A fugitive on a two-day rampage across Arkansas who police said had just fatally shot his pregnant former girlfriend was killed by a sheriff's sniper Friday as he tried to escape from authorities.
Todd Bostian, 32, had kidnapped 18-year-old Kacey Myers, police said, taking her along as he stole cars and broke into homes - a string of offenses that started in Sherwood, northeast of Little Rock, on Wednesday.
Police finally caught up to him Thursday night, when residents in a gated subdivision along Lake Hamilton near Hot Springs called deputies to say they saw a Ford Mustang that Bostian was believed to have stolen.
It turned out Bostian was hiding inside the home of Mike and Rhonda Keck. Mike Keck told police he'd met Bostian a couple of times at a race track and that they had no other connection.
A sniper team and negotiators arrived on Blue Heron Drive, a quiet street where many houses have boat docks, at about 9 p.m., Garland County sheriff's spokesman Lt. Rodney Neighbors said. But the negotiators could make no headway and at 3 a.m., Bostian emerged from the home, wearing a bullet-resistant vest and using Myers and Rhonda Keck to shield him from police.
Neighbors said Bostian fired shots while inside the house, then fired again when he came outside. Deputies returned fire, but Bostian was able to reach the boat dock behind the house.
"We were worried that with his reputation that this might happen if he got cornered," Neighbors said. "He'd run from everyone else."
Bostian climbed into the water and hid under a boat at the Kecks' dock, a party barge. He kept his head above water between the barge's pontoons, where a sniper killed him with a single shot, Neighbors said.
Rhonda Keck was shot in the leg and was being treated at a hospital. Neighbors said the wound was not life-threatening. He originally said Bostian had shot both women, but said later that investigators were waiting for ballistics tests to determine the origin of the shot that wounded Keck.
The Kecks did not immediately return a phone message left at their house.
The quiet Driftwood Estates subdivision is populated with couples in their 50s or older, said Lou Freiheit, who lives across the street from the Kecks. Freiheit, who leads the local neighborhood watch, said deputies evacuated residents for hours, though she chose to stay home and wait out the crisis in her basement with her cats.
"It's just a very unusual situation in our neighborhood," Freiheit said. If there is a crime, "the worst is someone takes a fishing pole off a dock."
Authorities said Bostian crashed a stolen car as he fled from police Wednesday in North Little Rock, then got away on foot. In an earlier chase, they said, he crashed a Cadillac and two men who were inside with him were arrested. They were linked to two burglaries.
From North Little Rock, Bostian drove to Ward, northeast of Little Rock, to the trailer where Myers lived and kidnapped her, police said.
Authorities said they tracked Bostian through his use of stolen credit cards, finding his image on store surveillance video. He had a number of prior convictions for property crimes - theft, and breaking into homes and businesses, police said.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/12/2009 18:42 Comments ||
Top||
#2
This is going to become more commonplace as states begin to empty their prisons because of lack of revenue. Illinois is looking to release 10,000 prisoners.
I bring you good news from the U.S., Gore said on July 7, 2009 in Oxford at the Smith School World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment, sponsored by UK Times. ...and we all know what that means.... So how'd ya get to England, Al? Swim?
Lysenkoism caused serious, long-term harm to Soviet biology. It represented a serious failure of the early Soviet leadership to find real solutions to agricultural problems, allowing their system to be hijacked by a charlatan at the expense of many human lives. Lysenkoism also spread to China, where it continued long after it was eventually denounced by the Soviets.
#4
Good observation, Phil_B. Years ago, I read the book, The Rise and Fall of TD Lysenko, by Zhores Medvedev. It shows what happens when your political leader gets a nutbag with pseudo-science ideas and applies them to the real world.
The Big O is following in the footsteps of Stalin.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/12/2009 3:00 Comments ||
Top||
#5
As I said on previous occasions---I'm going to make sure my son learns Chinese.
#11
Wasn't Lysenko that had some really whacko ideas about aggriculture and nearly starved the USSR and PRC to death? Crops comingling in harmony or something like that? Just wait until the first state collective farm opens.
#12
Hey, no fair phil_b and AP - I've been using the Lysenkoism analogy for a long time. Producing, among the clueless, the usual response: huh? who was that? huh?
