From the Rantburg Diplomacy Desk:
U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza is engaged to marry one of Mexico's richest women, an embassy official said Sunday. Maria Asuncion Aramburuzabala is vice chairwoman of Grupo Modelo, the maker of Corona and Negra Modelo beers. Aramburuzabala's grandfather, a Spanish immigrant, founded the brewery. With an estimate fortune of $1.5 billion, Aramburuzabala was ranked 377th among the world's billionaires, Forbes magazine reported last year. Garza, a second-generation American whose four grandparents were from Mexico, was appointed ambassador in 2002 by President Bush. U.S. Embassy spokesman Jim Dickmeyer confirmed the engagement, but declined to provide further details.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
01/31/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Well, isn't this special... our US Ambassador to Mexico, who in theory is supposed to be looking out for US interests, is a dual citizen himself. And to add to the magic of this image, our Mexican-American Ambassador announces his engagement to a Spanish-blooded oligarch in Mexico. Lessee... since our Attorney General is Mexican-American, and our Ambassador is Mexican American engaged to a Mexican, don't anyone hold his breath about border control. Crap.
#3
Love will conquer all. That is what I am afraid of.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/31/2005 0:49 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Geez, 2x. Tell me you're kidding. Tell me you forgot the /sarcasm tags.
If not, you need to lay off the Kool Aid and see if you can go a day without chalking every freakin' hangnail on the planet up to Bush, personally. You're one of a rash, the ugly itchy-bitchy type, that has infested RB over the last 14-15 months - mainly sufferers of both pre and post election stages of virulent BDS and purest wankerism. Your tripe never varies, not one iota, from the "It's all Bush's fault!" Kool Aid line.
Try a new approach, like taking reality into account. The US Amb to Mexico is of Mexican heritage (Oooh, that's really really bad - how stupid could Bush be?) and he lives and works in Mexico - so he's probably going to meet more MEXICANS than any other nationality - another very very bad thing, I guess, huh? Obviously, his loyalty to the US must be questioned - 2x sez so! Based on what, wank-off? Who'd you think he'd logically find attractive, given his ethnicity? Duh, fool. Who do you think comes to embassy parties? Duh, wanker. Who do you think he'd be attracted to? Duh, Looney. Shit, wotta 'tard.
This story actually makes perfect sense, whereas your leap off the highest cliff you could manufacture in your overheated mind doesn't. Get a grip. Best do it in private, wanking off in public, especially at RB, in poor etiquette. Thanks.
Now if you either admit you're over the top or were kidding and left your smilies and HTML tags in your other pants, then no harm, no foul. If not, well, FOAD.
#5
Yes, sir, master, #4, whatever you say is my command. In case you don't go out much, let me clue you in. Illegal immigration is a sore point with conservatives. Dissension may not sit well with a uni-focus,blow 'em up, kind of a macho guy like you, but limited gov't, respect for law, fiscal responsibility are not exactly new "rash, itchy, ugly, bitchy" items to conservatives.
GWB is not a conservative by a long shot but he was voted into office by conservatives, so folks like me have every right to bitch, fuss, and get ugly about things he is not carrying through on. Even Rushbo, consummate GWB sycophant, is now saying that illegal immigration/open borders need to be addressed by the WH. Get used to bitchin' from conservatives-you're going to hear alot more of it!
http://magic-city-news.com/article_2926.shtml Well, Rush Limbaugh has gone and done it now! He's sided with the 80%+ of Americans who want immigration laws enforced and speaks openly about the negative effects of illegal immigration on this country and its citizens. He's joined the rest of his fellow Americans and become "anti-immigrant," "racist," "bigot," and a "xenophobe." What did it take for him to finally recognize that all the hype of illegal immigration was phony? Small things really (1) Hollywood's elite demanding drivers' licenses for illegal aliens and (2) Mexico's continuing its blatant interference in US affairs by challenging the vote of Arizonans in passage of Prop 200.
#6
And you offer perfect proof that you're the itchy-bitchy asshole I suspected. There is nothing in this tiny little story, so your fevered imagination creates it out of thin air. No substance, but that doesn't dissuade you, oh no, your anger is so righteous and so pure. Yeah, yeah, big fucking deal, asshole. Another member of the dime-a-dozen BDS Kool Aid Krowd. You just come here for therapy.
You're a troll. Too full of yourself to admit you blew this way out of proportion to the info you have. Another wank-o-matic who doesn't need facts, he knows all he needs to know.
#7
If you are not too drunk or stoned read this:
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20050131-121524-8562r.htm
"Immigration officials hit lack of new hires" The Bush administration's decision not to hire 2,000 new Border Patrol agents for fiscal year 2006 will seriously hamper efforts to control illegal immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border, said current and retired officials.Agents on a 260-mile stretch of Arizona-Mexico border, known as the Tucson sector, are being assaulted at a rate of once every two days, according to Border Patrol statistics. Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., Wisconsin Republican and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, told reporters last week that he was "disappointed in Secretary Ridge's comments" because they seemed to go against what Mr. Bush had promised in the letter.
"Foreign terrorists continue to pose an extreme threat to the safety of our nation, and illegal immigration remains out of control," said Mr. Bonner, a 27-year Border Patrol veteran.
He also described as "unwise" a Bush plan to substitute $64 million for sensors and surveillance technology and $10 million for unmanned aerial vehicles instead of increasing the number of agents, saying, "While such technology can be useful in pinpointing the location of those who cross our borders illegally, it cannot catch a single violator.
"As long as our borders remain porous, they are just as open to terrorists and other criminals as they are to illegal aliens," he said.
Michael W. Cutler, a retired U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) senior agent who lead major INS drug-trafficking investigations for more than two decades, said it was "difficult to understand" why the administration would not fund authorized staffing increases as Border Patrol agents face a significant increase in assaults, particularly in the volatile Tucson sector.
"Just last week, the State Department issued a traveler's warning about escalating violence in the northern regions of Mexico, including incidents of kidnapping and murder," Mr. Cutler said. "These crimes are being committed on our southern doorstep, many of them against our own agents. It's time they got a little help."
#8
And let's see if you're too wrapped up in your personal fantasy to understand this:
There is nothing in this story to back up your fantasy, but you're too fucked up to admit it.
You're a simple BDS fuckwit - and no volume of linkage will change the fact that you manufactured a fantasy out of thin air so you could take a swipe. Your subsequent posts are irrelevant ass coverage for your BDS.
It would've been so much more honorable, and excusable, to say, "Yeah, I was over the top - teased it out to make an argument on immigration, but..." -- But noooo, you couldn't do it cuz you're brim-full of your own bile and too much an asshole to back off and fessup. A personal problem unrelated to the article and to Rantburg.
#9
He's only started over here because Writchard the Cat finally got sick of him and banned his ass.
Posted by: Pete Stanley ||
01/31/2005 3:07 Comments ||
Top||
#10
Pete - Thanx for the link on his highness, heh. Yep. He's been the same monotone here, as well. It is spooky how this breed of jackass gravitates to blogs for their thumb sucking / screeching therapy. I find it amazing that they can't see why reality should get in the way of either getting what they want, immediately, or else the object of their obsession should be run out of town on a rail... and insist on doing it on someone else's hard-won dime / site.
He should start his own blog. His opinions and authoritative voice should make him an internet star overnight. Yewbetcha.
This fuckwit has the same signature approach as Rex and others of the not too distant past, methinks.
Again, thx for the heads up, bro.
************************************************
Fred, I think we have a bona-fide shithead troll, here, deserving of some personal attention. Just my $0.02. I dunno if others agree, but he is an arrogant poseur - and Pete's got the goods on him, lol!
#11
.com, Pete -- 2xstandard is, as she informed us the other day in reference to her panties, a girl. Show the proper respect -- especially wrt wanking off in public, ok?
