was treated for shock and then charged with dangerous driving, negligent driving and failing to give way at a pedestrian crossing.
He will appear in a Sydney court next month.
Sophie was flown to Sydney Children's Hospital yesterday with serious head, leg and chest injuries.
Doctors initially thought she may not survive but the outlook improved through the night.
Dr Michael Brydon says she will nonetheless have a difficult few weeks.
"It is likely, because of the extent of some of the injuries and particularly the chest, that she'll be in intensive care for a couple of weeks at least," he said.
He says her condition has been stabilised.
"She's got quite a few broken ribs, a very, very badly contused lung - a bruised lung - and one of her legs has a very serious fracture," Dr Brydon said.
"Sophie, thank God, isn't as badly injured as we first thought.
"She still is very unwell, she's got some serious injuries particularly to her chest and legs, however the head injury that we thought, which we thought was very serious, it doesn't appear to be as serious as we first thought."
Inconsolable
Her father was inconsolable when he spoke on radio yesterday afternoon.
"I can't believe ... how much can someone go through? Please tell us it's not true," he said.
Well-wishers have placed candles outside the hospital, which has been inundated with calls of concern.
Dr Brydon says while the family is very grateful for the support, people need to stop calling as the care of other patients is being compromised.
The driver of the car was yesterday taken to hospital and treated for shock.
Police labor union officials asked acting Chief Christopher McGaffin this afternoon to allow a Capitol Police officer to complete his investigation into an early-morning car crash involving Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), son of Sen. Ted Kennedy.
ROLL CALL reports: According to a letter sent by Officer Greg Baird, acting chairman of the USCP FOP, the wreck took place at approximately 2:45 a.m. Thursday when Kennedy's car, operating with its running lights turned off, narrowly missed colliding with a Capitol Police cruiser and smashed into a security barricade at First and C streets Southeast. That's called an 'attention getter'
The driver exited the vehicle and he was observed to be staggering, Bairds letter states. Officers approached the driver, who declared to them he was a Congressman and was late to a vote. The House had adjourned nearly three hours before this incident. It was Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy from Rhode Island. "(Hic) You know who i am? (Hic)."
Baird wrote that Capitol Police Patrol Division units, who are trained in driving under the influence cases, were not allowed to perform basic field sobriety tests on the Congressman. Instead, two sergeants, who also responded to the accident, proceeded to confer with the Capitol Police watch commander on duty and then ordered all of the Patrol Division Units to leave the scene and that they were taking over. "Don't you know who he is?"
A source tells the DRUDGE REPORT: "It was apparent that the driver was intoxicated (stumbling) and claimed he was in a hurry to make a vote. "When it became apparent who it was, instead of processing a normal DWI, the watch commander had the Patrol units clear the scene. The commander allowed other building officials drive Kennedy home."
This morning's incident comes just over two weeks after Kennedy was involved in a car accident in Rhode Island.
"I was involved in a traffic accident last night at First and C Street SE near the U.S. Capitol," Kennedy said in a written statement released by his office. "I consumed no alcohol prior to the incident. I will fully cooperate with the Capitol Police in whatever investigation they choose to undertake."
Developing... "Democratic politians
have always been a real close family
but lately some of my kin folks
have disowned a few others and me
i guess its because
i kinda changed my direction
i guess i went and broke the family tradition
they get on me wanna know Pat
why do you drink?
(Pat) why do you roll cars?
Why must you live out the bar tabs that you wrote?
over and over
everybody made my prediction
so if i get stoned
I'm just carryin'
on an old family tradition"
Posted by: Steve ||
05/05/2006 08:47 ||
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#1
Police union spokesman says the cops smelled alcohol on Kennedy. Would a DWI felony prevent Kennedy from running president, or even congress?
Posted by: ed ||
05/05/2006 9:09 Comments ||
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#2
A very Washington kerfuffle indeed. Cynthia McKinney must be having kittens.
#3
Patrick Kennedy's Capitol Hill car crash in the early hours of Thursday morning was the second vehicular mishap suffered by the Rhode Island Democrat in three weeks. Appearing on ABC Radio's Mark Levin Show last night, WRKO Boston radio host Howie Carr detailed the earlier accident, which went unnoted outside of the local press in Providence, Rhode Island.
"The accident wasn't reported in the newspapers until almost a week after it happened," Carr complained in his own Boston Herald column last week. "The story ended up in the D section of the Providence Journal, under the East Bay Sports Bulletin Board and a big story headlined, 'Two arrested after Newport tagging spree,'" he said.
