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Viktor Bout found guilty by NY NY court!
Today's Headlines
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Page 6: Politix
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Alaska Soldier Arrested For Espionage
A U.S. Army specialist who was serving as a military policeman has been arrested at an Alaska military base on suspicion of spying, an Army spokesman said on Tuesday.

Specialist William Colton Millay, 22, was taken into custody at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on October 28 following a joint espionage investigation by the FBI and Army Counterintelligence special agents, Army spokesman Lt. Col. Bill Coppernoll said.

Posted by: Anonymoose || 11/02/2011 14:12 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


US Marshals turned loose to collect $63,720.80 from Righthaven
Looks like it's time to turn out the lights on Righthaven. The US Marshal for the District of Nevada has just been authorized by a federal court to use "reasonable force" to seize $63,720.80 in cash and/or assets from the Las Vegas copyright troll after Righthaven failed to pay a court judgment from August 15.

Righthaven made a national name for itself by suing mostly small-time bloggers and forum posters over the occasional copied newspaper article, initially going so far as to demand that targeted websites turn over their domain names to Righthaven. The several hundred cases went septic on Righthaven, however, once it became clear that Righthaven didn't own the copyrights over which it was suing. Righthaven, ailing, was soon buffeted by negative court decisions as a result.

In August, the case Righthaven v. Hoehn was tossed by a federal judge in Nevada, who went a step further and declared that defendant Wayne Hoehn's complete copy of a newspaper article in a sub-forum on the site "Madjack Sports" was fair use. On August 15, the judge awarded $34,045.50 to the Randazza Legal Group, which represented Hoehn. Righthaven, which had spent so much time thundering to defendants about just how badly the federal courts would make them pay... didn't pay.

Instead, it filed a flurry of appeals alleging (among other things) that having to pay the money would involve "the very real threat of being forced out of business or being forced to seek protection through bankruptcy." Righthaven contended that it could eventually win the case on appeal and thus should not be bankrupted before it had the chance to make its case.

But the increasingly disorganized organization couldn't even get its appellate filings in on time. Yesterday, Righthaven had to admit that it missed the October 31 deadline for its opening brief in the case. It blamed the problem on a "misunderstanding," then noted it would need a few more weeks to actually write the brief, since "Righthaven's counsel is scheduled to undergo a surgical procedure for which it is estimated that he will be recovering outside of the office for approximately one week."
Posted by: Fred || 11/02/2011 10:50 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


FBI Now Classifies Juggalos As Gang
Fans of notorious US hip-hop group Insane Clown Posse have been officially classified as a gang. A new FBI document has categorised the Juggalos as a "loosely-organised hybrid gang," citing the group's violence, criminal activity and "gang-like behaviour".

Fans of the Insane Clown Posse have called themselves Juggalos for more than two decades, developing a reputation for face-paint, Faygo soda, and a scepticism toward magnets. Although based in the United States – the ICP are from Michigan – it has become a worldwide movement; a UK Facebook group has more than 600 members.

Unfortunately for harmless fans of horrorcore rap, Juggalos are now officially "of concern to law enforcement," according to the FBI's 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment report. Juggalos have been tied to a string of recent crimes, including a shooting in January and the assault of a homeless man last year.

"Open source reporting suggests that a small number of Juggalos are forming more organised subsets and engaging in more gang-like criminal activity," the report alleges. "Transient, criminal Juggalo groups pose a threat to communities due to the potential for violence, drug use/sales, and their general destructive and violent nature."
Posted by: Anonymoose || 11/02/2011 09:17 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This is the threat.

Posted by: Anonymoose || 11/02/2011 9:27 Comments || Top||

#2  Picture helps to explain their name of Jug a lose.
Posted by: bman || 11/02/2011 10:06 Comments || Top||

#3  At least they are easy to spot in a lineup.
Posted by: Eohippus Phater7165 || 11/02/2011 10:21 Comments || Top||

#4  Yes, Moose. The one in the pink will definitely be frisked by TSA.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/02/2011 10:32 Comments || Top||

#5  We will all be classified as threats at some point due to rampant paranoia in D.C. The Tea Party will be a threat. Voters will be a threat. The AARP will be a threat.
Posted by: JohnQC || 11/02/2011 10:36 Comments || Top||

#6  D.C. (at least the Dems) has already declared the Tea Party a threat, John. >:-(
Posted by: Barbara || 11/02/2011 10:57 Comments || Top||

#7  Insane Mimes Posse?
Posted by: Fred || 11/02/2011 11:03 Comments || Top||

#8  I guess the FBI has solved all other crimes and has nothing to do now.
Posted by: DarthVader || 11/02/2011 11:18 Comments || Top||

#9  not sure what the treat is here, but i suppose going after the big fish like Madoff,Enron, Solyndra, Corzine, etc before they ravage the tax payer and people's retirement takes a bit of determination and vision.
Posted by: jack salami || 11/02/2011 11:23 Comments || Top||

#10  This group is like 15 years ago.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 11/02/2011 16:23 Comments || Top||

#11  Seems like the cops and DAs these days like to focus on non-targets and easy targets. It's safer than actual police work and improves your batting average.
Posted by: Pollyandrew || 11/02/2011 18:05 Comments || Top||

#12  Uh, uh, THE EARLY 1970'S "THE BUGALOOS" KIDDIE SATURDAY TV GROUP CHANGED THEIR NAME???

gut nuthin.

