SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (Reuters) - Residents of a town climbed onto rooftops and into trees to escape floods from Tropical Storm Jeanne, which has killed five people, swept away houses and forced 22,000 people to flee their homes in the Dominican Republic.
Jeanne, which also killed two people and caused flooding in the U.S. Caribbean territory of Puerto Rico earlier this week, has moved over northern Dominican Republic since Thursday, and could hit the United States next week.
Torrential rains swelled rivers and flooded low-lying areas, cutting off 1,500 residents of the eastern town of Ramon Santana when a river burst its banks.
Military helicopters sent to the town could not land but crews saw people on top of roofs and clinging to trees, said officials in the capital, Santo Domingo.
Navy launches would be sent to rescue them, said Civil Defence Director Luis Luna Paulino.
Some 200 homes were swept away in Salcedo, north of Santo Domingo, when a river burst its banks. People living in low lying areas of the town had been evacuated, but an unknown number of people were missing, officials
said.
Flooding and mudslides cut off several other towns and villages in the northeast, including in the Samana peninsula, where high winds ripped the roofs off beach hotels. Tourism is crucial to the Dominican Republic's economy.
"There are many hotels without roofs and with trees on the ground," said Enrique Jacque, owner of La Tortuga hotel in Las Terrenas. "All our rooms were damaged."
Three people, including a man crushed under a falling tree, were killed on Friday in the storm, taking the death toll from Jeanne to five.
Two people, including a 3-month-old crushed in a mudslide in Santo Domingo, were killed on Thursday. The storm destroyed at least 100 homes and felled trees and power lines in northeastern areas on Thursday.
Emergency officials said some 22,000 people had been evacuated from low-lying parts of the country of nearly 9 million people. Forecasters said the storm could dump up to 13 inches (33 cm) of rain.
Jeanne's top winds had weakened to 50 mph (80 kph) as it moved over land, but it was briefly at hurricane strength with winds of 75 mph (120 kph) on Thursday. It could strengthen again when it moves out to sea from the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, forecasters said.
At 2 p.m. EDT (7:00 p.m. British time), the storm's centre was moving off Hispaniola, heading west-northwest at 8 mph (13 kph). It was on a course that would carry it over or near the southeastern Bahamas during the weekend, said the U.S. National Hurricane Centre.
FLORIDA, AGAIN?
Flooding in May caused by torrential rains in central Hispaniola killed some 1,800 people in Haiti and 350 in the Dominican Republic. Haiti has been largely deforested and is vulnerable to deadly flash floods and mudslides.
Residents on the north coast of Haiti, a poor nation of 8 million, were keeping a wary eye on the storm, although it was not expected to hit Haiti directly. Haiti and the Dominican Republic share the island of Hispaniola.
The longer term forecast, which has a wide margin of error, had the storm looping up clear of the northern Bahamas and then veering west toward the eastern United States.
Jeanne could hit the northeast coast of Florida as a hurricane by next Wednesday. The state has already been hit by three hurricanes: Charley on August 13, Frances on September 4 and Ivan on Thursday.
Karl, the 11th named tropical storm of a busy Atlantic hurricane season, was churning west-northwest through the Atlantic, far from any land. The hurricane centre said Karl would turn into a hurricane and veer north next week, clear of the Caribbean or the United States.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
09/17/2004 10:00:29 PM ||
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OSLO (Reuters) - Mussels have been found growing on the seabed just 800 miles from the North Pole in a likely sign of global warming, scientists said on Friday.
The blue mussels, which normally favor warmer waters like off France or the eastern United States, were discovered last month off Norway's Svalbard archipelago in waters that are covered with ice most of the year.
"The climate is changing fast," said Geir Johnsen, a professor at the Norwegian University for Science and Technology who was among experts who found the bivalves. Molluscs were a "very good indicator that the climate is warming," he said.
"It seems like the mussels we found are two to three years old," he told Reuters. Such shellfish have not been recorded off the islands since Viking times 1,000 years ago during another warm period.
U.N. scientists say the Arctic is now warming faster than any other region because of human emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released from burning fossil fuels in cars, factories and power plants.
As the white ice and snow melts, it exposes darker ground or water that soaks up heat and so accelerates warming compared to regions further south. By comparison, ice in Antarctica is thicker and acts as a deep freeze resisting global warming.
Inuit peoples in Canada, for instance, are seeing robins for the first time and hunters are falling through previously solid sea ice. In Scandinavia, birch trees are moving northwards into previously icy areas used for reindeer herding.
The scientists monitoring Svalbard also said they had found seas free of ice further north than for 250 years at one point this summer.
"The climate has been warming," said Bjorn Gulliksen, a professor at the University of Svalbard. "The ice limit...has not been as far north since 1751."
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
09/17/2004 9:42:08 PM ||
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#1
The ice limit...has not been as far north since 1751.
He just said that the climate was kind of like this in 1751. But of course - weather moves in cycles, just like the seasons.
Weather cycles do indeed seem have a historical content, but when reviewing events from 1751, and as was stated in the article in terms of the Svalbard mussels discovery dating back to the Viking era of 1000AD, do or could a repeat of a similar interconnected (warming trend-increase in Atlantic hurricanes) weather related history be upon us once again? "It seems like the mussels we found are two to three years old," he told Reuters. Such shellfish have not been recorded off the islands since Viking times 1,000 years ago during another warm period.'
This is a very interesting topic since reporters on the Weather Channel are stating we have once again moved into a 10 to 20 year cycle of very damaging hurricanes. In other words, is this hurricane season's (only half over) tragic loss of life & economic destruction caused by this rash of very powerful tropical hurricanes a preview for the next 10 to 20 seasons?
We should also mention during the last 3 to 4 weeks, North Asian nations have also been slammed by Pacific super typhoons, but Americans naturally have been deeply enveloped with our own weather headaches over the last month and most have not paid much attention to the huge Pacific weather storms.
More intensive research is required on this over all subject in light of so many mega-hurricanes in the Atlantic in span of a month, although September is the height of the hurricane season.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
09/17/2004 22:22 Comments ||
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#3
more scientific (as opposed to agenda-driven) study definitely needs to be conducted. I have yet to see real (data-driven) study that acknowledges long term cycles. The greens and Donks are too ready to throttle the American economy with poorly-derived theory while allowing 3rd world polluters carte blanche - call it economic guilt. Provide proof that we're at long-term fault, provide comprehensive long-term solutions that work, and I'll listen, otherwise STFU
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/17/2004 23:05 Comments ||
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#4
As far as the wacko pinko agenda types they use anything & everything to blow out of proportion whatever pet issue of the week they get locked into.
I just feel we have re-entered into a powerful hurricane cycle. Is it dated from the 1950's? Not sure, although there were bad ones in the 1930's as well, real bad, like the 'Long Island Express' of 38 which had Providence under water, plus Fla Keys killer of 35, etc. It's hard to pin point a time frame of the cycle since in the 1940's there were monster Pacific and Atlantic tropical storms in 44. One of which caused more damage then the Japs for the U.S. Navy. Enough already with the hurricanes I can't take any more this season, and to think, 2 more months .
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
09/17/2004 23:48 Comments ||
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#5
How do they taste?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/18/2004 0:29 Comments ||
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#6
Hey... I bet on global warning years ago. I have a nice Sequioa growing in my Chicago Suburban yard. Right now its about 6 feet tall. Sometimes it still gets topped in really icy winters.