On April 15 Kennedy was driving a Ford Crown Victoria on Turnpike Avenue in Portsmouth, R.I. when he made an abrupt left turn into the path of an oncoming Nissan. "By Kennedy standards, it was a fender-bender," Carr noted.
No one drowned. That we know of.
According to the police report, there was no indication that Kennedy was driving under the influence, with his physical condition described as "appearing normal."
"Well, by Kennedy standards."
Kennedy's handwriting after the accident, however, didn't appear normal, Carr told Levin, explaining that in Rhode Island police require drivers to write their own accident statement.
"It looks like it was written by a chimpanzee, or a 2-year-old," Carr said, speculating that it could been caused by "medications" Kennedy was taking.
"Bartender, another round of medication!"
After the second crash, Kennedy relased a statement saying he was taking Ambien, a drug linked to disoriented behavior in press reports.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/05/2006 9:18 Comments ||
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#4
Good thing they were able to stop him before he got to the...............bridge!
#5
You know where this is heading. Once it blows up in his face in about a week, which is about the timeline on a Kennedy coverup, he will have the tearful press conference to announce that he is entering rehab to "confront his demons" to, of course, the vigorous applause of the adoring media.
And in a couple of years, we'll do it all over again...
#9
Malkin has links to the report of another accident, just two weeks ago. A reader looked at the accident report and contrasted the writing of Kennedy and the other driver. Other driver -- controlled handwriting, trying to be clear and detailed. Kennedy -- incomprehensible scrawl.
Also, his "late to a vote" line is probably an attempt to invoke Constitutional immunity. Congress critters have to break some pretty serious laws before they can be arrested if they're on their way to a vote. I figure his uncle drilled that line into his head; heck, it's probably a genetic thing for Kennedys.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
05/05/2006 10:26 Comments ||
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#10
Probably futile, but anyone running against him in RI?
#11
Fire the police commanders, and cut us a check for our part of their retirement benes.
Corrupt police should spend their old age in a cardboard box, under a bridge.
#12
"declared to them he was a Congressman and was late to a vote...Kennedy relased a statement saying he was taking Ambien"
What is the most important information I should know about Ambien?
Use caution when driving, operating machinery, or performing other hazardous activities. Ambien will cause drowsiness and may cause dizziness. If you experience drowsiness or dizziness, avoid these activities. Ambien should be taken just before bedtime. You may experience some carryover effects the next day. (Source Drugs.com)
*However, drowsiness and dizziness are not considerd a side effect when voting Democrat.
#13
We in the sleep medicine biz have seen a few patients killed/injured after taking sleep medication and then going for a drive. One patient I talked to (no crash so far for him) said, "doc, I know it takes time to start working, so I figured I had time to drive home."
ARRRRRGGGHHH! It's stuff like this that makes me crazy.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/05/2006 11:37 Comments ||
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#14
God didn't invent alcohol so the Irish wouldn't rule the world; just so the Kennedys wouldn't.
#15
Doc Steve, I could almost guarentee you that misuse of "sleep medication" has absolutely nothing to do with this case. That is unless Ambien is a new ingredient in Long Island Ice Tea.
#21
Doc Steve, I could almost guarentee you that misuse of "sleep medication" has absolutely nothing to do with this case. That is unless Ambien is a new ingredient in Long Island Ice Tea
I'm not sure the assumption that he was drunk is correct.
IIRC he has been diagnosed as bipolar. Lots of bipolar people function quite well once diagnosed and the right treatment regimen is found. Until then, many self-medicate with alcohol.
I'm wondering if he hasn't been developing drug interactions between his bipolar meds and the Ambien. If he had ANY alcohol in addition, it could cause symptoms / problems ... and do so days after the drink.
I'm no fan of the Kennedys, but if this is what's happening, or if he's cycling deeper into a mood / judgement disorder, then even his repulsive father has my sympathy. It's a tough thing to watch your kid wrestle with.
#25
Told Y'all yesterday, making a truthful statement "I have consumed NO Alcohol" and lying through his teeth at the same time is a prerquisite to be elected.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/05/2006 14:20 Comments ||
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#26
The Democrat Party, all corruption, all the time.
Wake up, Road Island, you too, Massachusetts, Georgia, Lousiania, California, New Jersey.........
