A woman accused of using her lover's sperm to impregnate herself without his knowledge can be held liable for the unwitting father's emotional pain, the Illinois Appellate Court has ruled.
This is a story that's being splattered all over the front pages...
In the ruling released Wednesday, a three-judge panel reinstated part of a lawsuit against Sharon Irons, a doctor from Olympia Fields. The ruling sends the case back to Cook County Circuit Court. Irons was sued by her former lover, Chicago family physician Richard O. Phillips, who accused her of a "calculated, profound personal betrayal" of him after a brief affair they had six years ago.
Its' a story that's dripping with passion and suspense...
Phillips alleges that he and Irons, who practices internal medicine, never had intercourse during their four-month affair, although they did have oral sex three times.
Three times in four months? And that was it? So it wasn't an affair that really erupted. She was just paying lip service to the idea...
His suit contends that Irons, without his knowledge, kept some of his semen and used it to impregnate herself.
And the judge swallowed that?
The relationship ended when Phillips learned Irons had lied to him about being recently divorced and was, in fact, still married to another doctor, according to court documents.
So she was lying to him about her marital status? I guess they were both suckers...
Nearly two years later, Irons slapped Phillips with a paternity suit. DNA tests showed Phillips was indeed the father, court papers state. Phillips was ordered to pay about $800 a month in child support, said Irons' attorney, Enrico Mirabelli.
Three episodes of foreplay in four months, then two years later she screws him...
Phillips then sued Irons, claiming her actions robbed him of sleep and caused him to have trouble eating. He is haunted by "feelings of being trapped in a nightmare," court papers state.
Boy, he just said a mouthful. The very thought leaves me feeling limp and empty.
Irons responded that her alleged actions weren't "truly extreme and outrageous" and that Phillips' pain wasn't bad enough to merit a lawsuit. The circuit court agreed and dismissed Phillips' suit in 2003.
Ummm... We object, yer honor! If that's not "truly extreme and outrageous" then what the hell is?
But the higher court ruled that, if Phillips' story is true, Irons "deceitfully engaged in sexual acts, which no reasonable person would expect could result in pregnancy, to use plaintiff's sperm in an unorthodox, unanticipated manner yielding extreme consequences."
I'll bet that really stuck in her... ummm... craw... I'd certainly call that unanticipated.
But the judges agreed with the lower court's decision to dismiss fraud and theft claims against Irons. They agreed with Irons' lawyers that she didn't steal the sperm. "She asserts that when plaintiff 'delivered' his sperm, it was a gift -- an absolute and irrevocable transfer of title to property from a donor to a donee," the decision said. "There was no agreement that the original deposit would be returned upon request."
Too bad. I'da wanted to see her make restitution.
Irons has since divorced, Mirabelli said.
Boy, doesn't that come as a surprise? I understand he applied for a divorce when her cheeks started getting plump...
"There's a 5-year-old child here," Mirabelli said Thursday. "Imagine how a child feels when your father says he feels emotionally damaged by your birth."
Imagine how the child feels knowing Mommy wrung him out of a kleenex.
Phillips is representing himself in the case. He could not be reached for comment Thursday.
This can't be the whole story. I'm sure that something was gargled in translation...
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2005 1:32:59 PM ||
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James Thurber, the deceased cartoonist for the New Yorker, told a story about when he was a kid. There was this "club" and, of course, all the kids in the neighborhood wanted to belong. The initiation ritual was to tell the prospect to sit in the corner of their treehouse / clubhouse for 5 minutes and "absolutely, do not think of a white bear", heh. At the end of the 5 minutes they asked you if you had thought of a white bear, even once. If you said "No" you were in. If you said "Yes" you were out.
Diesel pollution is responsible for more deaths than drunk drivers and homicides, according to a new study that estimates how many premature deaths, asthma attacks and heart attacks are caused by diesel pollution in every U.S. county. Nationwide, diesel pollution causes 21,000 premature deaths each year, including 475 in Massachusetts and 81 in Middlesex County, robbing those who die of an average of 14 years of their lives, according to the report by the Boston-based Clean Air Task Force. Residents in nearby Suffolk County suffer the third highest risk of exposure to diesel pollution in the nation, researchers found.
The numbers point to a failure of New England states to curb emissions, said Michael Stoddard, an attorney for Environment Northeast, a group that distributed the new report in New England. "No state in New England currently has a systematic plan in place to address this problem," Stoddard, director of ENE's New England Diesel Initiative, said yesterday. "We have legislation about power plants. We have legislation about drunk drivers. We have legislation against firearm violations. Here's something that's in the same class in terms of impact."
To determine diesel pollution's health effects in each U.S. county, the Clean Air Task Force said it employed methodology the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency uses to assess the health benefits of new rules. The group also used the EPA's county-by-county estimates of diesel emissions. The report compares the estimated 21,000 diesel pollution deaths with the 17,000 annual deaths caused by drunk driving and the nation's 20,000 annual homicides. The analysis concludes diesel pollution has widespread impacts in Massachusetts, including 727 nonfatal heart attacks per year, 9,925 asthma attacks, 43 cancer deaths, 289 cases of chronic bronchitis and 61,842 lost days of work. The effects include 43 premature deaths in Norfolk County, which includes Franklin, Bellingham, Millis and Wellesley, and 23 premature deaths in Worcester County, which includes Milford, Upton and Uxbridge. *snipped, more cooked stats and voodoo science at link ie cumulative effect assumed but not proven or supported, selective analysis of causation, etc.
In any case, we can now tell the eco-wackies their diesel problem is solved:
This is only a pipsqueak 4-wheeler but the technology could obviously be adapted to power buses, trucks, tractors; heck, even submarines. ;)
It's quiet, smooth, and runs fifty thousand miles on one fill-up.
Homicidal right-wing SUV drivers would think twice about t-boning it and, best of all, it will not emit any planet-destroying CO2 (unless it melts down and the tires/occupants catch fire).
Beat the heat with the cool blue glow of uranium.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy ||
02/24/2005 7:42:12 AM ||
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#1
The studies are BS. If they want to study Diesel they have to go to Europe where it is much more widely used. I bet they can't find any proof for what they are trying to state as fact.
#2
We already have emission regulations for diesels, and they get stricter every year.
The problem I always see is that diesels need to be tuned up more often, the tune-up costs more, and the emissions get much worse if you let it go. I think the city of Tucson holds a raffle every year to see which of their buses gets a tune-up. I am always behind one of the losers. People who had the VW diesels of the 70s and 80s found out that while the fuel economy is nice, having to pay hundreds of dollars every 12,000 miles for a tune-up negates it. So, they would let it slide and you would see Rabbits with black smudges on their back ends.
#3
Seems to me that groups like the Clean Air Task Force won't be satisfied until we're all riding horses again, and even then would probably complain that equine flatulence is some sort of pollution problem.
#4
In other news, Mother Nature is blamed for cellular atrophy, resulting in the fact that every living thing dies. Lawyers eyeing global class-action suit.
#5
Mix biodiesel fuel into those existing diesel engines (except during winter) and I bet those numbers change drastically. Such a move would also require no changes to existing diesel engines.
Since the Clean Air Task Force isn't looking for solutions and simply wants to ban diesel I have to wonder about their motivation and source of funding.
#7
Now, now . . . Chronicles of Riddick was not that bad. Vinnie might not have given an Oscar performance, but for his normal stuff, this was above average.
#8
"Mix biodiesel fuel into those existing diesel engines (except during winter) and I bet those numbers change drastically."
Whatever gave you the idea that biodiesel is inherently clean, rjschwarz? We could refine petroleum-based fuel further too -- it's just that nobody wants to pay the price.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/24/2005 13:46 Comments ||
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This just in.....exposure to sunlight causes cancer. Thousands die annually. Government regulations pending.
MOUNT ST. HELENS, Washington -- Mount St. Helens has shown an upswing in volcanic activity over the past two days, U.S. volcano scientists reported.
Small collapses of hot rock from the south end of the lava dome -- which is growing at a rate of about 15 feet per day -- have sent several ash clouds upward and over the rim of the mile-wide crater, according to U.S. Geological Survey scientists at Johnston Ridge Observatory, about five miles northeast of the volcano.
About 3 a.m. Tuesday, scientists said they detected a seismic signal and witnessed a bright glow inside the crater that persisted for about 15 minutes. The glow apparently resulted from the collapse of material at the top of the lava dome, which for that brief time exposed hot rock from deeper inside the mountain.
The last major eruption at Mount St. Helens occurred in May 1980, when the volcano lost nearly a quarter-mile of its elevation. The latest activity, which began last Oct. 11, is not expected to result in a comparable event, scientists said.
Posted by: anonymous2u ||
02/24/2005 1:52:55 AM ||
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#1
Well, there'll be more global cooling if she pops the cork. Better fire up your SUV's and circle the parking lot a few extra times looking for that perfect space that will save you walking 5 more ft.
#2
It may go on like this for a couple of years, a little steam off here and there. Something is brewing underneath, perhaps in larger area.
Once I flew just south on Mt Baker and it was a crystal clear day with superb visibility for hundreds of miles. It was an amazing sight--all the major Western Rockies volcanos lined up almost in a straight line, like a dormant army waiting for a signal. The last one still visible was Mt Shasta.
I like flying mainly for the reason that the geology is readily available like an open book. Many features that are not apparent on the ground are prominent from the bird perspective. I can trace the movement of glaciers that are long lost in the stream of time and see the results of forces with life spans totally alien to our experience.
#6
I climbed Mt. St Helens in 1990. It was an expierience that really let me see just how frail humans are in the face of a violent event like the eruption in 1980.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/24/2005 7:39 Comments ||
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Sobiesky - After my first geology class in college I flew home for the holidays, and I spent the entire flight looking out the window going "Holy crap! I can SEE it ALL!" Amazing how a little knowledge changed how everything appeared.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
02/24/2005 9:08 Comments ||
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"On 14 and 15 February, the GPS instrument installed on the new lava dome moved an average of 6 m per day mostly southeastward with an upward component of about 1 m per day."
Heh, faster than a congresscritter responding to your email...