D *** NG IT, DOES "HR PUFFNSTUFF" + "SIGMUND" KNOW???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/02/2011 22:48 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Kim Kardashian Files for Divorce after 10 Weeks
[An Nahar] Just ten weeks after their lavish, made-for-TV wedding and less than a month after the wedding special aired, reality starlet Kim Kardashian is canceling her marriage to NBA player Kris Humphries.
"That does it! I quit!"
The "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" star filed for divorce Monday, citing irreconcilable differences.
"Yeah. I wanna get a divorce, he doesn't."
"I hope everyone understands this was not an easy decision," she said in a statement.
I thought about it almost as long as I was married. Almost three weeks!
"I had hoped this marriage was forever but sometimes things don't work out as planned."
Well, at least they gave it a chance.
...and think of the ratings boost.
Humphries told celebrity news site TMZ he was "devastated" to learn his bride had filed for divorce and is "willing to do whatever it takes to make it work."
"I'd even think about changing my hair style!"
Would he consider playing for the Wizards?
You made me look like an asshole! Pay me!!!
The filing in Los Angeles County Superior Court provided few details, other than to state the couple have a prenuptial agreement that will dictate how they divide up their assets. Kardashian is asking that both sides pay their own attorneys' costs and that a judge terminate Humphries' rights to spousal support.
But we can still be friends...
Kardashian, 31, and Humphries, 26, were wed Aug. 20 in a star-studded, black-tie ceremony at an exclusive estate in Caliphornia. The couple's wedding registry at a Beverly Hills jeweler included such items as a $1,650 coffee pot and two $1,250 sterling silver vegetable spoons.
Congratulations, buddy. You're a photo op...
It was the first marriage for Humphries, who last played for the NBA's New Jersey Nets, and the second for Kardashian, who was married to music producer Damon Thomas from 2000 to 2004. Kardashian's sisters and TV co-stars Kourtney Kardashian, 32, and Khloe Kardashian, 27, served as co-maids of honor.
My Celebrity Bimbo wife divorced me...I play for the Nets...and we're locked out. Where's my vodka.
Kim Kardashian and Humphries began dating late last year and announced their engagement in May. He proposed on bended knee with a 20.5-carat ring by spelling out "Will you marry me?" in rose petals.
...and then she reeled him in.
The couple's marriage was the subject of a two-part special on E! Entertainment Television, which televises Kardashian's show that follows the model and her family. Entertainment media have breathlessly reported every available detail on the relationship, including signs of trouble earlier this month.
I am soooo glad I got rid of cable...
Court filings show that Kardashian signed the petition on Sunday. Kardashian's divorce attorney, Laura Wasser, did not return a phone message seeking comment. Humphries' sports agent, Marc Cornstein, also did not return a phone message.
He was no saint, but I wonder how fast her father spins in his grave? It probably sounds like a jet engine...
Posted by: Fred || 11/02/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Fu*kin Kartrashian.
Everything thats wrong with women, all in one woman!
Posted by: Mikey Hunt || 11/02/2011 1:02 Comments || Top||

#2  No NBA contract so no money to leach.
Posted by: Water Modem || 11/02/2011 4:13 Comments || Top||

#3  Kardashians are a fake people, created by using massive amounts of make-up and other items such as plastic spoons, creating a recognizable unnatural color and facial structures. Their behavior is modeled after the worst of humanities aspects such as conflict and lust for the past.



It is also a name for a species of bad guys in the Star Trek Universe/Deep Space Nine.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 11/02/2011 7:47 Comments || Top||

#4  No NBA contract so no money to leach.

Yeah, right. Like she would marry some poor SoB.
Posted by: Eohippus Phater7165 || 11/02/2011 9:44 Comments || Top||

#5  Hey, Kate and William got a big ratings boost from the royal wedding - why shouldn't Kim? [/snark]
Posted by: lotp || 11/02/2011 10:53 Comments || Top||

#6  Who?
Posted by: Barbara || 11/02/2011 11:05 Comments || Top||

#7  "Do you think my husband makes my butt look big"?

Shall we make a wager as to whether or not the wedding gifts get returned to their gracious guests?
Posted by: Jeque Hupairong2828 || 11/02/2011 12:40 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Newark flight makes emergency landing in Poland
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 11/02/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I thought Polish Airlines always landed like that?
Gotta go...
Posted by: tu3031 || 11/02/2011 0:02 Comments || Top||

#2  From the end of the article: The airline said it aims to offer quality of service and value for money. The thrills are free!
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 11/02/2011 0:28 Comments || Top||

#3  That was a professional Pilot and a well designed craft.
This is not a joke. It is a two hour decision, and the commander rode it in and style like a goose.

Everything went right, and no-one was hurt.
Just awesome is any commander that does that just that fast. Two hours is pressure with that many souls.
Posted by: newc || 11/02/2011 1:34 Comments || Top||

#4  Outstanding plan and execution.

I would add a red carpet slide into a limo for the crew, escort straight to the nearest vodka bar. Beers around for the tower staff and runway tenders.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 11/02/2011 8:02 Comments || Top||

#5  The LOT Polish Airlines flight, which had been due to land at 1:35 p.m. local time, circled above the airport for an hour before coming down in a belly landing

Burning down the last of their fuel in case of a fire as well making whatever efforts to free the landing gear, one supposes.
Posted by: lotp || 11/02/2011 10:57 Comments || Top||

#6  I would think that even a few hundred gallons could very well be a huge concern. Is that so? Could the airplane safely jettison the last of its fuel in a field at the end of the runway? When they are down to zero fuel, they only have one chance to land.

And they were probably considering alternatives to lowering the landing gear, like gravity maneuvers to get it unstuck, alternately trying to raise and lower it, alternate power sources, sending Steven Seagal into the landing gear compartment, etc..
Posted by: gorb || 11/02/2011 11:27 Comments || Top||

#7  It looked like an good landing to me, and it was as everyone walked away from it. It might even be a great landing if they can use the plane again!
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 11/02/2011 13:43 Comments || Top||

#8  Could the airplane safely jettison the last of its fuel in a field at the end of the runway?

