#2
This "hate crime" conviction also proves that LGBT trumps black in court, as a "preferred minority". So when an LGBT debates a black, the LGBT wins by "pulling the LGBT card".
Now all they need is an epithet more inclusive than "homophobic", that they can scream to shut down a debate they are losing. It will be interesting to note when blacks realize that calling an LGBT a "racist" doesn't work, or is utterly neutralized by the LGBT.
#4
I don't think LGBT trumps black in most cases. I think this was an exception because of the videotape and complete randomness and violence involved.
There must be some good comments for this!
It all sounded too good to be true. A Taiwanese engineer met a man claiming to be the newly sworn-in Director of the Central Intelligence Agency David Petraeus on the Internet four months ago. The 4-star general asked for her hand recently and vowed to marry her "even if it will start World War III."
He promised to fly to Taipei on a U.S. military plane to take her back to the U.S. He asked little from her -- just to wire him money for fuel expenses and to help him cash some paychecks from the recent campaign that toppled the Col. Moammar Gadhafi of Libya.
The only problems are that the U.S. is mostly not involved in the military campaigns in Libya and that Petraeus is already married.
Liu Hsu-jen, who claimed to have recently resigned from her post as a managing engineer at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, was arrested on Thursday for using 37 forged CitiBank travelers' checks worth 500 euros each.
Liu told the authorities that the checks came from her fiance David Howell Petraeus, who served as the top commander for the U.S. military in the Afghanistan War and recently for the military action in Libya, and is now the chief of the CIA.
The checks were sent to her from the man claiming to be Petraeus as collateral after Liu's wired him a total of US$30,000 for fuel expenses of an alleged U.S. military plane's flight to Taipei. He also sent her a wedding ring.
Liu said she had her doubts but was reassured after having online video conference with him. Footages of the web conferences showed a man with a striking resemblance to Petraeus. Liu said she also found details the man provided to "match perfectly" with public CIA information and therefore firmly believed in her fiance's identity, the Liberty Times reported yesterday.
However, the U.S. is not involved actively in the NATO air raids on Libya and the U.S. is unlikely to assign Gen. Petraeus, who was sworn in as CIA head on Sept. 6, as chief officer in Libya as the man had claimed.
The court first demanded bail of NT$200,000 for Liu but later allowed the woman to leave on NT$90,000 bail as she had less than NT$100,000 in her bank account.
That'll take care of it. Thank goodness he's in charge.
[Dawn] President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari ... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ... has appealed to the people and all political parties to offer special prayers on Wednesday after Zuhr prayers for the flood victims in Sindh and other parts of the country.
In a message issued from London on Tuesday, the president also urged the people to pray for those suffering from dengue fever and other ailments.
According to his spokesperson, the president said these are testing times that call for demonstrating unity and rising above the political considerations.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2011 00:00 ||
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The bloodstained bodies of a man and a woman were found hanging from a bridge in northeast Mexico Tuesday, along with threatening messages to people who report drug violence on social networks.
The messages lay near the two bodies, found half naked, alluding to websites set up for people to report drug violence in the area, police said.
"That will happen to all of them," read the text of one message signed with the letter 'Z' usually associated with the Zetas drug gang.
Another true believer gets a wake up call...
Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said Tuesday that he would leave Cuba after exhausting all possible avenues to try to win the release of a jailed U.S. government subcontractor, adding that he was treated so poorly he doubted he could ever come back to the island as a friend. Do you know who I am!
Richardson, who previously vowed to remain in Cuba until he at least got to see jailed Maryland native Alan Gross, changed his mind after meetings with the Cuban government and other influential groups failed to yield any results. He said he would leave Wednesday. "I have been here a week and tried through all means -- with religious institutions, diplomats from other countries, all kinds of efforts -- and I see that this isn't going to change," Richardson told reporters. "So why would I stay?" Ummmmmmmm...for the guy in jail maybe?
