At least 21 people died over the weekend during state polls in Nigeria as tensions mounted in the volatile and sprawling west African nation ahead of presidential and general elections on next Saturday. We have about 21 people killed, including some police officers, while trying to protect INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) officers, national police chief Sunday Ehindero told Radio Nigeria after Saturdays vote.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/16/2007 00:00 ||
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Ecuadoreans voted overwhelmingly in favor of President Rafael Correa's plan to rewrite the constitution, giving him the support needed to implement more socialist policies in the South American country.
Exit polls showed 78 percent of voters cast ballots in favor of calling a national assembly to replace the constitution, while 11.5 percent voted against it, according to a government Web site statement. Correa, who had threatened to default on Ecuador's $10 billion in foreign debt, said today that the government made its final payment last week due to the International Monetary Fund, according to a recording of his comments provided by his press office. Ecuador wants to cut ties with the lender, according to the comments. In comments broadcast by CNN, Correa said his country has changed ``definitively.''
``Economically, we're going to overcome this disastrous neo-liberal model,'' he said.
Elected last year without the backing of any political party, Correa began campaigning for today's referendum shortly after taking office in January. He pledged to eradicate government corruption and to create a socialist state along the lines of Hugo Chavez's Venezuela. In a speech today at a ceremony in Guayaquil, he called politicians opposed to the national constituent assembly a ``mafia.'' Tension between Correa and congress heightened over the past few months after lawmakers voted to replace the head of the country's top electoral court for backing Correa's referendum plan.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/16/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
I think Hugo just got a few steps closer to "restoring" the nation of Gran Colombia.
#3
As someone pointed out, had the Russian peasantry not been brutalized and massacred for 70 years by the communists, they probably would have been worse and more dangerous today.
Maybe South America need to be dominated by monsters for a while, to teach them how much better things can be if government just leaves them alone.
..It just ain't the same anymore - the quality of the writers at KCNA has gone way downhill - but you still gotta admit, ain't NOBODY does rhetoric like they do. Among the highlights of the b'day celebrations:
Pyongyang, April 13 (KCNA) -- The Moscow State Academy Chamber Chorus of Russia is participating in the current 25th April Spring Friendship Art Festival. It has earned fame through performance tours in various regions of the world including Europe and North America and tens of international art festivals since it gave its premiere in April 1972.
It is led by Minin Vladimir, Russian People's Actor and State Prize Winner. It has talented singers including Yurasova Svetlana who draws the audience deep into the musical world with her resonant vocal ability and artistic skill. ... probably a lot like, say, Yoko Ono ...
... fingernails on a blackboard ...
The chorus, with deep reverence for the peerlessly great leaders, is singing songs in unique and vivid tone. "Song of General Kim Il Sung" and "Song of General Kim Jong Il" sung by the chorus deepen the respect of the audience for the brilliant commanders of Mt. Paektu. The audience gives a huge ovation to it for its enthusiastic performance."
Or else.
"Pyongyang, April 13 (KCNA) -- Personages of various countries addressing multifarious events held there on the occasion of the Day of the Sun highly praised President Kim Il Sung as the sun of Juche. P. Shiv Shankar, chairman of the All-India Indo-Korean Friendship Association who is former Indian Foreign Minister, Vishwanath, director general of the International Institute of the Juche Idea and secretary general of the "International Kim Il Sung Prize" Council, and other personages made speeches at the national meeting to commemorate the Day of the Sun held in India on April 7.
They were unanimous in saying that Kim Il Sung, whom progressive humankind respect and follow as the sun of Juche, is the great leader who devoted his whole life to the prosperity and happiness of the country and the people. They noted that nancy-boy man-centered Korean-style socialism built by Kim Il Sung on the basis of the great Juche idea is shining as a beacon of hope instilling confidence and courage into progressive humankind despite the vicious anti-DPRK moves of the imperialists.
Progressive humankind still misses the President very much as he performed great feats on behalf of humankind, they added." ..Most notable of which was shuffling off this mortal coil and going to join the bleeding choir invisible.
RTWT, for it is hysterical.
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/16/2007 09:14 ||
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Equal pay is unfair and penalises the workers who put in the most effort, a pioneering research study has said. It argues that real fairness means that companies and organisations should pay staff according to how hard and well they work.
And it warned that organisations which put the dogma of equal pay for those doing similar jobs into practice risk disastrous collapses in productivity and morale among their staff.
The findings, presented to a Royal Economic Society conference, throw a major question mark over the ambition of paying workers equally that has governed the thinking of public sector employers and the courts for more than a decade.
Continued on Page 49
#1
DoD has adopted a merit based pay system called National Security Personnel System (NSPS)for DoD civilian workers. http://public.dover.amc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123028490
It started taking effect, at least for the Air Force, last October (FY07) and to date the effect on productivity has been significant. The quality and quantity of engineers that the AF has been able to hire in the last few months is amazing. At Warner Robins ALC, the AF is hiring top engineers away from local industry. Something that I have not seen in the 30+ years I have worked with the defense industry. It is amazing what can happen when you pay people what they are worth.
#3
It seems two concepts are being conflated in this article: equal pay for equivalent work (dustmen and cleaning ladies), and equal pay for unequal effort within a given job description. The first is a good idea so long as secretaries aren't equated with engineers, although it discourages women from going for previously higher paying "men's jobs" and eventually somewhat integrating job categories. The second is what discourages hard work. The first costs more, with no improvement in productivity, merely an end to historical discrimination. The second, that's where the benefit of tying pay to [quality] output is better than 1:1.
PARIS: A crew of American campaign strategists came to town last week with some unsolicited advice for France's presidential candidates. Ségolène Royal, the stylish Socialist who wants to be the first woman to move into Élysée Palace? She should not have posed in a bikini.
"You want to look like a commander in chief, especially as a woman," said Barbara Comstock, who helped George W. Bush get elected president. "The only candidate who could get away with being photographed in a bikini in the United States," she added, "is Barack Obama," a senator who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president.
Brillo pad, meet eyeballs ...
Nicolas Sarkozy, the hard-line former interior minister and center-right front-runner? He should stop trying to soften his tough-guy image.
"People don't vote for him because he's smiling," said Michael Murphy, who helped put Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, into the governor's mansion in California.
He tried smiling once, came off as a sneer. That's why he keeps doing it, makes him look French ...
