Writer is an extreme eco person who claims Gore, O etc.. are going at it totally wrong...Claims if money was spent on mass transit and alternate fuels without subsides it would work but present path will bankrupt and fail..
Doesn't appear to have noticed that Gore is occidental petroleum the rest in bed with fund traders and like pond scum so eco is only a cover for free money for me scam.... or in other words... the true socialist/commie model... "What's mine is mine.. What's yours is mine!"
Posted by: Water Modem ||
08/18/2010 12:44 ||
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The Stolen Valor Act is unconstitutional, a federal appeals court panel in California ruled Tuesday. That means I can start wearing my judge's robes again? And holding court in my basement?
#3
The 9th Circuit panel is the best argument I have ever seen for some sort of removal mechanism for inept, agenda driven ideologues who attempt to legislate from the bench.
The decision in the Stolen Valor act is just plain wrong.
The First Amendment provides the liberty to speak truth, as you believe it. It does not provide a protected pedestal for politicians and wannabee heroes to lie bald-faced about their military service and their record of valor under fire for the purpose of presenting themselves in a false light. These people bring dishonor to themselves, as moral and physical cowards, and they hold cheaply the regard and reverence that we have for the military heroes who impose their own bodies between us and evil.
Perhaps it is telling about the integrity of this court of appeals, that they would take such a diseased perspective on one of our fundamental liberties.
Liberty without virtue is license.
Posted by: B Dubya ||
08/18/2010 10:34 Comments ||
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#4
This is why the 9th has so many decisions overturned as well.
The 9th is a classic case for term limits for judges.
#5
Yet occasionally, the 9th gets one right. Post- Heller but pre-McDonald, the 9th held that state and local govt was bound by the 2nd, not just the Feds, AND the main reason was to prevent tyranical gov't.
#10
It's a strange ruling. The Court asserts that it is permissible to lie about one's military service so long as one is not doing so in order to obtain something of value.
When does one lie about military service so as NOT to obtain something of value?
If I were, while in a local bar, to claim that I was a Navy SEAL and had a Navy Cross, and someone bought me a drink because of that claim, isn't that something of value?
If the pretty young lady at the end of the bar was so impressed with my claim of military service that she took me home for the night, isn't that something of value?
If my claims caused other citizens to be sufficiently impressed with me that they elected me to the local library board, isn't that something of value?
When exactly does someone lie about military service and not obtain something of 'value' in return, even if that something is the opinion of others?
I don't get it, I really don't.
PS: for the logic-impaired, I was never a Navy SEAL and don't have a Navy Cross.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/18/2010 13:17 Comments ||
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#11
Would it be okay if I passed myself off as a federal judge? I really wouldn't wanna stoop that low, but it might prove advantageous in some situations.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
08/18/2010 13:33 Comments ||
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#13
So, according to this the Rantburg Moderators can declare themselves Judges of the U.S. Supreme Court and simply overturn the 9th circus court rulings as needed.
And, where the rulings don't personally effect them (i.e. they don't gain from it) its OK.
Right?
Fraud, weather you gain from it or not, is W-R-O-N-G. Claiming military service falsely is fraud.
I never served in the military and I never claimed to have. To do so would be just plain WRONG.
#14
Some wanna be says he received medals he never received and that legal? Come on 9th circus. If someone posed as a Federal judge, a lawyer, a police officer, doctor, nurse, teacher, or engineer, there would be penalties.
#15
The dissenting justice insisted that the majority refused to follow clear Supreme Court precedent that false statements of fact are not entitled to First Amendment protection.
Which means you bump it up to SCOTUS. And they overturn it. Again.
You've been down that road before, haven't you boys? Many times, as I recall.
Maybe they are impersonating federal judges...
#16
More...
In a somewhat incredulous dissenting opinion, Judge Jay Bybee (best known for his work on so-called torture memos at the Office of Legal Counsel) contends his colleagues are deliberately ignoring a series of statements from the Supreme Court declaring false speech to be unworthy of protection in most instances.
The Supreme Court has told us consistently that the general rule is that false statements of fact are unprotected and has carved out certain limited exceptions to this principle in certain contexts. ... Alvarezs knowingly false statement is excluded from the limited spheres of protection carved out by the Supreme Court for false statements of fact necessary to protect speech that matters, and it is therefore not entitled to constitutional protection.
