Carrying replicas of boats - the traditional election symbol of the main opposition Awami League party - and chanting slogans such as "No reforms, no polls" and "Accept reforms before it is too late", the demonstrators marched from Gabtali, about 20km west of central Dhaka. The marchers burnt the chief election commissioner, MA Aziz, in effigy. Opposition parties have accused Aziz of being too partisan and said they would not take part in any elections with him at the helm.
The march was on the sixth and final day of protests, which were organised by Bangladesh's 14-party opposition alliance before parliamentary elections next January. The opposition alliance led by Sheikh Hasina, the former prime minister and leader of Awami, reaffirmed that it would "boycott and resist" the parliamentary election unless the government carried out electoral reforms. "The massive turnout in the series of marches since July 25 demonstrates people's strong support for the reforms needed to make the election free and fair," the Awami general secretary, Abdul Jalil, said on Sunday. "We will keep adding pressure on the government until it bows to popular wishes."
Begum Khaleda Zia, the Bangladeshi prime minister, accused the opposition of trying to foil the election and disrupt democracy. The ruling Bangladesh Nationalist party also held a march on Sunday, the second day of a three-day programme designed to counter the opposition show of strength.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/01/2006 00:00 ||
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SCHOOLS would no longer be required to teach children the difference between right and wrong under plans to revise the core aims of the National Curriculum. Instead, under a new wording that reflects a world of relative rather than absolute values, teachers would be asked to encourage pupils to develop secure values and beliefs.
It's all relative, you know, 'secure' values.
The draft also purges references to promoting leadership skills and deletes the requirement to teach children about Britains cultural heritage.
No need to teach the Magna Carta, Cromwell, the Restoration, Shakespeare, Dickens, Orwell, how the tommies won the wars, or how British beliefs and langauge circled the world ...
Ministers have asked for the curriculums aims to be slimmed down to give schools more flexibility in the way they teach pupils aged 11 to 14.
The present aims for Stage 3 pupils state: The school curriculum should pass on enduring values. It should develop principles for distinguishing between right and wrong. The QCAs proposals will see these phrases replaced to simply say that pupils should have secure values and beliefs.
Because absolute values for right and wrong make people uncomfortable, and we'd never want to do that.
The existing aims state that the curriculum should develop childrens ability to relate to others and work for the common good. The proposed changes would remove all references to the common good.
Because the 'common good' sometimes requires that you defend the common good, and that leads to icky things like defense.
The requirement to teach Britains cultural heritage will also be removed. The present version states: The school curriculum should contribute to the development of pupils sense of identity through knowledge and understanding of the spiritual, moral, social and cultural heritages of Britains diverse society.
Because wimmins studies and transgendered relationships are more important to the curriculum than Chaucer or Thomas Hardy.
The proposals say that individuals should be helped to understand different cultures and traditions and have a strong sense of their own place in the world.
Except their own, of course.
References to developing leadership in pupils have also been removed. One of the present aims is to give pupils the opportunity to become creative, innovative, enterprising and capable of leadership. This is due to be replaced by the aim of ensuring that pupils are enterprising.
Because the new British man or womyn need not be a leader, they just need to do as they're told.
Professor Alan Smithers, of the University of Buckinghams centre for education and employment research, said: The idea that they think it is appropriate to dispense with right and wrong is a bit alarming.
Teachers leaders said that they did not need to be told to teach children to distinguish between right and wrong. A spokeswoman for the National Union of Teachers said: Teachers always resented being told that one of the aims of the school was to teach the difference between right and wrong. That is inherent in the way teachers operate. Removing it from the National Curriculum will make no difference.
Then why remove it? Seems to me that having it in the curriculum would buttress teacher attempts to teach right versus wrong, and serve as a basis of support should unhappy parents complain. By removing it you send a signal -- make it optional and implicit to teach right versus wrong rather than mandatory and explicit, and sure enough, some proportion of teachers will go light on the issue, if not abandon it alltogether. After all, that's the signal being sent.
But she insisted that it was important for children to understand about their cultural heritage. To remove that requirement can undermine childrens feelings of security in the country where they are living, she said.
A spokesman for the QCA said: The proposed new wording of the curriculum aims is a draft which will be consulted on formally next year as part of the ongoing review of Key Stage 3. One aim of the review is that there should be more flexibility and personalisation that focuses on practical advice for teachers. The new wording states clearly that young people should become responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society. It also identifies the need for young people who challenge injustice, are committed to human rights and strive to live peaceably with others.
Yes, responsible citizens who do as they're told taught.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/01/2006 00:00 ||
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I always liked Great Britain. I'll really miss it.
#3
"The proposals say that individuals should be helped to understand different cultures and traditions and have a strong sense of their own place in the world.
#6
I would like to see in any 'Immigration Reform' legislation a vast expanded quota for English and mainland Europeans who'd like to escape the future socialist collapse and seek the virtues of capitalism and individualism, like those great ancestors of mine who took the great and glorious plunge into the unknown.