Some day, some clandestine researcher may define the tipping point of our civilization into mediocrity and worse was when ignorance, mis-education, and mass disinformation reached the point where people couldn't even understand sarcasm directed at the reigning insanities of the day.
#13
Cyber Sarge: I have complete faith in the ability of the Soviet Union and China to have starved people to death even in the complete absense of people like Lysenko.
#16
Al Gore reminds me of the L. Ron Hubbard comment that if one wants to become rich, they need to start their own religion. Al may not have started the Global Warming cult, but he has become wealthy peddling its dogma. Not bad for a person whose only marketable asset was being a senator's namesake.
#17
Don't unnerstan the comments. Gore is right - it will lead to "Global Governance". Whether or not that's an unmitigated disaster is left to the student as an exercise.
#18
There is a terrible movie called Idiocracy. It unfortunately fits with what is happening to our society right now. Watch the first five minutes, then throw it away. In the movie a WWF guy is president. With Al Frankin and Jesse Ventura in Minnesota we are not far from living this movie.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/12/2009 18:15 Comments ||
Top||
#19
Its worse 49 - at least a WWF president would know how to fight (or at least look like he's fighting :).
Our current CIC looks to be only good for apologizing.... Oh and preening for the cameras.
#20
[Editor's Note: Many critics have often charged that proposed climate tax and regulatory solutions were more important to the promoters of man-made climate fears than the accuracy of their science. Former Colorado Senator Tim Wirth reportedly said, "We've got to ride the global warming issue. Even if the theory of global warming is wrong, we will be doing the right thing in terms of economic policy and environmental policy."]
#21
The SIRIUS EVENT [Sun] was real, so-called "ANTHROPOGENIC" MMGW as the SOLE = UNIVERSAL CAUSE of the Milyuhn-and-Zilyuhn Earths-sized, Arrogant Fascist Nazi Male-Brute Amerikan-ski Capitalist-ski, ............@etc. Sun's refusal to surrender like France to Motherly Gaia Earth is NOT, THUS CLEARLY OF COURSE TO SAVE THE EARTH-HUMANITY WE MUST DESTROY THE SUN.
ION RENSE > "WE WANT HIM TO RULE ALL AFRICAN COUNTRIES" [Africa to POTUS Bammer]; + OBAMA IS TAKING THE US TOWARDS NATIONAL SOCIALISM [Nazism]???
[Mail and Globe] Zimbabwe will review laws forcing foreign companies to sell stakes in their businesses in a bid to make sure they do not discourage investment needed for mines and other industries, the mining minister said on Friday.
Under indigenisation laws, foreign companies cannot hold more than 49% of a business and must sell any stake above that to Zimbabweans. The government is also able to seize 25% of shares in some mines without paying.
The laws have led to the withholding of investment badly needed to raise production as Zimbabwe tries to recover from economic collapse under a unity government between President Robert Mugabe and old rival Morgan Tsvangirai.
Mines and Mining Development Minister Obert Mpofu told an investment conference the review would lead to legislation more focused on investment.
"Careful consideration will be taken to ensure that the process of indigenisation is not at the expense of the much needed direct foreign investment," he said.
"We are back to the drawing board at stakeholder consultation stage where submissions of all the views of interested parties are now being sought again in order to address all the concerns," he said.
Mining has become Zimbabwe's leading source of foreign exchange, with gold accounting for a third of exports, but political turmoil, lack of energy and unfavourable regulation has forced some mines to close.
Zimbabwe has launched a review of all mining contracts, saying it would introduce a "use it or lose it" policy.
"In doing so we want to ensure that all those that are performing will not be prejudiced," he said. "We are doing it in a manner that will not frighten people away."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"Renewing" the law will do nothing until they "Renew the law upholders. (Ignorers in this case)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/12/2009 18:16 Comments ||
Top||
#2
to make sure they do not discourage investment needed.
Years too late, hang Muggabe Publicly, then, and only then will you see any differences.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/12/2009 18:18 Comments ||
Top||
[Mail and Globe] Madagascar's army-backed president has said he could pardon his predecessor Marc Ravalomanana in a move that could block the exiled former leader from contesting future elections.