Comstock, Murphy and their colleagues were invited to Paris by the French-American Foundation to learn about the Internet strategies employed by the different camps. But with the first round of the tightly fought French election little more than a week away, their four-day tour was also a vivid illustration of a trans-Atlantic clash of political cultures, and not just because three of the six Americans were black and two were women.
Oh no, not just because of that ...
The first stop was the Socialist Party headquarters on the Left Bank.
Where else?
After a lengthy presentation by a Royal adviser on her flagship idea of "participatory democracy" (illustrated by a cardboard chart of web connections titled "Ségoland"), David Mercer, a fund-raiser for Hillary Clinton, put up his hand and asked, "How are you going to translate that into votes?"
Leave it to the American to poop in the punchbowl ...
The spokesman gave an uncertain smile and said he did not believe in opinion polls, which have shown Royal trailing Sarkozy for three months.
"Non, non, certainement pas!"
Jamal Simmons, who worked on Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign, looked puzzled and asked, "But what voter groups are you targeting in the last 10 days? Urban voters? Rural voters? What age groups?"
The socialists. The ones who aren't Stalinists. Or Trotskyites. Or Bolsheviks. Or Mensheviks. Or Maoists. Or Sindero Luminosos. We know there's one or two ...
Another uncertain smile: "We're talking to all the French people," said the spokesman, Arnaud Montebourg, explaining that Royal had compiled 100 presidential proposals from millions of contributions on the Web and in town hall debates. "That's 99 too many," Murphy grumbled later. "What you need is one message."
Tell that to Al Gore, he'd have been president today if he'd figured that out.
These scenes were repeated at the campaign headquarters of Sarkozy and François Bayrou, the centrist upstart who is challenging the other two by promising to heal a fractured France. All three candidates have published books in the past two months, but none has used U.S.-style focus groups?
"It's a very different way of running campaigns," Mercer said. "And why are they all so calm?" he added, eyeing Bayrou campaigners enjoying coffee outdoors in the late morning sun.
Because they never let work get in the way of a coffee and a good smoke ...
There was disbelief when the Americans were told that there were three Trotskyist candidates, a Communist, and an anti-globalization campaigner, and utter astonishment when they learned that all 12 candidates had been allotted the same amount of airtime during the last two weeks of campaigning: 45 minutes each. The content of television ads is also regulated: Candidates are not allowed to attack their opponents or show French symbols like the flag or the presidential palace.
Wouldn't want to appear too patriotic, ya know ...
"And do you use text messaging in your campaign?" Simmons asked a member of Sarkozy's campaign team. They did, until it was banned Jan. 4.
"There are a lot of rules in this country," remarked Whitfield Ayres, a Republican pollster who has worked on the senatorial campaigns of Bill Frist and Lamar Alexander, both of Tennessee.
You're just figuring that out?
Perhaps the biggest culture clash involved money. French candidates may spend no more than 16.2 million, or nearly $22 million, before the first round on April 22, and a substantial part of that sum comes from the state.
In the United States., candidates tend to forgo subsidies that come with strict limits, and stick to private donations that are not subject to a ceiling. Hillary Clinton raised $26 million in the first quarter of this year alone, a fraction of the sum she is likely to have spent by the election in November 2008.
Here, candidates must collect 500 signatures from elected officials to qualify for the ballot. "That's our proxy for popularity," said Olivier Piton, a public affairs officer at the French Embassy in Washington, who accompanied the American group in Paris.
As opposed to getting signatures from actual leetle people voters ...
France's tough financial restrictions and broadcasting rules may have an up side, contributing to better use of the Internet. Sarkozy's Web site in particular impressed the American visitors with its 17 video channels featuring everything from Sarkozy's speeches to a YouTube-style section with homemade videos from singing supporters.
Sort of like American Idol without the talent and the boobs ...
"This is the most elegant Web-television strategy I've seen," said Murphy, who immediately sent the link to his colleagues in Washington. "It's one click ahead of where we are. And, yes, I will steal it."
Bring elegant back to the States, that's the ticket, that's what Hillary is missing ...
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/16/2007 05:26 ||
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#1
...he had no desire to endorse any candidate for the office right now, choosing to wait to see how they addressed the issue of global warming.
So he wants to get an Oscar, too?
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/16/2007 5:51 Comments ||
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#2
Please, God, give this fine example of Democratic leadership dimbulb a second chance...
Posted by: Dave D. ||
04/16/2007 6:47 Comments ||
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#3
You nailed it, Bobby, The honourable gentleman hasn't had an original thought in his life, and he's jealous of the attention Mr.Gore garners. I understand he wrote a book on the environment -- likely it went straight to the remainder bin.
Insurgent presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., raised $24.8 million in primary cash for his campaign almost 30 percent more than did frontrunner Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., with $19.1 million, the candidates' Federal Election Commission documents filed on Sunday evening indicate. Obama also nearly tied Clinton in total donations, having raised $25.8 million compared to Clinton's $26 million an astounding achievement for a political novice going up against such a veteran.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/16/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
First black overtaking first wumen?
Posted by: Captain America ||
04/16/2007 0:38 Comments ||
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#2
FREEPUBLIC/LUCIANNE/OTHER > Obama's "better half" [wife] is also getting media scrutiny as possible first African-Amer First Lady + "Hillary-style" CO-POTUS!?
#3
Insurgent presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., raised $24.8 million in primaryily welfare dollars and food stamp cash seed money for his campaign
#8
Cardboard weighs a lot. Drop by your local convenience store and pick up a few throw-aways. Makes great stuffing for such envelopes. You can get five-six ounces in one.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/16/2007 15:21 Comments ||
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#9
Sadly prepaid return only pays as much as postage that brought it too you. Still fill it out and send it back, the clerical time alone.... An unsigned check might be a nice touch.
#10
Does anyone think that Obama has anything more than a snowball's chance in hell of winning the nomination, let alone the presidency? I almost have to cheer for how he's beating Hillary in fundraising. It means that the real threat isn't gaining as much strength.
However low-down it may sound, by all rights Obama's run for the roses should stall out the moment someone points up how Obama's previous exposure to Muslim culture could taint all of his positions through taqiyya. His proclaimed Christianity means zilch if he has any Islamic sympathies.
I realize that all of this is highly speculative, if not specious, but Democrats are already too much of a threat without any potential Islamic connections. Obama's prior contacts with Muslim relatives and culture makes him a risk in my eyes.
