Army 1st Lt. Alonzo Cushing died on July 3, 1863, the last day of the three-day battle of Gettysburg. He was 22.
The West Point graduate (Class of 1861) and his men of the Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery were defending the Union position on Cemetery Ridge against Pickett's Charge. Cushing commanded about 110 men and six cannons. The bombardment lasted two hours. Cushing was wounded in the shoulder and groin, and his battery was left with two guns and no long-range ammunition. Cushing shouted that he would take his guns to the front lines. Within minutes, he was killed by a Confederate bullet to the head.
The soldier's bravery so inspired one Civil War history buff that he took up Cushing's cause by launching a Facebook page titled "Give Alonzo Cushing the Medal of Honor."
After a lengthy review of historical records, the Army agreed earlier this year to recommend the medal.
Shapiro, the Facebook fan, said he thought of Alonzo Cushing plenty of times last year as he faced a number of dangerous situations during a five-month stint in Iraq.
"I'd think about what Cushing accomplished, what he was able to deal with at age 22," Shapiro said. "I thought if he could do that then I can certainly deal with whatever I'm facing." Sometimes remembering the past can help in the fight for a future.
#1
When approached, Mohamed reportedly told officers that "America raped him" and added God told him to walk the streets naked to save his soul.
I'm guessing Mo hadn't yet been introduced to the LA prison system, but he will be.
More seriously, this sounds like a muslim going through the stages of trying to justify jihad against Americans. He'd be on the next plane back to Bumfukistan right after his introduction to the LA penile penal system.
Posted by: ed ||
05/20/2010 17:16 Comments ||
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#2
He'd be - He should be
Posted by: ed ||
05/20/2010 17:17 Comments ||
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#3
You know, sometimes they're just plain nuts. I know a company-grade intel officer who came back from a tour in Iraq last year who told me that there had been a ton of garden-variety serial killers loose in all the bloody chaos, just killing for their own crazed internal logic, apparently unconnected to any political, discernible religious, or criminal motive.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
05/20/2010 23:30 Comments ||
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Fark The headline:
Yahoo buys Associated Content for $100 million, enabling it to facilitate user-centric benchmarks with scalable Web 2.0 functionality in a design-win vertical market (adage.com) The comments:
AtticusFinchEsq 2010-05-19 12:11:16 PM
But what about its TPS Reports?
...
mitchcumstein1 2010-05-19 12:25:52 PM
I know what Google is and I know what $100 million is, but after that it gets a little murky.
...
Bennie Crabtree 2010-05-19 01:53:26 PM
Was this headline submitted by Scott Adams?
...
The_Six_Fingered_Man 2010-05-19 01:53:32 PM
Can I get this headline in legalese so it's easier to read and understand? Maybe Latin?
...
Thelyphthoric 2010-05-19 02:13:20 PM
If ANYONE at company ever starts spewing corporate diarrhea-speak like that (outside of mocking it) they will quickly find themselves "under utilized" or whatever their current BS term for "your ass is fired" is.
...
Fo Shiz 2010-05-19 02:18:05 PM
But how with this facilitate them to more effectively leverage their synergies? ...and it just keeps going from there.
Posted by: Mike ||
05/20/2010 10:28 ||
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MANAMA - Bahraini authorities have banned Al-Jazeera television, based in the adjacent state of Qatar, from operating in the kingdom for "violating" professional norms, the state BNA news agency said Wednesday.
The ministry of culture and information "has decided to temporarily freeze the operations of the office of the Qatari satellite channel Al-Jazeera," BNA said quoting a ministry statement issued late on Tuesday. It said the measure was in response to Al-Jazeera's "violation of professional norms and not abiding by the laws and rules that regulate press and publishing."
The ministry did not elaborate on the violations that triggered the ban.
A statement from Al-Jazeera condemned the ban, which it said it had not been formally notified of. It added that it did not have a bureau in Bahrain.
"Al-Jazeera is sorry to hear of such decision," it said, adding that Bahraini authorities had also banned a team from its Al-Jazeera English channel from entering Manama on Tuesday for an interview with a UN official.
Phone interview, Skype interview... in these modern times the legendary man on the ground is not nearly as critical as heretofore.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/20/2010 00:00 ||
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The Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson, Khaleda Zia, has called a nationwide dawn-to-dusk general strike for June 27 in protest at the government's 'misdeeds' and 'misrule.'
BNP is the only party allowed to misrule B'desh!
Khaleda made the announcement in the wrap-up rally of her nationwide campaign in Paltan ground in Dhaka on Wednesday against the failures of the government and its anti-state activities in its first 16 months.
Khaleda said the party would also hold a sit-in for four hours in Dhaka on June 9 in protest at the government's interference in the judiciary and go out on countrywide demonstrations on June 17 in protest at oppression on journalists and the government's attempt at gagging the media.