#3
Great song; especially since it came from Donnie Darko. Have I ever mentioned my very special Donnie Darko trivia here?
The video was VERY VERY cool. The shooting was impressive, and the editing was seamless.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
09/17/2004 21:26 Comments ||
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#4
RC - Are you the one who told us that even the Director couldn't explain what the movie's message was? I recall a post which had a link and that was the upshot. Have you other info / links? I found the movie disturbing as hell, heh.
For the man who has everything and just needs something to carry it all in:
This one could make the Hummer look like a girlie car. International Truck and Engine Corp. is producing what it calls the world's biggest production pickup, a 14,500-pound monster capable of towing 20 tons. "It's a super head-turner," said Ken Wallace, an International dealer in Fort Myers, Fla., who has been driving one for about two weeks. "Other motorists hang out of their cars to take pictures of it."
But does anybody really need a vehicle that is nine feet tall, eight feet wide, 21 1/2 feet long and gets about seven miles on a gallon of diesel? Rob Swim, International's marketing director, said the 5-passenger CXT will appeal to image-conscious contractors, roofers, landscapers and other small-business owners who can use the towing power but also want to draw attention to themselves. "This truck is for businesses that want to make a bold statement," Swim said. "It's for business people that want to promote as much as perform."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy ||
09/17/2004 9:30:51 AM ||
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But it hasnât made a full-size pickup since the 1970s.
There's a reason for that. This sucker could turn out to be a $115,000 POS.
#7
"There's a reason for that. This sucker could turn out to be a $115,000 POS. "
That is the approximate price, which isn't out of line for what this vehicle is. Essentially it is a gussied up Class 7 Commercial Truck.
I seriously doubt that it is a "POS", I've operated a number of the International Class 7 & 8 Commercial trucks and they are no better or worse than Kenworth, Peterbilt, Freightliner etc.
The interesting thing is, will states continue to require a Class A drivers license to operate them. The average person in the US has enough trouble piloting their vehicles already, I hate to see some untrained bozo at the wheel of one of these monsters.
#9
The straight 6 was a BMC engine I bet, IH used to use lots of BMC stuff over the years. My Dad sold IH equipment for 45 years. Navistar (IH) trucks are pretty good quality. That is why they are still in business and IH tractors are history.
#11
You better be thinking when you are in a hurry and heading for the airport. You will be severely truncated when you enter the first level of the airport parking garage.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/17/2004 18:42 Comments ||
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Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
09/17/2004 22:29 Comments ||
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It's traditional Muslim propaganda. This is the script they use to try to convert Christians to Islam. The problem is that there are all these pesky rules that have now been dropped from Christianity. For example, the early Christians followed Mosaic law, including circumcision and dietary rules forbidding pork, shellfish, etc. Well, Muslims adhere strictly to those rules. The point here is that Islam is basically a Christian heresy (in the same way that Christianity is essentially a Jewish heresy)*, but a really warped heresy that believes people who go to war for Islam are rewarded with 72 virgins in paradise, rejects the traditional Jewish and Christian insistence on monogamy and retains a lot of other customs of Arab desert raiders.
THE Australian Taxation Office is considering joining condom manufacturers and brothels in sponsoring the sex industry's awards night as part of a campaign to encourage strippers and prostitutes to declare their income and pay GST. Tax officials have been talking with organisers of the Australian Adult Industry Awards in an effort to promote tax compliance by the nation's 16,000 sex workers. The fourth annual awards night - with categories including best brothel, best brothel receptionist and best stripper (male and female) - will be held at Melbourne's Hyatt Hotel in November. Nominees for the Hall of Fame include someone called "Dirty Pierre".
An ATO spokesman confirmed that tax office involvement in the awards was "under consideration". Adult industry organiser Maxine Fensom, who runs Melbourne's biggest stripper agency, has held talks with the ATO for at least a month, and hopes the government agency will agree to be a naming rights sponsor of the event. The ATO's cash economy taskforce, a team of tax investigators based in Wollongong, south of Sydney, initially met Ms Fensom to discuss ways sex workers and strippers could improve compliance with their GST obligations.
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#1
Usually the adult industry is very compliant with whatever regulations they work under--it's the governments that try to change the rules mid-game. The industry even lobbies to get legislation passed to establish ground rules where none exist. So I imagine that compliance will skyrocket with just a seminar or two explaining responsibilities--it's just good for business.
#2
Well, good for the government's business, anyway. But I do agree with Anonymoose's comment about the adult industry.
Anecdote: I used to prepare taxes for a living. The place I worked had a pair of call girls as clients. They filed their taxes regularly and on time. (Note that the IRS does not care if income is "illegal" as long as taxes are paid]
They made good money, they worked as 'party girls' on yachts. I was almost tempted...
Posted by: Kathy K ||
09/17/2004 21:18 Comments ||
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A member of the Qatar royal family has been arrested in the Czech Republic and charged with sexually abusing underage girls. The 44-year-old man was arrested Tuesday at his apartment in Prague, said police spokeswoman Daniela Razimova. She refused to identify him, but Qatar's embassy in Bonn confirmed the suspect is Hamid Sani, a member of the Gulf emirate's royal family. Czech media reported that Sani has lived in Prague for 10 years. Qatar has no diplomats in the Czech capital. Two women from Prague, aged 19 and 20, were arrested for allegedly delivering the girls aged, 12 to 15, to the man, Razimova said. The girls allegedly were paid â¬59 for offering sex to the man, she said. All three suspects were charged with sexually abusing children, Razimova said. A police investigation began early this year and is continuing, she said.
#3
Exactly, borgboy. Is it something in the water over there? What is this fascination with pedophilia? Are these perverts stupid enough, are their egos so fragile, to believe that hearing young girls scream in pain means they are great lovers? No wonder their wives let them take 3 other wives. I would, too; just stay the F*** away from me with your sickness; (I'll find a real lover with a healthy sexual appetite).
#4
What's the problem here? I'm sure it's acceptable in his country/culture.
Remember, we have to be sensitive to other cultures, which are just as valid as our own. And probably even more valid than our Western imperialist culture.
/PC L3
BARF.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/17/2004 20:02 Comments ||
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They have no Pedophilia laws in their country. They can preety much buy any age and variety of women. Sodomizing little boys is not even considered a crime. Their mullas do it regularly in the madresas. I guess it has something to do with religion. The religious people tend to have Pedophilia problem. In his case it is Islam and in Catholic Priests case it is ..........ummm their own sickness.
AKA "A Bridge Too Far"--Remember the brave men of the 82nd, 101st, Red Devils, and XXX Corps who fought bravely yet vainly to liberate Holland and cross into the industrial Ruhr.
Posted by: Dar ||
09/17/2004 1:23:24 PM ||
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Thank you, Monty. Hope it's warm where you are.
Turkey's government ignored EU warnings and pushed to include a controversial adultery ban in a joint two-party package of penal code reforms, but the main opposition party said it had refused to accept it. Deputies from Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) were on Thursday pressing the party leadership to go ahead with a motion to make adultery a punishable offence, a project dropped in the face of harsh opposition at home and abraod, parliamentary sources said.
Posted by: Charles ||
09/17/2004 1:15 Comments ||
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#2
So whatever happened to the agreement that only bipartisan proposals would be voted on?