Madagascar has been shaken by political instability since Andry Rajoelina toppled Ravalomanana in March, branding him corrupt and dictatorial. The power grab alarmed foreign investors, spooked tourists and stunted economic growth.
"It is within my powers to issue a pardon, but I haven't thought about it much yet," he said late on Friday in an interview with selected journalists.
A Madagascar court last month sentenced Ravalomanana in absentia to four years in jail for abuse of office in the purchase of a $60-million presidential jet.
The former president called the charges unfounded.
"While a pardon erases the sentence, it does not annul the crime. If the crime is not scrubbed out it is likely he would not be eligible to stand as a candidate," constitutional law expert Jean Eric Rakotoarisoa told Reuters.
Distanced from a faltering peace process, Ravalomanana looks increasingly unlikely to regain the presidency as time entrenches the 35-year-old Rajoelina.
Former DJ Rajoelina -- whose island is attracting investors in its mineral and energy sectors -- said his government could hold fresh elections before the end of the year, confirming an earlier statement by the foreign minister.
"According to our programme, we can organise a referendum [on a new Constitution] in September. Elections can be organised by the end of the year. That's our proposal, but we need help."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
[Jakarta Post] President Barack Obama is promising to make sure that U.S. aid to Africa gets to the people who need it most, such as farmers and entrepreneurs, and not Western consultants and administrators.
In a speech Saturday in Ghana, Obama said that was why $3.5 billion in food assistance would be channeled toward new methods and technologies for farmers, instead of simply sending U.S. goods to Africa.
The American president, making his first visit to sub-Saharan Africa, said wealthy countries like the U.S. had a lot to gain by opening their doors to more goods and services from Africa.
He says that would help reduce poverty and create wealth on the continent, while creating new markets and demand for American goods.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
I shouldn't think they'd get anything in particular. President Obama has no ties to the family of the father who abandoned him. He merely visited once, functionally as a tourist, when he went to Kenya to look at his roots. Although, he did campaign with that half-brother or cousin or whatever, a few years ago.
The Obama clan don't hold much power in Kenya as far as I know, g(r)omgoru, and their half-relative, President Obama, has no reason to be solicitous about their welfare, so they both have no way to get divert any funds to flow through their fingers, nor does it seem to me likely such positions will suddenly appear for them. Is that what you meant?
The advice appears in leaflets circulated to parents, teachers and youth workers and is meant to update sex education by telling students about the benefits of enjoyable sex.
The authors of the guidance say that for too long, experts have concentrated on the need for "safe sex" and committed relationships while ignoring the principle reason that many people have sex.
Entitled Pleasure, the leaflet has been drawn up by NHS Sheffield, but it also being circulated outside the city.
The leaflet carries the slogan "an orgasm a day keeps the doctor away". It also says: "Health promotion experts advocate five portions of fruit and veg a day and 30 minutes' physical activity three times a week. What about sex or masturbation twice a week?"
Steve Slack, the director of the Centre for HIV and Sexual Health at NHS Sheffield, who is one of the leaflet's authors, says that instead of promoting teenage sex, it could encourage young people to delay losing their virginity until they are certain they will enjoy the experience.
Mr Slack believes that if teenagers are fully informed about sex and are making their decisions of their own will in a loving relationship, they have an equal right as an adult to an enjoyable sex life.
Anthony Seldon, the headmaster of Wellington College, which recently introduced classes in emotional wellbeing, said the leaflets were "deplorable".
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/12/2009 18:02 Comments ||
Top||
#2
10th Amendment:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Only one? Is the British NHS now in the business of rationing orgasms as well as rationing healthcare? Or is this more like a Minimum Daily Requirement?
#3
This is a surprisingly good omen, in many ways. First, it pretty fully exposes Hugo as all bluff and caught off guard by these events - hence his weird reliance on US diplomacy.
Second, it gives POTUS the perfect opportunity to use the singular skill he has displayed in abundance - namely the ability to charismatically persuade the world of a point, while doing nothing or the opposite as far as actions are involved - hence, Honduras gets to bumble along until the elections while time muddles the past and soothes passions.
