Wonder what he said.
LONDON (AFP) - A red-faced BBC apologised for requesting an interview with Bob Marley, the Jamaican reggae legend who died 24 years ago. BBC Three, one of the public broadcaster's digital TV channels, sent an e-mail to the Bob Marley Foundation saying it wanted to do a documentary about his hit song "No Woman No Cry". So, Bob. Let's talk about "No Woman No Cry", shall we?
Bob? Bob?
It said the project would involve Marley -- who died of cancer in May 1981 at the age of 36 -- "spending one or two days with us", and that "it would only work with some participation from Bob Marley himself". Okay. Here's a shovel. Good luck.
In a statement, the BBC said: "We are obviously very embarrassed that we didn't realise that the letter to the Marley Foundation did not acknowledge that Mr Marley is no longer with us." Marley would have been 60 last February 6, a date that was celebrated with great fanfare by his legion of fans worldwide. A BBC press officer, contacted by AFP in London on Friday, confirmed that the gaffe was not an April Fool's joke. Nope. Just the Beeb at it's usual finest.
Gentlemen:
Thank you for your letter of the 17th inst. I regretfully must decline your invitation. I am dead.
(03-30) 15:15 PST SAN DIEGO, (AP)
The hunt is on for a turd burglar.
Police in San Diego are searching for a gunman who swiped a bag of poop from a woman out walking her dog. April Fool early?
The woman told police that she was out walking her dog, Misty, on Monday night when a man in his 20s ran up behind her and grabbed the bag she was holding. Man, he got some good shit
When the gunman discovered what was in it, he threw it down in disgust, pointed his gun at the 32-year-old woman and demanded money, San Diego police detective Gary Hassen said. Well, not so good shit
He then aimed his .22-caliber semiautomatic at Misty and pulled the trigger twice but the gun didn't fire, Hassen said. Damn Saturday Night Specials
The robber ran to a waiting small, silver car and fled the scene, police said.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/01/2005 9:08:09 AM ||
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#1
How are they so sure it was a .22 if they didn't catch the guy yet? Did he try clearing the action and ejected a round, I wonder?
Posted by: Dar ||
04/01/2005 9:26 Comments ||
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#2
LOL!!! Funny headline!!!
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
04/01/2005 10:34 Comments ||
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US President George W Bush declared today that he had signed a rare presidential decree canceling any further expenditure of Federal funds on the US Space Shuttle program. "We cannot find any justification to continue deficit funding of a program that has no application other that proving that with enough money America can do anything," said Bush.
Posted by: DanM :) ||
04/01/2005 6:53:22 AM ||
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Posted by: ed ||
04/01/2005 8:22 Comments ||
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#4
At the end of article: During a brief two-minute period provided for questions from the press, the first reporter asked if this meant the Space Station was also being shut down. To which the President answered, "we plan to either hold an auction on Ebay or give it away to "our international partners."
Folks, bid early and often.
Posted by: ed ||
04/01/2005 8:25 Comments ||
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#6
Never fear! I have enough S&H Green Stamps I can buy it and resurrect the program.
Posted by: Dar ||
04/01/2005 10:15 Comments ||
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#7
Hey Dar, I'm in with ya buddy! I'll sell some of the Marble I brought back from Saddams' bedroom on e-bay, and maybe we could talk em out of that international space station thingy too!
#10
How many still remember those things firsthand?
Yup, why I remember driving the buckboard into town to pickup some feed and a couple of bolts of cloth for Ma to make herself a new dress....
Posted by: Steve ||
04/01/2005 13:06 Comments ||
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#11
BG--Great! Tell you what--let's turn the ISS into a refueling station/diner like the one in "Spaceballs" and we'll gouge all the space tourists! You can have "Rick's Diner" and I'll call the fuel station/convenience store "Dar's Get 'n' Git"!
Posted by: Dar ||
04/01/2005 13:27 Comments ||
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#12
If we form a Rantburg syndicate, we could buy one of these, equipment with a Zionist Death Ray⢠and have a few "crossfire" incidents of our own.
#13
How many still remember those things firsthand?
In early 2002 I got a trading stamp at a (it may have been the) grocery store on the island of Molokai. Wasn't green, it was gold.
My parents used to collect trading stamps. They were really into the coupons you used to get with Raleigh cigarettes, though. Saved enough for a new lung! But they gotta share it.
#14
jackal--I'm with ya! I could use the Zionist Death Ray⢠to nail drive- fly-offs too.
Posted by: Dar ||
04/01/2005 14:13 Comments ||
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#15
I remember green stamps well. Mom would drive in to Montgomery to trade in her stamp books at the Green Stamp Store. It took a while to get there 'cause we lived so far back in the sticks even the Presbetyrians handled snakes.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/01/2005 17:06 Comments ||
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As some of you may have noticed , I have been posting alot this evening .. The joys of babysitting ...
