An animal rights group called Tuesday for a North American theme park operator to cancel a competition in which people will try to break the world cockroach-eating record. Rights are ethical principles applicable only to beings capable of reason and choice. There is only one fundamental right: a man's right to his own life. To live successfully, man must use his rational facultywhich is exercised by choice. The choice to think can be negated only by the use of physical force. To survive and prosper, men must be free from the initiation of force by other menfree to use their own minds to guide their choices and actions. Rights protect men against the use of force by other men. None of this is relevant to animals.
Theme park operator Six Flags Inc, based in New York, is staging the contest as part of a promotion leading up to Halloween in which it is also offering customers free entry or line-jumping advantages if they eat a live Madagascar hissing cockroach.
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said it had been flooded with calls from children, adults and even anonymous employees of Six Flags opposing the record-breaking contest and the overall promotion. Looks like their lunatic propaganda campaign has been working...
"Insects do not deserve to be eaten alive especially for a gratuitous marketing gimmick," PETA spokeswoman Jackie Vergerio told Reuters. "Deserve?" Insects 'deserve' something?
The competition to beat the world cockroach eating record is being held Friday at a Six Flags park in Gurnee, Illinois. Anyone who beats the record will win a season pass for four people for 2007 with VIP queue-jumping status.
Competitors will try to break the current world record, which is held by Ken Edwards of Derbyshire, England, who devoured 36 Madagascar hissing cockroaches in one minute in 2001.
However Six Flags spokesman James Taylor said the only complaints the company had received were from people who did not have the opportunity to sign up and eat a cockroach because
only 12 of its 30 parks in the United States, Canada, and Mexico were participating in the promotion.
Taylor dismissed any health concerns, saying the cockroaches were raised in a sterile environment and were as safe to eat as shrimp or lobster with high nutritional value.
Madagascar hissing cockroaches are large, wingless cockroaches that can grow to between 1.5 to 3 inches.
Taylor said no one who had indulged in this rare delicacy had complained.
"It's something that's supposed to be scary, it's icky, it's gross, it's Halloween fun and it's just one small part of the haunted houses and thrilling rides going on."
#2
"It's something that's supposed to be scary, it's icky, it's gross, it's Halloween fun and it's just one small part of the haunted houses and thrilling rides going on."
Yes, and nanny state dweebs like PETA, who hate these stunts, demand that they be empowered to adjuge and protect us from all that is scary, icky and gross (like meat), just like the Christian Fundamentalists who hate Halloween because they think it's all about devil worship.
From July 1998 through the end of 2005, PETA killed over 14,400 dogs, cats, and other "companion animals" -- at its Norfolk, Virginia headquarters. That's more than five defenseless animals every day. Not counting the dogs and cats PETA spayed and neutered, the group put to death over 90 percent of the animals it took in during 2005 alone. And its angel-of-death pattern shows no sign of changing.
#10
From July 1998 through the end of 2005, PETA killed over 14,400 dogs, cats, and other "companion animals" -- at its Norfolk, Virginia headquarters.
Not to mention disposing the bodies in various dumpsters around the city...
At the beginning of summer engineers from Ulianovskoe Designing Bureau of Device Construction received an order from Novosibirsk aviation workers who needed a control assembly part for a SU-34 plane. It took three months to complete the order. Two designers were supposed to deliver the expensive shipment to Novosibirsk .
'We always send people in two's,' the firm's employer explains, 'the orders are usually pretty expensive and we try to provide some kind of insurance this way.'
Read on to find out why this is a very sensible idea...
Unfortunately the day before the trip one of the deliverers got sick. There was no time to look for a replacement leaving Bureau's employee Pavel Pahomov to take the train from Volgograd to Ulan-Ude by himself. Precious cargo that cost 30,000 Euro was packed into an ordinary looking cardboard box to conceal its value: here is a regular passenger taking gifts back to his family.
It may not have been a good idea to use an ordinary-looking cardboard box...
Once he took his seat Pahomov got to know all his train neighbors. Someone offered a toast, and one thing led to another: to women, to Russian factories. To hi-tech delivery boys Three bottles of vodka didn't feel like enough it never does, and Pavel came off the train in Ufa in search of more alcohol. While he was waiting in line he missed his train.
Extremely worried designer got a taxi and caught his train at the next station. His happy return then was celebrated for another 24 hours. Phew, that's ok then!-party on! This time the party was held in the restaurant-carriage. That always means trouble Pahomov recalled the fact that he was delivering an expensive order only when the train was approaching Novosibirsk . Pavel went back to his seat and found the box missing. He jumped out of the train and rushed to the police station nearby.
And guess whose fault it was...
'It was the Americans who got me drunk and stole the part! Those damned spies!' ta da! from the confused account mumbled by a hangover victim authorities perceived that he was carrying a secret part to the military plant and called the Federal Security Servcie.
As it turned out there were no ill-wishers and state enemies involved in the incident. While Pavel was partying and getting intoxicated with his new friends a stewardess decided to clean up the area where their seats were located.
After finding a cardboard box filled with apple leftovers, empty cans, dirty newspapers and other trash (which had the secret part somewhere at the bottom) the woman simply grabbed it and threw it in the furnace. See why it was a bad idea to use an ordinary-looking cardboard box. Surely not too expensive a mistake though?
