SUNNYVALE (KRON) -- Some 300 students heading into one of the five high schools in the Fremont Union High School district were sent home early and for good Monday.
"We asked them to come to the office, we called their parents and told them they don't go to school here anymore," said Superintendent Steve Rowley.
The school district is enforcing a policy that limits enrollment to only those students who can prove that they live in the district.
In the past, looser enforcement has allowed parents from as far away as Milpitas, Fremont, and South San Jose to do whatever they could to enroll their kids in the district. Many of them are drawn to the academic excellence of the district's five schools.
"We've heard of parents renting apartments for two months, moving clothes into other people's homes, renting post office boxes for $500 a month," Rowley said.
But the school district says it now has a budget crisis and can no longer handle the extra students.
Parents who do live in the district support the district's actions.
"The people who are supposed to be here are getting deprived of the education they are supposed to have," said Ronald Dews.
One Lynbrook High School student says his friend was kicked out of school Monday after the school discovered he did not live where he said he lived.
"My friend lives far away but lists his mom's address. The district found out and he was kicked out," said Khoa Dinh.
But some students say there must be another alternative.
"I think there should be a way how people not in the district can pay and still go to this school," said Lynbrook High School student Tony Perez.
High school seniors are exempt from the new enforcement policy. Those students who do have to leave will be able to transfer their credit to other schools.
#1
Real school vouchers would be the answer. A full reimbursement not token. Then the parents could 'vote' with their vouchers on the quality of school performance. Sort of like....capitalism. Gee...what a concept.
#3
But some students say there must be another alternative.
Yeah, try harder at the school you're supposed to go to.
I wonder how many illegal aliens are enrolled....
It can't be too many. Lynbrook High School is in an area of town that is easily upper class (but not the tiptop; that would be Saratoga, Monte Sereno, Los Gatos), and there's not likely to be a lot of mojados or similar types there.
EFL:Another "Great Moment in White Trash History"...
OKLAHOMA CITY - A convicted murderer and a deputy warden's wife who disappeared nearly 11 years ago have been found living together and raising chickens in Texas. The woman said she was held captive the whole time, staying with the killer out of fear her family would be harmed if she fled. Uh-huh. Prisoner and the Warden's wife, ya say? I've played that, but not for eleven years.
Bobbi Parker, 42, has been reunited with her husband, who never remarried, and authorities were trying Tuesday to piece together details of the strange case. A tip generated by the TV show "America's Most Wanted" led law enforcement to a mobile home in Campti, Texas, where escaped convict Randolph Dial was arrested Monday, said FBI agent Salvador Hernandez. Parker was found a short time later working at a nearby chicken farm; the two were living in the trailer under assumed names. Working on a chicken farm and living in a trailer with an escaped convict. This has "Lifetime" written all over it.
FBI agents present said the reunion between her and her husband, Randy, "went well." Oh, I'll bet!
Hernandez said that while it is unusual for someone to be held against one's will for so long, it is not unprecedented. "There have been cases of this kind and typically this will result when someone believes family members might be in danger," Hernandez said. Sorry, FBI man. I ain't buying it.
Dial, a sculptor and painter, was convicted of the 1981 murder of a karate instructor. He had obtained trusty status at the Oklahoma State Reformatory, and he ran an inmate pottery program with Bobbi Parker and had access to their home during the day in staff housing on prison grounds. Sorry, FBI man. I definitely ain't buying it.
Bobbi Parker's mother received a phone call from her the night of the 1994 disappearance traced to Hurst, Texas. "I can't talk now," she said, crying. "I'm OK. Tell the kids I'll see them soon." A day later, she made a second call, this time from Fort Worth to a friend. It was the last message her family got from her. "Tell the kids I love them and I'll be home soon," she said.
In a jailhouse interview Tuesday in Campti, Dial said he always expected he would be caught: "I thought about how it would be many times. I hoped I'd be luckier, see them coming. But I didn't." Dial declined to say whether he held Parker captive or threatened her family. I coulda went down with guns blazing. Or maybe not.
#1
Unless the 'little woman' had a choke chain on and 11 years of scars on her neck, I'd have a hard time buying her story.
BTW, are those horns growing out of my head?
Posted by: Born last nite ||
04/05/2005 18:05 Comments ||
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#2
I don't really buy it either, seems far fetched. Although, remember the Elizabeth Smart case, where
she lived in hidding for several month's...she claimed in fear of her and her family well being?.
I know I would run, escape, call someone FAST.
Andrea Jackson
Posted by: Not so guliable ||
04/05/2005 20:02 Comments ||
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#3
I'm sure there's a good country song or two coming out of this tale...
#4
Sounds completely insane, but if the offender can convince the captive of their supposed power to harm significant others in the victim's life, the victim (depending on the person) can succumb psychologically--especially if they have been violated by the attacker (which is so heinous, it serves as a type of "proof" of the agressor's "power"). Wonder if he kept her under lock and key, how far out in the country they were, etc. The fact that he had access to their family for so long, might lend some credence to the story. Ya gotta wonder, though . . .
The general election will be held on 5 May, Tony Blair has formally announced. Speaking after asking the Queen to dissolve Parliament next week, Mr Blair said Labour had a "driving mission" for a third term in office. The Conservative and Liberal Democrat leaders pre-empted the announcement by starting nationwide tours of key seats. Michael Howard accused Mr Blair's government of "losing the plot" while Charles Kennedy said he would focus on people's hopes, not their fears.
Mr Blair told reporters in Downing Street the election presented a "big choice". "The British people are the boss and they are the ones that will make it," he said. The Labour leader said he wanted to "entrench" economic stability and public services' investments, as well as ensuring people from all backgrounds could achieve their potential. He then headed off by helicopter to make a speech in Weymouth, Dorset - part of Labour's most marginal seat.
Earlier, Labour's candidate in Ribble Valley, Stephen Wilkinson, said he was defecting to the Lib Dems.
Four opinion polls published on Tuesday suggest Labour's lead over the Tories has slipped to between 2% and 5%. They suggest the Lib Dems trail the Tories by between 10 and 16 points. But one of the polls also suggests the Tories are 5% ahead of Labour among those "certain to vote".
With the campaign under way, ministers must rush to get outstanding legislation through Parliament before it winds up, probably on Friday. It will be formally dissolved on Monday. Backroom horse trading is happening between the parties over which bills of legislation can still be passed. Commons Leader Peter Hain said he hoped 16 bills - more than half the number announced in last year's Queen's Speech - would have been passed before Parliament adjourned. Mr Hain said plans for a new offence of incitement to religious hatred looked set to be lost. The Tories say plans for identity cards are another "likely casualty".
But ministers reached a compromise to save plans to overhaul gambling laws by cutting the number of regional "super casinos" allowed from eight to one.
'Action or talk?'
As he launched his party's campaign in London, Conservative leader Michael Howard said voters faced a "clear choice". "They can either reward Mr Blair for eight years of broken promises and vote for another five years of talk. Or they can vote Conservative to support a party that has taken a stand and is committed to action on the issues that matter." Mr Howard later visited Sale and Birmingham, where there was a minor scuffle as Labour activists with anti-Conservative banners were manhandled away by Tory workers.
Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy has visited Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds and Edinburgh on a whistle-stop tour of key seats to begin his campaign. He told BBC News the election was "much more fluid" than ever before. He promised to shun his rivals' "negative campaigning". "I'm not going to spend the next month just talking Britain down," he added.