'A nationwide dawn-to-dusk general strike will be enforced on June 27 in protest at the misdeeds and misrule of the government, including acute shortage of power, water and gas, oppression on opposition leaders and activists, violence centring on tender manipulation, land and property grab by ruling party men, harassment of girls in educational institutions, politicisation of administration and deals signed with other countries against national interest,' Khaleda said.
Thousands of people in Paltan ground responded shouting 'yes' when she wanted to know whether they were ready to carry out the programmes against 'the fascist regime which will not hesitate to use it oppressive tools to contain the opposition movement.'
Khaleda said the party was announcing the general strike also to demand that agreements signed with India during the prime minister's recent visit should be scrapped, the Election Commission should resign, and essential goods price spiral should be contained to ease the sufferings of the people.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/20/2010 00:00 ||
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[2 views]
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Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has promised the "biggest shake-up of our democracy" in 178 years as he sets out plans for political reform.
The Tory-Lib Dem coalition is proposing fixed-term parliaments, an elected House of Lords and a referendum on changing the voting system.
Mr Clegg said the government was "not insecure about relinquishing control".
The Lib Dem leader also called on the public to nominate laws to be repealed, as part of a "power revolution".
Mr Clegg, who is overseeing the government's political reform plans, said he wanted to "transform our politics so the state has far less control over you, and you have far more control over the state".
This would include scrapping the ID card scheme and accompanying National Identity Register, all future biometric passports and the children's Contact Point Database. It would also ensure CCTV was "properly regulated" in future and the storage of innocent people's DNA restricted.
Mr Clegg said: "Britain was once the cradle of modern democracy. We are now, on some measures, the most centralised country in Europe, bar Malta."
The deputy prime minister promised to give voters powers to "recall" corrupt MPs and for an elected House of Lords, based on a "proportional" voting system.
He said: "I'm talking about the most significant programme of empowerment by a British government since the great enfranchisement of the 19th Century. The biggest shake up of our democracy since 1832, when the Great Reform Act redrew the boundaries of British democracy, for the first time extending the franchise beyond the landed classes."
He added: "Incremental change will not do. It is time for a wholesale, big bang approach to political reform."
He accused the previous government of "obsessive lawmaking" and pledged to "get rid of the unnecessary laws" and "introduce a mechanism to block pointless new criminal offences".
He promised to ask the public "which laws you think should go" as they "tear through the statute book".
Mr Clegg added: "This government is going to persuade you to put your faith in politics once again."
He said differences between the Lib Dems and Conservatives were "almost impossible to spot" when it came to wanting to decentralise power.
He added: "We don't, unlike Labour, believe that change in our society must be forced from the centre. Unlike the previous Labour government, we're not insecure about relinquishing control."
This is going to be interesting. Good luck, cousins!
#1
If this works out well at all, heck if he's actually sincere, perhaps we should consider drafing Mr. Clegg to run for POTUS in our next election. Now that, y'know, citizenship is no longer a prerequiste to holding the office.
#3
Actually flash, I have 16 bore, 12 bore purdey side by sides and a bolt action rifle all legal and processed under section 5 firearms .
Semi autos are section 1 and not for private use, but I have no use for them
#5
Granpaw, it's fine if you have no use for a certain type of firearm, but if a law abiding citizen does have a use for a semi auto firearm, they should be able to buy one. Without looking through the safe I own 5 different guns that I wouldn't have the right to in England. That's crazy.
Posted by: Jefferson ||
05/20/2010 14:24 Comments ||
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#6
Jefferson, you have the right to own and carry them anywhere you damn well please. Whether or not it's actually legal is an entirely different matter, but that never stopped me when I lived in California.
I'm sure many of our British cousins feel the same way as Robert Heinlein did on this particular issue: I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.
#7
So Granpaw, I suggest you not be such an smug but oblivious idiot. You've become an utter subject to authority - people like you are the reason England is dying. I am a free citizen, and plan on keeping myself and by extension, my nation, free.
Answer this: what happens when you cannot bring that long arm to bear properly in self defense, and miss the hooligan with your one shot? I'll tell you: he and his thug buddies beat you to death with the butt of your own firearm.
Me? My semi-auto is a handgun, it comes to bear quickly, and if I miss I simply squeeze the trigger another time, up to 13 of them in a row.
Posted by: No I am the other Beldar ||
05/20/2010 16:39 Comments ||
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#8
Bolt actions were the primary infantry weapons in both WW1 and 2. Plenty of people got killed. It really depends on what your opponent has and AFAIK, English criminals are not going off firing Tec-9s gangsta stylee. And a shotgun is still the best home defense weapon. Don't like that it is only double barreled? Buy two.
That said, every gun I own would be illegal in England. I don't plan on losing because of firepower issues.
Posted by: ed ||
05/20/2010 16:55 Comments ||
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#9
How is it that a rare positive article about Britain gets hijacked by snarling gun owners? How about some praise instead.