Yuriy Butov, the director's assistant for supplying Chkalov 's Aviation Factory in Novosibirsk :
'Without this part the bombardment aircraft SU-34's serial production cannot be launched. And we have a pending order for 24 planes. That is one billion Euros! Now the Designing Bureau is desperately trying to construct the part but they need another two months to complete it. We are facing serious financial losses.'
Ah, looks like it was an expensive mistake after all. There's more at the link
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
10/11/2006 02:46 ||
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#1
a stewardess decided to clean up the area where their seats were located
#2
"desperately trying to construct the part but they need another two months to complete it"
What kind of small part takes two months to make when the design is complete?
#8
How about a little sympathy for the poor drunk? He'll have to pay for the part through payroll deduction and that means he'll be working until well into the 2500's.
Posted by: Karl ||
10/11/2006 1:57 Comments ||
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#5
.com---LOL!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/11/2006 2:05 Comments ||
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#6
A Rovian collision
Posted by: Captain America ||
10/11/2006 2:24 Comments ||
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Heh, and the fact that the article doesn't give the designation of the object is even more suspicious. Every object out there that is being tracked is given a designation of some sort.
#8
Jebus, did you go to the link and see the cyclops cat? Horrible, but not very convincing. Buncha mangy decaying stuffed critters with creepy "modifications". Seems Pravda has decided to go all the way and fight for the same turf as Weekly World News. Well, OK then.
#9
C2CAM wid GEORGE NOORY > object MIGHT be CT1483? which reportedly broke apart at the turn of the last century. Iff on a path to strike the earth, Piece or Pieces of same may allegedly strike the SOUTH POLE circa October 17th - 22nd, 2006. *IONews, PRAVDA > USA TO DECLARE WAR [Wargame] AGAINST RUSSIA IN LATE DECEMBER.
Posted by: kelly ||
10/11/2006 13:54 Comments ||
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#26
Is this going to be the end of the Internet as we know it?
Posted by: Dave D. ||
10/11/2006 14:59 Comments ||
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#27
Is this going to be the end of the Internet as we know it?
Imagine that... no more pr0n!... This cannot be... this would simply amount to The End Of Civilization As We Know It... think about the children... err, let me rephrase this...
#29
I wonder if that's the one I ordered to hit Qom... Should be about 200M cubed, 55%ice, 45% iron. Will hit at 5:55PM local time, Oct 31, 2006. Happy Halloween!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/11/2006 22:39 Comments ||
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#30
/tantrum>
Aw, c'mon! I can't see it from California an' I wanna' see!
Just slightly ahead of the rest of the population.
Zimbabwe s troubled national airline, Air Zimbabwe , has resorted to cannibalising one of its three Chinese aircraft for spares as the crisis at the airline deepens.
Sources at Air Zimbabwe told ZimOnline yesterday that they will soon resort to stripping parts from one of the three Chinese made Modern Ark (MA60) aircraft to fix one of the planes undergoing major overhaul. The national airline is battling to secure spare parts from the Chinese manufacturer after the Zimbabwean authorities bungled the initial deal after they signed a purchase contract without a spares back-up service.
We cant get any spares for the aircraft and so we will ground another aircraft, said a senior official at Air Zimbabwe who refused to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the press, It wasnt a comprehensive contract as it didnt come with spares.
Air Zimbabwe was one of the best airlines in Africa in the early 1980s. But years of mismanagement and corruption have nearly brought the airline to its knees. Air Zimbabwe has in recent months failed to service some routes or delayed passengers because planes could not fly due to a lack of spares or fuel, blamed on an acute shortage of foreign currency to pay foreign suppliers.
The MA60 plies domestic and regional routes which include Harare , Bulawayo , Victoria Falls, Lubumbashi and Johannesburg .
#2
Who would be suicidal enough to fly AirZim? You would be safer tying a few dozen ballons filled with helium to a lawn chair and float your way to your destination.
#10
Gromky, the Modern Ark is an upgraded Y-7 outfitted with western turboprops and avionics so it can receive worldwide certification. Smart move by the Chinese. Bet it pisses off the Brazilians.
Posted by: ed ||
10/11/2006 13:53 Comments ||
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Spare parts? Oh.
We need them?
Posted by: Dealin B. Hard ||
10/11/2006 14:23 Comments ||
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Speaking as a Mechanic here, that only works very short time, if the original (Say A Starter) failed, the cannabalized part will have the same flaw as the failed part, and will not only fail sooner (It's lifespan has already been partly used up) but there's no third replacement part once the second part goes bad.
Now you have two planes down for the exact same thing.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/11/2006 19:56 Comments ||
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#13
And this is different from the general Mugabe economic model in what way, Jim? Bobby and his gang have been cannibalising the whole country from day one.
#15
You want the African end-game? Try this. In areas where there are still functioning trains, railways officials desperately try to convince the local natives not to remove rail spikes or rail tie plates for forming into spear points or other household metal objects.
These morons are allowing rails to part because they want a cheap source of scrap iron. This is like using fine furniture for firewood. Africa is doomed.
MANAMA - Bahrains Sunni ruler King Hamad has reassured the spiritual leadership of the Gulf states Shia majority that there will be no attempt to rig next months parliamentary elections, a report said on Tuesday.
Clean as East Saint Louis.
The Council of Muslim Scholars had sought Sundays meeting with the king following charges by a Briton, since expelled as an alleged spy, that a Sunni clique within the government was plotting to maintain the minority sects domination of the archipelago, the Al-Wasat daily said.