Also see the article posted under Home Front WoT by Bobby at 12:52. I've edited this one to remove duplicate quotes, etc. Feel free to comment under either. AoS.
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) - A gunman opened fire in a dorm and classroom at Virginia Tech on Monday, killing 21 people in the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history. The gunman was killed but it was unclear if he was shot by police or took his own life.
The university reported shootings at opposite sides of the 2,600-acre campus, beginning at about 7:15 a.m. at West Ambler Johnston, a co-ed residence hall that houses 895 people, and continuing about two hours later at Norris Hall, an engineering building. The name of the gunman was not released.
Up until Monday, the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history took place in 1966 at the University of Texas, where Charles Whitman climbed to the 28th-floor observation deck of a clock tower and opened fire. He killed 16 people before he was gunned down by police. In the Columbine High bloodbath near Littleton, Colo., in 1999, two teenagers killed 12 fellow students and a teacher before taking their own lives.
On Monday, one student was killed in a dorm and the others were killed in the classroom, Virginia Tech Police Chief W.R. Flinchum. After the shootings, all entrances to the campus were closed and classes canceled through Tuesday.
It was second time in less than a year that the campus was closed because of a shooting. In August 2006, the opening day of classes was canceled and the campus closed when an escaped jail inmate allegedly killed a hospital guard off campus and fled to the Tech area. A sheriff's deputy involved in the manhunt was killed on a trail just off campus. The accused gunman, William Morva, faces capital murder charges.
#1
My Dad's old school. Just a year or so ago the Virginia legislature rejected a law that would have allowed firearms on campus, instead preserving it as a 'gun-free zone', if I recall correctly.
I don't yet know the background of this psycho, but clearly a lot more 'competent' at killing than is typical for the type. Military experience (like Texas Tower)?
#2
They're saying now that the death toll is at least 25 and expected to rise higher. It's way too early to know with any certainty what all happened, how many are injured or dead, or if it was the work of a single shooter.
Posted by: Dar ||
04/16/2007 13:27 Comments ||
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#3
I went to Virginia Tech -- class of '87. According to this story from Foxnews, the gunman was "Asian" and wearing a vest covered with clips: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,266310,00.html. The cops are also saying that the shootings at opposite ends of the campus seem unrelated, which is bullshit. This was two guys at work, IMHO. It might take awhile to find out if this was sudden jihadi syndrome or just a couple Columbine-style shooters.
Dear God, if only they had allowed concealed carry on campus, one of the cadets would have plugged this bastard for sure.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
04/16/2007 13:29 Comments ||
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#4
Too bad they took the shooter alive. How many millions will be spent trying and executing this waste of skin?
#7
Up to 32 dead now, and the cops are saying the gunman is dead. If there was one shooting at West Ambler Johnson at 7:30 and then the shootings at Norris Hall at 10:00, then this guy could have killed somebody while looking for his girlfriend, decided he had nothing to lose, gone home and armed himself, and then gone looking for his GF in class.
This seems less like a jihadi than somebody snapping -- although the question of where he got the heavy ordnance arises. 24-hour rule on this, at least.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
04/16/2007 14:04 Comments ||
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#8
Death toll is now 29, possibly 32. THis is crazy! The usual nuts are out complaining about "too many guns", etc. The Virginia Tech campus is a "gun-free zone". If one of the Cadets there had actually had a firearm on him, the death toll would have probably been a lot smaller. Apparently the shooter is dead, so we'll have to try to piece together why he did this from incomplete evidence.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/16/2007 14:06 Comments ||
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#9
Just heard on the local news that the killer was Asian ???
#10
My heart goes out to all the familes that will be burying a child. All because a lunatic took it upon himself to play God. How tragic. How senseless.
#11
I just a saw a photo on Channel 4 news of a cop handcuffing some Oriental guy on the floor. They also seem to be saying that some of the victims were lined up against a wall and executed.
#12
Firearms speculation is now on 9mm. A couple of pistols and 100 rounds could easily be hidden in a backpack. Also a very cold day, so many heavily dressed kids.
Sounds like the storyline isbeginning to stabilize, but there are still reports that soem injured are in critical condition.
#15
Reports are saying that shooter had two 9 mm handguns. The 9 mm is not an impressive round so far as wound ballistics. 32 people murdered by one shooter with two 9 mm handguns. Possible but questionable. Security measures on campus must suck if there were shootings at 7:15 am and then more at between 9 and 10 am.
Shootings such as this could happen on any American campus. My nephew is a certified police officer in Ohio. He works security at a private campus; however he is not allowed to carry a firearm. Not much he could do if an armed gunman came on campus other than to try to use "conflict resolution (extreme cynicism).
#18
Time between 2 events does seem plausible to me- Shooter flees first scene, walks away from scene as he watches first responders rush in, waits it out somewhere, sitting in a car, back to his plce, whatever. Security trying to investigate first scene without panicing the whole school, school following security protocols, especially since they have been dealing with bomb threats during the past days. Shooter shows up at campus building across campus, where a lot of the students went before the mass email went out.
If he had already clipped his ammo, he has 16 shots he can fire off at will, and only needs 5 to 10 seconds at most to rearm.
Biggest obstacle is finding that many targets- 32 dead plus another up to 30 wounded- in a collapsing period in time- The closest armed responder could have been clear across campus at scene 1.
#19
I'm thinking of a lecture hall, with three double doors at ground level and about 30 rows going down like a theater. Could easily fit 200 students in there. One guy at the top of the stairs could hit a lot of kids....
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/16/2007 14:49 Comments ||
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#20
Bobby, that I can recall, Norris has at least one such lecture hall, and might have two. If it was a lower-level engineering class it would have been full of students, so all the gunman would have to do is move down the aisle; people would have been trapped in their seats by the crowd and immobilized, in essence.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
04/16/2007 15:02 Comments ||
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#21
I just saw something on the VT board- "doors were chained shut" and "Romantic break up/ cheating" all rumors, but that is what's passing around close to the scene.
#23
It's already been stated but my first question was how in the Heck does one gunman do that... unless it was a lecture hall.
I'm stating the very obvious here... but either there was a reason students could not escape (lecture hall or doors chained shut) or the gunman was very, very proficient and was armed to do what he intended to do from the start.
#24
Drudge keeps adding new reports as they come in -- at the top of their webpage in red.
Apparently Virginia Tech received two credible bomb threats since the beginning of the month (on April 2nd and 13th), both aimed at engineering buildings... although it isn't clear the threats and the shootings are related.