Third, it ultimately puts Hugo, the Castros and others in an election box by spotlighting the distinctions between elections and referenda, and how leaders become tyrants, if unchecked.
It will be impressive if we (as in D. of State, probably done well before the current POTUS) have contingencies to move elsewhere as needed - namely look to Bolivia and Ecuador as Hugo wannabes. Also, see if and how Brazil reacts and if it continues to "grow" as the first real latin power (which must just PO the Argentines no end, but what are they gonna do?)
There are tentative signs from Democrats in Congress of support for the forces that removed Honduras President Manuel Zelaya from power at the end of June.
Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), chairman of a key House subcommittee with jurisdiction over Honduras, roundly criticized both factions at a Friday hearing. But he also stopped short of calling for Zelayas immediate reinstatement, which hed done in previous statements. While Engel said the United States and its allies in the Western Hemisphere could not tolerate what appeared to be a military coup, he said Zelaya had ignored his countrys own Supreme Court, legislature and even members of his political party when he sought to change the constitution by seeking a second term as president.
When the entire political establishment speaks and expresses dire concerns, the President needed to listen. From everything I can see, he did not, Engel said during the hearing of his House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere.
In a statement on June 29, a day after Zelaya was removed, Engel called for Zelayas immediate reinstatement. I strongly condemn the removal of President Zelaya and believe that he should be reinstated without delay, Engel said in the statement.
The Obama administration has tread carefully since Zelayas removal. It has called for the reinstatement of Zelaya, an ally of Venezeula strongman Hugo Chavez. President Obama said Zelayas removal was illegal, but the administration has pressed for a negotiated solution.
In Congress, the battle has basically gone along party lines, with Republicans unified in supporting Hondurass military. Theyve argued Zelaya was removed because he was acting against Hondurass constitution.
Democrats on Capitol Hill have been critical of Zelayas ouster, but Engels comments on Friday suggest the push against Zelaya may be gaining currency.
Honduran business groups have hired Washington lobbyists, including a former advisor to former President Clinton, to press their case that Hondurass military was right to remove Zelaya. As The Hill reported Friday, the Honduran branch of CEAL, the Latin American equivalent of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, has hired Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe to lobby on its behalf in Washington.
Firm partner Lanny Davis, a former special counsel to President Bill Clinton and supporter of Secretary of State Hillary Clintons 2008 presidential run, is representing CEAL and testified at Engels hearing Friday. In his opening statement, Davis said his client supports the mediation process but that they believe that no one is above the law including the President under the Honduran Constitution, just as no one is above the law under the U.S. Constitution.
In an interview Thursday, Engel said Zelaya would be returned to power if the mediation process now established, under the guidance of Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, was allowed to take its course, but that under the constitution he should not be allowed to run for a second term.
I think if mediation is done, almost assuredly the outcome will be the reinstatement of Zelaya as president, but with it, the understanding that he cannot, under the constitution, run again for a second term and then there would be elections in November and even people in his own party, Im told, have opposed him trying to run for a second term, Engel said. I think thats the likely outcome of the mediation and I think its a fair outcome.
Many Republicans on the Hill are throwing their support behind the military.
They shouldnt be treated like a rogue regime, said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.). Theyre a group of people within the democratic process who are stopping a power-grab by someone whos trying to concentrate power unconstitutionally.
Rohrabachers comments were echoed in the upper chamber earlier in the week as a group of 17 Republican senators sent a letter to Clinton asking for the White House to support Zelayas removal.
The Obama Administration has advocated mediation led by Costa Rica President Oscar Arias as the appropriate process to reach such a resolution.
Freshman Democrat Rep. Gerry Connolly (Va.), who managed a multitude of Central American issues for the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in the 1980s and has dealt with Arias at length, said the Costa Rican carries the adequate clout to bring about fair results. The fact that [Arias] is known in the region, I think makes him a particularly effective choice to try and mediate the situation, rather than have it be a U.S. imposed solution or perceived as a U.S. imposed solution, said Connolly in a recent interview. I think its a very skillful deployment of an indigenous resource.
In the meantime, the White House has suspended $16.5 million in military aid to Honduras and $1.9 million from the USAID, in addition to freezing U.S.-supported educational and family planning programs in the country.
