CHINA'S Shaolin Temple, the cradle of Chinese kung fu, is demanding an apology from an internet user who said its monks had once been beaten in unarmed combat by a Japanese ninja, Chinese media reported today. Shaolin Temple, in the northern province of Henan, became famous in the West as the training ground for Kwai Chang "Grasshopper" Caine in the 1970s Kung Fu TV series. Ninjas professional assassins trained in martial arts date back to medieval Japan.
"The so-called defeat is purely fabricated, and we demand the Internet user to apologise to the whole nation for the wrongs he or she did," the Beijing News said, citing a notice announced by a lawyer for the Shaolin monks.
Relations between Chinese and Japanese are sensitive at the best of times, with emotions still running high over Japan's invasion and occupation of parts of China in the first half of the 20th Century.
The internet user, calling themselves "Five Minutes Every Day", said on an online forum last week that a Japanese ninja came to Shaolin, asked for a fight and many monks failed to beat him, the newspaper said. "The facts that the monks could not defeat a Japanese ninja showed that they were named as kung fu masters in vain," the internet user was quoted as saying in the post.
The Shaolin temple "strongly condemned the horrible deeds" of the user, the newspaper said. "It is not only extremely irresponsible behaviour with respect to the Shaolin temple and its monks, but also to the whole martial art and Chinese nation," it quoted the monks as saying.
#2
A blatant attempt by the Pirates to start a fight between Kung-fu and Ninjas. Divide and conquer.
However, the Kung-fu vs. Bionic fight was never settled, either. So now with the reemergence of the Bionic people, the Kung-fu masters may be too busy to fight the Ninjas.
Gay sex was punishable by death under Genghis Khans rule.
"That outfit is just too much!"
"Yes, Your Enormity!"
"Off with their heads! The lot of 'em!"
That was among the findings of Chinese researchers who spent more than a year compiling the legendary Mongolian conquerors code of laws, the official Xinhua News Agency said Thursday.
"Hey, Professor Wu! Listen to this one!..."
His early 13th century empire stretched across Asia all the way to central Europe.
"Who're those guys, Wladislavsky?"
"Those are the Mongols. Don't go too close to..."
[THWWWWP!]
"Aaaaaiiiieeee!"
"... their tents."
Article 48 of the code said men who committed sodomy shall be put to death, according to experts at a research institute in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia.
[CHOP!]
"Aaaaiiiieeee!... Ow! Ow! Ow!..."
"A little higher next time, Hulugu!"
"Yes, Dad!"
The experts at the Research Institute of Ancient Mongolian Laws and Sociology said the ban was put into place because Genghis Khan wanted to expand the Mongolian population, which was about 1.5 million at the time. The rival Song Dynasty, which dominated todays central China, was 100 million strong, Xinhua said.
"Again?"
"Baby, you know how many of them there are! We gotta do our part!"
"But I wanna get some sleep!"
The code also said that damaging grassland with unauthorized excavations or starting fires was punishable by death, Xinhua said, without providing details.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/31/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
See if you can reincarnate him and put him in charge of the Minneapolis Airport...
#4
So John F'n Kerry was right after all: Genghis Khan banned gay sex. The US Army also banned gay sex. It's so obvious now!
Of course, the punishment in the US Army was a lot less severe.
(SomaliNet) Saying nobody could ever force him into exile, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe vowed on Wednesday to win next year's elections. "I want to say here that I am not going anywhere. Here I was born. Here I grew up and here I shall die and will be buried," he told veterans of the country's 1970s war of liberation, calling them the "torch bearers" of the elections. "We are going to organise. We are going to win. But we want to win resoundingly."
Pro'ly will, too, since he and his have been beating the opposition senseless.
Meanwhile, some 5 000 veterans of the independence war began marching hours earlier in support of Mugabe's candidacy in the presidential elections, disrupting traffic in a city plagued by food and fuel shortages and the world's highest inflation rate. "The war veterans have a covenant with Mugabe.We will back you to the hilt," they chanted in the local Shona language. "They (the West) want to take our land, no no no no, over our dead bodies."
