Live TV reports also suggest little if any serious wind damage in New Orleans -- overhyped cries of "OMG!! DAMAGED TRAFFIC LIGHTS!!" notwithstanding. And although there are reports of some water coming over the Industrial Canal, the Arms Corps believes the wall itself will hold. Of course, we thought New Orleans had "dodged a bullet" with Katrina at first, too. So, cross your fingers. But if the levees fail, it will be because they (again) failed to live up to Army Corps promises, not because of Gustav's strength and location. The Weather Channel is predicting 6 to 9 feet of storm surge, peaking in the next couple of hours. That will be enhanced in some of the canals. But the levee system should be able to withstand a surge like this.
With regard to the statement that Gustav is "turning out to be far less than what was previously forecast," that's not really fair, IMHO; "previously feared" would be more accurate. The official forecast in recent days has consistently called for something less than a worst-case catastrophe, but it was way too close for comfort, and there were plausible alternative scenarios whereby Gustav would be a calamity. The contemporaneous plausibility of these calamitous scenarios is not retroactively invalidated by the fact that, thankfully, a different scenario has occurred -- indeed, a scenario more friendly to New Orleans than anyone dared hope Saturday night, when Gustav was a 150 mph monster that seemed destined to get stronger.
It is crucial that blogospheric and journalistic snark not take hold here. We must not use 20/20 hindsight to dismiss Gustav as having been naught but hype. There are, and will continue to be, plentiful examples of ridiculous media overhype, and those are deeply unfortunate. But the media always misbehaves, and not just with regard to weather. Cable news is buffoonish. This should surprise no one. What matters, though, is this: the forecasts were not "hype," and the evacuations were not "hype." Gustav had the legitimate potential to be far worse than this, and decisions had to be made at a time when we could not depend on the more favorable scenario that has instead occurred. Brendan Loy - WeatherNerd blog - has had the best coverage of this. And he is right - the forecast allowed for far worse, and we were fortunate that this slid further west and weakened. Of course if you;re in Houma, you're getting a dead center hit by a Cat-2 hurricane, so location makes all the difference when you consider who is "lucky".
Ferocious Category 4 hurricane Gustav roared into the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday after wreathing havoc in Cuba, as the U.S. National Hurricane Center warned Americans to expect the worst in the coming hours.
Forecasters said Gustav was just short of Category 5 strength when it made landfall Saturday on mainland Cuba near the community of Los Palacios in Pinar del Rio. Having left at least 81 people dead in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica, Gustav smashed first across Cuba's Isle of Youth, with more than 200,000 residents, and then tore across mainland Cuba southwest of Havana, which has a population of more than two million people. "Gustav is forecast to remain a major hurricane through landfall along the northern Gulf coast," the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/01/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Hopefully, democrats will be disappointed.
"Weather" it is defeat in Iraq, or a major American city getting wiped out, what is bad for America is seen by democrats as good for democrats.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
09/01/2008 9:10 Comments ||
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#3
Sigh. Also Grrrrrr. CNN is transmitting pictures of "sheets" of rain falling on a parking lot. And a few pieces of debris skidding along a the ground. They haven't had the chance to use the word "devastation" even once. The disappointment is palpable.
Zimbabwe's main opposition party says the latest power-sharing talks with the ruling Zanu-PF have ended without agreement. They weren't supposed to end with a deal.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/01/2008 00:00 ||
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The advice of doctors to Zimbabweans is, don't get sick. If you do, don't count on hospitals _ they're short of drugs and functioning equipment.
As the economy collapses, the laboratory at a main 1,000-bed hospital has virtually shut down. X-ray materials, injectable antibiotics and anticonvulsants have run out.
Emergency resuscitation equipment is out of action. Patients needing casts for broken bones need to bring their own plaster. In a country with one of the world's worst AIDS epidemics, medical staff lack protective gloves.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
09/01/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Interesting that South Africa could survive and prosper to some extent under the same sort of sanctions but Zimbobway is wilting.
A Nigerian religious leader with 86 wives has accepted an Islamic decree ordering him to divorce all but four of them, local authorities say. A spokesman for the emir of Bida told the BBC that Mohammadu Bello Abubakar, 84, agreed on Saturday to comply with the decree.
Last week one of Nigeria's top Islamic bodies, the Jamatu Nasril Islam, sentenced him to death. The sentence was lifted but he was threatened with eviction from his home.
Earlier, Mr Abubakar had challenged Islamic scholars, saying there was no punishment stated in the Koran for having more than four wives.
"I have not contravened any established law that would warrant my being banished from the land... There is no law that says one must one must not marry more than four wives," the AFP news agency reported him as saying. "All my wives are with children and some of these are people I have married and stayed with for over 30 years, how can they expect me to leave them within two days," he reportedly told local newspapers.
"On second thought, if the choice is death or divorcing 82 women ..."
The former teacher and Islamic preacher lives in Niger State with his wives and at least 170 children.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/01/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
We have to respect freedom of religion.
We must allow American Muslims to live as Muslims, and now some quaint notion of how they should act. Respect is the watchword.
BTW, there are some wonderful Ahmadiyya muslims in NY state raising great kids, integrated into the larger community and just living decent productive lives. Of course the fundamentalist Islamicists don't regard them as truly muslims.
#6
Nah - your point is a good one about a whole lot of Muslims. I'm with you on the need for us to demand that non-Muslims be treated with respect and that Muslims who live here honor our laws, customs and values.
Just pointing out a marginal group of people who are doing that. Wish they were more than a tiny percent.
#8
If I had to guess... this guy would have been, in that society, a "Chief" which is why he has 86 wives. At some point he or his forebears "Converted to Islam" so they had to come up with an Islamic term for his social position, and picked "Iman." In spite of the fact that stuff inherent to the position (like 80somthing wives) violates Islamic law.
Posted by: Phil ||
09/01/2008 8:54 Comments ||
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#9
Unlike real Muslims Ahamadiyas teell that there can be other propets after Muhammad. Thatr lmeans neither Muhammad nor his tachings get the untangible , quasi-divine nature they have in Islam (where the Koran is told to be uncreated, so it cannot be changed). In fact the little I know about the teachings of their prophet it seems to be a quite benvolent religion. Significative details is that they use Hindu-like not Arabic-like turbans and, if my memory doesn't fail me they don't use Arabic in their mosques. In other words they don't feel bound to imitate what 7th century Arabs did.
The problem with Ahamdiyas is that in order to congraciate with Muslims (and be safer) they tend to align with them in questions like Israel and possibly the WOT.
#13
If I recall correctly from other versions of this, the man does not actually work, and sends the kids out to bring home the Naira for the family. I think they get some type of government assistance as well.
Would definitely explain why the Nigerian government (known for doing nothing) would crack down on this guy.
There is overwhelming support among Saudis and expatriates here in the Kingdom for Democratic candidate Barack Hussein Obama as the next US president.
A cross-section of both groups told Arab News yesterday that they wanted Obama to succeed George W. Bush. One Saudi said Obama was preferred because he is black while an expatriate felt his middle name suggested a willingness to tackle the contentious issues facing the Muslim world.
On Aug. 27, the Democratic Party nominated Obama as its presidential candidate and Joe Biden as his running mate. On the following day, Republican candidate John McCain picked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate.
Some Saudis said the US elections were a non-event for them, as it had nothing to do with their day-to-day lives. I really did not know there was a presidential election in the United States in the first place. I do watch the news from time to time (on Arabic channels) but I havent seen or heard much about the American elections, said Marwan Mohamed, a businessman.
One who has been following developments in the United States closely is Pakistani expatriate Mohammed Yousuf.
Some believed Obama is a Muslim because of his middle name. All the blacks so far in power at various levels have shown their commitment and determination to serve the country and the world without discrimination of color and religion. However, the track record of whites has been to side with Israel rather than with Muslim countries. We now have a ray of hope in Obama. We expect him to solve the problems facing the Muslim world, including those in Iraq, Palestine and Kashmir. What has happened after Sept. 11, 2001, is that Muslims are being dubbed terrorists. We extend our support to Obama or anyone who will be able to solve problems related to the Muslim world, said Yousuf.
Lesser evil
For Saudi businessman Yasin Alireza, Obama as president would be a lesser evil, particularly in the context of the issues facing the Islamic world. We are familiar with US policy vis-a-vis the Muslim world and we do hope Obama will be able to bring about the desired change, Alireza said.
Some Arabs said they were dissatisfied with the Arabic medias coverage of US election, as there was no proper analysis of the event in a language they understood. Many of them felt that the image of Islam had been tarnished through a hate campaign unleashed after Sept. 11.
I feel that whoever occupies the White House will continue the same policy that the US has been pursuing for years. This means we will continue to see the Palestinians and Israelis involved in an ongoing conflict, said Adel Abdullah, a Jordanian expatriate.
Mohamed Salem, 21, said he was shocked to see some of those watching the political conventions here on TV did not know what they were all about and reflected a deep cynicism. The general view was that whoever comes to power in the United States, the anti-Islam campaign in the West will continue.
However, one glaring difference was found between Saudi men and women in the survey. While the men were more worried about Islam and Iraq, the women showed more concern for Palestine.
#3
That's all that needs to be said, isn't it? This is an Islamic candidate. Funded by Muzz, to buy the Presidency. Where is the MSM on this, the single most important topic of the election?