Has anyone ever played battle chess (old computer chess game) ?
So far the score is , computer 100% victories , poor old Mac 0% ..
Any tips would be welcome ...
You may wonder why Im playing battle chess , the answer is that my main computer is FUBAR , and I made another (initially for a hardware firewall) out of scraps laying around ..
Gah , its soo annoying , I hate smart ass computers , or perhaps I'm dumber than I beleived my lofty interllect (hhee) to be !
At least 27 people were killed in two impoverished suburbs of Rio de Janeiro, in what was suspected to be the work of vengeful police officers. The killings occurred late Thursday in Nova Iguacu and Queimados, crime-infested suburbs 22 miles northwest of Rio, according to Claudia Guerreiro, a spokeswoman for the Rio Public Safety Department. "There are strong indications that the massacres could have been a reprisal ... for the arrest of eight police officers suspected of killing two men in police station," Guerreiro said Friday. She said the killings were apparently committed within several minutes of each other by the same group of heavily armed men. In Queimados, the gunmen mowed down 12 people. In nearby Nova Iguacu, 15 people were killed at a bar, she said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/01/2005 1:40:10 PM ||
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The European Union might consider demanding visas of US citizens if the US Congress sticks to an October deadline for EU countries to start issuing high-tech biometric passports, European officials warned on Friday.
The European Commission in Brussels said it was "concerned and disappointed" by a letter from the US Congress suggesting it was unlikely further to delay legislation that could require millions of European visitors to have visas to enter the US. The US has said only countries that have begun issuing such passports will maintain their visa-exempt status.
Any EU retaliation would require the backing of a qualified majority of the bloc's member states. Similarly, the US has yet to make a final decision on altering its timetable. When the US agreed to postpone by a year an initial deadline of October 2004, it did so only at the last minute. "Sorry, dude, we were like, really busy determining what condiments to put on our cafe tables to, you know, do this high tech stuff."
The row has arisen because the EU likes to screw around Brussels expects only six of the 25 member states to meet Washington's October deadline. The issue could be discussed as early as Monday when Robert Zoellick, the US deputy secretary of state, visits Brussels.
Franco Frattini, the EU's commissioner for justice and security, had asked the US to extend the deadline to August 2006. However, James Sensenbrenner, the Republican chairman of the Congress committee on the judiciary, replied that such an extension was "unlikely" at a time of continued security fears in the US.
He added: "I strongly suggest that the European Commission plan without the expectation that there will be an extension of the deadline."
"This has potentially major implications in several areas," said a spokesman for Mr Frattini yesterday. "Reciprocity is a standard consideration when deciding whether or not to give visa exemption to a country." He hoped Mr Sensenbrenner's reply would not be "the final word" from the US. Note to the EU: Don't have Chirac, Zappy or Schroder come over to plead your case....
Under the new US rules, passengers with fresh passports issued after the deadline must have a biometric version - which includes a digital photograph embedded on a chip - or apply for a visa, which can take weeks.
The threat of imposing visas on passengers from most of the 27 currently visa-exempt countries, which include 15 EU states, worries US business, in particular, the tourism sector.
US companies and universities have also complained about tighter US border policies, with visitors sometimes facing lengthy waits even to obtain a visa interview.
#1
An estimated 13 million visitors travelling under the Visa Waiver Programme enter the U.S. each year.
Trust me, the deadline will be extended. I can't see US embassies being blocked by visa requests that, given the current procedures, take much longer than 20 years ago, when you could pick up your passport in a day.
A US visa costs US100 btw. I can see how this would worry the US tourism sector. And lengthy visa procedure would hurt transatlantic business badly.
Since you are photographing and fingerprinting, the biometric passports need not be rushed in. You, btw, haven't got them either as far as I know.
#2
I had to have three visa's when I went to Europe in '87. So what, make US Citizens get the visas. If it's too much of a pain your own tourism will go down.
It's not as if Europe wasn't the main host to the Sept 11 vermin. Demanding Visa's from every country on the planet should have been instituted on Sept 12, along with a freeze on anyone from the middle east until we figued out how/what/why and the expulsion of anyone inside the US who got in illegally or overstayed their visa.
#3
US companies and universities have also complained about tighter US border policies, with visitors sometimes facing lengthy waits even to obtain a visa interview.
Tough. I don't see the logic in compromising the security of others just because some companies and schools are being inconvenienced.
#4
TGA, we are requiring biometric information for immigration purposes stateside. My husband had to do his in January for his permanent residency paperwork. And the new passports we are issuing do have that technology in them, if I'm correct. We're not requiring anything more than what we require here.
Besides, they've had an additional year to comply with this. It's not like we just sprang it on them last week. How many more extensions is Europe going to require?