#12
armbritain.com/index.php?topic=18.0
So to be truly 'free', I would have to vote in the BNP? I prefer to keep my own politics and to stock up on cross-bow bolts and pig-fat to dip them in. There is no (gun)-culture in the UK, and trying to learn it now is about three generations too late. Anyway, I got the freedom to get the sh!t taxed outa me, what more do I need?
#13
FTA, don't even think of getting a stun-gun or a Taser, could cost you five years. Harsh. Although, I do like the idea of a flare/signal/distress gun, and semi-auto air power seems to be allowed (within limits). Treat 'em like children and they will act like children.
www.policeoracle.com/forum/printer_friendly_posts.asp?TID=8968
#14
Snarling? Eh. I think the short sighted comments about "I dont need a semiauto" was pretty stupid. Especially for a "granpaw" that should know better than trust in authority after all the recent abuses in England.
True some of the responses aren't exactly tactful, but this is RANTburg.
#2
Huh? I suppose it depends on what you mean by "surveillance". But I don't understand why "737" means all that much. The US has had surveillance aircraft using the larger E-8 (707) airframe for decades. The replacement is to be the E-10 ... the 767 airframe.
#3
What a ridiculous distortion. "Surveillance" is a very broad category and not all such systems are equivalent. The Chinese aircraft appears to be a local conversion of a standard 737 airliner, with Elint gear and possibly optical systems.
The P-8 Poseidon is essentially a new aircraft derived from, but hardly identical to, the late model 737. Among other things, the P-8 has comprehensive ASW equipment and is quite heavily armed.
Various surveillance and sensor packages have been offered for all the Boeing airliners for many years. The 737 Surveiller, for example, was produced in 1982 with Motorola AN/APS-135(V) Side Looking Airborne Modular Multi-Mission Radar (SLAMMR) and is operated by the Indonesian Air Force.
#4
I'm glad Xe (formerly Blackwater) Security didn't buy a third hand 737-200 and cut camera ports in the cargo hold (assuming they haven't).
In that case, the headline would probably be "Evil mercenaries get 737 spyplane three years ahead of US Navy."
Amid scenes reminiscent of the financial crisis of 2008, markets reacted with a mixture of disbelief and anger to a German government ban on short selling of European Union government debt and banks.
Billions of pounds were wiped off the value of shares as the main European indices on Wednesday dropped on the back of large-scale selling by institutions shocked and spooked by Germany's actions.
"Nobody has a clue what is going to happen next," said Anthony Peters, a strategist at Swissinvest.
"Politicians have shown they have no understanding of markets. They are firing the wrong calibre gun, at the wrong target and they are missing."
The FTSE 100 fell 2.8pc, while France's CAC 40 index lost nearly 3pc of its value. German stocks fell too, with the Dax dropping 2.7pc, led in part by falls in banking shares, proving the ineffectiveness of the ban.
Merkel Stefan Isaacs, at fund manager M&G summed up the mood for many, describing the midnight ban by BaFin, the German regulator, as "draconian and uncoordianted".
"The fact that the ban was announced after the European market closed and was implemented only a few hours later is nothing short of reckless and has the market speculating about larger, unknown problems."
The grim mood was matched in currency and fixed income markets, with the euro hitting a four-year low against the dollar of $1.2144 in Asian trading, before rallying to $1.24 on rumours that the Swiss National Bank or European Central Bank had entered the market.
Even experienced bond traders were left uncertain how to react and several major investment banks opted to delay opening their market making desks until some sort of order returned.
"Nobody has a clue what is going to happen next," said Anthony Peters, a strategist at Swissinvest.
"Politicians have shown they have no understanding of markets. They are firing the wrong calibre gun, at the wrong target and they are missing."
With echoes of the summer of 2007 when the credit crunch first began and September 2008 in the aftermath of Lehman Brothers collapse, the inter-bank lending markets have again showed signs of strain as financial institutions became increasingly weary about lending to one another.
One London-based credit trader said only top-rated financial institutions were comfortably accessing the overnight borrowing markets, as banks again worried about the exposure of their rivals to bad debts, in this case Greek bonds.
The overwhelming sense of confusion was compounded by the reaction of other European governments to the German ban, as complaints were voiced about a lack of consultation ahead of the surprise announcement.
Christine Lagarde, French finance minister, said France would not be following Germany's lead, and issued a thinly veiled attack at the country's unilateral approach.
"I think we should really request the views of those governments affected by this measure," said Ms Lagarde.
Michel Barnier, the EU's internal market commissioner, made his own coded attack on "these measures", saying they would have been more effective if they had been coordinated at the "European level".
"It is important that member states act together and we design a European regime to avoid regulatory arbitrage and fragmentation both within the EU and globally," said Mr Barnier.
The sense among EU members that Germany had acted solely in its own interests was compounded yesterday as an auction of £3.7bn of German government bonds saw the country issue new debt at the cheapest rate since 1998, helped largely by the so-called "short squeeze" created in the bond market by the short selling ban, which forced many investors with short positions to buy debt.