The clergy asked the king during Sundays meeting for practical assurances concerning the affair that has exercised public opinion recently, the councils chairman Sheikh Issa Qassem told the paper in allusion to the accusations made by Salah al-Bandar. The clergy are looking for practical, concrete measures. We told the king that we will not tolerate discrimination whether against Sunnis or against Shias, Qassem said.
And there won't be: all the ballots favoring someone other than the king's men will be discarded regardless of religion.
The meeting was positive from the point of view of the promises that we secured, he added.
After Sundays meeting with the king, the clergy called on the community to turn out on November 25. Despite all the political and security crises and all the disappointments, the Council of Muslim Scholars believes that taking part in the elections is the best choice to counter this situation with all its complications, a statement said Monday.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/11/2006 00:00 ||
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India has formed a Special Forces Battalion comprising 31,000 army personnel from different regiments to help BSF (Border Security Force) so as to kill the innocent Bangladeshi people, occupy land illegally, open fire without provocation and push into Bangladesh, highly placed sources said.
Nowhere in this article does anyone ask why the Indians would want B'desh. Surely someone knows. Maybe it's self-evident.
The evil Zionist Joooz Israeli army trained these Indian Special Forces of army personnel through a-seven month long training under the Israel-India defense agreement that signed in January this year, sources said. The Israeli army specially trained them how to use the modern weapons in the border areas sources said and added 25 special teams will be deployed in different border areas with BSF.
These special teams will use sophisticated weapons like slipper rifle (galene), assault rifle, travor-21, M-16 assault rifle, MP-5 sub machinegun and MPG-1 slipper rifle. It will also be provided targeting instrument, laser crowdy and night vision equipment in the border areas, sources said.
And the MPG-2 satin rifle and the feared travor-211 shutter gun.
According to sources, India has already started to deploy such forces under the guise of BSF in different border areas from August and such deployment will be completed next December. After successful completion of deployment of these special armed forces battalion in the border areas, it will play a vital role under rules of engagement to create anarchy without provocation and try to push Indian Bengali speaking Muslims into Bangladesh, sources said.
Members of the RAW and TIA of India are collecting internal information of Bangladesh by engaging many smugglers, hundi traders and clearing and forwarding agents of customs in different border areas, sources said. According to sources, India will declare red alert in the whole border areas after completion of deployment of special armed forces under the guise of BSF in 2007.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/11/2006 00:00 ||
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These special teams will use sophisticated weapons like slipper rifle (galene)
The Super Duper Special Forces Battalion gets the curly-toe model...
#3
These special teams will use sophisticated weapons like slipper rifle (galene), assault rifle, travor-21, M-16 assault rifle, MP-5 sub machinegun and MPG-1 slipper rifle. It will also be provided targeting instrument, laser crowdy and night vision equipment in the border areas, sources said.
MPG-1 slipper rifle = shudder gun
laser crowdy = heard-em-up-Zilla-lite
Posted by: Karl ||
10/11/2006 2:02 Comments ||
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herd.. eh
Posted by: Karl ||
10/11/2006 2:03 Comments ||
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What the hell is a laser crowdy?
And why the hell would anyone want that polluted, arsenic poisoned flood plane called Bangladesh?
#9
If this report is accurate, then apparently India is having a problem with Islamofasists crossing from Bangladesh. This would be an escalation of activities on India's Bangladesh border. There's more happening there than we know about.
#10
The "illegal immigrants" from Bangla are a HUGE problem for India. That region has been a hotbed of various ethnic and tribal movements and now the Islamofascists are in the mix.
India enjoyed poking Pakistan in the eye by supporting the creation of Bangladesh, but now finds itself hoist on its own petard. Bangla may be even more Islamofascist than Pakistan.
The Chicoms and our friend from Burma also have several fingers in the pie in this region.
#12
Weren't there several articles here on Rantburg about Bangladeshis moving the border markers and taking small chunks of India a few months ago? Maybe this is India's way of "correcting the alignment errors".
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/11/2006 22:57 Comments ||
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October 11, 2006: There are increasing indications that Fidel Castro is not going to return to power. His brother Raul has recently established close ties to nationalist elements in the Cuban Communist Party and in the Armed Forces. He has apparently played on suspicions that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez' wants to inherit Fidel's mantle as the leader of radicalism in Latin America, and could take actions that would compromise Cuban security and independence.
More worrisome is the potential for civil war in Cuba once Fidel dies. Raul is pushing 80 himself, and lacks his brothers charisma. Raul is a disciplinarian, which may cause problems if he tries to get Cuba to "shape up" after Fidel dies. Unrest in Cuba resonates in the United States, which is only 150 kilometers a way. In Florida, a key state in national elections, the well organized Cuban-American minority is a political force to be reckoned with. And then there is also the problems that would accompany Cuban-Americans getting active involved in post-Fidel politics. Some Cuban-American leaders have made no secret of their eagerness to do this. So trying to figure out what Raul is up to is a pressing issue in the Pentagon, as it is elsewhere in Washington.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/11/2006 09:22 ||
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I have mixed ideas about what will happen to Cuba after Castro. On one hand we have the Eastern Europe model where the populace just took over (mostly bloodless) when the dictators fell. On the other hand we have the North Korea, Libya, and Syria model where the next in line simply continued the dictatorship. I dont think the party faithful will go quietly into the night, but maybe the people will help them relocate to another country like Venezuela.