While Alvarez, by all accounts, became a laughingstock and no longer sits on the water board, the appeals court ruling could have implications for other efforts to police false statements in the context of political ads and campaigns.
The decision could also become a political football, much like the court's famous/infamous Pledge of Allegiance ruling. But there is this wrinkle facing new efforts to blast the far-out liberal 9th Circuit: all three judges involved in Tuesday's decision were Republican appointees. Smith and Bybee were named to the bench by President George W. Bush. Nelson was appointed by President George H.W. Bush.
#17
This is a decision that cuts to the quick our ability to be a civil society and turns us toward barbarism. This is not just about stolen valor, but also how we deal with each other. It is an endorsement of taqqiya, not our historic virtues. This is a decision so far divorced from what the people believe that it threatens the credibility of the court and the legitimacy of its laws. One wonders what decision they will render that will be remembered as the second Dred Scott. Let's pray the next one does not also lead to a civil war.
Posted by: Art Vandalay masquerading as Alaska Paul ||
08/18/2010 23:18 Comments ||
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#21
Well, honey, after I became the 15th man to walk on the moon, I came back and started my own company which specializises in putting out oil well fires. It did so well that I could take up race car driving and win the Indy 500. Twice.
Would you like another drink?
Police in Switzerland have seized a Swedish motorist's $290,000 Mercedes after he was caught driving 290 kilometres per hour on a Swiss motorway. That's about 180MPH for the kilometer illiterate...
Swiss officials were unable to say if it was a record because they do not keep such nationwide data, but it "looks very close to one," federal roads office spokesman Thomas Rohrbach told AFP. Yep, could be...
Police said in a statement that the 37-year-old driver had to be stopped by a neighbouring police force after he shot past a permanent speed trap. Damn, Muldoon! Did you see that!
Umm...no.
His driving licence and 570-horsepower black SLS AMG were seized after he was released from custody, and depending on his income, he could face a fine of up to one million Swiss francs (about $990,000).
According to one report, the man blamed his speeding on a "faulty" speedometer. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it...
A local magistrate ordered police to keep the car as security pending a likely court ruling and an eventual sentence.
Driving more than 25 kilometres an hour over the 120-kilometre-per-hour speed limit on motorways in Switzerland is regarded as a criminal offence, and fines are based on a driver's income. Seeing how he owns a $290,000 car, I'll bet his income's pretty good...
The Swedish motorist's alleged speed goes off the scale and the penalty is at the judge's discretion, up to a maximum of about $1 million for speeding, Rohrbach said.
#5
I was on the Autobahn from Hamburg to Lubeck once with a few German friends. We were in a Mercedes 500. I was in back, conversing, when I looked at the speedometer.
260.
Even being kilometer-illiterate* I knew that was faster than I ever wanted to go. My friend who was driving looked content. And focused. Very, very focused.
*Thanks for that phrase, tu, I'll use that.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/18/2010 9:07 Comments ||
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#6
So instead of wrapping an explosive vest around themselves the Euros prefer to wrap a nice Mercedes around them for thrills.
#7
In the article I read last week, the speed trap cameras could not catch him because they would not work past 125 mph. Some serious Doppler effect, heh. Took him something like half a kilometer to stop. Holy m v-squared, batman!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/18/2010 10:09 Comments ||
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#8
I used to own a 1964 Mustang, I put a 400 HP 351 and a seriously beefed transmission under it, it would fly, Umm, go just as fast but I never got caught.
I had a 4 speed borg warner under it originaly but when I hit second really hard I broke the standard 8inch Differential and had to replace it with one from a larger car, a 9inch worked well.
I rode that car untill it rusted away. Transplanted the engine/tranny and gave it to a friend.
last I heard he'd restored it amd was showing it at car shows.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/18/2010 11:15 Comments ||
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#9
Mustangs have always made good roadsters, short wheelbase.
#10
Had a friend who did 165 MPH on I-10. I-10 goes through West Texas, NM , and AZ. The road is ruler straight, three lanes wide each way, with a half-mile median and goes through mile after mile of *NOTHING*.