#12
Also, if you must use the terminology, you're going to have to resolve the critical question: trollette or trolless for the feminine? or do we follow modern American custom and use the masculine for both male and female (think the disappearance of the word actress). This has repercussions for the entire English-speaking world, so make your arguments carefully!
#13
Two things. What is BDS? I thing 2xs is not yet as bad as on Belmont Club, but if the "S" stands for syndrome, I think the remission was slight and is ending.
TW I still call female administrators administrixes. Some terms are gender neutral by definition and include male, female, eunuch, gay, lexbian, transexual, pedophile and beasitan and the differently inclined; European, for example. We have never said Europeaness. It seems to me troll falls in the same category. I suspect this is because, unlike chickens, you cannot pay anyone enough to sex them.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/31/2005 7:33 Comments ||
Top||
#14
Mrs. D, you are one of my favorite people in the whole world! I hadn't heard the term administrixes before -- stunning! (Not related to the formation dominatrix, I'm sure) Your logic is impeccable, but I do hope others won't be too intimidated to weigh in with their own thinking on the matter.
#17
TW, It's standard form. Amelia Earhart was an aviatrix. I think the usage fell from form when Margaret Chase Smith was the first elected U. S. Senator. I think no one wanted to call her a Senatrix.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/31/2005 7:54 Comments ||
Top||
#18
That would make 2xstandard "lunatix"?
Posted by: Tom ||
01/31/2005 8:24 Comments ||
Top||
#24
tw - You do not know if 2x is male or female. Period. You believe it is a female.
tw / Mrs D. - Look at the story. Tiny little piece of fluff - 6 sentences long. My point was that 2x went into fantasy mode, fabricated an onanistic scenario, and found a way to turn this little dust bunny into some sinister Bush plot. That's classic BDS. I spoke plainly in my first post - and offered an out. I was met with the typical Rex response (#5) - a load of screech and links, but not a word about the fact that none of it was supported by the facts of the story - confirming BDS. IT repeated the pattern in #7.
I said what I meant and meant what I said in #8.
When you've got the troll gender thingy squared away, post a note. Meanwhile...
2x is an asshole - a non-gender-specific term for one who's sphincter muscle is either inoperative or, at the very least, ineffective. It suffers from BDS and I am more than fed up with assholes who are deranged enough to believe that every problem on the planet has a magical genealogy which allows blame to be traced directly back to Bush. Bull. Shit.
#32
I'd hit it. Rich too, and unlimited beer. Cripes! Why would anybody NOT hit it
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/31/2005 11:20 Comments ||
Top||
#33
Frank, no arguments here as to Garcia's intelect, heck, I'd like to be the first to shake his hand & then get the autograph. He's achieved the trifecta that so many men dream, yet so few will ever realize.
As far as #1's post goes, I think it looks bad as well. Unfortunately as w/most things in life perception over rides reality. Politics is even worse imho. If Garcia was no longer an ambassador I'd say no biggie, but since he is still one then I'd venture that the average American is going to raise the same questions (& w/some validity). Even if everything's above board it still looks bad. Though I'm not sure how much our Amb to Mex has to do w/actually fixing the illegal immigration problem. I'm not blaming this on the prez as he can't control the personal lives of his 100+ ambassadors, but let's be honest, our policies wrt illegal immigration have sucked. I don't see our congress or wh doing everything they can to curtail it either.
#34
the form depends on whether gender is appropriate. Chair replaces Chairman, cause it dont matter whether a man or woman leads the meeting. Actress, OTOH, should remain, as it makes a HUGE difference if someone, say, casts an actress in the role of Hamlet. Princess should remain, just because.
#35
.com, if I'd disagreed with the points of your post, I'd have said so in tiresome detail, right? 2xstandard made the claim to femininity to Frank, insisting that he refer to the dropped item of clothing as panties rather than pants. (Not vocabulary I use, but there are those who make a linguistic distinction *shrug*) I can't find the thread, otherwise I'd link -- maybe Frank can. Anyway, you are right that such a claim is unverifiable, although if It continues to wank off in public, verification may quickly occur. And we must be impressed that 2xstandard didn't mention Jews, neocons or Israel even once.
#36
I have no relation to double standard. I am a woman. I am not a troll. However these are all good empty insults to tar & feather a person who suggests anything that challenges the Party's' group think.
An open southern border is a far more immediate risk to America's national security than what the mullahs are doing or not doing in Iran. Rowan Scarborough, national security reporter for Washington Times, wrote a recent article on the stealing of weapons by Central American nationals, who then pass along the weapons to terrorists. Mexicans are embracing Islam as religious converts and added to their simmering anti-American sentiments because they perceive our federal gov't supporting a racist oligarchy in Mexico that keeps the majority of them poor, that makes for a bad combination of attitudes to be growing in a region noted for its corruption. Mosques and religious schools are being built in Mexico and other Latin American countries at a rate that has never been seen before. In addition to the co-operation of Hispanics with terrorist types, crime and drug trafficing is spilling across our southern border from Mexico. In the past 6 months 25 Americans have been kidnapped, 2 later were found to be murdered, others are still missing. Just a week ago the State Dept. issued a warning to Americans to curtail travel to Mexico in light of this violence. Then a few days later after US Ambassador Tony Garza met with Mexican gov't officials, Garza back-peddled on the State Dept's warning. Now if you can't see Garza's conflicted loyalties not working to Americans' disadvantage then you all are truly brain dead.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/01/29/us.mx.travel.alert.ap/index.html
"Mexico, U.S. settle spat on border warnings"
I will not retract my comments about the unseemly and inappropriate relationship that our US Ambassador has with Mexico. And I will never conform my reasoned political views to please an unstable personality who hasn't seen a swear word he can't use in a post nor will I stroke the egos of the harpies who support him.
#37
I couldn't care less about 2x's gender - funny, that's the modern goal, is it not? Total equality? It's an asshole. But I'll certainly grant your points in the last sentence, lol! Seems that the wank-o-matics do only have two targets these days, the Jooos or Bush. Both of whom are more honorable and worthy than the lot of moonbats. I am well and truly fed up with this crap. Facts matter, not fluffy puffy fantasies.
When Bush is actually at fault, fine. But the links don't prove shit most of the time - as often there are hooks on the funding which are typical legislative wanking. For example, sure you can build a new NIS HQ with the latest gear and staff it, but it has to be built in KKK Byrd's W. Virginia - or similar stupidity. All Presidents have the same congressional quagmire to wade through and often find the funding will end up being wasted. A good President won't spend your money just because it has been funded - the legislative specifics often make a joke of the intent and high-sounding bill title.
When Bush doesn't do what common sense tells you he should do, I'd suggest the benefit of the doubt should be offered and looking deeper is called for. People like 2x hear what they want to hear and off they go, screeching at the heavens. One layer deeper and they may find that it made good sense to go back and push for a cleaner bill. But this entire discussion is beside the point of this thread, actually. There is no evidence whatsoever that the US Amb to Mexico has been compromised or his loyalties subverted in any way. Jeez Louise, wotta load of crap when a simple, "Yeah, I was over the top - teased it out to make an argument on immigration, but..." would've sufficed.
#38
2x - You make assertions regards Garza, and by extension Bush, but proved none of it.
No one thinks the immigration laws are being adequately enforced. Unfortunately, wanker, you can't wave a magic wand.
Had you been around more than a few weeks, you'd know that I was the person here who coined the "Friendship Fence" joke - and applied it to both the Southern and Northern borders. Kanada's immigration policy is just as much a threat as Mexico's.
What you want to ignore is reality. Bush can't give you immediate gratification. No one can. Go stew somewhere else if you can't deal with reality.
#41
2x is a most excitable young man. Perhaps he and Sullivan would hit it off.