I've been on board one plane that needed to dump fuel before landing. In that case they dumped the fuel up in the air. FWIW
Posted by: lotp || 11/02/2011 14:10 Comments || Top||

#9  In my "interesting" landing, they flew around with the undercarriage down for about 2 hours.

Was a bumpy flight.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 11/02/2011 19:06 Comments || Top||

#10  Good landing, hell. That was a damn fine landing!

I expected some bounce/scrape/skew - it was as smooth as a baby's bottom.

Speaking of bottoms, I'd be kissing that pilot's if I'd been on that plane.
Posted by: Barbara || 11/02/2011 20:11 Comments || Top||

#11  Suspect that after a couple of tries to get the gear down, they left the handle alone as a 3 up and locked landing is better than 2 down and maybe locked, one I dunno situation.
that was one beeyoutifull landing; kind of like the Airbus in the Hudson, only at extremely low tide.

and yep, i bet the bird flies again.
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 11/02/2011 22:52 Comments || Top||


Britain
Wikileaks' Julian Assange loses extradition appeal
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has failed in his appeal against extradition from the UK to Sweden over allegations of rape and sexual assault.

Two judges at the High Court in London decided that a previous ruling in favour of extradition must be upheld.

Swedish authorities want him to answer accusations of raping one woman and sexually molesting and coercing another in Stockholm last year.

Mr Assange's lawyers say they will appeal at the Supreme Court.

They have 14 days to bring the case to the highest court in the land, on the grounds that it raises issues of general public importance.

However, Mr Assange's legal team will first need to seek permission from the High Court to launch the appeal.
Posted by: tipper || 11/02/2011 07:26 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Anything but face the Music.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 11/02/2011 8:01 Comments || Top||

#2  Especially when the music is ABBA.
Posted by: Eohippus Phater7165 || 11/02/2011 9:48 Comments || Top||

#3 
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 11/02/2011 16:55 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Mexico soldiers seize catapults used to fling pot
HERMOSILLO, Mexico (AP) — The Mexican army says soldiers have seized two catapults that were being used by drug smugglers to fling packages of marijuana across the border into Arizona.

A military statement Tuesday says an anonymous tip led troops to a house in the border city of Agua Prieta where they found a catapult in the bed of a pickup truck and another inside the house.

It says soldiers also seized 1.4 tons (1.3 metric tons of marijuana) during Monday's raid in Agua Prieta, which is across the border from Douglas, Arizona.

Mexican troops also seized two catapults in the area last January. Authorities said then that it was the first time they had seen this smuggling method used by local traffickers.
Posted by: Korora || 11/02/2011 08:49 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I guess a trebuchet would be overkill.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 11/02/2011 11:10 Comments || Top||

#2  And a tunnel would undermine the whole point.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/02/2011 11:52 Comments || Top||

#3  Wait til they start using drones.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 11/02/2011 11:57 Comments || Top||

#4  Potapults?
Posted by: gorb || 11/02/2011 12:59 Comments || Top||

#5  A baloon and a parachute seems the best answer, wait for the wind to be right, put a camera on the package and a cell phone with a Naloon-Popper, You've got it made
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 11/02/2011 16:23 Comments || Top||


Mexican court orders preventative detention for Villareal
exclusive from Rantburg
For a map, click here
You can read previous Rantburg articles on the Moreira debt scandal here, here, here,
here and here


By Chris Covert

Javier Villareal, a Coahuila state official enmeshed in a growing controversy over public debt contract was ordered by a Coahuila state court to preventative detention Tuesday, according to Mexican news accounts.

The order is the second sudden turn in a scandal that could bring down one of the most politically powerful men in Mexico, Humberto Moreria Valdes, who is formerly the governor of Coahula during a time of massive and unprecedented public debt growth during his terms.

Moreira is currently leader of Partido Revolucionario Institutional (PRI) the largest and most powerful political entity in Mexico.

Preventative detention is a device used by Mexican state and federal prosecutors when they want a defendant available as they investigate criminal acts. Preventative detention, colloquially known as "rooting" is actually an arraignment order for a set time, except the defendant is not allowed bail or a hearing.

Preventative detention is typically used against high profile drug traffickers and corrupt government officials.

Preventative detention is not usually used unless a prosecutor is certain crimes alleged have been in fact committed.

Villareal must appear before the court by Wednesday to abide by the order.

Villareal was detained by Coahuila state prosecutors suddenly last Friday, and he spent about 15 hours in a Saltillo, Coahuila prison before being released. Although no official details have been disclosed surrounding his early Saturday morning release, Villareal's attorney, Eduardo Amerena, told El Diario de Coahuila daily newspaper Friday that Villareal posted bail in the amount of MP $10.00 (USD $0.77).

Villareal is under investigation for his role in a debt transaction with two banks, Santander and Baijo, last March in which he allegedly used a false decree of the Coahuila state legislature authorizing bonds issued by the two banks in the amounts totalling MP $3 billion.

Villareal became chief of the Coahuila state Sistema de Administración Tributaria de Coahuila (SATEC) state tax collection system in 2007, the year Moreira became president and about two years into the run up in Coahuila public debt.

Troubles for Villareal and others involved in the scandal became deeper as a Tuesday article in Reforma daily newspaper revealed that Villareal and his faily had purchase several lots of real estate in Brownsville, Texas since 2008.