It is so blatant, that even a blind man could see it.
#7
"We expect him to solve the problems facing the Muslim world..."
And what is problem #1 in the Muslim world? The Western world: Equal rights, individual rights, representative government, social/cultural tolerance, economic opportunity and prospertiy... this list goes on and on and on and on. As far as they are concerned, the sooner they can get rid of "us" (i.e. infidels), the better off they will be.
The Awami League (AL) may go for tougher programmes, including street agitations, in a couple of weeks to force the government to withdraw all charges against Sheikh Hasina and lift the state of emergency. Right. Street riots is always a good way to get a state of emergency lifted.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/01/2008 00:00 ||
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The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) will press charges against Justice Fazlul Haque, former law adviser in the Iajuddin-led caretaker government, today in a case filed in connection with amassing illegal wealth and hiding information from the commission.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/01/2008 00:00 ||
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The Anti-corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday sued former Bangladesh ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Nazim Ullah Chowdhury for embezzling Tk 65 lakh of government funds.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/01/2008 00:00 ||
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HT to Halliburton Electrical Grid Crashing Division
A power blackout hit swaths of Venezuela on Monday, including the capital of Caracas and a major oil-producing province, darkening office buildings and homes and knocking out traffic lights, witnesses said.
It was the second time this year the OPEC nation's electricity grid, creaking from outdated infrastructure, suffered a major outage.
Venezuela's oil refineries are hit by frequent outages. But it was not immediately possible to reach officials from the state-run oil industry for information on Monday's blackout.
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/01/2008 16:32 ||
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Moving quickly to address mounting anger over crime, President Felipe Calderon promised Sunday to adopt several proposals from civic groups who led more than 100,000 Mexicans in marches against daily kidnappings and killings.
Among the measures are the creation of a citizens' panel to monitor government progress in fighting crime, better police recruiting and oversight systems and equipping police with more powerful weapons, Mexico's conservative president said.
Calderon acknowledged that Mexicans are desperate to see results two years after he took office and began an aggressive battle against drug traffickers and other criminal gangs. The government "shares the demands and the indignation of the people," Calderon said after meeting with 14 civic leaders who staged Saturday night's candlelight protests in the capital and cities across the country. "We know the biggest problem in Mexico is public insecurity."
Homicides and kidnappings have surged despite the deployment of more than 25,000 soldiers and federal police to hotspots across Mexico, and the arrest of several top drug lords.
Hours before Saturday's protests, the severed heads of two women were found near the attorney general's offices in northwestern city of Durango, according to local media reports citing the same agency. No motive was given, but drug gangs in Mexico often behead their rivals.
Calderon offered few details about the proposed panel _ the Citizen's Institute of Social and Criminal Prevention _ but members of the 14 civic groups told reporters the president promised a concrete plan within a month.
"We're going to keep demanding: What's happening, what's happening, what's happening?" said Laura Elena Herrejon, of the civic group Pro-Neighbor. "Everyone who is listening to us must keep up the pressure."
Calderon said he had already included many of the other ideas in a 74-point anti-crime agreement drawn up last month during a national security meeting with governors and mayors. Even while vowing aggressive action, Calderon warned that rooting out drug gangs and cleaning up Mexico's police will be a long fight.
Drug cartels have fought back with daily attacks against police, gunning them down at their homes, checkpoints and headquarters. Dozens of officers have quit in terror, leaving many police forces in disarray, particularly along the gang-plagued northern border with the United States.
The rise in violence "is a consequence of the gradual and growing disintegration of public and governmental institutions," Calderon said, acknowledging that "in many places authorities have been overwhelmed by delinquency and crime."
A sea of white-clad demonstrators filled Mexico City's enormous Zocalo square Saturday night, many holding photographs of their kidnapped loved ones.
#1
Sounds like they're seriously working on their failed state certificate.
Is it my imagination or does Mexico really seem more like Mussolini's Italy than any real democracy? Just seems that the Mafia are still to powerful for the police to deal with.
#2
It's a combination of several groups that each are too difficult to deal with: the drug lords, the labor union leaders, and the top-forty family leaders. Between them or alone they can bring the country to a halt, and doing so is preferable to giving up what they have.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/01/2008 13:20 Comments ||
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#3
This is the reason why drugs should be legalized. We can tax them, regulate them and better control the distribution to the already addicted through medical professionals. It would reduce AIDs, crime and end the easy profit that fuels these mafias.
Those that say it would increase drug use should note that keeping them illegal has done nothing to reduce the problem. Drugs are readily available to anyone who wants them.
We need to fix the problem in the same way that we dealt with prohibition. Let's just acknowledge the problem and deal with it within the law rather than outside of it.
#4
Hardly much tax revenue to be raised if it's legalized...it seems to me everybody who wanted to would grow their own plants. And how would you regulate home-grown plants? Or would you try to make growing their own plants illegal even though it's been legalized. I don't think that would go over very well. I always hear that argument to tax it...and I'm very skeptical about it.
#5
Overwhelmed with delinquency and crime? More like they are part and parcel of it.
Clean up the police and half the battle is done.
Posted by: Swamp Blondie in the Cornfields ||
09/01/2008 14:46 Comments ||
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#6
This is the reaosohn drugs should be legalized
Drug consumption fell during Reagan's preesidency. But then camùe Clinton who scaled back drug enforcement, softened penalties for drug smuggling
and began to make noises about legalization. This is teh result.
Hover the right strategy is attack the problem at the user not productione end. No more people using drugs => no more people smuggling or producing.
#8
JFM, Agree 100%. We can't keep drugs out of prisons. How do we think we can keep them off the streets? The problem is drug use is a moral problem and we Americans have reservations about government tackling moral issues. That's part of why our schools are so bad.
#13
I didn't know they were importing Meth from Mexico or anywhere else south. As for legal, how are users going to make the money to buy that stuff [after a heavy sin tax like tobacco or alcohol], since they're unlikely to be holding down a job to sustain the habit? Isn't interesting that when one talks about legalizing one substance, the nanny police are criminalizing the use of another. Hell, soon if you just use regular sugar, let alone transfat, you're going to be put on rehab. /sarcasm off
#14
I live less than 20 miles from the border, used to go south a lot: Tijuana, Ensenada, and Puerto Nuevo for lobster dinners, San Felipe twice a year for 4-5 day beach time. I wouldn't go now if you paid me. The cartels have grown too large and rich and well-armed to be combatted without resorting to the Columbian model (death squads), I'm afraid. Most of the police, and a bunch in the Mil/Army are corrupt
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/01/2008 17:18 Comments ||
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#15
... we Americans have reservations about government tackling moral issues.
If goverment doesn't tackle moral issues, what precisely is it that it does? All criminal laws are a codification of a moral code and the case for most civil laws being the same is easily made.
#18
Drug consumption fell during Reagan's preesidency.
Right.
Nancy Reagan said "Just say no."
Bill Clinton said "It ain't immoral if it's only oral."
POTUS sets a moral tone, an example, and people tend to follow it. There was a reason I felt squeamish the whole time Clinton was in office. Everybody thought it was cool as long as the economy was humming but, as we found out on 9/11, it wasn't.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
09/01/2008 18:36 Comments ||
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#19
We can tax them, regulate them and better control the distribution to the already addicted through medical professionals
We couldn't even properly treat most of those addicted to alcohol, nicotine and prescription painkillers. How would we accomplish treating the much larger and more incorrigible number of those addicted to drugs currently illegal as well?
#21
OldSpook - not just thing thing, but every development/issue WRT Mexico includes, as part of any intelligent and rational reaction, the same element: make the border real and enforceable. It's very analogous to the Israeli security barrier, er, apartheid/Berlin Wall/genocide wall - sure there are small pains it causes, and some people get upset, but all this is nothing as against the benefits. Recall the absurd delay and caterwauling about the Israeli barrier - and how it all turned out?
Frank G, I knew we were neighbors, and I have much the same story - grew up going to TJ and beyond for lobster, beer, surf, etc. Mexicans are among the warmest nicest folks on Earth, and I've been lucky to compare in dozens of different countries. But I wouldn't go south now at gunpoint. Tropical resorts maybe - mainland, or even Cabo - but nothing near the border, or in the DF.
I recall reading an internal email or something over in Baghdad, and smiling with irony and disgust at the travel warning on Nuevo Laredo - the language was the same as that applied to Iraq (this was during the "lost years" of 05/06). I used to shock/edumucate many friends back here (via phone/email) and even over there by pointing out that Fallujah and Baquouba and Nuevo Laredo were all places to avoid, for the same reason.
Russia's president said Sunday his country will give military aid to the two separatist regions at the center of the war with Georgia -- signaling Moscow has no intention of backing down in the face of Western pressure.
Dmitry Medvedev also warned that American domination of world affairs is unacceptable, though he insisted that Russia did not want hostile relations with the United States and other Western nations.
Medvedev's decision Tuesday to recognize the Georgian breakaway provinces South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent drew condemnation from the West. Though no other countries have followed Russia's lead, Medvedev reaffirmed the decision on Sunday. "We have made our decision, and it's irreversible," he said in a speech broadcast on Russian television.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/01/2008 00:00 ||
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* AFGHANISTAN - PERSIAN Majority.
* TAIJIKISTAN - "2ND IRAN".
* UZBEKISTAN - approxi 40% are TAIJIKS ergo susceptible to pro-IRAN TAIJIK INFLUENS + PER SE IRANIAN.