The congressman's father, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., issued a statement saying he was proud of his son for admitting his problem and taking steps to correct it.
"He has taken full responsibility for events that occurred ... and he will continue to cooperate fully with any investigation," the elder Kennedy said.
The younger Kennedy said he hoped that his "openness today and in the past, and my acknowledgment that I need help, will give others the courage to get help if they need it."
See. He's a "hero".
Wonder if Teddy let him borrow the neck brace for the press conference?
Painkiller addiction == heroism, if last name eq. "Kennedy".
Painkiller addiction == criminal hypocrisy, if last name eq. "Limbaugh".
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
05/05/2006 17:38 Comments ||
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#30
We need AutoBartender's educated take on this sorry and sordid episode. After all, he took the TAMS course before he was allowed to serve at the 'Club.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/05/2006 19:29 Comments ||
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#31
I put my 2cents in at the OClub
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/05/2006 20:09 Comments ||
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...Dean took a swipe at the Republican Party, saying the Democratic Party is one of inclusion and religious freedom.
"I was recently asked about the difference between the Democratic and Republican parties," Dean said. "When it comes right down to it, the essential difference is that the Democrats fundamentally believe it is important to make sure that American Jews feel comfortable being American Jews."
#3
Fact: the left symbolized by Howard Dean loves jews like Noam Chomsky. If they are supporters of Irael or religious Jews they hate them. They love the PLO , Hamas and Hizboalah more than any jew of any kind. That is just the truth by all the evidence i can see.
Posted by: SPoD ||
05/05/2006 0:39 Comments ||
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#4
I like Jeff Goldstein's take on this: Why can't "American Jews" just be comfortable being Americans?
(paraphrasing -- essentially, he's sick of the ethnic identity crap)
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
05/05/2006 9:14 Comments ||
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#5
I don't understand Dean's comment on any level? WTF?
#11
My Mom used to say that the difference between the Democrats and the Republicans was that one gets us into wars and the other screws up the economy. I can no longer remember which was which.
#12
When you watch the debates in Congress on C-SPAN(1-3) its quite obvious that a significant portion of the democrats need some additional brain neurons. Another large group need Luvox and a controlling core need ethics.
#13
The Democrats love the Jews so much that Bill & Hill's most frequent foreign guest to the White House was Yasser Arafat, someone who dedicated his life to killing Jews.
(Have to like the article, however. Right after that choice quote from Screamin' Dean, they mention that the chairman of the RNC is Jewish. Didn't think the Seattle P-I had it in them....)
#14
Blondie: Not sure exactly why but Bill Clinton has a ..... special place in his heart for folks with "mysterious blood diseases" like the one that FINALLY sent Yasser on down the road.
There is a buzz in the sleepy village of Jangamaynur in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu as a jeep screeches to a halt.
It is carrying Muthulakshmi who is the widow of India's once most notorious bandit, Veerappan.
He was shot dead by police in 2004 after a 15-year manhunt.
Now his widow, who is in her 30s, is attempting to get elected to the Tamil Nadu state legislative assembly.
She is seeking to represent the Pennagaram constituency which lies some 40km from where her husband is buried and is close to the dense forest from where he ran a smuggling operation for years.
Accompanied by her two high school-going daughters, Prabha and Vidya, Muthulakshmi - dressed in a lemon green sari - is unapologetic as she seeks votes in Veerappan's memory.
The villagers of Jangamaynur say her presence brings back memories of the exploits of Veerappan, who was wanted by police for more than 120 murders.
But the bandit was as much adored as he was feared by the villagers because he projected himself as a champion of the poor.
Many in the constituency instantly recognise Muthulakshmi and for those who do not, her campaign agents has a simple pitch.
"You know who she is. She is the wife of the man with that big moustache," he says to instant smiles.
Veerappan's handlebar moustache was legendary and made him one of the most recognised faces in India.
"Veerappan helped the tribals and poor. I too will fight for your rights. Give me a chance," she says, her hands folded before the villagers.
Her daughters want her to win and have been campaigning for her from the first day.
But not many locals in the constituency give Muthulakshmi a chance as she is pitted against two mainstream political parties. "People are coming to see her only out of curiosity,'' says Kuppuraj, a farm hand.
Valiappan, peddling his cycle after hearing Muthulakshmi's election speech, says it is difficult for an independent to win .
"People vote for parties. She is a newcomer," he says
However, others say she cannot be written off.