#11
Remember the movie To Sir With Love ?
They should make a sequel, To Haji With Love.
It can be about a teacher who teaches his students how to surrender your past and your property and don a burka gracefully and without malice. The special scene would be the one where they dance their last dance and then the music ends and the seething begins.
#12
This is so outrageous it makes you gasp for breath. Unfortunately, things are every bit as bad in the US. The commies ( leftist Dumocrats) determined long ago the best way to destroy us was from within. They are destroying the future thru the capture of the schools. We need to totally disband public schooling. Once schools are once again a private concern, these commies can be expunged. School discipline can be returned. Those who strive to learn can. And I suspect that it woould be much more economical when all is said and done.
#13
The proposals say that individuals should be helped to understand different cultures and traditions and have a strong sense of their own place in the world.
"Attention all comrades! Everything is normal! That is all!"
Cuba's Communist government tried to impose a sense of normalcy Tuesday, its first day in 47 years without Fidel Castro in charge. Businesses remained open and workers rallied in support of their ailing leader, who temporarily handed power to his brother after surgery. Raul Castro, the island's acting president, was nowhere to be seen as Cubans began to worry about what comes next and exiles in Miami celebrated a development they hoped signaled the death of a dictator. Cuban dissidents kept a low profile while watching for signs of Castro's condition. "Everything's normal here for the moment," said hospital worker Emilio Garcia, 41, waiting for a friend at a Havana hotel. "But we've never experienced this before it's like a small test of how things could be without Fidel." The main newscast on state-run television gave no details of the 79-year-old Castro's condition, but ran a string of man-on-the-street interviews with Cubans wishing him well and professing confidence in the revolution's staying power. The anchor said Castro had the people's "unconditional support." The usual suspects leaders of China, Venezuela, Bolivia and Mexico wished Castro well.
Fidel Castro's surgery to stop intestinal bleeding was successful and the Cuban leader was recovering, his allies said Tuesday. Darn. I was hoping for "stable."
The Venezuelan government said in a statement that it had "received with satisfaction the information from Cuban authorities according to which the recovery process of President Fidel Castro is advancing positively." The statement did not give specifics about Castro's condition.
A leftist Argentine lawmaker, Miguel Bonasso, said he called Castro aides Monday night and was told the surgery "was successful" and the leader was resting.
Cuban state television announced Monday night that Castro had been operated on to repair a "sharp intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding" and had temporarily turned over presidential powers his brother Raul, shocking Cubans on the island and in exile. It was the first time that Castro, two weeks away from 80th birthday, had relinquished power in 47 years of absolute rule.
Castro said in a letter read live by his secretary, Carlos Valenciaga, that extreme stress "had provoked in me a sharp intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding that obligated me to undergo a complicated surgical procedure." Castro did not appear on the broadcast.
Some government work centers summoned employees to participate in outdoor political gatherings to express support for Fidel. Dozens of workers at one gathering waved small Cuban flags and shouted: "Long live Fidel!" "There is no one else like him," True, now that Pol Pot and Hitler are dead. said Osmar Fernandez, 27, drinking rum at a cafe. "I want Fidel to live for 80 more years." As long as it's in great pain.
It was unknown when or where the surgery took place or where Castro was recovering. I guess the CIA wouldn't know. And if they did, wouldn't do anything (effective) about it.
Chinese President Hu Jintao also sent a message of good wishes to Castro, the official Xinhua News Agency said. He would.
Fidel Castro announced Monday night in a letter read by his secretary live on state television that due to illness he was temporarily relinquishing the presidency to his brother and successor Raul, the defense minister.
In the letter read by his secretary Carlos Valenciaga, Castro said he had suffered gastrointestinal bleeding, apparently due to stress from recent public appearances in Argentina and Cuba, and had to undergo an operation
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/01/2006 00:00 ||
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Supporters of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who officially lost Mexico's presidential vote, have set up camps across the capital as they demand a poll recount in the disputed election. Lopez Obrador is reported to have spent the night outside in Mexico City's main Zocalo plaza with an estimated 500,000 protesters who had attended a rally on Sunday. Lopez Obrador earlier asked supporters of his Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) to set up camps along the city's Reforma boulevard as part of a campaign of civil disobedience to demand that a top electoral court orders a recount.
Is it time to suggest a partition? Will it turn out to be a quagmire?
I'll bet we don't have an exit strategy, do we? Damn that Bush!
The barrier could block most east-west traffic on one of the main arteries in the city that is home to 20 million people. "We hope that some day people will realise that we were right, and we needed to do this," protester Tirso Vicente told the Associated Press news agency.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/01/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Is this like the EU thing where they keep going until it comes out "right"?
#2
Any different than the whiny American left who keep alive their myth that the 2000 election was stolen, even though the NYT and Miami papers paid for a recount and found that indeed Bush won Florida.