#11
I will never forget running into an old pre-1980 highway map of Washington State which touted the trout fishing in "Beautiful Spirit Lake Beneath Mount Saint Helens" there was a picture of the lake, and of course a pre-1980 mountain in the background...
#12
Deacon Blues---I flew around Mt. St. Helens a few times close up in the summer of 1991 in my plane. Very humbling. Seeing the devastation of the forests and esp. Spirit lake was something else. We are pretty small creatures on this earth.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/24/2005 11:50 Comments ||
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AP, I spent a week hiking the area in 1990 and the almost total lack of vegetation even after 10 years was mindbogling. I was gobsmacked. I very much enjoyed hiking the Oregon Cascades that year.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/24/2005 12:06 Comments ||
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#14
Crap. When I saw the title "That She Blows", I thought it was an article about some fresh Michael Moore blathering...
Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
02/24/2005 13:04 Comments ||
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Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
The Iranian MMs are willing to spend BILLIONS on reactors they don't need, missiles that will send them to hell, but aren't willing to upgrade building codes and make safe buildings in high seismically active areas. They need to pay for this one themselves.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/24/2005 1:03 Comments ||
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An earthquake is a sign. In this particular case, it a warning: "stop playing with matches"
It was a cold day in London, but the near zero degree temperature did not chill the second day of Saudi-British conference, where the two nations' chief diplomats reflected on eight decades of warm relations between their two peoples and charted an equally amicable course for the future. Addressing the conference, Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal announced plans to appoint women to the Foreign Ministry for the first time this year. He pointed out that successful political reforms required "an evolutionary process."
Prince Saud said the two kingdoms were uniquely positioned to cooperate and play an effective role in dealing with major global issues. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who led his country's delegation to the conference, said the entire British government greatly valued the UK's relationship with Saudi Arabia. The conference, entitled "Two Kingdoms: Facing the Challenges Ahead," aimed at strengthening Saudi-British ties. In his keynote address, Prince Saud said the role of Saudi women was changing rapidly. "Our educational reforms have created a new generation of highly educated and professionally trained Saudi women who are acquiring their rightful position in Saudi society. I am proud to mention here that this year we shall have women working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the first time," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
After all, wasn't it the Brits who created Saudi Arabia in the first place?
#3
Not quite, TW. The Hejaz (Red Sea coast, including Mecca and Medina) were put under a Hashemite king (as were Jordan and Iraq) because they liked the family. Saud invaded in the 1920s (30s?) I think. The Brits didn't invite them in, or set it up that way, but they didn't do anything to stop it.
#4
So they're going to give them positions in the Foreign Ministry, eh? They can't have their own passports, but they're going to be part of the ministry that administers them? Hell, they aren't allowed to drive themselves to work, what sort of positions is he blathering about, Tea Service?
#5
If the women sit behind a screen, they could direct visitors to the appropriate office. Tea service only in a meeting room, where the tea can be delivered, and the women whisk themselves out of sight, before the men walk in. Perhaps the Saudis will open a Women's Section, where female citizens can come and talk to female civil servants, so long as no real action is taken until the women's male guardians come in person to sign the approval papers, over on the Men's side of the building.
#6
.com, the tea service will be given by the ladies' female servants. Sauid ladies won't do. And TW, I was thinking the same thing. Woman to woman discourse, but nothing important.
BTW, Mister minister: Yeah, the US had to go through a civil war to eliminate slavery and voting rights were granted to British women in two stages, but open up your calcified brain and understand all that means is that your country should be smart enough not to follow the same wrong policies.
Posted by: chicago mike ||
02/24/2005 15:20 Comments ||
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#7
and a full week of "she's unavailable - menstruating"
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/24/2005 16:06 Comments ||
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Reformists are calling for an elected Parliament in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in an unprecedented public demand for a greater say in the government. Although there is no political dissent or extremist violence in the UAE, it is now the only state without elected bodies in the Gulf region after Saudi Arabia held municipal elections earlier this month. "It has become embarrassing for the UAE to lag behind others politically in the region. It is high time for us to have a fully elected house — enough of an appointed council without legislative powers," Abdul Khaleq Abdullah, a professor at UAE University told Gulf News daily in remarks published yesterday.
"With elections being held in Saudi Arabia, the UAE will be the only country in the region that does not have elections," added Saeed Hareb, another university professor. "It is strange that Iraqis were registering and voting in the UAE for their country's election and yet UAE citizens do not have the right to vote," Gulf News quoted him as saying. They were referring to the consultative Federal National Council (FNC) whose 40 members are currently appointed by the seven semi-autonomous emirates that make up the UAE federation, presided by Sheikh Khalifa ibn Zayed Al-Nahayan. The highest federal authority in the UAE is the Supreme Council, comprising the rulers of the seven emirates. The country, which enjoys political, security and economic stability, has a population of 4 million, mostly foreigners. Late President Sheikh Zayed ibn Sultan Al-Nahayan, who died last year, said in 1998 he was willing to consider elections for the National Council but defended the system of government without elaborating.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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ISN SECURITY WATCH (24/02/05) - British arms giant BAE Systems is bowing to pressure from Washington not to sell arms to China as the EU prepares to lift the arms embargo on the country. A BAE spokesman told Reuters that the company was "concerned about the impact of these measures on the US". "We very much hope the British government does everything it can to ensure the US government feels that we are supportive of their point of view," the spokesman said.
On Tuesday, The Times of London quoted an unnamed senior BAE official as saying that the arms giant would "spurn China" even if the EU lifted the embargo. According to British media reports, BAE is not willing to risk its €5.5 billion in annual sales to the US in exchange for taking on new clients in China once the embargo is lifted. "We can't do America and China, and we want to preserve our business relationship with the US; we're not going to spoil that for the sake of winning new business in China," The Times quoted the BAE official as saying. BAE Systems has nearly 30'000 employees working in North America, with US sales larger than European sales. The company is the fourth largest defense and aerospace firm - after Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and EADS.
The EU imposed the arms embargo on China after the June 1989 massacre of pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square. Washington has been pressuring the EU to maintain the embargo, citing China's poor human rights record and defense concerns in the Taiwan Strait. The issue reached a new climax on Monday and Tuesday at the EU-US summit in Brussels, where US President George Bush once again urged the EU to reconsider lifting the embargo. Bush failed to convince EU leaders, but Washington's pressure on BAE and other threats have been successful where diplomacy has not.
The head of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee told the media he would support curbs on US sales of advanced military technology to Europe to stop that technology from reaching China if the EU lifted the embargo. "The technology the US shares with European allies could be in jeopardy if allies were sharing that through these commercial sales with the Chinese," US Senator Richard Lugar told the Financial Times. The EU plans to lift the arms embargo on China by the middle of this year.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/24/2005 10:58:19 AM ||
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#1
Good. It's all about money - so focus on making it hurt.
And keep a careful watch on the formation of "new" companies which seek to sell to China - front companies.
The entire logic of having the embargo was laudable, sensible, and logical. Lifting it is pure mercenary greed.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/24/2005 12:01 Comments ||
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"Good. It's all about money - so focus on making it hurt."
Yeah, what he said! What gets me is the irony of the whole thing. I thought America was the home of greedy capitalist bastards who would sell their grandmothers for a Euro, er, a dollar.
Apparently, the logic is that those selling arms are not the ones who will be fighting when push comes to shove over Taiwan. Oh, well. Garcon, more dictator teat for my friends!
Military trains students to use rifles; study guerilla tactics in the case of an external threat to Venezuelan national sovereignty Remember the assasination plot of a few days ago? That was the exuse to arm his supporters a la Cuba style. It is the same excuse Fidel used: the yankees are coming, the yankees are coming! Meanwhile, Venezuelans will have armed thugs to supress any dissenting voice for decades to come. VHeadline commentarist Carlos Herrera writes:
The threat of intervention in Venezuela's sovereign affairs ... either directly from the US beach head in Latin America represented by Plan Colombia or direct intervention using US troops, cruise missiles, smart bombs etc., or the constant stream of distorted statements from US State Department spokesmen laying the ground to "prove" that Chavez is consorting with terrorists are all elements of the growing US hostility from the government of George W. Bush towards the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and its sovereign people. The latter strategy has been implemented with the connivance of corporate US media outlets such as Fox News, CNN en español and the help of deluded extreme right-wing journalists such as Mary Anastasia O'Grady writing in the Wall Street Journal, Michael Rowan in various Caracas-based publications such as El Universal and The Daily Journal, Phil Gunson operating out of Miami ... as well as other paid hacks.
Posted by: TMH ||
02/24/2005 7:58:45 AM ||
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#1
Then give him what he wants. Off him with a midnight JDAM through the bedroom window. Whatever "martyr" crap will come will be less trouble than what this jerk would do in the years to come.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
02/24/2005 9:01 Comments ||
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#2
Laurance of the rats,
From your mouth to God's ears!
this destabilization policy with a view to invasion or assassination of Chavez, then the consequences could be disastrous on a long, long term basis, as described in my article published yesterday.
Yeah, having a JDAM shoved up your ass and ignighted can really ruin your day. It will be disastrous allright for Chivez and his bootlickers like this guy.
#4
Pure evil. Venezuela will join Cuba. It may even come to resemble N. Korea. The bitter part is that Chavez appears to have really won the referendum. The opposition in Venezueala made a critical mistake with the attempted coup. But they had many years and a lot of oil but failed to develop Venzueala economically and now just enough of the poor idolize Chavez to make him untouchable. It will be a long time before the majority of Venezuealans come to recognize the folly and it will be too late. Sucks for my Venezuealan friends who hate Chavez. The middle class will be destroyed.
Posted by: Prince Abdullah ||
02/24/2005 10:31 Comments ||
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#5
The fact that it was Jimmy Carter that certified the referendum as free and fair proves to me that it was not.
You are correct. But the jerk does have certain degree (not enough to have won the referendum without recurring to fraud) of support among the poor for the same reasons that certain minorities here support the Democratic Party: always the promise of the government solving their problems and the encouragement of blaming their poverty as being caused by somebody else's "richness".
