Interesting and sobering article about our nuclear defenses and the folks who are stationed at these bases. Much more at link.
If you can climb a fifteen foot ladder and fit through a two foot diameter hole, you can, with a bit of advance planning, take an extensive "top-to-bottom" tour of a Titan II ICBM launch complex, complete with missile silo and missile. Best of all, you no longer have to trespass or join the Air Force to do it.
And so I just returned from Sahuarita, AZ and the Titan Missile Museum, a place known during most of the cold war as SMS Launch Site 571-7. I spent the better part of the day beneath the surface of the earth, part of a group of six hardy nuclear tourists under the direction of Lt. Col. Chuck Smith (USAF, retired, a former "missileer" at the site), exploring the nuts, bolts and welds of Armageddon.
At the peak of the cold war, there were over 1,000 nuclear missiles in buried silos located throughout sparsely populated areas of the continental United States, all fueled and ready to be launched toward the Soviet Union on a few minutes notice. From 1963 through 1984, this included 54 Titan II missiles at sites in Arizona, Arkansas and Kansas, each equipped with a W-53 warhead capable of delivering a nine megaton thermonuclear yield. Nine megatons is horrifically destructive even by the outsized standards of atomic bombs, capable of leveling a good size city in a single blast. And the Soviets had at least as many similar weapons aimed right back at us.
How did we keep from blowing ourselves up for all those years?
#1
Interesting place, I was there in '99. This "computer expert" can probably tell us all sorts of good things about Windows 7 security by examining the entrails of a Commodore 64...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/17/2009 11:56 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Spent three years in the missile patch in Kansas maintaining the security cameras on those silos. Oh, and we were instructed not to call them "warheads", they are "re-entry vehicles".
Posted by: Steve ||
12/17/2009 19:56 Comments ||
Top||
#1
Guy 'round here was out hunting last week when a bobcat walked up and surprised both of them. Hunter said he couldn't decide whether to reach for the rifle or the camera. I thought, reach for them both - just reach for the rifle first; still lifes are easier than action photos.
Bobcats are not to be messed with, unless of course you have nothing better going on at the moment then defend your life then I guess we now know one technique.
TUBAC - The Divine Administration sprawls over 165 acres along the banks of the Santa Cruz River on a historic ranch next to the old Tumacacori Mission. Known locally, no doubt, as "Jonestown"...
Here, a man known as Gabriel of Urantia oversees a religious order of about 100 men, women and children who believe that the apocalypse is imminent and that their leader is a prophet ordained to save them from doom and then rule the world. "Urantia"? Something similar to "Uranus," which is always open to sniggering misuse...
Members of the Global Community Communications Alliance practice a unique blend of New Age theology, old-style Christianity, Buddhism, American Indian religion, environmentalism and business. Their community, which they describe as the Divine Administration, includes an organic farm, legal services, a hospice program, a school, psychological counseling, a film studio, a magazine, an art studio, eco-construction and a "soulistic" medical institute. Not that they actually produce anything other than organic brussels sprouts and radishes. There's no factory for making car parts, no plastics plant for making toys, no foundry for making farm implements or tools. Just organic radishes, picking up a few bucks by renting out their lawyer when he's sober, setting aside a house for people to check into the Great Beyond, a Dear Abby center, amateur art stuff that nobody pays attention to except for the performance artists doing it. I'm not sure what an "eco-construction" firm does -- build rain forests? And a "soulistic" medical institute sounds like it's only a few short steps from the hospice.
To join, members must renounce their given names and many of their possessions, steps they say are worth the serenity and security they find with the insular group. Sure. Become someone else because you don't like who you are. And give all your worldly goods, plus regular carnal access to your wife and/or children, to somebody from Your Anus.
But critics say the alliance is hardly serene. They describe a controlling, narcissistic leader who requires obedience and runs a cultlike community, and they draw parallels between the group and others that have garnered headlines following ritual-related deaths and mass suicides. "Kool-aid, Kool-aid! Tastes great!
Wish we had some!
Can't wait!"
The GCCA is led by Gabriel, or Anthony Joseph Delevin, 62, the son of a Pittsburgh steelworker. "I got only one word of advice, son: Don't go to work in the mills! Find something easier!"
"Okay, Pop!"
He and his female "complement," Niann Emerson Chase, have attracted followers from four continents, including a lawyer, a doctor, a psychologist and schoolteachers. Now productively engaged in growing organic brussels sprouts and swapping wives...
They founded a religious order and sanctuary, originally known as Aquarian Concepts Community, in 1989 along Oak Creek in Yavapai County. The organization, which functions as a church, adopted its current name several years ago before moving to southern Arizona. Churches are exempt from paying property taxes under state law, and the Internal Revenue Service does not mandate the filing of public financial disclosures that are required of other non-profits. "How about this, Pop? I'll found a church! I won't have to pay no taxes or anything!"
"Worked for L. Ron Hubbard."
One of group's rites, Native American purification, has come under public scrutiny in the aftermath of a fatal sweat-lodge ceremony involving a different group in Sedona two months ago. In that incident, three people died and 18 others were hospitalized while taking part in a Spiritual Warrior event led by self-improvement guru James Arthur Ray. A criminal investigation is pending. If it's "native American" it's good. The Aztecs were "native Americans," too. And the Coahuiltecans used to have what they called the "second harvest," which's too gross to describe in a family publication...
The GCCA conducts similar cleansing ceremonies; although, unlike Ray's group, it does not charge participants huge fees (donations, however, are suggested). There are other parallels: Ray and Gabriel both have written autobiographies describing years of spiritual searching. Both claim to have been influenced by Hopi elders. And both are criticized by former members and clients for their inflated egos and aggressive leadership styles. "Aggressive leadership style" means he's a bully...
Although Gabriel's group regularly invites the paying public to visit and operates a number of non-profit services, spokeswoman Centria Lilly declined all interview requests for this story, saying she was concerned that any article would not fairly portray Gabriel's 40 years of good works. "Centria Lilly"? If I was gonna become somebody else and got to pick a new name I wouldn't go for "Centria Lilly." But I'd prob'ly be drunk when I did it and end up with "Archduke Bob" or something like that...
"Our only consolation, if this attempt of yellow journalism continues, is that we definitely will . . . put you high on the list along with others of those who misrepresent Divine Administration and Gabriel of Urantia when Jesus Christ returns to set up His planetary government," she wrote. "That's a promise." "We're talkin' major pillar of salt stuff here..."
I knew a guy who was into that stuff back in the 80s (calling him a flakey nut is being generous). I read some of the book (The Book of Urantia, available at most bookstores and online here) and it's a hoot - sort of a bad sci-fi novel trying to tie together Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism in a syncretic new-agey stew but lacking the mind control aspects of Scientology. There have since been many "heretical" offshoots of it, especially in the Sedona, NM area. "A Course in Miracles" being one of them.