#25
Blackvenom: reports thus far have one killed and a number injured at the dormitory, then the gunman went over to the engineering hall, chained the outer doors shut, and went from classroom to classroom lining up the kids and shooting them down. The FBI (or someone) is going through the shell casings to trace down the actual weapons used, and hopefully their history of ownership. Please go over to Drudge and look at the links -- you'll understand the meaning of the reports better than I.
#29
I'm getting another gun, this time for my daughter who is a college student.
Where does the current herd of presidential candidates stand on gun control
Posted by: Jan from work ||
04/16/2007 16:08 Comments ||
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#30
AFAIK the only one who can be trusted to keep his hands off the Second Amendment is Fred Thompson; and he's not even a candidate yet.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
04/16/2007 16:09 Comments ||
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A bill that would have given college students and employees the right to carry handguns on campus died with nary a shot being fired in the General Assembly.
House Bill 1572 didn't get through the House Committee on Militia, Police and Public Safety. It died Monday in the subcommittee stage, the first of several hurdles bills must overcome before becoming laws.
The bill was proposed by Del. Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah County, on behalf of the Virginia Citizens Defense League. Gilbert was unavailable Monday and spokesman Gary Frink would not comment on the bill's defeat other than to say the issue was dead for this General Assembly session.
Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker was happy to hear the bill was defeated. "I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus."
I'm sure it made them feel safer; it just didn't make them safer.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
04/16/2007 16:13 Comments ||
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#32
I came across this while reading more on this shooting: unf***ingbelievable yeah let's have stricter gun control, what idiots.
There are at least 29 confirmed dead in the shooting at Virginia Tech University, making it the worst campus shooting in American history.
Do you think this incident is a reason to pass stricter gun control legislation?
No. Violent shootings are isolated incidents and it's irresponsible to link them to gun control.
7,711
Yes. This shows the violence that can occur when someone has access to handguns.3,743
I'm not sure. I need more information.300
Total Vote: 11,754
Posted by: Jan from work ||
04/16/2007 16:14 Comments ||
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#33
Between the 300 that "don't know" and the almost 4,000 idiots out there this drives me crazy
Posted by: Jan from work ||
04/16/2007 16:17 Comments ||
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#34
Yup. Same here. It's bogglesome.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
04/16/2007 16:29 Comments ||
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#35
23 It's already been stated but my first question was how in the Heck does one gunman do that...
I am no expert, but a simple news junkie.
If you follow the trends from Columbine, through the Amish schoolhouse through today, at first it is hard to see any correlation. HS, Off site shooter, College campus. However, I see a couple of things coming together. First, all 3 are "element of suprise", multiple murders ending in suicide. In Columbine, heavy multiple option firepower, little attempt at crowd control. Amish school less firepower, more crowd control, possible seige mentality. Today, limited but standardized lethal firepower, possibly chained doors, possible "deversion" tactic. I would not be suprised if todays shooter was a "student" of the methods used in PA and Columbine. By that I mean they read alot about the "how to" lessons from that incident. I felt the same way from reading about the Amish schoolgirl killer- that he took lessons from Columbine.
The most unexpected component of the Lancaster shooting was the grace and faith of the Amish. With such a horrific killing at a state funded university, expect the legal fallout to be much much uglier, the search for someone to blame, to sue, to regulate to become a watershed moment for the country. Of course, in todays state of political debate, we will NEVER reach a national consensus on what should be done. I predict campus life, across the nation, may never be the same, and for that I am profoundly sad.
In a completely sarcastic summation, I can visualize Imus putting shaking his head saying "why oh why couldn't I have waited a week before getting diarrhea of the mouth".
God Bless the families that received horrific phone calls today. I called my college daughter to say "I love you"...just because I could.
#36
Cell phone video with audio of gunshots seems to indicate the shots were deliberate and slow-paced.
Posted by: Dar ||
04/16/2007 16:39 Comments ||
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#37
With such a horrific killing at a state funded university, expect the legal fallout to be much much uglier, the search for someone to blame, to sue, to regulate to become a watershed moment for the country.
I fear you are absolutely right. This is big and it could break either way.
#39
They keep saying "Asian", and I keep hearing the British definition of "Asian". Likely they're using the American definition, though.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
04/16/2007 17:45 Comments ||
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#40
The Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia all have radical Muslim contingents ripe for Sudden Jihad Syndrome, and their citizens could easily be read as "Asian" because of general appearance, even though Americans generally equate Asian with Chinese/Japanese/Korean.
#41
Was thinking the same thing TW. Then I ran into this.
One student, Jamal Albarghouti, filmed the scene on campus with his mobile phone, images that were broadcast on CNN even before the full scale of the massacre had been revealed.
He just happened to have a camera. A link to one student's blog. Shooter's name still hasn't been provided.
#42
The latest report I read stated that LE still hasn't ID'd the guy because there were no items of identification on the shooter's person. Not even a wallet? Now that is strange. It appears to me that the "broken heart" hypothesis is getting harder to support.
#43
Very often when tragedies occur such as the one at Virginia Tech, there is a renewed clamor for gun control. I might add the following:
1. Very often these incidents occur where there is strict gun control. Law abiding citizens who obey the regulations only suffer because they cannot protect themselves or anyone else. The only ones that end up being armed are the police and thugs.
2. The shooters take advantage of these situations where they know that no one is armed and they can carry out their plan without a threat of being thwarted.
3. One should not put their safety and security in the hands of police because very often they are not around when you need them.
4. An armed society is a civil society.
5. Security is generally a myth. Consider 911, Columbine, or any other tragic situation where some thug or punk decides to shoot up, murder or destroy the place.
6. People are killed with autos, trucks, golf clubs, rocks, baseball bats, knives, bowling balls, poisons, airplanes, shovels, axes, screwdrivers, explosives, etc. All the instruments that people use to kill each other cannot be controlled. Obviously it is the individual and not the instrument of killing that is the problem.
Terrorism Expert Bill Warner says the shooting is professional, appears to be the result of military training: As of 5:30 the link was off/B>
THIS IS MILITARY TYPE SHOOTING, NO NAME YET, BUT 62 PEOPLE SHOT AND 32 DEAD AND SOME ON THE WAY OUT (30 IN HOSPITALS), THIS HAS TO BE HIGH POWERED AMMO (HIGH KILL RATE) FROM WHAT WOULD BE TWO 9MM HANDGUNS WITH AT LEAST A 15 ROUND CLIP (POLICE CLIPS ARE 15) AND BACK UP AMMO CLIPS.