* IRAQ - IRANIAN KURDS > 70% SHIITE, wid SHIITE ARABS compris 50-55% of Arab sub-population.
* SYRIA > 30% SHIITE and rising. SHIAS MAY ALREADY BE IN A SLIGHT MAJORITY AS PER TOTE POPUL.
* LEBANON > SHIITE DOMINATED WID RISING POPUL %.
* AZERBAIJAN > SECULAR SHIIITE STATE.
* NEWSMAX > RUSSIA WILL RESPOND [Militarily, iff needed] TO MILITARY AGGRESSION: + REDDIT > RUSSIA WILL NOT ACCEPT A UNIPOLAR WORLD RULED BY AMERICA; + BBC -THE NEW RUSSIAN WORLD ORDER - THE FIVE PRINCIPLES [MEDVEDEV Interview].
IOW, besides other, DIMITRY MEDVEDEV is again reiterating the former "YELTSIN DOCTRINE" LATER "PUTIN DOCTRINE", etc. = RUSS RESERVES ITS RIGHT TO RESPOND VIA MILITARY MEANS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO NUCLEAR ATTACK, IN CASE OF ANY DEADLY TERROR ATTACK(S) AGZ RUSS TARGET(S) AS LAUNCHED FROM ANY FOREIGN COUNRY [Terror Base-Locale], AND WID OR WIDOUT NEED OF PRE-CONSENT FROM THE GOVT OF SAID SAME FOREIGN COUNTRY. ONLY RUSS WIL DECIDE HOW RUSS WILL RESPOND.
RUSS SCOPE > A RUSS-TARGETED TERROP = ATTACK(S) DOESN'T EVEN HAVE TO BE A MAJOR OR HIGH-PROFILE EVENT.
All an Islamist Terror group has to do is kill a large number of Russ citizens inside a major Russ city-town, or attack a large number of Russ Govt. politicos, etal. AND THEN CLAIM TO LAUNCH SAID SAME ATTACK(S) FROM THEIR BASES IN CANUSA = NORAM???
AND NOW VIRGINA, YOU ONCE GAIN LEARN THE IMPORTANCE OF SO-CALLED "MANCHURIAN CANDIDATES" IN POLITICS!?
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda announced on Monday night that he would resign, abruptly ending his chronically unpopular government after just a year and leaving Japans governing party scrambling to find fresh leadership ahead of crucial national elections.
Mr. Fukudas surprise announcement, made at a hastily called news conference on Monday night, stunned Japan and appeared to plunge the worlds second largest economy into further political confusion. Last year, Mr. Fukudas predecessor, the rightist Shinzo Abe, made an equally sudden resignation.
Mr. Fukudas decision was particularly unexpected because he took office last September as a veteran political insider widely counted on, after Mr. Abes hasty departure, to bring stability and restore the Liberal Democratic Partys tarnished credibility. In the end, Mr. Fukuda, 72, lasted about as long as Mr. Abe roughly a year.
Politico's Carrie Budoff Brown reports: At a press avail in Monroe, Mich., Barack Obama on Palin: "Back off these kinds of stories."
"I have said before and I will repeat again: People's families are off limits," Obama said. "And people's children are especially off-limits. This shouldn't be part of our politics. It has no relevance to Gov. Palin's performance as a governor or her potential performance as a vice president. So I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories. You know my mother had me when she was 18 and how a family deals with issues and teenage children, that shouldnt be a topic of our politics."
On charges that his campaign has stoked the story via liberal blogs:
"I am offended by that statement. There is no evidence at all that any of this involved us," he said. "Our people were not involved in any way in this, and they will not be. And if I thought there was somebody in my campaign who was involved in something like that, they would be fired."
And besides, we're really taking flack over this. Pull back! Pull back!!!
#4
He actually does the right thing for once. Good for him.
Now for stage 2: if the KKKos KKKiddies don't do as he says, does he denounce them?
Posted by: Mike ||
09/01/2008 16:50 Comments ||
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#5
people's families aren't off limits - the children are. Spouses, ex-spouses, significant others (*wink* John Edwards *wink*) and associates are fair game - they are decision-making adults and their relationships reveal things about the candidates. Michelle, Rezko, Wright, Cindy, Todd, Biden's hair surgeon, these are all sources of information.
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/01/2008 16:50 Comments ||
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#6
Reminder: Obama was one of the 'stars' at the Daily KOS conference in 2007.
#8
"As always, should you or any of your IM force be caught or killed,, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This tape will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Jim."
You know, if you have the power to call them off, it implies you've had to power to make it happen.
I'm more experienced cynical than you apparently are, Mike.
I think it's far more likely he saw all the flack the Dems are taking for this crap, and realized how many Dem women it's pissing off, and told them to cool it before he loses by an even bigger landslide. >:-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/01/2008 17:11 Comments ||
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#10
Plus it leaves his personal history open for legitimate attack. And the attacks aren't hard to imagine. The LAST thing he wants is that kind of scrutiny.
#11
I don't like him, but I'm willing to cut him a little slack on this one.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
09/01/2008 17:19 Comments ||
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#12
He deserves the antithesis of slack for this one. He let these people sling mud from Friday all the way through today. The one and only reason he has said something is so that he will be on the record before the start of this weeks news cycle.
We all knew they were slinging shit by friday afternoon, he can't pretend he didn't know then also.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
09/01/2008 18:04 Comments ||
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#13
Mike N. True enough.
But I factor in one other thing: Obama is an empty suit. His people may not have cuaght on to how bad this looked to mainstream America for a day or 2 and didnt let The One know until today. Thats a very possible scenario.
It is also very illustrative of why Obama should NOT be elected - and repeated many times, ex: Georgia and the Russians and Obama's initial stupid response that had to be walked back. There are others as well, if you have not blinded yourself.
Remember, these people around Obama aren't just drinking the koolaid, they are steeped in it, 24*7.
Like a schizophrenic, they do not recognize reality to be what it is, and instead first see everything through the blinders they have built to allow them to maintain their delusions and indulge their emotions instead of using their rationality.
Thats the whole basis of their emotions-appeal based campaign. Ignore the substance, don't think, dont pry past appearances and the things the party shows you, just give in to your feelings. The result? Irrational virulent hatred of anyone that opposes them or questions the emporer's new clothes, and unthinking uncritical adoration of The One who will lead them back to power.
Witness the tears at the DNC, yet a lack of any reasoning when questioned, and the other side: the venom directed at Palin and her family upon her being named by McCain.
Sexist, vicious nasty slurs blew in form all corners, Colmes, Sullivan, etc, so its not jsut the nutroots, its the whoel of the left that has lost its grip on reality and civility.
Be very careful talking to these libs - they tend to become personally violent when thier delusions are questioned.
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/01/2008 20:11 Comments ||
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#19
I remember that, Spanky. It was one percent pure chicken feces.
"Thank you for your concern," said Cheney. At that point I knew that Cheney was cool under pressure and showed a great deal of class while Edwards proved that he was nothing but a weasel.
Donks fight dirty.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
09/01/2008 20:40 Comments ||
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#20
Rats, that was me, posting from my iPhone. Expect some typos when I do that ;-)
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/01/2008 22:34 Comments ||
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#21
"There is no evidence at all that any of this involved us ...."
Ineresting turn of phrase by someone who, one would think, has been trained to speak very precisely.
The article is about the baby's condition, not about who was pregnant. Anchorage Daily News. Probably faked by Karl Rove and the Black Helicopters... A MOTHER'S AGE
The risk of Down syndrome increases with the mother's age. For mothers under 30, it happens in fewer than one in 1,000 births. For mothers Palin's age, it's one in 35, according to the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
ARRIVAL
Palin was in Texas last week for an energy conference of the National Governors Association when she experienced signs of early labor. She wasn't due for another month.
Early Thursday -- she thinks it was around 4 a.m. Texas time -- she consulted with her doctor, family physician Cathy Baldwin-Johnson, who is based in the Valley and has delivered lots of babies, including Piper, Palin's 7-year-old.
Palin said she felt fine but had leaked amniotic fluid and also felt some contractions that seemed different from the false labor she had been having for months. Mrs. Bobby had leaking trouble, but not amnoitic fluid - the kids tended to press on her bladder. And our three kids averaged a month early...
"I said I am going to stay for the day. I have a speech I was determined to give," Palin said. She gave the luncheon keynote address for the energy conference. Palin kept in close contact with Baldwin-Johnson. The contractions slowed to one or two an hour, "which is not active labor," the doctor said. "Things were already settling down when she talked to me," Baldwin-Johnson said.
Palin did not ask for a medical OK to fly, the doctor said. "I don't think it was unreasonable for her to continue to travel back," Baldwin-Johnson said. So the Palins flew on Alaska Airlines from Dallas to Anchorage, stopping in Seattle and checking with the doctor along the way. "I am not a glutton for pain and punishment. I would have never wanted to travel had I been fully engaged in labor," Palin said. After four kids, the governor said, she knew what labor felt like, and she wasn't in labor. Now, just to prove it's a real MSM article, here's some Monday-Morning Quarterbacking:
Still, a Sacramento, Calif., obstetrician who is active in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said when a pregnant woman's water breaks, she should go right to the hospital because of the risk of infection. That's true even if the amniotic fluid simply leaks out, said Dr. Laurie Gregg. "To us, leaking and broken, we are talking the same thing. We are talking doctor-speak," Gregg said.