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
09/17/2004 2:34 Comments ||
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#3
Nice Secular government you have there Murat.
That's called democracy Charles, every party has right to sent a motion of a bill, this will be voted and I personally think it will be almost impossible that such a bill can pass.
Posted by: Murat ||
09/17/2004 2:54 Comments ||
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That's called democracy Charles, every party has right to sent a motion of a bill, this will be voted and I personally think it will be almost impossible that such a bill can pass.
But my question is why the people would vote into office a ruling party that tries this, regardless of whether it passes or not. Some AKP members seem to be pushing for the start of Sharia law in Turkey. There's really no reason for them to attempt this other than they see it as un-Islamic. And if the people don't like this, why did they vote into office the politicians who support it in the first place?
I could be completely wrong too, but perhaps you could outline the Political situation with this among the parties quick? I would be interested in hearing your POV Murat.
Posted by: Charles ||
09/17/2004 9:27 Comments ||
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Well, Charles, the party in question, the AKP-party got many protest votes (after many economic and political blunders the other parties made) that made the AKP the ruling party. The AKP is a center conservative party which now and then makes this kind of controversial backward bill proposals, most of them don't pass the parliament.
My regard of the AKP is that she does remarkably well at economic issues, but the part I don't like is that she looks sometimes anti-secular.
Posted by: Murat ||
09/17/2004 11:10 Comments ||
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Murat,
More importantly, how does the Turkish military view proposals like this?
#8
Nothing wrong with this provision. Marriage is a public institution. Adultery destroys that institution, harms the betrayed spouse and certainly the children, and spreads disease, abortion and illegitimacy -- all of which have high social costs. It seems to me that a society that does not punish adultery is backwards -- promoting a primitive and selfish attitude towards sexuality that has done nothing but cause harm to everyone involved, including the society at-large. Promotion of adultery is no more "enlightened" than smoking crack, prostitution, and killing unborn children.
#11
Adultry is better controlled by treating your wife like a human not a possession and keeping her happy. Why make a rule which we all know will only lead to abuse of women. Case in point is the Hudood ordinance passed in Pakistan, by which if a married woman gets raped and cannot produce witnesses to prove it she gets stoned to death for adultry. You let the Islamists grab your finger very soon they will want the whole arm.
#1
This was here yesterday. The picture is either a soldier showing surrendering Iraquis what to do or a soldier signaling he has the enemy in sight. this is NOT a picture of an American soldier surrendering. Moveon has really sunk lower than whale shit now.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
09/17/2004 7:47 Comments ||
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MoveOn's main constituency would never know the difference.
#3
Well in 45 days we'll show them a defeated candidate. The good hair team can go back under the rock from whence they came.
Posted by: Douglas De Bono ||
09/17/2004 9:10 Comments ||
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Actually I saw the video on Fox. It shows a soldier being 'bogged down' in a 'QIAGMIRE!' and not surrendering. However I think that is how Moveon.org would like it perceived.
President Bush has maintained his post-convention bounce and even grown his support to a nine-point lead over Democratic rival John Kerry, according to a new CBS News/New York Times poll released Friday. Fifty percent of respondents support Bush, compared with 41 percent who support Kerry, up from 49 percent for Bush and 42 percent for Kerry just one week ago. The nationwide poll was conducted in a telephone survey of 1,088 registered voters from Thursday through Sunday and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent. And Bush's support is much stronger than Kerry's support, which is roughly divided among those who favor Kerry and those who dislike Bush.
Sixty-three percent of Bush backers say they strongly favor the president, while just 9 percent support Bush because they dislike other candidates. In contrast, 40 percent of Kerry's supporters strongly favor the senator, slightly higher than the 31 percent of Kerry backers who are supporting him because they dislike the president. The economy remains the top issue voters want to hear the candidates talk about, but Kerry supporters are more eager to hear talk about the economy than Bush supporters. Roughly 24 percent of all voters think the economy is the top issue, followed by 17 percent who think the war in Iraq is the most important issue. Sixteen percent think healthcare should be the top priority.
Broken down by candidate, 29 percent of Kerry supporters believe the economy is the most important issue, while only 18 percent of Bush voters want to hear talk about the economy most. Twenty-two percent of Kerry voters want to hear about the war in Iraq, while just 13 percent of Bush voters think Iraq is the top priority. Only 1 percent of Kerry voters want to hear about terrorism, compared to 10 percent of Bush voters who think terrorism should be the top priority. On the economy, about 42 percent of respondents have confidence in Bush's decision-making process, compared with 56 percent who are uneasy about his economic policies. That's almost identical to responses a week ago and roughly in line with beliefs about Kerry's decision making process. Forty-three percent of respondents have confidence in Kerry's economic policies, while 51 percent are uneasy about his approach.
"Buckhead" was the Free Republic poster who apparently posted the first comprehensive debunking of the CBS/Bush hoax.
Blogger Who Faulted CBS Documents Is Conservative Activist
It was the first public allegation that CBS News used forged memos in its report questioning President Bush's National Guard service — a highly technical explanation posted within hours of airtime citing proportional spacing and font styles. But it did not come from an expert in typography or typewriter history as some first thought. At the risk of belaboring the obvious, Buckhead's case against the docs did not rest in any way on a claim of credentialed expertise. The concept that facts will stand or fall on their own merit seems utterly alien to Big Media and their slavish audience.
Instead, it was the work of Harry W. MacDougald, an Atlanta lawyer with strong ties to conservative Republican causes who helped draft the petition urging the Arkansas Supreme Court to disbar President Clinton after the Monica Lewinsky scandal, the Times has found. >*snipped for copyright(like other LLL outlets, LA Times is very aggressive in defending its property rights) Again, there was no claim of neutrality in Buckhead's analysis nor is this relevant to the validity of his claims, making this line of attack a complete strawman. This story is a classic and obvious example of the LLL's complete reliance on authority as a test of truth. LLL attacks on the blogosphere are based entirely on questioning the authority of the bloggers, unconciously revealing the real nature of the LLL and its adherents.
#1
The MSM has to depend on the appeal to authority, because anyone can do their job. Their habit of sneering at those who aren't "real journalists" (Drudge, bloggers, actual witnesses to events) carries over into everything they do.
The odd thing is when their biases are confronted by real experts -- like when Rather had to deal with some of the national experts in documents, and some of the very people involved in creating modern word processing software -- they ignore or deny the expertise.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
09/17/2004 20:33 Comments ||
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"That icky guy who said all those mean things about the memos being fake is a Republican, so that must mean the memos are, ummmmm....still fake."
#3
The MSM is trying to deflect the message by shooting the messenger. Pavlov's dog learns faster than Dan Rather and Co. Heh heh.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/17/2004 21:15 Comments ||
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Pavlov's dogs reminded me of a zany irrelevancy for some reason.
National Lampoon's "World Map Parody" was one of the greatest flights of imagination in the history of satire.
It had hundreds of joke geographic names on a complete map of the globe, including "Slavelaborsk" and "Pavlovdoggrad" in the Soviet Union, "Yomama" in West Africa, the "Dire Straits" and the "Disease Islands" in the Pacific, "Kidneystone" England; and, of course, Cornhole, KS and Little Hope MA in the United States.