#11
It seems that the U.S. alone sent 400,000 AK-47s to Afghanistan for fighting the Soviets. Chavez doesn't stand a chance.
http://www.nisat.org/database_info/country.asp?Key=3
Posted by: Tom ||
02/24/2005 14:38 Comments ||
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#12
North Korea did the same kind of thing at one point early on, but never issued any bullets, for fear of a real People's Revolution. No doubt Chavez is of a similar mind. Bombast, not a real threat.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/24/2005 17:30 Comments ||
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No, no - include batteries with the Stingers. Just not the type of batteries that the Stingers uses : I am thinking lots of AAA batteries to power Walkmans and boomboxes.
Venezuela has rejected recent US accusations against President Hugo Chavez as slander, designed to prepare the ground for an impending "attack" against the country. Casting itself as the victim in a spat with Washington, Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez dismissed as "impertinent" charges Venezuela limits free speech on Wednesday. He also ruled out accusations that Caracas associates with Colombian guerillas and is a destabilising force in the region. "The absurdity of these accusations against our government would not cause us the least anxiety if it were not for so many facts demonstrating that these signs appear because, sooner or later, there will be an attack," Rodriguez said.
Addressing the Organization of American States in Washington, the minister said the history of Latin America, where the United States is notorious for seeking decades ago to undermine leftist governments, showed such rhetoric was a way of preparing the ground for more drastic moves against Venezuela. Rodriguez, however, did not elaborate what sort of attack he was referring to, but he repeated Chavez's assertion that the Bush administration is behind a plot to assassinate him.
Political analysts said Rodriguez's appearance at the headquarters of the top diplomatic body was part of Venezuela's counteroffensive to win over Latin American governments in its spat. Chavez has angered Washington with his friendship of Cuban President Fidel Castro, hawkish oil price policies in OPEC and fierce opposition to US free trade moves in the region. But political analysts say US options against Chavez are limited because he has won a clear mandate from his electorate, has generally friendly ties with governments in the region, and is buoyed by high oil prices. Larry Birns of the Washington-based think-tank, the Council on Hemisphere Affairs, said Venezuelan worries over a possible attempt on Chavez should not be dismissed as paranoia. "Chavez's rhetoric can be disregarded as bark without bite but when the Bush administration is barking so much you can understand the Venezuelans would be concerned it may actually be ready to bite," Birns said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
Interesting. Almost tracks precisely with the Spanish version in the BBC. Who's copying who?
#4
his friendship of Cuban President Fidel Castro
Not only is he buddies with Fido, he's using Fido's playbook: when in trouble, say the US is planning to invade. Must be a good strategy, Cuba's held off the US for over forty years;-)
No only when in trouble. They (Chavez and Fidel) also invoke the "defense of sovereignty" excuse when they want to further their control over the citizenry.
Remember the 100,000 AK 47 assault rifles from Russia? He had to find an excuse to supply his supporters with them and what better than a supposed threat by every dictator's favorite escape goat: the US! Military trains students to use rifles; study guerilla tactics in the case of an external threat to Venezuelan national sovereignty. http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=25845
#7
As Castro before him, Chavez is following the consolidate power step in Lenin's classic disinformation campaign for usurping power: exaggerate your own weakness and the strength of the "enemy elements" and you are justified in circling the wagons, arming your supporters, and (absurdly) draping the flag across your shoulders as the Great Defender of (imaginary) Freedom.
It's very effective when used against those who do not naturally think for themselves - and the wet dream of the fascist / socialist ivory tower intelligentsia and press who hope to feed them soma.
#8
Chavez is ofcourse a vicious dictator wannabe, but if the Rantburgian rhetoric (about the desirability of killing him, bombing him, assasinating him, deposing him in a coup ala Allende, etc etc) -- if such rhetoric is widespread in American conservative circles, then I'd say you are giving him exactly all the ammo he needs. Congrats.
#11
Well, if you want me to be less painting-everyone-with-the-same-brush, here you go:
Whenever *individuals*, especially ones considering themselves supporters of the ideology currently in charge of the White House, talk about violently overthrowing a person who *still* has the popular mandate of his people, (even if such result was the product of his demagoguery), then they become themselves perfectly convenient specimens of such American imperialism of the support-the-Contras-and-overthrow-Allende variety that demagoguical tyrant-wannabes such as Chavez and his kin all over the world can use to their supreme advantage.
There you go: No painting everyone with all the same brush necessary, no need to refer to past or current Rantburg threads. Just telling you how convenient the imperialist rhetoric becomes for all third-world dictators trying to consolidate their power through claims of external threats.
#12
Aris, most people in the US are content to allow Latin America to ruin itself. They are not a serious threat, they are all grown ups and can read a history book and see the failures of communism and successes of capitalism and democracy.
Chavez says this crap because he knows he has nothing to fear from the US unless he attacks us.
#14
TMH> He still has a democratic mandate AFAIK. Quiet or no, "overthrowing him" would not be a restoration of democracy, it would be the abolition thereof.
What I'm suggesting that you do the most you can to encourage democratic forces in Venezuela. Same as happened in Ukraine.
Eventually he'll either be removed from power by the Venezuelan people themselves, or will go full-dictatorial on Venezuela's ass, at which point you'd have every right to overthrow him by any means necessary to restore democracy.
But not before he *does* become a dictator. Or you'll just provide ammo for the next Chavez to come along, same as the Contras and Allende affair did.
Aris, you know even less about Latin America than you do about the United States.
It's always been a big crowd pleaser in Latin America to scream that the Yanqui imperialists are coming to get you. It takes away attention from how you are screwing up at home and flushing your country down the toilet.
He can scream, yell, and throw a temper tantrum, but quite frankly he is not the biggest problem we have south of the border. And he knows it. He gets to talk tough, act like a badass and keep up his street cred knowing that it is highly unlikely that we're going to do a damn thing unless he does something almost criminally stupid. He's crazy, but I don't think Chavez is stupid.
#16
He will never become your typical dictator. He is smarter than that. He is doing it through a process he calls "participative democracy." Here is a little excerpt of how he has been consolidating power under the veil of "democracy":
"Hugo Chavez was elected president of Venezuela in December of 1998. Almost immediately, he took his first steps towards consolidating all of the power of the Venezuelan state into his own hands. He organized a series of referenda. The first authorized re-writing the Venezuelan constitution. The second selected delegates to a Constitutional Assembly, distinct from his country's legislature, to do the re-writing. The rules governing the election of the Constitutional Assembly featured a few non-standard items. Although no candidates -- neither Chavez's supporters nor his opposition -- were allowed to run under party banners, Chavez used state funded media to campaign for the election of his supporters. This, combined with Chavez's personal popularity, allowed Chavez supporters to win 120 of the 131 assembly seats.
The Constitutional Assembly, with the backing of Chavez, moved beyond re-writing Venezuela's Constitution. In August of 1999, the assembly set up a "judicial emergency committee" with the power to remove judges without consulting any other branch of government. The New York Times quoted the judicial emergency committee chairman as saying, "The Constitutional Assembly has absolute powers. The objective is that the substitution of judges will take place peacefully, but if the courts refuse to acknowledge the assembly's authority, we will proceed in a different fashion."
In the same month, the assembly declared a "legislative emergency." A seven-member committee was created to perform congressional functions, including law-making. The Constitutional Assembly prohibited the Congress from holding meetings of any sort. In a national radio address quoted in the Times, Chavez warned Venezuelans not to obey opposition officials, stating that "we can intervene in any police force in any municipality, because we are not going to permit any tumult or uproar. Order has arrived in Venezuela."
The new constitution -- increasing the President's term of office by one year, increasing the power of the president in general, and placing new government restrictions on the media, among other things -- was approved in a referendum held in December of 1999. Elections for the new, unicameral legislature were held in July of 2000. During the same election, Chavez stood for election again -- restarting the clock on his Presidential term of office. Though Chavez supporters won about 60% of the seats in the new unicameral assembly, Chavez still did not feel that he had enough power. In November of 2000, he pushed a bill through the legislature allowing him to rule by decree for one year.
In December of 2000 there was another set of elections. During elections for local officials, Chavez added a referendum on dissolving Venezuela's labor unions. Though it is unclear what authority was invoked, he attempted to consolidate all Venezuelan labor unions into a single, state controlled "Bolivaran Labor Force."
It is very easy for someone who is not leaving there to say lets encourage democratic forces, for whatever long it takes. Unfortunely, my entire family is living there and facing a very obscure future.
#18
Most of Latin America, like most of Africa and the Middle East, has been shooting itself in the foot ever since the end of colonialism. They are entitled to be foolish without my blessing and without my financial support.
I for one have absolutely no desire to have my country attack Venezuela as long as Venezuela respects our security (i.e., keeps the oil pumping continuously at fair prices, does not promote the illegal drug business, and does not become a base for hostile foreign powers).
That said, and the arrogant Greek's strawmen and asterisks aside, Chavez seems intent on pressing his luck. Eventually his arrogance will cost him dearly either at the hands of his own people or otherwise. Venezuela is not an island selling sugar and cigars; it is a large country with porous borders, troubled neighbors, and an economy that's very much about selling oil to the U.S.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/24/2005 13:03 Comments ||
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#19
Tom,
I take that you were opposed to the US attacking Iraq since Iraq never directly attacked the US, right?
#20
It's always been a big crowd pleaser in Latin America to scream that the Yanqui imperialists are coming to get you.
And the reasons that's been a big crowd pleaser and believable is probably because for decades upon decades, the "Yanqui imperialists" were indeed coming to get them. All I'm saying is, if you want such rhetoric to *ever* end, don't give them further justification for it.
The fact is, whether we were actually going to do something or not, it has always been precisely what I said it was....a way to look like a badass and deflect attention away from how you are screwing things up.
TMH- Sorry that your family is having to deal with this idjit, but...Iraq has absolutamente nada to do with this. Y usted lo sabe.
#22
TMH, I don't know where you get the "never directly attacked" crap. My words were "respects our security".
Iraq did not respect our security. Iraq invaded Kuwait, risking the stability of our oil supply. Then Iraq failed to respect the no-fly zones. And then Iraq blamed us for their "oil-for-food" failures and threatened us with missle development and WMD programs. [Real or imagined, I don't care. They gased Iranians and Kurds for sure and they had nuclear and other WMD programs even if they weren't very advanced.]