In a summary of the Reforma article, the Mexican political news website, Animal Politico, reported a complaint last June by unidentified Coahuila state Partido Accion Nacional (PAN) officials charging Villareal with unjust enrichment, was filed with the Procuradora General de la Republlica (PGR) or the Mexican national attorney general's office. It is not detailed in the Tuesday post how officials in the PGR handled the complaint at the time.

The property in question included 10 lots of both commercial and residential property. One example cited in the Animal Politico news website post included a property at 780 South Central Avenue in Brownsville, said to be worth USD $190,740.00. That property was said to be owned by Paola Villareal, sister of Javier.

That property is listed online as a 2,500 square foot, 3 bed room residence.
Posted by: badanov || 11/02/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
Gaza-bound flotilla 'Freedom Waves' leaves Turkey
Two boats set sail from the Turkish port of Fethiye on 2 November, bound for the Gaza Strip in another activist attempt to break the Israeli siege on the Palestinian territory.

The two boats, one Irish and one Canadian, were supposed to carry some 50 activists and journalists from around the world in an attempt to draw attention to the isolation Gaza has suffered since 2007. The number was reduced to about 25 at the port in Fethiye due to complications with Turkish bureaucracy.

The Canadian boat is carrying US$30,000 in medical aid.

Amid cheers from activists at the port, the Canadian boat, Tahrir, departed at 2 pm local time. The activists who were left behind due to bureaucratic reasons, cheered and greeted fellow activists on board, asked them to bring back postcards from Gaza and to take care of themselves.

“Stay human,” shouted David Heap, a member of the boat’s steering committee, echoing the words of Vittorio Arrigoni, an Italian Gaza solidarity activist who was murdered in April.

The flotilla, called “Freedom Waves” by the organizers, is the latest in a string of activist efforts to break the Israeli siege on Gaza. The last flotilla effort, in July, was prevented leaving the port in Greece by authorities in that country. Activists dubbed it “Israeli outsourcing” of the Gaza blockade.

The two boats set sail separately but plan to meet in international waters.

"I am ecstatic that we are out of port. Hopefully both ships will get to Gaza and we will show the world that we can break the siege," said Kit Kittredge, an American activist on board.

Unlike previous flotillas, the organizers this time had decided to keep the mission secret until they reached international waters. And although they left from a Turkish port, they had no plans of coordinating with any state as they wanted to keep their action entirely civilian-based.

“We don't want to find out whether the Turkish government would feel some pressure to stop us. Our preference is not to engage any state actor. We're civil society and we prefer to act with as little interference as possible with state actors, even if that state, like Turkey, has taken a constructive approach in isolating Israel,” said Heap, who sits on the steering committee of the Canadian boat, which is called Tahrir.

In September 2011, Turkey expelled Israel's ambassador after the government in Tel Aviv refused to apologize for killing nine activists aboard the Turkish Mavi Marmara boat attacked by Israeli troops as it tried to break the siege on Gaza in June 2010. The attack caused a diplomatic rift between the two countries, which had previously had strong military and economic ties.

Organizers have made sure to keep the current trip secretive after reports emerged that the engine of one of the boats in a 10-ship flotilla that was supposed to set sail in July was sabotaged. The perpetrators of the sabotage went unknown, but most suspected Israel’s involvement.

Meanwhile, the Canadian delegation to the flotilla insisted on setting sail again in November. “We always said we will sail again, especially since we already own the boat; we have the main asset. In September there was a lot of attention on Palestine for political and diplomatic reasons. We felt it was important to keep pressure up,” Heap said.

The boat was acquired right after the Mavi Marmara incident, when Canadian activists insisted on acquiring a boat and attempting to break the siege again.

“People dug into their pockets, some stopped me on the street and gave me five dollars, others signed checks of US$5000. The Canadian boat is owned by all these people,” Heap said.

Besides the Canadian delegation, activists from Australia, the US and Denmark are part of the mission, as well as journalists from Al Jazeera, the independent New York-based program Democracy Now!, and the Iranian state-run Press TV.

Hassan Ghani of Press TV joined the Tahrir boat for his third trip on board a Gaza-bound solidarity flotilla. He was on board the Mavi Marimara when it was attacked in 2010.

“If I am not there I will feel a bit empty inside,” Ghani said. “There is always a possibility that there could be that one major flotilla that breaks through. I see it as one of those waves, and it's important to cover it because it's going to happen and people should know about it.”
Posted by: Sherry || 11/02/2011 15:21 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


Dominique Strauss-Kahn scandal to be made into pr0n film
FRENCH producers are planning to make a porn film about the scandal surrounding former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn and his alleged sexual assault of a New York hotel maid.

Porn star Roberto Malone will play the lead character, "David Sex King" while Sandra Romain will play his wife, and Katia De Lys will portray the hotel maid, The Local reported.

The production company, My Porn Productions, is asking members of the public to help fund the project, which has the working title DXK.
For those of you who always wanted to see your name up on the silver screen, this sounds too good an opportunity to miss.
The firm calls on people to donate a minimum of €50 ($US68) toward the movie's €200,000 production costs. In return, donors will have their names included in the credits and receive an invitation to the film's premiere. The producers said DXK will be a parody of the scandal that saw Mr Strauss-Kahn accused of sexually assaulting hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo. New York prosecutors eventually dropped the criminal charges against him amid doubts about Ms Diallo's credibility, but she is suing Mr Strauss-Kahn for damages.
Posted by: phil_b || 11/02/2011 15:05 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It might be worth it as in a years time 50 Euros will be wroth nuffink.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 11/02/2011 15:46 Comments || Top||

#2  So it's going to be a short story?
Posted by: Eohippus Phater7165 || 11/02/2011 15:48 Comments || Top||


Suspicious fire guts offices of French satirical magazine
PARIS — The offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which published a special Arab Spring edition today with the prophet Mohammed as guest "editor", were gutted in a petrol bomb attack overnight, police said. Charlie Hebdo published a special edition Wednesday to mark the Arab Spring, renaming the magazine Charia (Sharia) Hebdo for the occasion.