I haven't seen a copy in years, but I think PJ O'Rourke was a contributor.
Hat tip to hindrocket @ Power LinkEFL
The man cited in media reports as having allegedly pressured others in the Texas Air National Guard to help George W. Bush is speaking out, telling ABC News in an exclusive interview that he never sought special treatment for Bush. Retired Col. Walter Staudt, who was brigadier general of Bush's unit in Texas, interviewed Bush for the Guard position and retired in March 1972. He was mentioned in one of the memos allegedly written by Lt. Col. Jerry Killian as having pressured Killian to assist Bush, though Bush supposedly was not meeting Guard standards. "I never pressured anybody about George Bush because I had no reason to," Staudt told ABC News in his first interview since the documents were made public.
The memo stated that "Staudt is pushing to sugar coat" a review of Bush's performance. Staudt said he decided to come forward because he saw erroneous reports on television. CBS News first reported on the memos, which have come under scrutiny by document experts who question whether they are authentic. Killian, the purported author of the documents, died in 1984. Staudt insisted Bush did not use connections to avoid being sent to Vietnam. "He didn't use political influence to get into the Air National Guard," Staudt said, adding, "I don't know how they would know that, because I was the one who did it and I was the one who was there and I didn't talk to any of them." During his time in charge of the unit, Staudt decided whether to accept those who applied for pilot training. He recalled Bush as a standout candidate. "He was highly qualified," he said. "He passed all the scrutiny and tests he was given."
Staudt said he never tried to influence Killian or other Guardsmen, and added that he never came under any pressure himself to accept Bush. "No one called me about taking George Bush into the Air National Guard," he said. "It was my decision. I swore him in. I never heard anything from anybody." When he interviewed for the job, Bush was eager to join the pilot program, which Staudt said often was a hard sell. "I asked him, 'Why do you want to be a fighter pilot?' " Staudt recalled. "He said, 'Because my daddy was one.' He was a well-educated, bright-eyed young man, just the kind of guy we were looking for." He added that Bush more than met the requirements for pilot training. "He presented himself well. I'd say he was in the upper 10 percent or 5 percent or whatever we ever talked to about going to pilot training. We were pretty particular because when he came back [from training], we had to fly with him." Important point. emphasis added
#2
We of the elite Eurotrash media, seeing Kerry sinking faster than cement anchors, must embelish a story without getting caught like Rather, to reverse this trend.
{But Kerry is so odd that we have an impossible task}
Sen. John Kerry's campaign returns to Colorado today on an invitation from a local honors civics class. Kerry will host a town hall meeting on health care this afternoon at Rangeview High School in Aurora. Just my luck to have been up at Buckley AFB today with this crap gooing on - and me having to drive quite a ways with highways blocked off in my direction of travel. But there is a nice Starbucks, and I can hit my home proxy to post now that I'm at lunch. More in the comments below. Anyone else in Colorado, feel free to chime in. I'll give you my TACREP report below.
#1
Size: 200 people (several groups of 25-40) Activity: Protesting Kerry, Promoting Bush Location: About every intersection (all corners of the intersection) near the highschool, and a bunch more at the major intersections east and west of the school Unit: Almost all Young people! (College aged, maybe a few high schoolers) Time:1430MDT(2030Z) Equipment: "Bush Country Signs", large (1m x 3m) banners with Bush Cheney campaign Logo, "Yard sign" type signs with "W", "Youth for Bush", etc
#3
NARR: I was going to late lucnh + early trip home. So I headed south out of Buckley AFB on Tower Road, going to Buckley Road and Iliff Ave - there are a ton of fast food places there (bad for the heart, I knwo). Also a Starbucks in a strip mall there to get a iced coffee for the drive home south. Plus its easy to get back to the toll road from there - straight shot - which will help me miss a lot of the Denver 5pm Friday rush traffic.
As I got to Tower and Iliff, I saw a crowd of people waving signs. I though to myself "Sheesh, roll up the windows, I dont want to get into it with Kerry-ites." To my surprise they were all BUSH signs or else mildly Anti-Kerry. And they were all college aged kids!
Ad I turned and drove past the high school (forgot that it was in my line of travel), I passed even more of them at every intersection along the way, to the school, and then on my way to lunch at the Wendys there (choices: Tacobell Wendys McDonalds Burger-King KFC Subway and a wings place we somtimes hit for night crew snacks up there). All of them were "Pro Bush" groups!
During lunch I saw maore people walking down toward the area, so after finishing lunch, I decided to drive around the block before hitting Starbucks. And the crowds (Bush) had grown quite a bit.
Now I'm getting my iced coffee beverage from Starbucks and typing you guys a sitrep before heading south.
A quick google search shows that their mascot is a jet fighter!
And its so close to the base and all those DOD contractors [I saw Lockheed, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman buildings out there) and retirees who want to stay close to that gorgeous BX and Commissary, (where I went today), so I'd say a great number of those kids parents who are related to Buckley or else stationed there.
It would be like Bush going into UC-Berkely.
What were they thinking?
Well, going to scan the board and run back home.
Im racking up bigtime minutes on the wireless today. Thank goodness for Laptops and WiFi hotspots.
you're probably right. Nice bunch of kids though, all smiles. Makes me feel a lot better about the future if that many young people want to get out and be heard - and be nice about it.
#7
They are called the "Raiders". My first HS (moved away) was the Raiders, but we had some guy in a pirate hat, like Texas Tech Red Raiders. But this HS is different.
#11
Wow. I can just picture the scene, because I used to live right there (at 11th Ave. and Buckley Road).
If Kerry wanted to find supporters, he should have held a rally at 44th and Federal.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
09/17/2004 18:03 Comments ||
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#12
Home again home again jiggity jig.
Headed out for entertainment and dinner.
Nothing on the local news downhere about the Bush Partisans up there.
Figured media here would just ignore them. The Kerry thing (so far) is just mentioned in an audio piece with a Colorado Map background, no video. I guess its a non-event - for Kerry and the Pro-Bush kids.
Hat Tip "El Rushbo" (Rush Limbaugh)
Mary Mapes, producer of the Rathergate fiasco, soon may have federal law enforcement officials knocking on her door, if a press story today holds water. In what could be another blow to the already scandal ridden Dan Rather and CBS News, Joe Flint of the Wall Street Journal (as made available to nonsubscribers in today's San Francisco Chronicle), has a stunning lede about Dan Rather's producer: After she uncovered photos of abuse at Iraq's Abu Gharib [sic] prison, "60 Minutes" producer Mary Mapes told a newspaper interviewer that she'd "never had a story that reverberated like this." Mary Mapes didn't "uncover" anything. My article in The American Thinker on May 14, 2004 makes it clear that the incriminating photos of prisoner abuse and the reports of the Army's multiple investigations were extremely sensitive in two ways: one, they were classified as Secret, and two, the documents were evidence in an ongoing criminal investigation of US Soldiers. . .
Hat tip: Spoons Experience. Edited for brevity.
The reactions of affiliate stations of CBS's refusal to back down from their increasingly discredited Bush National Guard story range from patient to angry. Ken Charles, the program director of KPRC radio in Houston, told the Kerry Spot Wednesday evening that he has notified CBS Radio news that he will be switching to Fox News feed for their Friday evening news, instead of using the Dan Rather-anchored CBS feed. "Dan has been doing the Friday 4 P.M. slot for about three or four years, and this is the first time Dan Rather has been the story," Charles said. "I have a problem with my news people being the story." Charles said that his station is under contract with CBS, and that the move is unlikely to have a financial impact for CBS. The public-relations damage, however, could be significant. Isn't Rather himself from the Houston area?