If it were up to me, Saddam would have been swinging from a noose a long, long time ago.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/24/2005 13:32 Comments ||
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#23
I do care about what happens to the people of Latin America. I'm stating the reality, the big Imperialist America is not actually an imperialist and is very unlikely to get involved in Venezuela unless we are attacked. We don't wage wars for oil despite what fools, idiots and dolts are constantly droning on about.
The middle east is an area with no history of democracy and along history of international terrorism. Latin America has a recent history of democracy and no history of international terrorism so comparisons don't work.
Fact is US involvement often works backwards in Latin America because it's so easy for the masses to believe the worst from the Yankees. What we need is for the OAS to stand up for Venezuela's people. We need the pressure to come from other Latin American nations, other third world nations, and the UN.
#24
TMH, Iraq had invaded another country, been under UN sanctions that it flauted for a decade, was a threat to regional stability, had used chemical weapons on its own people and had attempted to develop nuclear weapons. That's a long way from what Chavez has done.
The U. S. and Argentina survived Peron, the U. S. and Cuba have survived Castro. There were a lot of individuals in Argentina and Cuba for whom this meant misery and death. But the U. S. cannot and should try to right every wrong in the world. The Venezuelan people have known some form of democracy in the past. In that, they are ahead of where the Ukranians were a few months ago. If the Venezuelan people think they have lost their democracy, they have an example of how to get it back.
If you think the Venezuelans have lost their love of freedom or are just being conned by Chavez, I hope you get the chance to get out before things get too bad. But until we have a litany of wrongs and dangers like we did for Saddam, the U. S. isn't going to do much to change things if the Venezuelan people don't want to do much.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/24/2005 13:33 Comments ||
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#25
aris....STFU.
Posted by: Tom Dooley ||
02/24/2005 13:59 Comments ||
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#26
I am not advocating US military intervention. I am responding to comments like: "Most of Latin America, like most of Africa and the Middle East, has been shooting itself in the foot ever since the end of colonialism. They are entitled to be foolish without my blessing and without my financial support."
That comment sounded a lot like we deserve it and I thought it was a bit hypocritical with all the talk of spreading and preserving democracy coming from this country nowadays. My apologies!
I do understand that Chavez is not Saddam and as far as the public knows, he has not threatened the security of this country.
A word of caution though.... You have not seen Chavez government "direct" involvement with Islamic terrorists but I suggest that you play close attention to the Muslim population there (the ones who danced on the street on Margarita Island on Sept 11). We just "elected" our first Hamas supporter Muslim governor (Anzoategui State) who by the way has been denied a visa to the States for his ties to the latter group.
rjschwarz,
OAS is as useless as the UN and the other third world countries are either being bribed with offers of discounted oil or share Chavez's visceral hatred for this country.
I understand the need to democratize the ME, believe me I lived 8 years in that part of the world but why would you let democracy die right at your backdoor?
Desert Blondie: Creo que la habladuria de Chavez va mas alla de desviar la atencion del pueblo. Este es un hombre que desde sus principios ha manisfestado un odio tan intenso como el que sentia Che por este pais. Creo que los EEUU subestima a este payaso.
Mrs. Davis,
I am not presently residing in Venezuela. And maybe you are right. It has to come from the Venezuelan people. How? We are open for suggestions.
#27
TMH, glad to hear you're not there. Have you started a Spanish language blog for Venezuelans to recount their stories and consider they are not alone in their desire to restor democracy? That would be a great place for Venezuelans to figure out what to do.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/24/2005 14:52 Comments ||
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#28
Latin America hasn't been shooting itself in the foot since the end of colonialism; instead it is suffering from the stupidity of the Spanish Habsurgs, Bourbons, and "hijos de algo" ("Sons of Something") who, like the second sons with "great honor and little property" in the English and French colonies, created the plantation economy and brought serfdom (peonage) to the New World. Corruption, repression, and ignorance are endemic to many parts of Latin America. The landowners in some places, especially in Bolivia, still haven't gotten it through their thick heads that feudalism died centuries ago.
Try reading local newspapers from the "prensa nacional" section of Yahoo news for a Latin American country, if you can read Spanish. Local news is still dominated by the cacique family. You have to have the right last name to get anywhere.
Throughout Latin America, urban caciques are as poisonous as the rural ones. The caciques skim outrageous sums from humanitarian projects, send anyone who wants to build a house or start a business through dozens of permits and years of paperwork, strangling hopes for good jobs, medical care, education, and everything else we in the US take for granted. Ignorance plus poverty plus corruption plus hopelessness equals golden opportunity for the Chavezes and Castros of the world.
It also opens up opportunities for islamofascism. Someone recently pointed this out in a comment on islamists getting a foothold in Mexico.
TMH, you have our prayers. We have a friend in Colombia trying to keep his business running despite corruption in his city and gangsters in the countryside. Question: How can outsiders, such as the rest of us at RB, help?
#29
"...why would you let democracy die right at your backdoor?"
No, why are you and your family allowing democracy to die right at your backdoor, TMH? Why does your democracy not focus more on education and building a middle class? Why are you spending your time in the Middle East and the U.S. and expecting my tax dollars and the blood of my sons and daughter to go save your homeland?
Latin America, like most of Africa and the Middle East, is wallowing in victimhood instead of solving its own problems. And Venezuela, rich in oil, is behaving no better than a Middle Eastern tyranny. The only difference is the blaming-the-Yankee-Imperialist crap instead of the blaming-the-Jooos crap. The affluent want it both ways, be they in Saudi Arabia or in Venezuela: they do little to share the wealth in their country and then they want to use my resources to save them when their affluence is threatened.
There is nothing hypocritical in holding people accountable for what goes on in their own countries. Who should be most accountable, especially in democracies? The U.S. has spent a fortune in money and U.S. blood to rescue people from their dictators, and the world is starting to think of it as an entitlement program.
My family has paid to liberate western Europe, the Pacific, Korea, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and Iraq. In some cases in blood. What have you and your family sacrificed for democracy in your homeland, TMH?
Posted by: Tom ||
02/24/2005 15:35 Comments ||
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#30
Well said Tom. A Democracy earned has a significantly higher chance of success than a Democracy bestowed.
Well the middle class revolt (Cruzada Civica) against Noriega was an abysmal failure. When Noriega started shooting at the civilly disobedient, the whole thing folded. Plus Noriega was able to label the middle class leaders of the revolt (mostly Rotarians and other service club members) as rabiblancos (white asses) and effectively associated them with the criollo uperclasses in the mob's mind. Finally, Noriega was able to buy the loyalty of most civil servants through free gas, groceries, etc. And in most countries (US included) government workers represent a considerable fraction of wage earners.
Coups failed as well. They just didn't get any popular support and were poorly organized as well.
I see Chavez as having more in common with facists than communists. Or maybe Noriega, Mk II. He's certainly using the same tactics. To the best of my knowledge, facist regimes have only died of two causes: killed by outsiders (Italy, Germany, Panama) or death from old age (Spain).
I still think that the best tool we had for preventing freaks like Chavez was the School of the Americas. We taught almost two generations of Latin American officers that coup-making wasn't the best use of their time. Unfortunately, the hard left caused it to be shut down. I used to think that the lefty's, while wrong, were at least being true to their principals, but thanks to blogs, I know realize that they were just trying to help out their heroes like Chavez.
TMH: Keep posting. Argument is good. We all need to learn more about this.
mom: I went looking for the Prensa Nacional link and still haven't been able to find it on Yahoo. This is what I've been using. BTW, I agree with every word you say. In Panama, many of the "names" were right off the manifest of Pizarro's men from 450 years in the past! Have you ever read the Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto?
#32
I think you made the point right there. "When Noriega started shooting at the civilly disobedient, the whole thing folded."
When the British started shooting at the Colonists the Americans shot back. If you simply wait around for others to take the risks it means you don't really care one way or the other. It means it will never happen. If you ever hear someone ask why the US is so gun crazy that we put it in our Consitution this is why. We don't like to be pushed around.
#33
Tom,
Where do you get the idea that I am blaming the US for our problems? I am the first one to criticize any signs of victimhood as I have done it several times on this site.
I do not expect you or any other American (including my husband of 24 years and our son) to give their tax dollars and lives for any other country.
I am sad to read that you think that my only interest in saving Venezuela's democracy is because my "wealth" has been threatened. You could not be further from the truth.
#34
The big night was when the power and water workers walked out. All of Panama City was dark. People were literally manning barricades. Then the Cruzada Civica leaders, from all accounts, got a case of the vapors and ordered everyone to go home because someone might get hurt.
I've never seen TMH claim to be a victim. I think that she's just asking for insight. As mom points out, there is no tradition of freedom in any of these countries. The middle class is weak and under capitalized (i.e. no power). There are _no_ small freeholders to take up arms in the countryside like in the American revolution. The landowners are as reactionary as the ones in Pakistan. Personally, I think the only two solutions are what I outlined previously: invade or let it die (of which the latter is what we're doing with Castro). There are some preventatives like the School of the Americas, but we've given up some of these. I just don't want to see us ignore this and then have it blow up on us ten years later like OBL and Noriega,
#36
TMH, I did not say that your wealth was threatened. I just compared the wealthy of Saudi Arabia and Venezuela -- neither doing much to develop a middle class.
As for your comment:
"I do not expect you or any other American... to give their tax dollars and lives for any other country."
How does that square with your comment:
"...why would you let democracy die right at your backdoor?"
What do you want of us?
Posted by: Tom ||
02/24/2005 16:44 Comments ||
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#37
Have a Carrier Air Wing make a practice run right at Venezuela some night and lets' see how much Hugo shits himself.
#38
Tom,
"What do you want of us?
That is exactly why this is being discussed here. We need to find a solution that will benefit both countries. I know that you do not believe that Venezuela represents a threat to the US but if Venezuela becomes a totalitarian State, you will have a country that will harbor and support terrorism 2 hours and 58 minutes from your door steps.
Please do not think I am justifying the way our society has developed but it does have a lot to do on how the country was settled and by whom. The Spanish did not go there to build a new country like the English did here. They went there to pillage and plunder and left a legacy of corruption and nepotism that has hindered the development of the country. We need to break that cycle and we need help doing this.