Seriously, the mexican political elite has largely been corrupted but that's not likely the case among those mexicans who run world-class multinational companies that actually make and export things (instead of just sucking resources out of the earth). If you draw your paycheck from the government or a govt-protected monopoly, sure, you're likely to be part of the problem in mexico. But not if you and your family produce and sell the best kick-ass dark beer this side of Belgium.
#43
wow, TW - good memory! I'd forgoten the thread...like Fred's articles, I reset at midnight... :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/31/2005 12:37 Comments ||
Top||
#44
It was 2xstandard's first or second day posting here -- she's calmed down a lot, since. And a couple of our boys stoutly defended my honour, which brought me to tears, it did indeed! And, I accused you of being a gentleman... now do you remember?
Besides, I'm perfectly willing to believe people are what they claim to be. Why, I believe that Mrs. Davis is a wronged woman, and Aris is a Greek university graduate killing time before he is called up for mandatory military service, which he does not anticipate with great pleasure. My little brain isn't clever enough to hold all the doubting details.
Separately, I wonder if the new Senora Aramburuzabala-Garza plans to take American citizenship? I don't believe in dual citizenship, myself, for all that Daddy never let go of his Israeli passport... and paid double taxes on a professor's salary as a result (in those days Israeli taxes were confiscatory at best. But what's money when there's a principle involved?). But surely, conflict of interest concerns would then go away re: the Ambassador's loyalty. Especially as it appears from the photo that she is old enough that all of her children were born long since, so their citizenship is not in play.
#51
Thank you for your confidence TW. We weaker vessels must stick together. Unity in numbers, that sort of thing. Especially in a testosterone saturated environment like the Burg.
I'll have a Negra Modela.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/31/2005 19:25 Comments ||
Top||
#52
Mrs. Davis, I mean no offense but weaker vessels my ass! My housekeeper, Connie the Short Bus Lady, really makes me toe the line. Negra Modelo is a fine beer. I guess Negra Modela would be femimine and a Modelo would be masculine.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/31/2005 20:20 Comments ||
Top||
#53
...And to add to the magic of this image, our Mexican-American Ambassador announces his engagement to a Spanish-blooded oligarch in Mexico...
"I say, seems old Jeeves in our Congo office has gone native. He's living with a gorilla."
#54
Of course we shall stick together, dear Mrs. D. And we'll allow the menfolk to continue thinking of themselves as the stronger vessels, if that makes them happy. Especially as the strongest vessels get to hold the most beer, while the more delicate ones get the brandy and the tequila (to stay on theme here). Besides, Mr. Wife may have married me for my brains, as he is wont to say, but he fell for my one-armed push ups (really, truly, true! He used to call me over to demonstrate the technique when one of the boys on his dorm hall would get uppity ;-) *sigh* ahh for the days of my youth).
A Launceston man facing a fine of up to $50,000 for flying an Australian flag outside his home is refusing to take it down.
Launceston City Council notified Ian Garwood, 72, that his flag, which is on a three-metre flagpole, is in a heritage area and contravenes the city planning scheme.
Mr Garwood says he has been invited to submit a development application to keep the flagpole but says he has no intention of doing so.
Launceston City Council general manager Chris Brooks says under the city's planning scheme, all structures erected in a heritage area must have planning approval.
But Tasmanian Liberal Senator Guy Barnett says people should not need approval to fly a flag.
"I think it's unnecessary and I think it's bureaucracy going mad," he said.
"We should be encouraging all Australians to fly the flag and if they have a flagpole which is reasonable in size and shape, it should be [a] right and you should not require a piece of paper from the Launceston City Council or any other council for that purpose."
Posted by: God Save The World ||
01/31/2005 4:58:57 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
The Australian government will no longer detain illegal foreign fishermen on board their boats. Canberra has confirmed plans to refurbish an unused detention centre in the northern city of Darwin to house fishermen who face charges or who are to be sent home. There will also be a new detention centre on Horn Island in the Torres Strait. The Federal Fisheries Minister, Ian McDonald, says the government will also build new boat-burning facilities in Darwin and Gove, also in the North Territory. Boat burning facilities are also planned for Broome in Western Australia. The OZ (Howard) government takes border security very seriously and it is consistently a very popular policy despite the Left's seething over the issue.
Posted by: phil_b ||
01/31/2005 4:42:49 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Boat Burning....?
Centigrade 1370
Posted by: abu Bradbory ||
01/31/2005 14:22 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Seems to me that a gallon (or Liter if you want to destroy a metric-based boat) of gas in a suitable container is about all the 'facilities' you need. That and a lack of rain to get the conflagration going. But with government being government, there is always a little pork that needs spreading I guess.......
#3
Well, in order to prevent damage to the enviroment you'lll have to burn those boats in a sealed chamber with a scrubber stack. Should only set you back a few hundred million.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/31/2005 15:14 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Usually they are POS and worthless. All you need to get rid of them is a thick concrete slab and a large crane and a heavy weight. Burn the splinters.
#7
Or grind 'em up and feed the pieces into a boiler with a stoker. But if it's fiberglass, that would be nasty. How 'bout serving the artificial reef market. More environmentally friendly.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/31/2005 23:18 Comments ||
Top||
EFL:THE seriously delayed and massively over budget Eurofighter Typhoon is so unreliable it is barely airborne, according to the German government, which has just taken delivery of a squadron of the £60m planes. The new fighter-bomber, being jointly built by the UK, Germany, Spain and Italy, also lacks some of the most basic systems to protect it over the modern battlefield and has been plagued with technical problems. A report prepared for the defence committee of the German parliament said that the eight aircraft bought for the air force spent an average of just one hour a week in the air because components had to be replaced so frequently.
German officials - whose reluctance to go ahead with the project in the 1990s delayed it by several years - have tried to play down the problems, but have admitted "teething troubles" with the new aircraft. The report indicated that each aircraft had spent an average of only one hour in the air per week since they came into service last April. They also lack one of the most basic defences against missile attack - decoy flares.
The flares, which are often made from magnesium, are fired from aircraft and used to fool heat-seeking missiles. The reason that the lack of decoy flares is so much of a concern is the fact that many terrorist organisations have access to shoulder-launched heat-seeking missiles which are easy to carry and use and can destroy an aircraft. During the Cold War, the US and Soviet Union distributed thousands of the missiles to their allies, such as the US-backed Muslim fighters in Afghanistan and Soviet-backed Syria.
British MPs have admitted that they are concerned by the difficulties with the project. One blamed the large number of countries involved in the aircraft and suggested it was a matter of "too many cooks spoil the broth".
----------
A spokesman for the Eurofighter project admitted that the first deliveries of fighters did not posses the decoy flare systems but said that future deliveries would have the flares and that air forces would be able to 'retro-fit' them to their existing machines.
He said claims that planes had been grounded because of a lack of spares were based on information that was current last November and that the problems were "rapidly" being addressed now the fighters were in service and that the plane was well-liked by pilots.
However, a defence committee source, based in Berlin, told Scotland on Sunday that there had been a number of "issues" with the new aircraft, although they were the "normal teething problems". A British Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "The MoD is unable to comment on the reports in the German media on their Typhoon aircraft."
Posted by: Steve ||
01/31/2005 10:54:34 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Typhoon: from the Chinese, "Tai Feng", Supreme Wind
#3
FOund this from a poster at EU Referendum, kind of OT:
Ahhh, the F-18. Good choice. Unfortunately, it is not built anymore, and the F-18 A/E i much larger, so depending on the exact specs of your Aircraft Carrier, it might not do.
The Swiss air force is very happy with the F-18 they bought. Of course, they had to be heavily modified to meet the expected performance: all the electronics â not one in their right mind would trust us military electronics; but also the air frame, so that it can withstand the accelerations required of it in the alps. And the tanks and engine were rebuilt â did you know that the swiss F-18 actually use 30% less fuel than their US counterparts? Some people wonder why they did not make a plane alone⦠Of course, it is because the dev. costs would have been staggering for switzerland.