#1
Well, if you like LAW, and the rule therof, you should not oppose the removal of that scumbucket. But if you rather just side with obama.... Who am I but a native?
Follow your ideology or follow the law, or you have no chance in owninging lawfare for a lawful society.
#2
Problem for Obumble is Sec 239 of the Honduran Constitution says Zelaya was, by his actions, IMMEDIATE removed from office - and their Supreme court verified it 3 times. Further Sec 331 (I think) give the Supremes the right to order the military to remove him.
Its a shame Obumble sided with Chavez and a would-be dictator and criminal instead of being on the side of constitutional law.
The German army has awarded the first Iron Cross medals, for bravery in a combat zone, since 1945. From 1813 to 1945, nearly five million Iron Cross medals were awarded to German military personnel (and a few civilians who were performing military functions.)
The Iron Cross medal ceased to exist between 1945 and last year. But popular demand caused the German government to create an "Honor Cross for Bravery" which is, to all appearances, a continuation of the Iron Cross medals that have been awarded for over two centuries. The first recipients are four army sergeants, who performed heroically during a Taliban attack in Afghanistan.
After World War II, the government designed an Iron Cross for World War II veterans to wear, one that did not include a swastika (which has been illegal to display in Germany since World War II.)
Until 1918, there were several higher (than the Iron Cross) order decorations for distinguished service in combat, but these were replaced during World War II by more elaborate versions of the Iron Cross.
At the moment, all the German armed forces have is Honor Cross for Bravery. But, as in World War I, where the first Iron Cross you got was the Iron Cross 2nd class, and if you got another one, it was the Iron Cross 1st class, the Honor Cross may also morph a bit.
The Department of Homeland Security said it was revising a program that authorized local police to enforce federal immigration law -- a controversial aspect of U.S. border policy.
Opponents said the program, known as 287g, was intended to identify criminal aliens but instead has led to racial profiling; it allowed local police to identify and arrest illegal immigrants for such minor infractions as a broken tail light. Program supporters said it has been an effective tool for combating illegal immigration. The new guidelines sharply reduce the ability of local law enforcement to arrest and screen suspected illegal immigrants. They are intended to prevent sheriff and police departments from arresting people "for minor offenses as a guise to initiate removal proceedings," according to Homeland Security. The program will instead focus on more serious criminals.
New York City used to allocate their resources that way. Then they realized that turn stile jumpers quickly went on to commit real crimes, because the they saw that the laws that applied to everyone else did not to them. New York City is pretty safe now.
"In a world of limited resources, our view is that we need to focus first and foremost on people committing crimes in our community who should not be here," said John Morton, Assistant Secretary of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Morton said his agency would sign new contracts with local law enforcement that would bolster federal oversight.
In the past two years, more than 120,000 suspected illegal immigrants were identified through the program, and most ended up in deportation proceedings. By comparison, ICE removed 356,739 illegal immigrants from the U.S. during the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2008 -- a 23.5% increase over the 2007 total.
It sounds like the two efforts are a good synergy, and more than a third increase over ICE efforts alone, without a significant upcharge to the taxpayer.
The most active local enforcer has been Joe Arpaio, the sheriff of Arizona's Maricopa County. He said Friday he would continue pursuing illegal immigrants, arguing that state laws allow neighborhood crime sweeps and worksite raids. "If I'm told not to enforce immigration law except if the alien is a violent criminal, my answer to that is we are still going to do the same thing, 287g or not," said Arpaio. His deputies have identified in jail or picked up on the streets more than 30,000 illegal immigrants in the Phoenix area. "We have been very successful," said the five-term sheriff.
Popular in the community, is he?
The Department of Justice is investigating whether Arpaio's deputies have used skin color as a pretense to stop Latinos suspected of being illegal immigrants.
Obama's policy change is expected to bolster his standing with Latinos and some Democratic legislators. The administration is seeking to set the stage for a sweeping overhaul of immigration legislation that could put millions of illegal workers on the path to U.S. citizenship.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/12/2009 8:08 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Joe's biggest fault is appealing to the "public sense of sadism", which really gets out of control in a hurry. Once individuals are classed as groups, be they "criminals" or "illegals", there are lots of people out there who have no more empathy for them than did the Nazis have for the Jews. And I mean this literally.