Richardson, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who had enjoyed warm relations with Cuba in the past, said he was disheartened and disillusioned by his treatment, and wondered aloud if President Raul Castro's government was aiming to deliberately scuttle better ties with Washington. "I am very disappointed and surprised," Richardson said. "Perhaps the Cuban government has decided it does not want to improve relations. Perhaps that is the message it is sending." Yeah, Bill. Maybe Barry will start World War III because the Cubans wouldn't kiss your ass... Why should the Cubans give a shit while Obama has been doing everything in his power to promote the U.S.A. as nothing but a paper tiger?
Richardson spoke of his longtime affection for Cuba, its people and its culture, but said this trip has soured all that."Unfortunately after this negative experience, I don't know if I could return here as a friend," he said. "The next step is up to the Cuban government, but they have not treated me like a friend." Good day, sir!
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
09/14/2011 0:28 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Richardson told reporters. "So why would I stay?"
To do an episode of House Hunters International for HGTV. Well, if you sense that your patron the One won't be around in 2013 and that pesky "Pay for Play" corruption investigation will be revived, a nice tropical get away might be in order, particularly one in a country without an extradition treaty, especially since Cuban sugar cane tastes better than North Korea tree bark.
#9
AND, apparen will also write off repor 90% of DPRK's debt to Moscow.
* ION RUSSIA, WMF/WAFF > RUSSIA DEFENDS BOMBER FLIGHT TO JAPAN.
D *** NG IT, RUSS SAYS THEY IS "BEWILDERED" BY JAPAN'S ANTI-FRIENDLY COMPLAINT AGZ MAMA RUSSIA.
* WMF > DEFENCE NEWS: RUSSIA DEPLOYS/SENDS OVER 50 NAVAL WARSHIPS IN NAVAL EXERCISE OFF NORTHERN JAPAN, TO INCLUDE SENDING 24 SURFACE WARSHIPS, ARMED SUPPORT VESSELS, + SUBMARINES THROUGH THE SOYA STRAIT BETWEEN HOKKAIDO + SOUTH KURILS.
"Just N-O-T good teriyakai" relations, as far as Nippon = Tokyo is concerned.
Could? You pulling stuff out of your ass Bambi, or do you have some actual facts to back it up?
We spending billions on your worthless feel good project again? Oh wait, it is more shovel feeding the unions taxpayer money so they can donate to the dhimocratic party next year. Fucking thieves.
#5
The new schools I notice have no windows you can open. That alone is terrible. With enclosed environments at some point you will have problems.
Air filtration systems and purification a must. Any building or conveyance that warehouses people must have environmental controls. I don't care for O's timing. Just trying to make points somewhere.
#6
Wait a second, was this at that school the other day? You know, the one which was closed at 13:00 on a Tuesday. Looked to me like they closed school for a Pass this Buck chirp speech.
#7
Dale: In an epidemiological study, it was determined that open windows are a much better choice than air conditioning when pulmonary communicable diseases are around, and it is temperate out.
The measured volume of "fresh air" circulating is far higher than a/c, even if the a/c uses filtration and UV sterilization of the air.
Additionally, at least for the influenza virus, they know that its optimal air transmission is at 40F with low humidity. With increased temperature and humidity, air transmission of the virus rapidly declines, and it becomes far more reliant on contact contamination.
There have also been studies done on different surfaces and how long pathogens can exist on them. As well has how effective different types of decontamination are on them.
This immediately resulted in "desiccant paint", that looks and acts like ordinary paint, but rapidly dries out liquids, oils and greases, as well as any pathogens that land on it. It is even deadlier to pathogens because it is basic, with a high pH of about 9, like baking soda.
#8
If conditions were favorable, our Teachers would ALWAYS keep the doors open to the open air. And what the hell is a President addressing such a lowly subject anyway?