It's good for a few laughs if you're looking for some entertainment.
#6
Sedona, AZ, and Oak Creek Canyon just due north of there are insanely beautiful territory, and well worth a visit.
(Do a GIS of Sedona).
And I will give the harmonic convergence its due, because half the people who live there are "type-A" Yuppies, and the other half are "4F" old hippie artists who worship the Earth Mother in lesbian covens.
#7
I remember buying a Book of Angels by the Urantians back about fall of 73. I was really upset when I discovered that it wasn't SciFi and really part of a belief structure. I threw it down the garbage shoot when I found out I couldn't get my money back for it.
Biggest bunch of dipshits on the planet but I bet they really enjoy all those Secret whatever mystery books..
As the cable wars carry on, a new poll finds that Fox News informs roughly five adults for every one adult informed by MSNBC.
The Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll asked: From which ONE of the following national television news sources do you get MOST of your information about politics and current events?
Fully 27 percent said Fox. Only 5 percent said MSNBC. Meanwhile, 16 percent said CNN and 36 percent cited the major networks.
But the contest of note is MSNBC and Fox. The rivalry, the networks, have become surrogates for the two political tribes of American politics. The blue tribe controls Washington but this is one bout the red tribe takes with ease.
Meanwhile, as The New York Times details, CNN falls behind MSNBC for the first time this year in the ratings race. But as the Journal poll would hint, and so much data has before, on top is Fox 2009 marks Fox's greatest ratings year yet. It's no wonder President Obama eventually decided that even he could no longer ignore this Fox.
#1
One thing I don't understand is why FOX doesn't have an evening news program on their local stations. I guess it is because it would bump one of the 14 daily showings of The Simpsons.
Posted by: ed ||
12/17/2009 15:11 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Along that line - why isn't there a real 'news' segment after 5 (Pacific time). All I seem to get after I get home is O'Rilley, Hannidy (sp?), and 'For the Record'....
#3
The local Fox channel (KRON - 2; Honolulu) has 1/2 hr local news followed by 1/2 hr world/nat'l news - about 5:00 - 6:00 pm. Surprised to hear it's not the ususal arrangement.
Posted by: Black Charlie Elmalet1049 ||
12/17/2009 17:54 Comments ||
Top||
#4
The local Fox channel here has a 10 pm newscast (put on by some of the NBC affiliate newscasters/weatherpeople, from the Channel 12 studios). The weather person often does both the 10 and 11 pm shows.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/17/2009 19:10 Comments ||
Top||
Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) -- World leaders flying into Copenhagen today to discuss a solution to global warming will first face freezing weather as a blizzard dumped 10 centimeters (4 inches) of snow on the Danish capital overnight. probably would not be defined as a blizzard in the US - even though per Wunderground, the temp is low enough and the wind is high enough and there is snow in the air, nonetheless the visibility is not low enough
Really. In Buffalo it's not a blizzard until we get at least four feet (122 cm) of snow in under six hours plus all that other stuff. ;-)
Last time Chicago had a blizzard like that we got a new mayor. Hmmm ...
Denmark has a maritime climate and milder winters than its Scandinavian neighbors. It hasn't had a white Christmas for 14 years, under the DMI's definition, and only had seven last century. Temperatures today fell as low as minus 4 Celsius (25 Fahrenheit).
DMI defines a white Christmas as 90 percent of the country being covered by at least 2 centimeters of snow on the afternoon of Dec. 24. fwiw, I had a forecast for this event in Rantburg on the 13th
Posted by: lord garth ||
12/17/2009 11:15 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I'd be more surprised if there wasn't a "blizzard". After all, the Goracle has landed.
[Al Arabiya Latest] An article promoting polygamy for women published in an independent Egyptian newspaper has caused a stir as one MP filed a lawsuit calling for a trial and several lawyers lobby the government to ban a television series about the same topic.
The article, "My Four Husbands and I," published on Dec. 11 in al-Masry al-Youm, was written by Saudi T.V. journalist, Nadine al-Bedair, and called for women to have the right to marry more than one man as part of gender equality.
In the article, Bedair asks why men have the right to get bored of being with one woman and therefore have the right to marry another three, while women do not.
"A man would say, 'I am bored. She has become like a sister to me. I am no longer sexually attracted to her.'... Here's what I call cheating begins since traditions and the clerics provide men with the remedy to the ailment of boredom," the article reads.
Bedair then asks what happens when the woman gets bored as well or rather if she has not been enjoying her marital life from the very beginning.
"But a woman does not cheat, not because she is not bored. In fact, she might have not felt one ounce of pleasure since the very first night of this arranged marriage. But traditions and the clerics force her to stay at home and shut up."
Not one bored Saudi wife takes advantage of the pool boy? Those women are saints!
She then concludes the article by proposing that either polygamy be sanctioned for men and women alike or a new map for marriage be drawn to defeat men's "lame" excuses.
"Until then, the question remains: What happens when I am bored of him or if I feel he is like a brother to me?"
Good luck with that. I'd go for divorce as being easier to manage than the needs and jealousies of multiple concurrent spouses of either sex, and monogamy as being the optimal arrangement for both parents and offspring, but I'm a simple soul.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/17/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Doesn't she mean "polyandry"? Because I would think polygamy for women would imply that I could get a harem of other women, and frankly....I would rather have a bunch of men around.
#5
Of course Ms al-Bedair had to go abroad to get such an opinion published. Think of what would have happened had a Saudi newspaper published her opinion piece. The Cairo newspaper al-Masry al-Youm is already being sued for promoting vice and, from the article:
When asked about freedom of expression, Hefez replied that there is a huge difference between freedom and apostasy and argued that Bedairs article belongs to the second as she crosses redlines and promotes sins.
#6
I like her sense of humor. It would be fun to listen in on some Muslim good ole boys trying to rationalize away her arguments. Sadly, I doubt that few would try to debate the issue but would simply suppress.
Polygamy includes group marriage (highly unstable and thus rare), polyandry (even rarer than group marriage, outside of Paint Your Wagon), and polygyny, which sadly is highly common, often in illicit practice where it's not actually legal.
Polyandry lacks the value-added appeal of polygyny (aside from the hormonal/jollies aspect of things), which is the ability of the harem-owner to maximize reproductive opportunities. No matter how many husbands a wife might have, she's only going to have one kid every ten months for her reproductive lifespan. Barring twins and without recourse to reproductive technology, that is. Things might get fun once somebody invents a viable uterine replicator, though...
Polygyny apparently is a demographic minus from a societal point of view, but for the winners in the harem lottery, they can easily field their own soccer teams.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
12/17/2009 11:11 Comments ||
Top||
#9
So I've always wondered... do muslim women get 72 virgins in heaven. too?... They do go to heaven, right?
#10
So I've always wondered... do muslim women get 72 virgins in heaven. too?... They do go to heaven, right?