Wales and Scotland
Plaid Cymru MP Elfyn Llywd said his party was the real opposition in Wales and there was no real difference between Labour and Tories. Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond said his campaign would focus on making Scotland matter to the election. The Green Party said it was fielding 25% more candidates at this election on a "People, Planet, Peace" slogan. The UK Independence Party said it was the only party who believed the UK should govern itself, independent of European Union controls.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/05/2005 2:30:47 PM ||
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Only because Mama is sending him to the funeral.
They had already announced they planned to go ahead with it if the Pope's funeral were held on Friday, interferring with the wedding. Guess Mama took care of that.
Am I the only one who wonders if Charlie isn't trying to destroy the British monarchy?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/05/2005 13:41 Comments ||
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I don't think he cares, Barb. He has zero chance of assuming the throne ... Mom is going to stay there until she dies, at which time he will be old and even less attractive to the public, while his son will be mature enough to step up to the job. He's had zero affection from the family or the public and just wants to indulge himself now.
Posted by: too true ||
04/05/2005 13:49 Comments ||
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#4
Charlie is sort of adrift. Better that after he marries Camilla, he renounces claim to the throne in favor of William, and go to blissful retirement in Bermuda like his grand-uncle...
Brazilian authorities have arrested 11 police officers over the killing of 30 people in a shooting rampage on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, the state security chief has said. The Thursday night slaughter, which is suspected to be a response to a crackdown on corrupt police officers, was the worst massacre in more than a decade in the seaside city. The armed men shot dead men, women and children at random in the working class district of Baixada Fluminense on Rio's rough north side. Security chief Marcelo Itagiba said not all the 11 prisoners, members of the state military police force, had necessarily taken part in the killings but they needed to explain what they were doing in the Baixada Fluminense area on that day. Another police officer is still being sought.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/05/2005 00:00:00 ||
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While it is expected that the former President Aksar Akayev, whose regime was toppled in Krygyztan last month through "tulip revolution", will officially resign today, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul has issued a statement that the ousted leader wants to live in Turkey. Gul at the Kizilcahamam Camp attended by members of the ruling party Justice and Development (AKP) over the stability and confidence atmosphere of Turkey announced Akayev's wishes. It was learned during the last day of the Camp that Minister Gul confirmed that information relating to him had already reached them. There was also speculation that Akayev had already applied to settling in Turkey. On the other hand, the Russian Interfax agent announced that Akayev will resign today. Akayev said in a statement issued following talks that lasted two and a half hours with Krygz Parliamentary Speaker Omurbek Tekebayev at the embassy in Moscow, that they have already prepared a "resignation protocol". Akayev has also indicated that a ceremony will be held for his resignation from the presidency.
"Let's hear it for His Excellency!"
*bang* [thunk]
"... (sniff) wotta moving ceremony. Well, let's eat!"
Posted by: Fred ||
04/05/2005 00:00:00 ||
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One of the unintentionally telling comments was this one:
"You'll find more info on AI's site. Hope you can access it."
Not something we think about here in Amerikkka, eh? Immediately gave me that uncomfortable feeling I had back in Saudi that someone was watching everything I did - and the door would be kicked down someday. I became a bit paranoid toward the end. These folks are living that life.
#2
Here is the greater debate: Is China governable? Now, granted, if China was several smaller nations, democracy, at least as it is known in places where it is not a euphamism, could most likely thrive. It would have its turmoil, and no doubt it would differ strongly from democracies found elsewhere in the world, and yet, in its basic character, it would share more with them than not. But China as a whole may transcend even the ability of democracy to manage. And this is said with respect to the world's largest democracy, India; where democracy exists, and yet it does not exist. Democracy in India is a bizarre thing, in China perhaps it would become surreal. If you ask an American for the bottom line of one thing you could do in China to cement democratic reform, they would probably suggest a "two-party political system", though this hardly defines democracy. In fact, there is no provision for political parties *at all* in the US Constitution. And yet, if China *did* have a two-party political system, how would this change how China is managed? Not much. China would still have to be quite authoritarian, just to keep a lid on its bubbling chaos in so many ways. China would still be ordered much like it is right now. Militarily, China would almost certainly have the same goals, give or take Taiwan. In other words, internally and externally, China would still be China. And unless it was managed much like it is today, China would be likely to break up. But, India has survived, why not China? I will not guarantee the future of India. For if nothing else, there is a terrible yet invisible Darwinistic struggle in both nations between the intelligent, modern people, and those who are stuck in a peasant-paradigm hundreds of years old. And this, more than anything else, promises a foreboding future, even a future that democracy might not be able to save. The Chinese, like the Indians, are very capable of having and honoring human rights in the international sense; but only those who live in the 21st Century. For the peasants--nothing.
EFL:...and it's not Kevin Costner. PYONGYANG (AFP) - In North Korea's version of Hollywood, there is only room for one star: the nation's "Dear Leader", movie buff extraordinaire, scriptwriter and casting agent all rolled into one -- Kim Jong-Il. Believe it or not, but that was gonna be my first guess.
And just as Kim is small in stature -- he stands 1.57 metres (five foot two inches) without his reputed 10-centimetre heels -- so is North Korea's film industry, which churns out about 40 movies a year on budgets that Julia Roberts would not get out of bed for. North Korea's state-run Korean Feature Film Studio is a dour one-million- square-metre (10.7 million-square-feet), military-guarded block of land about 15 minutes drive outside of the capital, Pyongyang. Dominating the main entrance hall is an enormous mural of Kim overseeing production of one of the North Korean government's favourite movies, "The Sea of Blood". Wonder when we'll get "Sea of Fire"?
The film is a tale of a woman farmer in the 1930s who rises to become a revolutionary heroine fighting the Japanese, North Korea's former colonial masters who remain a target of fierce government propaganda. "The people who lost their country are no better than dogs so we should resist the foreign forces that deprive us, especially the Japs," a softly spoken middle-aged female studio guide says through an interpreter. Wonder what paper she reads?
In the mural, a youthful looking Kim, who was appointed director of the government's Bureau of Propaganda and Agitation in the 1970s, stands proudly on a hilltop dressed in a grey suit with his arms crossed over his chest. Below him a film crew record a fierce hand-to-hand battle, while smoke and flames rise up out of the carnage. Although a director is in the background, Kim is clearly the man in charge. I'm ready for my closeup, Dear Leader.
"In order to make 'The Sea of Blood' a masterpiece, he gave meticulous guidance from scenario to shooting on 124 occasions," the government-controlled Korean Central News Agency wrote in 1997. Is there anything the man can't do?
On another wall of the same room is a plaque that records Kim's visits to the studio. "Between 1964 and 1993, Kim Jong-Il gave precious instructions to this film studio 10,487 times and visited 1,724 times," the guide explains with military precision. I wonder if they gotta change the plaque every time he show up again? I'll bet they do.
On the next floor is a museum commemorating the finest moments of North Korean cinematic history, but the stars of the movies barely get a mention. In room after room, larger-than-life-sized photographs of Kim hang over much smaller images of actors, stills from the films and movie artefacts. In one photo, Kim is smiling while walking on set with military officials, in another he is looking through a film camera and in another he is on set giving directions. The guide explains that Kim has made two vital contributions to North Korea's film industry. "One of his exploits was to put forward a policy of revolution in films and the other was a policy of making films about our Great Leader Kim Il-Sung," the guide says. Ah, yes. The exploits.
Kim Il-Sung is Kim's father, the former Soviet-backed leader who guided North Korea into global isolation and through immense national hardship from 1945 until his death in 1994.