Posted by: Dar ||
09/17/2004 1:27:05 PM ||
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#3
Rather used to work at KTRH which I believe is another Clearchannel station here in Houston. I think KPRC and KTRH share news rooms so in effect, Dan is being shunned by his former employer. Funny.
LLL Watch
An Open Letter to John Kerry
William Fisher, Arab News
Dear Sen. Kerry:
I am a student of international affairs and a political news junkie. I have a pretty good idea of what's going on in the world, so it's not me I'm worried about.
It's the American voter. They're getting snookered. They're being misled — again. They're being told that things are getting better in Iraq, when clearly they are getting worse. They're being told we're going after "terrorists" in Iraq, when in fact we have created their largest and most successful recruiting office. They're being told there will soon be elections in Afghanistan, yet not being told that the Bush administration is failing to get the international community to fulfill its promises to protect the polling places. They're still being told that there was a connection between Osama Bin Laden, Al-Qaeda, Saddam Hussein, and Sept.11 , when there is no credible evidence to back up that claim. They are being told that resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian issue is a high priority for the Bush administration, when it has been on a distant back burner for many months. And they are still being told that if we "stay the course", freedom and democracy will magically start springing up all over the Middle East, when the truth is that America is so disrespected in that neighborhood that anything we touch is destined to go sour.
Senator, I don't care what you did or did not do thirty-five years ago, and I don't give a hoot if Lt. Bush never showed up for National Guard service. All of that are ancient history and a huge and dangerous distraction for those who will cast their ballots in November.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: tipper ||
09/17/2004 10:56:43 AM ||
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#1
With "friends" like this you don't need enemies.
#2
William Fisher has written several articles for the OP ED page of The Modern Tribune including one on Arab reforms. In the latter article he blames the kings and presidents of the Arab countries of the middle east for stifling human rights and reform. I could not find this open letter at The Modern Tribune or elsewhere other than the Arab News and wonder why it would appear only in an Arab on line newspaper. Is this paper owned by one of the Kingdoms criticized by Fisher?
#3
William Fisher has written several articles for the OP ED page of The Modern Tribune including one on Arab reforms. In the latter article he blames the kings and presidents of the Arab countries of the middle east for stifling human rights and reform. I could not find this open letter at The Modern Tribune or elsewhere other than the Arab News and wonder why it would appear only in an Arab on line newspaper. Is this paper owned by one of the Kingdoms criticized by Fisher?
It is the paper who didn't qualify the Beslan massacre, it is the paper who called the perpetrators "terrorists", yes with the quotes. It is Mr Wiilliam Fischer the guy who can write in Arab News without feeling nausea.
#5
Theyâre getting snookered. Theyâre being misled â again. Theyâre being told that things are getting better in Iraq, when clearly they are getting worse.
No, the MSM is making it look worse, by reporting the incidents of attacks. What they don't say is that the rest of Iraq is relatively quiet. Just because there's trouble in Baghdad does NOT mean that the rest of Iraq is aflame.
EFL from National Review Online. Poasted due to the template-like similarity to Rather's current effort at journalism. There is a serial nature to Dan's career. He is the Ted Bundy of network anchors.
On June 2, 1988, CBS aired an hour-long special titled CBS Reports: The Wall Within, which CBS trumpeted as the "rebirth of the TV documentary." It purported to tell the true story of Vietnam through the eyes of six of the men who fought there. And what terrible stories they had to tell. [...]
The truth was uncovered by B.G. Burkett, a Vietnam veteran and author of Stolen Valor: How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of its Heroes and its History (with Glenna Whitley). Burkett discovered that only one of the vets had actually served in combat. Steve Southards, who'd claimed to be a 16-year-old Navy SEAL assassin, had actually served as an equipment repairman stationed far from combat. Later transferred to Subic Bay in the Philippines, Steve spent most of his time in the brig for repeatedly going AWOL.
And George Gruel, who claimed he was traumatized by the sight of his friend being chopped to pieces by a propeller? Navy records reveal that a propeller accident did take place on the Ticonderoga when Gruel was aboard — but that he wasn't around when it happened. During Gruel's tour, the ship had been converted to an antisubmarine warfare carrier which operated, not on "secret mission" along the Vietnam coast, but on training missions off the California coastline. Nevertheless, Burkett notes, Gruel receives $1,952 a month from the Veterans Administration for "psychological trauma" related to an event he only heard about.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/17/2004 3:29:43 AM ||
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ARLINGTON, VA -- Former Senator Bob Dole issued the following statement:
"As Chairman of the Bush-Cheney Veterans Coalition, and as a veteran, I call on John Kerry to demand that MoveOn.org take down their ad depicting a defeated American soldier. It's one thing to debate whether we should take the fight to the terrorists, but depicting an American soldier in effect surrendering in the battle against the terrorists is beyond the pale. I cannot believe that John Kerry, who reminds us daily of his Vietnam service, would possibly approve the disgusting and demoralizing portrayal of American soldiers fighting for us in Iraq, Afghanistan and around the world.
John Kerry has raised doubts about our troops' ability to maintain security as well as Iraqi's ability to decide their own future through elections. He has called the allies in Iraq "window dressing." This is all reminiscent of his appearance before a Senate Committee in 1971 where he suggested with nothing but second hand information American GIs were committing atrocities and war crimes of the worst kind in Vietnam. This defeatist attitude undermines the great progress and sacrifices of our men and women in the military and the contributions of our allies who are fighting against terror and standing up for freedom around the world. The politics of pessimism that is being pursued by John Kerry and the extreme liberals demonstrates they are consumed by the past with nothing to offer but attacks on the President's agenda for creating a safer world.
John, say it isn't so and denounce this latest effort to divide Americans"
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/17/2004 3:44:50 AM ||
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#1
I don't think John Kerry can legally demand MoveOn.org do anything. He can certainly decry the message, though. I doubt that he will, though, since MoveOn's new ad dovetails neatly with the story he told in his Winter Soldier days.
#2
I don't think John Kerry can legally demand MoveOn.org do anything.
No more than Bush can tell the SwiftVets from stopping their ads. Kerry still called on Bush to do it.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
09/17/2004 10:10 Comments ||
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#3
I don't think John Kerry can legally demand MoveOn.org do anything.
True, if there were no connection between his campaign and them.
And if you believe there isn't, I can get you a good deal on a bridge. They don't even bother to hide it.
Look at it this way: Bush asked that all 527 ads be stopped (which I disagree with). Kerry's response? Crickets chirping. He just wants ads against him stopped.
As as far as "legally" goes, as eLarson says, Kerry can certainly at the very least publicly state that he disapproves of that message and disassociates his campaign from the moveon crowd.
Again, all we hear are crickets. Quelle surprise.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/17/2004 10:29 Comments ||
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#4
Any RBers out there who can confirm that the soldier depicted, holding his weapon upside down over his head with both hands, is actually giving a signal (I heard it meant "Enemy in sight").