As far as I can tell, Spanky Spealet7212, a good Muslim woman gets to be head girl in her husband's harem, and female Muslim shahids (martyrs, aka suicide bombers) get to bring up to Paradise a number of family members who otherwise might not deserve the privilege. But google "Muslim woman Paradise" to see what others say.
#11
Women going to heaven is not mentioned in the Quran. But:
Bukhari 2:28 - The Prophet said: "I was shown the Hell-fire and that the majority of its dwellers were women who were ungrateful."
Hadith Kanz al-Ummal 22:10 - Says 99% of women go to Hell.
One of my faves: Koran 37:22 - (And it is said unto the angels): Assemble those who did wrong, together with their wives and what they used to worship. Sort of the islamic version of suttee.
Islamic heaven is a very exclusive place, filled with murderers, rapists and thieves who gave a 20% cut to Mohammed.
Posted by: ed ||
12/17/2009 15:50 Comments ||
Top||
#12
Oops:
One of my faves: Koran 37:22 - (And it is said unto the angels): Assemble those who did wrong, together with their wives and what they used to worship, instead of Allah, and lead them to the path to hell. Sort of the islamic version of suttee.
Posted by: ed ||
12/17/2009 15:55 Comments ||
Top||
#13
Listening to this discussion - perhaps Mohammad confused Heaven and Hell - mixing them up badly.
Sort of chose tails when it should have been heads.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Kuwait's prime minister survived on Wednesday a key challenge against him in the OPEC member state's tumultuous parliament after his office was accused of financial irregularities, Al Arabiya reported.
Last week, opposition lawmakers introduced a non-cooperation motion after the house questioned Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah, a nephew of the emir, in a closed meeting over the accusation made by an Islamist MP.
Sheikh Nasser won the vote in a "landslide," Al Arabiya said.
"The house confirms its confidence and cooperation with the prime minister," Speaker Jassem al-Kharafi told parliament.
Of the present members of the house 35 voted in support of the prime minister, 13 voted against him and one lawmaker abstained.
Had the motion passed, it could have prompted the ruler to reshuffle the cabinet or dissolve parliament for the second time this year.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/17/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[12 views]
Top|| File under:
[Bangla Daily Star] The nation yesterday celebrated 38 years of victory in the Liberation War, 1971, saluting the gallant sons and daughters of the soil who made supreme sacrifices for self-determination and a secular democratic state.
Enthusiastic with the spirit of independence, people of all walks across the country gathered at the memorials of the martyrs.
They paid tributes to the war heroes amid calls for the young generation to bring positive changes to the nation. They also demanded a quick start of the trial of war criminals.
Bangladesh missions abroad and expatriates celebrated the Victory Day paying homage to three million martyrs in the War of Independence.
On this day in 1971, the nation under the leadership of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman won victory over Pakistani occupation forces after nine months of bloodshed.
General AAK Niazi, chief of the Pakistani occupation forces, surrendered to the allied forces of Bangladesh and India at Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka on December 16 with 93,000 soldiers following their defeat in the war that broke out in March, 1971.
The day was a public holiday. The national flag was hoisted atop all government, semi-government and other important establishments. The day was heralded by a 31-gun salute at dawn.
The whole country was in a festive mood yesterday. The National Mausoleum at Savar drew people of all ages and religions.
Thoroughfares and road dividers were decorated with miniature flags and bunting while some government buildings were illuminated. Many vehicle owners also sported the flag on their automobiles.
President Zillur Rahman laid a wreath at the National Mausoleum to pay homage to the Liberation War martyrs. He stood there for a few moments in silence.
Ministers, advisers, deputy speaker, state ministers, chiefs of three services, diplomats, freedom fighters and senior civil and military officials, among others, were present on the occasion.
Leaders of different political parties including the ruling Awami League and main opposition BNP, different socio-cultural organisations, rights groups, professionals' associations, educational institutions, and a cross-section of people placed wreaths at the mausoleum.
The president later inaugurated the Victory Day rally and parade of children and juveniles at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in the city.
In the afternoon, President Zillur Rahman hosted a reception at Bangabhaban where he exchanged greetings with war-wounded freedom fighters, war heroes, cabinet members, advisers, foreign diplomats, chiefs of three forces, political leaders, top civil and military officials and other eminent personalities.
To mark the occasion, newspapers published special supplements; television channels broadcast talk shows, cultural programmes and dramas.
Special prayers for martyrs were offered in the mosques, temples and churches.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/17/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
[Bangla Daily Star] Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif has said 'undemocratic attitudes' and a 'disrespect for democracy' were the prime reasons which led to the creation of Bangladesh in 1971.
Referring to Pakistan's defeat in the 1971 war against India, and the subsequent bifurcation of Pakistan , which led to the formation of Bangladesh, Sharif said there is a need to strengthen the democracy in the country, and added that the government should abandon its dictatorial policies and make policies in national interest.
"It is necessary we remain committed to the very basis to strengthen democratic traditions and establish law and order situation through good governance," The Daily Times quoted Sharif, as saying.
The former Prime Minister stressed on the need of establishing peace in the country by eliminating extremism from its soil.
"We should bring tolerance in our attitude and respect national sovereignty along with elimination of extremism. The dream of our forefathers is yet to be fulfilled and we would have to set up a peaceful society where everyone may get his due share from national progress," Sharif added.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/17/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
That and the rape and murder of 3 million of your supposed countrymen.
Posted by: ed ||
12/17/2009 1:04 Comments ||
Top||
[Bangla Daily Star] Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) authorities yesterday suspended three policemen including a sub-inspector (SI) and an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) on charge of attempting to snatch Tk 16.5 lakh from two employees of a mobile phone shop in the capital on Tuesday.
They are ASI Mainul Islam of Adabar Police Station, SI Rowshan Zamil of Kotwali Police Station and constable Saju of detective branch.
ASI Mainul who was caught red handed by the mob during the mugging attempt was placed on a one-day remand while police are looking for SI Rowshan Zamil and constable Saju as they went into hiding after the incident, police said.
Paltan police produced Mainul before the court seeking five days' remand and the court granted for one day.
Deputy Commissioner (DC) of police Khandaker Mahid Uddin of Motijheel zone told The Daily Star he has already sent a report to the DMP authorities with a recommendation for taking punitive actions against the three policemen. A case has been filed under the Speedy Trial Tribunal Act in this connection, he added.
Lalbagh zone DC Anwar Hossain said, "I have already suspended Kotwali Police Station SI Rowshan Zamil who is now on the run."
"SI Rowshan went on a sick leave two days before the incident," DC Anwar said adding, "He committed the crime when he was not on duty."
Paltan Police Station Officer-in-charge Mujibar Rahman said they are trying to arrest the fugitive policemen.
The three policemen along with another person attempted to snatch from the two employees at Culvert Road near Bijoynagar Water Tank on Tuesday afternoon when they were on the way to Kakrail by a rickshaw after withdrawing the money from Mutual Trust Bank at Motijheel.