"There is some sympathy for her. She was also tortured by the police," says Kannamal, a freckled old lady.
Veerappan's wife was illegally detained for a month when police carried out operations to hunt the bandit down.
Muthulakshmi says her husband had had political ambitions and offered to surrender if given amnesty but the authorities rejected it.
"He wanted to come out of the forests some day, and be a good representative of the people," she told the BBC.
She and her supporters are determined to erect a memorial at his grave and says villagers were happy when Veerappan was alive.
"They could go freely into the forest to graze their cattle, and get firewood . Forest officials do not allow them after my husband died.
"Only if the husband goes into forests in the day can the wife and child expect food at night," she says.
Posted by: john ||
05/05/2006 19:55 ||
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A gangster was gunned down by members of a rival gang on Friday in the premises of a local court here, while police shot dead two of the three assailants, senior police officials said.
Har Dutt, who was about to be produced before Additional District Sessions Judge R.C. Geodora in connection with a murder case, was killed after three persons from a rival gang opened fire at him.
The police shot dead Ravi Pandit, one of the three persons who shot Dutt in the court premises while another one, Babloo, was killed in an encounter on the Sohna-Alwar road in Badshahpur, Inspector-General of Police Mohinder Lal said. The third person, Jaiprakash, was absconding.
Dutt faced at least 16 cases, including murder charges. PTI
Posted by: john ||
05/05/2006 19:33 ||
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Seven villages in Russia have recently registered cases of bird flu, the Agriculture Ministry said, citing the Russian government veterinary watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor.
The villages are located in the southern Russian regions of Dagestan, Krasnodar and Volgograd, the ministry said.
The virus struck 11 regions in southern Russia in 2005, but hotbeds of the disease have been stamped out in the regions of Astrakhan, Rostov, Kalmykia, Adygeya, North Ossetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Chechnya, and Stavropol.
Rosselkhoznadzor said 65.26 million doses of vaccine had been sent to stricken territories and that 32.92 million fowl had been vaccinated.
Comments attributed to Colombia's president that microchip implants could be used to track Colombians working temporarily in the U.S. drew attention -- and criticism -- Thursday.
The alleged statement by President Alfaro Uribe dismayed some Colombians after it appeared in Colombian newspapers.
"It would be a blatant violation of human rights," said Jorge Pinilla, 50, a lawyer in Bogota.
Details of Uribe's conversation last month with U.S. lawmakers were revealed by Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania in a report he read into the congressional record last week.
Specter and Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama met with Uribe, the United States' staunchest ally in Latin America, during their visit to Colombia on April 7-9.
During the informal meeting, Specter expressed concerns about seasonal workers who immigrate to the United States to work temporarily on farms and then don't return to their country once their visa has elapsed.
"President Uribe said he would consider having Colombian workers have microchips implanted into their bodies before they are permitted to enter the United States to work on a seasonal basis," said Specter in a speech entered to the Congressional record April 25. "I doubted whether the implantation of microchips would be effective since the immigrant worker might be able to remove them."
Uribe on Thursday refused to say whether he proposed microchip implants, acknowledging only that he encouraged the senators to replace "draconian" immigration laws with a temporary work program that treats Colombian workers humanely, like one the country already shares with Spain and Canada.
"If the United States, with all its technology, computers and chips, doesn't have the means to know who enters or leaves the country then where are we?" he said during an interview on City TV.
The offices of Specter and Sessions did not return calls seeking comment on their meeting with Uribe.
Uribe's alleged comments, which dominated the airwaves Thursday, were unpopular with some Colombians.
"If the United States wants to prevent illegal immigrants from entering the country, they should find a better way than treating humans like animals," said Diana Lozano, an architecture student.
Using microchips the size of a grain of rice to track the movement of cattle is nothing new. There has been some marketing of the microchips for human use as a way to control access to secure areas and keep tabs on some criminals, but not for immigration.
"It sounds rather Orwellian," said John Keeley, spokesman for the Center for Immigrations Studies in Washington. "In a Star Trek-kind of future, 20-40 years down the road, we might need to consider this, but it's not germane to the contemporary immigration debate."
An estimated 1.5 million Colombians live in the United States and scores more have considered migrating north to escape economic hardship or the country's four-decade civil war. I suppose it's ironic that the #1 reason for voyeuristic totalitarianism turns out not to be obsessive control over others, but mere laziness on the part of government.