I don't know how you take it, but over here it just seems like more Euro hissy fit stuff, and that's worn pretty thin.
#5
Taking photos and fingerprints takes a few seconds. Ask your own US embassies whether they like to issue 13 million visas to Europeans.
A visa regulation would be absurd. Would it apply to everyone suddenly or only to those who got a new passport after the deadline without biometric features. The guy with a passport of 2005 doesn't need a visa, the guy with the passport of 2006 does? Makes a lot of sense.
The EU has decided on introducing biometric passports, but harmonising 25 member states does take its time and you want to make sure to iron out technical flaws first. And technology evolves fast in that field. Privacy rights have to be considered as well.
From what I know, Germany will actually meet the deadline. Japan instead will not. Japan!
Btw the 9/11 terrorists did have valid U.S. visas.
I only hope that every person crossing the "heavily guarded" border between Mexico and the U.S. does hold a biometric passport.
Last thing: Yes, all new U.S. passports issued by the end of 2005 "are expected" to have a chip containing the holders' name, birth date and issuing office, as well as a a photo of the holders' face.
Obviously you didn't meet your first deadline either and "are expected" doesn't sound that final to me.
Of course the EU will not demand visas from US visitors. We didn't ask for them when the Visa Waiver Program wasn't introduced yet. European embassies have better things to do than issuing visas to US citizens.
#6
TGA, I know what our embassies are like. The little princelings there don't want to do a damn thing for Americans, so I can bet that foreigners aren't treated any differently. I hated every single damn time I had to deal with them. Heaven forbid they do something other than going to a party.....
It would make the immigration paperwork nightmare even worse if we did all of a sudden "invalidate" passports without the biometric chip. US passport holders are scattered all over the globe. We can't order them all to come in to the nearest embassy and pick up a new one, or track them down in heaven-knows-where. There are just certain limits as to what we can do. Letting those passport holders (ones without biometric info) get their updated ones when their old ones expire is a risk, but what solution do you have?
It sounds like we would only require the visas for newer foreign passport holders, from what I've heard. If you have a current passport that was issued, say, in 2000, it's not fair to expect you to have technology that wasn't even introduced yet. And it doesn't look like it would be expected. See the second to last paragraph.
Except for Disney World who else misses euroweenie tourists?
Posted by: Formerly Dan ||
04/01/2005 18:41 Comments ||
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Desert Blondie, the new biometric passports are said to cost the bearer 130 Euro (190 US$), so expect people to rush in order to get the old ones (26 Euros) before the deadline expires.
I'm damn sure that as soon as EU biometric passports are introduced, the US will make them mandatory in order to avoid a visa.
#9
Geeze Louise. We and the EU should be working together to set up and implement agreed-upon standards for biometric passports. Of course that would leave the Paks out in the cold.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/01/2005 18:52 Comments ||
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#10
Formerly Dan, with one euro costing 1,30 dollars I can see a lot of hotels and businesses in the US who would dearly miss Euro tourists.
Visas would also endanger necessary business trips that have to be done on short notice.
The US didn't introduce the Visa Waiver Program because it made Europeans happy, but because it benefitted from the program.
Last minute flights to the US would suffer dearly, too. No more spontaneous shopping trips to NY when it takes weeks and a 100 dollar fee to get there.
#11
Folks, its time to love and accept the biometric passports. Domestically, within the US, the only hope for us frequent travelers to avoid the airport check-in death march is through a similar measure.
Posted by: Captain America ||
04/01/2005 23:37 Comments ||
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In application of a WTO ruling, the Commission has today adopted a proposal to impose sanctions on certain products from the United States. The Commission took this latest step in the dispute over the Byrd Amendment in light of the continuing failure of the United States to bring its legislation in conformity with its international obligations. The Commission proposes that an additional duty of 15% applies as of 1 May 2005 on a range of products which include paper, agricultural, textile and machinery products. In taking this action the Commission has acted in close coordination with seven other co-complainants.
The Commission's proposal comes in application of the authorisation granted in November 2004 by the WTO to impose retaliatory measures against the United States for its failure to respect its international obligations. The Byrd Amendment which was first ruled illegal by the WTO in January 2003 should have been repealed by 27 December 2003. More than a year later, the United States has still not respected its international obligations.
The sanctions would take the form of additional duties imposed on a list of products imported from the US.
The level of retaliation applied as from 1 May 2005 is based on the latest distribution of duties made under the Byrd Amendment and is slightly below US $ 28 million.
This level will be revised annually to adjust to the level of damage caused to EU companies. This is motivated by the important variation in the Byrd disbursement made each year by the United States. The Commission's proposal includes a first list of products that would be subject to the additional duty as from 1 May 2005. In order to allow for eventual revision in the amount of sanctions, a 'reserve list' has been added. The products included in this reserve list could become subject to the additional import duty in case the level of suspension increases in the future.