Hearing their cry for help, pedestrians rushed in and caught ASI Mainul and gave him a threshing. But other members of the gang managed to flee. Later, Mainul was handed over to police along with the money recovered from his possession.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/17/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
Prosecutors say the severed heads of six state police investigators have been found in the northern state of Durango.
State prosecutors' spokesman Ruben Lopez says the heads were found in the township of Cuencame - a region home to violent drug cartels. Legume! A clue!
Lopez said Wednesday the victims were members of the state investigative agency. He said they had been reported kidnapped since Tuesday.
There is no immediate information on the possible motive in the slayings. Hmmmmmm
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/17/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Shows how urgently emigration reform is needed.
#2
Before the Spanish showed up, head collecting was a big pastime for the natives of the region. [File under Hollyweird mythologies of the ecological friendly 'noble savage' victimhood trope]
A troop of performing monkeys instructed in the martial art of taekwondo has taken revenge on their trainer.
Lo Wung, 42, taught the monkeys so they could entertain crowds outside a shopping centre in Nshi, in eastern China's Hubei province.
But the money-spinning primates turned the tables on their trainer when he slipped during a show, with one quick-thinking monkey flooring him with a kick to the head.
Hu Luang, 32, a bystander who photographed the incident, said: "I saw one punch him in the eye - he grabbed another by the ear and it responded by grabbing his nose. They were leaping and jumping all over the place. It was better than a Bruce Lee film."
At one point the monkey trainer grabbed a staff to hit the monkeys, only to find himself facing a stick-brandishing monkey that cracked him over the head.
He only managed to get the monkeys under control by tangling them up in the rope that had been used to stop them running off.
Mr Hu said: "He was really furious, he made the monkeys kneel on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs to punish them and make them show remorse for their nasty attack."
Posted by: john frum ||
12/17/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
So what does it look like you ask ? - Tae kwon do Chimp at the link
#6
So it does. I went to the link in the headline, showing the delightful Mr. Lo Wung taking a kick to the head from a Rhesus Monkey (?). More power to his little monkey foot.
Enter "monkey invasion" into Google, or even here at Rantburg, and you will see a long-term increase in simian terrorist activity around the world. Yes, I know that chimps are not monkeys, but the great apes have long been suspected of masterminding the anti-human conspiracy.
Many of those in the know are aware of this trend, but government officials are peculiarly reluctant to act, leaving preparations for open war to private groups. This probably explains the selection of experienced ape-fighter Charlton Heston to head the National Rifle Association a few years ago. Mr. Heston is out of the loop now but he has undoubtedly left many behind-the-scenes preparations in place.
[Iran Press TV Latest] The US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke has received a Time magazine accolade as the paper chose him as its "Person of the Year."
Time chose Bernanke on Wednesday over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Gen. Stanley McChyrstal, "the Chinese Worker'' and many more.
According to The Guardian the magazine named the softly spoken 56-year-old economist as "the most powerful nerd on the planet."
Time said Bernanke deserved the much-coveted title above all others for revamping the US monetary policy and for protecting the economy against a complete collapse.
"Bernanke, more than the others, really stood for what happened this year," said managing editor of Time, Richard Stengel.
Bernanke, who has been reappointed by President Barack Obama to lead the Fed for another term, is a scholar of the Great Depression of the thirties.
In his plan to save the melting US economy he avoided austerity as he believed it could backfire.
He played a key role in devising the hefty $700 billion bailout plan to save the US banking system. Under his supervision, the Fed cut interest rates to around zero and by bringing in vast amounts of liquidity helped the economy to avoid a thorough fall.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/17/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Time is out of time.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
12/17/2009 5:18 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Personally I feel that Bernie Madoff had better credentials
Posted by: Kelly ||
12/17/2009 8:37 Comments ||
Top||
Chilling allegations emerged last month of a detailed plot by Turkish naval officers to perpetrate threats and violence against the nation's non-Muslims in an effort to implicate and unseat Turkey's pro-Islamic government.
Evidence put forth for the plot appeared on an encrypted compact disc discovered last April but was only recently deciphered; the daily Taraf newspaper first leaked details of the CD's contents on Nov. 19.
Entitled the "Operation Cage Action Plan," the plot outlines a plethora of planned threat campaigns, bomb attacks, kidnappings and assassinations targeting the nation's tiny religious minority communities -- an apparent effort by military brass to discredit the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
How odd. Some of that has been happening anyway. It appears the AKP didn't need outside help to shape the attitudes of some less verbally oriented Muslim Turks.
The scheme ultimately called for bombings of homes and buildings owned by non-Muslims, setting fire to homes, vehicles and businesses of Christian and Jewish citizens, and murdering prominent leaders among the religious minorities.
Dated March 2009, the CD containing details of the plot was discovered in a raid on the office of a retired major implicated in a large illegal cache of military arms uncovered near Istanbul last April.
Once deciphered, it revealed the full names of 41 naval officials assigned to carry out a four-phase campaign exploiting the vulnerability of Turkey's non-Muslim religious minorities, who constitute less than 1 percent of the population.
A map that Taraf published on its front page -- headlined "The Targeted Missionaries" -- was based on the controversial CD documents. Color-coded to show all the Turkish provinces where non-Muslims lived or had meetings for worship, the map showed only 13 of Turkey's 81 provinces had no known non-Muslim residents or religious meetings.
The plan identified 939 non-Muslim representatives in Turkey as possible targets.
"If even half of what is written in Taraf is accurate, everybody with a conscience in this country has to go mad," Eyup Can wrote in his Hurriyet column two days after the news broke.
The day after the first Taraf report, the headquarters of the Turkish General Staff filed a criminal complaint against the daily with the Justice Ministry, declaring its coverage a "clear violation" of the laws protecting ongoing prosecution investigations from public release.
Although the prime minister's office the next day confirmed that the newly revealed "Cage" plot was indeed under official investigation, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized Taraf's public disclosure of the plan as "interfering" and "damaging" to the judicial process and important sectors of the government.
But when the judiciary began interrogating a number of the named naval suspects and sent some of them to jail, most Turkish media -- which had downplayed the claims -- began to accept the plot's possible authenticity.
To date, at least 11 of the naval officials identified in the Cage documents are under arrest, accused of membership in an illegal organization. They include a retired major, a lieutenant colonel, three lieutenant commanders, two colonels and three first sergeants.
The latest plot allegations are linked to criminal investigations launched in June 2007 into Ergenekon, an alleged "deep state" conspiracy by a group of military officials, state security personnel, lawyers and journalists now behind bars on charges of planning a coup against the elected AKP government.
The case sure looks black for the military in the former capitol of the Byzantine empire. It's possibly even true.