In some discussions about Joe's policies with "criminals", there are a disturbing number of people who are fine with advocating unbelievable abuse, be it branding, beating and torture, even the death penalty for all sorts of crimes. There is no hesitation, no equivocation, in this advocacy, only burning hatred.
It is downright creepy.
As far as illegals go, the bottom line should be to get them back to their own country, not to injure them or make them suffer. But this line gets blurred by people who blame their personal problems on illegals.
The bottom line is what Joe is doing in this case isn't too bad, usually just annoying to Hispanic citizens who get checked to see if they are citizens.
However, he tries to appeal to those who are unreasonable, by vilifying people, who while they shouldn't be here, are for the most part not offensive, or violent, or otherwise criminal.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/12/2009 10:53 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Not sure about the particulars of your indictment of Arpaio, 'moose, but I'm sure there is a forest/trees problem here.
Of all the great disgraces of recent America, enshrining abitrary racial social engineering and shredding rule of law (affirmative action and all its toxic offspring) is the most offensive to basic principles and most pernicious to rule of law. The social/political phenomenon that has enabled this disgrace to occur, of course, is race-baiting and the insane presumption of racism that is allowed to be used by designated elements (defined by their position on policy issues, not THEIR race - thus Sen. Graham and Dubya briefly donned the odious cloak of race-baiters during Amnesty I).
The election of a preposterous non-entity (and bumbling amateur politician) as president of course crowned America's disgrace in this respect, and confirmed that a functioning majority had imbibed and succumbed to the race guilt/social engineering delusion.
Remember the response to the rejection by many of the truly audacious and insane provisions of Amnesty I? "We need to get the bigots out of the debate" (or words to that effect) by Graham.
I don't care if Arpaio's antics appeal to some unappealing instincts among unfashionable folk we wouldn't hand out with. They aren't a factor, racist discrimination or violence aren't a factor. Period - and anyone who thinks they are needs to get out more, or have an IQ check-up. But assuming/pretending/fearing/fantasizing that they are is the core of the race-obsessed mindset that has shredded the rule of law and made America a laughing-stock among the thoughtful. And demonizing those who have common sense and an understanding of the importance of rule of law as "bigots" is the significant factor (forest), not the antics of one sheriff that might produce stupid reaction in people are just stupid anyway (trees).
The number of people blaming illegal immigration for their problems is about 1/100,000th of those blaming evil oil corporations/"big business"/white males/"the Bush administration"/Prop. 13/CO2/rich people/etc for their problems.
Difference is, the latter group constitutes a working majority of the electorate, and their idiocy is reflected in the idiotic public square and many idiotic policies today. The former group ..... well, they have no impact or importance, as they never have.
Which is the national problem of stirring up objectionable feelings? A histrionic local law enforcement official, or a "president" who says his political opposition is sure to point out that he "doesn't look like the other guys on the dollar bills"?
Those whose delicate consciences need salve may look to the impending elevation of a racist mediocrity to the (in many respects already farcical) SCOTUS for comfort.
#9
Moose, I can't think of anything more corrosive to the underpinnings of the American Republic, the Rule of Law, than the continued defense of illegal immigration on "racial" grounds. Besides, last time I looked, most Mexican immigrants would be classified as "white".
#10
Obama's policy change is expected to bolster his standing with Latinos and some Democratic legislators. The administration is seeking to set the stage for a sweeping overhaul of immigration legislation that could put millions of illegal workers on the path to U.S. citizenship.
I can't stand all the pandering and the double speak. This is nothing more than Obama selling our country for votes.
However, he tries to appeal to those who are unreasonable, by vilifying people, who while they shouldn't be here, are for the most part not offensive, or violent, or otherwise criminal.
Not violent? Not criminal? Check out California's prisons some time. Ever hear of MS13? OK, so most of them don't belong to MS13. They don't need to. They are effectively seizing control of our country without violence. They have the numbers, growing numbers, which translates into votes. That's how they get politicians at the local, state and federal levels of our government pandering to them as if they are just another legitimate voting block.