Background
The Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000 (so-called Byrd Amendment) provides that anti-dumping and countervailing duties collected following a complaint from US companies are distributed to those companies that brought or supported the complaints.
In the four annual distributions that have taken place since 2000, more than US $1 billion has been distributed. The main recipients have been in the bearing, steel and other metal, household item and food (in particular pasta) sectors. A substantial increase is foreseen for the next distribution that could start on 1 October 2005 if the Byrd Amendment is not repealed. That distribution alone could amount to US $1,6 billion.
A Panel in September 2002 and the Appellate Body in January 2003 confirmed that the Byrd Amendment is an illegal response to dumping and subsidisation. The US had until 27 December 2003 to bring its legislation into conformity with the WTO rules. Eight WTO members (Brazil, Canada, Chile, the EU, India, Japan, Korea and Mexico) then requested the WTO to authorise retaliation on 26 January 2004. Following an arbitration decision on the appropriate level of retaliation, the eight complainants were authorised at the end of 2004 to apply sanctions to the United States. It is the first time that so many members have been authorised to apply retaliation in the same dispute. The eight members represent altogether 71% of total US exports and 64% of total US imports.
The EU and the seven other WTO members are maintaining a close cooperation. To this end, the EU understands that Canada will be announcing retaliatory measures against certain products from the United States and expects that other co-complainants will soon join it in applying retaliation.
Despite calls by the US administration to repeal the law, the US Congress has not yet implemented the WTO ruling and repealed the Byrd legislation.
Comment from a trader in Hungry comment
...The indications are that the Eurozone is heading for for economic catastrophe, and that social unrest and political extremism are likely to grip many EU states. Not to mention the impact of rejection of the EU Constitution ...
#1
Problem here is that the dollar has gotten "cheap" - and therefore so have US goods. And Euro goods have gone up with the Euro.
Thats what this is all about.
The WTO will wreck the world economy by raising tariffs. Have the not seen the effects of Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act and subsequent tariff wars in kicking off the depression on top of a deflationary economy in Europe?
If Canada & Mexico start the whole process, its time to shut the borders with them. Put up a fence and check them rigorously before we allow them in. They need us far more than we need them.
#5
Problem here is that the dollar has gotten "cheap" - and therefore so have US goods. And Euro goods have gone up with the Euro.
Thats what this is all about.
The WTO will wreck the world economy by raising tariffs. Have the not seen the effects of Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act and subsequent tariff wars in kicking off the depression on top of a deflationary economy in Europe?
If Canada & Mexico start the whole process, its time to shut the borders with them. Put up a fence and check them rigorously before we allow them in. They need us far more than we need them.
#6
Problem here is that the dollar has gotten "cheap" - and therefore so have US goods. And Euro goods have gone up with the Euro.
Thats what this is all about.
The WTO will wreck the world economy by raising tariffs. Have the not seen the effects of Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act and subsequent tariff wars in kicking off the depression on top of a deflationary economy in Europe?
If Canada & Mexico start the whole process, its time to shut the borders with them. Put up a fence and check them rigorously before we allow them in. They need us far more than we need them.
OTTAWA, March 31 (UPI) -- The Supreme Court of Canada has denied francophone residents of Quebec the right to educate their children in English. The court's ruling accompanied a judgment easing the regulations for English-speaking residents. The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reports that the high court ruled that the majority in Quebec -- French-speakers -- have no right to education in the minority language.
Under Quebec's Bill 101, English-speaking children could only go to English-language schools if their parents had received most of their education in English Canada. The court's ruling allowed both immigrants and native-born English-speaking Canadians greater access to English-language schools.
Mance Bourassa, one of the French-speaking parents challenging the law, told the CBC she should have the same right English-speaking parents have to choose the language of her children's education.
Gee, and here I thought Canada was a free country. My mistake.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/01/2005 9:19:39 AM ||
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#1
Pigeons coming home to roost. The Quebecois were so adamant about making French the official provincial language, now they're stuck with it even if it cuts their kids off from better paying jobs and entry into the best colleges.
Maybe the best option for all concerned is for all English speakers to move out of Frogistan-lite. And for all Quebec schools to teach ONLY Phrench.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/01/2005 9:50 Comments ||
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#3
The issue here is Quebecois getting swamped by immigrants who choose to educate their children in English. The equivalent is immigrants to the USA who refuse to learn English.
#4
Didn't California have a law (might still have it... I dont know) where immigrants (and illegal aliens) from Mexico and Centra/South America had to be taught only in spanish for the first 5 years or so? Or perhaps it was a proposed law...
It was a windfall for the Teachers union (had to hire lots of spansh speaking teachers).
I remember thinking that it would be a real pisser if you were from Brazil (language: Portugese).