Silvio Berlusconi was ordered by his doctors to remain in hospital last night for the fourth successive night, raising alarm over the long-term physical and psychological damage caused by the attack on him in Milan. The Italian Prime Minister was initially taken to hospital for overnight observation after Massimo Tartaglia, 42, an electronics engineer with a history of mental problems, hurled a spiked marble and metal model of Milan cathedral at him at the end of a rally on the cathedral square.
Alberto Zangrillo, his doctor, said that Mr Berlusconi needed another 24 hours in hospital because of continuing pain from the wounds to his face including a broken nose and two broken teeth but also from the recurrence of chronic arthritis of the neck, which the attack had aggravated. Mr Berlusconi, 73, was also having difficulty eating, Dr Zangrillo said.
The delay in his discharge came as police revealed that an intruder had attempted to visit the Prime Minister in hospital. A man, 26, from Turin was arrested outside Mr Berlusconis seventh floor hospital room during the night, sparking a new security alert. He was coming out of the lift when bodyguards and police immobilised him, a police spokesman said.
The intruder, who like Mr Tartaglia is said to have had mental problems, had said that he wanted to talk to the Prime Minister. He did not have an aggressive attitude or any weapon or dangerous object on him, the spokesman said. Police found hockey sticks in his car.
Dr Zangrillo said that Mr Berlusconi needed to avoid stressful situations and would have to take a partial break from his political duties. Paolo Berlusconi, the Italian leaders brother, said that his face was bandaged and he was suffering a great deal. He keeps turning from side to side in pain. His mood swings between distress and the desire to fight on.
Mr Berlusconi may be discharged today after further checks. He will, however, miss the Copenhagen climate summit as well as his traditional end-of-year news conference and a planned Christmas Eve visit to LAquila in Abruzzo where nearly 300 people died in an earthquake in April. Government administration is in the hands of Gianni Letta, Mr Berlusconis chief lieutenant, a former journalist who joined his Fininvest company and has long been the éminence grise behind the Prime Minister.
A spokesman said that the stricken Italian leader had been cheered by a phone call from President Obama, who wished him a speedy recovery and thanked him for committing a further 1,000 Italian troops to Afganistan. Other world leaders to phone included Gordon Brown and the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who praised Mr Berlusconi for his manly behaviour.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/17/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Mr Berlusconi needs to avoid stressful situations, like the guy stalking him in the hospital. Perhaps Mr Berlusconi needs to bring in Inspector Clouseau to exercise the demons around the Premier - He keeps turning from side to side in pain. His mood swings between distress and the desire to fight on.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Danish police detained 240 people on Wednesday when protesters stormed barricades around a global climate summit and briefly broke through a police cordon, witnesses and police said.
Police, some with dogs, used truncheons and pepper spray to keep back the hundreds of protesters who gathered outside Copenhagen's Bella Centre, where world leaders are meeting to try to broker a new deal on global warming.
After hours of scuffles, most demonstrators began to drift away from the conference centre on the outskirts of the Danish capital by late afternoon.
"After we and the protesters had looked at each other for a while and we tried to have a dialogue, then the majority of the protesters decided to head back into the city, so ... it seems to be over," Copenhagen police chief superintendent Per Larsen said on Danish TV 2 news.
Demonstrators tried to penetrate a police cordon around the conference centre, and a few did break through an outer ring of security momentarily but were chased down by police, a Reuters witness said.
Roads surrounding the centre and the nearest metro station were closed in response to the protests. A helicopter circled overhead, and police inspected the belongings of some people heading towards the conference venue.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/17/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I've caught a news item on Copenhagen Police dealing with protesters--- very rough. I wonder what'd happened if the protesters were Muslims?
[Iran Press TV Latest] Former French president Jacques Chirac is to be questioned by a judge about accusations that he gave fake jobs to his political allies when he was mayor of Paris.
An investigating judge has ordered Chirac to stand trial on charges of misuse of public funds and breach of trust related to nine jobs attributed between 1992 and 1995.
President for 12 years, prime minister for six and mayor of Paris for 18, Chirac is accused of using the city payroll to provide salaries for aides who were in reality working for his right-wing political party.
His trial is expected to take place next year. The 76-year-old politician, who denies any wrong-doing, faces up to 10 years in jail and a 150,000-euro (222,500-dollar) fine if convicted.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/17/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Grilled?
Over hickory chips, one would imagine. With some lemon and a little dill weed.
New Delhi, Dec. 16: The boy turns 18 next week and the cops are waiting.
Then they hope to put him away in Tihar for some time.
Pappu (name changed) has been a headache for Delhi police. The cop-hater boy, part of a gang the police say has been involved in at least 200 incidents of theft and arson, mostly in homes of police officials, burns police uniforms after every burglary before slipping away with his gang of minors.
Most of the gang members had been caught and sent to juvenile homes but managed to flee every time.
Pappus latest escape was in last May when he fled with 35 other boys, all members of his gang now.
Every time he flees a home, he takes with him different sets of boys. So his gang members keep changing and they are all minors. So even if they are caught, they cannot be put in jail, said a police source.
Under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000, the police cannot arrest boys below 18. Offenders can only be sent to observation homes.Our informers tell us this boy targets the home of security officials as he blames them for ruining his life. The only way we can stop him is by sending him to Tihar jail. His file says he will turn 18 next Tuesday (December 22). We know the areas he frequents and have positioned our informers. This time when we catch him, we will put him away for some time.
Sources said Pappu spoke about his aversion for the men in uniform several times during his stay at the observation homes and hinted that his family has borne the burnt of police atrocity more than once. But its not clear what actually turned him into a cop-hater.
When he was caught in March this year, Pappu had said he would strike again. He kept his word after his escape two months later. In September, he burgled the house of a police officer and burnt the officers uniforms.
His gang broke into the house of a CBI official in Kidwai Nagar in south Delhi. After cleaning up the cash and valuables, the gang set the house on fire.
The CBI official, Devanand Keswan, had gone to see his mother and decided to stay the night at her place. In the morning, he got a call from a neighbour who told him his house was on fire.
Keswan rushed back to find a part of his house in flames and cash and valuables, including wristwatches and camera, missing.
The burglars had entered by breaking open a window and before leaving turned on the gas cylinders to light the fire. Firefighters had to be rushed to douse the flames.
Pappu isnt the only boy tormenting the cops. Bittu (name changed) is just 10, but is already a master thief.
Kidnapped and trained by a gang for two years, he has turned into a moneymaking machine for his handlers, often earning nearly a lakh a day.
The boy has been sent to juvenile homes more than once, but every time his gang has got him out. However, his gang leader, a proclaimed offender, has been arrested.
Another gang, whose members are all below 10, robs drivers on highways. The gang, which includes several girls, was caught and sent to juvenile homes last year.
When members of an organisation went to the homes this year to enquire about the kids, they were told relatives had taken away some of them.