#39
TMH - I'm going to continue this in English for the rest of RB who may not speak Spanish.
Yes, he's full of hate, and maybe we are underestimating him by treating him like some kind of clown. But there remains the crucial problem....what do the Venezuelans want to do about it?
Look, we aren't going to do either country any good by coming down there with the 82nd Airborne (assuming they were free to do the job, which right now, they're not) if the Venezuelans don't or won't stand up to the guy. Basically, it is up to the Venezuelans to determine when they have had enough and how they are going to deal with this idiot.
The history of the US & Latin America hasn't been a good one. I don't care if all of heaven's angels preceeded us down the streets of Caracas, singing hallelujahs in our direction, the fact remains that anything supported by the US is suspect to many, if not most, of the people in Latin America. We can't be too obvious, because that is more likely to hurt than to help.
It is not a hopeless situation, but there's only so much that America can do. Chavez knows that. He's arming his goons not because of anything America might do, but because of anything his own people might do.
#40
Article: Larry Birns of the Washington-based think-tank, the Council on Hemisphere Affairs, said Venezuelan worries over a possible attempt on Chavez should not be dismissed as paranoia. "Chavez's rhetoric can be disregarded as bark without bite but when the Bush administration is barking so much you can understand the Venezuelans would be concerned it may actually be ready to bite," Birns said.
The Council for Hemisphere Affairs is a left-wing think tank that blames Uncle Sam for anything bad that Latin American governments do. The quasi-religious belief prevalent at this organization is that Uncle Sam only has to crook his finger, and Latin American countries will comply with administration wishes on human rights. In other words, the Great White Father only has to say the word, and our Hispanic neighbors to the south will tremblingly obey. What. A. Crock. Of. Shit. It also opposes administration attempts to punish Latin American governments for acting against American interests.
#41
Speaking of south of the border nations I have never quite understood what this institution implies: US - Cuba Cooperative Security
It is part of the CDI.
#42
Not sure I'm buying the Spanish plantation legacy excuse (#28) or the Spanish pillage and plunder excuse (#38). The U.S. had plantations too and Bolivar liberated Venezuela from the Spanish in 1821. Call me not politically correct, but I think it's a cultural problem.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/24/2005 20:15 Comments ||
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#43
#35 is the cultural excuse.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/24/2005 20:26 Comments ||
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#44
Book report:
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n18_v46/ai_15844242
Posted by: Tom ||
02/24/2005 20:45 Comments ||
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#45
What I found intriguing and unmentioned in the review is that the precedent for the centralizing tendency found in Spanish culture was the need for unity in expelling the Moors from Spain.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/24/2005 21:06 Comments ||
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#46
I believe Mr. Chavez needs to be removed rather than rattled. Before he has a chance to sabotage his oil industry as a last-gasp tactic
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/24/2005 21:08 Comments ||
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This is the Executive Summary of country by country studies of the European economy and the challenges each faces. Created by the Stockholm Network a consulting group based in London, this was found at Eursoc. Interesting reading.
The historic rapprochement that began with the fall of the Berlin Wall fifteen years ago saw eight former Communist countries (plus Malta and Cyprus) become members of the European Union —the world's largest capitalist club —in 2004. Unsurprisingly, accession has brought with it significant challenges for both the new members and the EU-15. For the former, greater access to European markets is mitigated by constant calls for tax harmonisation, and their comparative workforce advantage is ever more encumbered by regulation and prohibitive 'minimum standards'. These are sources of great friction between the competing member states, as the previously sheltered economies of 'Old Europe' struggle to compete with efficient foreign competitors.
The rapid ageing of Europe's population over the next few decades is likely to exacerbate these tensions. Current budget deficits and levels of national debt will appear insignificant as the cost of maintaining the continent's bountiful welfare system become increasingly apparent. Economic growth and productivity will level off and begin to decline as an ageing workforce is unable to replace itself. Commensurately, government programmes that rely on current revenue streams will fail to meet the ever increasing demand for healthcare and social security. As conditions worsen, socialism and protectionism will seem all the more appealing to the public, and government's populist instinct to centralise power will only strengthen.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/24/2005 9:14:26 AM ||
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A secret entry door and videotaped images of several people inside a landmark Madrid skyscraper as it burned now suggest arsonists set fire to the Windsor building. Six days after the fire, television stations broadcast an amateur video shot by a resident of the area in which several people can be seen moving about the 16th floor as the flames advanced, some three hours after the structure was evacuated. Another local resident told local media that she too saw people moving around inside the building as it burned, and that they turned on, then off, the lights of some offices. Firefighting experts told local media that anyone who was in the building more than a few minutes after it caught fire would have needed an asbestos suit, otherwise they would have not been able to stand the high temperatures. The daily ABC quoted investigators as saying the images appear to depict individuals wearing helmets, and that at least one of the silhouetted figures appears to be talking into a hand-held radio.
Two other papers, El Mundo and La Razón, report in Tuesday's editions that a secret passage into and out of the building has been discovered. The door appeared to have been forced open. "The discovery of this secret door indicates that someone could have entered and exited the building without being seen the night the flames devoured it," said La Razon. The Tele 5 television station claimed investigators now believe the fire was probably started deliberately. Under the headline 'The Mystery of the Windsor Grows' another paper published photographs showing two separate blazes in the building, one four floors below the other.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
02/24/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
Yep, he's tapped into the Magik Moonbat Money. He will become another icon - revered by the LLL and reviled by the Sane.
The lines are clearly drawn and unless we are willing to go out like lambs to the slaughter, suborned from within, we must take back the educations system - to stem the brainwashing of even more generations.
I don't fear the Islamofascists - but the insanity of our own population is truly dangerous. A Second Civil War is in our future if we fail to flush the excrement from Academia's Ivory Towers.
#2
true .com. The merge of the Islamofascists with our LLL seems a logical one to me. They are two groups that wrap their identity around blaming/shaming others to make themselves feel superior to others. Had they been children of the 20's, they would have been members of the KKK, blaming the blacks - but today the focus d'jour of their hatred is "The US" and "The Zionists".
What a perfect merger. Since blame/shame crowd has never been about their own convictions but instead simply looking to avoid responsibility for what's wrong in the world by assigning blame. I guess by assigning it to "someone else" it allows them to sleep with a clear conscience that have done their best to fix the problem by pointing out whose to blame. That the Islamists are against everything that the LLL claimed it stood for that is not as important as the fact that they agree on who should take the blame.
Anyway I digress. Good article. It's interesting seeing how these money trails trace back to the same little circle of friends. But what I find most interesting about Churchill was his comment that he went to Libya ""not to buy guns". It's going to be fun watching this web untangle.
#3
Colorado has been embarassed by this huckster, and painfully and rightfully so. The only greater embarassment to Colorado would be to keep this charlatan on payroll.
Lawsuit or not, Colorado is money ahead letting Churchill go now. Were it me running the show I would announce in a press conference that U of Colorado has retained outside council to seek a dismissal of Churchill.
Grounds? We don't need his services any more.
What Colorado should not do is to keep him on the payroll. The man will make a stink in either case and it is better to flush this turd now than to continue serving it to students.
#5
Lawsuit or not, Colorado is money ahead letting Churchill go now. Were it me running the show I would announce in a press conference that U of Colorado has retained outside council to seek a dismissal of Churchill.
Unfortunately, there's this thing called tenure.
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
02/24/2005 11:48 Comments ||
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#6
Since he falsely claimed to be a Native American there may be grounds to fire him on that account.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/24/2005 12:15 Comments ||
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#7
Unfortunately, there's this thing called tenure.
Don't think for one second such a 'thing called tenure' can force an institution to retain a bad employee. Tenure or not, man is an academic huckster. He became a liability the second the university accepted his employment.
#8
Don't think for one second such a 'thing called tenure' can force an institution to retain a bad employee.
In that case, sack him already!
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
02/24/2005 13:01 Comments ||
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#9
Not only should he be sacked but he should be thrown in a state (or federal) pound-me-in-the-ass-prison for fraud and theft and (I'm sure the LLL willl LOVE this...) stealing the job of a minority (a real Indian) - would that be considered a *hate* crime?
#10
Thomas Brown, a professor of sociology at Lamar University: "One has only to read the sources that Churchill cites to realize the magnitude of his fraudulent claims for them," Brown writes. "We are not dealing with a few minor errors here. We are dealing with a story that Churchill has fabricated almost entirely from scratch. The lack of rationality on Churchill's part is mind-boggling." (Brown's essay can be read here.)
Source: Paul Campos, Rocky Mountain News link
#11
And remember, folks. Academic tenture makes it difficult to fire a professor. Not impossible, but difficult.
My thinking is that Churchill before the fall term will meet with U of Colorado lawyers and a settlement will be worked out to let him leave without any bad remarks about his employment there.
#13
the bad remarks have already been made - he won't get tenure anywhere outside Berkley
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/24/2005 19:09 Comments ||
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#14
I'd like to see if he could make it on his own, without a Public Tit to suck on or Magik Moonbat Money. Real Native Americans certainly wouldn't support this lying sack of shit sociofascist imposter.
Itinerant Professor of Ethnic Studies. Pretty valuable stuff, eh?
Now we ask ourselves how the US ever got along without people teaching such jewels as Ethnic Studies. Yep, it's a puzzle. Methinks he's 'B' Ark material.
#17
All Colorado needs to do is eliminate his position or department. Tenure doesn't help you if your job doesn't exist anymore. "Ethnic Studies" is bull shit anyhow. If it's real history and culture it can be taught in regular history courses and social sciences courses.
Canada's tenuous minority government pledged to pump $11.2 billion into the military and anti-terrorism efforts, determined in the budget presented Wednesday to burnish the country's credibility as a global peacekeeper and fend off opposition threats of early elections. The 2005 budget has a $7.2 billion surplus. Also promised was $2.7 billion in foreign aid and five years of tax cuts that will cost the government $7.1 billion but save middle-class families an average of $327 each. The biggest winner was Canada's armed forces, hit with budget cuts of about 30 percent between 1988 and 2000. NATO members have long grumbled that Canada spends less on defense than nearly all its partners as a percentage of gross domestic product. Ottawa's opposition to the war in Iraq has only heightened impatience among the alliance's biggest partners, the United States and Britain, for an overhaul of the Canadian military.