So if you are a big country like England, with al long and brilliant engineering tradition, you probably had better develop your own programs.
#8
The poster on EU is unaware that the Swiss F-18s were stripped of alot of weight that goes into making the F-18 carrier capable. A/c that are lighter accelerate better and use less fuel. The bit about electronics is simply national pride speaking,w/a tint of anti-Americanism.
Problems w/spare parts for a new a/c are not that unusual. The US had a ton of F-15s sitting on ramps in mid 70s that couldn't fly. The USAF finally started ordering spare parts and the a/c matured beautifully. Now if Eurofighters start falling out of the sky,then I'd say there was a problem. Until that happens the Eurofighter is a nice hot rod that doesn't have a mission.
Posted by: Stephen ||
01/31/2005 18:03 Comments ||
Top||
#9
..It's not at all unusual for new a/c to have seemingly 'serious' problems - look for the blazing headlines about the F-22 'hangar queens' that will be showing up about this time next year. And early production aircraft often have some odd quirks of their own - some of the early F-15E Strike Eagles came off the line before LANTIRN was integrated into the design - so you could mount LANTIRN and use it, but the mounting point was directly beneath a flare launcher. (The location of the launcher was later moved)
Everything I've heard so far is that Typhoon is having no more than the usual amount of teething troubles, but they're getting more than the usual scrutiny.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/31/2005 22:49 Comments ||
Top||
Italy's transport minister has refused to take the blame for traffic chaos which has caused misery for hundreds of people stuck on snow-blocked motorways, and has told people to stop complaining.
"Wudn't me. Now shuddup!"
Some people were trapped for days as an unusually strong snowfall brought parts of southern Italy to a standstill. The opposition accused Transport Minister Pietro Lunardi of failing to deal with the problem and called on him to resign. Lunardi rejected such calls on Sunday and said Italians should stop complaining and blaming the state. "We need to cure the Italians of their childish illness -- moaning," he told Libero newspaper.
Yeah. That'll happen. Vespasian used to say the same thing.
"The state cannot prevent exceptional snowfalls, even if Italy is the country of the sun and people think they have the right to have the snow melted immediately by the authorities." Although Deputy Prime Minister Marco Follini apologised on Friday on behalf of the government, Lunardi said he would not say sorry. "I am not apologising. The government has managed the emergency well, there have been no victims." By Sunday, the authorities finally reopened a major motorway between Salerno and Reggio Calabria which had been blocked for four days as snow continued to fall.
Posted by: Mahmoud, the Weasel ||
01/31/2005 13:20 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
As she clutched her stomach in agony, she cried out, "No! Not yet! Gatekeeper, give me another year! Snaaaaarrrrrrrlllll! Cthulu! Astaroth! Beezelbub! Belphegor! I have a contract!!!"
#6
Somebody explain to me why I'm supposed to care if the Hildabeest is sick.
She doesn't give a rat's ass if I'm sick.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/31/2005 20:04 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Barb, you're not 'possed to be reciprocal in compassion. But you have a point, so let me ask someone to ak her if she gives a rat's ass if you were sick and I will get back to ya with what she sez.
#3
Bluster, that's all it is. They should all be brought up on Federal Elections tampering charges. I'll bet we would get a FULL story the first time we make Mapes do the perp walk to a holding cell.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton fainted Monday after complaining of a stomach virus before a scheduled speech on Social Security. She received medical attention at the scene and then went on to give another speech at a Catholic college Monday afternoon. "It wasn't as dramatic as it sounds," Clinton said after the 30-minute speech.
Clinton aides said doctors believed she had a stomach virus. They said she felt weak at the private club where she was to speak, needed to sit down, and then fainted briefly. Clinton, 57, was smiling when she walked out of the club, the general manager said.
"I saw her walk out the door by herself, she smiled and said 'thank you'," said Saturn Club general manager Vincent Tracy.
Later Monday, she delivered a speech about health care at Canisius College. She was introduced by former U.S. Rep. John LaFalce, who told the crowd that Clinton went against doctor's advice because she was committed to talking about health care.
Clinton was to return to Washington after the speech, the last event on her public schedule.
During an earlier editorial board meeting Monday at The Buffalo News, Clinton complained about suffering from a flu-like bug that affected several of her staff members during a weekend retreat in Westchester County, where she lives.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/31/2005 5:01:20 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Dear RBs:
Thank you for all your prayers and comforting words during my momentary anal blockage. Yes, I was suffering from the shitz do to a bout of eating my own words, but, as you see, I bounced right back up and gave the speech of my life.
It could never of happened though without your kind expressions of well wishing.
As your president, I will promise to always be on every side of every issue and never again eat my own words -- they do cause one to lose their grib (if you know what I mean). Gotta run now, off to power my behind.
"MEET THE PRESS" transcript, for the "No Horse Too Dead To Beat" file:
MR. RUSSERT: Now, the New York Daily News editorial wrote an editorial, and it said this. "As for Kerry, he might ask why the Swifties' attacks have been effective. The answer is his propensity to exaggerate. ... It's looking more likely that he exaggerated, if not worse, when he claimed through the years that he was in Cambodia on Christmas Eve '68. He said the memory was `seared' into him, but it's now clear Kerry was elsewhere, at least at that time. He has yet to explain. Until he does, the Swifties will have a powerful weapon in their arsenal."
And they refer, Senator, to a speech on the floor in which you said that you were there, that the president of the United States was saying you were not there, that there were troops in Cambodia. You have the memory seared in you. In a letter to the Boston Herald, you remember spending Christmas Eve '68 five miles across the Cambodian border. You told The Washington Post you have a lucky hat given to you by a CIA guy "as we went in for a special mission to Cambodia." Were you in Cambodia Christmas Eve, 1968?
SEN. KERRY: We were right on the border, Tim. What I explained to people and I told this any number of times, did I go into Cambodia on a mission? Yes, I did go into Cambodia on a mission. Was it on that night? No, it was not on that night. But we were right on the Cambodian border that night. We were ambushed there, as a matter of fact. And that is a matter of record, and we went into the rec-- you know, it's part of the Navy records. It's been documented by the other guys who were on my boat. And Steve Gardner, frankly, doesn't know where we were. It wasn't his job, and, you know, he wasn't involved in that. But we did go five miles into Cambodia. It was on another day. I jumbled the two together, but we were five miles into Cambodia. We went up on a mission with CIA agents--I believe they were CIA agents--CIA Special Ops guys. I even have some photographs of it, and I can document it. And it has been documented.
MR. RUSSERT: You'll release those photographs?
SEN. KERRY: I think they were shown. I gave them to the campaign, but...
MR. RUSSERT: And you have a hat that the CIA agent gave you?
SEN. KERRY: I still have the hat that he gave me, and I hope the guy would come out of the woodwork and say, "I'm the guy who went up with John Kerry. We delivered weapons to the Khmer Rouge on the coastline of Cambodia." We went out of Ha Tien, which is right in Vietnam. We went north up into the border. And I have some photographs of that, and that's what we did. So, you know, the two were jumbled together, but we were on the Cambodian border on Christmas Eve, absolutely.
MR. RUSSERT: Nixon was president-elect, not president, at that particular time. He wasn't sworn in until...
SEN. KERRY: In 1968, he wasn't sworn in yet.
MR. RUSSERT: But he was president-elect, not president.
SEN. KERRY: That's correct.
MR. RUSSERT: Many people who've been criticizing you have said: Senator, if you would just do one thing and that is sign Form 180, which would allow historians and journalists complete access to all your military records. Thus far, you have gotten the records, released them through your campaign. They say you should not be the filter. Sign Form 180 and let the historians...