#2
I'm imagining a Romania model. Castro gets a pass from many Cubans but I don't think his brother will and if he tries to crack down I think he'll be strung up or lined up by his own military.
Luckily for Cuba many of the exiles are doing well and their economy could be helped a lot if the right moves were made after Cuba changed governments.
#4
I too like the Romanian model and would love if Castro and the gang got their just desserts (Bonus points if Chavez was in town to participate). Realistically a lot of Cubans support and know nothing but Communists rule. Sure a large number would flee given half a chance but there are some hard cores that will attempt to keep the country Commie after Castro(s).
#5
Realistically a lot of Cubans support and know nothing but Communists rule.
I'm not sure how true that really is. I think there is a lot of communication across the straits. That is why so many are willing to risk their lives to defect.
I think most Cubans know the system sucks but have a reserve of respect and a lot of fear of Castro.
A Russian Emergency Ministry IL-62 passenger plane carrying 119 Georgian deportees landed at the Tbilisi airport on October 10. This is the second planeload of Georgians deported from Russia for migration offences. Over 130 Georgians arrived in Tbilisi on a Russian Emergency Ministry cargo plane on October 6. An official from the Georgian Embassy in Moscow said that about 70 Georgians remain in various police stations in the Russian capital awaiting deportation. Also on October 10, the Russian Emergency Ministry's plane took 150 Russian citizens from Georgia as part of "the partial evacuation" announced by the Russian authorities after a spy row erupted between the two countries on September 27.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2006 00:00 ||
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We don't want Jimmy Carter back. Putie can keep him.
On October 10 the Georgian Parliament unanimously approved a statement saying that anti-Georgian campaign carried out by the Russian authorities is "xenophobia."
"Recently the representatives of Russian authorities turned xenophobia and ethnic discrimination of Georgian citizens and ethnic Georgians living in the Russian Federation into a state policy instrument and a means for achieving political goals," the statement reads. The Parliament also condemned the deportation of Georgian citizens from the Russian Federation and called on the international community to give "an appropriate assessment" to these moves undertaken by the Russian authorities. "We have an anti-Russian attitude towards Russian policy, but not towards the Russian people," Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze said. She said that the anti-Georgian campaign in Russia is "fascism."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2006 00:00 ||
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Shays must be getting REALLY desperate. He said something that made sense. You'ld almost think he was a Republican.
Republican Rep. Christopher Shays defended the House speaker's handling of a congressional page scandal, saying no one died like at Chappaquiddick in 1969 when Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy was involved.
"I know the speaker didn't go over a bridge and leave a young person in the water, and then have a press conference the next day," the embattled Connecticut congressman told The Hartford Courant in remarks published Wednesday.
"Dennis Hastert didn't kill anybody," he added.
Shays' comments recalled the Chappaquiddick incident, when Kennedy's car ran off a Massachusetts bridge, killing his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne. Kennedy did not immediately report the tragedy, and later pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident.
Last week, Kennedy campaigned for Democrat Diane Farrell, who is locked in a bitter fight with Shays that could help determine whether Democrats recapture the House after 12 years of GOP control.
"This is symptomatic of Chris losing his composure in a tight race," Farrell said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press Wednesday. "Chris just seems to be lashing out in anger."
Farrell said the scandal, which polls show could hurt the GOP's bid to hang onto control, has affected her because her 19-year-old daughter Margaret was a Senate page when she was 16.
"My first reaction to this whole scandal had nothing to do with politics," she said. "It was as a parent who had a child participating in the program."
Shays cited Chappaquiddick in an interview Friday when he was asked about Farrell's call for him to return money raised by Hastert. The speaker has been under fire for his handling of disgraced former Rep. Mark Foley's sexually explicit messages to young pages.
Farrell has called for Shays to return any money raised for him by Hastert. She and other Democrats have called for Hastert to resign.
This reminded me of one of my favorite moments in political history.
In the 1988 campaign between George HW Bush and Dukakis, Ted the town drunk got up and slurred out the following, regarding whether Gorge HW Bush was involved in the Iran-Contra 'scandal':
"Where was George? Where was George? Where was George?"
At the Republican National Convention some days later, he got his answer, on a t-shirt, worn by many of the Republican delegates. Written in plain block letters on the shirt was:
Heh - Culture of Corruption? Wasn't that the DNC talking points a few months ago? Apparently he doesn't like being questioned -hung up on the AP reporter. That'll make em quit investigating. Attaboy, Harry!
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid collected a $1.1 million windfall on a Las Vegas land sale even though he hadn't personally owned the property for three years, property deeds show. In the process, Reid did not disclose to Congress an earlier sale in which he transferred his land to a company created by a friend and took a financial stake in that company, according to records and interviews.
The Nevada Democrat's deal was engineered by Jay Brown, a longtime friend and former casino lawyer whose name surfaced in a major political bribery trial this summer and in other prior organized crime investigations. He's never been charged with wrongdoing _ except for a 1981 federal securities complaint that was settled out of court.
Land deeds obtained by The Associated Press during a review of Reid's business dealings show:
_The deal began in 1998 when Reid bought undeveloped residential property on Las Vegas' booming outskirts for about $400,000. Reid bought one lot outright, and a second parcel jointly with Brown. One of the sellers was a developer who was benefiting from a government land swap that Reid supported. The seller never talked to Reid.