#5
CF - It actually cut the bi-lingual ghettos these kids were sent into. They were pushed into English-immersion programs (like all previous LEGAL immigrant generations) and are doing much better in school - the Aztlan, Raza, bi-lingual and open-borders wingnuts hate it
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/01/2005 10:09 Comments ||
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#6
Crazy, it actually does help to teach very young chuldre (the first 5 years) in their native language. If they don't become literate in their native language first, usually only spoken at home, studies show they will not become literate in English. As silly as it sounds I have seen it in action and I believe it to be true.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/01/2005 17:13 Comments ||
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#7
Maybe Deacon but kidz under five can learn in just about any language. The so called age of linguistic genius.
#8
It's true children under 5 have a propensity to learn languages but learning a language is not the same as being literate in that language. You could spend enough time in Spain to learn Spanish but that doesn't mean you could read and write it.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/01/2005 19:28 Comments ||
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#9
This is great. Now the Anglo Canadians can be blamed by the Quebecois for keeping them down by making them learn frog. Those clever Anglos. Bwahahahaha.
Barb, Quebec is too much of a frog colony now. The best thing to do is probably keep pushing them in that direction so they'll realize what a mistake it is and assimilate voluntarily.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
04/01/2005 19:59 Comments ||
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#10
Three years ago, I drove up to Quebec Province to a little town named Victoriaville with a friend who was competing in a pentathlon. Quebec was eerie...fewer people spoke English there than in Paris! When we arrived, we struggled to make our way around the event and communicate thru pidgin Franglais and sign language. Suddenly a pair of teachers at the only English school in town made their way thru the crowd and introduced themselves...they were delighted to have some Merkins to practice their English with. It turns out Kent was the first American ever to participate in this event. We were treated like rock stars...(except the quebeqois athletes who used French seulement to plot their strategy against Kent.) I remember my Quebec visit fondly. And they did not hate English, either.
#11
phil_b has got it right. The backstory here is that immigrants to Quebec (and they are many) have little inclination to become native French speakers. The schooling law is about forced assimilation for recent arrivals and not about keeping the natives on the reservation. Quebecois culture is bomb proof. It's four hundred years old and is in zero danger of going away.
The truth is, you co-exist with the Quebecois, often very happily, but you are rarely assimilated. It is a remarkably insular culture that is a throwback to 17th century France.
Vote-counting problems in Florida have resurfaced with the resignation of an elections supervisor because of hundreds of lost votes. Miami-Dade County supervisor Constance Kaplan resigned in a mutual agreement with City Manager George Burgess, The Miami Herald reported Friday. The resignation Thursday followed reports that a faulty computer program resulted in a failure to count hundreds of voters in a referendum March 8. In that vote a proposal to put slot machines in pari-mutuel facilities was defeated. Kaplan said the lost votes were not enough to change the results of the election, but supporters of the proposal are seeking another referendum. The problem has resulted in an audit of a half-dozen other elections. Here's the best part... Kaplan was brought in from Chicago in 2003 in hopes of restoring the elections department's reputation, hit by a fraud scandal in a 1997 mayoral election and the 2000 presidential recount.
Chicago elections being pure as the driven snow
Posted by: Steve ||
04/01/2005 12:49:41 PM ||
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BOSTON: FBI agents on Wednesday arrested a Saudi prince's wife on charges she forced two Indonesian women to work for her as servants and threatened them with "serious harm" if they refused, prosecutors said. Hana Al Jader, 39, was arrested on federal charges at her home in the upscale Boston suburb of Winchester, Massachusetts. A US magistrate judge ordered her held without bail pending a hearing on Friday afternoon. Al Jader was charged in a 10-count indictment with forced labour, domestic servitude, falsifying records, visa fraud and harboring aliens in connection with two Indonesian servants identified only as "Tri" and "Ro." If convicted on all charges, Al Jader would face up to 140 years in jail and up to $2.5 million in fines. Al Jader's lawyer, James Merberg, confirmed that his client was married to Prince Mohamed Bin Turki Alsaud but would not say whether she might have diplomatic immunity from criminal prosecution.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/01/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
Oops! If she doesn't have Diplomunity she be in deep shit, lol! We don't give diplo status to all the phreakin' "Princes" and their families - there's just too damned many of the little shits.
I hope this starts a row. Time to "Kick the tires and light the fires, Big Daddy!" Let's get the ball rollin' - and some typical Saudi arrogance is as good a place to start as any. Publicize it. Show what they're really like. Of course the dinkwads in Deep Blue Boston won't get it, but almost everyone else will.
#4
I thought this was legal in Boston? I heard that Therayza often beats her staff just for the fun of it and that Ted Kennedy (or any other Kennedy) feel free to beat, rape, and kill people with impunity to the law. I can see how the princes wife would be confused about the law.