#11
We were on the Autobahn in a stick-shift Beemer early one Sunday morning (no traffic) and were gradually letting it out to see just how fast the car would go. We were at 150 (that's mph, not kph) when a Porche passed us like we were standing still. Yikes.
We decided maybe 150 was fast enough.
Dunno how fast that guy was going and don't want to know.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/18/2010 19:30 Comments ||
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#12
My brother had a slantnose Porsche 911 with a racing package. He says he used to leave Laguna Niguel for Vegas at about midnight on a Friday night and be there in about 2 1/2 hours.
New reports indicate that Dr. Frank Ryan, plastic surgeon to Heidi Montag and other celebrities, was tweeting just before his fatal car accident on Monday. Oh, my. Who will be left to make starlets boobs the size of basketballs? I'm sure that's a hot topic in Malibu today... I notice they didn't describe him as a "brilliant" plastic surgeon...
Ex-girlfriend Charmaine Blake told People Magazine that the plastic surgeon "lived up in Malibu on a tiny street and he was texting while driving and he accidentally went over the cliff." Oooooooops... "And the recipient of this year's Wile E. Coyote Safe Driving Award is...!"
Dr. Ryan was purportedly tweeting about his border collie, Jill, when he lost control of his car. Ominously, this final tweet from Ryan includes a photo of his dog atop some sand dunes in Malibu. Yeah, that sounds important. I figured it would be something like...AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!
The dog, who was with Ryan at the time of the crash, survived injuries. Ain't that always the way...
[Arab News] Victims of Pakistan's deadly floods mobbed relief trucks carrying food Tuesday and authorities in the northwest warned of famine unless the region's farmers got immediate help with planting new crops.
The floods began three weeks ago, but there is little sign conditions are improving for some 20 million people -- or one in nine Pakistanis -- who are affected. Tens of thousands of villages remain under water, and officials feared that more flooding could be on the way.
How's all those projects designed to deny the Indians water from the Indus River working right about now?
The already shaky and unpopular government has been sorely tested by the disaster, which is complicating the US-backed campaign against Islamist militants. The international community is rushing water, medicine, shelter and aid workers to the country, but aid groups and the British government have complained that the response has been too slow and not generous enough.
Then again, if the Paks had spent their previous aid money on flood control and not on the military and the ISI, they'd have something, even after President Ten-Percent took his ...
President Asif Ali Zardari's reputation sank to new lows after he chose to visit Europe on a state visit as the crisis unfolded. In a meeting with local aid groups, Zardari acknowledged Tuesday that the disaster response had not been very good.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Trailing Wife
As someone who is always looking to increase knowledge with a gracious manner i emclose a discusion from ex muslims on why the Pakistani community struggles to integrate into the UK unlike Hindus,Sikhs etc
[Dawn] Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan is considering not standing in elections due next January but will make his intentions known by the end of the month, a presidency source told Reuters on Tuesday.
An election bid by Jonathan, who is from the southern Niger Delta, could split the ruling party due to an agreement that power rotates between the Muslim north and Christian south every two terms, meaning the next president should be a northerner.
The People's Democratic Party (PDP) has said Jonathan has the right to run, because he was previously vice president on a joint ticket with northern President Umaru Yar'Adua, who died mid-way through his first term earlier this year.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
ION AFFRIQUE' GULFNEWS > SOUTH AFIRCA ON BRINK OF PUBLIC SECTOR SHUTDOWN [Union wages].
* Also from GULF NEWS > OUTSPOKEN MALEMA CALLS FOR MORE RADICAL ANC LEADERS [Youth League Leader JULIUS MALEMA].
[Arab News] Australia should drop its ties to the British monarchy after Queen Elizabeth's reign, the prime minister said Tuesday, raising the contentious issue of a republic just days before tightly contested national elections.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard, whose center-left Labor Party has long held that the country should dump the British monarch as its head of state and become a republic, said Australians have "deep affection" for Queen Elizabeth but that she should be Australia's final monarch.
"What I would like to see as prime minister is that we work our way through to an agreement on a model for the republic," Gillard told reporters. "I think the appropriate time for this nation to move to be a republic is when we see the monarch change. Obviously I'm hoping for Queen Elizabeth that she lives a long and happy life, and having watched her mother I think there's every chance that she will." The queen is 84, and her mother lived to age 101.