_In 2001, Reid sold the land for the same price to a limited liability corporation created by Brown. The senator didn't disclose the sale on his annual public ethics report or tell Congress he had any stake in Brown's company. He continued to report to Congress that he personally owned the land.
_After getting local officials to rezone the property for a shopping center, Brown's company sold the land in 2004 to other developers and Reid took $1.1 million of the proceeds, nearly tripling the senator's investment. Reid reported it to Congress as a personal land sale.
The complex dealings allowed Reid to transfer ownership, legal liability and some tax consequences to Brown's company without public knowledge, but still collect a seven-figure payoff nearly three years later.
Reid hung up the phone when questioned about the deal during an AP interview last week.
The senator's aides said no money changed hands in 2001 and that Reid instead got an ownership stake in Brown's company equal to the value of his land. Reid continued to pay taxes on the land and didn't disclose the deal because he considered it a "technical transfer," they said.
They also said they have no documents proving Reid's stake in the company because it was an informal understanding between friends.
The 1998 purchase "was a normal business transaction at market prices," Reid spokesman Jim Manley said. "There were several legal steps associated with the investment during those years that did not alter Senator Reid's actual ownership interest in the land."
Senate ethics rules require lawmakers to disclose on their annual ethics report all transactions involving investment properties _ regardless of profit or loss _ and to report any ownership stake in companies.
Kent Cooper, who oversaw government disclosure reports for federal candidates for two decades in the Federal Election Commission, said Reid's failure to report the 2001 sale and his ties to Brown's company violated Senate rules.
"This is very, very clear," Cooper said. "Whether you make a profit or a loss you've got to put that transaction down so the public, voters, can see exactly what kind of money is moving to or from a member of Congress."
"It is especially disconcerting when you have a member of the leadership, of either party, not putting in the effort to make sure this is a complete and accurate report," said Cooper. "That says something to other members. It says something to the Ethics Committee."
Other parts of the deal _ such as the informal handling of property taxes _ raise questions about possible gifts or income reportable to Congress and the IRS, ethics experts said.
Stanley Brand, former Democratic chief counsel of the House, said Reid should have disclosed the 2001 sale and that his omission fits a larger culture in Congress where lawmakers aren't following or enforcing their own rules.
"It's like everything else we've seen in last two years. If it is not enforced, people think it's not enforced and they get lax and sloppy," Brand said.
SALE HIDDEN FROM CONGRESS
Reid and his wife, Landra, personally signed the deeds selling their full interest in the property to Brown's company, Patrick Lane LLC, for the same $400,000 they paid in 1998, records show.
Despite the sale, Reid continued to report on his public ethics reports that he personally owned the land until it was sold again in His disclosure forms to Congress do not mention an interest in Patrick Lane or the company's role in the 2004 sale.
AP first learned of the transaction from a former Reid aide who expressed concern the deal hadn't been properly reported.
Reid isn't listed anywhere on Patrick Lane's corporate filings with Nevada, even though the land he sold accounted for three-quarters of the company's assets. Brown is listed as the company's manager. Reid's office said Nevada law didn't require Reid to be mentioned in the filings.
"We have been friends for over 35 years. We didn't need a written agreement between us," Brown said.
The informalities didn't stop there.
PROPERTY TAXES LOOSELY HANDLED
Brown sometimes paid a share of the local property taxes on the lot Reid owned outright between 1998 and 2001, while Reid sometimes paid more than his share of taxes on the second parcel they co-owned.
And the two men continued to pay the property taxes from their personal checking accounts even after the land was sold to Patrick Lane in 2001, records show.
Brown said Reid first approached him in 1997 about land purchases and the two men considered the two lots a single investment.
"During the years of ownership, there may have been occasions that he advanced the property taxes, or that I advanced the property taxes," Brown said. "The bottom line is that between ourselves we always settled up and each of us paid our respective percentages."
Ultimately, Reid paid about 74 percent of the property taxes, slightly less than his actual 75.1 ownership stake, according to canceled checks kept at the local assessor's office. One year, the property tax payments were delinquent and resulted in a small penalty, the records show.
Ethics experts said such informality raises questions about whether any of Brown's tax payments amounted to a benefit for Reid. "It might be a gift," Cooper said.
Brand said the IRS might view the handling of the land taxes as undisclosed income to Reid but it was unlikely to prompt an investigation. "If someone is paying a liability you owe, there may be some income imputed. But at that level, it's pretty small dollars," he said.
FEDERAL LAND SWAPS
Nevada land deeds show Reid and his wife first bought the property in January 1998 in a proposed subdivision created partly with federal lands transferred by the Interior Department to private developers.
Reid's two lots were never owned by the government, but the piece of land joining Reid's property to the street corner _ a key to the shopping center deal _ came from the government in 1994.
One of the sellers was Fred Lessman, a vice president of land acquisition at Perma-Bilt Homes.
Around the time of the 1998 sale, Lessman and his company were completing a complicated federal land transfer that also involved an Arizona-based developer named Del Webb Corp.
In the deal, Del Webb and Perma-Bilt purchased environmentally sensitive lands in the Lake Tahoe area, transferred them to the government and then got in exchange several pieces of valuable Las Vegas land.