Posted by: Carl in N.H ||
09/17/2004 11:56 Comments ||
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#5
This "signal" can mean "enemy in sight". It can also be used to show an enemy what to do to surrender. This is not a picture of an American soldier surrendering.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
09/17/2004 12:15 Comments ||
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#6
actually its prolly a pic of some grunt just trying to keep his weapon clean and out of the mud. Or maybe he is showing some Iraqis how to properly surrender to U.S. forces. Also "enemy in sight" is depicted w/the weapon at the ready and not upside down.
#7
From : http://www.strangecosmos.com/content/item/102073.html
moveon.org a.k.a. Mr George Soros :
If I had a brother like you, I'd put myself up for adoption.
------------------------------
I guess you prove that even God makes mistakes sometimes.
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Wow! You're a legend in your own mind!
#8
More Dole quotes from Mens News Daily
Former U.S. Senator and 1996 Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole, who is serving as Chairman of President Bush's Veterans Coalition, also reacted strongly to the MoveOn.org ad and the lack of any reaction from the Kerry campaign.
"I call on John Kerry to demand that MoveOn.org take down their ad depicting a defeated American soldier," Dole said in a statement. "It's one thing to debate whether we should take the fight to the terrorists, but depicting an American soldier in effect surrendering in the battle against the terrorists is beyond the pale."
Dole said he is surprised Kerry would "approve" of such a "disgusting and demoralizing portrayal of American soldiers" since he "reminds of daily of his Vietnam service."
"John Kerry has raised doubts about our troops' ability to maintain security as well as Iraqi's ability to decide their own future through elections," Dole reminded, explaining that Kerry once called the American allies in Iraq "window dressing."
Recalling Kerry's testimony on Capitol Hill after returning from Vietnam, Dole charged that Kerry has been anti-military ever since.
"This is all reminiscent of his appearance before a Senate Committee in 1971 where he suggested with nothing but second hand information American GIs were committing atrocities and war crimes of the worst kind in Vietnam," Dole noted. "This defeatist attitude undermines the great progress and sacrifices of our men and women in the military and the contributions of our allies who are fighting against terror and standing up for freedom around the world."
Describing Kerry's "politics of pessimism" regarding the war on terror as "extreme," Dole said Kerry and his fellow liberal Democrats are "consumed by the past with nothing to offer but attacks on the President's agenda for creating a safer world."
Appealing directly to Kerry regarding the MoveOn.org ad, Dole asked, "John, say it isn't so and denounce this latest effort to divide Americans."
Three-year-old Sophia Parlock cries while seated on the shoulders of her father, Phil Parlock, after having their Bush-Cheney sign torn up by Kerry-Edwards supporters on Thursday, Sept. 16, 2004, at the Tri-State Airport in Huntington, W.Va. Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards made a brief stop at the airport as he concluded his two-day bus tour to locations in West Virginia and Ohio. (AP Photo/Randy Snyder)
Posted by: Korora ||
09/17/2004 12:37:22 AM ||
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#1
Democrats clearly prefer brownshirts of the analog variety.
#8
The Dems got their slogan wrong-it doesn't take a village to raise a child; apparently, it just takes a Bush-hating crowd. They surely showed that little girl just who they are, didn't they: a zealous, ignorant mob.
#11
Immediately, he said, the family was set upon by supporters of Mr. Edwards and Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry â "mostly the painters union guys" â who "started stealing my signs." Soon, "old women and college students joined in the fracas," said Mr. Parlock...
#12
Liberal Democrat Unions: Why do they hate little girls?
Posted by: Chris W. ||
09/17/2004 12:52 Comments ||
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#13
IUPAT has issued an apology and states they will take "immediate disciplinary action to the full extent allowed under U.S. Department of Labor regulations and the constitution of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades" (Hat tip: Michelle Malkin).
Posted by: Dar ||
09/17/2004 12:53 Comments ||
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#14
Who else would love to be able to stomp a mud-hole in the butt of that metrosexual sKerry/Ednards loving, cocky p.o.s. painter goon flunkie with the punk ass-backward baseball hat?
they will take "immediate disciplinary action to the full extent allowed under U.S. Department of Labor regulations and the constitution of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades"
Which means they won't do a goddam thing except slap that yutz upside the head for making them look bad in public. (but not for what he actually did.)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/17/2004 16:17 Comments ||
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...flunkie with the punk ass-backward baseball hat...
who is wearing the patronizing face of a parent amused by a childish tantrum, rather than the face of a sober adult disgusted by the crowd's venom spilling over towards a little girl.
#17
As I said yesterday, typical Union man. He is proud to be a union man. He does exactly what his union bosses tell him. In short a goon from the goon squad. When those dumb sons of bitches get in my face I relish telling them to FOAD. He clearly is enjoying himself. Which I am sure the DNC is proud to see plastered all over the WEB.
Have you ever wondered what the point of an adult wearing their baseball cap backwards for no apperent reason is. I can only think of one reason to announce to everyone "I am a dick weed." So the caption should include "I am a dick weed and I support Jon Kerry."
Hat tip Drudge Report
New York City's unemployment rate dropped to a seasonally adjusted 6.7% in August, its lowest rate since September 2001, according to the state Department of Labor. The August rate is down from 7.5% in July and 8.4% a year earlier. Statewide, the unemployment rate is at 5.4%, its lowest point since November 2001. The national unemployment rate was also 5.4%. The drop in the unemployment rate signals a decline in the number of people looking for work. James Brown, an analyst with the Labor Department, notes that the labor force typically shows a decline toward the end of summer as seasonal workers return to school or find other jobs.
Posted by: Korora ||
09/17/2004 12:50:53 AM ||
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#1
Not trying to bitch but can we not agree references to the good Burkett (USA) should be followed by (USA) to distinguish him from the bad Burkett (TANG), the Texas Air National Guard leftist psycho?
#3
I agree.
B.G. Burkett (USA) AKA 'good guy'
Bill Burkett (TANG) AKA 'vindictive asshole'
I posted while still half asleep at 4am , but still should have realized the possible confusion of names. Mea culpa.
#10
They can't say so publicly yet, but many Democrats believe privately that the loss of the fifth column lunatic fringe to Nader and to Green Party candidate David Cobb will be a good thing in the long run.
The antics of moonbat extremists at the RNC convention and elsewhere are probably a major factor in Kerry's precipitous decline.
Now that Kerry doesn't really have a snowball's chance in hell, there is no reason to try to mollify the remaining blackshirts and far leftists in the Democratic Party and we may see a major push to finish the purge that started earlier this year.
#11
Do you think if I poke his brain again, he'll explode? Enviromentalists, like Nader, are nothing but Luddites and One-Earthers. We should strip them naked and drop them someplace...oh, Alaska sounds good and let them survive in 'harmony' with nature. We can film it and let Las Vegas handle the betting on who gets eaten by polar bears, wolves, etc.
"Tho' Nature, red in tooth and claw" - Alfred Lord Tennyson
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
09/17/2004 0:57 Comments ||
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#14
Don't get too excited. THis is probably an outlier.
And besides that, the national horserace polls dont matter - the state ones (electoral votes) do.
It'll do Kerry no good to pile up million of extra margin votes in CA Maryland NY Conn Rhode Island and Mass, while he loses by 100K or so in each of Fla, Pa, Ohio, Tennesse, Arkansas, and maybe Wisconsin.