The younger Kim took over in the world's first Communist dynastic succession, although his father remains "eternal leader" and "president for eternity" from where he is entombed and on public display in his Pyongyang palace. The Kims are famous for the cult personalities they created for themselves and the us-against-the-world spirit of enduring revolution they have instilled in their people. Movies and the arts have been vital to exert influence over the population and Kim junior has ensured he is officially recognised as the master of North Korean cinema. ...or else.
Other films that Kim has created, with titles such as "The Fate of a Self-Defence Corps Man", "The Nation and Destiny" and "The Sun of the Nation", leave little to the revolutionary imagination. Wonder if they're better then "The Postman"?
He wrote an 83-page book published in 1973 called the "Theory of Cinematic Art" that set the direction for North Korea's film industry. "This treatise gives a comprehensive and detailed account of all the aspects of creating and developing this form of art such as life and literature, the cinema and directing, the character and the actor, images and shooting, the screen and fine art, scenery and music, art and creative work ... and so on," reads the prelude to the book. Among the first messages that Kim puts forward are that "cinema has the task of contributing to the development of people to be true communists and to the revolutionization and working-classization of the whole of society. In order to carry out this historic task successfully, it is necessary, above all, to revolutionize direction ... which means to completely eradicate capitalist elements." Talk about creative control.
However Kim is reportedly a famously fanatical film buff with Western tastes. According to Western media reports, he has between 15,000 and 20,000 movies in his personal collection, many of which are the same Hollywood fare that audiences in the United States have watched over the years. "Team America", maybe in there someplace?
For the average North Korean though, their cultural diet remains a strict feed of revolutionary propaganda. At Pyongyang's main theatre, the operatic version of "The Sea of Blood" is the only show in town and plays three to four times a week, according to a government translator who is a permanent shadow for visiting journalists. The heroine of "The Sea of Blood" is etched into the stone facade of the theatre, wearing a flowing grey dress and a determined stare while pointing a gun into the air. Hey, wanna go to the movies? Sure, what's playing?
Posted by: tu3031 ||
04/05/2005 9:50:16 AM ||
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#1
. . . cinema has the task of contributing to the development of people to be true communists and to the revolutionization and working-classization of the whole of society. In order to carry out this historic task successfully, it is necessary, above all, to revolutionize direction ... which means to completely eradicate capitalist elements . . .
Holy cow! You mean Kim Jong-Il wrote the writer's guide for The Left West Wing? I'd never've guessed!
Posted by: Mike ||
04/05/2005 13:19 Comments ||
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#3
Hey, wanna go to the movies? Sure, whatâs playing?
My Dad always swore that the same movie was playing in San Diego when he came back from WWii (Aka the BIG ONE) that was playing when he left for Hawaii and points west. Makes, sense, huge traffic, always sold out, why change?
THE bodies of the nine Australian troops killed in the Sea King helicopter crash will return home today to a ceremonial guard of honour and one of Indonesia's highest medals.
An RAAF Hercules carrying the flag-draped coffins is expected to land at Sydney International Airport about 3pm.
The caskets carrying the six navy and three RAAF personnel who died in Saturday's crash of the helicopter from HMAS Kanimbla on the earthquake-hit island of Nias, will be met by an honour guard at the airport and some family members.
Prime Minister John Howard and Opposition Leader Kim Beazley are also expected to be there to pay their respects.
Visiting Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will also attend and is expected to bestow medals of honour to the nine dead and two survivors for services to his country.
The tragic stories of these nine young men and women - killed while helping victims of the latest Indonesian earthquake - are only now beginning to emerge.
They include navy reservist Matt Davey, who had just sent his mother's engagement ring to girlfriend Rachael Henson as a surprise wedding proposal.
In a moving tribute to fallen, Indonesian military officers stood side-by-side with Australian troops as the coffins were slowly carried through a guard of honour last night.
They were then each blessed by a local Catholic priest before being carefully loaded on to the transport plane in the presence of a military chaplain.
The bodies were flown to the Halim air force base in Jakarta before the Hercules again took off, bound for Sydney.
Dr Yudhoyono and Mr Howard both laid wreaths in memory of victims at the tomb of the unknown soldier at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
In a specially penned note, Mr Howard wrote: "In memory of nine Australians who died doing the humanitarian work of their nation."
Dr Yudhoyono said: "They died in glory, the glory of the ultimate sacrifice, the glory of a selfless act to help the suffering of those in need.
"There is no greater honour than that, and for that, the Indonesian Government will bestow on the 11 Australians medals of honour for their outstanding selflessness and sacrifice."
Dr Yudhoyono said the people of Indonesia were profoundly saddened by the accident. "Let me take this opportunity to state on record our deepest condolences and profound sadness for the tragic helicopter crash which claimed the lives of nine Australians and miraculously produced two survivors," he said.
"Our hearts go out to their families, and I want them to know that the people and government of Indonesia are grateful for their noble contribution in helping those who are suffering in Nias."
Dr Yudhoyono said he was happy to be in Australia but had arrived with a "heavy heart", devastated by the deaths.
A memorial service will be held aboard HMAS Kanimbla at 12.15pm (3.15pm AEST) today.
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Mr Beazley cancelled a planned appearance today at the National Press Club in Canberra to accompany Mr Howard in meeting the coffins.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
04/05/2005 12:58:33 AM ||
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EFL.New from the publishers of Weekly World News...
ANKARA (AFP) - A new novel telling the tongue-in-cheek tale of how a group of Turkish nationalists -- and some extra-terrestrial friends -- invade the United States is targeting best-seller lists in Turkey, in the midst of a boom in anti-US books. Aliens! I knew it!
"America Is Ours" hits the bookshelves this weekend with its cover depicting the Statue of Liberty sporting a handlebar mustache -- the Turkish macho symbol par excellence -- and the US flag's stars replaced by the triple-crescent symbol of the Turkish far-right. She must look like Madeline Albright...
The parody in political-fiction starts off with an alien suddenly showing up as a young Turkish nationalist says his prayers. The spaceman grants the wish of the young Turk, exasperated by US interventionism in the Middle East and furious at the secret crossing of the Istanbul Bosphorus by two US warships, and helps him invade America thanks to a machine that controls people's minds. Mind control machines! I knew it!
The occupiers immediately bring things Turkish to their new land, organising "cig kofte" (a spicy Turkish delicacy made of raw hamburger) parties at the White House, proclaiming Turkish the official language and transforming Madonna into a belly dancer. That'd be a step up for Madonna.
"There is some anti-US sentiment at the bottom of the book, but it's really not a war story because no one gets killed," Erdogan Ekmekci, one of the two co-authors of the book, told AFP. It is the first novel by Ekmekci, a 27-year-old Istanbul resident and a former sales representative. "The circumstances are right for anti-US books," he acknowledged, but stressed that "America Is Ours" is more a work of "self-criticism" of Turkey's 70 million mainly Muslim citizens and their way of life than it is an anti-US tract. "The way we run the United States means the end of the country, because we bring along all our troubles and woes," he said, explaining his book. Among them: a bevy of social problems, such as huge queues of patients waiting outside hospitals and an economy crippled by mismanagement, where a loaf of bread sells for 250 dollars. You know, kinda like when Carter was president.
Ozbay told AFP he regretted that the current display of flag-waving patriotism sparked by a couple of Kurdish teen-agers trying to burn the Turkish flag has "gone out of control" and been transformed into "a show of jingoism". Jingoism? I thought that was just us?