IF 62 STUDENTS ARE SHOT AT AND ARE HIT AND 32 OF THEM ARE DEAD AND OTHERS ARE CRITICAL, THIS GUY HAD MILITARY TRAINING. NO ONE CAN DO THIS KIND OF HANDGUN SHOOTING WITH SUCH DEADLY EFFECT WITHOUT A LOT OF TRAINING, THESE PEOPLE WERE MOVING TARGETS, NOT STATIONARY PAPER TARGETS.
And It will be interesting to note if the person is Pakistani or perhaps from Indonesia. Tech is an internationally recognized engineering school and draws from a lot of countries like India and Pakistan where engineering schools either don't exist or are poor in comparison. However, it's the wealthy of those countries who can afford to send their children there.
The longer it takes for name release, the more I think ROP.
1) No ID on the shooter
2) He shot himself in the face, making ID difficult
3) Fingerprints have not matched those on file (assuming national database).
4) NBC also reports that an LE leak states that the "broken heart" scenario from earlier reports may not be accurate.
After the first shootings they didne even lock down the dorm they happened in, and despite not having the shooter in custody, TOLD THE KIDS TO GO TO CLASS - and didnt even interrupt classes!
WTF is wrong with the school officials?
Had they reacted promptly and locked down the campus, the later shootings and deaths could probably have been avoided.
Given the rural location, had guns not been outlawed there, the probability for an armed response by a potentital victim is fairly high.
All "gun fress zones" do is designate freefire target areas.
#48
Local FOX affiliate WFXR-TV in Richmond reported that one shooting occurred between 7:15 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. at West Ambler Johnston, and another at 10 a.m. at Norris Hall. The schools Web site confirmed the shooting at opposite ends of the 2,600-acre campus.
Police also said there is no evidence the two shootings at opposite ends of campus were related
#49
There is no such thing as a "dangerous weapon" - there are only dangerous people. The Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force in this country train their people to be "dangerous". The Army and Marines (plus a few select others) go far beyond using firearms, and train their people to use knives, rope, bare hands, and anything else lying around. Idiots blame TOOLS - intelligent people understand that it's people who kill other people. Controlling tools only makes it easier for wackos to operate in a low-risk environment. The chancellor and regents of Virginia Tech are as much responsible for these deaths as the monster that committed them, because they made it impossible for these students to defend themselves.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/16/2007 19:10 Comments ||
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#50
NBC also reported that there was a cell phone near the shooter's body, but confirmation as to whether the phone belonged to the shooter.
One of the eyewitnesses stated that as the police ordered her and her classmates to evacuate the building, she noticed a massive pool of blood in the stairwell. She learned that students from the higher floors had used the stairs to evacuate, only to discover that the stairwell exit door had been cabled shut. The shooter was waiting for them and slaughtered them. That's battlespace prep.
#52
THIS IS MILITARY TYPE SHOOTING, NO NAME YET, BUT 62 PEOPLE SHOT AND 32 DEAD AND SOME ON THE WAY OUT (30 IN HOSPITALS), THIS HAS TO BE HIGH POWERED AMMO (HIGH KILL RATE) FROM WHAT WOULD BE TWO 9MM HANDGUNS WITH AT LEAST A 15 ROUND CLIP (POLICE CLIPS ARE 15) AND BACK UP AMMO CLIPS.
IF 62 STUDENTS ARE SHOT AT AND ARE HIT AND 32 OF THEM ARE DEAD AND OTHERS ARE CRITICAL, THIS GUY HAD MILITARY TRAINING. NO ONE CAN DO THIS KIND OF HANDGUN SHOOTING WITH SUCH DEADLY EFFECT WITHOUT A LOT OF TRAINING, THESE PEOPLE WERE MOVING TARGETS, NOT STATIONARY PAPER TARGETS.
Ugly line of thought-can't be dismissed. Managing 2 firearms, either the guy is lucky or good. Ample range time and a combination of video game training? I'm not sure at close range if ammo makes the hugh difference, but obviously he selected that for the desired effect as well.
#53
#10 My heart goes out to all the familes that will be burying a child. All because a lunatic took it upon himself to play God. How tragic. How senseless.
Posted by: Zenster 2007-04-16 14:13
Ditto Zenster - My deepest sympathies to all families involved in this senseless waste of human life. My thoughts and prayers are with them all. May their dear souls Rest in Peace
#54
There was a bomb threat sent to VTU exactly a week ago.
Excerpt from today's Editor And Publisher:
On April 3, The Roanoke Times reported: "A written bomb threat led Virginia Tech to evacuate a 100,000-square-foot building, cancel the classes within it, and close a major gateway to the campus for much of Monday.
Exactly one week ago.
The evacuation took place at 1:20 PM in the afternoon. It was well-observed, I think. LE response times, evacuation routes, etc.
#55
It seems the guy was fairly proficient with the weapons he had. He either had some professional training or spent a fair amount of time getting proficient.
I'm waiting to hear more. Of all the reports of people that saw the shooter, no one seems to recognize him. That would suggest he is not a student. Could be Asian islamonut. Have not heard anything to this effect though. One shooter could have gotten from one side of campus to the other. Could have been two shooters too. There is some video of a policeman with a gun on some guy on the ground who appears to be handcuffed.
#57
Idiots blame TOOLS - intelligent people understand that it's people who kill other people. Controlling tools only makes it easier for wackos to operate in a low-risk environment. The chancellor and regents of Virginia Tech are as much responsible for these deaths as the monster that committed them, because they made it impossible for these students to defend themselves.
Word, Old Patriot. I predict the University administration will be hung out to dry on this. After the first bullet was fired, that entire school should have gone into lockdown for 12-24 hours.
#60
After the first bullet was fired, that entire school should have gone into lockdown for 12-24 hours.
I disagree. Initial information is never complete, and if they locked down the campus on every report of a disturbance, they'd never be open.
Seriously; when I was in college, one of the dorm rooms caught a stray round from down the hill (the projects). Granted, no one was hurt, but that shit happens. And if you overreact too often...
I have a hard time blaming the university administration this early. Once we know more, if they screwed up, it'll be obvious. Until we know more, cut them some slack. You can be sure as hell they're all beating themselves up.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
04/16/2007 19:55 Comments ||
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#61
The evacuation took place at 1:20 PM in the afternoon. It was well-observed, I think. LE response times, evacuation routes, etc.