Coming a day after Spain struggled with a debt sale of its own, many EU governments will have found it hard to escape the conclusion the German ban was a partly a cynical attempt to improve Germany's finances.
Questions have also been raised about how effective the ban would actually be. Much of the trading in German bonds and shares does not actually take place within the country, therefore the ban will not have stopped many banks or hedge funds from continuing to short sell EU government debt or German banking stocks.
#1
"Nobody has a clue what is going to happen next," said Anthony Peters, a strategist at Swissinvest.
Im no economic wheeler-dealer but introducing regulations that will assuredly add confusion and uncertainty at a time of unprecedented volatility smells of desperation. Apparently, that transparency thingy is only for the upper echelon of the Davos crowd.
#2
Politicians have shown they have no understanding of markets.
Given the collapse of the markets in 2008, I believe we can make the same statement about the people running and feeding the markets as well. Since they precipitated the large sucking of national treasuries to save their holdings, rather than allow them to perish off the books, it naturally invited equally incompetent people/politicians to participate in the process.
#4
It is a ban on naked short selling of banks and financial instruments (can you say credit default swaps?). Naked shorts should be outlawed and those who do should be sent to prison because it allows vultures to short sell an infinite number of shares, eventually driving the share price to zero and the company bankrupt when they can't borrow or meet debt covenants because their stock price is too low.
Posted by: ed ||
05/20/2010 16:05 Comments ||
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#5
Speaking of messes....anyone having difficulty logging on to Yahoo besides me?
#6
Naked shorts sell something they do not own and do not have. If they were to do this in other areas of the economy, they would be jailed for thievery. If they did this as an investment, it would be treated as a Ponzi scheme.
Posted by: No I am the other Beldar ||
05/20/2010 16:27 Comments ||
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#7
Naked short selling is almost always a good thing. In particular, it limits manipulation of prices where shares or debt are held by a few. Governments particularly hate short selling because it hampers their attempts to manipulate prices of their debt, which is the case in Europe at the moment.
BTW, people sell what they don't have all the time. Buy electronics online and chances are the seller doesn't actually have the item you buy. Anyone who does, then goes out and buys it in time to fulfill the contract, which is exactly what naked short sellers do.
The implosion of the eurozone is getting ugly and dangerous, very quickly.
One of Asias largest investment funds is poised to deliver a major blow to the euro as financial institutions across the region lay large bets against the faltering currency.
Multibillion sales of euro investment assets come as Asian investors have begun to lose their nerve over the European economy.
In Beijing, policymakers are trying to assess how prolonged weakness of the euro will affect their plans to project the Chinese yuan as an international currency. Prominent economists in Japan, addressing an audience where hundreds of thousands of households play the international foreign exchange markets, are already describing the 1 trillion rescue package as being like a picture of a rice cake' attractive, but without nourishment.
Several of Asias powerful national or sovereign' wealth funds said that currency traders in Hong Kong had started to build sizeable short' positions in the euro betting that the currency has farther to fall and hedging against the losses that they would make if previous bets on the bonds of Greece, Portugal, Spain, Ireland and Italy turned sour.
However, analysts said that a decision by Kokusai Asset Management could be a critical point for the euro. Within the past few weeks the Kokusais famous Global Sovereign Open fund, which is closely followed in the market, has twice reduced the amount of euro assets that it holds in favour of what it calls more stable' investments such as Canadian dollars and Swedish kronor.
In late December, the fund issued a financial vote of no confidence in Greece. Having been the largest non-governmental investor in Greek bonds in 2009, it sold its entire holding in the last few trading days of the year. The fund, which manages more than $60 billion (£41 billion), usually expects to have about a third of its money in euro-denominated bonds.
That was recently reduced to just under 30 per cent and was lowered again a week later. The company has not ruled out lowering it farther still, and Tokyo foreign exchange dealers believe that it will do so tomorrow.
#1
Karl Denninger sees a broader perspective: The entirety of the rally off the 2009 lows was predicated on the US borrowing and spending $1.5 trillion a year, or 11% of GDP, for the last two years!
The extreme volatility you've seen the last couple of weeks is not about Greece. Nor is it about Merkel, or Sarkozy, or any of the clown car brigade in Washington DC.
The volatility is the market debating whether governments worldwide can continue to borrow and spend 10% or so of their GDP on an ongoing, continual and perpetual basis.
It's that simple folks, because the underlying economic fundamentals and private activity has not come back at all - there has been zero advancement in private activity sufficient to allow any pullback of that support!
If this cannot be continued, and the recent events in Greece strongly suggest that it cannot, then market prices are dramatically too high, as they reflect a fully-priced in "V" shaped recovery that is being created and sustained as a consequence of this deficit spending!
#2
Auction of Spanish debt close to failureSpain came close to its first debt auction failure yesterday, highlighting the funding problems for weaker eurozone economies. Spain was supposed to fund part of the Greek bailout, but its ability to do so is in question.