#1
Geithner is not exactly at the head of the class so far as lecturing Europe on Finance. Has he noticed our economy has been in the dumper for the duration of BO's administration. Probably not, since he has a job and the economy has not improved. It has been some time since the economy ceased to be Bush's fault. I'm not sure it every really was his fault. There have been too many big government donks meddling in the background undermining the economy for 70 years or more.
While the fact that a record number of Americans are living in poverty should not surprise anyone at this point, what should surprise many is that according to Table P-5 of the Census report of (Lack of) Income, the median male is now worse on a gross, inflation adjusted basis, than he was in... 1968! While back then, the median income of male workers was $32,844, it has since risen declined to $32,137 as of 2010. And there is your lesson in inflation 101 (which we assume is driven by the CPI, which likely means that the actual inflation adjusted income decline is far worse than what is even reported). Studies indicate the CPI understates inflation by 1% or more per year.
The only winner: women, whose median inflation adjusted income over the same period has increased by 188%. That said, it is still at 65% of what the median male makes. So injustice all around.
[Al Jazeera] Bank of America is to cut 30,000 jobs over the next few years in a bid to save $5bn a year. The cost-cutting drive is part of a broader effort to reshape and shrink the US' largest bank as it copes with fallout from the housing bust. Thanks Mr. Dodd, Mr. Frank...
The cuts came on the day Barack Osama, the US President sent his $447bn jobs bill to Congress to help reduce the level of unemployment.
The bank said it expects many of the cuts to come through attrition and eliminating unfilled positions through the cost-cutting programme called Project New BAC, named after the code for its shares on the stock market.
The bank announced the job cuts in a statement shortly after Brian Moynihan, the bank's chief executive, disclosed the cost-saving goals in an address to investors saying "We're a much simpler company than we were 24 months ago".
The Bank of America's stock had lost half its value this year, largely over problems related to poorly-written mortgages it acquired with its 2008 purchase of Countrywide Financial Corporation. Oh yeah, that...
Currently the bank is facing lawsuits from investors and regulators over the sales of mortgage-backed securities that lost value after the housing boom collapsed.
The latest job cuts will lead to a 10 per cent reduction in the bank's work force of 288,000. The cuts come on top of 6,000 positions the bank has already eliminated through the third quarter of this year.
The shares initially rose, then fell back again amid disappointment at the lack of detail given about the cost-cutting plans. Late in the session they recovered to close up by 1.3 per cent at $7.05
The shares had lost about half their value in 2011 as fears grew that the bank may have to issue more shares to meet new global capital requirements.
There was a brief recovery in August when it was announced that billionaire investor Warren Buffett had invested $5bn in the bank, but the shares have now fallen below the levels before that investment was made.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Yokay, I'll bite, I know for a fact CNN said 40,000???
#3
Perhaps the others are retiring to spend more time with their families, JosephM. Or possibly CNN was operating on incomplete information...or Al Jazeera is. The BoA website will have the correct number, no doubt.
#5
I agree with phil_b. About 6 months ago I dumped Chase for banking services with a company that has no retail branches. I saved myself a lot of money and now receive much better service.
#8
Didn't Bernanke and Paulson kind of just shove Countrywide and Merill Lynch down BofA's throat? That was certainly the impression I got. So if there's any justice, which I doubt, most of the jobs being cut will come from those acquisitions.
#9
Ebbang is correct.
Many if not most of the cuts will come from countrywide, whose ex-CEO is in jail and could not be reached for comment.
Meanwhile Wells Fargo is laying off 12% of its workers thanks to Wachovia's contribution to the mortgage bubble. (shotgun marriage: 1 sick bank + 1 healthy bank = 1 really big sick bank)
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
09/14/2011 17:29 Comments ||
Top||
[Al Jazeera] The US poverty rate hit its highest level since 1993 last year, with a record 46 million people living below the American poverty line, according to census data.
A government report released on Tuesday said the poverty rate rose for a third consecutive year to hit 15.1
per cent in 2010, up from 14.3 per cent a year earlier.