"We will die with our president," read one placard. Another one said: "Mugabe be our candidate for 2008".
Public pressure from Mugabe's Western foes has faded, giving him room to manoeuver. "For those who think we are cowards, we shall never retreat," said Mugabe. His credentials as a former liberation hero still makes him popular among southern African nations, who have been accused of being too soft on Mugabe.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/31/2007 00:00 ||
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#2
His credentials as a former liberation hero still makes him popular among southern African nations, who have been accused of being too soft on Mugabe"
It's probably also convenient for them to have a neighbour so massively corrupt and inept that their own populations can think 'it could be worse for us...'.
The High Court on Wednesday stayed the proceedings of an income tax evasion case against detained former state minister for power Iqbal Hassan Mahmood Tuku and issued a rule upon the government to explain why the case would not be quashed.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/31/2007 00:00 ||
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The Fourth Special Court on Wednesday sentenced former jute and textiles minister Shajahan Siraj, his wife Rabeya Siraj and their son Rajib Siraj to eight years' imprisonment each in connection with two offences of tax evasion. Meanwhile, Metropolitan Special Tribunal-12 sentenced detained Dhaka City Corporation Ward Commissioner Chowdhury Alam to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment in connection with extorting Tk 20 lakh from a market owner in August 2003.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/31/2007 00:00 ||
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Also of Koko, 9 others of Khaleda family on the list The National Board of Revenue (NBR) Wednesday asked all banks to freeze the accounts of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, her son Arafat Rahman Koko and nine others of her family. Sources in the law enforcement agencies said the government is ready to file at least three graft cases against Khaleda and her family members. Besides, the government is preparing a case over Khaleda's wealth statement. The wealth statement she submitted to the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) has some gross anomalies, the sources added.
Under the Income Tax Ordinance, 1984, the Central Intelligence Cell (CIC) of the NBR had earlier asked the banks to provide it with banking information about Khaleda and 10 of her family members. Early this month, the NBR had frozen bank accounts of former premier Sheikh Hasina and her relatives. She was arrested in mid-June.
While the order to freeze Khaleda's account was delayed, she and her sons Tarique Rahman and Koko in July-August applied to the NBR to let them legalise their undisclosed money. The NBR okayed Khaleda's Tk 1.30 crore undisclosed money on payment of Tk 33 lakh tax this month but rejected Tarique and Koko's bid to legalise Tk 18 lakh and Tk 1.5 crore respectively by paying a total tax and fine of Tk 44 lakh. Wednesday's NBR notice identified Khaleda with various names -- Begum Khaleda Zia, Mrs Khaleda Zia, Khaleda Zia and Mrs Khaleda Rahman -- using the same address House-6, Shaheed Moinul Road, Dhaka Cantonment.
The nine other family members are Koko's wife Syeda Shamila Rahman and their daughters Zafira Rahman and Zahiya Rahman; Khaleda's nephew Saiful Islam and relatives Md Mozaffar Hossain, Rashida Begum, Rupa Shikdar, Md Abul Khaer and Faridun Fatema. The notice asked all banks to freeze and provide information on individual or joint current or savings accounts, term deposits, loan accounts, foreign currency accounts, credit card, vault, locker and various types of savings instruments. The banks will also provide the NBR with transaction records.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/31/2007 00:00 ||
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From East Asia Intel, subscription.
China has used its hosting of next summer's Olympic Games to justify the purchase an IBM supercomputer with military applications ostensibly to aid in weather forecasting. And once you forecast the oleo-lympic weather, wacha gonna do about it?
The IBM computer is a System p575 and is capable of ultra high-speed computing.
Chinas government does not distinguish between military and civilian production, and the computer likely could aid nuclear weapons testing and missile and other armaments development, said U.S. officials opposed to the sale.