Wanna know a big part of the reason for California's budget deficit? It's the money the politicians give to illegal aliens for welfare, health care and education. It also includes the cost of keeping them in prison when they become literally offensive and violent.
I don't blame the aliens. I certainly don't hate them. In fact, I rather like them. That's one reason I get particularly incensed whenever anybody tries to inject the word "race" into this issue. That is a red herring. It is a smoke screen. Race is not the issue. Profiling is NOT the issue. They're just trying to dodge the real issue which is that our border needs to be secured before we lose our country. Don't think that could happen? You may not notice it because it is happening, little by little, every day with the help of politicians like Obama.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
07/12/2009 15:35 Comments ||
Top||
#11
Lets be honest here...
What's the point of having a country if you don't control the borders, support the rule of law and give preference to that countries citizens?
#12
With the economy in the shit, and unemployment high, now's the time to push illegals home. But, of course, the Donks and bottom-line-only GOP'ers won't. I'll call them what they are: traitorous bastards who sell out our citizenship for their personal gain, either voters or low wages or ethnic gains. Fuck em. They ARE traitors, every time an illegal vote cancels out an American vote, and every time they vote down ID requirements to vote. If you support that, then you are a traitor too
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/12/2009 18:39 Comments ||
Top||
[Geo News] A Punjab woman MPA went on shopping spree using a stolen credit card. Punjab Government spokesman has said that action will be taken against the MPA in case it is proved she had committed the crime. According to sources, a woman named Zaira Malik has filed an application in a police station against Punjab MPA Shumaila Anjum Rana. Zaira Malik said payment of Rs80,000 was made from her credit card for the shopping. It may be mentioned here that the MPA belongs to Pakistan Muslim Leagu-N.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
HIGH-ENERGY laser weapons have been hailed as the future of anti-missile defence, but they may be further from being battle-ready than military chiefs hoped.
In recent tests, several prototypes have suffered serious damage to their optics at intensities well below the expected levels of tolerance. "Optical damage has been quietly alarming upper management in most major programmes," Sean Ross of the US Air Force Research Laboratory in New Mexico told a meeting of the Directed Energy Professional Society in Newton, Massachusetts, last week. There are also big problems managing the waste heat generated by high-intensity beams.
Laser weapons require mirrors and lenses to focus powerful beams onto distant moving targets, and to compensate for atmospheric perturbations that can reduce the power they deliver. The higher the intensity of the beam, the more likely it is to damage the surface of its optical components.
Optical surfaces are designed to withstand powers up to a specific damage threshold, but tiny flaws or irregularities - which can be extremely difficult to spot - reduce this threshold by making them more vulnerable to heat. Contaminants deposited on the surface can also reduce this threshold by forcing the surface to absorb energy.
These problems have begun to stall the development of laser weapons. Earlier this year in the US, engineers halted tests of the $4.3 billion megawatt-class Airborne Laser short of full power to avoid damaging "a handful of optics in the turret", according to Mike Rinn, a Boeing vice-president who manages the programme. They realised that the optics, designed years ago, would be "frail" in the presence of any contamination, which would be virtually inevitable in flight. In the next week or so, Boeing engineers will install replacement optics and test them on the ground before running the laser at full power in flight.
Finding a way of preventing laser weapons from frying themselves is proving just as troublesome. Depending on the type of laser, generating 1 watt of laser beam produces about 4 watts of waste heat that must be dissipated. The challenge is to develop a cooling system that is both small and extremely robust.
#2
Mr. Edison had quite some problem with the filaments for his 'light bulb' suffering heat damage. I belive he was eventually successful in engineering a solution.
#3
The solution is airborne squeegee men. Since unemployment is near 10%, there should be plenty of applicants.
Posted by: ed ||
07/12/2009 11:06 Comments ||
Top||
#4
I dont think this will be fixed until they find a way to get rid of the mirrors. Any tiny spec of dust on one of the mirrors will absorb a tremendous amount of energy and create a burn spot on the optics.
This means that assembly and (most importantly) maintenance can only be done in clean-room conditions.
So they either need to put the mirrors in a closed assembly that can be swapped out and maintained as a module or get rid of the mirrors and find some other way of controlling the beams.
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.