Today, the kids are back on the highways, robbing travellers.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/17/2009 12:35 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#4
I'm surprised the cops haven't found he committed suicide - by shooting himself in the back of the head. Twice.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/17/2009 19:07 Comments ||
Top||
#5
I'm surprised the cops haven't found he committed suicide - by shooting himself in the back of the head. Twice.
That isn't quite the way they do it in Delhi. Normally, the incorrigible are just found in some lightly wooded area with their throat cut or their neck snapped. I expect that he'll end up dead. No great loss actually, as New Delhi has more than enough of his kind.
Thirty-eight years ago today, on a blustery late afternoon in Dhaka, the commander of the Pakistani forces in East Pakistan, General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi publicly surrendered to the Indian Army, represented by Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora.
In that now famous picture of the surrender of December 16, 1971 at the Ramna Race Course, there is a man standing on the right, behind Niazi, with his head proudly up, gazing at something over the horizon.
He was the man who had masterminded the public surrender.
I first met General Jacob-Farj-Rafael Jacob (Jake to his friends) in November 2006, at his tiny apartment in Som Vihar, New Delhi. I was trying to put together a series on the 13-day war.
The first thing that stuck me was the vitality of the man. Age (he was on the wrong side of 80 then) had failed to dim the twinkle in his eyes, or dampen his zest for life. His grip was like a vise, and his voice used to command. In an incisive, crisp style, he put the war into perspective for me very quickly
I soon discovered that we had both studied in Darjeeling (in different schools, in different eras), and that among other things, he was a very keen student of military history. Which perhaps explains why he did what he did in 1971.
The son of a Baghdadi Jew who ran a reasonably prosperous business in Kolkata, young Jake went against his fathers wishes to join the British Indian Army when he was just 18.
It was 1941, and World War II was in full swing. His first posting was to Iraq, and then North Africa, where his unit arrived too late for any real action. He was then shifted to Burma to fight against the Japanese, and then to Malaysia. When the war ended, he went on to take an advanced artillery course in the UK, before returning to an Independent India.
His experience came in handy during the India-Pakistan wars. He was promoted to Brigadier in 1963, and fought against the Pakistanis in the deserts of Rajasthan during the 1965 war. By 1967, he was a brigadier, and two years later he was promoted to Major General.
In 1969, another World War II veteran, Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw, was appointed chief of the Indian army, and one of the first things he did was to name Jacob as Chief of Staff, Eastern Army Command.
War clouds were looming once again, with India struggling to cope with the huge influx of Bengali refugees from East Pakistan fleeing persecution by migrants and the military from the western wing, bent on imposing Muslim law and Urdu as the national language.
India under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had not only planned and prepared for this war, it also armed and trained the Mukti Bahini (or Liberation Army) --which wanted freedom from West Pakistan - for quite a while.
War was officially declared on December 3, 1971, after Pakistani aircraft strafed some 11 Indian Air bases in the west in an attempted pre-emptive strike. As India engaged with the Pakistanis in the east and the west, The Soviet Union and the United States took sides. The US , under President Richard Nixon, chose Pakistan.
But before the two nuclear powers and Cold War rivals could get really get actively involved, Pakistan's eastern wing surrendered to the Indian forces. The war was over. Bangladesh was born.
Weeks later, Pakistan's Chief Justice Hamidur Rahman was asked to head a War Inquiry Commission, to examine the reasons for the debacle. On being asked by the commission why he had accepted such a shameful unconditional public surrender ,when he had 26,400 troops in Dacca and the Indians only a few thousand outside, General Niazi replied: " I was compelled to do so , as I was blackmailed by Jacob into surrendering." He repeats this in his book "Betrayal of East Pakistan."
In Crossed Swords, his authoritative book on the Pakistani military, Pakistani American writer Shuja Nawaz notes that "....in the words of a later Pakistan National Defence College study of the war, the Indians planned and executed their offensive against East Pakistan in a text book manner. It was a classic example of thorough planning, minute coordination, and bold execution. The credit clearly goes to General Jacob's meticulous preparations in the Indian eastern command."
It was Jacob who insisted that he could not strike Bangladesh until the rains ended, which also gave him time to make preparations for the war. And when the war did begin, one of things General Jacob did was to blatantly ignore orders to take Khulna and Chittagong and consolidate. Instead, he made a beeline for Dacca.
When he reached the outskirts of the capital, he had 3,000 men. Niazi had nearly 30,000. But Niazi also knew that the Bengali people were against him and his men, sought a ceasefire under UN auspices.
On December 16, armed with nothing but a surrender document drafted by him but yet to be cleared by the Indian high command, Jacob entered Dacca, and headed for Niazi's headquarters. Fighting was going on in the streets of the capital between the Mukti Bahini and the Pakistani army.
Niazi tried to bluster, but Jacob was firm.
"General, I assure you if you surrender in public, accept these terms, we will look after you and your men. The Government of India has given its word and will ensure your safety and that of your civilians. If you do not, then we can take no responsibility," Jacob recalls telling Niazi. "He (Niazi) kept talking until I said, General, I cannot give you any better terms. I will give you 30 minutes. If you dont comply I would have no option but to order resumption of hostilities."
He walked out, and paced up and down outside Niazi's office.
On his return, Niazi kept quiet. "I walked up to him. The document was on the table and I asked him: General, do you accept this document? I asked him three times but he didn't answer. So I picked it up. I said, I take it as accepted."
Thus was the first and perhaps only public surrender in modern military history won. The rest, as they say, is history.
Sadly, we do not learn from our history. Today, as the nation celebrates 'Vijay Diwas', it is worth pondering that General Jacob is not on any official invitation list.
Is this how we treat our heroes?
Posted by: john frum ||
12/17/2009 12:15 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
Posted by: john frum ||
12/17/2009 12:22 Comments ||
Top||
#2
No wonder the Pakistanis are paranoid about Zionists. They've recast that period of their history as "the entire Pakistani Army beaten by a single Jew"... and now there's an entire country of
'em with military training. It's a wonder they dare try anything at all.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Pakistan's opposition parties have called on President Asif Ali Zardari to step down after the Supreme Court declared void an amnesty protecting him from prosecution.
"In the light of historical court verdict, we demand the resignation of the president, ministers and government functionaries who were benefited by NRO (National Reconciliation Ordinance)," Sadiq-ul-Farooq, a spokesman for the Pakistani Muslim League-N (PML-N) told Press TV on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Pakistan's Supreme Court revoked the controversial order issued by former president Pervez Musharraf which had granted amnesty to the president, several sitting ministers and thousands of politicians and bureaucrats who are accused of corruption.
Farooq also asked the government to defend itself in the media and before the nation on the basis of its 18 month long performance.
He said President Zardari can retain his party's position, but should step down as president of Pakistan.
Meanwhile, former chief of Jamat-e-Islami Qazi Hussain Ahmed said that the Supreme Court's decision would have positive implications in the country.
He demanded that President Zardari should tender his resignation after the courts' ruling.
A spokeswoman for the president, however, said Zardari will not step down.