#18
Ya know, everytime I see the link for "Politics and Current Events," I just have to click it. The more it's posted, the more I click it. Every single time. "Open in New Window," even.
Then I go to the sink trap, and click it some more. 'cuz you never know if it's really Boris posting this stuff, or some imposter with a different URL.
But somehow I'm always disappointed that the same page opens, and it's updated so infrequently. So I reload it a few times just to be sure. Something about the brewskies I drink, I imagine.
#20
AC - Interesting comments, particularly in light of the buzz I picked up at the RNC a couple of weeks ago. I spoke to a lot of people (delegates & otherwise) while I was there and got the distinct impression that there's a move afoot to marginalize or perhaps completely ditch the religious right.
I've thought for some time that the party that first and most effectively silences or even completely divests themselves of their traditional base (howling moonbats or religous right, take you pick) will absolutely dominate American politics for decades to come.
There's a stunning amount of room to run in the center in this nation and it seems that Arnold has shown the GOP the light. The key will be which party can effectively stake out that ground first and succeed in casting their opponents as out-of-touch extremists. Neither can do so with their traditional base attached but either could without.
#21
AzCat - from your lips to (fill in your diety of choice)'s ear!
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/17/2004 2:52 Comments ||
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OldSpook - You're right. This website, electoral-vote.com, is Kerry-leaning, but they tot up the polls on a state-by-state basis rather than trying to divine the race from a national-level picture, and by their own account it looks pretty grim for Kerry right now:
http://www.electoral-vote.com
The latest count from that site has Bush at 311 EV's, Kerry at 223.
Posted by: Joe ||
09/17/2004 2:54 Comments ||
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#23
Also, most of the states are pretty solid one way or the other. The states to watch are the 15 or so "battleground" states. I don't remember all of them but I think they include Oregon, Nevada, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and Florida. Fox News reported tonight that the candidates are now spending most of their campaigning time in those states, so much so that they're literally crossing paths.
Posted by: Joe ||
09/17/2004 2:56 Comments ||
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#25
Joe, the predictor has been updated with polls in
AK CA CO GA HI ID IA KY ME MD MA MI MN NE NC ND OH OR PA RI SC UT VT,& WA.
It's now Kerry 211, Bush 307, tied 20
Kerry is now only 'strong' in VT, RI, MA, DE, DC, NM,CA & HI.
Compare results with Sep 8, the day Rather ran the anti-Bush hit piece. Yes. Thanks again Dan.
#27
Let's see if I understand your sentiments here AzCat.
If one goes to church on a regular basis "then you're probably an out of touch extremists."
If one is uncomfortable with partial birth abortion "then you're probably an out of touch extremists."
If you oppose gay marriage "then you're probably an out of touch extremists."
I could go on here but I've made my point I believe. Think what you will but the second that the Republican party truely views the religious right as being the equal of the howling moonbats then it's back to being a party of also rans! Without conservative Christians the Republicans can't carry the bulk of the midwest nor the south and as we both know without those red states it's all over but the crying.
How many wacko states do you think are out there? I mean there's only so many Minnisota's and California's to go round.
Without conservative Christians niether W nor Reagan would have ever sniffed the Whitehouse. I really can't see how that can be denied.
If the Republicans follow your line of thinking, and if the Libertarians or some other right leaning party would wake up and smell the reality, then the Repub's would experience the same painful slide to irrelavence that the Dem's are currently enjoying.
Just my 2 cents.
Posted by: RJB in JC MO ||
09/17/2004 7:07 Comments ||
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#29
Thanks to a free pass from the media, it isn't commonly noticed that religious interests are actually much more influential in the Democratic Party than among Republicans.
The charlatans and mountebanks of the institutional media spread fear and loathing of the GOP's "religious right," as though we were one precarious step away from crazed mobs of Bible thumpers putting the torch to the Constitution.
These same media swine have no problem at all with the influence of radical pacifist churches in the Democratic Party, or the laughably self-righteous liberalism of "mainstream" druids clergy, or the very high profile activism of assorted "reverends," when these match liberal objectives.
This "religious left" is probably one of the most scandalously under-reported stories of the last half century.
I'm a Masshole (well, not really, I just live here) and a very odd thing happened the last two nights. On a local station (NESN - New England Sports Network) there was an add from the ACLU 527 group dumping all over the Patriot Act. Nothing unusual with that except....
Why are they wasting their money on such a solid for Kerry state? The internal polls couldn't possibly be THAT bad, could they?
#32
For state-by-state polls, I rely on realclearpolitics.com. They have a great collection of all the majors.
As for Republicans trying to ditch the "religious right," I think that would be a huge mistake. And I don't think it will happen, either. The majority of Conservative Christian voters are far from the moonbatty Falwell types. They are, these days, more along the lines of James Dobson, or self-professed Evangelical Hugh Hewitt. They are important, politically active, and aware. For a good rundown of them, and the rest of the Conservative movement in America, read "The Right Nation" by two Economist authors. One of the best political books I've ever read.
#33
Alan C: exactly! When you have to spend money (even 527 money) in mid September to try and energize your base, it means the DNC internals are devastating for down-the-ticket Dems. I smell desperation, so, keep your boot on their neck til Nov 3rd
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/17/2004 10:10 Comments ||
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#34
I'm a Masshole (well, not really, I just live here) and a very odd thing happened the last two nights. On a local station (NESN - New England Sports Network) there was an add from the ACLU 527 group dumping all over the Patriot Act. Nothing unusual with that except....
Why are they wasting their money on such a solid for Kerry state? The internal polls couldn't possibly be THAT bad, could they?
ACLU-related group?
They're fundraising, not politicking.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
09/17/2004 10:15 Comments ||
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#35
Exact-a-mundo Growler. Arnold said it himself...there's plenty of room in the Repub party for disagreement. We're not the Dhimmicrats for cryin' out loud. Expand to the middle? By all means, but no need to leave the religious right behind. Besides...the middle already identifies itself with the Republicans - they just can't admit it yet because there's a negative stigma attached to that..courtesy of the MSM. Look at California...on state wide issues in which we're actually allowed to vote on....we're conservative, yet this state continually votes in the LLL moonbats to the Congress and Senate when it's obvious that the Republican candidate is more in line politcally with their own views. They just can't bring themselves to put that mark next to the R. Thankfully, that is changing, and with the help of Blather, it's gonna really pick up steam...just watch.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
09/17/2004 10:30 Comments ||
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#36
I agree w/AzCat. An effective right of center common sense moderate party or candidate has the potential to do very well. IMHO most avg Americans do want smaller gov't, more fiscal responsibility, a tough military & lower taxes. They also want to be left alone to make their own individual decisions on how to run their lives w/less gov't interference - this includes the ability to own a firearm without being red-taped to death, the ability to wear or not wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle, what they do in the privacy of their own bedroom, and the ability to choose their own doctor. I don't want the LLL regulating my income and I don't want the religous right monitoring my bedroom. BTW, going to church on a regular basis does not make one an extremist RJB - I don't think AzCat meant that. I think when you start physically threatening abortion doctors or those who've had an abortion w/eternal damnation that would make you an extremist. I'm not sure if ditching the religious right is ultimately good for the GOP as conservative christians should have a way to voice their opinions, I just think the GOP should keep a finger on what the religious right's ajenda is and what's best for our country as far as the founding father's envisioned it. They knew that anyone of any organized religion claiming to know the mind of the almighty is prolly someone to keep an eye on. Just my $.02.