Lessman was personally involved, writing a March 1997 letter to Interior lobbying for the deal. "This exchange has been through many trials and tribulations ... we do not need to create any more stumbling blocks," Lessman wrote.
For years, Reid also had been encouraging Interior to make land swaps on behalf of Del Webb, where one of his former aides worked.
In 1994, Reid wrote a letter with other Nevada lawmakers on behalf of Del Webb, and then met personally with a top federal land official in Nevada. That official claimed in media reports he felt pressured by the senator. Reid denied any pressure.
The next year, Reid collected $18,000 in political donations from Del Webb's political action committee and employees. Del Webb's efforts to get federal land dragged on.
In December 1996, Reid wrote a second letter on behalf of Del Webb, urging Interior to answer the company's concerns. The deal came together in summer and fall 1997, with Perma-Bilt joining in.
In January 1998 _ just days before he bought his land _ Reid applauded the Lake Tahoe land transfers, saying they would create the "gateway to paradise."
None of Reid's letters mentioned Perma-Bilt. Reid's office said the senator never met Lessman nor discussed the Lake Tahoe land transfer or his personal land purchase. A real estate attorney handled the 1998 sale at arms-length, aides said.
"This land investment was completely unrelated to federal land swaps that took place in the mid-1990's," Manley said.
Lessman said he never talked to Reid or asked for his help before the 1998 land sale, and only met the senator years later at a public event. "Any suggestion that the land sale between Senator Reid and myself is somehow tied in with the Perma-Bilt exchange is completely absurd," Lessman said.
THE REZONING
Clark County intended for the property Reid owned to be used solely for new housing, records show. Just days before Reid sold the parcels to Brown's company, Brown sought permission in May 2001 to rezone the properties so a shopping center could be built.
Career zoning officials objected, saying the request was "inconsistent" with Clark County's master development plan. The town board in Spring Valley, where Reid's property was located, also voted 4-1 to reject the rezoning.
Brown persisted. The Clark County zoning board followed by the Clark County Commission voted to overrule the recommendation and approve commercial zoning. Such votes were common at the time.
Before the approval in September 2001, Brown's consultant told commissioners that Reid was involved. "Mr. Brown's partner is Harry Reid, so I think we have people in this community who you can trust to go forward and put a quality project before you," the consultant testified.
With the rezoning granted, Patrick Lane pursued the shopping center deal. On Jan. 20, 2004, the company sold the property to developers for $1.6 million. Today, a multimillion dollar retail complex sits on the land.
On Jan. 21, 2004, Reid received more than $1.1 million of the sale proceeds. Reid disclosed the money the following year on his Senate ethics report as a personal sale of land, not mentioning Patrick Lane.
A BUSINESS PARTNER'S PAST
Brown has been a behind-the-scenes power broker in Nevada for years, donating to Democrats, Republicans and charities. He represented a major casino in legal cases and dabbled in Nevada's booming real estate market.
Brown befriended Reid four decades ago, even before Reid served as chairman of the Nevada gaming commission and decided cases involving Brown's clients.
Brown's name has surfaced in federal investigations involving organized crime, casinos and political bribery since the 1980s.
This past summer, federal prosecutors introduced testimony at the bribery trial of former Clark County Commission chairman Dario Herrara that Brown had taken money from a Las Vegas strip club owner to influence the commission. Herrara was convicted of taking kickbacks. Brown was never called as a witness.
Brown declined to discuss past cases where his name surfaced, including Herrara. "The federal government investigated this whole matter thoroughly, and there was never any implication of impropriety on my part," he said.
HT to Drudge, AP exclusive.
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/11/2006 14:59 ||
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heh. Won't hear much about this in the MSM, I suspect. Proves my belief that the Dems and newspapers are just arms of organized crime. Probably some repubs too.
#5
tu3031, If you would stop ditching the VRWC meetings you would know what time the confernce is. FYI it will right after Harry gets all the papers in order to show that Karl Rove secretly made this deal to mkae him look bad and after JF Kerry sign a release of his military records. P.S. if you miss two more VRWC meeting your off the team and you have to register as either a Democrat or an Anarchist.
#6
I am not sure I see any significant 'wrongness' here - just a sloppiness of documentation and possibly an exploitation of early access to information. Many other people have tripled their investments on land in Las Vegas the past decade - that market has been exploding. Much as I detest Reid, I think this is more a demonstration of casualness of the law than consious illegal intent - plenty of reason he shouldn't be Senator, but otherwise no big deal (sort of like Billy Jeff's escapades with Monica.)
GAZA - A Palestinian human rights group marked the World Day against the Death Penalty Tuesday by calling on the Palestine Authority to abolish the punishment, along with the military courts who issue them in lightning trials.
You can't have a fatwa without the death penalty!
The state security courts violate human rights, because they allow no appeals against their sentences to a higher body, deny access to effective legal counsel and their trials are summary, said a statement issued by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR).
And always applied against suspected collaborators.
It said that since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1994, at least 76 death sentences had been issued in the Palestinian autonomous areas.
President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree last summer ordering that criminals convicted to death at the military courts receive retrials in civil courts. But the rights group called on Abbas to abolish the courts altogether, as well as the penal law allowing the death penalty.
Good luck on that one.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/11/2006 00:00 ||
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A Palestinian human rights group marked the World Day against the Death Penalty Tuesday by calling on the Palestine Authority to abolish the punishment, along with the military courts who issue them in lightning trials.