Goodale said his pledge of $10.5 billion over the next five years was the largest commitment to the armed forces in two decades. Defense Minister Bill Graham announced last week that Canada would nearly double its troop strength in Afghanistan to about 1,100 by this summer. And Ottawa has pledged up to 30 instructors to train Iraqi troops, mostly likely in Jordan. ``This significant investment in our military means that we will be able to better meet our responsibilities abroad and protect our people at home,'' Goodale said.
It's a start, I'll grant him that.
Canada will spend another $980 million to secure the 4,000-mile border with the United States to prevent terrorist attacks, with money going to air and marine security, border protection, policing and emergency readiness and response.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/24/2005 11:27:48 PM ||
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#1
Hmmm. $41 bil loonies on NHS over 10 years, $11.2 bil for the armed forces.
No to the defense shield, but yes to boots on the ground.
#2
As far as I can tell, the opt-out of BMD is virtually meaningless. The NORAD agreement earlier in the year means we have access to all the radar sites we need in Canada. Had Canada made a financial contribution, it would not have been critical or relatively significant to the US. Instead, Canada starts to rebuild its military, a move that might have garnered opposition had it not been done under the cover of seeming to put Canada's thumb in the eye of the Great Bronze South.
If someone can explain to me the significance of the BMD decision, I'd like to understand it; but at this point it looks like a smokescreen to cover an increase, however minimal, in Canadian defence spending. Maybe we shouldn't militarize the border.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/24/2005 9:21 Comments ||
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#3
$980 million to secure the 4,000-mile border. $245,000 per mile. That's a lot per mile, even in Canadian dollars. Why am I thinking it will still leak like a sieve? Perhaps it's because of that U.N./EU mentality -- 99% to bureaucrats and 1% for the benefit of the masses.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/24/2005 9:40 Comments ||
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#4
Well, it won't be Canada unless they spend at least $20 mil on diversity training for the troops.
#5
The Canadian military is on the verge of self-extinction. Their equipment is old and constantly breaking down,and their more experienced NCOs are leaving in mass numbers.
After a string of embarrassing incidents involving the military the Pols are pretending to spend some money to try and keep from being thrown out at next election.(Leased junk Brit subs,that resulted in deadly accident;had no way of responding when Denmark sent a ship to claim a disputed island;had a disaster response team that couldn't be sent to help in Tsunami relief because had no way of getting them out of Canada;had only one infantry battalion that was deployable and stated when that batt. came home from Afghanistan it would be 18 months before it could be replaced;had to admit it had no way of patrolling its Northern borders.)
Note that the $11.2 for defence includes antiterrorism,and later defence is only $10.5bil and that prob includes still more antiterrorism funding,which will go to police,fire,rescue,etc. units,which means even less for actual military. Either way,foreign aid $2.7 bil/yr,Defence allegedly @$2.1bil/yr.-that tells us where Canada's priorities are.
Posted by: Stephen ||
02/24/2005 11:06 Comments ||
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#6
Well, the Canadian senate did wake up and say if something happens in the US and they come via our border, we're toast since they're our biggest trading partner.
#1
"What is shocking is not only Cadman's reluctance to express regret but the fact that he wasn't absolutely mortified by what he'd stooped to say. It would never occur to most people to use such an expression even in private, no matter how incensed they were over an affront, let alone utter such words in public before other elected officials."
Oh I agree completely. Yewbetcha.
You see, some vibrations in the air resulting from the vibration of a set of human vocal chords are deeply injurious and offensive. Others are not. We all know precisely which are which and everyone agrees.
The listener, the person whose ear mechanics pick up those vibrations and translates them into an electrical neural signal bears no responsibility whatsoever for what meaning or resulting feelings are invoked.
Everyone knows this. We all, as listeners, have an identical collection of external buttons which are "pushed" by certain vibration sequences -- and others push them at their peril -- and we bear no responsibility for the result.
Those gosh darn rascally vibrations make me do all sorts of things - and it's not my fault or even my choice how I respond or how I feel... or anything else for that matter.
#2
hmmm - I guess I'm in the minority, but it's usually been my boot instead of fist.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/24/2005 20:41 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Lol! Um, we may be in a minority, but you're not alone, heh.
I was being a total smartass. The pussified wankers who wrote this piece live that that feel-good zone. What a shock it would be if anyone were to notify them that not everyone subscribes to their view.
#4
One look at the graphic in at the link shows the "inclusive/liberal" leanings of the source of the Opinion. I have an opinion to. If some pussy leftist call me anything I will consider it fighting words. I don't and won't take any shit off of them at all unless they are blood relations. I would not have told them crap the boot would have flown.
#5
It's amazing that the whole brouhaha is started by some lefty, yet the Rocky Mountain News sees fit to paint Cadman as the monster because he dared to push back.
Bedford County officials are waiting to see whether the federal government will revoke immunity for a foreign diplomat they say showed up in the Forest area yesterday expecting a tryst with a 13-year-old girl.
Guess who?
Dr. Salem Al-Mazrooei, a diplomat from United Arab Emirates, has not been charged with any crimes, but Bedford County Sheriff Mike Brown said if Al-Mazrooei's immunity is revoked, he will be charged with four felony counts of electronic solicitation of a minor.
13? Isn't that a little old for a member of the ROP?
Operation Blue Ridge Thunder, a group of Bedford County investigators who focus on Internet crimes against children, has been working this case for about a month, Brown said. He said one investigator posing online as a 13-year-old girl was contacted by Al-Mazrooei, who lives in Vienna, Va., six to eight times during the investigation. Brown said the suspect believed the girl lived in the Lynchburg or Bedford area and that he arranged a meeting with her in the Forest/New London area of Bedford County on Wednesday afternoon.
When Al-Mazrooei showed up at the location, which police did not disclose, he had a Mapquest map of the location on the front seat of his car, Brown said.
Al-Mazrooei was handcuffed by officers at the scene, but he immediately pulled out his credentials as a diplomat. Brown said one investigator had seen diplomatic credentials before, but Al-Mazrooei was brought back to the sheriff's office so his status could be verified with the U.S. Department of State. When Bedford County investigators determined that Al-Mazrooei is a diplomat, they had to let him go. "As far as we know, he is back in Vienna and back at the embassy," Brown said.
But the sheriff said he has requested that the man's immunity be revoked and is faxing a case report and other paperwork to Washington, D.C., to support the request. He did not know how long it would take to learn whether Bedford County officials can charge Al-Mazrooei with any crimes.
They won't revoke, at the most they'll recall him.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/24/2005 12:17:41 PM ||
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I'm thoroughly shocked. Are you sure he was trying to contact a 13-year-old girl?
A group that wants "blue state" voters to patronize like-minded companies is making the case for having liberals switch auto insurance companies. In a press release, BuyBlue.org noted, "The chairman of appropriately named Progressive Insurance contributed over $68,000 to Democratic politicians in the last election cycle, including Howard Dean and groups like America Coming Together." Moreover, Buy Blue notes that Progressive Insurance Chairman Peter Lewis is "part of a joint venture with George Soros and Herb and Marion Sandler to fund progressive think tanks." Buy Blue says its mission is to make liberal voices "heard loud and clear, from board rooms across the country to Wall Street to Capitol Hill." According to Buy Blue, most auto insurers contribute to the "conservative war chest." It envisions a multi-million dollar shift, if liberals would only switch to Progressive. It's not clear if a liberal shift to Progressive might be offset by a conservative switch away, however.
Oh, I think it's very clear, at least for this consumer. And my thanks to Buy Blue for compiling this list for us.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/24/2005 10:37:54 AM ||
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#1
This will hurt them far more than it will help them. Think Air America.
Besides, who wants to belong to an insurance company associated with a ruthless profit-bandit like Soros. He's screwed many a little person before - for his own personal gain. I wouldn't be putting my life savings or security in the hands of a crowd like that....scary!
Posted by: Steve ||
02/24/2005 11:53 Comments ||
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#5
"The chairman of appropriately named Progressive Insurance contributed over $68,000 to Democratic politicians in the last election cycle, including Howard Dean and groups like America Coming Together."
Good money going after bad. Give them a wide berth. They are bad investors.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/24/2005 12:01 Comments ||
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#6
And it looks like Conservatives can switch to Geico (Lizard not withstanding)!
#10
J D Power does give GEICO a very good rating, whereas Progressive is pretty much an also-ran, if you need any more incentive to switch. J D Power gave Amica the award in this category, but I'm not sure where their loyalties lie.
Posted by: Dar ||
02/24/2005 13:48 Comments ||
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#11
Before we start the Red state surge over to GEICO, it might be best to recall that GEICO is part of the Berkshire Hathaway group, whose head muckety-muck is Warren Buffet, who served on Kerry's economic advisory board. Mr. Buffet is certainly not a moonbat, but he ain't exactly on our side either.
#12
OK Dreadnaught, how about State Farm. Also Red though not as Red as Geico...
Besides just cause Swami Warren invests in a company such as GEICO doesn't mean he influences policy, it means as all good mega-swami know, he knows they run it well and there is profit to be made.
He was only $500,000 less generous to the Dems than George Soros.
Posted by: ed ||
02/24/2005 21:00 Comments ||
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#18
Geico's ads are goofy-good, but 21st Century gives an engineer discount...
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/24/2005 21:19 Comments ||
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#19
Progressive is cat poop. Yea your premiums are low but so are their pay outs. They avertise like hell on cable/satelite channels no one watches along with the weight loss and hair growth pills.
I got something progressive for you right here Chris W.
HA'TIP - Mr Drudge... A teenage girl and two young men in Iran have been sentenced to lashes for having sex.
The court dismissed the girl's claim that she was raped. It said she had sex of her own free will, the official Iran Daily newspaper reported. The girl was sentenced to 100 lashes because her accusations of rape and kidnap could have landed her partners a death penalty, the Tehran judge said. OK - We don't whip people here, but I'd put her in a nasty prison for the false accusation.