IBM defended the sale saying the computer was built and intended for weather forecasting purposes, and that all export rules were followed. And besides, we need the money.
"The IBM supercomputer will allow for much more fine numerical weather forecasting for the Beijing area during the Olympics and afterwards," said Liu Xulin, director of the Beijing Meteorological Information Center.
Said one U.S. China hand: If anyone truly believes that China needs this supercomputer for Olympic weather forecasts, I have a time-share at a Starbucks in the Forbidden City that I'm trying to sell. Cannot blame the Chicoms for trying. We have thousands of people willing to sell out this country for the not-so-almighty dollar.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/31/2007 12:48 ||
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#2
Remind me again - when did AlGore and the Clintons get on the IBM board?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/31/2007 14:44 Comments ||
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#3
Let's examine what other applications such powerful supercomputing machines can be used for:
1.) Simulation of nuclear explosions
2.) Space vehicle design
3.) Nuclear weapons aging test and verification
4.) Encryption and decryption including code-breaking
5.) Missile trajectory and incoming track analysis
6.) Design of genetically engineered biochemical compounds
7.) Virtual reality combat training environments
8.) Ultra-complex integrated circuit design and simulation
9.) Emulation of advanced software designs like massively-parallel systems
10.) High speed DSP (Digital Signal Processing) for anti-jamming defeats
11.) Broadband surveillance of telecom traffic
12.) Interception and analysis of high speed military satellite downlinks
Those are just one dozen that I can think of off the top of my head. For the nonce, we'll ignore how global weather prediction represents a crucial tool in wartime strategy calculations. Every single one of those listed applications would represent a tremendous advance in military capability for the PLA.
IBM should be admonished with respect to its greed and disregard for national security in supporting what amounts to the transfer of a vital technology to China. You could bet any amount of money that one of the CPU modules would mysteriously "break" and need replacement within weeks of the installation. That module would not be returned to IBM and be subjected to reverse engineering by the Chinese. This would serve as the basis for a quantum leap in their machine design abilities and save China decades of industrial R&D worth several billion dollars.
Artworks depicting Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden in a Christ-like pose and a statue of the Virgin Mary covered in a burqa have caused a stir in Australia after they were showcased in a prestigious religious art competition.
Bearded Orientals: Making the Empire Cross by Priscilla Bracks is a double vision print that depicts both Jesus and Bin Laden. Luke Sullivans The Fourth Secret of Fatima is a statue of Mary, her head and torso obscured by a blue burqa like the one Afghan women had to wear under the Taliban. The artworks were among more than 500 entries in the Blake Prize for Religious Art, and have been included in an exhibition at the National Art School in Sydney.
The choice of such artwork is gratuitously offensive to the religious beliefs of many Australians, Australian Prime Minister John Howard told Thursdays Daily Telegraph newspaper.
Opposition Labor leader Kevin Rudd also criticised the artwork. I accept you know people can have artistic freedom, but I find this painting off, off in the extreme. I understand how people would be offended by it, he said.
Australias 20 million population is overwhelmingly Christian and the print was condemned by the Australian Christian Lobby. Its really unfortunate people take liberties with the Christian faith they wouldnt take with other religions, Lobby spokeswoman Glynis Quinlan told reporters.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/31/2007 00:00 ||
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You have insulted my religion, heretic wench!!
For that you will have to die horriblyhave your throat cut sit through a loooong Power Point(tm) lecture on religious sensitivity! Jesus Ackbar!
Semi-seriously, the Church needs to do ... something. It just isn't the same without the aggressive machinations of the Jesuits, and the dreaded Holy Inqusition(tm) frying the odd heritic.
Posted by: N Guard ||
08/31/2007 0:31 Comments ||
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#2
"I would like to direct this to the distinguished members of the panel. You lousy cork-suckers. You have violated my fargin' rights. This suminonbatching country was founded so that the liberties of common patriotic citizens, like me, could not be taken away by a bunch of fargin' ice holes, like yourselves."