"We tried to have a little fun by trying to imagine what would happen in the United States if the mistakes we make here were repeated there," he explained. It all ends badly in the book, to the point that the hero has to once again resort to his extra-terrestrial friends' powers to go back in time and pretend none of it ever happened. Sounds like "dark and stormy night" time to me.
Posted by: tu3031 ||
04/05/2005 10:37:44 AM ||
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"We tried to have a little fun by trying to imagine what would happen in the United States if the mistakes we make here were repeated there," he explained.
It would be helpful if they could translate it into Spanish.
It's taken me twenty years to figure out that I never really found Madonna attractive to begin with. I suspect making her look attractive would stretch the limits of alien mind control technology and modern CGI effects.
There's no _charisma_ there.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
04/05/2005 20:38 Comments ||
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OTTAWA — An unassuming 42-year-old call-centre manager and Star Trek fan from Minneapolis, Minn., has provoked a political firestorm in Canada. Ed Morrissey -- Captain Ed to his friends -- published on the weekend what no Canadian is allowed to print or broadcast. On his Internet blog (Captain's Quarters), he posted testimony before the Gomery commission that is subject to a publication ban.Yesterday, after the story of his blogging exploits broke in the Canadian media, Mr. Morrissey saw the traffic on his website increase tenfold as Canadians clicked on to read the testimony from Quebec ad executive Jean Brault.
By midday, 131,000 people had visited the site. In just one hour before lunchtime, he had 26,000 hits and by the end of the day he estimated he was on track for about 300,000 hits, many from Canadians. He averages 22,000 visits a day. "There's a lot of people coming to me through Google Canada," Mr. Morrissey said. "Just taking a quick look here at the last 100 people who were on the site, which at this rate was in the last 10 seconds, there's a lot of Canadian servers on there."
"Captain, the dilitheum crystals in the server are over-heating! I dun know how much longer she can take it!"
"Dammit, Scotty, I need more bandwith! Cross feed the anti-matter pods into the server and tie down the safety valve!"
So everyone in Canadian politics and media has access to what's going on in the hearings. It's just the voting public who must be protected from the information.
Mr. Morrissey is a California native who has lived in Minnesota for nearly eight years. He started the blog 18 months ago when he found himself close to home after his wife, Marsha, suffered from a serious kidney ailment. The Captain Ed nickname comes as a result of a gift from an old girlfriend. Twenty years ago, Mr. Morrissey was a huge Star Trek fan. So his girlfriend bought him a personalized licence plate that said "Captain Ed."
Living just a few hours from the Canadian border, Mr. Morrissey says he follows Canadian politics but has always been hesitant to write about Canada. "I know Canadians are sensitive about Americans being arrogant about their politics. So I don't write a lot about Canadian politics." But he is continuing to follow and post articles about the inquiry. "It's an interesting story. It's a fascinating story," he said. "The one thing that was concerning was that the Liberal Party could call a snap election before this came out."
Posted by: Steve ||
04/05/2005 12:46:03 PM ||
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#1
"Dammit, Scotty, I need more bandwith! Cross feed the anti-matter pods into the server and tie down the safety valve!"
No,no,no. You always reverse the polarity first! And then send someone [usually in a red uniform] up the Jeffery's Tube.
#4
Poop on the deck! I mean "man the poop deck!" Run out the guns! Ready for a broadside!
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/05/2005 20:31 Comments ||
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OH MY GAWD!
All hands on the foredeck lay to the afterdeck!
All hands on the afterdeck lay to the foredeck.
All hands amidships direct traffic!
All hands with nothing to do lay aft of the fantail!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/05/2005 22:00 Comments ||
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NYT PAGE ONE LEAD, WASH POST PAGE ONE WEDNESDAY, NEWSROOM SOURCES TELL DRUDGE: Ethical questions surrounding House Majority Leader Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas intensify... A six-day trip to Moscow in 1997 by then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, R-Texas, was underwritten by business interests lobbying in support of the Russian government, according to four people with firsthand knowledge of the trip arrangements.... Developing...
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi helped secure $3 million last year for a nonprofit transportation-research organization whose president gave money to her political action committee as the group was paying for a European trip for one of her policy advisers. Transportation adviser Lara Levison's nine-day, $4,475 trip to Spain and Germany last April to learn about hydrogen-fuel cells for buses was primarily paid for by WestStart-CALSTART. But just days before the trip, WestStart-CALSTART announced that Mrs. Pelosi had helped the nonprofit group secure $1 million from the Federal Transit Administration for a bus rapid-transit program. A month after the Levison trip, the group sent out a press release thanking her for a $2 million grant for a fuel-cell program.
People who feel threatened on the street, in a bar, at a baseball game -- or anywhere they have a legal right to be -- could "meet force with force" to defend themselves without fear of being prosecuted or held liable under a bill passed overwhelmingly Tuesday by the House.
The measure (SB 436) passed 94-20. It had already passed the Senate and now heads to Gov. Jeb Bush, who has so far declined to say whether he will sign it. It was the top priority of the National Rifle Association in Florida this year.
It essentially extends a right Floridians already have in their home or car, saying that there's no need to retreat before fighting back. Generally people attacked in their homes don't have to back off. If they're attacked in the street, though, they're supposed to do what they can to avoid escalating the situation, and can only use deadly force after they've tried to retreat.
"I'm sorry people, but if I'm attacked I shouldn't have a duty to retreat," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala. "That's a good way to get shot in the back."
Baxley said that if people have the clear right to defend themselves without having to worry about the legal consequences, criminals will think twice before attacking someone.
Opponents said it will make Florida like the "Wild, Wild West." The bill, if signed by Bush, would take effect Oct. 1.
#2
*sigh* We'll never get that here in PA with that p***y Rendell as governor, but I'm happy for Floridians! With Jeb in there, this will probably get signed this week.
Posted by: Dar ||
04/05/2005 13:29 Comments ||
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#3
They predicted "Wild West" the the "Must Issue" concealed carry permit laws came out.
Didn't happen then, will not happen now.
There are already states with "Make my Day" laws that allow home defenders to not back into a corner first. Texas and Colorado have them and they are very lenient, if I remember correctly. No bloodbaths there from people defending themselves.
When will the LLL give this one up? They lie and lie and lie and nobody in the MSM ever calls them on it.
#5
Opponents said it will make Florida like the "Wild, Wild West."
TV show or movie? I liked the TV show, but not the movie.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/05/2005 14:28 Comments ||
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#6
As a former legislative staffer in Tallahassee, I would like to congratulate my state by saying "yipee!" - Don't mess with Osceola County, that's all I got to say. Or Calhoun. Or Dixie. Or Hardee County...
Posted by: Adam ||
04/05/2005 16:17 Comments ||
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#10
They predicted "Wild West" the the "Must Issue" concealed carry permit laws came out.
Didn't happen then, will not happen now.
There are already states with "Make my Day" laws that allow home defenders to not back into a corner first. Texas and Colorado have them and they are very lenient, if I remember correctly. No bloodbaths there from people defending themselves.
When will the LLL give this one up? They lie and lie and lie and nobody in the MSM ever calls them on it.
#11
They predicted "Wild West" the the "Must Issue" concealed carry permit laws came out.
Didn't happen then, will not happen now.
There are already states with "Make my Day" laws that allow home defenders to not back into a corner first. Texas and Colorado have them and they are very lenient, if I remember correctly. No bloodbaths there from people defending themselves.
When will the LLL give this one up? They lie and lie and lie and nobody in the MSM ever calls them on it.