#3
This is communist way. We have seen same behavior by illegals here in US. I'm surprised the military hasn't stepped forward to squelsh this. May be that the generales think they'll be able to extract more payoffs from this clown.
#6
Yes, Glineling, it is different. Here, so far, all we have is whining and lawsuits. In Mexico they have rallies designed to intimidate and disrupt--and I'd guess it will go farther than that shortly. I hold no brief for the alternative reality leftists here, but so far they've been peaceful.
Posted by: James ||
08/01/2006 17:12 Comments ||
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Shanghai: A massive bunker complex capable of sheltering 200,000 people from a nuclear attack has been built, a local newspaper has reported. The 970,000sq ft complex has water, electricity, lighting, ventilation and protective doors, and connects to shopping centres, office blocks, apartment buildings and the subway system via 15 tunnels.
Um. Okay. Alrighty then. WTF???
Seeing as Shanghai has 14 million people, and the metro area likely double that, they're going to save 200k people? Hmmm, I think somehow drawing lots isn't what they have in mind.
#3
My feeling is that it won't survive a direct hit. And a facility that big can easily be targeted. Sounds like Massachusett's Big Dig, but bigger by some exponential factor. Be nice to get the contract, since there's all kinds of ways to cut corners (vs the official bid) on materials in a structure that will only be tested in the event of a nuclear war (i.e. never). Besides, if there's a nuclear war, what else can the government do to you?
#9
This announcement is as much about Chinese nationalism rising as anything. I know a bunch of Chinese grad students studying computer science and such here - they aren't antiAmerican, but they are distinctly more Chinese-proud than their counterparts of a decade ago were.
#10
Seeing as Shanghai has 14 million people, and the metro area likely double that, they're going to save 200k people? Hmmm, I think somehow drawing lots isn't what they have in mind.
Sounds like they have a mine shaft gap.
Posted by: SLO Jim ||
08/01/2006 12:12 Comments ||
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...they aren't antiAmerican, but they are distinctly more Chinese-proud than their counterparts of a decade ago were.
Yeah, I've worked with Chinese who come across the same way. They don't bad-mouth the USA, but the nationalism sure came out when I mentioned Tibet.
I wouldn't even touch Formosa Taiwan after that exchange.
#12
WTF? That is only 5 sq ft per person, imagine a square of 2'3" by 2' 3". You could barely even sit down in it! I know Chinese are a little smaller than overfed Americans (such as myself), but this just doesn't sound reasonable at all!
THE Federal Government has flagged closer military ties with Japan.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who is visiting Tokyo, says Australian troops have already worked effectively with Japan's Self Defence Force in Iraq, and it could be time to consider joint military training.
We've been able to work together well in East Timor, we've been able to demonstrate we've been able to work together well in Iraq, he told ABC Radio.
Who knows what the future may hold, but the fact that two countries that share the same values and the same alliance relationship with the United States, in the same broadly defined region of the world, it's only natural that there should be some association between the Self Defence Force and the Australian Defence Force.
Japan's constitution limits the role of its Self Defence Force, and the military is a sensitive issue in the country.
Tokyo's relationship with China which Japan invaded in 1937 and occupied until the end of World War II has soured because of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to a controversial shrine in Tokyo.
The shrine honours Japan's war dead, including convicted war criminals who were executed after the conflict.
Mr Downer, whose father was a prisoner of war in Japanese-occupied Singapore, raised the issue of the shrine visits with Mr Koizumi yesterday.
But he said he was guided by his father's approach to dealing with Japan.
He took the view that, well, we had to look to the future in the relationship, we couldn't just keep reliving the past, Mr Downer said.
He'd been in Changi for three-and-a-half years.
I've taken my lead in life in respect of the Japan relationship very much from him.
A circumcision festival attracted Kosovo's Albanians and Serbs to a Bosnian Muslim rite for dozens of small boys. Residents of villages near Kosovo's southern town of Prizren say the Sunet circumcisions of more than 100 small boys in one day could be explained simply by poverty.
"It dates from a period of crisis when people had no money. It was simpler for everybody to come together and share the expenses," Rafik Kasi, a journalist from Gornje Ljubinje said. His nephew was circumcised during the one-day festival, The New York Times reported Monday.
In the ethnically divided Serbia's predominantly ethnic-Albanian Kosovo province, there are a number of other Bosnian Muslim villages in the Zupa Valley near Prizren, between Albanian and Macedonian borders, that had mass Sunet ceremonies. Now, only these two villages maintain the ancient circumcision festival, all along with a Romany band.
On Saturday, two surgeons and a doctor performed procedures on boys under local anesthetic for a small number of parents, while a 69-year-old barber from Prizren, circumcised a great majority of boys, mostly aged under 5.
SERBIA will reject independence as a solution for Kosovo and continue to consider the province part of its territory, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said.
The policy of Serbia would be to declare that Kosovo is part of Serbia...
"The policy of Serbia would be to declare that Kosovo is part of Serbia. That's not empty rhetoric, but a constitutional-legal formula," Mr Kostunica said in an interview with the liberal Serb daily Danas.