Some airlines have policies against pregnant women onboard during the last four weeks of pregnancy, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists advises against flying after 36 weeks. This was going to be Palin's last flight anyway, her doctor said.
Alaska Airlines has no such rule and leaves the decision to the woman and her doctor, said spokeswoman Caroline Boren. Palin was very pleasant to the gate agents and flight attendants, as always, Boren said. "The stage of her pregnancy was not apparent by observation. She did not show any signs of distress," Boren said. Do I need to add emphasis?
Palin never got big with this pregnancy. She said she didn't try to hide it but didn't feel a need to alert the airline, either. They landed in Anchorage around 10:30 p.m. Thursday and an hour later were at the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center in Wasilla.
Baldwin-Johnson said she had to induce labor, and the baby didn't come until 6:30 a.m. Friday. 22 hours - plus a time change? - after the first pangs, and the doctor induced labor.
"It was smooth. It was relatively easy," Palin said. "In fact it was the easiest of all," probably because Trig was small, at 6 pounds, 2 ounces. Palin said she wanted him born in Alaska but wouldn't have risked anyone's health to make that happen.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/01/2008 14:49 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
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"Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family."
The 17-year-old unwed daughter of John McCain's new running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, is five-months pregnant, Palin and her husband, Todd Palin, said Monday in a written statement.
McCain's campaign told FOX News that the presumptive Republican presidential candidate knew about Bristol Palin's pregnancy before he chose Palin as his running mate last Friday, and that Bristol is planning to marry the father of her child.
"We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us," the Palins said in the statement. "Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support."
The Palins asked the media to respect their family's privacy.
"Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family. We ask the media to respect our daughter and Levi's privacy as has always been the tradition of children of candidates."
A reminder that the press was very solicitous of Chelsea Clinton.
A McCain campaign spokesman told FOXNews.com that Bristol's pregnancy was considered a "private, family matter" that had "absolutely nothing to do" with her mother's candidacy.
#1
This makes me like Palin even more. She knew, McCain knew. No coverup, no weasel words. Just a statement to say it is true and that they are dealing with it as any family might.
I'm struck by the close relationship between daughter and parents. She obviously trusts them to support, respect and advise her. Deep in their hearts I suspect a bunch of parents and offspring both are wishing they had the same.
#6
That is the final torpedo in the "cover up" of Thig. She isn't embarrassed and trying to hide this pregnancy. Why the hell would she try to cover up a previous one? Oh there will still be those on the left that claim her daughter is a slut and the other baby was hers too (even though it is a physical impossibility to get pregnant while being pregnant but their deranged logic will try to fill the plot holes).
Good on McCain and Palin for being honest and open about a soon to be difficult time for the young pair. I hope they have the strength to see it though. Although, if the daughter is anything like her mother, she will make it and be stronger for it since raising a child, especially young is incredibly hard.
Any lefty I meet blabbing about how the previous pregnancy was a cover up is gonna get his ass kicked for being an ass.
#7
Hey, a shotgun wedding! That always works out well! What are the odds that Bristol had any say in this, now that mom is up for a serius promotion? And they say only lefties are sleazy.
#8
The campaign has also released the shocking admission that Todd Palin was arrested once on DUI when he was 22. That was in 1986. We've also learned that Sarah Palin got written up for not transferring a fishing license into her name when she took over operations midway through the fishing season. Pretty soon they'll be admitting that someone in the family has poor fashion sense or some equally serious charge that is certain to peel evangelical support away from this ticket. And then we'll know for sure that McCain is laughing at the leftist idiots who are pushing this crap.
Not easy on the kid but she'll manage given the family's strong and unequivocal support I think.
#10
And then we'll know for sure that McCain is laughing at the leftist idiots who are pushing this crap. Idiots like Lonzo right here in this thread. Who BTW is not posting from a US server.
But besides that, how is this supposed to help garner the Hillary moms? This just makes her look even more like a rightwing crazy. What McCain has fixed, Palin broke again!
#14
Lonzo, go here for the contemperaneous story about the birth of the Governor's fifth child.
Oh, sorry ...
contemperaneous means "at the time of the event".
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/01/2008 15:07 Comments ||
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#15
I think McCain just got inside Bambi's OODA loop. Again. I hate to bet all conspiratorial, but that's the kind of folks who run campaigns.
It's seeming like the donks don't have any oppo research on the improbable Ms Palin and they're junping at whatever floats by. And paying the price.
Right now, Bambi has to be thinking, "I'm the guy from Chicago. How's this guy doing this to me? And who picked up this story and pushed it so hard? And where did they get it? Those photos with the obviously photoshopped dates? What's happnin? Who are these guys, anyway?"
Somebody should tell him lots of the mob retires to Phoenix.
#16
This just makes her look even more like a rightwing crazy.
How?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
09/01/2008 15:10 Comments ||
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#17
Hey Lonzo, be thankful that you're no where near here or I'd be forced to beat the ever-loving crap out of you. I know what this is all about from first and experience and you snide and snotty comments would get their just desserts.
#20
No, taking responsibility for your actions. A new concept to you, I'm sure. Now clean up or your Supervisor will be paying you a visit. With payroll implications.
#25
Forcing a marriage just to satisfy a certain segment of the population.
Yes it would be better for everyone if Gov. Palin had dragged her daughter to an abortion clininc and forcibly prevented her from being punished with a baby. Double bonus if they had: killed the baby, emotionally crippled the daughter, and ruined the father's life by having him branded a sex offender. That's the Democratic way!
#27
It says something about Lonzo's lack of intimate familiarity with attractive teenaged women that he thinks one would never independently choose to keep her child and marry her boyfriend - whom, given the population in Alaska, she probably has known for years and whose family she is quite comfortable with.
It's a bit embarassing to learn this much about Lonzo's social life. TMI Lonzo.
Just as long as you don't take the X-box away, or whatever the kids are playing these days.
Personally, I'd focus on school at that age rather than starting a family. It's clear that the grandparents are very supportive, so they can certainly look after the grandchild while both parents make something of themselves. It certainly can't hurt.
But wait...you gotta keep up appearances, and make sure voters are happy. That above everything.
Lonzo stop being a repetitive ass or go find another sandbox to play in. -- The Mods
#30
Time magazine has an article up today about Bristol's pregnancy which apparently was known to most people in the town.
People in Wasilla are Alaskan tough, so not only does a thing like teen pregnancy not seem like anyone's damn business, but it's also not seen as the calamity so many people in the lower 48 might think it is. This is dangerous country it's not just the roughneck jobs on cable reality shows. It's real life here. I listened to the absolutely heartbreaking story of how the godfather of Track Palin, Sarah's oldest son, died in small plane crash just minutes after having dropped off four kids. Another family invited me into their home and told their incredible story; with one son in Iraq, their other son was working on a conveyor line in Anchorage, got caught in the belt and had his head partially crushed. He lived to stand across the kitchen table from me and his parents, looking fully healed just three months later, grinning at his dumb luck and wondering what comes next in life. "It makes you realize that a thing like a little teenage pregnancy isn't such a big deal," his mom said. "Bristoland lots of other girl like her out there are going to be just fine."
As for the idea sure to be floatedthat the avowedly anti-abortion Palin may have pressured her poor daughter to ruin her life by carrying an unwanted baby to term, I wouldn't bet on it. The Palin family seems to share the same pro-life values going back at least as far back as anyone here can remember, and it wouldn't be at all surprising if Bristol wore those values, however imperfectly, as her own. At least, that's what the town thinks. And Wasilla, above all, is pretty sensible.
#33
But wait...you gotta keep up appearances, and make sure voters are happy. That above everything.
For phuechs sake what a statement. Cowardly piece of kak that you are, a statement I doubt you'd make to prospective grandfather Todd Palin face to face. 'Man up' retract and apologize!
#38
Alaska is tough frontier country. Kids grow up quicker. People may think 17 is young but I bet Bristol is a lot more mature than the average lower state 17.
#40
Heck in those small town there aint much to do....JK Liked her before and still like the pick. She is keeping the baby, marrying the father, and I think that is exactly what usually happens.
#46
In my view, the real question is how Obama's support among younger voters will fare in the face of attacks on a 17-year-old mounted by his minions. I suspect a lot of younger people are OK with teen pregnancy, but not OK with vitriolic attacks on pregnant teens.
#49
Over a holiday weekend, under the radar. McCain will play nice. No one but wonks like us will know.
Miss Bristol's generation are on Facebook 24/7. The story, and the uproar about it, are probably making the rounds faster there than here. According to the statistics, quite enough of them are sexually active, or have friends who are, and who don't think much of hypercritically hypocritical adults.
Not to mention that Candidate Obama is the bastard offspring of a drunken one-night stand that, given the tender age of the future mother, could well have landed the father in jail... or stuck in Hawaii actually working for a living for the rest of his life. A pity, that: clearly Mr. Obama II would have been a much more balanced man had he known his birth father well enough to despise him.
Lonzo dear, I'm not sure what your objective is, but how can you fail to see that you aren't at all successful?
#50
Beldar has, I think, the most important comment I've yet seen on this topic. It would appear that the impressive members of this family don't end with the parents.
#51
First; Bad, that pic you posted is a hammerblow right to the solar plexus. No one who has ever loved a baby would look at that without wanting to punch Obama's lights out.