Musharraf granted amnesty to the politicians as part of a political deal to allow Zardari's wife, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, to return from years of exile to Pakistan.
The order provided immunity to leaders and officials from cases registered during 1985-1999. The Pakistani government released the list of the beneficiaries of the ordinance on November 21. A total of 8,041 people benefited from the ordinance including many bureaucrats, diplomats and government officials, who were accused of corruption, embezzlement, money-laundering, murder and terrorism.
Zardari, Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar, were also on the list of beneficiaries.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/17/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
Pakistan's Supreme Court has revoked an amnesty deal which shields President Asif Ali Zardari and many other government officials from prosecution.
On Wednesday, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry read out the ruling declaring the amnesty null and void.
The 2007 National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) allowed Zardari, his wife Benazir Bhutto, and a former prime minister, to return from self-exile without facing corruption charges.
"The provisions of the NRO seem to be against national interests thus it violates the provisions of the constitution," the ruling said.
Revoking the amnesty could challenge the legality of Zardari's presidency and raise corruption cases against some of his close associates.
The amnesty announced by Pakistan's former president Pervez Musharraf two years ago covers some 8,000 Pakistanis facing various charges.
The amnesty law was directed to the Supreme Court after failing to get the parliament's approval before it expired on November 28.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/17/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Anonymous members covered in saran wrap to symbolize frozen meat remember 'victims of human tyranny', protest 'horrors' of egg, industrial meat industries. 'Our intelligence does not justify abusing other creatures,' exhibit's organizer says. These nebbishes appear not to have enough intelligence to justify much of anything.
An exhibit featuring naked activists covered in saran wrap was held in central Tel Aviv on Monday, as part of the 11th annual International Animal Rights Day events, during which activists across the world "remember the innocent nonhuman victims of human tyranny and call for the recognition of their basic moral rights." Have they considered the carbon footprint of that much saran wrap? I mean, people who are horrified by eggs should think about that sort of thing.
International Animal Rights Day was officially marked on December 10.
The exhibit, in which the activists were bunched together to symbolize frozen meat, was organized by Anonymous for Animal Rights to protest the "horrors" of the egg and industrial meat industries. Note the price tag on the package. I'd say $785 is a bargain even if you prefer to fatten her up a little.
A handcuffed female activist waved a sign reading, "The right to move freely" in protest of the confinement of egg laying hens in "battery cages", which, according to Anonymous, have already been banned in 30 countries and are expected to be entirely banned in the European Union by 2012. I guess they lost the S&M market there.
PRINCE Charles used up seven months' worth of the average British person's "carbon footprint" yesterday flying to Copenhagen on an executive jet to make a speech on climate change. Well, yeah, but he did it For The Children tm.......
The heir to the throne, who prides himself on his green credentials, cost taxpayers an estimated £12,000 and racked up a 6.486-ton carbon footprint in one day by taking a seven-seater RAF Royal Flight HS125 jet to the summit in the Danish capital.
Charles, who made an impassioned speech to world leaders on the need to agree drastic cuts in carbon emissions, decided against taking a more environmentally-friendly train or scheduled airliner, arguing it was impractical.
"We looked at the possibility of flying scheduled but due to the usual considerations of security, punctuality -- we could not afford a delayed or cancelled flight -- and practicality, using the Royal Flight was seen as the best option," his spokesman said. Similar trips in the last couple of years have cost £12,000. I'm sure the proceedings would have ground to a screeching halt without him. Smart choice, sir!
The Prince, who will offset the pollution he caused by using taxpayers' money to invest in environmentally-friendly initiatives, generates an annual carbon footprint of 2,601 tons, compared to 11 tons for an average UK citizen. In other words....if an average Brit lived 236 years, he or she would pollute as much as His Royal Jugears would in one year.
He was one of numerous VIPs at the £130million summit, which will generate 40,500 tons of carbon dioxide over 12 days, the equivalent to the emissions of York, Portsmouth or the African country of Malawi in the same period.
Charles told politicians they had only seven years to prevent irreversible man-made weather changes. Hey, I got an idea! Let's ground Prince Chuckie for a year an' make him take the bus to get around! That should buy us another year, right?
"I can only appeal to you to listen to the cries of those who are already suffering from the impact of climate change," he said. I take his word on this. I'm sure he's made many, many fact-finding global tours to specifically listen to them. Mainly on private jets...
"Just as mankind had the power to push the world to the brink, so too do we have the power to bring it back into balance.
"You have been called to positions of responsibility at this critical time. The eyes of the world are upon you and it is no understatement to say that, with your signatures, you can write our future."
Charles, who has campaigned on environmental issues for three decades, warned of the dangers of climate change creating human catastrophes.
But as he spoke, his efforts to broker an international deal for rich countries to pay poor countries to preserve their rainforests -- a vital source of soaking up carbon dioxide -- were unravelling. Developed nations refused to pay enough into a £20billion pot and Third World kleptocrats countries refused to stick to targets to reduce deforestation. Charles said it was easy to focus on worst-case scenarios, but added: "Take a moment to consider the opportunities if we succeed. Imagine a healthier, safer and more sustainable, economically robust world. Because if we share in that vision, we can share the will to action that is now required."
He believed man's future could only be assured if people found ways of living as part of nature. "Why, I enjoy nature immensely from the comfort of a Range Rover! Nothing like it for bouncing around the Scottish Highlands, I say! It's splendid!"
He warned: "Climate change is a risk-multiplier. It has the potential to take all the other critical issues we face as a global community and transform their severity into a cataclysm. Reducing poverty, increasing food production, combating terrorism and sustaining economic development are all vital priorities, but it is increasingly clear how rapid climate change will make them even more difficult to address."
In a poll of Daily Express readers yesterday 98 per cent said they believed Britons are being conned over man-made global warming theories.
#1
Apparently even Mom is cutting Chuck loose. I read earlier this week William is being set up as the next king. There is a price to be paid even for royal British twits.
#2
He believed man's future could only be assured if people found ways of living as part of nature.
The aboriginals of the Brazilian or New Guinea jungles live as part of nature. I don't notice all these Greenies rushing to join them and renouncing the benefits of the long and somewhat chaotic advances of civilization.
#6
Charlie can still be King if he does the following:
-Gets Camilla's teeth fixed,
-Tells her not to wear any more weeds in her hair,
-Gets rid of his Arab costumes,
-Starts flying with the rest of us peasants in coach,
-Performs due penance for his flakery by dressing in sackcloth and ashes and walking barefoot from Kensington Gardens to Bladon while dragging a cross; there to lie prostrate before the grave of Winston Churchill for forty days and forty nights while subsisting on unleavened bread and whatever rainwater he can squeeze from the aforementioned sackcloth.
Failing that, he isn't qualified and he should step aside for Wills when the time comes.
#8
It has been a long time, but does not Parliament have a something of a say in who ends up king or queen?