"I've never seen him so serene and handsome," said Lawyer Felos...
Pope John Paul is in a "very grave" condition and appeared close to death after suffering heart failure, the Vatican said. "He is fading serenely," said Polish Cardinal Andrzej Maria Deskur, a close friend. But the Holy See denied reports that the 84-year-old pontiff was in a coma in his Vatican apartment after refusing hospital treatment. The Pope's fragile health took a sharp turn for the worse as he developed a high fever caused by an infection. After initially stabilising, his condition then deteriorated further, the Vatican said. John Paul suffered heart failure during treatment for a urinary tract infection and was now in a "very serious" condition, the Vatican said. Papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said in the previous statement the Pope had experienced septic shock and heart failure. "This morning the condition of the Holy Father is very serious," the statement said. However, it said that the Pope had participated in a mass and that he was "conscious, lucid, and serene". The Polish born Pope's health declined sharply when he developed a high fever brought on by the urinary tract infection. The Pope's wish to remain in his apartment at the Vatican and not be taken to the hospital was respected, Navarro-Valls said.
Posted by: Bulldog ||
04/01/2005 5:39:26 AM ||
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#1
"grave condition", "congestive heart failure" Fox reports. He just made a flurry of appointments and accepted a bunch of resignations of bishops worldwide - leaving his last impressions on the Catholic world. I hope they replace him with someone as strong, compassionate, yet forward-thinking. Someone who will clean house of pedophile priests. Anything less is a failure before they even start
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/01/2005 9:55 Comments ||
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#2
Hard to think of another world figure who never once changed his message as far as I can recall.
Think of the "current events" in play on the day he was named Pope until today. Jimmy Carter in the White House, Communism around the world, Cold War.
Sinaed O'Conner had hair, before she didn't... althought I think now she does.
#3
# 1 Frank- you are 100% correct- clean up the religion! Also, let him die peacefully and comfortably- Unlike Terri Schiavo.
Andrea Jackson
Posted by: ANdrea Jackson ||
04/01/2005 11:35 Comments ||
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#4
...Someone who will clean house of pedophile priests.
I'm not a Catholic, Frank G, but I would think someone suggest Mahony and Law should stay home from the election. Anyone who'd either of them would support would be suspect, even though everything is supposedly super secret, and people under thier direction were the most public of the offenders...
#10
I think they jumped too soon. I would wait until the Vatican does the news release.
I hope God comforts Pope Johannus Paulus II in his suffering and receives him soon - he has truly been a giant, even in suffering and dying he is showing us the way of Christ.
This is truly a man who walked the walk and carried the Cross while doing so.
The formal Vatican tradition goes like this:
When a pope dies, the prefect of the papal household, currently American Archbishop James Harvey, tells the camerlengo, or chamberlain, who is the most important official running the Holy See in the period between the death of a pope and the election of a new one. The camerlengo, now Cardinal Eduardo Martinez Somalo of Spain, must then verify the death â a process which in the past was done by striking the forehead of the pope with a silver hammer.
The camerlengo then tells the vicar of Rome, who informs the people of the city.
The prefect of the papal household then tells the dean of the College of Cardinals, now Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who then formally informs the rest of the college, ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, and heads of state around the world.
#21
Happy travels John Paul . You have carried a heavy burdon for too long . Sleep well , and make sure to bag me an allotment (small garden) up there huh ?
coming from a non religious person with a heart :)
I'm outta here. Headed to the parish - we are going to say a rosay and then go give John Paul II a good old fashioned Irish Wake down at a local Irish Pub. Sinlge Malt. At least 10 years old (getting the 21 years old Bushmills Single Malt myself).
We Catholics are lucky God let us keep him a quarter of a century. Here's to you JP-II, and thanks God!
#27
Old Spook, drink to the guy who was Communism's worst nightmare! I'll do the same, with the best Scotch money can buy.
Oh btw, according to the Vatican, the silver hammer is an urban legend. The camerlengo would call the Pope three times by his birth name, asking him in Latin whether he slept. This ceremony is no longer used, either.
#28
good day OS! I'm toasting and tearing up by myself (better that way). Pride of the Poles and we Catholics should be thankful
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/01/2005 19:59 Comments ||
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#29
JOHN PAUL II is a great man and a great Pope - it would not surprise me iff one day he's recommended for Sainthood. As I'd posted on the Net several years ago, He is not destined to die until certain knowledge and world events take place, both of which have direct consequence on the proverbial or so-called "Second Coming of Christ". This WOT is one of these events - once The Failed/Angry Left succeed in suborning America to OWG and Communist World Order, the Catholic Church and World JudaeoChristianity will be next for PC schism and destruction, regardless of denomination or belief, NOT EVEN THE ORTHODOX CHURCH IN MOSCOW, etal. WILL BE SPARED! Lefty commentators argue that God is a fake - not good, people, not good or correct at all!?