Second, I grew up in a small town. Probably as many girls went to the altar with a bun in the oven as not. So what? It's been a long time since I was a kid and the vast majority of those folks are still married and have raised good families. It's not the optimum but handled with responsibility, good sense and hard work it's a pretty minor problem. Ten years from now no one will remember. Or, if they do, it will be with some understated humor. As my neighbor used to say, it's a funny thing about babies. The first one can come anytime. All the rest take nine months.
Third, Beldar's comment is a real game-changer, AzCat. I liked the Palins before; I like them a lot more now. One thing is certain; they're tough people and they've already paid a heavy price just for the chance to serve their country.
The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama's fiery ex-pastor, re-emerged yesterday with a crude reference about race and sex in the White House. "This ordinary boy [Obama] just might be the first president in the history of the United States to have a black woman sleeping at 1600 Pennsylvania legally," Wright said, referring to Michelle Obama, in a sermon at the Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in Houston.
Wright also accused Obama of posturing in his criticism of Wright's sermons, saying, "If Senator Obama did not say what he said, he would never get elected.
It was unclear whether Wright was making a reference to prostitution, to old miscegenation laws, or to the history of illicit interracial sex under slavery.
Nor does it particularly matter ...
Wright's remarks yesterday were full of praise for Obama - although several times, he referred to Obama as a "boy" who later developed into an extraordinary person, through God's work and, presumably, Wright's guidance.
"The lord turned the ordinary into the extraordinary. Y'all just saw it this past week. It was on national television," Wright said to applause. "An ordinary black boy raised in a single-parent home . . . walked into my office 20 years ago to talk about his dream for a community that concentrated on things that we could achieve in common."
As Obama's longtime minister, Wright married Barack and Michelle, and the couple worshiped at Wright's Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago until Wright's controversial sermons became public knowledge during the campaign. Wright gave an over-the-top press conference that ultimately prompted Obama to leave the church this spring, after Wright blamed the United States for concocting the HIV virus and railed against US imperialism.
Wright also accused Obama of posturing in his criticism of Wright's sermons, saying, "If Senator Obama did not say what he said, he would never get elected. Politicians say what they say and do what they do based on electability, based on sound bites, based on polls."
Obama said afterward that he was "outraged by the comments that were made and saddened by the spectacle that we saw."
In recent weeks, Obama has worshipped at various churches in towns on his campaign schedule, as he did at a Lutheran church in Lima, Ohio, yesterday.
In sermons that caused the initial uproar when they emerged on video, Wright blamed the United States for the 9/11 attacks and boomed, "God damn America."
#7
"An ordinary black boy raised in a single-parent home . . . walked into my office 20 years ago to talk about his dream for a community that concentrated on things that we could achieve in common."
You know that brings up a serious question,
Did Obama ever realise his "Dream"?
If not, in 20 years what the hell does he think he'll accomplish in 4?
This phrase needs to be trumpeted on the Repub Media, LOUDLY, it proves he's just a failure with empty promises.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/01/2008 12:34 Comments ||
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#8
Wright isn't the cause, he's the sympton. Obama wouldn't attend the man's church for TWENTY YEARS unless he fully understood and agreed with everything he's saying. The sooner the rest of America can realize this, the better.
#9
he referred to Obama as a "boy" who later developed into an extraordinary person, through God's work and, presumably, Wright's guidance.
According to Wright, OHB was a boy when he first arrived because he was only half black.Through the application of BLT under Wright's guidance, he has exorcised his white demons from his soul and has become a born again black man.
This , according to Cone (Wright's mebtor)will give him a new black perspective. Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him. The task of black theology is to kill Gods who do not belong to the black community ... Black theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy. What we need is the divine love as expressed in Black Power, which is the power of black people to destroy their oppressors here and now by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love.
"The Christianity of white people and black people is entirely different".
Reading this makes me Question, just how different can you be and still be called A "Christian"?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/01/2008 17:10 Comments ||
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#11
There are plenty of blacks who see Christianity and Christ as colour blind -- quite a number of whom post here at Rantburg, to our benefit. This Black Liberation Theology crap belongs to a vocal and idiotic minority.
Candidate Obama, however, had bought into the message long before he found his mentor, the Reverend Dr. Jeremiah Wright, a theme he expands on in both his autobiographies.
#5
The McCain/Palin rally was at a minor league ballpark in a suburb of St. Louis. The stadium has seats for 3500 and I think it has party areas for another 1700. It backs up to a relatively new neighborhood. 20,000 at the rally is outstanding and no Greek temple to be seen. It is good to see Conservatives excited (my wife and I included) again.
#5
Swamp Blondie, simple, here are the instructions:
"First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin, then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it.
#7
Spike, sadly, Schumer's Bible does not contain the Book of Armaments, nor does he have acquaintance of the one they call "Tim".
Posted by: Swamp Blondie in the Cornfields ||
09/01/2008 12:42 Comments ||
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#8
CNN was all over reporting how the GOP CONVENTIN HAD BEEN SCALED BACK, yet did not report on the many empty seats during the DNC Opener???
D *** NG IT, BOYZ, SETTLE DOWN, PEOPLE IN GUAM ARE ACTUALLY TRYING TO HEAR THE CRICKETS CHIRP, like EDDIE MURPHY trying hard to hear a rock strike the bottom of a Bottom-less Pit in THE GOLDEN CHILD!
Members of the lefty blogosphere haven't stopped perpetuating the rumor Sarah Palin "faked" her last pregnancy and are now humiliating her daughter Bristol on the blatantly incorrect suspicion she is the real mother of baby Trig.
"Sarah, I'm calling you a liar" wrote blogger ArcXIX. "And not even a good one. Trig Paxson Van Palin is not your son. He is your grandson. The sooner you come forward with this revelation to the public, the better. " Photos of Bristol with detailed commentary about her abdomen are contained in the post.
Not only is the DailyKos disgustingly inspecting Bristol's midriff with all the fervor of LA paparazzi examining J-Lo's or Jennifer Aniston's washboard stomachs for evidence of a "bump," the DailyKos is wrong on when the photo was taken. It was taken, and published, by the Anchorage Daily News in 2006. Baby Trig, a child with Down's Syndrome, was born on April 18, 2008. That's a long time for a teen girl to be carrying a "bump" which looks nothing more than the curve of a tight sweater.
Shortly after Palin was announced as McCain's VP, bloggers at the Kos started ginning up the rumor Palin faked her pregnancy, allegedly to cover for an illegitimate grandchild, because she looked so fit and trim in photos taken a few months before giving birth.
This is only the latest in outrageous attacks against Palin as a mother. Fox News anchor Alan Colmes, of Hannity & Colmes, titled a recent post on his blog Liberaland "Did Palin Take Proper PreNatal Care?" In it, he wondered if she somehow was at fault for having a disabled child. Colmes took down the post after being attacked by the blog Wizbang and later reposted a screenshot of the blog to prove he "wasn't running away from what I posted."
Update: I originally mentioned this Kos rumor in a blog post about CNN's John Roberts's insinuation Palin would not give adequate care and attention to Trig if she became VP.
#5
Reason 36,843,725,098 to despise anyone who claims to be a member of the Democrat Party. Forget Obama, he's just the false front; Kos and Hamsher are the real faces of that party, and they show exactly what Dems think and believe.
#6
The photo was taken in 2006, making the timing for the daughter being the parent impossible.
Also, the daughter has Eskimo lineage, and ON AVERAGE Eskimos do not tend towards long and lanky as often as those of European stock. This body shape may be her genetic programming and nothing else.
Perhaps the inmates at kos, moveon, etc., are trying to draw attention to her body shape and call her fat, but she looks well within normal limits.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
09/01/2008 6:15 Comments ||
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. . . Pictures are posted, with captions like: "Sarah's waistline never changed. Her wardrobe still remained tight and professional." Note the gratuitous insult to pregnant working women. They can't possibly dress in a professional manner. There are also enlarged photos of the 16-year-old daughter with comments about the shape of her abdomen. The whole world is invited to talk about that teenager's body.
Despicable, sexist trash. Shameful.
AND: ArcXIX displays a huge blowup of the picture of the 16-year-old and issues a faux-scientific opinion: "Bristol is pregnant in these pictures. She is not carrying belly fat, which grows outwardly wide, and does not become dome-shaped. That's because fat is generally evenly distributed around the abdomen and a fetus is not. Bristol's chest is sticking out, a normal body reaction when sucking in stomach muscles." Belly fat grows outwardly wide? Nonsense. People come in all different shapes, and female abdomens tend to protrude. If the girl was pregnant and inclined to hide it, why would she be wearing tight clothes and standing in proud half-profile? I apologize for asking that question, but I'm hoping to shake some sense into those who are pushing this story. They should be ashamed to stoop so low for the sake of politics. I doubt if the Obama campaign wants this kind of help, not that it's likely to be any help at all.
Posted by: Mike ||
09/01/2008 8:08 Comments ||
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#8
Well, it is Kos, right? Chances are, they haven't seen too many pregnant women, unless they were walking into an abortion clinic.
(In all honesty, it does give me a reason to hate Palin. I didn't look pregnant either for the first six months. I looked really fat, instead. Grrr.)
Posted by: Swamp Blondie in the Cornfields ||
09/01/2008 9:19 Comments ||
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#9
In a proper world, these shitbag cocksuckers would all be beat bloody for this trash.