Possibly.
Important thing to remember: the more likely this was a jihadi, the less likely we'll get any details.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
04/16/2007 19:57 Comments ||
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#62
I can't help but wonder if we are becoming so numb to these shootings since our world has been getting so snarly, explaining why the lock down didn't occur as it should have?
I've called my daughter that's in college, and some friends that survived the Platte Canyon high school shootings.
This tragic horror is so senseless.
Posted by: Jan at work ||
04/16/2007 20:01 Comments ||
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#63
We would already know if he was a jeebus freak.
#64
Glatle Crens4336 how do you lock down a sprawling campus of 25,000 students and faculty? It's way to early in the investigation to blame anyone but the shooter.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/16/2007 20:22 Comments ||
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#65
Shooter ID, per John Gibson Fox Radio. 24 year old Chinese man, arrived August '06 on student visa.
All I know is that Fox News was scrolling "first shooter not captured or shot". That sounds like the first shooter was not the second shooter who shot himself, doesn't it?
#67
Deac you're wrong. You can shhut down a public area quickly- and I know that campus being from Roanoke and having gone there.
A few campus police patrol units with bullhorns could have alterted the entire area to do the following:
1) Lock the Dorms down (reverse 911 to the RA's woudl do this as well).
2) Tell the kids to get in and stay in their rooms (the RA's told them to go to class), or if out inthe open, get off the campus and go into Blacksburg or ride over to Radford (search/secure vehicles on their way out).
3) If possible, have the Profs EMPTY the rooms and disperse the students to off campus from the academic buildings.
4) If caught in the buildings: Close the doors and lock them - barricade if needed. This worked for one classroom full of students - the gunman fired a few shots (tables barricaded the entrance) and moved on.
You CAN shut down a campus - and the problem here is 2 hours after the first shootings, they continued to operate as if nothing had happened. The RAs told the kids is was safe to go to their classes. The Profs continued to hold classes as if nothing had happened. The campus security didnt bother alerting anyone - even an hour after the first shootings there were still kids coming and going from the other end of the dorm.
They had 2 HOURS after the initial shootings.
2 Freaken HOURS.
They knew they didn't have the shooter in custody. They knew he had killed multiple people with a firearm or firearms.
#69
But Old Spook, they thought that the first series of shootings at the dorm were the result of a "domestic situation" -- non-student boyfriend thought girl was two-timing him, shot the girl and the RA who intervened. It was only two hours later when he started massacring the engineering students that they realized they had a real problem. Yes, they should have hunted for the shooter, but what odds of finding him if he'd fled the campus straightaway as assumed? Or stripped off the ammunition vest and the hat, and mingled with the oblivious students hurrying to classes across campus through the blowing snow?
#70
They knew they didn't have the shooter in custody. They knew he had killed multiple people with a firearm or firearms.
No dice Rob Crawford. I'm going with Old Spook on this one. The shooter was not apprehended so a potential threat still existed. This isn't something tossed from a dorm window, fisticuffs or a frat party gone out of control. This was gunfire with known fatalities and that's a whole 'nuther story. Campus security was irresponsible, fatally so for dozens of kids.
#71
Or stripped off the ammunition vest and the hat, and mingled with the oblivious students hurrying to classes across campus through the blowing snow?
The point remains that if the school had gone into lockdown, any movements by the shooter would probably have been far more conspicuous.
Reading on Drudge that the shooter may be a Chinese exchange student, here since August.
Okay, given the Chinese interest in "unconventional warfare" in a conflict against the US, and the apparent professional nature of the attack, what if this guy is a sleeper agent sent to cause mischief in the event of war.
But he's unstable and get's lit off all on his own (meaning the short time since August was enough to put this jerk over the edge?).
Or the shooter swapped clothes with a victim, takes his ID and shoots him in the face, covering his (jihadi?) tracks to make an escape. Making the Chinese aspect a dodge.
The domestic shooting at first... a setup to pull the cops out of the way, or just a random event the killer took advantage of?
< /weird musing off>
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
04/16/2007 21:49 Comments ||
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#73
LotR, that's the stuff of the Kos kiddies, not rational folks like us here at Rantburg IMO.
Actually, I was just surfing to see what sorts of conspiracy theories are starting to pop up on the web already. Not much luck thus far - may be far too early and folks are a little to shocked yet.
Authorities were investigating whether the gunman who killed 32 people on the Virginia Tech campus in the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history was a Chinese man who arrived in the United States last year on a student visa.
The 24-year-old man arrived in San Francisco on United Airlines on Aug. 7 on a visa issued in Shanghai, the source said. Investigators have not linked him to any terrorist groups, the source said. Police believe three bomb threats on the campus last week [either the reporter has new info or he's a bit confused on this point] may have been attempts by the man to test the campus security response, the source said.
The exits to the buildings where the shootings occurred were chained by the shooter, the source said.
Separately, the university president said that 11,000 people were driving onto campus first thing this morning. Which would certainly add to the chaos factor. Look, I realize I don't know enough about such things to judge, but... even distraught murderous boyfriends tend not to go on shooting sprees, right? Assuming that's really what was going on.
#75
FOTSGreg - Yeah, you're right. Sorry guys, just in a WTF mood tonight.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
04/16/2007 22:01 Comments ||
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#76
When I came home, the wife had the news on. While she was upstairs, the interviewer asked the college student on the phone, "Don't you feel let down by the University's reaction to the first incident?"
Not surprisingly, the student said, "Yes", and my wife couldn't understand why I freaked and turned it off.
The tragedy's not bad enough, the MSM has to confict someone of dereliction of duty before the day is out. Slimeballs.
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/16/2007 22:02 Comments ||
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#77
And by the way, on a lighter note, how come my article beats anonymous 5089 by 13 minutes, but HE gets all the comments?
Wahhhhhhh! It's not FAIR!
C'est le guerre, n'est pas, A5089?
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/16/2007 22:05 Comments ||
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#78
NBC just commented that the police are questioning a suspect. Something about them knowing a one of the victims. The cops were pretty tight lipped about it.
#79
Pajamasmedia.com has a couple of links to websites that MAY belong to someone involved in the shootings (scroll down to the pistol graphic).