We need to put Roman Moronie in the picture files.
#4
The images do rather graphically illustrate the differences between the religions. And, are considerably less offensive than the reality.
Not to mention that Jesus was a hard-working carpenter, a true man of the people, unlike that spoilt rich boy, Osama bin Laden. And Jesus' mother walked freely among the people, unlike Osama's multiple female parents.
#8
What, no Piss Christ? These wankers are slipping.
The choice of such artwork is gratuitously offensive to the religious beliefs of many Australians, Australian Prime Minister John Howard told Thursdays Daily Telegraph newspaper.
On this day in 1980 the Polish communist government agreed to the demands of the striking workers in the Gdansk shipyard. Workers would have the right to organize freely and independently
The strike marked the beginning of the end of communist rule in Eastern Europe. Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher are, rightly, given the greatest share of credit for winning the Cold War. But Lech Walesa and John Paul II played indispensable roles.
In the 70s many experts believed that continuing the Cold War was pointless-- the Communists weren't so bad, not every society valued Western style freedom, cowed populations accepted what they could not change. Solidarity and the Poles put the lie to such talk. In the long twilight struggle against Stalinism, the workers of Poland were the first light of sunrise.
Posted by: Mike ||
08/31/2007 14:57 ||
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The best thing I always liked about Walesa? The day after he lost the presidential election, he went back down to the shipyard to get his job back.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul attended the armys Victory Day on Thursday, but his wife, who wears the Islamic headscarf, was not invited in a fresh snub by the secular establishment.
Since Guls election by parliament on Tuesday, the army has failed to accord its new commander-in-chief, a former Islamist, some of the traditional signs of respect - a stance that has been criticised even by Guls opponents. First lady Hayrunnisa Gul, whose headscarf hardline secularists view as a symbol of political Islam, was absent from the Victory Day parade, as was the wife of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who also covers her head. The military has always refused, since Erdogans Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002, to invite the wives of government officials who wear headscarves. But this was the first time the wife of a president was not invited.
Gul sat between Erdogan and chief of general staff Yasar Buyukanit, but the three barely exchanged remarks as they solemnly watched the ceremony. Guls wife was also expected to be absent from a traditional Victory Day reception hosted by the military Thursday evening, her name reportedly omitted from the invitation sent to the president.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/31/2007 00:00 ||
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The real question is not whether the Army will act, but if the islamic sleepers in the Army can prevent it.
Newsmax. Salt to taste.
Republican Fred Thompson, whose entry into the presidential race has been long anticipated, will officially launch his candidacy next week, campaign aides said Thursday.
The former Tennessee senator and "Law & Order" actor will disclose details about how he will formally enter the race after one of his top advisers briefs supporters in an afternoon conference call, said officials with knowledge of the plans. Too little, too late?
Posted by: ed ||
08/31/2007 07:40 ||
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I'm with you Darth, Fred didn't get here by accident, this guy seems to have a pretty good grasp on how to go about winning, to say nothing of the fact that he is interesting and has the ability and charisma to get people to listen to what he says. Lots of people, not just his "base".
Posted by: Dave S. ||
08/31/2007 17:44 Comments ||
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Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said on Thursday that the judiciary would continue to act for the supremacy of the law and constitution.
The people of Pakistan expect the judiciary to act for the supremacy of the constitution and uphold the rule of law, Justice Chaudhry told delegations from the Peshawar High Court Bar Association, Abottabad bench and district bar associations of Kasur, Abbottabad, Mansehra and Haripur.