#30
BigEd - Strategy Page has had odds on both death and replacement for awhile on their Prediction Market.. I guess playing all their bets is just another nail in my coffin. Not that it will make any difference!
#31
I think they jumped too soon. I would wait until the Vatican does the news release.
I hope God comforts Pope Johannus Paulus II in his suffering and receives him soon - he has truly been a giant, even in suffering and dying he is showing us the way of Christ.
This is truly a man who walked the walk and carried the Cross while doing so.
I'm outta here. Headed to the parish - we are going to say a rosay and then go give John Paul II a good old fashioned Irish Wake down at a local Irish Pub. Sinlge Malt. At least 10 years old (getting the 21 years old Bushmills Single Malt myself).
We Catholics are lucky God let us keep him a quarter of a century. Here's to you JP-II, and thanks God!
#34
I think they jumped too soon. I would wait until the Vatican does the news release.
I hope God comforts Pope Johannus Paulus II in his suffering and receives him soon - he has truly been a giant, even in suffering and dying he is showing us the way of Christ.
This is truly a man who walked the walk and carried the Cross while doing so.
I'm outta here. Headed to the parish - we are going to say a rosay and then go give John Paul II a good old fashioned Irish Wake down at a local Irish Pub. Sinlge Malt. At least 10 years old (getting the 21 years old Bushmills Single Malt myself).
We Catholics are lucky God let us keep him a quarter of a century. Here's to you JP-II, and thanks God!
A SANDWICH shop has been banned from selling bacon butties - after a vegetarian complained about the "vile" smell. Sizzlers Sandwich Bar in Stamford Square, Ashton under Lyne, was issued with an enforcement notice following complaints from neighbour Anthony Goodwin. Owners Steven and Linda Male have been warned they will be committing a criminal offence if they carry on making the traditional breakfast favourite, which they sell to customers for £1... And the bacon industry is secretly trying to get *children* to eat bacon!
#1
Oops! I tried to add a highlighted comment to the headline and it didn't work.
What I was going to say is - It was a bad sign when they started finding bodies in houses. Meaning the rest of the household had fled leaving a dead or dying person behind and consequently spreading the disease. Trace and isolate will be close to impossible to implement in a place like Angola. If this doesn't die out of its own accord then it will get a lot worse.
Massad Blasts Committee's Conclusions
Saliba Expresses Appreciation But Says One Incident Was Mischaracterized in Report
By James Romoser
Spectator Senior Staff Writer
April 01, 2005
Professors Joseph Massad and George Saliba, the only two professors named in the ad hoc faculty committee's report on students' claims of classroom intimidation, criticized yesterday the committee's findings on two specific complaints lodged against them.
{it turned out that the 'investigation' found that bullying Jewish students wasn't real antisemitism --- Massad was incensed that the student who had two eye witnesses to the event where Massad yelled at her did not adequately consider the fact that Massad and two grad students (who owe their jobs to Massad), didn't remember the incident.}
Zimbabwe's ruling party won parliamentary elections on Friday but a furious opposition accused President Robert Mugabe of rigging the vote to extend his 25-year grip on power. Mugabe's ZANU-PF crossed a key threshhold by taking 51 out of the 120 seats being contested -- guaranteeing it a simple majority in the 150-seat parliament where 30 additional members are by law Mugabe appointees. Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) had 33 of the 84 seats declared, its earlier lead demolished by a strong ZANU-PF showing in rural districts.
Britain joined an international chorus condemning the poll, saying the 81-year-old Mugabe had cheated voters and prolonged a crisis which has brought the once-prosperous country to its knees. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai hinted his supporters might take to the streets to express their outrage, saying the party had given up on legal challenges after unsuccessfully battling results in both 2000 and 2002 it claimed were also rigged. "We believe the people of Zimbabwe must defend their votes, their right to a free and a fair election ... this is what has been denied," he told supporters in Harare. Tsvangirai, who has accused Mugabe of using repressive laws, political threats and even access to food supplies to engineer a victory, said the MDC had noted everything from intimidation to thousands of extra votes cast in battleground constituencies.
ZANU-PF officials rejected the charges, saying the polls were run by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission set up this year as part of a package of democratic reforms. "If they say there was fraud, where were their polling agents when it was being done?" ZANU-PF elections director Elliott Manyika said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/01/2005 1:32:11 PM ||
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#1
I really think that he won an open, honest election.
#2
(Begin heavy sarcasm) Gosh, I'm stunned. Who would have guessed it? (End heavy sarcasm)
Posted by: Jonathan ||
04/01/2005 15:38 Comments ||
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#3
When you can't even snowjob Jimmy Carter, how crooked can you be?