The government's difficulties in selling 6.44bn ($7.96bn) in one-year and 18-month bills sparked worries over its 10-year debt auction tomorrow.
It planned to issue 8bn yesterday, but only just attracted that amount of bids, with yields at record highs. This prompted debt managers to reduce the size of the sale by 1.56bn. Normally a government bill auction would be covered at least 1.5 times.
Steven Major, head of fixed income at HSBC, said: "The Spanish auction was very disappointing and does not bode well for further issuance. It's becoming more apparent just how difficult it is for Spain, which is a big worry so soon after the launch of the international rescue package.
#3
Pretty simple, really. The US economy is the engine of world growth, and of recovery from recession now. That economic engine is still ca. 70% dependent on the US consumer, ie, on millions of households buying stuff they DON'T NEED with money they DON'T HAVE.
Aside from purchases of iPhones, laptops, alcohol, porn, and other forms of cheap stimulation, the US consumption engine is exhausted. There will have to be a reset, to a significantly lower level, as US households move from their recent negative savings rate to a positive savings one.
Bottom line, the market's runup since March 2009 was a mirage. Stocks are way overvalued.
Shocked European ministers are preparing for emergency talks to shore up the euro after markets fell in reaction to panic measures in Germany.
Angela Merkel stunned EU capitals by warning that the euro was in danger and triggered fears of a fresh financial meltdown by announcing a ban on risky trading practices by speculators. The German Chancellor's actions opened up new cracks in the single currency, drawing sharp criticism from France and prompting Brussels to issue an appeal for unity.
Shares in London plunged by nearly 3 per cent, with similar falls in Paris, Berlin and Madrid. The euro plummeted to a new low against the dollar before making a slight recovery.
European finance ministers, who have just hammered out a massive rescue plan for Greece, will hear controversial calls from Germany at a meeting tomorrow for changes to the Lisbon treaty to give Brussels powers to co-ordinate national budgets.
Ms Merkel believes that the EU should have stronger powers to organise the "orderly insolvency" of countries such as Greece that set giveaway budgets with no means of paying for them. After announcing a ban on speculative share trading in Germany's top financial institutions and the bonds of eurozone countries until next March, she warned: "This challenge is existential and we have to rise to it. The euro is in danger. If we don't deal with this danger, then the consequences for us in Europe are incalculable . . . If the euro fails, then Europe fails."
Her apocalyptic warning came as David Cameron prepared for his first visit as Prime Minister to Paris and Berlin, where he is likely to come under pressure to commit more British funds to EU bailout programmes.
His desire to build relations with Ms Merkel will be tempered by his reluctance to see any more powers transferred to Brussels. However, with 54 per cent of Britain's exports going to Europe, the economy is not immune to the effects of the euro's problems.
Ms Merkel may have intended her words to be a rallying cry to stop the crisis of confidence spreading from Greece to Portugal, Spain and Italy. But the markets were shaken because Germany is seen as the bedrock of the euro, which was introduced just ten years ago and now covers 16 countries.
Fears are growing at the highest level in the European Commission over the size of Italy's national debt and its ability to cope if markets turn on it. Further turmoil is possible today as Asian investors prepare to dump huge amounts of euros on the market.
#1
Karl Denninger's take on Germany's recent actions: It appears that the German Government has just plain had enough of the crap that the banksters have tried to pull, and has decided to do what Barack Obama should have done in early 2009.
#3
Here, Pappy:
Er, for some reason, it won't show the link, so re-assemble this:
http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/
2331-The-German-Government-Has-Had-Enough.html
#5
A Euro pull-out by the Germans could initiate a domino effect which could place the entire program in the ditch very quickly. This is about to get very interesting.
#6
TD Ameritrade clients unable to log in, trade NEW YORK Some clients of online brokerage T.D. Ameritrade Holding Corp. were unable to log into their accounts during today's market slide.
With the Dow Jones industrial average and other major indexes exceeding 3 percent declines, the company posted the following message on the site: "We are having technical difficulties that may result in limited access to your account. We are working to correct this problem as quickly as possible. We apologize for any inconvenience." I'm sure George Soros is having no trouble carrying out his trades.
The fund raising letter excerpted from the Politico article.
The comments are pretty funny, too.
The Miss Jane reference are a reference to the Beverly Hillbillies character Miss Jane Hathaway. Same haughtiness, same desperation, same deportment.
$35 buys me dinner with a confidential source in New York Start slumming. One you will have to starve and meet at McDonalds. $1 value menu, remember?
$75 pays for an interpreter for a reporter researching a story in Afghanistan. Tell the reporter to start learning a new foreign language.
$150 covers an Amtrak ticket to Washington so a writer can testify before Congress Bus travel is pretty cheap these days, I hear. And Congress can't spring for per diem?
$300 buys a labor reporter's ticket to Detroit for a piece on unemployment See above reference to a bus ticket.