The cover showed a cartoon of the prophet stating: "100 lashes if you don't die of laughter!"

The depiction of the prophet is strictly prohibited in Islam.

A witness at the scene, Patrick Pelloux, told AFP a molotov cocktail was hurled through the window and set fire to the computer system.

"Everything was destroyed," he said.
They'll be lucky if no one gets killed.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 11/02/2011 03:29 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


Top Greek military leaders dismissed
In a surprise move, on Tuesday evening the defence minister replaced the country's top brass.
This potentially is very big news. The last thing Greece needs right now is the sort of instability that could lead to a coup.
An extraordinary meeting of the Government Council of Foreign Affairs and Defence (Kysea), which comprises the prime minister and other key cabinet members, accepted Defence Minister Panos Beglitis' proposal that the following changes be made to army, navy and air force and the general staff:
  • General Ioannis Giagkos, chief of the Greek National Defence General Staff, to be replaced by Lieutenant General Michalis Kostarakos

  • Lieutenant General Fragkos Fragkoulis, chief of the Greek Army General Staff, to be replaced by lieutenant general Konstantinos Zazias

  • Lieutenant General Vasilios Klokozas, chief of the Greek Air Force, to be replaced by air marshal Antonis Tsantirakis

  • Vice-Admiral Dimitrios Elefsiniotis, chief of the Greek Navy General Staff, to be replaced by Rear-Admiral Kosmas Christidis
It is understood that the personnel changes took many members of the government and of the armed forces by surprise.

The decison drew strong reaction from opposition parties. Main opposition New Democracy (ND) defence spokesman Margaritis Tzimas spoke of "an undemocratic act which is directed against national interest", adding that "at the time when the Pasok government is collapsing, it is proceeding with ... changes in the leadership of the country's armed forces". He said that his party would not recognise the decisions.

The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) called on the minister and the government to give clear explanations to the people on why they replaced the armed forces leadership under these conditions.

The Popular Orthodox Rally (Laos) termed the appointments "politically indecent and morally unacceptable" and added that "a few hours before the government's fall, the leadership of the armed forces has been broken up in its entirety."

Lastly, a Radical Left Coalition (Syriza) official said it was unacceptable for the defence minister to decide on such an important issue at a time when the government is facing collapse.
Note that the government is led by the Socialist Party, and even the commies and radical lefties are unhappy.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/02/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Either to prevent a coup, or to prepare for one.

Your guess is as good as mine.
Posted by: phil_b || 11/02/2011 0:53 Comments || Top||

#2  Don't you mean "to provoke coup by trying to prevent one"?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/02/2011 3:49 Comments || Top||

#3  Will this now ven the playing field with Turkey?
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/02/2011 10:58 Comments || Top||

#4  Not ven, but even. Clearly, I need a nap. :-(
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/02/2011 11:00 Comments || Top||


World stocks plunge on Greek default, eurozone risks
[Dawn] Global stock markets plunged Tuesday after Greece announced a referendum on its latest bailout deal, agreed only last week, putting the hard won accord in jeopardy and Europe in uncharted waters.

Dealers said the announcement late Monday by Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou completely trumped any idea the Greek debt issue could be resolved gradually, so allowing the rest of the eurozone to put its house in order.

The news was even more troubling as it followed weak Asian manufacturing growth data, especially in China, the world's number two economy, which further clouded an already very uncertain outlook.

"The wheels look set to fall off the European bailout effort as the Greek prime minister's call for a referendum sent the market into a tail spin," said ETX Capital trader Manoj Ladwa in London.

The markets have tumbled as investors begin "to factor in an ever increasingly likelihood of a Greek default," Ladwa said.

In London, the benchmark FTSE-100 index of top companies lost 2.21 percent to 5,421.57 points -- but even this sharp loss was better than most others.

In Gay Paree, the CAC-40 slumped 5.38 percent to 3,068.33 points and in Frankfurt, the DAX-30 was down 5.0 percent to 5,834.51 points.

Milan tumbled 6.8 percent and Madrid fell 4.19 percent while Athens, the epicentre of the latest crisis, dropped 6.82 percent.

Italia was especially under pressure as investors looked to cash out at all costs amid increasing fears Rome will need outside help to get through its debt crisis.
Posted by: Fred || 11/02/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So...it's default of the Greeks.
Goodnight everybody. Drive safely.
Posted by: tu3031 || 11/02/2011 0:03 Comments || Top||

#2  My investment managers better have seen this one coming.
Posted by: gorb || 11/02/2011 3:09 Comments || Top||

#3  From a comment at the Telegraph: The referendum will never take place: not because it's been stopped by the Powers That Be, but because it is moot. The very act of calling it has decided the game. Nothing can now be done until after the referendum is held - in a couple of months at the earliest - and by then it will be too late. The eurozone will already have collapsed, one way or the other.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 11/02/2011 3:41 Comments || Top||

#4  Call me when they don't have enough money for "Palestinians".
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/02/2011 3:44 Comments || Top||

#5  They take the pressure and throw away conventiality, belongs to yesterday
Posted by: swksvolFF || 11/02/2011 8:00 Comments || Top||

#6  tu3031 Go to your room.