The chairman of one of the entertainment industry's most important congressional committees says he wants to take the enforcement of broadcast decency standards into the realm of criminal prosecution.
Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner III, R-Wis., told cable industry executives attending the National Cable & Telecommunications Assn. conference here on Monday that criminal prosecution would be a more efficient way to enforce the indecency regulations.
"I'd prefer using the criminal process rather than the regulatory process," Sensenbrenner told the executives.
The current system -- in which the FCC fines a licensee for violating the regulations -- casts too wide a net, he said, trapping those who are attempting to reign in smut on TV and those who are not.
"People who are in flagrant disregard should face a criminal process rather than a regulator process," Sensenbrenner said. "That is the way to go. Aim the cannon specifically at the people committing the offenses, rather than the blunderbuss approach that gets the good actors.
"The people who are trying to do the right thing end up being penalized the same way as the people who are doing the wrong thing."
It was unclear exactly how he would go about criminalizing violations of the indecency statutes. Typically, the Federal Communications Commission notifies the alleged offender and, if no settlement is reached, issues a fine.
When asked how he intended to criminalize the violations, Sensenbrenner repeated his assertion that it was the best way to penalize people who violate the statute but avoid "penalizing people who are not violating the law."
While he expressed a wish to criminalize the indecency violations, he also applauded the cable industry for its actions. Cable companies allow customers to block channels they find offensive but still require the customers to pay for it.
"I think the industry is doing what it should be doing," he said. "I think this is the way it should go."
Although the indecency issue was put on the front burner last year after Janet Jackson's breast was bared during the Super Bowl halftime show, it has remained a concern for Congress.
The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation this year that directs the FCC to fine broadcasters and individuals up to $500,000 for airing smutty programming on TV and radio.
Obscene speech is not protected by the First Amendment and cannot be broadcast at any time, but indecent speech can be aired safely between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. because the courts and the FCC have determined that children are not a large part of the audience in those hours.
Although cable and satellite TV are not covered by the indecency statutes, Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, and Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, have said they want to bring multichannel programmers into the legal mix.
Stevens attended the convention Sunday, when he met with top cable industry executives, sources said. The executives hoped to persuade Stevens to back off, the sources said.
During the meeting, the cable operators demonstrated their blocking technology, but it was unclear whether Stevens was swayed by their arguments.
Posted by: Anonymoose ||
04/05/2005 11:41:19 AM ||
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#1
You can pry my Skinamax from my cold dead hands....
Posted by: Big Trouble ||
04/05/2005 14:18 Comments ||
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#8
This just proves Congress is full of idiots of all persuasions. I used to say they should all be taken out and flogged once a month just on principle.
Polls leading up to the death of Terri Schiavo made it appear Americans had formed a consensus in favor of ending her life. However, a new Zogby poll with fairer questions shows the nation clearly supporting Terri and her parents and wanting to protect the lives of other disabled patients.
The Zogby poll found that, if a person becomes incapacitated and has not expressed their preference for medical treatment, as in Terri's case, 43 percent say "the law presume that the person wants to live, even if the person is receiving food and water through a tube" while just 30 percent disagree.
Another Zogby question his directly on Terri's circumstances.
"If a disabled person is not terminally ill, not in a coma, and not being kept alive on life support, and they have no written directive, should or should they not be denied food and water," the poll asked.
A whopping 79 percent said the patient should not have food and water taken away while just 9 percent said yes.
The poll found that 49 percent of Americans believe there should be exceptions to the right of a spouse to act as a guardian for an incapacitated spouse. Only 39 percent disagreed.
When asked directly about Terri's case and told the her estranged husband Michael "has had a girlfriend for 10 years and has two children with her" 56 percent of Americans believed guardianship should have been turned over to Terri's parents while 37 percent disagreed.
Kinda Looks like that CBS Poll that said 70% supported the court starving her to death was a bit in error... especially since they as liberals do, slanted the questions and withheld the WHOEL truth of the matter. Wanna bet we never hear a peep about the TRUTH as shown by this poll? The left and those who killed Terri were wrong, and the people of the US know it. Read the whole article, especially those of you who were in favor or neutral. And Hugh Hewitt - PAY ATTENTION - and talk about this on your show dammit!
Posted by: OldSpook ||
04/05/2005 3:59:14 AM ||
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#1
see John Leo today (US News & World Report). Sorry, I don't know how to post links yet. Time for an internet lesson from #1 son.
#2
Yeah, Hugh Hewitt was being such an idiot, I turned him off. Limbaugh and Ingraham are better and more consistent with the life ethic.
Does anyone know how the burial issue worked out? The last I heard, Mike-hell was going to have her cremated and buried in Pennsylvania with a restraining order against her parents, barring visitation. Her parents wanted her to have a traditional Catholic burial.
This post was encouraging because I was thinking that America had really lost its soul. But as usual, when they have access to accurate information, they land on their feet.
#3
It is important that in the next weeks and months we understand how and why, during the two weeks of torture of Terri Schindler, the blogosphere has been unable to attack and expose the lies of the mainstream media. A lot has been written and done but there haven't been the determination and the will that have pulled Dan Blather down from his throne.
The subculture of the deathocrats apparently has still a lot of space in the minds and souls of many who otherwise are able to see through the MSM lies...
We must understand, we must discuss.
#5
Placing too much trust in Zogby will get you burned. He's all over the map as far as accuracy. Also, I think many people look at the Schiavo case as a case of the government interfering in a matter that should be between a husband and wife alone, and this raises privacy concerns. Even if we agree that Michael Schiavo is a slimebag, he was her husband and was in the best position to know Terri's wishes as far as life support.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
04/05/2005 12:07 Comments ||
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#6
"When asked directly about Terriâs case and told the her estranged husband Michael "has had a girlfriend for 10 years and has two children with her" 56 percent of Americans believed guardianship should have been turned over to Terriâs parents while 37 percent disagreed"
Sorry for repeating what is already in the posted article, but evidently someone is unable to read.
#7
Poitiers-Lepanto, if that comment was directed at me then I have to say that I can read just fine. Polls don't make law, legislatures are not judges, and hard cases make bad law. The Schiavo matter is a hard case because Michael Schiavo is such an unsympathetic character. Even so, it is not the place of the federal government to intervene in what is a matter for the individuals involved. If there was some question about Michael Schiavo's conflicts of interest -- and it's clear that he's got plenty of them -- then it could be a matter for the state of Florida to resolve, but it should not be a federal matter. At bottom, leaving aside the emotions this case raises, it's a matter of privacy. And this is the last I'll say about this.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
04/05/2005 13:55 Comments ||
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#8
As they say: Tell me the answer you want and I make up the questions.
Thats a VERY disputable point - you don't have all the facts do you?
Legally, He had comitted adultery and bigamy, both criminal acts in the Florida State Code. That is enough to sever the legal relationshitp. How, I hear you ask... well he lived with another woman and produced 2 children wit hher (thats adultery), and he shared a househsld and commingled money and living with here for more than 5 years (thats common law marriage in Flordia IIRC).
Secondarily, thae fact that he had another "wife" and had not remained faithful to Terri shows that he felt he was no longer responsible for he in a recoprocal manner -and for marriage to exist there have to be responsibilities going both ways.
ANd remember that this was not an issue until ***7*** years into her condititon. micheal never claimed this as her wishes until well into the 7th year - a year in which they looked to recieve a large cash settlement for malpractice that resulted in Terri's condition, and the year AFTER he me tthe woman he is common-law husband to, outside of his original marriage to Terri.