$500 (expenses extra) rewards a brilliant article by a young journalist on Tehran dissidents Times are lean. Bet he/she can take $250. Hell, I'd take $50 for a brilliant article.
Journalism no longer features on a list of occupations used by the Australian government to control which migrant workers can seek permanent residency in the country.
Journalists are still eligible for permanent visas under the separate Employer Nomination Scheme Occupation List (ENSOL), which allows Australian employer's to sponsor overseas workers. But the new list will mean journalists will be unable to obtain a visa under the country's general migration scheme, which is "for people who are not sponsored by an employer and who have skills in particular occupations required in Australia".
The reduction in occupations and removal of journalists from the SOL is a fair reflection of the "the times we are living in and the state of the news industry", Jonathan Este, director of communications with the Australian journalists union, the Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance, told Journalism.co.uk.
"The fact is that there are plenty of Australian journalists looking for jobs and plenty more in education who will be entering the employment market during the next few years," he said.
#3
And here I was thinking they removed journalism from the Skilled Occupation List because journalists no longer have to have any skill, but it's because they don't want foreign journalists coming in to compete for the jobs.
#4
The cost of operation and living is lower in the Fly Over Country. With telecommuting and electronic video media you don't have to live, eat, print, and talk in that little corner cafe in NY or LA or Boston or the Beltway. Then again you'd be living among the community and culture you so despise like a disease, a disease that just years ago were the means to pay all the bills that now go unpaid. Maybe 'they' weren't the disease. Maybe 'they' weren't the parasites.
#7
Of course, Katrina cant possibly accept The Nations' poor performance is due to a substandard product and a dwindling target audience. No Sir! She has to blast the evil corporate Time Warner and their incestuous relationship with Bush appointed regulators at the USPS.
Heres the hook from The Nations fund raiser:
The Nation needs extra helpespecially now that weve been slapped with a $500,000 postage hike, courtesy of Time Warner lobbyists.
If The Nation should be complaining about anything, it is Congress's unfortunate requirement that the Postal Service has to have a break-even ''business model.'' Still, I can understand why it would prefer to blast Time Warner. It's so much easier to raise money when you can point the finger at a good corporate villain.
#10
Speak truth to power my strong black lily white, yet still pinko, sister! I just knew it was Time/Warner that hiked my first class postage from 11¢ to 44¢. What? Time/Warner didn't exist as an entity during most of that time?
Posted by: ed ||
05/20/2010 17:00 Comments ||
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The chance that the majority Democrats will pass a budget this year is "fading," Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said Tuesday.
He is pessimistic because House Democrats don't know whether they want to pass a resolution that would officially acknowledge the certainty of big deficits. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and other Democrats have indicated that would be a tough vote in an election year.
Conrad said the Senate was getting "mixed signals" from the House and time is running out, not least because the Senate has a packed legislative agenda.
Continued on Page 49
#2
Budget does not mean actual expenditures. Budget is a goal that in an election year only gives those angry over actual expenditures political ammo to hold incumbents to the fire with. The current Congress rightfully fears its constituents, but has no real interests in adjusting behavior to eliminate that fear.
#4
Another item to add to the list if we ever get off our asses & convene a constitutional convention - an amendment which forbids Congress from using continuing resolutions, and obliges them to actually pass a proper budget every goddamn year. If they're too busy to do that, obviously they should STOP DOING THAT OTHER CRAP.
It's neglecting their actual constitutional duties that leaves them the time to go jet-setting all over the world while their worthless, corrupt staffers construct rube goldberg "reform" bills full of abstruse, impenetrable code *designed* for easter-egg cash-outs for their beltway bandit co-conspirators to interpret via consultancy.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
05/20/2010 9:35 Comments ||
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#5
The 2011 budget request submitted by the Obama admin is $3,834 billion, up from $3,721 in 2010.
Now for the funny math. The Obama admin predicts revenues of $2,567B for a deficit of $1,267B. That assumes a 20% increase in tax revenues from 2010. Unfortunately, revenues for 2009 and 2010 are flat at around $2,100B giving a projected 2010 federal deficit of around $1,600B. With flat revenues in FY2011, the likely federal budget deficit will be around $1,800 billion.
No wonder the Democrats are running for the hills.
Posted by: ed ||
05/20/2010 11:01 Comments ||
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#6
$1,800 billion
Make that $1,700 billion.
Posted by: ed ||
05/20/2010 11:02 Comments ||
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QUETTA: A man and two women were gunned down on Wednesday in separate incidents of karokari in Balochistan's Dera Murad Jamali and Sohbatpur districts. Official sources said unidentified people opened fire on a man and a woman at their house in Ward 9 area of Dera Murad Jamali.
The deceased were identified as Aqeel Ahmed and Sajida. The bodies were handed over to the victims' families after autopsy.
Separately in Sohbatpur area of Jaffarabad district, one Mandar Khan killed his wife over suspicion of infidelity. The body was handed over to the woman's family after post-mortem. Cases were registered and investigations underway to apprehend the culprits.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/20/2010 00:00 ||
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Bangkok is in flames as the government admits it lost control when protesters set fire to key buildings in the city following a day of running battles with troops which left 12 dead and 60 injured.