The US definition of poverty in 2010 was an annual income of $22,314 for a family of four, and $11,139 for a single person.
The survey showed struggles for the rest of Americans, with median annual household income falling 2.3 percent to $49,445.
However, facts are stubborn; statistics are more pliable... the census report said there was no "statistically significant" change in inequality between 2009 and 2010 based on its index.
The poverty rate for blacks and Hispanics was much higher than for the overall population at 27.4 per cent and 26.6 per cent, respectively. Among regions, the South had the highest poverty rate at 16.9 per cent and the highest percentage without health insurance, 19.1 per cent.
The Census Bureau said the number of people country-wide without health insurance coverage rose to 49.9 million in 2010 from 49.0 million in 2009.
The report, showing the first full year since the recession officially ended in June 2009, supports the notion that Americans have been losing ground economically. It showed real median incomes fell 6.4 per cent from pre-recession levels in 2007 and were 7.1 per cent below the peak in 1999.
Underlying the census data was a rate of economic growth too weak to compensate for the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs from 2009 to 2010, as the recession officially ended but the jobless rate shot up from 9.3 per cent to 9.6 per cent.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
For the donks, this is a feature, not a bug. They'd be happy to turn us all into beggars in the name of "fairness."
#4
They'd be happy to turn us all into beggars in the name of "fairness."
I believe the operative term is 'dependents' as in dependent upon their graces to distribute other people's wealth garnered through those people's skill, ability, and entrepreneurial talent. Toss in a good dose of envy rhetoric to keep us all in a guilty state of mind to demurely roll over and you have it.
Yeah, it's a pity - our poor people can barely afford their TVs, cable, cell phones, microwaves, cars, designer clothes, tattoos, artificial nails, etc.
Maybe Al Jizz would like to tell us about the poor people in the Middle East...
Posted by: Barbara ||
09/14/2011 19:36 Comments ||
Top||
Read the whole thing to get that the core reason for the threat facing most major European banks. Hint: they were forced to take actions the market would not have called for.
#1
The proximate cause of the crisis was government's demand that banks enhance liquidity by buying government bonds, bonds which have now collapsed. But in the bigger picture, doesn't it come down to the inherent instability of fractional reserve banking, as Austrian economists claim?
President Barack Obama has criticised European leaders for failing to tackle the debt crisis and has demanded "more effective, co-ordinated" fiscal policy.
Reflecting the anger of Americans who are blaming Europe for the current economic turmoil, the President called for eurozone leaders to show global markets they are taking responsibility for the crisis.
Tim Geithner, the US Treasury Secretary, is set to take the unusual step of attending a European Finance Ministers meeting on Friday.
Analysts at JP Morgan said there was "a growing sense that the crisis is reaching a climax", arguing that the "endgame on EMU [European Monetary Union] is approaching fast".
Okay, they have a point.
Jim O'Neill, chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, added that along with Greece, "something big needs to happen for European bank capital, the clarity and determination of ECB policy making and, most importantly, where Germany wants to lead EMU".
Market confidence in the 17-state eurozone was knocked again on Tuesday when Italy was forced to pay a record 5.6pc yield to sell €3.9bn (£3.4bn) of five-year bonds. Officials said that Giulio Tremonti, the country's finance minister, had met investors from China but there was not yet an agreement to buy government bonds.
Markets across Europe had a volatile day amid fears of Greek and Italian default, and a French banking crisis.
See also CHINA DAILY FORUM > US BLAMES EU FOR GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS.
versus
* SAME > EX-US TREASURY SECRETARY: US IS [steadily] COLLAPSING. Govt must take the lead + push both market reforms + demand [before it becomes too late].
#4
So Fearless Leader has thrown all of Europe under the bus? What happened to them being our enlightened, sophisticated betters? And are there any of those fritters left?
Multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis (TB) are spreading at an alarming rate in Europe and will kill thousands unless health authorities halt the pandemic, the World Health Organisation(WHO) said on Wednesday.
Launching a new regional plan to find, diagnose and treat cases of the airborne infectious disease more effectively, the WHO's European director warned that complacency had allowed a resurgence of TB and failure to tackle it now would mean huge human and economic costs in the future.
"TB is an old disease that never went away, and now it is evolving with a vengeance," said Zsuzsanna Jakab, the WHO's Regional Director for Europe.
#1
This is pretty serious stuff. Even with traditional TB, the mortality rate is 7%. With the multidrug variety (MDR-TB) it is 50%, and the extremely drug resistant variety (XDR-TB) is pretty much "nice knowing you--everything you have touched will be incinerated, and your remains will be buried in quicklime."
The social impact of a TB epidemic is terrifying, because it may kill you quick, or screw up just about any organ in your body, or put you in a wheelchair, or it might make you hyper-creative or hyper-sexual, or you may become pale and gaunt and look like a concentration camp victim.
The emotional morbidity we think of as the "Gothic" look is based on TB. People obsessed with death and dying. Lots of suicide. Mourning black as decor. It psychologically messed up an entire generation.
#2
Bacterial, so don't touch your face and frequent hand washing. Active and latent. Latent you carry it but your not contagious. I didn't realize you can have it for two weeks then big trouble with active. Test early then test again later to make sure. Forget the "Gothic" look but some of the benefits look interesting. I can believe the "Lots of suicide" part. People don't want to suffer and don't want to be financial drain on the family.
#3
The TB culture was something else. In the 18th and 19th centuries, it killed close to a billion people. Yet it had been around as a disease since ancient Egypt and Greece.
Because it affected people differently, it was thought to be several conditions. Scrofula, glandular swellings in the neck, consumption (TB of the lungs), lupus vulgaris (TB of the skin), and PottÂ’s disease (TB of the bones).
The deaths of Mimi in Puccini's La Boheme and Satine in Moulin Rouge, as well as countless other characters found in novels, who would just vanish, the author assuming the readers would know they had died of TB.
With a mortality rate of around 80%, "heroic anything" was tried. In one instance it was found that intentionally collapsing a lung, and letting it remain collapsed for a period of time, the other lung doing the work. It was assumed that given a "rest" allowed the collapsed lung to heal. Weirdly enough, they were right.
#7
Uncontrolled imigration contributed hugely to its' resurfacing in the UK, as well as political decisions, hell, we had an illegal with HIV, TB and probs MRSA as well, masks on, chlorine solutions all round.
#9
It's primarily a social problem (spreading in addict and homeless populations), made worse by the disincentives to drug companies to develop new antibiotics.
Another factor is how virulent the new strains are.
It used to be that the only way to get TB was by living with someone who had TB, but these new strains are spreading thru casual contact.
WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday signed an agreement to base anti-missile interceptors in Romania under a NATO missile defense plan that has angered Russia.
Seems like the only good parts of the Obama foreign policy are the ones continued from the Bush foreign policy...
Clinton signed the agreement with Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi and said the United States expected to deploy the interceptor missiles at a Romanian air force base in approximately four years.
"The agreement we have just signed will position Romania as a central player in NATO's evolving missile defense capability," Clinton said, noting that the agreement must still be ratified by the U.S. Senate. "With this missile agreement we are jointly building a safer, more secure future for us all."
The Romania deal is part of a larger NATO missile defense plan for Europe that has caused friction with Moscow, which wants a bigger role.
At a NATO summit last November, the allies agreed to develop a new missile defense shield linking systems in the United States and Europe to protect member states against long-range attacks from states such as Iran. The plans involve the stationing of ship-based interceptors in the Mediterranean beginning this year, followed by land-based interceptors in Romania from 2015 and in Poland from 2018.
Russia has agreed to cooperate on the initiative but disagrees over its implementation, saying it should be a single integrated shield rather than two separate defense systems.