Sex outside marriage is illegal in Iran and capital punishment can be imposed. The young men in the case were sentenced to 30 and 40 lashes each. Capital punishment can be imposed? Sounds like the mystic mullahs are jealous...
Rights violations
The Iran paper quotes the girl, who has not been named, as confessing: "I trusted one of these young men, whom I got to know by phone, and went to his place. Geez. Innocent by reason of ignorance and stupidity???
"But because he betrayed me, I filed the case against him and his friend out of revenge." International concerns continue to be raised about women's rights in Iran. Not so wise girl.
In December the UN General Assembly voted to censure Iran for human rights violations, including discrimination against women and girls. Tehran rejected the criticism as propaganda. Under Iranian law, girls over the age of nine and boys over 16 face the death penalty for crimes such as rape and murder, while capital punishment can be imposed in certain cases of illegal sexual relationships. Age of consent for sex for girls is 9? Death penalty? Shows the degenarate nature of the ROP, I guess...
#2
How old was she getting whipped ? Define Teenager being constituted as being of what age in Iran ? How was she whipped with the men is not being fully reported in where it was done ? Was she made to go Topless in getting whipped , wearing burkha , or bra , or being braless , going in getting whipped ? What is Human Rights Watch doing about this ?
A top official wants the Intelligence Ministry to identify those who will probably use the fake title "Gulf" in their correspondence, Fars News Agency reported. Secretary of Supreme National Security Council Hassan Rohani, in a letter Tuesday to First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref, urged him to follow up the issue. He noted that since several commercial and tourism units do not use the full form of "Persian Gulf of Rumsfeld" in their correspondence, the Intelligence Ministry should take up the matter. It added that Kish and Qeshm free trade zone organizations should change names of streets and other places from "Gulf" to "Persian Gulf of Rumsfeld". Rohani also asked Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry to instruct newspapers, magazines and publishers to avoid using "Gulf" in their articles and advertisements. "Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization should prevent activities of travel agencies that operate under the name of "Gulf" in the country," he said.
"It's 'Persian Gulf of Rumsfeld' or nothing, my brothers," he added.
#1
Who does this remind you of? Who else is so petty, so insecure, so banal, so image-over-reality focused, and so minutia-driven that this would prompt a Ministerial "purge"?
#4
"Gulf of Rumsfeld" has a nice ring to it, don't you think!. Can't wait to see this show up on a map at a Pentagon briefing. Of course, we will have to pretend to sacrifice some minor clerk for this 'horrible and embarassing mistake'. Heehee.
A member of the planning and budget commission of Tehran's City Council criticized the process of aiding the victims of the Arg Mosque fire incident, Iran's Aftab Daily reported. Criticizing the unsuitable situation of hospitals where the injured are treated, Habib Kashani said: "A patient with only one percent of his body burnt is charged at least one million tomans ($1,000) in private hospitals. One of the victims of the Arg mosque with 80% of his body burnt couldn't be treated because he couldn't afford the 80 mln toman ($90,000) charge. Many hospitals have driven out the victims as they found that they have been injured in the Arg incident." Private hospitals assert that the government will not pay for the costs as it had earlier promised and that they cannot meet the treatment expenses on their own. Kashani called on Tehran's City Council to gather a report of the situation of the victims of the blaze and hand it over to the government.
#2
Yet the government has money for ballistic missiles and a nuclear program.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/24/2005 8:54 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Of course they can build missles and have a nuclear program. Aren't we and the rest of the west going to step in and pick up the tap for their medical care and food (like we do for North Korea)?
Hundreds of Iraqi students demonstrated Wednesday to protest a government decision to extend the weekend to include Saturday, denouncing the scheme as a "Zionist plot".
Irate high school students marched through Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, denouncing outgoing Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's decision to extend the weekend from the traditional Islamic holy day of Friday to include Saturday.
"We don't want Saturday as it is a Jewish holiday," the crowd chanted.
Saturday is the weekly Jewish day of rest, the Sabbath, when all forms of work and business are barred for observant Jews.
But it is also a day off, if not a holy day, in most places around the world -- including in many Arab countries where banks and government offices remain closed.
"The decision to include Saturday as a rest day is the start of Zionist plans in Iraq," read a banner at the demonstration, organised by the Baquba Students' Union.
Students carrying Iraqi flags also chanted: "Let Muslims here raise their hands: we don't want holiday on Saturday."
While there was reportedly a similar demonstration in the town of Ramadi on Tuesday, participants did not reject outright the option of having another day off during the week -- just as long as it isn't Saturday.
"We organised this demonstration in protest at considering Saturday a holiday. We prefer it to be Thursday. Saturday is a holiday for Jews and we are Muslims and reject that decision," said high-school student Mohammed Abbas, 17.
Allawi's government announced the doubling of weekend leisure time earlier this month, adding that the move did not affect the private sector.
The cabinet stressed at the time that government employees would have to work longer days during the week in order to benefit from the Saturday bonus.
Wednesday's demonstration lasted an hour and a half and ended after protestors had voiced their complaint outside the governor's office.
I love it. I love it because, well, because it's just so Arab, lol!
The Saudis practice the Thurs / Fri "weekend". The net result, on a business level, is that they have only 3 business days / week when they overlap with the West, and only a few hours per day on those days with the US, within reason. More hours with Europe, of course.
It suits the Saudis fine - another set of excuses available for why shit doesn't get done.
Metropolitan Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey yesterday outlined a plan to expand the District's use of speed and red-light cameras, but was not aware of details to reimburse a private contractor for issuing as many as 103,000 traffic-camera citations a month...
Meanwhile,
Closed circuit TV systems are of little use in the fight against crime, a surprise government report claims today. Home Office researchers who studied 14 schemes across Britain found that only one had brought a clear fall in the local crime rate. While there was strong public support for CCTV before it was installed, opinion began to shift when people realised the cameras made little difference...
Posted by: Anonymoose ||
02/24/2005 10:29:03 AM ||
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#1
Obviously there is some waste of time because, being in DC, there will be ambassadors who will claim diplomatic immunity, and file protests over the pictures of them fudging the red lights...
#2
That they don't work may be a feature rather than a bug in the eyes of DC politicians. If they worked, revenues from traffic infractions would decrease.
#3
BigEd- Nah, chances are they won't have to do that at all.
If their program runs anything like here in Phoenix, you have someone checking out the photos to see if they are usable (have to have a good face shot). If not, it doesn't get charged.
Even if they decide to go for it and send them the citations/pictures, there's plenty of ways to get out of responsibility for the red light violation if you know your 5th Amendment rights well enough.
#6
The Wash. Times had an article a while ago that showed 80% of the speeding tix are issued to drivers commuting into DC from Maryland and Virginia. Most of the cameras are placed on major arteries in/out of the city. It's sort of a back-door commuter tax that the city leaders keep trying to push thru Congress. I've avoided their evil clutches so far...
Chishtian Civil Judge Muhammad Ashraf Bhatti on Wednesday sentenced Bashir Masih, 30, to seven years rigorous imprisonment on charges of desecrating the Quran. Bashir can file an appeal against the judgement within 30 days in the Lahore High Court. A court official alleged that Bashir Masih was a magician cum exorcist and police had caught him tearing a copy of the Quran in Chak No 109/Fateh in Bahawalnagar district last year. Bashir was tried under Section 295-B of the Blasphemy Law. The convict confessed to the crime, saying tearing the Quran was part of the magic he was doing.
Posted by: tipper ||
02/24/2005 9:38:24 AM ||
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#1
I'm confused. Where's the "Christian" part, other than in the headline?
#6
He was showing off that trick with a single hair "magically" pulling the torn paper.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/24/2005 12:08 Comments ||
Top||
#7
I am not kidding... C-17s loaded with toliet paper with korans printed on it and dumped over the Pak frontier regions will keep hundreds of thousands busy saving each and every floating sheet instead of protecting Osama.
He's toast. He probably knows it. In his condition, he's probably looking forward to it.
Pope John Paul II was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance Thursday suffering fever and congestion from a relapse of the flu, the Vatican said. The 84-year-old pontiff had the same symptoms of the breathing crisis that sent him to Gemelli Polyclinic on Feb. 1, a Vatican official said on condition of anonymity. On Wednesday, the pope made his longest public appearance since being discharged from the clinic two weeks ago. Papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the pope was taken to the Rome hospital for "necessary specialized assistance and further tests." He was taken by ambulance at 10:45 a.m., officials said.
Vatican officials played down the seriousness of the hospitalization, saying a patient of the pope's age is always at risk from the flu. The pope also has Parkinson's disease and crippling knee and hip ailments. But aides said on condition of anonymity that the pope had a fever, congestion and had suffered a relapse of breathing problems. The Italian news agency ANSA reported that the pope arrived conscious at Gemelli in a private ambulance. He was taken inside in a stretcher, the report said, and quoted people who saw him enter the hospital as saying his face looked "quite relaxed." The news agency said he did not need a tube inserted into his windpipe to assist breathing.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: tipper ||
02/24/2005 9:14:53 AM ||
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...This does not bode well for His Holiness. I hope if the worst happens, it is without suffering.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/24/2005 22:18 Comments ||
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CAIRO - Several unprecedented protests have rocked Egypt over the past three months as demonstrators took to the streets to denounce the likelihood of President Hosni Mubarak being elected to a fifth term in office. The rallies, organised by the Egyptian Movement for Change, have coined a slogan—"kefaya" (enough) -- to vent their exasperation with Mubarak and his consecutive administrations. Their simple message broke ground in Egypt, where the president was always sheltered against public rage.
On Monday, the third protest since December 12, demonstrators shouted "Down with Hosni Mubarak" as they gathered in front of Cairo University while around 50 trucks packed with police were deployed nearby. Under the state of emergency in force since the 1981 assassination of Mubarak's predecessor, Anwar Sadat, demonstrations are normally tolerated in Egypt only on university campuses or outside mosques. But even then, hardly was a word heard against Mubarak himself.
The organisers represent a coalition of groups that first surfaced two months ago when it organised a protest by some 300 people outside the Palace of Justice. The second protest was held February 4 at the Cairo international book fair.