So, Johnathan, you are wrong. Learn ALL the facts before you leap on the Culture of Death's bandwagon.
And Johnathan, when the 14th amendment rights (due process) are violated by local courts, who else is there to step in but the Feds? Hmm? Seems people ahd no problem stepping in when it was voting rights that the local courts messed up with. But a "pro-life" issue is subordinate to voting rights? Is life so cheap that it be subservient to your anti-federalist bent? Then you are no better than the communists who put life subservient to their totalitarian bent.
Johantan, answer the questions or consider yourself outed as a fraud.
#10
Okay, I really should have steered clear of this one, but I'm in it so let me make some things clear: Yes, I know the facts of the case. No, I'm not sympathetic with communism or totalitarianism or what have you -- anybody who has read my comments knows the contempt in which I hold the left and their apologists.
But I do have libertarian principles with respect to privacy issues and constitutional issues. When the federal government -- specifically, the federal legislature -- starts intervening on the state level in individual cases then we are losing freedoms. When the congress creates unfunded madates it is an intereference the rights of the states. When the Supreme Court created bogus law in Roe v. Wade they intervened in what is properly a matter for the states. Every time this happens, we the people lose a little freedom.
Like I say, I'm sorry I got into this -- emotions about this are obviously just too high. But I had to say my piece.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
04/05/2005 14:44 Comments ||
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#11
Where the hell was Zogby the weekend they pulled her tube? This kind of info which dealt directly with her situation may have changed the outcome. Zogby is sometimes a dubious pollster, but one can safely say that 79-9 is outside the margin of error.
#12
Reading again the posts in here and elsewhere is pretty interesting from the point of view of general anthropology.
1 (like in ONE) sentence of a judge (that is, of ONE of the THREE powers that should check and balance one another) has been judged VALID and not re-examined for 19 times.
A Woman has been killed by starving Her and dehydrating Her because 1 (ONE) judge, supported by another 19 of the Judiciary (that is PART OF THE GOVERNMENT) has written ONE sentence.
Now, some death cultists say that this fact, that a Judge (a Member of the Government), unchecked by the Legislative and by the Executive (the OTHER TWO branches of the Government)has killed this Woman, is a matter of protection of PRIVACY and matter of keeping the balance of POWERS.
I think that the reds, who have destroyed our schools, have done a GREAT JOB in making many (very many MANY)UNABLE to think by themselves.
I hope that all the happy posters who have contributed to this MURDER here and elsewhere, will NOT find themselves in the hands of ANY death-cultist.
I really do.
#13
When the federal government -- specifically, the federal legislature -- starts intervening on the state level in individual cases then we are losing freedoms.
So a woman had to die under dubious circumstances. But hey - we still have our freedoms! And that's what counts, right?
#15
"But I do have libertarian principles with respect to privacy issues and constitutional issues. . . ."
Yeah, Jonathan wants the PRIVACY to kill a woman who was not unconcious, who could walk and eat and drink on her own (until Mike-hell took that away), who responded to others, who needed basic and some specialized therapy to better her recovery (which also was denied to her by Mick-hell) and who deserved to live--even if her "quality" of life makes us squeamish. Her parents loved her and wanted to take care of her, and Mike-hell didn't know shit about what Terri wanted--he was just making it up to get rid of her and take the money and run.
Jonathan: ever think of moving to Saudi Arabia? Your libertarian politics directing you to rest inside the cloak of "privacy" in order to commit murder against helpless, disabled females, without government interference, would fit in real good there. Maybe you and Mike-hell could open up a club or something.
BTW, it is our constitutional system of checks and balances that sometimes requires a "check and a balance" from the legislature when the courts are trampling liberty and property issues. Duh.
I haven't heard any discussion along the lines of "what if the situation were reversed---and it was a WOMAN doing this to a MAN." A wife, putting to death her conscious-but-able-to -improve-significantly-with-care brain damaged husband? Ha! Wouldn't have even happened, GARUNTEEEE.
Thats a VERY disputable point - you don't have all the facts do you?
Legally, He had comitted adultery and bigamy, both criminal acts in the Florida State Code. That is enough to sever the legal relationshitp. How, I hear you ask... well he lived with another woman and produced 2 children wit hher (thats adultery), and he shared a househsld and commingled money and living with here for more than 5 years (thats common law marriage in Flordia IIRC).
Secondarily, thae fact that he had another "wife" and had not remained faithful to Terri shows that he felt he was no longer responsible for he in a recoprocal manner -and for marriage to exist there have to be responsibilities going both ways.
ANd remember that this was not an issue until ***7*** years into her condititon. micheal never claimed this as her wishes until well into the 7th year - a year in which they looked to recieve a large cash settlement for malpractice that resulted in Terri's condition, and the year AFTER he me tthe woman he is common-law husband to, outside of his original marriage to Terri.
So, Johnathan, you are wrong. Learn ALL the facts before you leap on the Culture of Death's bandwagon.
And Johnathan, when the 14th amendment rights (due process) are violated by local courts, who else is there to step in but the Feds? Hmm? Seems people ahd no problem stepping in when it was voting rights that the local courts messed up with. But a "pro-life" issue is subordinate to voting rights? Is life so cheap that it be subservient to your anti-federalist bent? Then you are no better than the communists who put life subservient to their totalitarian bent.
Johantan, answer the questions or consider yourself outed as a fraud.
Thats a VERY disputable point - you don't have all the facts do you?
Legally, He had comitted adultery and bigamy, both criminal acts in the Florida State Code. That is enough to sever the legal relationshitp. How, I hear you ask... well he lived with another woman and produced 2 children wit hher (thats adultery), and he shared a househsld and commingled money and living with here for more than 5 years (thats common law marriage in Flordia IIRC).
Secondarily, thae fact that he had another "wife" and had not remained faithful to Terri shows that he felt he was no longer responsible for he in a recoprocal manner -and for marriage to exist there have to be responsibilities going both ways.
ANd remember that this was not an issue until ***7*** years into her condititon. micheal never claimed this as her wishes until well into the 7th year - a year in which they looked to recieve a large cash settlement for malpractice that resulted in Terri's condition, and the year AFTER he me tthe woman he is common-law husband to, outside of his original marriage to Terri.
So, Johnathan, you are wrong. Learn ALL the facts before you leap on the Culture of Death's bandwagon.
And Johnathan, when the 14th amendment rights (due process) are violated by local courts, who else is there to step in but the Feds? Hmm? Seems people ahd no problem stepping in when it was voting rights that the local courts messed up with. But a "pro-life" issue is subordinate to voting rights? Is life so cheap that it be subservient to your anti-federalist bent? Then you are no better than the communists who put life subservient to their totalitarian bent.
Johantan, answer the questions or consider yourself outed as a fraud.
Seems that two of the Indian cardinals are a "problem" because they agree with JP2 on certain things like abortion, etc., and that makes the reporters unhappy.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/05/2005 12:10:43 AM ||
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Wait until they read Ratzburger's resume - and just about 70% of all the other Cardinals too.
#2
I'm available, and ready and willing to serve. Just call me...
Posted by: Bernie Law ||
04/05/2005 11:00 Comments ||
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#3
There will never be a US pope. People hate us too much, and our Cardinals always seem to be too weak and liberal, with a few execptions. Cardinal Stafford comes to mind, the complete antithesis of Cardinal Law, especially when it came to handling paedophile priests.