Items of note:
The only political posts are two Ann Coulter -related pieces which are entirely quotes from Ms. Coulter's polemical attacks on Islamists. The second piece was an odd conflation of two separate Coulter columns.
The website owner is/was a firearms fanatic. The H&K appears to me to require tax stamp - the barrel is less than 16".
Towards the bottom is a post titled "Postsecrets" with some strange wording about "enlisting" in order to pay for "the wedding".
Again, the link's owner may or may not be involved.
Campus police have identified a person of interest who is not currently in police custody. Police say the person of interest is a male who knew the female who was killed in the original double homicide at the West Ambler Johnston Hall dormitory. Flinchum also said he is not a student and that he knew the female who was killed in the original double homicide.
Coming out. I am not the shooter. Through this experience, I have received numerous death threats, slanderous accusations, and my phone is out of charge from the barrage of calls. Local police have been notified of the situation.
My original intention was to wait until I got AdSense on my site and donating all the proceeds to Charity. However, this situation has now spiraled out of control. I am now confirming that I am not the shooter. I will be available for interview by a news agency to clear my name, talk about the experience, and give my opinion on how the situation could have turned out better if other students were allowed to be armed. I will only speak with individuals who are interested in donating to charities resulting from today's events. Please e-mail all correspondence to null@vt.edu
The young man has a picture of himself further down the page at the shooting range labelled "Marine Corps Base Quantico". Again, I don't know enough to venture an opinion.
Just found this. Could't get the page to fully open.
"Officials said the gunman acted alone. But at one point three people were seen being escorted away from Norris Hall, the teaching building where most of the shootings took place, in handcuffs. That raised at least the possibility of a wider criminal conspiracy."
source: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2455023.ece
#84
I'm taking this one with a huge grain of salt. Some fellow is claiming he sold "Mr. Cho" the guns.
Call BS all you like, but I just spent the last several hours with 3 ATF agents. I saw the shooter's picture. I know his name and home address. I also know that he used a Glock 19 and a Walther P-22. The serial number was ground off the Glock. Why would he do that and still keep the receipt in his pocket from when he bought the gun?
ATF told me that they are going to keep this low-key and not report this to the tv news. However, they cautioned that it will leak out eventually, and that I should be ready to deal with CNN, FOX, etc.
My 32 camera surveillance system recorded the event 35 days ago. This is a digital system that only keeps the video for 35 days. We got lucky.
By the way, the paperwork for Mr. Cho was perfect, thank God.
Damn man, it called BS because it just seems fucked up and odd for him to have a receipt in his pocket.
#87
Icerigger, I clicked on the man's profile, and he's got a history at that site. He also lists http://www.roanokefirearms.com/ as his website. Good find -- it sounds/looks like the real deal... although actually I've never been in a gun shop, so my expertise is perhaps a bit suspect.
#88
With all the lawsuits lately against gun makers and gun stores, having a camera security system of decent quality is not something I'd be surprised at for a gun dealer. Not in the slightest.
NEW DELHI: After testing the Agni-III missile last week, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is now gearing up for the second test of its fledgling ballistic missile defence (BMD) system. DRDO officials said the BMD system test to be held in May-June will be that of an "endo-atmospheric interceptor missile" this time, on the lines of the US Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) system.
"We intend to shoot down an incoming ballistic missile with the endo-atmospheric missile at about 30-km altitude," said an official.
The Dhimmicrats have assured us that this will never work.
The first test of the proposed two-tier BMD system took place on November 27 last year when an "exo-atmospheric" hypersonic interceptor missile was used to destroy an incoming Prithvi missile at an altitude of 50-km. "The exo-atmospheric interceptor missile was designed by taking Prithvi's propulsion system and adding a second stage to it to ensure it could go up to a height of 90-km," said an official. "The endo-atmospheric missile, in turn, has been developed to engage targets at about 30-km. After its test, we will test both exo and endo together. The BMD system will have to be tested for a variety of flight envelopes," he added.
That India needs a multi-layered missile defence system with an overlapping network of early-warning sensors, command posts and anti-missile land and sea-based missile batteries to tackle both ballistic and cruise missiles is a no-brainer. Pakistan, for instance, is surging ahead with its 'Ghauri' and 'Shaheen' ballistic missiles as well as the 'Babur' land-attack cruise missile.
And then there's China ...
It will, however, take at least five years for DRDO's BMD system, or even a medium range surface-to-air missile system (MRSAM), to become operationally ready. India has been discussing missile defence with both US and Israel for the past few years. With the US keen to sell the PAC-3 system to India, the first meeting of Indo-US defence Joint Working Group on April 10 saw the two sides talk missile defence yet again.
Interestingly, the crucial long-range tracking radar used in the "exo-atmospheric" BMD system test was based on two Israeli Green Pine early-warning and fire control radars imported by India in 2001-02. An integral part of the Israeli Arrow-2 BMD system, Green Pine radars can detect incoming missiles up to 500-km away and guide interceptor missiles to them accurately.
A ballistic missile can be targeted at all the three points in its trajectory boost or launch phase, mid-course in space or terminal phase during atmospheric descent. While the PAC-3 system intercepts hostile missiles in the lower atmosphere, the Arrow-2 system destroys them in the stratosphere.
DRDO, on its part, is designing the BMD system to intercept an incoming missile at both the "second mid-course and terminal phases", with a "very high" kill probability. "The aim is to first engage in exo and then whatever remains, in endo," the official said.
Posted by: John Frum ||
04/16/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Known in India as the father of the anti-ballistic air defense missile system, Vijay Kumar Saraswat began his career at the state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) with the development of Indias first liquid-propulsion engine for the Prithvi missile.
Saraswat, who specializes in rocket propulsion, missile technologies, and project and technology management, today is the DRDOs chief controller for research and development. His future assignments include development of Indias anti-ballistic missile systems, radars, C4I systems and integration of battle management resources into a national authority. For his outstanding contribution to India, Saraswat was conferred with the Padma Shri Award, the countrys fourth-highest civilian award, in 1998.
Q. Please describe the homegrown ballistic missile defense system. How many missiles will it have for different layers of threats?
A. Our missile configuration is a three-layered missile defense configuration. We are planning to engage ballistic missiles at the exo-atmospheric layer, i.e., the layer where it enters the atmosphere, and the endo-atmospheric layer, where there is a thermally sensitive atmospheric layer. This configuration gives us the best probability of killing a ballistic missile coming to us. To increase hit probability, we can plan to launch two to three missiles each for exo- and endo-atmospheric.