Myanmar's junta on Monday said prior to Tuesday's reopening of the National Convention that the military is committed to carrying out the road map with the conviction to materialise a firm democracy system. Speaking to journalists ahead of Tuesday's meeting, Information Minister Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan said the military was committed to carrying out the road map "with the conviction to materialise a firm democracy system, that is in conformity with Myanmar's objective conditions, stage by stage." He added, "In addition, those who are attempting to undermine the National Convention will be crushed with the people's strength."
However, the National League for Democracy, which is led by Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, is boycotting the meeting after calls for the junta to honour the party's 1990 election victory and enter into talks with the party have been ignored.
Hsan accused the NLD of focusing on the partys own interests "instead of focusing on the national interest." He also said that people who cast their ballots for the NLD did not scrutinise it policies and capabilities and the background history of its candidates and honouring the results now would be meaningless and unrepresentative of the current population.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2006 00:00 ||
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I smell partisan bullshit. Just look at who's blocked and who ain't:
Blocked Blogs:
Captains Quarters
Cox and Forkum
Gates of Vienna
Little Green Footballs
Michael J. Totten
Michelle Malkin
Power Line
Protein Wisdom
Rantings of a Sandmonkey
Roger L. Simon
The Adventures of Chester
The American Thinker
The Belmont Club
The Doctor is In
Wizbang
Blogs not blocked:
DailyKos
Democrat Underground
America blog
Atrios.blogspot.com
JuanCole.com
The Huffington Post
Talkingpointsmemo.com
#3
I suspect the issue isn't partisanship, but technical.
Federal sites have been under some unremitting probes and attacks for a while now. Different agencies have different levels of tech savvy, and Interior has always been one of the laggards (along with Agriculture). So they are scrambling to make sure they aren't compromised badly.
Bulletins have been going out to sys admins with a whole slew of steps to take to tighten up against network vulnerabilities. Note that what was blocked wasn't Gates of Vienna - the headline here is misleading. What was blocked was Blogspot -- which has had some security holes in it in the past.
#4
Note that there is no direct email for Kempthorne - or anyone else except the "webteam", which is, of course, the source of the blocking. Go to the Conatct Us page and you'll see you can direct email to the webteam - or fill out a form which, of course, goes to the webteam.
I've emailed the WH - and suggest others do, too. I would think they would find this unsatisfactory.
Like PETA's buddies, the cockroaches, they're everywhere. I will mourn neither their removal nor passing.
#8
Wow there goes better than half of those I read.
Yeah what's up with Atrios? The blogspot security had me until .com pointed that out. Maybe an oversight?
Uncle Sam does not do itself any good by blocking these sights. Didn't they say they were losing the media war?
Well "shoot in foot" policy seems to me is no solution. They just shot allies in their war wether they know it or not.
Whoever or whatever policy running that dept is either clueless or trapped in a PC and Security squish
Need more info before complete condemnation but preliminary seems not a good move...of course that depends on if this purely security driven or PC screening.
Hedge funds and other investors may have helped push oil prices up. Now, they're helping push them downand fast
There's been an ongoing debate since energy prices began their steep rise four years ago: Was the money pouring into the oil patch from mutual funds, traders, hedge funds, and other financial players pushing up the prices that consumers pay to heat their homes and fill their gas tanks? In other words, was hot money behind the sharp rise in energy prices?
Well, now the hot money is moving out of energy, and it seems clear that it's adding just as much volatility to prices as they move down as when they were moving up. Without any major changes in supply or demand, the price of oil has been tumbling, dropping below $59 on Oct. 3. That's 25% off the peak of $78 in July. Natural gas prices have fallen even more sharply, to $5.80 per million Btus from $15 last December, a drop that likely precipitated the $6 billion blowup at hedge fund Amaranth Advisors.
DOWNWARD TUMBLE. Behind the price declines is a sharp contraction in the amount of money being invested in energy assets. The amount of new money flowing into the 48 natural resources mutual funds followed by Morningstar slowed to just $12 million in August, down from $1.6 billion in the same month in 2005. The PIMCO Commodity Real Asset fund, which saw its assets swell to $12 billion since its startup in 2002, has taken in just $100 million this year. "There's been a big money exodus," says Peter Fusaro, founder of the Energy Hedge Fund Center, an energy trading information site that tracks hedge funds. "Many investors took profits and are sitting on their powder." (Figures for September money flows are not yet available.)
Energy prices have fallen so fast that they've prompted OPEC member countries into action. In September, Nigeria and Venezuela said they would make voluntary reductions in production in hopes of propping up prices. Edmund Daukoru, OPEC president and Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum, called on other OPEC countries to follow suit.
This is all a sharp reversal from the money pouring into energy investments in recent years. Chicago-based fund tracker Hedge Fund Research now counts 68 hedge funds devoted purely to energy, up from 14 in 2000. That number doesn't count the many fundssuch as Amaranththat invest only part of their money in oil and gas. Nor does it include the $100 billion that poured into funds that passively track commodity indexes. "Out of every dollar that gets put in the Goldman Sachs Commodity Index, 70 cents goes into energy," notes Sol Waxman, who follows hedge funds for the Barclay Group financial advisory firm. "Does that have an impact on price? I would suspect so." Rest at link
Posted by: ed ||
10/11/2006 16:07 ||
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If it gets under $50 a barrel on election day both Tom Delay and Mark Foley will get re-elected.