Bars and benches are working for the dispensation of justice, he said, adding that their job was to provide justice to the common man. He said suo motu action was a constitutional power available to the Supreme Court and was being exercised in the interest of the poor. The CJP said courts should fully use their authority within the parameters of law to provide relief to people. He said civil society played an important role for the cause of judicial independence and now it should pay back by providing them better services. Better services can be provided through quick disposal of cases, a press release quoted the CJP as saying. Rights of people should be preserved and they should be educated in this regard. Justice Chaudhry praised the bar for its services to preserve the constitution and maintain supremacy of law.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/31/2007 00:00 ||
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A British astrologer has predicted that the next two months are the most inauspicious for President General Pervez Musharraf, while an Indian astrologer thinks he may be emerging from his recent troubles. The British astrologer, an advanced amateur who goes by the name of SH Shah, who predicts, Considering the overall horoscope of Gen Musharraf, in my view it is highly unlikely that he could hold the power that he has enjoyed for the last eight years for any length of time. There is at least a 70 percent chance that by the end of this year, he will be out of power.
Right. We needed an astrologer to tell us that.
In his horoscope there are also indications of his changing residence and perhaps settling abroad.
"Sahib President, the mob is breaking down the door!"
"Time for a state visit to La Belle France, Chaudry!"
Posted by: Fred ||
08/31/2007 00:00 ||
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One thing for sure, they both can't be right...somebody has made a wrong prediction, and the other, a lucky guess! In any event, no matter how cloudy or murky the crystal ball is, it won't be as smoky as a roadside bomb Musharraf may drive over down the road. He'll need to keep his friends close and his enemys closer...watching his back at every step; like Sadam perfected so eloquently!
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
08/31/2007 10:35 Comments ||
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#3
When the first asteroid hits on a 12/8, I'd decided long long ago that I personally would prefer to be as close to the impact as possible, in order to see the first of the physical Wraths of God for myself. *STAR TREK EPISODE > AS TIER I GIVE YOU BACK YOUR LIFE, MINE IS NOW FORFEIT. STAND READY -KKKKLLLLIIIIINNNNNN
NNNGGGGGGGOOOONNNNNNN!
The ongoing dialogue between President General Pervez Musharraf and PPP Chairwoman Benazir Bhutto hit a snag on Thursday, after the PML leadership refused to support a constitutional amendment to pave the way for Benazir to become prime minister for a third term.
Sources told Daily Times that the Chaudhrys of Gujarat PML President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and other PML leaders told the president at a meeting at Aiwan-e-Sadr that they would not support a proposed constitutional package to remove the bar on prime ministers serving a third term.
After the president briefed the meeting on the proposed deal with Benazir, the PML leadership told the president that party legislators were against any constitutional amendment which would prove to be their political demise. Chaudhry Shujaat told the president that his party would neither prepare such a package nor support its passage through parliament.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/31/2007 00:00 ||
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ISLAMABAD: A top American foreign policy expert has linked Pakistans poor economic condition to its rivalry with India and successive military regimes in the country.
"The rivalry that dogged Pakistan after Partition led to misallocation of funds to the army on the pretext of keeping itself at par with India militarily and caused political and economic disturbances," said Walter Russell Mead, a senior fellow at the US-based think tank Council on Foreign Relations.
Advocating against 'militarisation of economic policies,' Mead observed that Pakistans military bureaucracy needed to understand that its current approach was unsustainable.
He was of the view that India had access to the very best of weapons available in the world, for which it did not have to suffer much owning to the volume of its economy, while Pakistan had to use the fund for the purpose that were direly needed for its development.
"Pakistan needs to get out of this vicious circle," he said.
The scholar refused to accept any American role in strengthening military regimes in Pakistan. However, he did accept that "the periods of US interaction with this country happened to coincide with military governments here."
"The Americans did not have any choice. The military government in Pakistan was the only option available to them, Mead was quoted by The News as saying today.
Posted by: john frum ||
08/31/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
This seems to assume that funds for development have to come from the government. Hong Kong seemed to do alright with proper law and order and limited government policies.
This also seems to assume that the blight is caused by rivalry with India rather than this being the same blight that appears throughout the Islamic world (with India being a nice pretext for the military buildup).
Show me a first world nation based on a pride/shame culture that doesn't have an artificial lift due to oil.