Rioters set fires at the stock exchange, electricity headquarters, banks and government offices. Siam Theatre, a much loved city institution, collapsed in flames. Hundreds of people had to be rescued from the burning headquarters of Channel 3 television. The death toll since fresh outbreaks of violence on Thursday now stands at 51.
The government issued "shoot on site" orders for a dawn raid as troops tried to disperse 2,000 Red Shirts who had been camped in Rajprasong, the capital's premier shopping and office district, for more than six weeks.
Seven of the Red Shirt leaders surrendered to police but militant gangs waged an arson and looting spree. The vast Central World shopping centre was torched as government troops shot to kill in a last ditch effort to defend it.
When the army finally marched cautiously into the protesters' former stronghold they discovered that the 2,000 strong crowd had dwindled to one woman.
Kuesadee Narukan, an elderly nurse, stood holding a red flag in the deserted arena. The sound system remained on and rice was cooking on the boilers. "I am not afraid. I am ready for my punishment," she said. "I am a fighter for democracy.
A few lame stragglers on the makeshift beds were arrested. The others had left for a sports stadium to be loaded on to buses for home.
A Red Shirt commander yesterday said that the violence would continue. "All this area will burn and wherever I go I am okay because the army is fighting ghosts far behind me," the self-styled Commander Toei said. "They are attacking the Red Shirt stage but all of Bangkok is supporting our effort."
An offer of early elections from Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, a 45-year old Old Etonian, has failed to defuse the impasse. In a televised address last night Mr Abhisit said that he would "get through" the crisis and "return peace" to the country.
A curfew from 8pm to 6am was in place last night to stop the violence but there were doubts it would hold. With the police acting as bystanders, the army is the only force that can impose order street-by-street during the first curfew in 18 years.
In a mark of how widespread trouble had become the curfew was later extended to 23 provinces.
LONDON - Britain urged its nationals to avoid travelling to Bangkok under any circumstances Wednesday, saying the risks had increased because of the unpredictable violence' across the Thai capital.
The Foreign Office is now advising against all travel to the city of Bangkok in view of the highly uncertain security situation and the currently unpredictable violence across the Thai capital,' a statement said. We judge that the risk to the safety of British nationals has increased and have amended our travel advice accordingly.'
This advice did not extend to travellers transiting Bangkok airport en route to other destinations, the Foreign Office said.
It also advised against all but essential travel' to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, where violence also broke out Wednesday. We continue to advise against all travel to the Preah Vihear temple area and advise against all but essential travel to the far southern provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and Songkhla,' the statement added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/20/2010 00:00 ||
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Bangkok and about a third of the rest of Thailand have spent a first night under curfew after street protest leaders surrendered.
Some 40 people have died since troops ringed the protesters last week, with at least six more deaths on Wednesday.
At least 27 buildings were set ablaze after the red-shirt leaders' surrender and pockets of resistance remained despite pleas from leaders to go home. Fires were reported at the stock exchange, banks and a shopping mall.
The main area at the heart of the commercial district is completely deserted. This morning there were women dancing and people on stage giving speeches. All those hundreds of people who were in this main part of the protest site have gone.
People have set fire to buildings. There's a lot of smoke over the city, burning piles of debris.
Someone just told us there were very emotional scenes when the leaders came and said, "it's all over", and told people to go home.
But some hardline red-shirt protesters were holed up in an over-head railway station and they were clashing with the military.
Appearing on TV, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said he was "confident and determined to end the problems and return the country to peace and order once again".
Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister living in self-imposed exile whom many red-shirts support, said the crackdown could spawn mass discontent and lead to guerrilla warfare. "There is a theory saying a military crackdown can spread resentment and these resentful people will become guerrillas," he told Reuters news agency by telephone.
A theory, just hanging there in the air, untethered to anyone promoting such a thing ....
He knows nothing, nothing at all, pure as the driven snow ...
The curfew, the first imposed in the city in 15 years, ran from 2000 to 0600 (1300 to 2300 GMT), and the government ordered television channels to broadcast only officially sanctioned programmes.
The protest may be over but the bloodshed will not be forgotten and the bitterness and anger linger on, reports the BBC's Rachel Harvey from Bangkok.
Thailand's deep divisions have been brutally exposed, our correspondent hopes adds. There are reports of tension in the north and one group operating in the capital has declared itself independent of the main protest movement and says it will continue fighting.
#1
Can't put the insurrection in the south to bed, so what gives them the belief that they can avoid lighting another one up north? The government that came to power by military coup to remove the elected President, no matter how corrupt [though probably no less than we can find in Chicago or Congress and elsewhere], has no intentions of surrendering power. There will be no real reforms or real elections. The issues will continue and now they've removed the cultural barrier of violence, as amply demonstrated by the earlier assassination of an opposition leader, this will simply spread. No good for anyone. However, it's history and human behavior. It's the scorpion and frog. It's in its nature.