Former President Jimmy Carter, whose Atlanta-based Carter Center monitors elections around the world, told reporters during Mozambique's polls in December that the center could not observe votes in Zimbabwe."Zimbabwe is a disgrace," said Carter, referring to the country's electoral system. "Mugabe declared that the Carter Center is a terrorist organization and asked us to leave."
Rwanda's main Hutu rebel group announced on Thursday they were ending their war against Rwanda and for the first time denounced the 1994 genocide of Tutsis that has been blamed on many of their members. A delegation representing the rebel organization, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), made the announcement after secret negotiations at the Sant'Egidio religious community in the heart of Rome.
"Hokay. We're done now..."
"The FDLR condemns the genocide committed against Rwanda and their authors," FDLR President Ignace Murwanashyaka said, reading from a statement. "Henceforward, the FDLR has decided to transform its fight into a political struggle." Hutu rebels are accused of taking part in the massacre of 800,000 Rwandan Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 1994.
"Just think of it as purging the voter rolls..."
Until Thursday, many FDLR fighters had denied genocide occurred, calling the killings tit-for-tat attacks.
"They wuz askin' for it!"
Murwanashyaka said his group was ready to cooperate with international justice and would lay down its arms in a bid to end the "catastrophic humanitarian" situation in the region.
"I guess we can do that. The witnesses are all dead now..."
The Hutu rebels were chased out of Rwanda following the genocide, taking refuge in the jungles of neighboring Congo. Since then they have been at the center of tensions in the vast country's eastern region where violence, hunger and disease have killed millions of people. A representative of the Democratic Republic of Congo hailed the FDLR move, saying it was an historic moment for Africa.
"They're leaving? Wow! That's historic!"
"Even a month ago it was impossible to believe that they would issue such a strong statement," Congo's roving ambassador, Antoine Ghonda, told Reuters. "We are confident that this will be the turning point in ending the conflict, but they will need guarantees from Rwanda." In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was encouraged by the FDLR statement and called on the Congolese and Rwandan governments to do everything necessary to ensure the rebels' voluntary disarmament and return to Rwanda, chief spokesman Fred Eckhard said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/01/2005 12:56:40 PM ||
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Zimbabwe's opposition took an early lead in parliamentary elections with almost a quarter of results declared on Friday, but the first returns were mostly from its traditional urban strongholds. Results from the rural bastions of President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF were trickling in more slowly but were expected to swing the vote back towards the government, widely tipped to win Thursday's poll. Early results showed the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was ahead with 26 seats, against ZANU-PF's three.
Most of the declared results were for the capital Harare and other cities where the labor union-based MDC has strong support among urban workers. CNN's Jeff Koinange said: "In urban areas -- the capital Harare, the second-biggest city, Bulawayo -- this is where voters normally vote for the opposition. "There seems to be a trend. But the key is whether the MDC has been able to penetrate rural areas. That we don't know. Traditionally, the deeper you go into the countryside, the more they are aligned with the ruling party. But it could change, it's early days." Western countries and the opposition have already declared the electoral process as unfairly tilted in favor of ZANU-PF.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/01/2005 12:49:58 PM ||
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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.
BOSTON: FBI agents on Wednesday arrested a Saudi prince's wife on charges she forced two Indonesian women to work for her as servants and threatened them with "serious harm" if they refused, prosecutors said. Hana Al Jader, 39, was arrested on federal charges at her home in the upscale Boston suburb of Winchester, Massachusetts. A US magistrate judge ordered her held without bail pending a hearing on Friday afternoon. Al Jader was charged in a 10-count indictment with forced labour, domestic servitude, falsifying records, visa fraud and harboring aliens in connection with two Indonesian servants identified only as "Tri" and "Ro." If convicted on all charges, Al Jader would face up to 140 years in jail and up to $2.5 million in fines. Al Jader's lawyer, James Merberg, confirmed that his client was married to Prince Mohamed Bin Turki Alsaud but would not say whether she might have diplomatic immunity from criminal prosecution.
Zimbabwe's ruling party won parliamentary elections on Friday but a furious opposition accused President Robert Mugabe of rigging the vote to extend his 25-year grip on power. Mugabe's ZANU-PF crossed a key threshhold by taking 51 out of the 120 seats being contested -- guaranteeing it a simple majority in the 150-seat parliament where 30 additional members are by law Mugabe appointees. Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) had 33 of the 84 seats declared, its earlier lead demolished by a strong ZANU-PF showing in rural districts. 
Zimbabwe's opposition took an early lead in parliamentary elections with almost a quarter of results declared on Friday, but the first returns were mostly from its traditional urban strongholds. Results from the rural bastions of President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF were trickling in more slowly but were expected to swing the vote back towards the government, widely tipped to win Thursday's poll. Early results showed the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was ahead with 26 seats, against ZANU-PF's three.