AH yes, January sometime they say. But they basically have already defaulted.
As the markets drop so go retirements. With everything costing more to live people will not be able to retire. Just keep sending in your money. We will invest it wisely. Give it some time. Be patient. Many people in the system to retire soon. Many people are looking at retirees as a cash cow. I should say many people and governments."Show me the money"; no, give me your money.
Posted by: Dale || 11/02/2011 9:56 Comments || Top||

#7  US financial markets up strongly so far today (several companies reported upside on rev and earnings).
Posted by: Lord Garth || 11/02/2011 10:14 Comments || Top||

#8  Many people in the system to retire soon.
Who withdraw funds which further depresses the markets.

Many people are looking at retirees as a cash cow.
Especially the early dinner buffet line at Luby's. I read that most baby boomers don't plan on leaving anything to their kids. Not that there will be anything left.

Just keep sending in your money. We will invest it wisely. Give it some time. Be patient.
Like when all the baby boomers are dead and buried.
Posted by: Eohippus Phater7165 || 11/02/2011 10:18 Comments || Top||

#9  EP Yes. "Who withdraw funds which further depresses the markets". The flow of money is slowing(since or before 2008). Like our government, they can never get enough. So what do they do? print more. Then make us do with less.
Occupy people want government to manage everything when they are a big part of our problems today.We will reach a reset point; a default and do it again I guess.
Posted by: Dale || 11/02/2011 10:55 Comments || Top||

#10  A few of us baby boomers are trying to do our part in various ways, Eohippus, Fred by publishing Rantburg and others of us by living prudently, saving for our kids and voting wisely.
Posted by: lotp || 11/02/2011 11:38 Comments || Top||

#11  EP "I read that most baby boomers don't plan on leaving anything to their kids. Not that there will be anything left". I have been hearing that for several years now. Bumper stickers saying " I'm Spending The Children's Inheritance". Just to maintain a normal standard of living they are accustomed to is causing them to access retirements(for several years now). Children and grandchildren need help. Co-sign on loans of all types also. Bailout of jail, medical, lawyers, start a new business, divorce, College,move back home; and whatever. So do you give it to them now or later. Life is for the living but nobody said it would be easy. Good job for a Patriarch or Matriarch, hopefully up to the task.
Posted by: Dale || 11/02/2011 12:13 Comments || Top||

#12  Children and grandchildren need help. Co-sign on loans of all types also. Bailout of jail, medical, lawyers, start a new business, divorce, College,move back home; and whatever.

Don't forget the cars.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 11/02/2011 12:44 Comments || Top||

#13  lotp

But the majority of you were the most self-venerating generation ever.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 11/02/2011 13:31 Comments || Top||

#14  Dale

It's because DEBT has been used to cover up the damage caused by taxation on working, saving, employing and investing.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 11/02/2011 13:32 Comments || Top||

#15  Yes, BrightPebbles. And not only were we self-venerating, some of us were also LUCKY enough to select college majors in subjects like computer science or engineering, and lucky enough to avoid getting into immense debt buying McMansions and Porsches. All that good luck obliges us to pay the bills for our unlucky peers.
Posted by: Glenmore || 11/02/2011 13:56 Comments || Top||

#16  lotp - But the majority of you were the most self-venerating generation ever

Some of us not only put in the work for advanced technical degrees, as Glenmore notes, we also allowed our lives and bank accounts to be jerked around by military service.
Posted by: lotp || 11/02/2011 14:26 Comments || Top||

#17  Glenmore

If you're interested I have a degree in computing maths. If you want really your bank account and life jerked around run a business, like I do. Anyway this is getting into a pissing game.

Basically a generation thought (falsely) it found the way to work-free wealth, and did anything to hide the truth from itself.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 11/02/2011 15:15 Comments || Top||

#18  I've got a brain the size of a planet and they've got me parking cars.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 11/02/2011 15:39 Comments || Top||

#19  Snowy you had to say that. I have a family relation that graduated from an Ivy league school with a law degree. He then parked cars for two years saying he was making more money doing that than starting out in practice. So he said anyway. He now works in law however.

BP with your skills do you feel you have more control. Seems there is always something to do or worry about.
Posted by: Dale || 11/02/2011 15:55 Comments || Top||

#20  I know some people like that - who feel that they don't need to work and continually suck on the public teat.

Totally F**king Useless - except to produce that Democratic Vote every 2 years.

Ann Rynd called them the 'moochers'.

Unfortunately they (just like in Greece) will have to learn the 1st law of parasites: Do Not Kill The Host.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 11/02/2011 16:20 Comments || Top||

#21  If it makes the rest of you feel any better, those baby boomers who haven't been successfully provident are now getting retirement jobs as McDonald's counter people and WalMart greeters, leaving ever fewer jobs for the college kids. But the truly selfish generation was the so-called Silent Generation, those who were children during WWII, who benefitted from the lumps of populations both before and after them -- and from the heyday of the unions and the social security surpluses to vote themselves all sorts of benefits beyond what they paid in. The baby boomers really only started garnering power on the national stage about fifteen years ago -- Bill Clinton was only elected president in 1992, right? And his predecessors had all fought in the second world war.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/02/2011 18:09 Comments || Top||

#22  Dale: while looking for an explanatory video I found this instead:

Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 11/02/2011 18:30 Comments || Top||

#23  BEWARE of Greeks bearing bad bonds!!
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 11/02/2011 18:36 Comments || Top||

#24  In the background (1:08) the other Ark B types are working out the important task of what colour their invention "the Wheel" should be.