We need a picture of a Kos effigy for these articles. All beat to crap and bloody looking
Posted by: Mike N. ||
09/01/2008 10:20 Comments ||
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#10
Blogger comments that might be answered by an rotary table chain to the brain housing group if uttered on a at Prudhoe Bay.
#11
Uh, like NO ONE would EVER have seen Bristol preggers, if she was? How idiotic. Yes, if Palin is athletic, the abdominal muscles are most likely very developed, holding the child closer to the spine, and less visible as a pregnancy.
Let's pretend for a moment that she was covering for Bristol. So what. Good on them (if that were the case, which it's not) that the family stepped up and will help raise the child and help Bristol through whatever problems would exists.
BUT, the chance of a teenager having a down-syndrome baby is about nil, compared with a woman in her 40's.
I'm so sick of the banchee collective (i.e. the Democrat party).
And the sweater picture--can you imagine how a a teenage girl will feel about people looking at her body and saying she looks pregnant in the photo? That is just a mean, mean thing to do.
#14
If those at DailyKos would ever come out from under their rocks and look out their windows, they might see that most teenage girls look like if they are not anorexic. It shows a decent amount of exercise without obsessing. Most girls I see on a daily basis look like that. I'm fairly certain they aren't all pregnant.
This is a completely normal teenager. I'm disgusted that they would bring this up. But not surprised.
#15
whoops. Fox just said the daughter is pregnant and going to marry the father
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/01/2008 12:21 Comments ||
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#16
The left will now go "see we were right!" The left and MSM need to tread lightly on this issue. Personally, it does not change my support for McCain/Palin at all.
#20
It sounds like the disgusting bottom feeders at Kos did the Palin family a favor. It turns out that the daughter is prego now, (not back in 2006) and now it is out in the open. The family issued a statement that they are dealing with it and are moving forward. What's not to like about the fact that they can deal with a family crisis in such a healthy and loving manner?
#21
From the very start they have been awfully confident about their charges -- never mind that the pictorial proof they relied on was 2 years earlier than the supposed event. Maybe they have known all along that something was up -- leftycrat oppo research at its finest (i.e. some dirtbag lobbed a call into the Bama campaign, which in turn tipped off their droogs in the blogosphere).
#24
looks like we've been assigned one of Obamas overseas gomers.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
09/01/2008 14:44 Comments ||
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#25
My dear Lonzo, Governor Palin's husband and soldier son are both registered as Independents, not Republicans, which shows that the family doesn't have silly prejudices about what party registration implies about worthiness as human beings. Miss Bristol Palin is engaged to be married to the father of her child, which they plan to keep, according to a family announcement today.
Please stop being a rude ass about adolescent sexuality. The Democratic party is supposed to be for such things, so long as nobody is hurt and the parties involved act responsibly.
#31
This is one of the more absurd elements of our leftists acquaintences. They think because Christian have high moral values, they don't have sex and when they do, it means they no longer live their beliefs.
That would be true if Christians subscribed to Lonzo's moronic view of Christian morality.
The fact is Bristol had sex, got pregnant, is going to have the baby and is going to be married.
If nothing else her ACTIONS speak so much louder in confirming her own Christian beliefs in life and in love, than Lonzo's criticisms.
That recurring tendency of the contemptuous left reminds me of a comment made by Mr. Lotp's grandmother back in the early 1970s. Grandmother was a true lady, reduced in financial circumstances but never compromising her morals or her good manners. One imagined she was wearing white gloves wherever she happened to be.
When Mr. Lotp and I were engaged and I was meeting the extended family, Grandmother commented about the hippies in Haight-Ashbury not far from her apartment:
Your generation seems for some reason to believe you've invented sex. I've forgotten more about sex than those people in the Haight have discoverd so far.
And later, when I saw the stunning photo of her at 20 during the Roaring Twenties, I could well believe she had. I did love that woman. ;-)
#33
If nothing else her ACTIONS speak so much louder in confirming her own Christian beliefs
If only they were HER ACTIONS, but I doubt it, and you know it. Getting married at 17 is just silliness. This is all about not alienating the Republican base, which is the very reason why McCain picked Palin to begin with.
During the Depression, she took in a friend's child for a year after the friend's husband died. One day she was riding the trolley in San Franciso with her two tall blond children and this smaller, snubnosed freckled redheaded girl. One better dressed woman looked them upand down and smirked to Grandmother:
I've been admiring your children. But one of them looks quite different - does she perhaps resemble her father?
The implication being, of course, that she was illegitimate. Grandmother replied serenely:
I don't know - I've never seen him in the daylight.
And with that she calmly led the children off at the next stop. She was much too well-bred to lie or to insult that woman back. In fact, she never had met her best girlhood friend's husband - in daylight or not - as they had lived several hundred miles away from her home town.
1. Confucius (ca. 551479 BCE)
2. Leonardo da Vinci (14521
3. Thomas Paine (17371809)
4. Alexander Hamilton (17551804)519)
5. Lawrence of Arabia (18881935)
6. Eva Perón (19191952)
7. Besoeker (1950- )
#44
damn, now I see lotp beat me to the Time linkin another thread...
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/01/2008 16:20 Comments ||
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#45
"Getting married at 17 is just silliness."
Well of COURSE it is, lefty troll.
/sarcasm off
Your side's suggested two options would be:
1) perform the most blessed sacrament of the left, abortion, or
2) leave mom and dad's, go on welfare, become dependent on the state, thereby insure income stream security for hacks like you and the rest of your public sector hack colleagues and promoting your model of the family (state, child, mother instead of husband, wife, child), while simultaneously dragging down the mom and kid.
Getting married is the honorable, intelligent, mature, and sensible thing to do. Beyond your ken, therefore.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
09/01/2008 16:55 Comments ||
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#46
Would it not be interesting to fast-forward 50 years and discover that Bristol Palin's son or daughter grew up to be a doctor who discovered a cure for AIDS, heart disease, alzheimer's, or MS?
#53
similar, but not as hunky...and more fu-manchu. I've got the full Al Hrabosky thing going on right now
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/01/2008 17:25 Comments ||
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#54
My mother and father got married when she was 15, in 1950. They are still married. My Father is a retired Southern Baptist Minister. Back in 1974 when he was still actively preaching my younger sister, 17, got prgnant. They got married, had the baby, and have had 3 more and are still married.
My point is people make mistakes but the mistakes don't have to destroy lives. We all delt with it, welcomed Pete into the Family, and have enjoyed the children, now grown. It seems there are a lot of people who don't know what love really is. It ain't lust, Lonzo.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
09/01/2008 17:37 Comments ||
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#55
I find it incredible that the dem attack machine is picking on a 17 year old girl to get at her mother.
This will not play well with the feminine voters, especially when it will come off as a personal attack on all women. Wait untill Olberman smirks into the camera with the 'had to get married' observation and some msnbc fool gets shot in Alaska annoying the locals.
The left's preferred option is birth control actually.
Sarah Palin opposes all birth control, all sex-ed, and all abortion (even in the case of rape).
Her own daughter ended up the victim of her mother's failure to talk to her about birth control.
There's nothing morally wrong with what her kid did. I feel sorry for the girl that ends up under the spotlight against her will.
But the repercussions of Palin's failure to teach her own daughter about birth control should have taught the governor the stupidity of relying on abstinence-only education.
#57
like an outbreak of herpes, Aris returns where he is unwanted , unneeded, and must jive his name to get in. I bet your mom doesn't take your calls with Caller ID either, Aris?
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/01/2008 21:43 Comments ||
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#58
"Her own daughter ended up the victim of her mother's failure to talk to her about birth control."
-and you have first hand knowledge of this how? Because you live in their home and are privvy to such things?
While I may or may not agree w/how the Palin's raised their kids I don't presume to know what goes on in their home. In any case, this is all irrelevant to the presidential race.
#59
How times have changed. Years past, people would have known better than to talk about these things - voluntary self-censorship in the name of simple civility. But civility never did apply to the lefties. Perhaps horse whipping will make a come-back.
#60
Broadhead, that Palin opposes birth-control and any sex-ed (other than abstinence-only) is a matter of her claimed policy and values -- if you're telling me that she teaches her children differently that her claimed values, then you're accusing her of hypocrisy, something which I did and do not claim.
(I only accuse Palin of stupidity, I have no reason to believe she's dishonest about her values)
#61
I need to tell you a secret.
Big secret.
Sssshhhhh
OK here it comes
There are millions of girls every year getting pregnant who DO KNOW how you get pregnant.
After all, that happens to millions of adult women, too.
I do not approve of "shotgun marriage" when the only reason is pregnancy and one (or both) partners do not actually love each other (one night stand etc)
But if they love each other, early marriage is not a problem, especially not with a supporting family.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
09/01/2008 22:21 Comments ||
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#62
Aris dear, I'm sure that they have the internet up there in Alaska, too. Which means Miss Bristol will have learnt about not having babies. Not to mention that she has an older brother, and her older brother is a soldier. They get taught about things like that in basic training. I'm quite certain that he would have told his younger sister, given that she has a boyfriend, how things work -- or at least spoken clearly to the boyfriend about his ... responsibilities.