If so Charlie may yet have a chance.
Posted by: Kelly ||
12/17/2009 12:32 Comments ||
Top||
#9
It's all well and good, Charlie, if you wanna live in a hobbit hole and plow your fields with a horse. I dunno what you're gonna do to keep warm. Is burning peat OK or are you gonna sleep with flea bitten dogs?
But the problem is if you didn't have a modern, mechanized, petrol burning military to watch your ass you'd be speaking Russian. You can't keep the bad guyz out with sticks and stones anymore because they have tanks and warplanes and they're not gonna give 'em up on account of global warming. And to maintain that military you need a modern, industrialized, petrol burning society.
You can turn out some of the excess neon lights and take a few less trips in your jet though.
#11
Pragmatically, IMO QUEEN LIZ + PERHAPS CHARLES HIMSELF are seemingly putting the interests of the Nation ahead of linear succession.
* HRH KING CHARLES > setting up the potens for a line of older or geriatric Monarchs with short span of rule compared to LIZ + MOST OF HER PREDECESSORS.
* Close to YEAR 2018 = SINO-RUSS "WAR AGZ THE US NOT ONLY POSSIBLE BUT DESIRED".
* "DAY AFTER TOMORROW" > IIRC Movie's time frame, in Year 2016 EARTH = GAIA goes unilaterally global berzerko on Humans.
versus
* YEAR 2017 > RUSS-DISCOVERED SPACE ROCK may come close enuff to endanger iff not strike Earth.
IOW, "2017" > "THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING, THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING"[movie], one way or another, unless NASA-JPL is hiding something bad about the Sun + "Alien Autopsy"???
On a separate NOte, ME > OLD DREAM/VISION = what I belabel GUAM'S "KAMALEN/CAMARIN EVENT" > a light space rock which Perts though had seemingly passed earth but returned to strike WESTPAC [symbolic of Nostradamus' CHIREN = JANUS = URANUS = SWORD OF HEAVEN ANDOR HELL. "KAMALEN/
CAMARIN" will occur long years before 2017.
OWG-NWO LESSON > ultimately, IFF ANY DESIRED OWG-NWO CAN'T WORK TOGETHER TO STOP A MINOR EVENT LIKE "KAMALEN", HOW IS SAME GOING TO STOP "BIGGIE" EVENTS E.G. THE SUN, OR COMET APOPHIS [2030 > Lunar explosions seen from future Guam-Earth], ETAL???
The joys of post-normal science - the gift that keeps on giving.
Climategate just got much, much bigger. And all thanks to the Russians who, with perfect timing, dropped this bombshell just as the world's leaders are gathering in Copenhagen to discuss ways of carbon-taxing us all back to the dark ages.
#1
A lot of these guys seem to be running without looking back. They're scared they only have a limited amount of time before the whole thing won't work for them any more.
Climategate has already affected Russia. On Tuesday, the Moscow-based Institute of Economic Analysis (IEA) issued a report claiming that the Hadley Center for Climate Change based at the headquarters of the British Meteorological Office in Exeter (Devon, England) had probably tampered with Russian-climate data.
I almost believe him ...
The IEA believes that Russian meteorological-station data did not substantiate the anthropogenic global-warming theory.
Analysts say Russian meteorological stations cover most of the country's territory, and that the Hadley Center had used data submitted by only 25% of such stations in its reports. Over 40% of Russian territory was not included in global-temperature calculations for some other reasons, rather than the lack of meteorological stations and observations.
Because maybe the excluded data didn't fit the theory?
The data of stations located in areas not listed in the Hadley Climate Research Unit Temperature UK (HadCRUT) survey often does not show any substantial warming in the late 20th century and the early 21st century.
The HadCRUT database includes specific stations providing incomplete data and highlighting the global-warming process, rather than stations facilitating uninterrupted observations.
On the whole, climatologists use the incomplete findings of meteorological stations far more often than those providing complete observations.
Easier to cherry-pick, you can cover the incomplete findings with other findings of your choice ...
IEA analysts say climatologists use the data of stations located in large populated centers that are influenced by the urban-warming effect more frequently than the correct data of remote stations.
The scale of global warming was exaggerated due to temperature distortions for Russia accounting for 12.5% of the world's land mass. The IEA said it was necessary to recalculate all global-temperature data in order to assess the scale of such exaggeration.
Global-temperature data will have to be modified if similar climate-date procedures have been used from other national data because the calculations used by COP15 analysts, including financial calculations, are based on HadCRUT research.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/17/2009 9:54 Comments ||
Top||
#7
I've become a huge chess fan living in Estonia. Paul Keres, who was one of the best chess players of the 20th century, is on one of their banknotes.
I play every Sunday, in Thunderdome style (two men enter, one man leaves). My last game was epic, lasting more than 2 hours, even though I lost. The concentration needed lets you forget about all your other problems. Even though I lost, the game was so elegantly played, I talked about it for days. But I digress.
The Russians are a oil-dictatorship. Copenhagen threatens their man export. It's in their interests to burst open Climategate.
However, as Anonymoose says, I almost believe them this time.
But the thing about Russians, they have the ability to think 3 moves farther than you do. But they're likely doing it while they pee on their own shoes.
#8
I play every Sunday, in Thunderdome style (two men enter, one man leaves).
Real deathmatch chess sounds kind of cool. But like the man said, "Never go up against a Sicilian (Defense) when death is on the line".
As for the climate numbers being rooski, it is irrelevant to the scientific fraud being commited. The things the HadCRUT boys have done to the scientific method would make P.T. Barnum weep with envy.
#9
Wasn't there a deathmatch chess of sorts devised? - went something like 5 minutes Chess 5 minutes Cage Match, repeat until someone wins one or the other.
Back in college we would have something similar. Losing a pawn was a 1/2 beer, losing a capital piece was a shot, queen was double-shot.
Good game, great mental exercise, preferably without the previous mentioned variations.
[Straits Times] CAMBODIA'S UN-backed war crimes court has for the first time issued genocide charges against two leaders of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime.
Former Khmer Rouge number two Nuon Chea and foreign minister Ieng Sary were both charged over the hardline communist regime's slaughter of Vietnamese people and ethnic Cham Muslims during the 1970s, said tribunal spokesman Lars Olsen on Wednesday. 'This week both Nuon Chea and Ieng Sary have been brought before the investigating judges and informed they are being charged with genocide against the Cham Muslims and the Vietnamese,' he said. 'This is the first time that anyone has been charged with genocide' at the UN-backed tribunal.
Estimates for the number of Chams who died under the Khmer Rouge range from 100,000 to 400,000. It is not known how many Vietnamese were killed, according to Mr Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/17/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Commies
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.
As the cable wars carry on, a new poll finds that Fox News informs roughly five adults for every one adult informed by MSNBC.
Prosecutors say the severed heads of six state police investigators have been found in the northern state of Durango.