Oil and Gas Innovation in the Fossil Fuel Future
IEA Advisory Group on Oil and Gas Technology
Brussels, 22 February 2006 short but ..
Charts, bars graphs slides
#1
Pretty good, but needs to add goverments through guaranteed floor prices have to remove the risk for developing non-conventional oil for it to really take off. Otherwise, businesses will worry that OPEC will 'crash the price' to drive off the challenge of unconventional sources, i.e. drive them out of business. Not that I think that they can.
#3
It's not just a matter of economics and technology.
There is also the matter of people and physical capacity.
Right now, every major oil company is short of petro engineers and geophysicists. There are also not enough working drilling rigs. You don't create those assets just by dragging a person icon at the bottom of the screen and placing it in your company.
And that is just for the conventional and deep water resources.
Its worse when you talk about shale, heavy oil, etc.
A storm is brewing half a billion miles away and in a rare event, astronomers get to watch it closely. Jupiter is growing a new red spot and the Hubble Space Telescope is photographing the scene. Backyard astronomers have been following the action, too. Asculepius prescribed acne cream.
"Red Spot Jr." as it is being called, formed after three white oval-shaped stormstwo of which were at least 90 years oldmerged between 1998 and 2000. A similar merger took place centuries ago and formed the bigger and legendary Great Red Spot, a storm twice as big as Earth and almost 300 years old. "And once again, FEMA waited too long!"
Close inspections of Red Spot Jr., in Hubble images released today, reveal that similar to the Great Red Spot, the more recently developed storm rises above the top of the main cloud deck on Jupiter.
Little is known about how storms form on the giant planet. They are often described as behaving similar to hurricanes on Earth. Some astronomers believe that the spots dredge up material deep below Jupiter's clouds and lift it to where the Sun's ultraviolet light chemically alters it to give it a red hue. The latest images could provide evidence that Jupiter is in the midst of a global change that can modify temperatures by as much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit on different parts of the globe.
The study was led jointly by Imke de Pater and Philip Marcus of University of California, Berkeley. "The storm is growing in altitude," de Pater said. "Before when they were just ovals they didn't stick out above the clouds. Now they are rising." This growth signals a temperature increase in that region, she said. Global warming! It'a all Bush's fault!
The global change cycle began when the last of the white oval-shaped storms formed south of the Great Red Spot in 1939. As the storms started to merge between 1998 and 2000, the mixing of heat began to slow down at that latitude and has continued slowing ever since. The movement of heat from the equator to Jupiter's south pole is expected to stop at 34 degrees southern latitude, where Red Spot Jr. is forming. This will create a big wall and stop the mixing of heat and airflow, the thinking goes. As a result, areas around the equator become warmer, while the poles can start to cool down.
#1
This is interesting and relates to an idea of mine. The assumption underlying pretty much everything I have ever read on climate change (on earth) is that without external forcings climate is stable. There is no reason why climate shouldn't oscillate around a mean (over some time period and there could be multiple oscillations over different time periods) and any changes we are seeing are just those natural oscillations.
#2
Hmmm, Global warming again....
I blame..........BUSH!!!
;)
Seriously, I expect in some short period of time we will get evidence that the sun is experiencing a warmer cycle which is effecting all the planets. Earth, Mars and Jupiter are only the ones that we can readily see an effect on at present. If it is not the sun then there is an external force at work. Either we are passing through a slightly more nebulous area of space or an unknown force or object is causing the warming.
Posted by: DanNY ||
05/05/2006 0:56 Comments ||
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#3
or an unknown force or object is causing the warming.
Known, but unexpected or verbotten by the current cosmology--EM energy in space.
#6
Earth, Mars and Jupiter are only the ones that we can readily see an effect on at present.
I seem to recall Pluto's been warming, too. I also seem to recall it's on the outward-bound segment of its orbit, so it isn't due to it getting closer to the sun.
Mercury... I wouldn't expect to see an effect. Little twitches in its heat transfer are likely lost in the solar blast furnace.
Venus... Again, probably lost in the noise its own nasty climate creates.
The other gas giants... Either the effects aren't as visible as "Red Spot Jr." or we're not looking.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
05/05/2006 9:25 Comments ||
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#7
Our CO2 emmissions are now polluting Jupiter! We are all DHHOOOOOOOOOMED!!!
#8
If those damn Jupiterians would only reduce their hydrocarbon emissions like Hollyweird's leading intellectuals keep saying we should do, they wouldn't be having this problem.