SEN. KERRY: I'd be happy to put the records out. We put all the records out that I had been sent by the military. Then at the last moment, they sent some more stuff, which had some things that weren't even relevant to the record. So when we get--I'm going to sit down with them and make sure that they are clear and I am clear as to what is in the record and what isn't in the record and we'll put it out. I have no problem with that.
MR. RUSSERT: Would you sign Form 180?
SEN. KERRY: But everything, Tim...
MR. RUSSERT: Would you sign Form 180?
SEN. KERRY: Yes, I will. But everything that we put in it, Tim--everything we put in--I mean, everything that was out was a full documentation of all of the medical records, all of the fitness reports. And I'd call on those who have challenged me, let's see their records. I want to see the records of each of those people who have put up a challenge, because some of them have some serious questions in them, and it hasn't been appropriate...
MR. RUSSERT: So they should sign Form 180s for themselves as well?
SEN. KERRY: You bet.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/31/2005 2:26:33 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
A quesion for Senator Kerry:
On what dates were you in Cambodia, and under whose orders? And if I may have a follow-up; what was the substance of your "mission"? Further, will you present all evidence known to you or in your posession, including the photographs and this hat you keep talking about, for forensic evaluation?
Posted by: Mark E. ||
01/31/2005 15:11 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Ok, maybe I'm just too dumb to grab it but...
WHY would the CIA deliver weapons to the Khmer Rouge??? What importance did the Khmer Rouge have in 1968 and didn't they support the North Vietnamese then?
And then, can somebody educate this geographically challenged German who can't reconcile "Cambodian coast" with "going up North from Vietnam"?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/31/2005 16:13 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Hey, wait a second. I was the guy in Cambodia...and a black guy and a bunch of spaceshots took me in on a PBR. And, no, I didn't give away any "lucky hats".
I got something for you to sear in your memory right here, douchebag!
#6
WHY would the CIA deliver weapons to the Khmer Rouge??? Because the Vietnam War was just a big plot to enrich the Military / Industrial Complex, see? The CIA was arming our enemies to keep it going. Oh, and to pay off the Khmer Rouge for the heroin they used to fund the arms.
What importance did the Khmer Rouge have in 1968 and didn't they support the North Vietnamese then? Yes
And then, can somebody educate this geographically challenged German who can't reconcile "Cambodian coast" with "going up North from Vietnam"? Vietnam curls around the bottom of Cambodia, so if you were going "up the river" to Cambodia, you would be going north.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/31/2005 16:33 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Yes but you wouldn't go to the coast when going upriver?
#10
TGA's got a point (as usual). Just checkd the globe and the only way to get to the coast of Cambodia is via the Gulf of Thailand.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/31/2005 19:14 Comments ||
Top||
#11
It was different back then. When I was in Nam, the CIA "spooks" (as we called them) had a different map. It's seared, seared in my mind. The Cambodian coast then was northwest of Saigon and east of Laos. I told you about the montagnards, didn't I? Plucky little guys! Carried one on the boat. He gave me a lucky spear.....
#12
Well it seems that I have to correct myself. Just looked up the big atlas. Ha-tien is right on the coastal border between Vietnam and Cambodia so you would go north(west) indeed up de Cambodian coastline.
I just don't get why nobody asked Kerry why he peddled arms to the Khmer Rouge. They did support the Vietcong back then.
#13
TGA, I think the "Khmer Rouge" part of the story is a new detail that the interviewer, Tim Russert, just missed and didn't follow-up on. Kerry is just making this up as he goes along.
Posted by: Matt ||
01/31/2005 20:48 Comments ||
Top||
#14
Actually I think the name Khmer Rouge wasn't in common use in 1968, they called themselves the Communist Party of Cambodia. It was only after Lon Nol came to power when Pol Pot's nationalist and maoist faction (that had not fled to North Vietnam), came to be known under the household name of Khmer Rouge.
I think indeed that Kerry is America's Baron Münchhausen (historic German figure known for his bombastic fairy tales).
#15
Lol! I think you've definitely got it, TGA. The name was not in common usage in the war - and at least 75% of Skeery's tales ring like lead. Indeed, he's an amazing confabulation of bullshit, lies, and ideological (and if tested fairly, sans the "Do you know who I am?" BS, probably clinical) insanity. And he was only a 1.5% swing away from being the President - back here in the real world.
#16
.com, I believe that the Vets for Truth had some bigger ammunition ready had Kerry been elected.
Kerry's post Vietnam actions were far more troublesome than his "bandaid heroism". I guess the Bush campaign was smarter than many and believed in victory without pulling the dirtiest laundry out (which would have enbittered parts of the US electorate).
Kerry might have become the first U.S. President to face impeachment hearings BEFORE being inaugurated (if such a thing is possible).
Again, we can only thank the people of Ohio for their wisdom.
#17
I'm sure you're right. I am much relieved that he was prevented from reaching office. The embitterment has already occurred - I even ended up in a pointed and heated "debate" with a clueless fool at the grocery store a few days ago. A bona-fide Bush Hater with no, and I mean zero, knowledge of events or issues, just a burning visceral hatred of a man he's never met, knows next to nothing about, and upon whom his future depends. It was surreal.
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) collapsed at the Saturn Club in Buffalo, New York just prior to giving a speech at Catholic Canisius College... Developing...
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/31/2005 13:15 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I would expect it's a reaction to the "Moderateâ¢" pills she's been taking lately
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/31/2005 13:15 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Hope everything comes out OK. I don't like her politics, and think her party is a serious problem for the US, but don't wish her any pain or disaster.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/31/2005 13:19 Comments ||
Top||
#4
ROFLMAO, Frank!!!
Dunno what's wrong with her, but that was awesomely over the top funny! *Applause*
Posted by: Mike ||
01/31/2005 13:35 Comments ||
Top||
#10
"Authorities deny reports they are looking for a young girl with a small dog who threw a pail of water on Sen. Clinton."
Posted by: Steve ||
01/31/2005 13:40 Comments ||
Top||
#11
Hope everything comes out OK. I don't like her politics, and think her party is a serious problem for the US, but don't wish her any pain or disaster.
RC - for all the partisan disagreements we've had, you are a man of honor.
#14
Fox sez she was feeling weak from a bout with the flu and, after receiving treatment from paramedics (Is that you, Chuck Simmins? Buffalo, NY, right?), she refused hospitalization.
Posted by: Dar ||
01/31/2005 14:04 Comments ||
Top||
#15
Neither do I wish pain and disaster on anyone, xcept people that deserve it in heaps (like jihadi scum).
On the other hand, checking my Hildebeast sympathy meter... tap, tap ... sorry, must be stuck or sumthin'.
#16
Of course I don't want anything bad to happen to her.
*Waits expectantly for Lh pat on head, heh*
*waiting*
*waiting*
*lol, fuck it*
I'm with Sobiesky here. If you guys are all gonna be so honorable and upstanding and everything, sorta like Good Cops, can I be a Bad Cop and say I hope the bitch witch melts?
#18
I plan to vote for a woman in '08 myself. Condi all the way, baby!
Posted by: Dar ||
01/31/2005 14:16 Comments ||
Top||
#19
Don't bet on that, TGA.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/31/2005 14:17 Comments ||
Top||
#20
Out of respect for my fellow RB posters who are clearly better human beings then I. I will be coy as to my personal feelings about the junior senator from the state of New York. I hope her passing isn't painful either. Though I do pray for lots of bad things to happen to Abu Zarqawi, Saddam Hussein, Teddy Kennedy, Khameni, Jesse Jackson, Fidel Castro, Jaques Chirac, and that bitch from the pretenders.