Many Australians are British immigrants or descendants who feel strong loyalty to Britain and the queen, but younger Australians especially view the idea of a foreign royal being the country's highest power as anachronistic.
The British monarch is formally Australia's head of state, and its representative, the governor general, swears in the government and signs legislation into law. Australian coins bear the queen's profile. Governing power, however, resides with the elected government.
Many members of the opposition Liberal Party are monarchists, and its leader, Tony Abbot, said he sees no need to change the status quo. "I think that our existing constitutional arrangements have worked well in the past and I see no reason whatsoever why they can't continue to work well in the future," Abbott told the National Press Club.
"So while there may very well be future episodes of republicanism in this country, I am far from certain - at least in our lifetimes - that there is likely to be any significant change." Opinion polls indicate Saturday's election may be Australia's closest in decades, and both sides are focusing their campaigns on a handful of districts held by small margins. The comments by Gillard and Abbott are likely to influence some voters.
Gillard's party wants to replace the governor general with a president. Parliament would retain its power to rule, with the president a largely symbolic figure.
During national debates in the 1990s, the issue divided Australians. Replacing the monarchy with a president elected by Parliament was voted down in a 1999 referendum.
Some critics accused then-Prime Minister John Howard, a staunch monarchist, of ensuring victory for the "no" side by including the method of the president's election in the question. Many republicans wanted the president chosen by popular vote instead of by Parliament.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2010 00:00 ||
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#3
There's a fair bit to be said for a constitutional, parliamentary monarchy in which the monarch, as head of state, provides quiet leadership and stability, and otherwise stays out of the way.
Elizabeth has been a darned good example of that. She provides her people with a sense of identity (well, the people who originated in South Asia might not feel British but the rest do). The King of Thailand has saved his country from chaos a couple of times. We make fun of the Nordic monarchies but they too provide a quiet presence that is an important part of the glue that holds their culture together.
A non-royal 'president' in a parliamentary system has no swat. That person is a figurehead even by definition. It's usually some formerly august patrician politician who wants one more title before he retires or dies. He looks serious but he can't do anything, and no one really listens to him. It's all ceremony. Why bother?
If one gives a non-royal real power as a president or premier in a parliamentary system then you end up with a system like Israel or France or South Korea, wherein the prime minister is now the figurehead whose only real mission is to take the blame when something goes wrong (which always happens). Or worse, you have the prime minister and the president competing with each other.
If one wants a true parliamentary system, one would do well to have a royal family. Iraq, for example, could use a wise king right now to (quietly and behind the scenes) crack a few heads and get the pols to form a government already.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/18/2010 9:21 Comments ||
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#4
Sounds good, Steve, but Liz won't live forever. How does your theory of the wise/prudent/discreetly strong monarch accommodate idiot spawn like the self-described "Defender of Faith" in the photo above?
#5
Elizabeth has done a good job of "providing her people with a sense of identity." She learned that from her parents, who stayed in London during the Blitz and worked hard to keep up the people's morale. The exiled rulers of Norway and the Netherlands, and King Christian of Denmark, also encouraged their people during WWII.
Victoria inherited her throne from "an imbecile (George III), a profligate (George IV) and a buffoon (William IV)." She and Albert failed miserably to provide moral leadership during the famine in Ireland, but in most other ways she "gave the people a sense of identity". While the crown lost power, it gained a great deal of prestige.
Her descendants, except for the Duke of Windsor, carried a sense of responsibility and duty and moral leadership through 5 generations. Unfortunately, Charles doesn't have the charisma or the good sense to keep it up.
#6
I'm sure lots of Commonwealth citizens are leery of having Crazy Charlie as King. Even Liz seems to be re-thinking that, and looking at young William as a replacement.
#1
Looks like Germany has learned the lesson from America of what happens when you sacrifice your trade and industry for the 'good of all'. They're not going to pay while everyone else takes advantage of such situation.
In a move applauded by some local Muslims, the state government of Kelantan said it was introducing a new monetary system featuring standardised gold and silver coins based on the traditional dinar and dirham coins once used by the Ottoman Empire.