The missile that demonstrates our capability to intercept ballistic missiles at exo-atmospheric altitudes is called PAD. It is a two-stage missile. The first stage is liquid, and the second is a solid rocket motor with many additional features, which are leading to an interception or engaging the ballistic missiles. For example, it has seeker guidance, divert thruster which can generate a lateral acceleration at more than 5 Gs at 50 kilometers altitude.
Q. How many missiles in the system?
A. There are two layers. At each battery there is a multiple launcher with multiple missiles.
Q. What is the configuration of BMD?
A. In a typical battery, you have the long-range radars, missile launchers, mission control center and other ground systems.
The complete network of radars, launch batteries, missile control centers, launch control centers. These are geographically distributed and are connected to a very potent secure communications network.
The radar is looking at a particular elevation and detects incoming ballistic missiles. This information is sent to the mission control center(MCC), which then decides whether it is a missile interceptor or a satellite or any other projectile, and it does target classification within a few seconds. When the target is classified, the MCC also calculates where the impact point of the target is likely to be and where it is going to fall.
After the target is classified, the MCC also finds out the trajectory profile and the speed it is going to travel. Based on that, it assigns a target to a particular battery. This is called target assignment.
Once the target is assigned, the data goes to a particular battery, then control goes to the launch control center (LCC). LCC keeps on getting data from radar directly, and then it decides when to launch the interceptor. This is decided based on the data received from radar, on the speed of target, altitude, flight path. A ground guidance computation is done. It's a very complex computation from ground computation when to launch the interceptor. All this is done in an autonomous fashion.
Q. Can you tell me the timeframe?
A. For the 600-kilometer class of system, if a radar has spotted a target, the interceptor will be launched within about 180 seconds. It will be different for 200-kilometer and 300-kilometer missiles.
Q. What is the speed of the air defense missile?
A. It is between 4.5 and 5 Mach. The same system has the capability to engage 300-kilometer to 2,000-kilometer classes of ballistic missiles.
Q. What is Phase II?
A. The same missile interceptors cannot cover all threats. Threat targets of longer ranges 2,000 kilometers will make our phase-II development.
During Phase I: Endo-atmospheric interceptor is AAD. This interceptor will engage targets at 25 kilometers. AAD is superior in terms of coverage area compared to PAC-3, which is 15 kilometers. You can see the difference. AADs equivalent is the Israeli Arrow, which intercepts at 40 kilometers. PAD is 50 to 80 kilometers. America is building a missile, THAAD Terminal High Altitude Area Defense that intercepts out to 120 kilometers, but it is still in development. Q. What is Phase II?
A. The same missile interceptors cannot cover all threats. Threat targets of longer ranges 2,000 kilometers will make our phase-II development.
During Phase I: Endo-atmospheric interceptor is AAD. This interceptor will engage targets at 25 kilometers. AAD is superior in terms of coverage area compared to PAC-3, which is 15 kilometers. You can see the difference. AADs equivalent is the Israeli Arrow, which intercepts at 40 kilometers. PAD is 50 to 80 kilometers. America is building a missile, THAAD Terminal High Altitude Area Defense that intercepts out to 120 kilometers, but it is still in development. However, a lot of failures have taken place during THAAD development.
Q. What are the spinoffs?
A. Once Phase-II interceptors are developed, these can be used as long-range interceptors of aircraft at ranges of 120 kilometers.
You see the question which you asked that it has taken 20 years to develop. Now you see it is not taking more than 5 years - 6 years. Even Americans also take time. Their missile program with industrial infrastructure, the cost is very high and they take six to seven years before a missile is launched. This is also time taken for development of PAD and AAD.
Posted by: John Frum ||
04/16/2007 6:49 Comments ||
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The Internal Revenue Service said late Monday that people directly affected by the storm that hit the Northeast will get to a two-day extension for filing their tax returns. Impacted taxpayers will have until midnight Thursday, April 19, to file their taxes. "Because this unusually forceful storm hit within 24 hours of the filing deadline, we are giving affected taxpayers 48 additional hours," IRS Commissioner Mark Everson said, according to the Associated Press. In order to avoid incurring late fees, affected taxpayers should mark their paper tax returns with the words "April 16 Storm," the IRS said. E-filers can use their software's "disaster" feature, if available. End of Story
Film director Michael Moore has taken Ground Zero responders to Cuba for medical treatment in a bid to show that Fidel Castro's socialized medicine is better than health care in the U.S., the New York Post reports. The director of "Roger & Me" and "Fahrenheit 9/11" took the responders to Cuba as part of his latest film, "Sicko," which examines American drug companies.
The move has angered some who say that Moore is using the ailing Ground Zero workers as "pawns." "He's using people that are in a bad situation and that's wrong; that's morally wrong," Jeff Endean, a former SWAT commander from Morris County, N.J., who spent a month at Ground Zero and suffers from respiratory problems, told the New York Post.
But others say the workers were pleased with their Cuban visit. "From what I heard through the grapevine, those people that went are utterly happy," John Feal, who runs the Fealgood Foundation to help raise money for responders, told the Post. "They got the Elvis treatment."
#2
If they got no special treatment and they are happier there, perhaps it ought to be looked into. Time to ask the locals there how they like the system, and what their experiences have been under similar circumstances . . . .
#3
and remember, when Fidel got sick, they brought in a Spanish Doctor....
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/16/2007 5:12 Comments ||
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#4
Makes sense because we are always hearing stories about people flocking to Cuba for medical treatment. Maybe Mickey Moore should park his arse in Cuba if he loves it sooooo much.
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.
Equal pay is unfair and penalises the workers who put in the most effort, a pioneering research study has said. It argues that real fairness means that companies and organisations should pay staff according to how hard and well they work.
Insurgent presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., raised $24.8 million in primary cash for his campaign almost 30 percent more than did frontrunner Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., with $19.1 million, the candidates' Federal Election Commission documents filed on Sunday evening indicate. Obama also nearly tied Clinton in total donations, having raised $25.8 million compared to Clinton's $26 million an astounding achievement for a political novice going up against such a veteran.
NEW DELHI: After testing the Agni-III missile last week, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is now gearing up for the second test of its fledgling ballistic missile defence (BMD) system. DRDO officials said the BMD system test to be held in May-June will be that of an "endo-atmospheric interceptor missile" this time, on the lines of the US Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) system.