Thats why you see the Archdiocese of Denver doing well (and with Archbishop Chaput that I like very much - very well spoken and conservative along the lines of JP-II, read his stuff - its online in a lot of places), and the Archdiocese of Boston being sued into oblivion.
Still, I wish that Phillipino Cardinal was still active - he has such a great name....
#5
Very true TGA. Thats why I will not speak any more about whom I favor.
Who are you hearing as "favorite" over in your part of Europe?
The US keeps talking about the South Americans, especially the Brazilian, or else the African (more out of novelty I think for having a black Pope). The only Europeans talked about here are the Belgian (dismissed usually as too liberal), and the Austrian. And Ratzenburger of course because he is such a hard-line conservative is feared here by the Catholic "left", but is talked about as a "short term" pope due to his age (77).
But I do hope that whichever one of the Cardinals is called, we end up with a man that is very conservative with us and the faith inside the Church like JP-II, and compassionate but unwavering in his bedrock faith to those outside the Church.
It will take far beyond my lifetime for the Church to fully go through John Paul II's writings - they are an immense source of intellectual wealth and spiritual wisdom for the Church. I think at a minimum, JP-II will end up joining Augustine as a Doctor of the Church. What a thought that is.
#7
The US keeps talking about the South Americans, especially the Brazilian, or else the African (more out of novelty I think for having a black Pope).
On a serious note, would not the Nigerian Cardinal being selected have an effect of poking a finger in the eye of Islamofacism, owing to the Sharia nonesense that is going on in the North?
Not being Catholic, I figure doctrinially that most of the leading candidates have similar views, but the cultural differences, and the geographic ones, have to weigh on the minds of those voting. As Islamofacism is as paramount a problem today as Communism was when John Paul II took over in 1978...
#10
There will never be a US pope. People hate us too much, and our Cardinals always seem to be too weak and liberal, with a few execptions. Cardinal Stafford comes to mind, the complete antithesis of Cardinal Law, especially when it came to handling paedophile priests.
Thats why you see the Archdiocese of Denver doing well (and with Archbishop Chaput that I like very much - very well spoken and conservative along the lines of JP-II, read his stuff - its online in a lot of places), and the Archdiocese of Boston being sued into oblivion.
Still, I wish that Phillipino Cardinal was still active - he has such a great name....
#11
Very true TGA. Thats why I will not speak any more about whom I favor.
Who are you hearing as "favorite" over in your part of Europe?
The US keeps talking about the South Americans, especially the Brazilian, or else the African (more out of novelty I think for having a black Pope). The only Europeans talked about here are the Belgian (dismissed usually as too liberal), and the Austrian. And Ratzenburger of course because he is such a hard-line conservative is feared here by the Catholic "left", but is talked about as a "short term" pope due to his age (77).
But I do hope that whichever one of the Cardinals is called, we end up with a man that is very conservative with us and the faith inside the Church like JP-II, and compassionate but unwavering in his bedrock faith to those outside the Church.
It will take far beyond my lifetime for the Church to fully go through John Paul II's writings - they are an immense source of intellectual wealth and spiritual wisdom for the Church. I think at a minimum, JP-II will end up joining Augustine as a Doctor of the Church. What a thought that is.
#13
There will never be a US pope. People hate us too much, and our Cardinals always seem to be too weak and liberal, with a few execptions. Cardinal Stafford comes to mind, the complete antithesis of Cardinal Law, especially when it came to handling paedophile priests.
Thats why you see the Archdiocese of Denver doing well (and with Archbishop Chaput that I like very much - very well spoken and conservative along the lines of JP-II, read his stuff - its online in a lot of places), and the Archdiocese of Boston being sued into oblivion.
Still, I wish that Phillipino Cardinal was still active - he has such a great name....
#14
Very true TGA. Thats why I will not speak any more about whom I favor.
Who are you hearing as "favorite" over in your part of Europe?
The US keeps talking about the South Americans, especially the Brazilian, or else the African (more out of novelty I think for having a black Pope). The only Europeans talked about here are the Belgian (dismissed usually as too liberal), and the Austrian. And Ratzenburger of course because he is such a hard-line conservative is feared here by the Catholic "left", but is talked about as a "short term" pope due to his age (77).
But I do hope that whichever one of the Cardinals is called, we end up with a man that is very conservative with us and the faith inside the Church like JP-II, and compassionate but unwavering in his bedrock faith to those outside the Church.
It will take far beyond my lifetime for the Church to fully go through John Paul II's writings - they are an immense source of intellectual wealth and spiritual wisdom for the Church. I think at a minimum, JP-II will end up joining Augustine as a Doctor of the Church. What a thought that is.
A small photosensitive chip implanted in the retina has made a huge difference to the vision of patients suffering from the degenerative eye disease retinitis pigmentosa, US researchers have shown. And it seems that an implant in one eye can actually improve vision in the other.
Dr. Ronald Schuchard, a leading researcher in the field, told delegates at the Vision 2005 conference in London that his team were at a loss to explain some of their results, particularly: improvements in vision in the non-implanted eye; improvements in areas of the retina that should not have been affected by the surgery; and improved colour perception, despite the fact that the implant is not capable of detecting or distinguishing colours. Vision 2005 is an annual conference that takes in all aspects of sight loss, including technologies and medical advances that could help people overcome blindness.
I thought this was cool. IN THE movie Terminator 2, the villain is a robot made of liquid metal. He morphs from human form to helicopter and back again with ease, moulds himself into any shape without breaking, and can even flow under doorways. Now a similar-sounding futuristic material is about to turn up everywhere. It is called metallic glass. In the past year, researchers have made metallic glass three times stronger than the best industrial steel and 10 times springier. Almost a match for the Terminator, in other words.
Metallic glass sounds like an oxymoron, and in a way it is. It describes a metal alloy with a chaotic structure. While metal atoms normally arrange themselves in ordered arrays, or crystals, the atoms in a metallic glass are a disordered jumble, rather like the atoms in a liquid or a glass. And although strictly speaking a metallic glass isn't a liquid, because the atoms are fixed in place, one company is already marketing the stuff as "liquid metal".
It is the unusual structure that makes metallic glass so promising. In crystalline metal alloys, the atoms are ordered within regions called "grains", and the boundaries between the grains are points of weakness in the material. Metallic glasses, however, have no grain boundaries, so they are much stronger. Hit a crystalline metal with a hammer and it will bend, absorbing some of the energy of the blow by giving way along grain boundaries. But the atoms in an amorphous metal are tightly packed, and easily bounce back to their original shape after a blow (see Diagram). These materials lack bulky crystalline grains, so they can be shaped into features just 10 nanometres across. And their liquid-like structure means they melt at lower temperatures, and can be moulded nearly as easily as plastics.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: phil_b ||
04/05/2005 4:12:54 AM ||
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What use is a glass knife?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/05/2005 9:32 Comments ||
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RC -Glass knives! Here is what the Aztecs have been waiting for! They managed to be pretty deadly with glass knives (obsidian). Made swords, even, by putting flakes between layers of wood. :)
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
04/05/2005 9:45 Comments ||
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#3
#1ÃÂ What use is a glass knife?
Depends on whether a metal detector picks it up.
I thought glass was a liquid.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
04/05/2005 9:56 Comments ||
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#4
By pouring molten metal onto a cold, rapidly rotating copper cylinder, he could make sheets of "superfrozen" amorphous metal.
I helped do this for a summer in grad school. It was a most impressive display. The molten metal would be in contact with the wheel for just a second or so, then it would fly up into the air, still glowing, and onto the floor, where you'd have to pick it up with tweezers.