#9
A long time ago I began a novel the premise of which was that the storms on Jupiter were living beings.
They were sentient but not too smart.
I modeled the characters after some people I knew but I never finished the story because at the end of the story, not enough had happened (i.e., no net character development, no net 'character better for the experience' effect). I considered having the little white storms emote as they died but with my premise, they were too dim whitted to have interesting end of life thoughts.
Any Rantburgians who want to use this to write their own story are hereby granted permission to do so.
In reply to [Iran stands in the way of US designs, May 4] by Stephen Zunes: As I recall, six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council met in Abu Dhabi earlier this year and agreed to a "joint response to Iran's problematic approach to a number of issues". What were some of these? They were environmental and should be a source of general concern because their implications are broad in reach. Iran is building nuclear power facilities in geologically unstable areas (Bushehr Peninsula, Dar-Khuwayn in Khuzestan, and plans one on the Jask Peninsula on the Gulf of Oman). These and the remainder of their 25 hoped-for stations are near major population centers of GCC members, but remote from those of Iran. The Siemens-designed (and Russian development-aided) station at Bushehr cannot withstand a Richter-7 quake, and a quake of that magnitude is quite likely in that region. Earthquake-prone Iran has already had several devastating events in the last two years alone. Nuclear fallout in the Persian Gulf (very shallow: less than 90 meters maximum) would ruin fishing and destroy oil flow - for centuries. If the effects of the Chernobyl disaster are an indicator, the human disaster could be even greater.
#3
I'm waiting for them to build a nuke processing plant in Bam.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/05/2006 11:39 Comments ||
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#4
Why, Steve?
Think it might go "bam!" in the near future? ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/05/2006 12:29 Comments ||
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#5
As of now the stuff they have been able to produce is a heavy gas and not probably not that high of a threat (because heavy gas that is underground tends to stay there even after a quake).
The threat comes when they are further down the bomb making road or if they've stored explosive stuff (especially compressed stuff that is explosive) near radioactive stuff.
The threat to the Persian Gulf is highly, highly exaggerated because of the dilution factor. The only fish affected would be the long lived types for which a radioactive intake would be a problem.
1 1/2 stars, two thumbs down.
The management of The Los Angeles Times said a musical promotion for Paramount Pictures' upcoming movie, "Mission: Impossible III" was designed to turn the "everyday news rack experience" into an "extraordinary mission." "Good morning, Mr. Phelps. Your mission, if you decide to accept it, is to read our far-left op-ed page without losing your lunch . . . ."
But the stunt created a real mission for federal law enforcement officers who had to evacuate patients and staff at an area veterans' medical facility last week. The plan was to conceal digital audio players in 4,500 randomly selected newspaper boxes around Los Angeles and Ventura County. When newspaper buyers opened the racks, the six inch long, two-and-a-half inch wide red plastic boxes -- connected to activator switches on the news rack doors -- would play the easily-recognizable "Mission: Impossible" theme song.
A photo of the movie's star, Tom Cruise, adorned a promotional poster on the front of the racks, although there was no warning that the doors had been rigged to play music.
Despite the simplicity of the plan, the digital audio players and the red, white and black wires leading to their activator switches did not stay concealed. One newspaper buyer saw the device and switch, thought it was a bomb and called authorities. After an inspection of the newspaper rack could not determine whether the device was explosive, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department bomb squad blew up the newspaper rack. "This Los Angeles Times newsrack will self-destruct in five seconds."
Calls to Paramount Pictures and The Los Angeles Times were not returned prior to the filing deadline for publication of this article. In a previously released statement, John O'Loughlin, the newspaper's senior vice president for planning, said the boxes were supposed to be hidden from customers. "This was the least intended outcome," O'Loughlin said. "We weren't expecting anything like this." MEMO
From: Senior Management
To: the bozos in the marketing department who thought up this newsrack promo scheme
Your jobs will self-destruct in five seconds.
But the newspaper's own security director, who is a retired L.A. County Sheriff's sergeant, acknowledged in the newspaper's report on the incidents that the assumptions made by the customer who called the sheriff's office and by the deputies on the bomb squad were logical. "With the wires leading to the micro-switch on the news rack doors," Mike LaPerruque told reporters, "I can easily see how someone might have misconstrued it as an improvised explosive device." "Our bad. The only bomb we're supposed to be producing is this movie."