Lonzo, my darling mother-in-law dropped out of school at 15, married at 17 and had two children by the time she was 19. My in-laws will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on Saturday. They still like each other, and their descendants have done rather well as the world measures such things. The second generation all celebrated 25th anniversaries last year, and we are looking forward to the next round of weddings starting next summer. For some people getting married very young is a mistake; for others getting married ever is equally unwise for all involved. Just because you clearly judge yourself incapable of such things does not mean you ought be the measure by which others should.
#63
Aris, if I'm correct she only disapproved of "explicit sexual education" at school.
Actually that dooesn't mean that she'll do the education herself.
Actually I prefer this, as well.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
09/01/2008 22:23 Comments ||
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#64
I dunno for most of you, but I don't wish to have a diseased Greek Pederast and Animal-Lover (*wink wink*) lecture me on my voting preferences, epecially since he's a known public masticator
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/01/2008 22:26 Comments ||
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#65
@trailing wife
I don't know how sex education is done in US schools. But I remember my daughter coming home from school rather disturbed one day. She was 12.
We took care of that and had a word with the teacher, too.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
09/01/2008 22:26 Comments ||
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#67
European Conservative, school curricula are established at the state level, eg Ohio, New York, Alabama, but executed by community school boards. In the public schools the trailing daughters attend (td#1 is now graduated and heading off to university in two weeks! We're very proud that she will start German at the third year level, thanks to two years in the Bad Soden Evangelische Kindergarten), parents were permitted to remove their children from the sexual education portion of the lesson. I did not, but then I'd been discussing such things with the tds from the first time each asked where babies come from (age 3 or 4, as I recall).
#68
School curricula are set here as well but it will depend on the teachers how they communicate the topic.
We don't teach our kids that sex is "dirty" but that it comes with mature thinking and responsibility.
Teens will be teens though. A plan B is always helpful.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
09/01/2008 23:43 Comments ||
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#69
This fascinating bit from the Time article will be helpful to both Aris and Lonzo, as they attempt to understand those who think differently than themselves:
Sarah Palin is a longterm member of a group called Feminists for Life, which is not opposed to birth control . So you probably can't tag her for consigning young people to unwanted pregnancies.
#3
Seems like a stupid move to me. Why get a few Republican mothers pissed off at you and lose a few sales? No business benefit that I can see. If you think Hollywood healthnuts will pick up the slack, guess again, Kellog.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/01/2008 9:55 Comments ||
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#4
Interesting propaganda. Get 'em while they're young!
Puff piece from the Los Angeles Times. Nice to see a Republican get a puff piece. Extra added bonus: Gov. Palin demonstrates step 1 in "How to Make Caribou Stew"
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/01/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I suppose that in this day and age, you could call it a puff piece - seeing as how she is running as a Republican and the article it didn't call her Satan or accuse her of being a "breeder".
"Many who have worked with her -- and against her -- say that in the case of the oil tax, she piggybacked on Democratic efforts that were well underway.
There's always been a little bit of an air of an opportunist about the governor," said state Sen. Hollis French, a Democrat, who has been a strong advocate for the public getting a larger slice of Alaskan oil and gas revenues.
It's what my daddy used to call the "velvet slap across the face".
#2
The following is a note from my niece (blackhawk pilot) in Taji:
"So,
Sarah Palin. I don't know what you guys think of her, but I really like
her. Everyone found out in the chow hall and people were literally
cheering. She is from Alaska, and so are a lot of the guys deployed
with us out of Ft. Waynewright (sp?). I think she is awesome. "
Far from being some sort of panic attack, McCains selection of Palin was a deliberate effort to craft a specific message for the general election and for his Presidency, should he win. He wants to challenge his party to recall their reform roots from the Reagan Revolution and the Contract with America. He cannot expect to have that taken seriously or effectively without having a real reformer, and not just a talker, on the ticket with him. He needs the conservative base energized and enthusiastic to make that message effective, and Palin provides both a track record of real reform and energy for the GOP base.
As the Times said on Friday, this shouldnt surprise anyone. The panic seen from the Left shouldnt surprise anyone, either. After their so-called reformer picked a 35-year Washington insider as his running mate, the ticket of true reform is obvious to even them.
#1
I think it's rather funny that the Left is in a lather about Palin. The patriarch of donk party (JC, Superdud) "started his career by serving on various local boards, governing such entities as the schools, hospital, and library, among others followed by two terms in the Georgia Senate", and then 1 term as the governor of Georgia before running for President.
#4
From the start? Too bad no one told E. J. Dionne at the Washington Post, who says McCain, as far as anyone can tell, met Palin only once before considering her for vice president, and once more before settling on her, which is to say he barely knows her. Rantburg link
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/01/2008 8:47 Comments ||
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#5
Just shows you what I learned when I got my first clearance and access a long time ago at NSA:
The Mainstream press knows very little of what's really going on, but they put up a front and have the amazing hubris to beleive their own lies about knowing everything.
The Republican convention was thrown into turmoil on Sunday with President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney canceling appearances as deadly Hurricane Gustav homed in on New Orleans. The Republican Party jamboree is due to begin in St Paul, Minnesota on Monday but radical schedule changes were expected.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/01/2008 00:00 ||
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In his first reaction to the choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate, Sen. Barack Obama tells 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft that she is an "up-and-coming public servant."
Of his own choice for running mate, the Democratic presidential nominee says Sen. Joseph Biden "can step in and become president."
Is that a threat or a promise ...
Obama and Biden sat down with Kroft Friday night in Pittsburgh for an interview to be broadcast on 60 Minutes this Sunday, Aug. 31, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
09/01/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
And Joe Biden doesn't bite his tongue.
Ain't that the truth! It takes him five friggin' minutes to ask a question.
Posted by: Swamp Blondie in the Cornfields ||
09/01/2008 0:48 Comments ||
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#2
ultimately, this [election] is going to be about where I want to take the country
What a narcissistic viewpoint that shows no respect for the US voter.
#3
Palin, having been the Governor of a state (that borders 2 other countries) is more able to 'take over the presidency' then Obama OR Biden. Neither one of them has any executive government experience.
That's an interesting way to take the 'experience' thingy. Is BO suggesting some gun-loving, bible-clinging, right-wing crazy will prevent him from finishing his term?
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/01/2008 7:00 Comments ||
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#9
I want the counsel and advice of somebody who's not going to agree with me 100 percent of time
Could have picked ME! I DISAGREE with you 100 percent of the time!
#14
Top Ten Things Barrack Obama can ask Sarah Palin when he meets her the first time:
10- How do you load a gun?
9 - Is hunting scary?
8 - How do you get the bait on that hook thingy?
7 - What's it like having a spouse that isn't angry all the time.
6 - You were Mayor, then Governor, what's a budget?
5 - I've never delegated. Do you have a canned speech for that?
4 - What does "meeting a payroll" mean?
3 - Why do you have so many kids; haven't you ever heard of an abortion?
2 - What's it like actually being an executive?
1 - Yeah, but do the Germans like you?
#17
Biden would have to step in because Obama is not up to dealing with Putin, Iran or N. Korea.
Posted by: Bob Angains3148 ||
09/01/2008 17:57 Comments ||
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#18
I cannot stand listening to the guy, but Paul Begala actually made an interesting point, which kinda collapses with a thought or two.
Essentially, the intial reaction to Gov. Palin focussed on the small-town mayor aspect, and unvetted nature - namely BO ran a great campaign, and received 18m +/- primary votes.
All that's well and good, but go two steps further and comare the total primary votes which Gov. Palin received (0 - she wasn't in the primaries you dope) vs. Sen. Biden (more than 0, but what was the question again).
#20
Just a friendly bit of advice to the Obama camp on dealing with the whole 'not enough executive experience' problem on their end.
Maybe they could assist Stanley Kurtz in doing his research on Obama's time on the board of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, No? Now why, oh why did Obama leave THAT off his resume?
#1
McCain gave Bambi a little more than 12 hours media exposure time for his speech and the DNC convention before releasing Palin's announcement and causing all the media hype to be about Palin. So, he effectively neutralized any bounce Bambi was going to get from the MSM. Pure brilliance.
#2
Throughout this campaign, McCain has been undervalued. In the last couple of months, I've finally started looking at how he campaigns. He is smart, fast and pulling ahead of the lead horse.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/01/2008 9:46 Comments ||
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#3
That 61.1% chance that Obama wins in November is ominous...
(PTI) Pakistan's ruling PPP's Presidential candidate Asif Ali Zardari, who inherited the party's leadership after the assassination of his wife Benazir Bhutto, has purged it of the former premier's close confidants, a media report has said. Party stalwarts, whom Bhutto had relied upon are angry at the way her closest aides have been humiliated and alarmed that her political legacy is being betrayed, The Sunday Times said in a report.
They are also outraged that some of Zardari's aides have blamed Bhutto's most trusted advisers for her death, accusing them of failing to protect her from the assassins who killed her in a sniper and suicide bomb attack.
Naheed Khan, Bhutto's devoted political secretary and inseparable friend for more than 20 years has been the target of such accusations, they said.
Khan, who has been sidelined since the assassination, was sitting next to Bhutto in a bullet proof Land Cruiser when the leader was shot while waving to supporters through the sun-roof. Khan cradled Bhutto's head on her lap before realising she was dead.
Only four or five members of Bhutto's team have made the transition to Zardari's camp, said former agriculture minister and Bhutto adviser Nawab Yusuf Talpur.