Such a step would create a Cyprus-style division in the Balkans if Kosovo Albanians clinch the independence diplomats say could come within six months. "Serbia will reject a solution that takes Kosovo away from Serbia and, very importantly, will continue to consider Kosovo part of its territory," said Mr Kostunica.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/01/2006 00:00 ||
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During the Clinton-War on Serbia, my Serb landlord told me of the ethnic cleansing tactics of Muslims. And he said, if Serbs are kicked out of the south of Kosovo Province, the Muslims would destroy every Medieval monastery. Thanks to Clinton, they did exactly that and the de-Serbization of Kosovo continues.
NEW DELHI, August 01, 2006: Even with Israel bombing Lebanon, India is preparing to enter into a first-ever joint defence venture with Israel to manufacture cargo ammunition.
The joint venture is proposed between the Khamaria ordinance factory near Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh and Israel Military Industries (IMI), a public sector company. This will be the first foreign direct investment (FDI) in the defence sector in India since new policies about the manufacture of military products were framed last year.
However, the estimated cost of the project is undisclosed. Cargo ammunition is an explosive that can be fired from both artillery guns and tanks and is designed to damage and maim the enemy over a large area. Cargo ammunition of various calibres will enhance the importance of artillery on the battlefield dramatically, officials said
Posted by: john ||
08/01/2006 19:11 ||
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#1
During the Kargil War, Israel supplied India with ammunition from its own miliatry stocks.
The UAVs and artillery rounds were essential for destroying the invaders - over 100 000 artillery rounds were fired on Pak positions
Posted by: john ||
08/01/2006 19:24 Comments ||
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Against the backdrop of the quantum jump in Indo-US defence cooperation, another American firm -- Raytheon Systems Limited -- offered its Airborne Standoff Radar (ASTOR) system to India for long-range battlefield surveillance. In a deal worth $1.2 billion, the radar system has just been supplied to the UK Ministry of Defence. The Sentinel R1 aircraft forms the heart of the ASTOR platform, which uses an active electronically scanned array radar for relaying precise imagery to ground stations for optimal mission support.
Posted by: john ||
08/01/2006 11:50 ||
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#1
Impressive system ... expect much Pak seething..
Posted by: john ||
08/01/2006 19:33 Comments ||
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And best of all, it has huge utility in countering any Chinese moves on the border. It has the resolution to make really nice images for distribution, showing the enemy emplacements and vehicles.
Asia's energy needs are soaring, and the region is increasingly turning to nuclear technology to meet the rising demand. Many governments see nuclear power as a way to cut air pollution and ease the need for imported oil.
In the face of rising oil prices and chronic air pollution, Asian nations are looking to nuclear power to solve their energy problems.
Reactors are being built across the region. Japan and South Korea have the most developed nuclear industries, but China and India are leading the charge with new projects.
John Ritch is the director general of the World Nuclear Association.
"The two largest nuclear planned programs in the world right now are those of India and China," he said. "I would expect that each of those countries, by the middle of this century, will have 250 nuclear power reactors. Now that sounds like a lot, but it won't be a very substantial portion of their electricity."
China alone plans to build 30 reactors by 2020, up from nine now. Eight of those are under construction, with two nearing completion. The reactors are part of an ambitious government effort to rapidly expand electricity output to keep up with its booming manufacturing industry.
China has been moving to alternative energy sources such as wind, hydroelectric and nuclear in an effort to cut its use of coal. Pollution from coal burning plants blankets most Chinese cities. And moving coal from the mines in the north and west to the industrialized east is straining the transportation system.
India has 15 reactors operating, and nine are under construction. Although nuclear power provides only about three percent of India's electricity, the World Nuclear Association estimates that could increase to 25 percent by mid-century.
Unlike China and India, which only recently began rushing to build reactors, Japan and South Korea have long relied on nuclear technology to reduce their need for foreign fuels.
Japan depends on imported oil, gas and coal for about 80 percent of its energy needs, which leaves its highly industrialized economy vulnerable to market fluctuations.
Nuclear reactors account for about a third of Japan's energy production, and the government says it plans to increase that to more than 40 percent by 2014, after adding more than 10 new reactors.
South Korea is even more dependent than Japan on imported fuel - as much as 97 percent of its fossil fuel supply is imported. South Korean government reports show 20 reactors provide 40 percent of electricity production, and at least eight new reactors are planned.
There are concerns, however, about this rush to go nuclear. Reactors present the risk of a radiation accident that could kill or sicken thousands of people. They also are expensive to build.
Liu Changxin of the China Nuclear Society says one of the main factors in China's nuclear plan is the need to reduce air pollution. Still, he says, it is only part of the solution.
"I don't think nuclear power can play the most important, or even a very important role in China's energy supply," he said. "Just a part of our energy policy, just one of the choices."
Liu says that China's energy needs are growing so rapidly that the country needs to consider all options.