And it wants control over the big red button...
The U.S.-Romania deal calls for the United States to construct, maintain and operate a facility at the Deveselu Air Base near Caracal in southern Romania for the land-based SM-3 ballistic missile defense system. The facility is expected to house between 150 and 200 U.S. military personnel as well as government and civilian contractors.
A State Department factsheet underscored that the SM-3 interceptors are for defensive purposes only and carry no explosive warheads, operating instead by colliding with and destroying incoming missiles.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/14/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Oh and Vladimir, how about the nuke reactors in Iran?
Turkey has developed a new radar system for its US-made F-16 fighter jets that will allow them to fire at Israeli targets, Ankara's Star Gazete reported on Tuesday. The orders to modify the system reportedly came directly from Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's office.
The new radar system -- Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) -- is a defensive command and control system developed by Turkey's Military Electronics Industry (ASELSAN) for the nation's air force and navy. It is slated to replace a similar US version which is in use today.
The US system is comprised of lists of "friends" and "foes." The system's settings are designed to prevent pilot error as well, to an extent, disabling the ability to fire at "friendly" targets even by mistake. The US system identified Israel as a 'friend,' thus preventing Turkish fighter jets from firing at them automatically. Sounds like a rich target for Chinese hackers.
The Chinese aren't the only ones who can find their way around other people's programming...
The new system, however, allows Turkey control the "friend or foe" list independently.
The Turkish IFF system is scheduled to be mounted on all Turkish fighter jets, military vessels and submarines in the near future.
The move, whose timing coincides with a prolonged period of unprecedented diplomatic tensions between Ankara and Jerusalem, has received extensive media coverage in Iran, as well.
#1
Then there's this, from Debka. They claim Turkey can't operate the drones they bought from Israel without the Israeli technicians that came with them (much like the Saudi air force and their Western technicians), and the U.S. won't sell them any until they stop threatening the Jewish state. Also, without the information we've been sharing with them, they don't know where to attack the Kurds.
Life is hard. It's even harder when you're stupid.
#2
And, when not under threat, it can generate revenue through advertising contracts, with streaming promotions for popular household products running down its sides.
Posted by: Bruce ||
09/14/2011 15:11 Comments ||
Top||
#3
It's a cool idea and all, but, . . . I don't see it.
Posted by: Mike ||
09/14/2011 20:41 Comments ||
Top||
Children are being forced to study science "second hand" as schools dump traditional experiments in favour of teaching from textbooks, MPs warned today.
The Commons science select committee said that exaggerated fears over health and safety were occasionally used as a "convenient excuse" for avoiding practical work.
In a report, it was claimed that this often disguised a lack of confidence among physics, chemistry and biology teachers.
MPs insisted that a decline in experiments and fieldwork was actually down to weak teacher training, a lack of lab technicians, the poor quality of science facilities and crowded timetables.
The conclusions came as a separate international study showed the amount of time children spend in conventional lessons during the school day had a direct bearing on their chances of securing decent grades in science.
#1
Put it down, also, to a need to spend valuable class time on PC non-science related BS. I see that as a substitute in middle and HS that much of the "work" is talking about science from various social perspectives rather than actually doing science. Time is a limited resource and experiments are an easy cut.
#3
Article link. It's England, which has ever had problems with its community schools. I suspect it's a bit different in the fee-based "public" schools.
#4
This debate ended 20 years ago in the US, by eliminating hands-on chemistry, biology, and even physics from most public high school curricula.
It ended about the same time that contingency lawyers shut down most public pools, got rid of most playground equipment, and were so vigorously suing anyone with money that it changed America.
Schools tried for a while to suggest that such hands-on experience was "just as good" when shown on computer, but they even gave up on that ruse, because doing everything by textbook only is as cheap as it gets.