Needless to say, we weren't to the point of making golf clubs.
I wasn't too surprised (reading the article) that they found this stuff was brittle; while crystalline materials can shear on the crystal boundaries, they tend to be tough in other directions. Another form of the material has a crystalline structure in one direction, but is "glassy" in the others. These are quasicrystals, which is what we were working on.
The editorial comments in this article are way over the top; metallic glasses are neither liquid nor transparent.
#7
IN THE movie Terminator 2, the villain is a robot made of liquid metal. He morphs from human form to helicopter and back again with ease...
He didn't morph into a helicopter. Sheesh...
Posted by: Dar ||
04/05/2005 10:38 Comments ||
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#8
I keep thinking of Star Trek's Transparent Aluminum
#10
Here is what the Aztecs have been waiting for! They managed to be pretty deadly with glass knives (obsidian).
No they weren't (read the chapter about Cortez in Victor David Hanson's "Carnage and Culture"). In fact while obsidian flakes increased the lethality of their weapons they could not inflict deep wounds with them even against unarmored or lighthly armored (padded cloth) indigenous opponents, let alone against the iron armor of the Spanish. They simple weren't in the same league than the Spanish swords who could pierce a man side to side or cut members and heads in a single blow. Whenever possible the Aztecs used weapons abandonned by the Spaniards. In fact the main danger for the Spanish was not Aztec's weapons but exhaustion who allowed the Aztecs to overpower and capture them. At Otumba the Aztecs were 200 to one against the Spanish and were still crushed.
#12
Mrs. Davis, glass is technically a liquid. If you ever visit a house that is more than 80 or 100 years old look at the bottom of the window panes. The glass will be thicker at the bottom because gravity has caused the glass to flow downward.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/05/2005 12:32 Comments ||
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#13
JFM - But, but, but, the hippie sandal wearing Archeo-astronomy professor in college told me that they were deadly warriors! Could he have been wrong? ;)
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
04/05/2005 12:41 Comments ||
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#14
What use is a chocolate-covered manhole cover?
Survival rations on an alien planet, of course.
Jackal -- that's odd. I actually managed to find the story with Google using my mis-remembered version of the title.
Deacon -- glass doesn't flow:
http://tafkac.org/science/glass_flow.html
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/05/2005 12:49 Comments ||
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#16
Robert, what I should have said is OLD glass. Modern glass doesn't flow but if the glass is old enough and has been in a verticle position long enough it will pool at the bottom, not much,but it will. This is only true of very old, and probably poorly made, glass. When I was practicing Architecture and renovated several buildings over 100 years old nearly all the panes were like that. They weren't formed like that. The glass had actually slightly bulged over the stops at the bottom. Very interesting phenomanon.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/05/2005 15:32 Comments ||
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#17
Deacon, apparently old glass flowing is a myth. A possible explanation for what you and others have seen is the glass panes were unevenly manufactured and the thinner end would be installed at the top becuase this would let in more light which is after all the purpose of a window.
I'm sure the leftists will whine about this, since Christian fundamentalist are involved.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/05/2005 13:36 Comments ||
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#2
Would you believe I was just trying to remember which tribe it was yesterday? I remember hearing about these people in India that had all of these customs that were essentially Jewish... yet they didn't know why.
CAIRO — About 300 university students staged a rowdy protest in downtown Cairo yesterday calling for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step down and further democratic reforms. The protest, held on the grounds of the American University in Cairo, was the latest in a series of demonstrations aimed at increasing political freedoms in Egypt.
The AUC, eh? Mayhaps some good ideas are getting spread around ....
Truckloads of police cordoned off the university during the protest, which comes ahead of planned September presidential elections in which more than one candidate — other than the president — will be able to stand. "Change for Change ... Not for Bush," said one student banner in reference to contentious Middle East reform calls by US President George W. Bush.
Yeah, yeah, whatever.
Another said: "No more extensions. No to Succession," displaying opposition to Mubarak continuing as president or handing power to his youngest son, Gamal. "One of our main demands would be the immediate ... (end) of emergency laws, limitation of how many terms a president can be in office, and free elections observed by UN personnel," said Ahmed El Droubi, one of the protest organisers. Egyptian authorities yesterday barred two leaders of the banned but tolerated Muslim Brotherhood from leaving the country for a meeting in Algeria, one of the two sanctioned men said. Essam el-Erian said he and former MP Mohamed Gamal Heshmat were stopped by passport police at Cairo airport and told them they were "forbidden to leave the country". The passport official gave no reason.
"And we don't have to, neither! Now git!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/05/2005 12:08:09 AM ||
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LAHORE: Four men including a former vice president of the Lahore Bar Association (LBA) were gunned down by unidentified men in Sattokatla police precincts on Monday. Reportedly, lawyer Tariq Majeed was going with his cousin Arif, bodyguard and driver in his car. When they reached Chowk Bhoobatian on Raiwind Road, the assailants sprayed bullets at them, killed the four instantly and fled. Police sent the bodies for autopsies and registered a case. An eyewitness said the assailants intercepted Tariq's car and opened indiscriminate fire. They continued firing at the car till they were sure all their victims were dead. Police said Tariq's youngest brother Rana Khalid had killed a son of Siddique Nabmardar seven months ago that prompted enmity between the two families.
"[BANG!] This is fer young Mahmoud, yew varmint!"
Posted by: Fred ||
04/05/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Government lacky and SABC news and current affairs head Snuki Zikalala interviewed Zimbabwean hero Robert Mugabe last night on the state controlled television network.
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.
Brazilian authorities have arrested 11 police officers over the killing of 30 people in a shooting rampage on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, the state security chief has said. The Thursday night slaughter, which is suspected to be a response to a crackdown on corrupt police officers, was the worst massacre in more than a decade in the seaside city. The armed men shot dead men, women and children at random in the working class district of Baixada Fluminense on Rio's rough north side. Security chief Marcelo Itagiba said not all the 11 prisoners, members of the state military police force, had necessarily taken part in the killings but they needed to explain what they were doing in the Baixada Fluminense area on that day. Another police officer is still being sought.
While it is expected that the former President 
PYONGYANG (AFP) - In North Korea's version of Hollywood, there is only room for one star: the nation's "Dear Leader", movie buff extraordinaire, scriptwriter and casting agent all rolled into one -- Kim Jong-Il. 
The chairman of one of the entertainment industry's most important congressional committees says he wants to take the enforcement of broadcast decency standards into the realm of criminal prosecution. 
CAIRO — About 300 university students staged a rowdy protest in downtown Cairo yesterday calling for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step down and further democratic reforms. The protest, held on the grounds of the American University in Cairo, was the latest in a series of demonstrations aimed at increasing political freedoms in Egypt.
LAHORE: Four men including a former vice president of the Lahore Bar Association (LBA) were gunned down by unidentified men in Sattokatla police precincts on Monday. Reportedly, lawyer Tariq Majeed was going with his cousin Arif, bodyguard and driver in his car. When they reached Chowk Bhoobatian on Raiwind Road, the assailants sprayed bullets at them, killed the four instantly and fled. Police sent the bodies for autopsies and registered a case. An eyewitness said the assailants intercepted Tariq's car and opened indiscriminate fire. They continued firing at the car till they were sure all their victims were dead. Police said Tariq's youngest brother Rana Khalid had killed a son of Siddique Nabmardar seven months ago that prompted enmity between the two families. 