Greenpeace wants to see countries such as China and India explore other choices. Szeping Lo, a Greenpeace spokesman in Hong Kong, says China has taken steps to develop renewable energy sources.
"Just last November the deputy minister of energy announced that China will increase its wind energy development target from 20 gigawatts to 30 gigawatts by 2020," he said.
That is almost the same amount of energy China plans to produce using nuclear power.
Lo opposes all uses of nuclear power because of the dangers and costs.
"The nuclear industry is a dying industry. No new nuclear power plant has been built in the U.S. in the last decade, and there's no new nuclear power plants being built either in Western Europe, in many other countries," Lo said.
John Ritch at the World Nuclear Association is frustrated by the opposition to nuclear technology. He says nuclear energy is clean and safe and should stand side by side with other clean energy technologies.
"The catastrophic effects of an intensifying concentration of greenhouse gasses are going to make the planet unlivable," he said. "And it is incumbent on the governments of Asia and the governments of other regions of the world to shift as quickly as possible to clean energy technologies, and nuclear is the quintessential clean energy technology that can be expanded on a large scale."
As the economies of Asia continue to grow, so will the energy needs. The Asia Development Bank says that from 1973 to 2003 Asia's energy consumption grew by 230 percent, compared with an average worldwide increase of 75 percent.
With much of Asia seeing economic growth rates above six percent over the past few years, electricity needs are likely to continue expanding rapidly. That means despite concerns over safety and cost, some of the region's smaller economies, including Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, are looking to nuclear power to fuel their futures.
Posted by: john ||
08/01/2006 09:16 ||
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#1
What a good idea. I wonder why it never occurred to us?
#3
Petroleum constitutes only 1.6% of the fuel used for power generation in the US. Nuclear will do nothing to dent our dependence on oil which is used primarily for transportation, unless we suddenly move to electirc vehicles by legislative fiat. As long as you drive your car, you'll be paying Ruskies & Muslims to do it.
#4
Your right NS. We are still being prevented from building nuclear plants due to 'enviromental' concerns. By 'environental' I mean junk Gore-class science and not real 'solid' enviromental science.
#5
Nuclear isn't the solution, but it's part of it. There's still plenty of low hanging fruit in the US energy picture. Nuclear energy and drilling ANWR and the OCS come to mind.
#6
I believe I heard that US has 16 projects ready to enter application process. If we would get off our ass and get reproceesing cycles back on stream we could burn about 95% of the fuel using secondary burn cycles in fast reactors. Storage issues which all the envirno touchy feelies concentrate on would be minimal.
#1
Sniff, sniff, and to think it only took 20-plus years to officially discover it - Yoohoo, Perfesser, do I get the "A" now!? Think I'll celebrate by going to Subway and ordering two or three footlongs, plus same again later for dinner, plus maybe watch some naked babes at a local strip club, Clintonian Male Brute that I and all Men and Repubs are. Iff only America = Amerika would only adopt OWG and Socialism my cholesterol wouldn't be so high - the Motherly Chicoms can't exterminate 200Milyuhn-plus Fascist Amerikans fast enough to help save my Male Brute soul.
#6
DarthVader - I have no doubt that there's some serious RPG hours logged in the past of many here (me included)...
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
08/01/2006 9:35 Comments ||
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The monstrous Cthulhu will soon rise from the seas...
"That cult would never die until the stars came right again, and the secret priests would take Cthulhu from His tomb to revive His subjects and resume His rule of earth. The time would be easy to know, for then mankind would have become as the Great Old Ones; free and wild, and beyond good and evil, with laws and morals thrown aside and all men shouting and killing and reveling in joy. Then the liberated Old Ones would teach them new ways to shout and kill and revel and enjoy themselves, and all earth would flame with a holocaust of ecstasy and freedom."
Posted by: Steve ||
08/01/2006 9:55 Comments ||
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DV, one doesn't have to have logged some serious RPG hours to be an HPL fan and thus know of such things as mere mortals should never seek to know.
However, with that said, I myself confess to having logged some very serious RPG and wargaming hours over the last couple of millenia or so. In point of fact, I still run an email game online which has some very serious RPG aspects to it (Fire On The Suns or FOTS if anyone's interested).
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/01/2006 13:08 Comments ||
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#12
When I read this article, I thought it sounded familiar. I used to watch the Kirk/Spock/McCoy/Scotty Star Trek program in the 1960's. I guess life eventually imitates art.
There was a episode called the Immunity Syndrome and, you guessed it. A giant space blob errrr; giant jellyfish; but you get the point.
EFL:... Texas for the first time supplanted historic leader California as the top state in cumulative wind power capacity, according to the American Wind Energy Associations (AWEA) Second Quarter Market Report.
The report also shows that U.S. developers brought online a capacity total of 822 megawatts (MW) in the first half of the year [later on the article forecasts 3000MW for the whole year]. With the strong growth, the U.S.s cumulative wind power capacity surged to 9,971 MW...