Nik Abdul Aziz, the states chief minister, spoke in visionary terms of an economy in which state civil servants would be paid in the new sharia currency, and the poor would be protected against inflation by the intrinsic value of the precious metals used to produce it.
About 1,000 shops and restaurants in the state have said they will accept the new currency, which follows an earlier issue of gold dinars in 2006. The coins comply with traditional Islamic teaching on the use of coins with intrinsic value as a medium of exchange, rather than paper money.
The coins, minted to a specified weight and purity, are available in a range of denominations from half a dinar to eight dinars, and from one dirham to 20. At the current price of gold, one dinar is worth M$581($183) and one dirham is valued at M$13 ($5).
The launch was lauded by the Muamalah Council, a campaigning organisation that seeks the peaceful introduction of an Islamist social and economic system. The council said it was the main Islamic event of the last 100 years.
The details of the scheme suggest, however, that the people of Kelantan are unlikely to abandon the ringgit, the national currency, in a hurry. The state government said the value of the new coins was M$2m at the current price of gold. It is not known how many of each denomination have been minted, but if they were all worth one dinar there would be just under 3,500. That works out at about one coin for each 400 people in the state.
The chief minister also admitted that there were many technicalities to be overcome before the scheme could be significantly extended. He did not explain why a switch to gold and silver coins would protect against fluctuations in the value of money, given that the US dollar price of gold has risen more than five fold in a decade.
In spite of its small scale, the scheme may pay political dividends for the state government, which is run by PAS, an Islamist party that is in opposition in the national parliament. PAS is locked in a ceaseless struggle for control of Kelantan with the United Malays National Organisation, the main party in the federal government coalition, which also claims to represent Malay Muslims, the largest population group in Malaysia.
Burnishing its Islamic credentials is unlikely to do PAS any harm. The only certain winner, though, is the gold market. Although small, the scheme will help to increase demand, pushing up prices even further.
#1
Currency is just a proxy for the amount of time exchanged in the economy.
As such gold is just as fiat as paper. Though supply is slower to expand. However paper money CAN be burnt, gold cannot, so in a recessionary environment the gold currency cannot be kept stable with the amount of work the economy does.
#2
There's a fascinating discussion of the gold-as-fiat issue in Smith's Wealth of Nations. Smith thought that gold *could* be consumed through non-monetary usages - art, teeth, goldsmithing, industrial usages, etc - or loss via shipwreck or burial.
There's even a section on "treasure trove" - the medieval practice of hiding away cash prior to a raid or a war, and then the guy who does the hiding gets whacked, leaving the money to fall out of circulation. I was just reading a book on the Angevin kings, and Richard I was mortally wounded while besieging one of his vassals over a dispute arising because some peasant had dug up one of the treasure troves, and King Dick wanted his cut. Ironically enough, after his pissed-off army seized the castle, they tore it to pieces looking for the treasure, and it had disappeared again, presumably into another trove.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
08/18/2010 9:33 Comments ||
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#3
History shows that coinage gets debased with non-precious metals just as paper is inflated though excessive printing. Most of the American population is unaware that dimes and quarters were once minted in silver, let alone dollars.
Enjoy life under a microscope, snake eyes. You better hope you're squeaky clean...
Rauf starts his tour Thursday in Bahrain and ends it in the United Arab Emirates Sept. 2. At each stop he is expected to discuss Muslim life in America and promote religious tolerance. He will not be allowed to raise funds for the mosque on the trip, Crowley said.
"We have had conversations with the imam to make sure he understands that during these kinds of trips, he's not to engage in any personal business," Crowley told reporters. "He understands that completely." Oh, of course he does...
The U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver has overturned a decision that allowed the display of roadside crosses in honor of Utah Highway Patrol troopers who have fallen in the line of duty.
The 10th Circuit Court also ordered Judge David Sam to order the crosses removed. Sam ruled in favor of the UHP crosses in November of 2007, saying the crosses did not represent a religious symbol, but a proper memorial.
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.
New reports indicate that Dr. Frank Ryan, plastic surgeon to Heidi Montag and other celebrities, was tweeting just before his fatal car accident on Monday.
[Arab News] Australia should drop its ties to the British monarchy after Queen Elizabeth's reign, the prime minister said Tuesday, raising the contentious issue of a republic just days before tightly contested national elections.