#23
.com, nice one. Is that the subliminal world famous "this is bullshit" signal? Often used by U.S. servicemen when wanting to show their true feelings about a photo op or when being illegaly asked to make "official" statements from the Viet Cong. Or, is the young paratrooper demonstrating how he intends to give Mrs. Clinton a body cavity search with his left hand?
#24
Heh, I'd guess the latter - he's certainly not the Skeery type. Note she prolly picked his poor ass out of the crowd as the "hunky" type she thought would make the pic more appealing. His subtle message served her right. Sorry he's RA - I don't think she's mustered the nerve to approach a Jarine, so I don't have an appropriate pic, lol!
Well, in case she's more seriously ill than we think, here are 2 more images so we can remember her fondly... --1-- --2--
Thx Mac. Must be an Army thing. I'm used to the 'longhorn' salute or subliminal "heavy metal" hand gesture to display one's feeling in such a situation.
#29
jarhead, dot com, how did you feel when loony lefties expressed happiness at the death of Ronald Reagan? Disgusted, huh? That people put partisanship above humanity? It goes all ways folks. And dot com, i thought it only appropriate to thank RC. Wasnt a "pat on the head"? what, sorry if i wasnt belligerent like you like. Try DU or Kos, you'll have better luck finding sparring partners there.
#30
No matter how I feel about her politics, I hope that she is ok. I would never wish ill health on anyone. (Unless they had already taken a shot at me, but that's a different story.)
Posted by: Mark E. ||
01/31/2005 15:20 Comments ||
Top||
#31
Since LH brought it up in #29... I was frankly FAR more disgusted by the folks on TV who pretended they didn't hate RR with a passion during his presidency.
#33
Lh - I was kidding with you. Your heart's in the right place - and I didn't mean to offend you. What I think of Hillary Clinton is between me and my own conscience. Sorry to have involved you or made you feel awkward. Honest.
#34
I don't wish anything bad on Senator Clinton, but I think since she was talking at a Cathoilic College, God has spoken! W.O.G. (Wrath of God) will get you everytime.
#35
I wish ill upon no American, lest they be a criminal or traitor, or upon any human being provided they are a decent person - ie, not a jihadi, etc.
#39
I don't want to see anything bad happen to Hillary or her health; I'm hoping she at least recovers enough to actually do something feminist for a change, and divorce that schmuck Bill.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
01/31/2005 17:10 Comments ||
Top||
#40
Lh - What? You owe me an acknowledgment, son. When I apologized it was directly to you because you took offense. You want good manners? Fine, I obliged - now let's see yours. Show some grace, jerk.
The latest spate of deaths from bird flu in Vietnam is raising fears that the disease is re-emerging after last year's outbreak in 10 Asian countries. This time, however, there is a new, more ominous concern: A recent medical study reports the first case of bird flu transmission among humans.
A report in The New England Journal of Medicine documents a probable case of person-to-person transmission of the avian flu virus in Thailand. Previous cases were traced to contact with infected poultry. In this instance, investigators from the Thai Health Ministry and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control say an 11-year-old girl died after exposure to a sick chicken, but her mother and aunt, who had no such bird exposure, also became ill, suggesting that human transmission occurred. The mother also died.
The president of the vaccine division of the big U.S. pharmaceutical company Merck, Adel Mahmoud, says the new report is a sign of the virus' potential to trigger a global flu outbreak. "That is just a very, very serious warning sign that viruses are recombining, moving from avian to animals to humans and then being transmitted within the human population," he said.
Continuing spread of bird flu between people is the worst fear of public health experts. The World Health Organization's representative in Hanoi, Hans Troedsson, says this would mean that the virus has genetically altered to a form much more easily transmitted. "The major concern we have is, of course, that the virus will change or alter, but we have no indication of that yet," he said. "The other concern we have would be a dramatic increase in the number of cases even if the virus has not changed, because that would put a lot of additional pressure on the existing health care services."
The fact that no further human bird flu transmission occurred in Thailand suggests to experts that the virus has not mutated and is still completely avian. Yet in a New England Journal of Medicine commentary, University of Michigan School of Public Health professor Arnold Monto expresses concern that mutation is only a matter of time. He writes that, given the continued outbreaks of this disease in Asia, the question is when such changes will happen.
#1
If these WHO types want to be of any use, they need to determine what the conditions are that are causing the virus to be passed around from fowl-to-fowl and devise methods to interrupt that cycle. Much cheaper than trying to combat an outbreak of a mutant strain of virus.
Challenging a basic tenet of the semiconductor industry, researchers at Hewlett-Packard Co. have demonstrated a technology that could replace the transistor as the fundamental building block of all computers.
The devices, called crossbar latches, could be made so small that thousands of them could fit across the diameter of a human hair, enabling the high-tech industry to continue to build ever-smaller computing devices that are less expensive than their predecessors.
For years, engineers have been able to pack more and more smaller transistors onto a fingernail-size silicon chip. The rate of integration, first predicted by Intel Corp. co-founder Gordon Moore in 1965, has driven computer performance and prices for more than 30 years.
But the pace of Moore's Law can't continue forever, and the high-tech industry has been scrambling to develop workarounds for the day - expected in a decade or so - when transistor dimensions become too small for the materials commonly used today.
"If we're going to extend Moore's Law for another several decades, we've got to have an alternative strategy," said Phil Kuekes, one of the paper's authors at HP Labs. "This is the final piece of the puzzle in what HP has been putting together as such a strategy."
The smallest features of today's silicon-based transistors are about 90 nanometers long, a nanometer being roughly one hundred-thousandth the width of a human hair. The crossbar latch, by comparison, can work in a space of about 2 to 3 nanometers.
The HP research, reported in Tuesday's Journal of Applied Physics, scraps the transistor entirely. In its place is basically a series of platinum wires crossed opposite directions. At the junctions are molecules that in the HP research happen to be steric acid.
"It's metal and molecules. Nothing else," Kuekes said. "We're getting away from the physics of silicon."
Like in a transistor, an electrical signal that passes through a crossbar latch is manipulated to perform logic functions. The latest research shows that the technology also can be used for amplifying a signal, allowing multiple functions to be applied.
"The power of this device is not when it's by itself. It's when it glues together other pieces of logic," said Duncan Stewart, another HP Labs scientist and study co-author. "As soon as you're able to do that, we call that a computer."
The researchers have not glued together multiple crossbar latches, though they say it's something they're continuing to pursue. They expect it to be commercially viable as early as 2012. The latches are formed through a specialized stamping process for nano-sized imprints.
They also must persuade an industry built on transistors that an alternative technology can be just as effective, said Stan Williams, director of Quantum Science Research at HP Labs and another of the paper's co-authors.
"There came to be a mantra that you have to have transistors to build computers," he said. "A latch is a different way of achieving that same function, but it turns out it has significant advantages over a transistor."
The crossbar latch not only works at a much smaller scale than a transistor but also can do more, he added.
"In order to do the same thing that a latch can do, you actually need many transistors," Williams said.
In fact, other researchers have been focused on building molecular transistors, which are much more challenging to build at such a small scale, said James C. Ellenbogen, principal scientist in the Nanosystems Group at the MITRE Corp.
"This may enable the field to proceed toward nanoprocessor demonstrations and applications more rapidly and at lower cost," he said.
It also could prove to be less expensive to build because engineers can more easily work around defects that arise during manufacturing than with those that occur during silicon fabrication, where defects are avoided at great cost.
But crossbar latches aren't going to replace today's silicon chips anytime soon. At first, they would likely be used for memory and later for specialized devices. They also will have to integrate with today's silicon chips, which
"Transistors will continue to be used for years to come with conventional silicon circuits," Kuekes said, "but this could someday replace transistors in computers, just as transistors replaced vacuum tubes and vacuum tubes replaced electromagnet relays before them."