The demonstrators, mostly intellectuals and never more than a few hundred, included the usual collection of motley fools Marxists, Nasserites, liberals and Islamic dissidents from the Muslim Brotherhood.
Mubarak, 76, succeeded Sadat who was killed by Islamists in 1981. If he wins a fifth six-year term later this year, he will become the longest serving president since the overthrow of the monarch in 1954.
"A quarter of a century in power is enough" and "Mubarak, admit you're a despot", the protestors chanted on Monday. They also brandished banners with the slogan "No to hereditary power"—a reference to steps being taken by the government in an apparent move to groom Mubarak's eldest son, Gamal, as a successor.
Leaflets handed out at the rally called for a constitutional amendment that would limit presidents to two, four-year terms in power, instead of an indefinite number of six-year terms, as now. "Any Egyptian who meets the conditions required to become president must be able to vye freely for the post," the statement said.
"Mubarak, you bankrupt, what are you doing with our money," the demontrators chanted. "We want a free government, life is becoming bitter."
He's spending your money, what did you think?
A speaker told the crowd: "During Mubarak's four terms in office, a quarter of a million Egyptians have been jailed. If you want others to follow them, vote for a fifth term."
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/24/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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ISLAMABAD — After studying the rules of the Indian and British parliaments, a panel of Pakistan's National Assembly has recommended that unruly members be deprived of their salaries and allowances. The report by a special committee on rules has proposed sweeping changes in the rules of business, but abolished the speaker's powers to delay the nomination of the leader of the house.
According to Press reports, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sher Afgan Niazi will table the report in the house. The committee finalised its recommendations after a series of meetings and after studying the rules of the Indian and British parliaments. Under the amended rules, a member of the National Assembly cannot obstruct the proceedings and make "running commentaries" when speeches are being made. "He or she would not indulge in rowdy behaviour, not approach the dais of the speaker in a threatening manner, not act to erode the sanctity of the house by acting in a manner which lowers the dignity of the house."
He or she will also "not display banners, placards, not throw or tear documents and reports, not raise slogans, not act in any manner detrimental to the order and the decorum of the house, not applaud when a stranger enters any of the galleries except when a foreign delegation or dignitary is invited to the sitting."
"He or she would not occupy a seat in the galleries nor while in the chamber engage himself in conversation with any visitor in the gallery; not use mobile telephone; not chew or eat or drink or smoke and not bring any stick unless permitted by the speaker," the proposed rules say.
It says members will also not read books, ...
that shouldn't present a problem ...
... newspapers or letters except in connection with the business of the assembly; not pass between the chair and any member who is speaking; not interrupt any member while speaking by disorderly expression or noises in any other disorderly manner.
The News daily, quoting the report, said a member, if named thrice in a session by the speaker for creating unruly scenes, would lose his pay and allowances for one month in that session.
So make those first two count!
The speaker would also have powers to suspend the member for the remainder of the session and the assembly or for more than one session, on a motion moved by a minister or a member.
The decision and ruling of the speaker can be challenged by the house through a motion. Under the present rules, no one can challenge or move a motion against the speaker's rulings.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/24/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Yeah, I lost my allowance for stuff like this once.
Apparently the Moose-limbs aren't alone in their nuttiness ...
NEW DELHI — Two small boys and two girls were married off to four puppies by tribal villagers in Jharkhand to ward off 'evil', a report said yesterday. Local officials in Kuluptang village in Jharkhand said the 'kukur vibaha' or dogs' marriages, were organised on the last day of a local tribal festival, PTI said. One of the tribals, 54-year-old Sonamuni, who blessed the marriage of her three-year-old grand-daughter Priya, said the wedding was no less important than other such ceremonies and all customs normally associated with marriage were followed. The mother of 'groom' Durga, aged one, said that if the first tooth of a baby came out in the upper jaw it was considered 'inauspicious' for the child as well as the family and dog marriages had to be performed. After a bath, the children are taken to a place of worship in a procession accompanied by a band.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/24/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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"Ah, your teeth are coming in the wrong order? Let's see what the dental textbook says... Page 184... Hmmmmmmm. Marry patient to a dog.
"That will be $45, please. Do you need me to write out a prescription?"
#11
Multiculturalphobes and caninephobes. That they are different don't mean they aren't as good or a moral. Don't be trapped by your capitalist/Judeo-Christian/afraid-of-thems-who-is-different mind set. There are probably lots of reasons why marrying dogs is good.
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.
A woman accused of using her lover's sperm to impregnate herself without his knowledge can be held liable for the unwitting father's emotional pain, the Illinois Appellate Court has ruled. 
Diesel pollution is responsible for more deaths than drunk drivers and homicides, according to a new study that estimates how many premature deaths, asthma attacks and heart attacks are caused by diesel pollution in every U.S. county. Nationwide, diesel pollution causes 21,000 premature deaths each year, including 475 in Massachusetts and 81 in Middlesex County, robbing those who die of an average of 14 years of their lives, according to the report by the Boston-based Clean Air Task Force. Residents in nearby Suffolk County suffer the third highest risk of exposure to diesel pollution in the nation, researchers found. 
It was a cold day in London, but the near zero degree temperature did not chill the second day of Saudi-British conference, where the two nations' chief diplomats reflected on eight decades of warm relations between their two peoples and charted an equally amicable course for the future. Addressing the conference, Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal announced plans to appoint women to the Foreign Ministry for the first time this year. He pointed out that successful political reforms required "an evolutionary process."
Reformists are calling for an elected Parliament in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in an unprecedented public demand for a greater say in the government. Although there is no political dissent or extremist violence in the UAE, it is now the only state without elected bodies in the Gulf region after Saudi Arabia held municipal elections earlier this month. "It has become embarrassing for the UAE to lag behind others politically in the region. It is high time for us to have a fully elected house — enough of an appointed council without legislative powers," Abdul Khaleq Abdullah, a professor at UAE University told Gulf News daily in remarks published yesterday.
They were referring to the consultative Federal National Council (FNC) whose 40 members are currently appointed by the seven semi-autonomous emirates that make up the UAE federation, presided by Sheikh 
Military trains students to use rifles; study guerilla tactics in the case of an external threat to Venezuelan national sovereignty
The historic rapprochement that began with the fall of the Berlin Wall fifteen years ago saw eight former Communist countries (plus Malta and Cyprus) become members of the European Union —the world's largest capitalist club —in 2004. Unsurprisingly, accession has brought with it significant challenges for both the new members and the EU-15. For the former, greater access to European markets is mitigated by constant calls for tax harmonisation, and their comparative workforce advantage is ever more encumbered by regulation and prohibitive 'minimum standards'. These are sources of great friction between the competing member states, as the previously sheltered economies of 'Old Europe' struggle to compete with efficient foreign competitors. 
A secret entry door and videotaped images of several people inside a landmark Madrid skyscraper as it burned now suggest arsonists set fire to the Windsor building. Six days after the fire, television stations broadcast an amateur video shot by a resident of the area in which several people can be seen moving about the 16th floor as the flames advanced, some three hours after the structure was evacuated. Another local resident told local media that she too saw people moving around inside the building as it burned, and that they turned on, then off, the lights of some offices. Firefighting experts told local media that anyone who was in the building more than a few minutes after it caught fire would have needed an asbestos suit, otherwise they would have not been able to stand the high temperatures. The daily ABC quoted investigators as saying the images appear to depict individuals wearing helmets, and that at least one of the silhouetted figures appears to be talking into a hand-held radio.
Canada's tenuous minority government pledged to pump $11.2 billion into the military and anti-terrorism efforts, determined in the budget presented Wednesday to burnish the country's credibility as a global peacekeeper and fend off opposition threats of early elections. The 2005 budget has a $7.2 billion surplus. Also promised was $2.7 billion in foreign aid and five years of tax cuts that will cost the government $7.1 billion but save middle-class families an average of $327 each. The biggest winner was Canada's armed forces, hit with budget cuts of about 30 percent between 1988 and 2000. NATO members have long grumbled that Canada spends less on defense than nearly all its partners as a percentage of gross domestic product. Ottawa's opposition to the war in Iraq has only heightened impatience among the alliance's biggest partners, the United States and Britain, for an overhaul of the Canadian military.
A top official wants the Intelligence Ministry to identify those who will probably use the fake title "Gulf" in their correspondence, Fars News Agency reported. Secretary of Supreme National Security Council 
A member of the planning and budget commission of Tehran's City Council criticized the process of aiding the victims of the 
Chishtian Civil Judge Muhammad Ashraf Bhatti on Wednesday sentenced Bashir Masih, 30, to seven years rigorous imprisonment on charges of desecrating the Quran. Bashir can file an appeal against the judgement within 30 days in the Lahore High Court. A court official alleged that Bashir Masih was a magician cum exorcist and police had caught him tearing a copy of the Quran in Chak No 109/Fateh in Bahawalnagar district last year. Bashir was tried under Section 295-B of the Blasphemy Law. The convict confessed to the crime, saying tearing the Quran was part of the magic he was doing.
Pope John Paul II was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance Thursday suffering fever and congestion from a relapse of the flu, the Vatican said. The 84-year-old pontiff had the same symptoms of the breathing crisis that sent him to Gemelli Polyclinic on Feb. 1, a Vatican official said on condition of anonymity. On Wednesday, the pope made his longest public appearance since being discharged from the clinic two weeks ago. Papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the pope was taken to the Rome hospital for "necessary specialized assistance and further tests." He was taken by ambulance at 10:45 a.m., officials said.
NEW DELHI — Two small boys and two girls were married off to four puppies by tribal villagers in Jharkhand to ward off 'evil', a report said yesterday. Local officials in Kuluptang village in Jharkhand said the 'kukur vibaha' or dogs' marriages, were organised on the last day of a local tribal festival, PTI said. One of the tribals, 54-year-old Sonamuni, who blessed the marriage of her three-year-old grand-daughter Priya, said the wedding was no less important than other such ceremonies and all customs normally associated with marriage were followed. The mother of 'groom' Durga, aged one, said that if the first tooth of a baby came out in the upper jaw it was considered 'inauspicious' for the child as well as the family and dog marriages had to be performed. After a bath, the children are taken to a place of worship in a procession accompanied by a band.