Posted by: Mike ||
05/05/2006 11:21 ||
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#1
Another Scientology Moment (tm)
Brought to you Tom Cruise who ate his daughter's placenta.
WTF did you expect.
Mr Cruise is fast approaching his Thorzine (tm) momment.
#2
Considering the LA Times comprehensive anti-police stance,I wonder just how long the bomb squad took in deciding to blow the rack-and its contents. A full 1/2 second ?
Posted by: Stephen ||
05/05/2006 11:54 Comments ||
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#3
Stephen - the LA Slimes should be grateful the bomb squad didn't decide to blow up the paper box in the Slimes' lobby. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/05/2006 12:27 Comments ||
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#4
Dick Cheney disavowed all knowledge of this incident.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. budget deficit this year could dip to as low as $300 billion, well below the White House's estimate, partly because the federal government was enjoying "robust growth" in revenues, the Congressional Budget Office said Thursday.
In February, the White House estimated a possible fiscal 2006 budget deficit of $423 billion, a figure that political opponents said was likely inflated. More recently, there have been government estimates of a budget deficit closer to $350 billion this year, down from the fiscal 2005 deficit of $318 billion.
The nonpartisan congressional budget analyst said that "robust growth in revenues" accounted for some of the improvement in the deficit picture.
Guess the tax cuts and economic stimulation didn't work, right Mr. Dean?
The $300 billion estimate assumes that some version of an emergency spending bill for war and hurricane rebuilding will be enacted. President Bush wants that measure to cost no more than $94.5 billion. The Senate Thursday passed a $108.9 billion bill that Bush has threatened to veto. CBO's deficit estimate also assumed Congress would finish work this year on a $70 billion tax-cut package that includes tax breaks on investment income.
CBO said that during the first seven months of the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1, the federal government ran a budget deficit of $183 billion, $53 billion less than for the same period in fiscal 2005.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/05/2006 00:02 ||
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#1
Deficit ONLY $300 B!!! That's $1000 per person deficit; money being borrowed from our kids. If only we could get the gov't to SPEND LESS too!
But then, it really only represents excess productivity, and it has to be 'spent' somehow, even if that 'spending' is just throwing it away (like paying to not grow crops.) Excess productive capacity today has no value tomorrow (well, unless you count storing cans of food or such.) Ideally, excess productivity today should be invested in things that are likely to produce increased productive capacity at a time in the future when it would be needed. Building infrastructure is an example - even Alaskan bridges to nowhere. Paying salaries to people who do nothing is not.
#2
So Glenmore, just what is the average American credit card debt? The government is paying interest near prime rate, the American public is paying about three times that. Oh, the sky is so falling.
The reason that the deficit is dipping is because both the economy and the taxes it generates are running above projections. So much for experts on projections [they can take a seat next to the population and global warming predictors].
#4
Don't know about you, but I think it right and proper that my kids are going to help pay for the John C. Stennis, the Virginia and the Spirit of Missouri. These are capital items that are expensed in 4 or 5 years, crazy.
#5
This is good news, in that the debt crisis is reduced. This level of Debt is actually not to bad for a $13,000 Billion economy. The problem is that both taxes and spending are still too high, and without a crisis to hold their feet to the fire...congress will do nothing to change things.
Real US gross domestic product -- the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States -- increased at an annual rate of 4.8 percent in the first quarter of 2006, according to advance estimates released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the fourth quarter, real GDP increased 1.7 percent.
So as a percent of GDP the US debt seems to be decreasing.
On the other hand, the unfunded liability for Social Security and Medicaid is growing significantly. My guess is that this problem will be solved by effective advanced biomedicine and raising the age for retirement.
#9
I've read a bunch of stories recently about numbers of retirees getting part-time jobs, when they realize that they can't really afford to live off Social Security alone, and are bored just doing as they please. And I b'lieve the earned income limit beyond which one must pay FICA taxes is pretty low. It seems to me that the problem will turn out not to be quite as imminent as calculated. (Not that I have any expectation of receiving anything back of what Mr. Wife and I paid in, but that's ok.)
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.
...Dean took a swipe at the Republican Party, saying the Democratic Party is one of inclusion and religious freedom.
A storm is brewing half a billion miles away and in a rare event, astronomers get to watch it closely. Jupiter is growing a new red spot and the Hubble Space Telescope is photographing the scene. Backyard astronomers have been following the action, too.