Some of the world's most thoughtful greens have discovered the logic of nuclear power, including Gaia theorist James Lovelock, Greenpeace cofounder Patrick Moore, and Britain's Bishop Hugh Montefiore, a longtime board member of Friends of the Earth (see "Green vs. Green," page 82). Western Europe is quietly backing away from planned nuclear phaseouts. Finland has ordered a big reactor specifically to meet the terms of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. China's new nuke plants - 26 by 2025 - are part of a desperate effort at smog control.
Even the shell-shocked US nuclear industry is coming out of its stupor. The 2001 report of Vice President Cheney's energy task force was only the most high profile in a series of pro-nuke developments. Nuke boosters are especially buoyed by more efficient plant designs, streamlined licensing procedures, and the prospect of federal subsidies.
In fact, new plants are on the way, however tentatively. Three groups of generating companies have entered a bureaucratic maze expected to lead to formal applications for plants by 2008. If everything breaks right, the first new reactors in decades will be online by 2014. If this seems ambitious, it's not; the industry hopes merely to hold on to nuclear's current 20 percent of the rapidly growing US electric power market.
#1
One standardized DoE approved design of medium economical size, instead of massive custom and unique cost overrun white elephants, will make the reintroduction of nuke power viable. Hold the government bureaucrats head in the chopping block to finalize the design. No going back two dozen times to retrofit something while the bugger is still being built.
``I'm short the dollar,'' Gates, chairman of Microsoft Corp., told Charlie Rose in an interview late yesterday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. ``The ol' dollar, it's gonna go down.''
Gates's concern that widening U.S. budget and trade deficits are undermining the dollar was echoed in Davos by policymakers including European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
The dollar fell 21 percent against a basket of six major currencies from the start of 2002 to the end of last year. The trade deficit swelled to a record $609.3 billion last year and total U.S. government debt rose 8.7 percent to $7.62 trillion in the past 12 months.
``It is a bit scary,'' Gates said. ``We're in uncharted territory when the world's reserve currency has so much outstanding debt.'...
Gates reflected the views of his friend Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor who has bet against the dollar since 2002. Buffett said last week that the U.S. trade gap will probably further weaken the currency.
``Unless we have a major change in trade policies, I don't see how the dollar avoids going down,'' Buffett said in an interview with CNBC Jan. 19.
. I would think that Asian central banks, by buying U.S. dollars, have been driving a massive distortion of real exchange and interest rates.
2. I would think that the U.S. economy is overinvested in non-export durables, most of all residential housing.
3. I would think that we have piled on far too much debt, in both the private and public sectors.
4. I would think these trends cannot possibly continue. Asian central banks may come to their senses. Furthermore the U.S. would be like an addict who needs an ever-increasing dose of the monetary fix. This, of course, would eventually prove impossible.
5. I would think that the U.S. economy is due for a dollar plunge, and a massive sectoral shift toward exports. Furthermore I would think it will not handle such an unexpected shock very well.
6. I would buy puts on T-Bond futures and become rich.
7. I would think that Hayek's Monetary Nationalism and International Stability, now priced at $70 a copy, is the secret tract for our times.
Of course that is not me. But at least someone appears to believe in Austrian business cycle theory. By the way, here is one summary of the theory, although I do not agree with the characterization in all respects.
#4
We need more gold, we must get all the gold. When we have more gold it means we are winning.
Posted by: abu GoldBug ||
01/31/2005 14:27 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Dollar goes down, exports go up. Exports go up, deficit goes down. Dollar goes down, it becomes cheaper for foreigners to invest in US real estate, housing market goes up. Housing market goes up in CA or East Coast - building new homes becomes more profitable in the midwest where land and building costs are cheaper. Housing supply goes up, housing costs go down.
It may be profitable for Bill Gates and Warren Buffet - who invest in currency - to short their dollars - but I fail to understand why it hurts me, as an American, to see the dollar fall and thus... exports go up and defict go down. Seems like the Euros have far more to lose over this than I do. It might make purchasing a foreign car and travel abroad more expensive, but I can buy and travel domeestic.
#7
Gold and real estate purchases represent negative expectations. Neither grow as cash or stocks do. Rising gold and real estate prices represent the top of a long term cycle as Japan over the last 25 years has shown.
Cos jurors need less info, not more, to make an informed decision. This has major ramifications for terror trials, if the "international community" decides that, f'rinstance, the Rantburg archives might reflect negatively on those poor misunderstood freedom fighters...
A(n Australian) Supreme Court judge has called for the internet to be purged of any material likely to prejudice a trial, to prevent jurors conducting their own investigations into cases they are sitting on.
Purge the internet. Yeah. That'll work.
Justice Virginia Bell, of the NSW Supreme Court, told a conference in Darwin of Supreme and Federal court judges from across the country yesterday that the ready availability of archived press reports on the internet could jeopardise the trial of an accused person. Justice Bell recommended that to prevent jurors from researching cases online, Crown prosecutors in any pending case should "carry out searches on the internet and, in the event that prejudicial material is identified . . . request any Australian-based website to remove it until the trial is completed". She said prejudicial material relating to the trial of a prominent business identity had been removed from the website Crikey.com.au at the request of the NSW Supreme Court's public information officer.
And the information, of course, existed only on crikey.com.au, nowhere else in the entire world...
Justice Bell said publication of material that had a real and definite tendency to prejudice a trial amounted to contempt of court. "The difficulty arises with material published on the internet by individuals and interest groups who may be difficult to trace or, in widely publicised cases, by the publication of prejudicial material on the internet by persons outside the jurisdiction."
She means where her jurisdiction doesn't extend. I'm trying to figure how it came to extend to the internet based in Australia. As far as I know, there's no one "in charge" of the internet. Or have they changed that?
A NSW study which examined 41 trials held between 1997 and 2000 found that in three cases jurors admitted to having carried out internet searches despite being instructed not to by judges.
If the jurors did it when the judge said not to do it, then it should be on the jurors' heads, not those of the entire worldwide web...
Queensland and NSW have introduced legislation making it an offence for jurors to conduct investigations on the internet, punishable by a maximum of two years' jail.
... a reasonable response. Draco would yawn.
Justice Bell said the potential for the internet to threaten the integrity of jury trials was highlighted by the promotion of CrimeNet, a national police site which published criminal histories. After concerns were raised about CrimeNet, the site was modified so anyone searching its criminal records database must now open an account and furnish credit card details. A subscriber must agree "not to search for details of any person whilst I am a juror in a trial of that person, in a jurisdiction that prohibits such information". But her call was branded "silly and unworkable" by the media union, while the internet industry said it would be impossible to police offshore sites. Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance federal secretary Christopher Warren said it was an attempt at censorship which highlighted a "disturbing trend" in judges' decisions. "It's silly and it's unworkable, we've already seen in the Gutnick case how dangerous that can be for Australia," Mr Warren said. The 2002 Gutnick v Dow Jones case in the High Court established that, in law, internet articles are published where they are read. Courts could already compel Australian ISPs to remove material from websites in Australia, Peter Coroneos, chief executive of the Internet Industry Association said. "The problem is much more difficult if someone puts up a website in Argentina," Mr Coroneos said.
#1
Oh the sheer horror. Judges and lawyers do not get to pick and choose the evidence heard at a trial. Why real fact might get in the way of a decision. A defence lawyer can Google his client and demand a mistrial.
Posted by: john ||
01/31/2005 13:46 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Virginia doesn't seem to grasp the internet. Just because she decrees all info be purged, it won't happen. More likely she's just set up a whole group on interested people who'll dissect her puny case.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/31/2005 13:53 Comments ||
Top||
#3
ROFLMAO!!!
And the Internet, as one, looked up and said, "Huh? Piss up a rope, fool." and went on about its business.