#2
Hong Kong is also happily unfettered with Islam. If you are looking for a quick check for success as a nation, the presence or absence of Islam will give a good indication.
#3
Singapore is another example. Only 16% of the population is Muslim. Singapore was part of Malaysia, which is 60% Muslim. The GDP per capita in Singapore is US$46000. The GDP per capita in Malaysia is US$12700.
#1
I read somewhere that we are seeing christian missionaries coming from places like africa to here, because they feel that they are needed to spread the gospel to deepest, darkestwhiteest rural suburbistan.
The scary part is that after seeingthe stuff that like the gay anglican fiasco, I under stand why.
Posted by: N Guard ||
08/31/2007 21:13 Comments ||
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Heavy summer rains along the Texas-Mexico border always raise concerns over dengue fever, a mosquito-borne illness that is also called break-bone fever because of the severe body aches it causes. The border region has seen periodic outbreaks of the tropical virus, which is carried by a mosquito that thrives in much of Texas. And public health officials worry that the more severe form of the disease, which can cause internal bleeding and death, appears to be on the rise.
Current flu vaccines and antiviral drugs don't work on dengue, but research into better treatments has been slow. Humans are the only creatures that get sick from the virus, and scientists didn't have a good animal model to use in studying dengue.
Researchers at Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research now have developed a laboratory mouse that could change that. Scientists have successfully implanted the mice with the type of human immune cells, called dendritic cells, that get attacked by the invading dengue virus.
"We think our cells have receptors for this virus while other primates and animals do not," said Rebeca Rico-Hesse, a foundation scientist who developed the lab model by transplanting human cord blood cells into an adult mouse.
She now has a grant from the Robert J. Kleberg and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation to develop ways of transplanting human immune cells into newborn mice, which would make them a better tool for testing vaccine candidates and studying factors that contribute to disease severity.
Dengue is primarily a risk to travelers who visit Latin America and Asia. Most people get the milder form of the disease and recover after a few painful weeks. But more severe forms of dengue can cause internal bleeding and death, and scientists worry that this form is on the increase.
The mosquito that spreads dengue, Aedes aegypti, lives in Texas, and public health officials worry that the disease could move across the Mexican border and take hold in South Texas.
"We think it's just a matter of time (until) enough of our mosquitoes get infected and there is actual transmission of dengue in the United States," Rico-Hesse said.
Dengue has been an especially difficult problem for scientists because there are four viruses that can cause the disease, said James LeDuc, director of global health at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Plus, he said, exposure to one form of the virus may actually prime people to get sicker from the other dengue viruses.
"So rather than making one vaccine, you are actually trying to make four vaccines and balance the immune response so you don't set people up for a more severe disease," said LeDuc. "It's one of the challenges we have faced forever.
"Having a mouse, especially if it mimics human response, will help this research," he added.
#1
so does this mean that the hospitals and other medical facilities down Texas-way will have to treat the 'undocumented' folks that show up all hurtin? seems to me that if a vaccine can be developed and administered, then anybody that shows signs of this has just earned a free trip south.
couse i am probably over-simplifying the problem a little bit.
#2
I knew a girl in central AZ who got it. red-haired Irish. She lived in apartments near railroad tracks, and started to get some really odd symptoms.
Doctors in southern AZ had been told to look out for it, but not in central AZ. She saw five, then her boyfriend asked me. After about 10 minutes on the Internet, I was able to match 15 for 15 symptoms. The next doctor she visited confirmed it.
Just one mosquito is all it takes.
Oh, and don't hold your breath for a vaccine. It can be one of four different viruses, none of which are easy to vaccinate against.
Usually, the first time you get it you are miserable for three weeks, and look like heck. But if you get it a second time, it can unpredictably turn into the hemorrhagic form, which behaves somewhat like ebola.
Nasty stuff. Best advise to the red-haired girl: move North of Colorado and never visit South again.