#37
Here's another vote for AzCat. The extremists dominate the party nomination process and also elevate fringe issues that interest only a few diehards on either side, to the exclusion of a real and honest discussion of Iraq, Iran, China, the deficit, and the entitlement train wreck in the making.
Arizona's a good example of the socio-political change that Rove and the Dems both miss: the sunbelt is definitely hostile to big cities and the federal government, but it's also becoming increasingly indifferent to the religious right's agenda. This is because the sunbelt is also where the economic growth is, and the high-growth industries rely on ever-increasing numbers of well-educated professionals migrating from the blue states. As NC, GA, TX, AZ, NV and CO continue to grow, they continue to get more liberal on the social issues.
Call them purple states. Whoever can attract these voters, plus a large number of current and ex-military and hispanic immigrants, will have a lock on the the White House going forward.
#40
Self-loathing doesn't follow from secularism. But I agree that the pro-family oreintation is a huge positive for the country. A nation full of self-absorbed adults who have no interest in marrying, staying married, and raising children is a nation committing slow suicide. Thank god, as it were, for those Americans who still view children as a great gift rather than an intolerable imposition on persoanl freedom.
#45
RJB it's obvious you don't understand my sentiments at all. I did NOT use the term "out of touch extremists" to refer to the religious right. I said that the first party that's able to successfully stake out a centrist position and cast their opposition as out of touch extremists will dominate American politics for a very long time to come. Big difference, I do hope you understand why the sentiments I expressed and those you attribute to me are vastly different. Nice rant though.
IMHO Bush has handled to religous right very well: he occasionally tips his hat in their general direction but he's not allowing them to dominate his agenda in any way. The only non-mainstream legislative item from his first term that's truly a religious right issue is the ban on federal funding for stem cell research and that's been so twisted and distorted that I found myself correcting the views of REPUBLICAN DELEGATES on its (lack of) extent. Most people don't know that it's merely a ban on federal funding of research on new lines of infant stem cells. Most believe that it's a total ban. Such is the succeptibility of the issues of the religious right to being turned against those who support them. Even President Bush's thoughtful, measured, and infinitely defensible position has likely cost him tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of votes because the issue itself is radioactive. Thank you religious right for giving the hardcore America-hating liberals an issue.
It's absolutely true that the religious right is disproportionately active in politics and that they organize and drive local agendas very successfully. The problem is that to mainstream America their agenda of making abortion illegal, teaching creationism while prohibiting the teaching of evolution, prohibiting all stem cell / human cloning research (no matter the potential payoffs), intruding into the bedroomsm of consenting adults, etc., etc., etc. is laughable at best and sinister at worst. Those of their demands that aren't outright laughable or at odds with the views of the vast majority of the American people are easily twisted by a liberal media into things that drive moderates away from the Republican party in droves. Make no mistake: the religious right is quickly becoming a political liability.
Simply put, an overwhelming majority of the American people don't agree with the views of the far right any more than they agree with the views of the far left and an overwhelming majority of the people I spoke to (nearly all from flyover states BTW) at the RNC don't agree with them either.
A new report from the World Bank, Doing Business in 2005, shows that poor countries impose on average three times the administrative costs and twice the number of bureaucratic procedures as rich countries. The current issue of The Economist picks out some of the striking contrasts.
For example, registering property requires one step in Norway, but 16 in Algeria. Incorporating a business takes two days in Canada, but 153 in Mozambique. Sacking a worker in Guatemala costs a firm three years' worth of wages, compared with almost nothing in New Zealand⊠In Haiti, for example, it takes 203 days to register a company, which is 201 days longer than in Australia. In Sierra Leone it costs 1,268% of average income, compared with nothing in Denmark. To register in Ethiopia, a would-be entrepreneur must deposit the equivalent of 18 years' average income in a bank account, which is then frozen. In Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital, recording a property sale involves 21 procedures and takes 274 days. Official fees amount to 27% of the value of the transaction. In Norway the task takes less than a day and costs only 2.5% of the price of the property.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/17/2004 22:24 Comments ||
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#2
To register in Ethiopia, a would-be entrepreneur must deposit the equivalent of 18 yearsâ average income in a bank account, which is then frozen.
And a resounding WTF?!? Sounds like a closed shop to me.
A standardized set of government transaction proceedures needs to be established. Any country that wants to receive even one cent of foreign aid should have to implement these streamlined methods. The article essentially details the geography of corruption and graft that keeps these impoverished countries poor.
Unless such steps are taken, we are essentially throwing our money away. None of these nations will ever scale the ladder of economic development and success so long as the game is rigged in such a ridiculous fashion.
Complete text of a short item from today's RFE/RL newsline, bottom of the "Russia" page.
U.S. retail behemoth Wal-Mart intends to open a 20,000 square-meter store in St. Petersburg next year, Interfax reported on 16 September and "The Moscow Times" reported on 17 September. The daily quoted St. Petersburg Economic Development Committee Chairman Vladimir Bank as saying, "I have such information but am not ready to talk in more detail about the opening of Wal-Mart." An unnamed source told Interfax that the company has already begun recruiting employees in St. Petersburg and is in the process of selecting a site for the store, which would be the first Wal-Mart in Russia. Wal-Mart spokesman Bill Wertz told "The Moscow Times" that the company cannot comment on the report, but said Wal-Mart has had "a team in Russia looking at possibilities." According to the daily, the company's 2003 revenues were $256 billion, about three times the revenues of the Russian federal budget.Ouch
Posted by: The Caucasus Nerd ||
09/17/2004 2:46:08 PM ||
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Link ||
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A teacher in the northern Bangladeshi district of Bogra has been assaulted by angry relatives after he allegedly cut the ears of 17 students with scissors. Officials say the teacher defended his action as imposing class discipline. Abdul Mazid Sardar, worked at an Islamic school, and was angry because his pupils failed to learn religious verses, officials say. Parents and relatives say some of those cut by the scissors were aged between six and nine, and required stitches. "As the students were creating chaos I just wanted to scare them by showing the scissors," Mr Sardar told local journalists. "Probably at the time an evil force mounted on me."
"The djinns got to me, by Allan!"
Officials say that Mr Sardar was only stopped from harming more pupils by other members of staff who heard the children's screams. They say that parents and relatives attacked the teacher, who has now been sacked. He is now being treated in a local hospital under police custody. The Islamic school was established just six months ago and had some 35 students, all aged between six and 10. It had only two teachers - Mr Sardar and the school's principal, Abdul Mannan.
True sons of Islam, this pair.
What about the Madrassa is it being demolished or no.
#5
They say that parents and relatives attacked the teacher, who has now been sacked. He is now being treated in a local hospital under police custody.
Don't those parents understand that I am on a mission from Allah?
#8
I was once mounted by an evil force, too. Gawd, I miss her!
Posted by: Dar ||
09/17/2004 10:12 Comments ||
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#9
Dar! You naughty boy!
*snicker* ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/17/2004 10:31 Comments ||
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#10
Someone needs to use those scissors on Abdul to make sure there won't be any little Abduls in the future. The "operation" should be done very slowly and without benefit of anesthesia, preferrably with his students watching.
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.
or 