(AP) Oil prices sank to their lowest level in nearly eight months Tuesday as doubts mounted that OPEC is on the verge of slashing its output by almost 4 percent.
Analysts said the 1 million barrel a day cut sought by some members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries does not appear to have the support of Saudi Arabia, the cartel's largest producer, and is therefore unlikely to be implemented. "This has been a complete disaster" for OPEC, said Michael Guido, director of commodity strategy at Societe Generale in New York.
Guido said the market is extremely skeptical that OPEC members are willing to voluntarily sell less oil right now, given that prices are twice as high as they were three years ago _ even after a recent 25 percent decline. Even if there is a formally announced output cut of 1 million barrels a day, it might not have much impact, Guido said, because "the market is completely suspect of who's going to comply."
We, of course, should do everything we can under the table to ensure that the OPEC members cheat like mad.
Prices could conceivably fall to $50 a barrel, Guido said, if economic growth slows and if the Northern Hemisphere winter is not particularly cold.
On Tuesday, light sweet crude for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange declined by $1.44 to settle at $58.52 -- the lowest close since Feb. 16. November Brent crude at London's ICE Futures fell 75 cents to $59.79 a barrel.
Also on Tuesday, the U.S. government said winter heating bills are expected to be slightly lower for most families across the nation, with the highest reductions for those who use natural gas. Families using natural gas should expect to pay an average of $119 less during the upcoming winter compared with last year, a decrease of 13 percent, the Energy Department said. Those heating their homes with fuel oil will pay $91 more, an increase of 6 percent, it said.
OPEC is not scheduled to meet until December, though there is talk of a possible emergency meeting before then. The last time OPEC trimmed its output _ by 1 million barrels a day _ was December 2004 when oil traded slightly above $40 a barrel. Still, the uncertainty has helped to discourage aggressive selling near-term.bic feet.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/11/2006 00:00 ||
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$2.25 at the local Lukoil (southeast PA). Not bad, but it won't save the GOP.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
10/11/2006 0:14 Comments ||
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Not to worry. There'll be another drop in supply due to "unexpected" maintenance problems somewhere.
Posted by: facta non verba ||
10/11/2006 1:54 Comments ||
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I paid $1.939 for regular down the street, price in my town has dropped $1 a gal in 9 weeks.
Is a county by county (zoom in and it's by zip code!) map of local gas prices across the USA. Anywhere from $1.90 to $3.06.
Posted by: Local gas prices ||
10/11/2006 7:00 Comments ||
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I did a double-take this morning, 25 miles south of DC. I saw $1.99 and thought - oh, no big deal. Waitaminute - that's ONE dollar 99 cents! $2.99 was still on the brain.
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/11/2006 10:00 Comments ||
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The Dow Jones industrial average set its fourth record close in two weeks Tuesday, finishing less than a point above its previous closing high. After a lackluster day of trading, broader indexes also rose slightly, putting the Standard & Poor's 500 back near its 5 1/2 year highs. Investors nudged stocks slightly higher in gains in advance of Alcoa's after-the-bell quarterly financial report which traditionally marks the start of earnings season.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2006 00:00 ||
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Ya but, how bout those foley IMS
Posted by: Captain America ||
10/11/2006 2:26 Comments ||
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this morning's TV was funny. Right after the local announcer said that market was at record highs - they switched to national news and that announcer said "this quarter is off to a rocky start". Then she went with Alcoa is down and one other doom gloom segment. Nothing about the "record high".
Watching national news is getting so funny. It's like watching Scrappleface on TV.
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.
An animal rights group called Tuesday for a North American theme park operator to cancel a competition in which people will try to break the world cockroach-eating record.
MANAMA - Bahrains Sunni ruler King Hamad has reassured the spiritual leadership of the Gulf states Shia majority that there will be no attempt to rig next months parliamentary elections, a report said on Tuesday.
India has formed a Special Forces Battalion comprising 31,000 army personnel from different regiments to help BSF (Border Security Force) so as to kill the innocent Bangladeshi people, occupy land illegally, open fire without provocation and push into Bangladesh, highly placed sources said.
A Russian Emergency Ministry IL-62 passenger plane carrying 119 Georgian deportees landed at the Tbilisi airport on October 10. This is the second planeload of Georgians deported from Russia for migration offences. Over 130 Georgians arrived in Tbilisi on a Russian Emergency Ministry cargo plane on October 6. An official from the Georgian Embassy in Moscow said that about 70 Georgians remain in various police stations in the Russian capital awaiting deportation. Also on October 10, the Russian Emergency Ministry's plane took 150 Russian citizens from Georgia as part of "the partial evacuation" announced by the Russian authorities after a spy row erupted between the two countries on September 27.
GAZA - A Palestinian human rights group marked the World Day against the Death Penalty Tuesday by calling on the Palestine Authority to abolish the punishment, along with the military courts who issue them in lightning trials.
Myanmar's junta on Monday said prior to Tuesday's reopening of the National Convention that the military is committed to carrying out the road map with the conviction to materialise a firm democracy system. Speaking to journalists ahead of Tuesday's meeting, Information Minister Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan said the military was committed to carrying out the road map "with the conviction to materialise a firm democracy system, that is in conformity with Myanmar's objective conditions, stage by stage." He added, "In addition, those who are attempting to undermine the National Convention will be crushed with the people's strength." 