#4
"...has called for the internet to be purged of any material likely to prejudice a trial, to prevent jurors conducting their own investigations into cases they are sitting on."
Oh, yeah. Purge the internet...
Thus proving that judges can be total idiots.
Q.E.D.
#6
Next up: A(n Australian) Supreme Court judge has called for the sun to not shine, to insure jurors are kept in the dark.
Posted by: DO ||
01/31/2005 14:45 Comments ||
Top||
#7
I wonder if someone will invent a "jury nullification" virus, otherwise harmless, that will just flash on computer screens the definition of jury nullification. I know that the mere mention of it makes a lot of judges apoplectic, and it is impossible to outlaw or prohibit unless the judge *directs* the jury to find the defendant guilty. I know that defendants have been held in contempt and mis-trials declared for even *mentioning* it in court, and some lawyer might demand that any infected computer be destroyed.
HOWARD DEAN, the favorite to be the next head of the Democratic National Committee, made his case in midtown yesterday, promising to make his party operate more like the GOP - at least when it comes to elections. "I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for, but I admire their discipline and their organization," the failed presidential hopeful told the crowd at the Roosevelt Hotel, where he and six other candidates spoke at the final DNC forum before the Feb. 12 vote for chairman. "We'd rather be dingbats and beauzeaux."
But Dean said the Democrats should not change their beliefs to be "Republican lite." "We can talk about our faith, but we cannot change our faith," he said, echoing themes he sounded in his presidential bid. "We need to be people of conviction." "Corrupt UN officials good, America bad."
Later, he said that what "95% of Americans are really concerned about" is national security. But he said Americans also do not want to sacrifice the nation's values. "They want America to be the moral leader of the world again," he said. Dean came into the event riding a fresh wave of momentum. A day earlier, he was endorsed for the top Democratic spot by Clinton ally Harold Ickes amid speculation over whether Bill and Hillary Clinton would try to block Dean. Ickes, who briefly considered running for the DNC chairmanship himself, said he was not speaking for the Clintons, but it was a sign the former First Couple won't oppose Dean, who would be chairman for any run Hillary makes at the White House. Also vying for the seat are grass-roots moonbat activist Donnie Fowler, former Texas Rep. Martin Frost, 9/11 commission member Tim Roemer, Simon Rosenberg, former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb and lawyer David Leland.
Posted by: Korora ||
01/31/2005 11:55:48 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Doesn't it make you dems a teensy bit concerned that the Republicans back Dean as DNC chairman 100%? Does that not throw up all sorts of red flags? Dayum!
#2
"I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for, but I admire their discipline and their organization"
What an ass. Dean governed as a fiscal conservative who IIRC supported gun ownership rights and opposed gay marriage.
Dean's rise represents the triumph of attitude, of pretending that sneering and rollin' up yer sleeves, mad-as-hell posturing can substitute for a coherent and relevant policy platform.
#4
Dean's the anti-Clinton. Clinton was a liberal who mastered the art of soothing, centrist rhetoric couched in clever aphorisms ("Make abortion safe, legal and rare"; end welfare as we know it").
Dean's a centrist who's mastered the art of far-left rhetorical posturing, couched in grunts, insults and screams.
#8
Bummer - State Party Chairs Choose Fowler over Dean...so the runaway train hits a temporary siding
Not to worry, Frank: Howard Dean won the backing of state Democratic Party leaders Monday, putting him in a strong position to win the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee. The party's presidential front-runner in 2003 won 56 votes from the state chairs and Democratic activist Donnie Fowler won 21 during a national conference call. The state chairs ignored a recommendation made Sunday by the executive committee to back Fowler. Other candidates' support Monday was in single digits.
"We're asking all of our state chairs and vice chairs to follow our endorsements," Brewer said, noting that would bring 112 votes. "And we think they will."
Posted by: Steve ||
01/31/2005 14:01 Comments ||
Top||
#9
I drank three cases and he is still no goood...slurp
Just about the time you think the Demos may be regaining some sanity....and up jumps Boxer, Reid, Pelosi, Kennedy....and the biggest gift of all Dean!!
There is no hope for the Demo Party at a national level...they are nailing the nails in their own coffin.
January 31, 2005: For over half a century, kits have been sold that enable military history buffs to assemble scale models of military ships, aircraft and vehicles. But that era is coming to an end, as the manufacturers of the original equipment, especially aircraft, are demanding high royalties (up to $40 per kit) from the kit makers. Since most of these kits sell in small quantities (10-20,000) and are priced at $15-30 (for plastic kits, wooden ones are about twice as much), tacking on the royalty just prices the kit out of the market. Popular land vehicles, which would sell a lot of kits, are missing as well. The new U.S. Army Stryker armored vehicles are not available because of royalty requirements. Even World War II aircraft kits are being hit with royalty demands. This move grew out of the idea that corporations should maximize "intellectual property" income. Models of a companys products are considered the intellectual property of the owner of a vehicle design. In the past, the model kits were considered free advertising, and good public relations, by the defense firms. The kit manufacturers comprise a small industry, and the aircraft manufacturers will probably not even notice if they put many of the model vendors out of business. Some model companies will survive by only selling models of older (like World War I), or otherwise "no royalty" items (Nazi German aircraft) and ships. But the aircraft were always the bulk of sales, and their loss will cripple many of the kit makers.
Multi-billion dollar military contracts aren't enough, they have to squeaze a few bucks out of little kids.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/31/2005 10:17:32 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Aw, fer the love of Pete! What the hell is this? I built dozens and dozens of Revell and Monogram kits when I was growing up of everything--cars, tanks, planes. This is a good way to kill off the industry altogether, and then the greedy corporate bastards won't get one red cent!
Posted by: Dar ||
01/31/2005 10:30 Comments ||
Top||
#3
This move grew out of the idea that corporations should maximize âintellectual propertyâ income.
Hmm. A few pennies per kit versus no pennies 'cause there are no kits... How exactly are the Stryker manufacturers maximising their intellectual property income?
Multi-billion dollar military contracts aren't enough, they have to squeaze a few bucks out of little kids.
I don't see what this royalty thing is all about. I mean, these plastic models aren't exactly functional, so how do these people get off demanding a royalty payment?
#5
Kinda like how comic books used to be 25 cents, until a bunch of adult speculators fans started hoovering up every last issue on the unlikely chance that they will appreciate faster than, say, stocks?
#6
especially since R&D is financed by and large by gov't contracts?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/31/2005 10:48 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Pardon me, the US military designs are paid for by DoD, which owns the rights to them and if some SOB thought he had the government agent sign away those in some buried clause in some oversized contract, he as an invalid contract. Now the Stryker IIRC is based upon an original Canadian design. However, if these chicken s**ts want to play hardball, a little rider to a congressional bill will take care of their tokus in a heart beat. And its cheap political points with local news coverage as Representative 'Doe' saves children's happiness.
#8
...The situation isn't quite as bad as it looks, but it's grim enough: a typical 1/72 model of, say, an F-16, is going to run about $10-15 based on the manufacturer - the royalties will easily add around $5 to the cost of the kit. The floodgates my have been opened with a recent release of a 1/32 F-16 kit from Tamiya, where the Japanese company didnt even blink when they paid LockMart it's extortion royalty.So far though, MOST of the manufacturers are holding back to see how hard this gets fought. The worst offender right now is NorthropGrumman, which is playing some serious hardball and apparently couldnt care less about the publicity.
Even if the worst happens, there will be more than a few ways around it, and more than a few modelers I've met have suggested that if it gets manufacturers to build more 'no-royalty' kits (rather than the 158th F-16 release) it might not be so bad.
I do agree with Elmomoting, however - drop your Congress critter a line and remind them that these people are working to wipe out a truly wonderful hobby.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/31/2005 22:59 Comments ||
Top||
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.