#3
New Bugs, massive Spider webs and Chupacabras. Here on Guam, the only time I've seen such large spider webs is during a heat wave or after a heat wave - some Netters are arguing Earth is overdue for a massive solar flare???
Don't worry, the AP has plenty of cold water to pour on the story.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The economy grew at its strongest pace in more than a year during the spring as solid improvements in international trade and business investment helped offset weakness in housing. The gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic health, expanded at an annual rate of 4 percent in the April-June quarter, significantly higher than the 3.4 percent rate the government had initially estimated a month ago, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.
But the growth spurt could be short-lived.
But the growth spurt could be short-lived. There are concerns that the recent turmoil in financial markets, a result of a spreading credit crisis, could seriously dampen economic activity in the second half of this year. GDP growth may have slowed to just above 2 percent in the current quarter and many analysts believe growth will slow even further in the final three months of this year as the full impact of the recent market turmoil is felt.
The worry is that the roller coaster ride in stocks and spreading credit problems will shake consumer and business confidence and cause cutbacks in spending and hiring plans.
However, analysts believe the Federal Reserve will act to avert a full-blown recession.
However, analysts believe the Federal Reserve will act to avert a full-blown recession. If financial turmoil persists, they think the Fed will wield its major policy tool, cutting its target for the federal funds rate, the interest that banks charge each other. That rate has been at 5.25 percent for more than a year, but investors are starting to hope that the Fed will begin reducing it in quarter-point moves starting at their next meeting on Sept. 18.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/31/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Every Silver Lining has a Cloud
Posted by: AP Motto ||
08/31/2007 8:16 Comments ||
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Much like homelessness "disappeared" as soon as Clinton became president. I was wondering what had happened to the homelessness problem when I happened on an article in the IWW newspaper.
The situation had actually gotten worse under Clinton. It's bad when you have to read Trotskyite newspapers to get the real story.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
08/31/2007 12:58 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Gay sex was punishable by death under Genghis Khans rule. 
(SomaliNet) Saying nobody could ever force him into exile, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe vowed on Wednesday to win next year's elections. "I want to say here that I am not going anywhere. Here I was born. Here I grew up and here I shall die and will be buried," he told veterans of the country's 1970s war of liberation, calling them the "torch bearers" of the elections. "We are going to organise. We are going to win. But we want to win resoundingly." 
The Fourth Special Court on Wednesday sentenced former jute and textiles minister Shajahan Siraj, his wife Rabeya Siraj and their son Rajib Siraj to eight years' imprisonment each in connection with two offences of tax evasion. Meanwhile, Metropolitan Special Tribunal-12 sentenced detained Dhaka City Corporation Ward Commissioner Chowdhury Alam to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment in connection with extorting Tk 20 lakh from a market owner in August 2003.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) Wednesday asked all banks to freeze the accounts of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, her son Arafat Rahman Koko and nine others of her family. Sources in the law enforcement agencies said the government is ready to file at least three graft cases against Khaleda and her family members. Besides, the government is preparing a case over Khaleda's wealth statement. The wealth statement she submitted to the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) has some gross anomalies, the sources added.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul attended the armys Victory Day on Thursday, but his wife, who wears the Islamic headscarf, was not invited in a fresh snub by the secular establishment.
Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said on Thursday that the judiciary would continue to act for the supremacy of the law and constitution.
A British astrologer has predicted that the next two months are the most inauspicious for President General Pervez Musharraf, while an Indian astrologer thinks he may be emerging from his recent troubles. The British astrologer, an advanced amateur who goes by the name of SH Shah, who predicts, Considering the overall horoscope of Gen Musharraf, in my view it is highly unlikely that he could hold the power that he has enjoyed for the last eight years for any length of time. There is at least a 70 percent chance that by the end of this year, he will be out of power. 
The ongoing dialogue between President General Pervez Musharraf and PPP Chairwoman Benazir Bhutto hit a snag on Thursday, after the PML leadership refused to support a constitutional amendment to pave the way for Benazir to become prime minister for a third term. 