#5
The trailing daughters did lab experiments as part of the science curriculum from the primary grades on. Our elementary school PTA got a grant and set up the lab, designed lesson plans for each grade in conference with the teachers. PTA members with a strong background in science (professional scientists and engineers) ran the lessons while the teachers enforced proper student behaviour. The program was then copied across the district. This is a suburban public school system in southwest Ohio, not some exclusive private academy.
Admittedly, not all districts have PTA-involved parents with such skills, but still.
#8
tw: Perhaps the pendulum is swinging back. The last I heard on the subject was from disgruntled h.s. science teachers who were giving up and getting out.
While I'm a big fan of the military as a career, I would much prefer that h.s. science teachers be afforded enough respect so that they don't quit and join the military.
If I had my druthers, every year of elementary school would have an hour a day of "Mr. Wizard" type science instruction. I could never get enough of it as a kid, which I though just wasn't right.
#9
It was a parent-led project, Anonymoose, started sometime in the first half of the 1990s. One of the classroom mothers, a retired engineer, noticed the teacher was confusing series and parallel circuits, and decided to provide a solution. SHe was later hired by an elite private academy to reprise the program she had developed for us.
We were more than a cupcakes'n'cookies PTA. Lots of engineers and scientists, lawyers, CPAs, the founder of the publishing center had been head of human resources for a medium sized corporation, my co-chairs for the nature preserve were an Eagle Scout and a master gardener, the decorations committee was headed by a professional artist, the computer committee head was a regional manager for 3Com... Actually, fairly typical for what PTAs can call upon out in the suburbs nowadays, if only they think of it.
[Emirates 24/7] Iran has banned TV programs showing half-naked men and love triangles, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Monday, in the latest sign of a conservative crackdown on media in the Islamic state.
It was not clear what prompted the ban - Iran TV, which has a monopoly in the country, dedicates large parts of its schedule to religious shows and announcements from the government.
But viewers were gripped a few years ago by a locally-produced soap opera called Forbidden Fruit which told the tale of an old man who decided to leave his wife after falling in love with a young girl.
"Based on a new instruction, the broadcasting of programs that show tempting love triangles is banned," Fars said.
Exceptions would be made for shows that explicitly condemned such entanglements, it added.
"Showing half-naked men in Iranian and foreign productions is also banned," the report said, adding that producers were urged not to show "unnecessary mingling" between the sexes.
The statement did not say how the restrictions on partially-clothed men would affect Iran TV's sports coverage.
Since the 1979 revolution brought strict Islamic law to Iran, TV shows and films have had to comply with religious values by avoiding scenes that show intimate relations between men and women or flout Islamic dress codes for women.
The restrictions have pushed many Iranians to turn to illegal satellite channels for uncensored entertainment and international news.
Iran outlawed satellite dishes in the mid-1990s, saying it wanted to curb what it called Western efforts to corrupt its population through the spread of immoral programs.
The ban was largely ignored under President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad's predecessor Mohammad Khatami who tried to increase social freedoms after he was elected in 1997.
But hard-liners pressed for renewed restrictions after Ahmadinejad took office in 2005 and Iranian police launched a new crackdown on satellite dishes earlier this year.
Iran's hardline rulers often accuse the United States and other Western countries of seeking to overthrow holy manal rule through a "soft" or "velvet" revolution with the help of intellectuals, websites and satellite channels.
Earlier this year, local media reported Iran had also banned programs showing how to cook western dishes.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
So that's why my TIVO has been empty lately....
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.
Asif Ali 
[Al Jazeera] The US poverty rate hit its highest level since 1993 last year, with a record 46 million people living below the American poverty line, according to census data.
WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday signed an agreement to base anti-missile interceptors in Romania under a NATO missile defense plan that has angered Russia.
Turkey has developed a new radar system for its US-made F-16 fighter jets that will allow them to fire at Israeli targets, Ankara's Star Gazete reported on Tuesday. The orders to modify the system reportedly came directly from Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's office. 
Mahmoud 