Texas s cumulative total now stands at 2,370 MW of capacityenough to power over 600,000 average American homesfollowed by Californias 2,323 MW. Texas edged ahead of California by adding a total of 375 MW, about half of the total amount installed in the country since the beginning of the year....
Posted by: Matt ||
08/01/2006 14:37 Comments ||
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#6
Just came in from the Austin hot sun from filling up my gas tank, while the Texas wind was blowing my hair to new heights! Yep, we got plenty of wind.
#10
Besoeker, Navajo Grill is good, but we go for the German food. I Like Der Lindenbaum, but the biergarten style places are pretty good too. As for Austin, I second that. Land of fruits and nuts.
#12
FYI. Don't ever live near wind farms. The low-level vibrations from the turning blades will bake your brain and make you really, really sick. Not good for humans or animals, and of course birds get whacked by the thousands. "oooohhh . . . wind power . . . !" More "green" idiocy.
The House passed the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA) by 410 votes to 15. The Act forbids publicly funded organisations, such as schools and libraries, from allowing young people to access sites that have chat rooms or "social networking" elements. Under the proposed law, adults in such institutions can ask for permission to access the sites.
"The social networking sites have become, in a sense, a happy hunting ground for child predators," said Republican congressman Michael Fitzpatrick before the vote. The Act prohibits the publicly funded bodies to give children access to sites where they might receive "unlawful sexual advances".
The move was condemned by the American Library Association (ALA). "ALA is disappointed by the House's passage of DOPA," said ALA president Leslie Burger. "This unnecessary and overly broad legislation will hinder students' ability to engage in distance learning and block library computer users from accessing a wide array of essential internet applications including instant messaging, email, wikis and blogs.
"Under DOPA, people who use library and school computers as their primary conduits to the internet will be unfairly blocked from accessing some of the web's most powerful emerging technologies and learning applications. As libraries are already required to block content that is 'harmful to minors' under the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), DOPA is redundant and unnecessary legislation."
The law suggests that the FCC consider as social networking sites any site that allows users to edit a profile, chat to users or post personal data.
Under that loose definition a very large number of sites would qualify, including Amazon.com, which allows users to post lists of preferences and create profiles of authors, eBay, in which each user has a profile which changes as they shop, or any number of major news sites, where users can discuss stories online.
I think that legislators dare not oppose or even properly discuss any legislation that purports to even slightly reduce child predation, regardless of its flaws. Activists have noticed this, and have used it to ramrod other dubious bills in the last few years, often naming the law after some kid to add further poignancy.
#3
I suspect we will see more and more ineffectual laws like this until the kids who grew up with the net start making the laws. This is also how the liquor and drug laws got to be the way they are.
#6
Lofgren is in San Jose. CD 1-20 are Northern Calif, 21-51 Southern. Diane Watson is the only SoCal. Her district is south of Hollywood and encompasses Culver City and USC.
#9
This is a stepping stone. Soon you will have to 'register' to be able to access such sites even from your own computer - much like you have to show ID to get beer or smokes -- and will be just as ineffective.....
#10
This is a stepping stone. Soon you will have to 'register' to be able to access such sites even from your own computer - much like you have to show ID to get beer or smokes -- and will be just as ineffective.....
Abso-f*cking-lutely Right.
"Those who would give up essential liberty, for a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety". -- Ben Franklin
The video shows two bare-knuckle brawlers brutally punching each other until one slumps, beaten, to the ground. The fight doesn't end there: The victor straddles the chest of his fallen opponent, firing rights and lefts into his face.
This is not a scene from the Brad Pitt movie Fight Club. Instead, it involves real teenagers in an underground video called Agg Townz Fights 2. Their ring: the grassy schoolyard of Seguin High School here. They're engaged in a disturbing extreme sport that has popped up across the nation: teen fight clubs.
This year, authorities in Texas, New Jersey, Washington state and Alaska have discovered more than a half-dozen teen fight rings operating for fun or profit. These illegal, violent, often bloody bouts pit boys and girls, some as young as 12, in hand-to-hand combat. Some ringleaders capture these staged fights with video or cellphone cameras, set them to rap music, then peddle homemade DVDs on the Internet. Other fight videos are posted on popular teen websites such as MySpace.com and YouTube.com.
Some bouts are more like bare-knuckle boxing matches, with the opponents shaking hands before and after they fight. Others are gang assaults out of ultra-violent films such as A Clockwork Orange, with packs of youths stomping helpless victims who clearly don't want to fight.
"When you watch the video, you're appalled by the savagery, the callousness, the lack of morality," says James Hawthorne, deputy police chief of Arlington's West District, who's leading a crackdown on fight clubs. "This is an indictment of us as a society. It's not a race issue or a class issue. It's a kids issue." There are lots of people who just freak out at the thought of any violence, anywhere. They are psychologically incapable of dealing with it in any form, and become irrational when trying to stop it, like force-feeding wild lions tofu. It's funny to see the "It's societies' fault" argument, which was a popular (ridiculous) argument used in the 1960s.