Marvin the Paranoid Android was also invented before Microsoft invented Clippy. Which is rather prescient don't you think?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 11/02/2011 18:41 Comments || Top||

#25  Not really, Microsoft tried to copy the idea, but they screwed things up and made him cheerful.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 11/02/2011 18:50 Comments || Top||

#26  BP,
No p*ssing contest intended. As a generalization I completely agree with you. It just bothers me that I have to be associated with so many f**king 'unlucky' peers.
Posted by: Glenmore || 11/02/2011 19:15 Comments || Top||

#27  I partially agree. But for every Baby Boomer out smoking dope, screwing around and thinking s/he had invented freedom and morality (both ... LOL), there was another Boomer quietly going about building a decent life in a small business or a small town or in uniform until Clinton hollowed out the military. The others got all the publicity, tho. And they certainly did a lot of self-promotion.
Posted by: lotp || 11/02/2011 20:21 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
China a minimal cyber security threat: Paper
So sez the hacked version of the paper, anyway...
Posted by: Creregum Glolump8403 || 11/02/2011 07:47 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  “[China has] evinced little proficiency with more sophisticated hacking techniques,” the paper reads. “The viruses and Trojan Horses they have used have been fairly easy to detect and remove before any damage has been done or data stolen. There is no evidence that China’s cyber-warriors can penetrate highly secure networks or covertly steal or falsify critical data.

My. Aren't we superior.

Whatever they're doing, it's working.

What does that say about our actual vs. imaginary "defensive" capabilities? Our actual vs. imaginary offensive capabilities?

They're installing trojans in hardware and USB devices.

They're investing dollars to steal billions of technology.

This paper is wishful thinking.
Posted by: gorb || 11/02/2011 13:04 Comments || Top||

#2  There is no evidence that China’s cyber-warriors can penetrate highly secure networks or covertly steal or falsify critical data.

Their cyber-warriors don't have to penetrate anything when they're selling us all of our computers. You're telling me you understand every little bit of firmware that goes into those things? Hell, they're even selling us our SSL certificates now. This guy is delusional.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 11/02/2011 13:18 Comments || Top||

#3  Iff one can't do a certain thingy, one gets or pays someone(s) else to do it.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/02/2011 22:51 Comments || Top||

#4  See also CHINA DAILY FORUM > BRITISH AIDE ACCUSES CHINA, RUSSIA OVER CYBER ATTACKS, + NEW CYBERATTCK ON JAPAN PARLIAMENT [upper Diet Chamber], believed to be from same China-based server as in previous.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/02/2011 22:53 Comments || Top||


Um, is this a bad idea?
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/02/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I don't see anything wrong wi...VOOOOOSH!
Posted by: tu3031 || 11/02/2011 0:06 Comments || Top||

#2  Guam Taotamonas + Nostradamus strike again.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/02/2011 1:44 Comments || Top||

#3  They're going to have to assure an absolute vacuum for success. How about using the space between Obean's ears?
Posted by: gorb || 11/02/2011 3:08 Comments || Top||

#4  Capable of producing a beam of light so intense that it would be equivalent to the power received by the Earth from the sun

I hates science reporters!
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/02/2011 3:54 Comments || Top||

#5  cost an estimated £1 billion. Although the location for the facility will not be decided until next year, the UK is among several European countries in the running to host it.

I makes $ sense for depressed economies esp. if others are paying the majority of the cost.
Posted by: Water Modem || 11/02/2011 4:10 Comments || Top||

#6  FYI RUMORMILLNEWS > [Video] RICHARD C. HOAGLAND SAYS ASTEROID 2005 YU55 MAY HIT/IMPACT THE MOON ON 11/09th. Asteroid path updates leads Hoagland to conclude that YU 55 may come as close as 50,000 from Earth, between the Earth + Moon, + NOT 250,000 as originally forecasted.

D *** NG IT, HOAGLAND, 2011 = NOT 2030!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/02/2011 6:36 Comments || Top||

#7  ...anticipating Daleks or Reapers?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/02/2011 8:30 Comments || Top||

#8  "Dantooine is too remote for an effective demonstration."
Posted by: Korora || 11/02/2011 9:23 Comments || Top||

#9  This laser is now the ultimate power in the universe! I suggest we use it...
Posted by: DarthVader || 11/02/2011 10:22 Comments || Top||

#10  Yes, a bad idea.
Posted by: newc || 11/02/2011 15:30 Comments || Top||

#11  Professor Wolfgang Sandner...said: "We are taught to think of the vacuum as empty space, but it seems even a true vacuum is filled with pairs of molecules that come into our universe for an extremely short time."

Oh, I'll bet he didn't. Molecules?
Posted by: Angie Schultz || 11/02/2011 20:58 Comments || Top||

#12  This has 'ACME' written all over it.
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 11/02/2011 22:59 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Hot chicks of Occupy Wall Street
Posted by: tipper || 11/02/2011 17:49 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I find the front-page Rantburg ladeez more attractive.
Posted by: Bobby || 11/02/2011 18:41 Comments || Top||

#2  There's a certain something lacking. I prefer the police woman.
Posted by: Glenmore || 11/02/2011 19:06 Comments || Top||

#3 
Posted by: tu3031 || 11/02/2011 21:50 Comments || Top||

#4  So how many of them are willing to gather and split wood or cut up a fish for dinner. They better learn because they may need the skill set soon.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 11/02/2011 22:46 Comments || Top||


Posted by: || 11/02/2011 10:22 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


Posted by: || 11/02/2011 10:09 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Culture Wars
Opulent Homes of the "99 Percent"
Representatives of "the 99 percent" have been camping out in lower Manhattan to protest economic inequality since late September, but the riches on display at some of their home addresses clearly came from "1 percent" families.

We searched Google Maps and the real estate Multiple Listing Service for the home addresses police collected during the arrests of less-than-law-abiding New York City "occupiers," and found dream homes aplenty. These opulent houses include in-ground swimming pools, manicured lawns, and golf course access.