"Most of the people trusted by Bibi are not trusted by him. Benazir had a vision and the capacity to hold this party together... Her legacy is not being handled in the way we expected," Talpur said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/01/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Muzz manhood in action. Take the dowry and move on...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
09/01/2008 8:26 Comments ||
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Anti-war activists and fashionistas have carried the iconic Palestinian keffiyeh across the globe, but in the West Bank, makers of the headscarf are struggling to compete with Chinese imports.
The black-and-white checkered scarf - which became an international symbol of the Palestinian struggle when former Palestinian President Yasser Arafat first sported it in the 1960s - has since grown into a global phenomenon increasingly disconnected from the land and the struggle in which it was born. The keffiyeh has become standard garb for anti-war activists across the globe and a chic accessory for urban hipsters - a vaguely subversive, exotic all-weather neck warmer.
But for Mr Yasser al-Hirbawi, the owner of a keffiyeh factory in the southern West Bank town of Hebron, the growing demand has brought increased competition from Chinese manufacturers which are capturing local markets. 'Before they started importing from China we had 15 machines running 20 hours a day. Now we only use 4, and we only work 8 hours,' Mr Hirbawi says above the roar of the looms inside a dark, mostly unused warehouse.
When the 75-year-old started his factory in 1961, the keffiyeh was not yet a political symbol but a normal part of local dress. 'This is our national dress. You don't see them much now in the summer, but in the winter, everyone wears them because it keeps the cold out,' Mr Hirbawi says, pulling the corner of his loose-hanging keffiyeh across his face. He wears the scarf with an ankle-length grey robe, a tweed sportscoat, and brown sandals, the standard outfit of Palestinian men of his generation.
But since China's economic rise in the 1990s, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, like much of the rest of the world, has been flooded with mass-produced goods. And in the global fervour that followed the outbreak of the 2000 Palestinian uprising foreign manufacturers were much better placed to benefit from the increased demand than merchants like Hirbawi, who does not export.
'Today the customers, especially the foreigners, prefer the imports. God only knows why,' he says as he pinches tobacco from an old silver case and rolls a cigarette. 'They should buy from us and support the local industry.' Mr Hirbawi, who sells his scarves for less than US$5 (S$7.10), was not aware that Urban Outfitters, a trendy clothing chain in the United States was, until January 2007, selling keffiyehs there for 4 times as much.
In Hebron's Old City merchants hawk multi-coloured keffiyehs, Palestinian flags, Armenian ceramics, and other souvenirs to tourists on their way to the Tomb of the Patriarchs and the Ibrahimi mosque. The Old City has become a popular destination for pro-Palestinian activists and alternative tours aimed at raising awareness of the Israeli occupation, with the merchants of its narrow streets easily mixing commerce and advocacy.
'We sell only local products,' Mr Jamal Maraqa, 47, says as he gestures to a stack of pastel-coloured keffiyehs from Hirbawi's factory. 'We buy from Hirbawi because he makes all these colours. The foreigners love them.' Mr Maraqa doesn't deny that there are political associations behind the keffiyeh, but he too brushes off the idea they are a symbol of violence.
Even here, most Palestinians, including the politically active, have cast off the traditional keffiyeh in favour of a more modern look. 'The young guys prefer to wear hair gel,' Mr Jihad Abu Rumilah, another merchant says.
Across the streets, Mr Mohammed al-Muatasab crouches outside a shop, his worn, wide-eyed face framed by a black and white keffiyeh. It's a look he perfected before the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ever came into being. 'I am 90 years old and I have been wearing a keffiyeh my entire life,' he says. 'It's part of my head.'
HT to Ace of Spades. Gotta love how changing the number of zeros will supposedly change the actual value.....
Iran is considering lopping three to four zeros off its currency, a top official said Monday, in an apparent effort to fight out-of-control inflation that many critics blame on the country's hardline president. heh...
The governor of the Central Bank of Iran, Tahmasb Mazaheri, told state-run radio that monetary experts are studying three options: Cutting three zeros off the rial, cutting four zeros, or boosting each rial's value to one-hundredth of a gram of gold, or about 2,500 rials at current rates.
"We are studying all these three options," Mazaheri said on state-run radio. "We are studying all 330 300 options"
The Iranian rial is now traded at 9,600 rials to one U.S. dollar. That compares with 70 rials against the dollar in 1979, the year an Islamic revolution toppled the pro-Western Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
In June, Iran's government put the inflation rate at a whopping 26 percent. Independent economic experts say the actual inflation rate is even higher, at more than 30 percent. Prices for vegetables have tripled and housing prices have doubled since last summer. Send em some old "WIN" buttons
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/01/2008 15:17 ||
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#1
It's that damn FIAT money thing again, bring back the Lira!
#3
Unlike Bob, Ahmadinejad has money coming in (from oil revenues). However, he's managed to wreck the economy by handing out money to various provinces to buy them off, by keeping bank loan interest rates low (to placate the IRGC, who are now the majority owners of Iranian businesses), and manipulating the money supply to keep it all from crashing down.
Then there's Iran's nuclear ambitions. Fulfilling them requires cash - suppliers aren't going to go for 'net 30' terms.
Jonah Goldberg -- The Corner -- I really find this interesting
From Jimbo:
Hey Jonah,
Before you dismiss that Commander of the Alaska National Guard stuff. This came from a reader who plays the game and it jibes with my knowledge.
Alaska is the first line of defense in our missile interceptor defense system. The 49th Missile Defense Battalion of the Alaska National Guard is the unit that protects the entire nation from ballistic missile attacks. Its on permanent active duty, unlike other Guard units.
As governor of Alaska, Palin is briefed on highly classified military issues, homeland security, and counterterrorism. Her exposure to classified material may rival even Biden's.
She's also the commander in chief of the Alaska State Defense Force (ASDF), a federally recognized militia incorporated into Homeland Security's counterterrorism plans.
Palin is privy to military and intelligence secrets that are vital to the entire country's defense. Given Alaska's proximity to Russia, she may have security clearances we don't even know about.
According to the Washington Post, she first met with McCain in February, but nobody ever found out. This is a woman used to keeping secrets. Keeping secret a conversation she had in Feb with McCain tells me, she can keep our countries secret. Just how many of our politicos have kept "secret" about their ratings in the race for VP? She the only one.
She can be entrusted with our national security, because she already is.
Me(Johan): Oh I don't dispute that she has more national security bona fides than the press is making it seem. Alaskan governors deal a lot more with international and national security issues than, say the Governor of Arkansas.
There are all sorts of treaty issues, missile defense stuff, bases, etc up there. The military is a very big presence. Also, while I think there are political drawbacks to the fact that Alaska's government lives pretty much entirely off oil revenues, understanding of international energy markets requires a grasp of international affairs as well.
My only point is that Commander of the Alaska National Guard sounds defensive and lame. It sounded defensive and lame when Bill Clinton bragged about his role as the Commander of the Arkansas national guard too.
Posted by: Sherry from Arkansas ||
09/01/2008 01:51 ||
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#1
My only point is that Commander of the Alaska National Guard sounds defensive and lame.
Given how sharp the McCain campaign has been lately I wouldn't be at all surprised if this were a setup. A seeming throw-away line apparently cribbed directly from Bill Clinton but one which masks far more substance here.
#3
Gustav provides a context for Palin to discuss how she has been involved in emergency response planning in coordination with DOD etc. I hope she will. It not only plays up her experience, it also informs people who might otherwise not realize just how much work NORTHCOMM and this administration are doing in coordination with regional and state governments to prepare for any type of disaster, manmade (WMD) or natural (pandemic flu, hurricanes etc.)
Funny, but I haven't heard anyone screaming about posse comitatus this time around. Compare and contrast to the runup to Katrina.
#5
I loosely know the Alaska AG, and Alaska's mission is a it different than the standard Guard mission because of ALCOM (Alaska Command). That 3-star slot has produced an unusual number of 4-star and USAF COS due to the DHS tie (huge USCG presence) and fighting the Russian bear. I can tell you the mission is going to increase as the Baltic and Pacific fleets stretch their legs into the Arctic.
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.
Ferocious Category 4 hurricane Gustav roared into the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday after wreathing havoc in Cuba, as the U.S. National Hurricane Center warned Americans to expect the worst in the coming hours.
The advice of doctors to Zimbabweans is, don't get sick. If you do, don't count on hospitals _ they're short of drugs and functioning equipment.
Russia's president said Sunday his country will give military aid to the two separatist regions at the center of the war with Georgia -- signaling Moscow has no intention of backing down in the face of Western pressure. 
The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama's fiery ex-pastor, re-emerged yesterday with a crude reference about race and sex in the White House. "This ordinary boy [Obama] just might be the first president in the history of the United States to have a black woman sleeping at 1600 Pennsylvania legally," Wright said, referring to Michelle Obama, in a sermon at the Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in Houston. 
Members of the lefty blogosphere haven't stopped perpetuating the rumor Sarah Palin "faked" her last pregnancy and are now humiliating her daughter Bristol on the blatantly incorrect suspicion she is the real mother of baby Trig.
In his first reaction to the choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate, Sen. Barack Obama tells 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft that she is an "up-and-coming public servant."
Anti-war activists and fashionistas have carried the iconic Palestinian keffiyeh across the globe, but in the West Bank, makers of the headscarf are struggling to compete with Chinese imports. 