#3
The police have taken away just about every avenue for cleaning up the gene pool. These guys will probably give it a nice high-gloss shine. Fight on, teen boys!
#4
The police broke up a fight ring here in Austin a few months back. Funny thing most of the teens were from the wealthiest area of town, the Westlake area.
#5
Funny thing most of the teens were from the wealthiest area of town, the Westlake area.
They probably have a zero-tolerance policy on fighting in their schools - where the victim gets punished for fighting back.
I went to an old private boarding school that had a fighting policy akin to duelling: it was discouraged but allowed if witnessed and done fairly. As long as noone was ambushed or sucker-punched, that was the end of it.
It sounds quaint and archaic, but we only had a handful of such fights in my three years there. Pretty good for a place with hundreds of teenage boys living in close proximity 24/7.
I have a suspicion that this policy has been abandoned in our hyper-PC era.
In recent months, Florida's insurance crisis has mushroomed, spreading quickly from homeowners unable to cope with soaring rates to businesses facing policy cancellations, dwindling coverage and out-of-this-world costs if they can find insurance at all.
Hardest hit are small- and medium-size businesses, the backbone of South Florida's regional economy. They are faced with a tough choice: Raise prices and risk losing customers or absorb costs they hadn't anticipated. Some businesses are near default on loans because required insurance isn't available. Expansion plans are on hold or eliminated. Some real estate sales, both commercial and residential, are grinding to a halt. The insurance industry is cancelling some types of policies everywhere in the US, and the big question remains: are we about to have a nationwide insurance collapse? The end result would almost have to be a massive reformation of tort law, and the elimination of most liability, or hundreds of thousands of businesses would have to shut their doors.
In possibly unrelated news, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA) has just rebranded itself. Everyone give a big Rantburg welcome to.... the American Association for Justice.
#1
Drive across an inlet to one of the barrier islands in Florida some time. You've got expensive homes and condos built on an island (often with ONE bridge to the mainland) ten feet above sea level in a hurricane zone.
The alternative is that these (voluntary) risks are subsidised by the rest of the US. Looks to me like market forces in action.
#2
ask the Silky PonyBreck GirlFormer Ambulance chaser Dem VP Candidate why this is happening?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/01/2006 0:25 Comments ||
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#3
Unfortunately, there are still far too many insurance companies whom will enter local markets-areas only iff State or Local Govts assume their bottom line, or most of it, vv payouts. PUBLIC TAXPAYERS FOOT THE COSTS/BILLS, NOTSOMUCH THE COMPANY(S).
#4
In possibly unrelated news, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA) has just rebranded itself. Everyone give a big Rantburg welcome to.... the American Association for Justice.
LOL!Moose Scores!!
Heh what a heartwarming disclosure..
Due to popular demand, the ambulance chasers felt compelled to drop that filthy word "LAWYER" from their title!
#6
That lovely sky blue is Seafarious, RD. As a moderator, she got to choose her own colour. As I recall, Steve White is salmon (not pink!! If your screen shows him as pink, you need to reset something -- his is an entirely masculine salmon), SteveS is bright green, lotp is light green, Pappy is carrier grey. And Fred is comment-box yellow, while the poster looks like yellow highlighter. Or something like that; I'm a verbal, not a visual. ;-)
#7
Yup, it's bad all over the state, not just South Florida.
The insurance companies have jacked up the rates by close to 75% just this year alone. Good luck trying to even get a policy without going through the state insurance pool. It seemed like no one was even writing them when we were applying for our mortgage.
Yes, my house is in Florida, but the area I'm in hasn't suffered any major damage since the early 80's, at least (that's when my house was built, can't say what happened before then, naturally. Maybe it got leveled every year until my magical house was built, but I doubt it.) I even had the previous owners give me permission to talk to their insurance agent regarding their history of claims. They had one....for a broken window when someone tried to break in five years ago. I've never had any claims, not even on my auto policy, and still had to resort to the state pool for insurance.
What goes unsaid in this whole thing is that the insurance companies are pissed that they aren't getting the profit percentages they were hoping for from the state commission. I can't remember if it was Allsnake or Snake Farm, but I recall one of those two was including a 14% profit for themselves in their projected rates. They later reduced it to 6% after the state government gave them a "you gotta be farking kidding me" talk.
You can blame the lawyers all you want, but if they were willing to cut their expected profit percentage in half just to stay in business in Florida, that is indicative more of greed than anything else. If their underwriters are dumb enough to give the same rates to a beachside condo on a barrier island as they do to someone on higher ground, again, don't blame the lawyers.
#8
Swamp Blondie nails it, if the state and insurance companies told people that build thier damn million dollar homes in Hurricane risk areas that your on your own when it comes to rebuilding. This crap would stop.