Posted by: Jefferson ||
05/20/2010 13:49 ||
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#1
I know in my mostly military/contractor neighborhood, there would be dozens of armed civilians to keep the crowd from doing anything else than blocking traffic.
#2
SEIU thugs, which often, if not always, work with and under the direction of the Obama Administration, terrorize an innocent teenage son of a banker at his home.
How, exactly is this any different than the Brownshirts of Germany in the 30's?
This is a serious question.
How is the Obama administration and their apparatus - the SEIU any different that the Nazi party and their apparatus the brownshirts?
#5
How is the Obama administration and their apparatus - the SEIU any different that the Nazi party and their apparatus the brownshirts?
Good question. I wish there was a good answer other than THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE.
Another question: What's the difference between the complicit public in Nazi Germany and the complicit public today? I guess we'll find out in November.
#7
They are one step away from a "Crystal Night"
What they fail to realize id main street America is not pacifist, they will get met with violence. Advice...buy more ammo.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
05/20/2010 15:33 Comments ||
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#8
There are a bunch of old federal statutes, mostly written for the KKK, and new hate crime law, that would apply here. The trick would be to not go to the federals, under Holder, to enforce them. But to initially *use* federal law for the bust.
That is, if someone knew of an event like this ahead of time, if a State had a Republican governor or Attorney General, or County Sheriff, they are who should be contacted, because each can field a small army, who could turn out with orders to "sweep the field" and detain anyone demonstrating "lawlessness".
And arrest such lawbreakers using several levels of laws. Then make the federals a deal--either prosecute or punish them under federal law, or they will get the max in State law.
While the federals would not want to prosecute them on federal law, the initial arrests would be much more free if they were done under the auspices of federal law. That is, minimal force would have been used for local laws, but they were violating anti-KKK laws, which authorizes much greater force.
#9
Well, then if its OK by the Donks, can we do this at the Congresscritter's home? Understanding it might require showing up at several different 'homestead' residences in multiple states.
Soldiers already have uniforms that blend them into their surroundings. Now there's instructions on how to have a weapon that blends in too.
In April, the Army released instructions on how Soldiers can apply spray paint to their M4 or M16 rifle, without decreasing the effectiveness of either the weapon or the installed optics.
"The Army has always had techniques to camouflage the Soldier ... we have techniques for the Soldier and the equipment," said Col. Douglas A. Tamilio, project manager for Soldier Weapons, Program Executive Office Soldier. "We found in Iraq and Afghanistan that Soldiers were starting to paint their weapons. It wasn't really approved or disapproved for them to do that."
The resulting document, "Maintenance Information Message 10-040," is titled "Camouflaging Specific Small Arms." It focuses on where to apply tape to protect sensitive areas, what areas should not be painted, and what kind of paint to use.
"It just shows Soldiers how you tape your weapon up before you go to spray it," Tamilio said. "We are just trying to make sure the Soldiers don't do the wrong things with their weapons. So we make sure we don't reduce the reliability of our weapons system." There's the right way, the wrong way, and the Army way.
The new MIM explains the rationale behind why Soldiers would paint their rifles.
"Warfighters must be able to conduct tactical operations while reducing/limiting detection by the threat," the message reads. "Camouflage paints provide for reduced visual detection and enhanced warfighter survivability via neutral, non-reflective, and predominantly non-black colors."
Additionally, the message explains, the color black is "highly infrared reflective" and it can also "provide a high degree of visual contrast when carried by camouflaged uniformed warfighters." It took until 2010 for the brass to figure this out?
On actually applying a camouflage pattern to the weapon, the message suggests Soldiers have a plan in place beforehand, and that their design focus on effectiveness rather than beauty. Awww...no Hello Kitty M16?
"Remember, most great camouflage is not pretty," the instruction reads. "The goal is to blend your weapon in with the environment in which you are operating. If you are operating in an environment that just has light tan sand, then just paint your weapon tan with limited black breakup ... This procedure's purpose is not to impress. Its purpose is to provide safety and another tool in defeating the enemy."
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.
Fark
MANAMA - Bahraini authorities have banned Al-Jazeera television, based in the adjacent state of Qatar, from operating in the kingdom for "violating" professional norms, the state BNA news agency said Wednesday.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson, Khaleda Zia, has called a nationwide dawn-to-dusk general strike for June 27 in protest at the government's 'misdeeds' and 'misrule.'
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has promised the "biggest shake-up of our democracy" in 178 years as he sets out plans for political reform.
Shocked European ministers are preparing for emergency talks to shore up the euro after markets fell in reaction to panic measures in Germany. 
The chance that the majority Democrats will pass a budget this year is "fading," Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said Tuesday.
Soldiers already have uniforms that blend them into their surroundings. Now there's instructions on how to have a weapon that blends in too.