#9
Oh, and please add, those citizens who don't pay insurance but expect the taxpayer to pick up the bill. Why should they join any insurance pool to share the costs when the feds have shown time and time again, that cry loud enough and get the media to do sob stories and the payouts will roll.
That would be me, and one of the problems is the building boom in coastal areas took place during a period of lower hurricane activity. Now that we appear to be entering a active period, which experts estimate could last a decade or two, people will have to either rethink where they build or build more hurricane resistant housing.
Zoning and building codes need to be tightened, and perhaps insurance companies should insist on stronger structures before they will insure them.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/01/2006 9:40 Comments ||
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Actually, I'm kind of a pinkish-white and not to be confused with our esteemed moderators. It can be hard to tell the members of the AoS apart due to our common traits of manly good looks and insightful wit.
#14
Sgt Steve, SteveS, my apologies for the mistake. The Army of Steve is indeed overwhelming in its Stevishness, at least for us simple little suburban girls. ;-)
At least one of them (Burkle) a certified gold-plated FOB and extremely major Clinton supporter. I knew you'd be surprised. Frankly, I hope they toss their entire combined fortunes down that fetid rathole...
Three billionaires, including Hollywood mogul David Geffen, have expressed interest in buying the Los Angeles Times,
I presume it's 'cos their message isn't getting heard by the wretched masses yearning to breathe free of the e-e-e-evil VRWC media machine...
but have been rebuffed for the time being by its owner, Tribune Co., the paper reported. Geffen, property developer Eli Broad and supermarket investor Ron Burkle each wrote to the board of directors of the Chicago-based firm, which is under pressure from shareholders to boost its flagging share price, the paper said in its Saturday edition. The report, citing unidentified sources, said Tribune's directors considered the three letters at a July 19 board meeting.
Tribune Chairman and Chief Executive Dennis J. FitzSimons subsequently wrote to each prospective suitor, informing them that the board "unanimously asked me to advise you that at this time we are not prepared to discuss the possible transaction described in your letter," the paper said. But the FitzSimons letter concluded, "If our perspective changes we will contact you," the paper added.
"Our people will call your people, and... heck, who are we kidding? Get lost!"
The paper said the trio have discussed buying the paper both together and individually. It noted, though, that Geffen and Burkle have a "chilly relationship."
Geffen and Burkle declined comment to the paper, but Broad was quoted as saying that he believed in local ownership of the paper, and that Tribune would have to "unlock values" of its assets. Tribune also declined to comment to the Times, whose report said relations between head office and the newsroom are strained because of demands for cutbacks. Tribune's stock price is languishing at less than half its 1999 high of $60.88. The paper said some investors believe the company's parts are worth more than its current market capitalization of almost $9 billion. Tribune's other assets the Chicago Tribune newspaper, the Chicago Cubs baseball team and two-dozen television stations. Tribune bought the Los Angeles Times' parent company, Times Mirror Co., in 2000. Under the deal, trusts held by descendants of the paper's founding Chandler family became Tribune's biggest individual shareholder, with about 15 percent of its stock. But the Chandlers' representatives have attacked Tribune management's plan to repurchase 25 percent of Tribune's stock. They say the company should instead spin off its TV stations or put itself up for auction.
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.
Carrying replicas of boats - the traditional election symbol of the main opposition Awami League party - and chanting slogans such as "No reforms, no polls" and "Accept reforms before it is too late", the demonstrators marched from Gabtali, about 20km west of central Dhaka. The marchers burnt the chief election commissioner, MA Aziz, in effigy. Opposition parties have accused Aziz of being too partisan and said they would not take part in any elections with him at the helm.
SCHOOLS would no longer be required to teach children the difference between right and wrong under plans to revise the core aims of the National Curriculum. Instead, under a new wording that reflects a world of relative rather than absolute values, teachers would be asked to encourage pupils to develop secure values and beliefs.
Fidel Castro announced Monday night in a letter read by his secretary live on state television that due to illness he was temporarily relinquishing the presidency to his brother and successor Raul, the defense minister.
Supporters of 
Shanghai: A massive bunker complex capable of sheltering 200,000 people from a nuclear attack has been built, a local newspaper has reported. The 970,000sq ft complex has water, electricity, lighting, ventilation and protective doors, and connects to shopping centres, office blocks, apartment buildings and the subway system via 15 tunnels.
Asia's energy needs are soaring, and the region is increasingly turning to nuclear technology to meet the rising demand. Many governments see nuclear power as a way to cut air pollution and ease the need for imported oil.
The video shows two bare-knuckle brawlers brutally punching each other until one slumps, beaten, to the ground. The fight doesn't end there: The victor straddles the chest of his fallen opponent, firing rights and lefts into his face.
In recent months, Florida's insurance crisis has mushroomed, spreading quickly from homeowners unable to cope with soaring rates to businesses facing policy cancellations, dwindling coverage and out-of-this-world costs if they can find insurance at all.
Three billionaires, including Hollywood mogul David Geffen, have expressed interest in buying the Los Angeles Times, 