Frustrated with the rich? Tell a protester. Isn't life rough?
Posted by: Beavis || 11/02/2011 06:20 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Spoiled Brats one and all.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 11/02/2011 8:02 Comments || Top||

#2  Yeah man, I live in a hole in the side of a hill. It just happens to be finished, plumbed, and have sliding glass door access to a pool and two fridge kitchen above it...but its still a hole in the ground, damn bankers! Hoooo!

So what is with the costuming? Are they what they think the vandals looked like, for those who know Rome is more than what one does in the coffee house district?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 11/02/2011 8:13 Comments || Top||

#3  Fits the pattern. Bill Ayers was the son of the CEO of Commonwealth Edison. None of the Weather Underground were what anyone would call deprived. Instead a good portion of these protesters seem the be the untalented sons and daughters of the 1% they claim to be protesting. Then, I see the protests as a way for the leadership (as it is) to remain in the elite strata of American society and not fall into the middle or lower classes that they claim to represent yet so disdain.
Posted by: Eohippus Phater7165 || 11/02/2011 9:23 Comments || Top||

#4  Me and the missus should be this destitute.
Posted by: JohnQC || 11/02/2011 10:43 Comments || Top||

#5  Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances unless the people don’t obtain a permit, don’t stay where we tell you to, stay later than we’d like, smell bad, make noise, have uncombed hair, have any money or a nice house, have an Insane Clown Posse tattoo, live in your mama’s basement, or upset our new global government leaders in any way shape or form.
Posted by: Jeque Hupairong2828 || 11/02/2011 13:06 Comments || Top||

#6  I see it as this...

The wasteful kids of the Productive have been given money by their parents and never earned it.

This develops the same damaging neoteny and entitlement complex that the welfare state creates. It's a grown up having a tantrum.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 11/02/2011 13:20 Comments || Top||

#7  I have an engineering undergrad and an MBA in Finance and am smart and educated enough to know when we're being screwed by a thoroughly crooked racket on Wall Street.
Posted by: Jeque Hupairong2828 || 11/02/2011 13:38 Comments || Top||

#8  I should say I'm smart enough.

And I reserve the right to take my pitchfork out and peaceably assemble whether I have the right qualifications to peaceably assemble or not.
Posted by: Jeque Hupairong2828 || 11/02/2011 13:45 Comments || Top||

#9  I live near a town with a lot of "trust fund babies"
They live in large houses and mansions, all paid out of the family trust. Their lives seem to revolve around music festivals and pot. Most have a BMW out front and a VW Kombie with peace signs out the back.
The majority spout deep Green politics and are always good for a demonstration against anything they perceive as hurting Ghia.
I was talking to a female of the species a few weeks ago in the pub and I asked her what was the attraction of these demonstrations and she said "Tipper what you have to understand is that when we are charging the police, it's better than sex"
I just don't get it.
Posted by: tipper || 11/02/2011 14:26 Comments || Top||

#10  For a number this is the first real physical activity in their life, adrenal rush, feeling of accomplishment, natural opiate, in addition to whatever else is floating about. I get that.

They want their voice heard, to have their story to tell, their own stick it to the man story, that we the people have the right to assemble. I get that too.

They have gone their life preaching flowers and peace and are finding out they have been full of shit as they find their sub-human chants and charges. They are full of shit because they are not cheering for freedom but actively interviewing for the job of government, and like every other job they have applied for they are failing. Sorry the tattoo business didn't explode like you wished, sorry the restaraunt owner didn't want a chef who looked like s/he just crawled out of the garbage disposal, sorry you blew a bunch of money on an unrequired college eductation with nothing to show for it.

What I am sorry about is that the true grievences are overshadowed by the carnival, the communists, the dense, the stoned, the naieve. I am sorry they feel their right to assemble is more important than everyone else's right to assemble. I am sorry they are waiving their pitchforks at the wrong house.

See, there is only one organization which forces me to spend money and buy shit I don't need, and that is government. My city taxes me, I see the results. My county, usually do as well. My state, suddenly my money purchases a new stadium lighting system at blah-state university and, subsidizes the university educations already dammit. Then there is the Federal. It does some good things, it does a lot of bullshit.

My health insurance has nearly doubled since 2008 - not the corporation's fault, and if they are getting more than they honorably should it is the fed which gave them the cover and lack of regulation to do so.

Every time minimum wage is raised it makes products more expensive/overseas production more appealing.

Not gonna play ball with the fed, they shut your ass down. Why not somewhere where all they want is their cut and they leave you alone.

Banks are so regulated and audited that an eff-up there is the regulators being incompetent or in cahoots with the fed. Take my money for Government Motors, well horseshit, that is being forced to buy a corporation's product and it ain't GM doing it.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 11/02/2011 15:09 Comments || Top||

#11  ION CHINA DAILY FORUM > AFTER SEVEN WEEKS, OWS STILL GOING STRONG.

and

* SAME > OWS FINDS MONEY BRINGS PROBLEMS TOO.

Paying daily camp. etc. costs while attempting to set up non-profit orgz = status.

* SAME > FOX: TEN SIGNS THAT AMERICANS ARE ANGRIER THAN EVER.

E.g. Resisting Police + stealing whole or large herds of farm animals at a time.

* SAME > NYC AUTHORITIES REMOVE FUEL, GENERATORS FROM OWS SITE [Zuccotti Park].

Meanwhile, certain major Unions' Bosses are repor calling on their Membership to prepare to seize Bridges + Banks, etc. in new mass actions of "more Militancy" in case the various OWS Protests fail, which many Analysts + Bloggers ultimately believe it will???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/02/2011 22:43 Comments || Top||

#12  Make complete sense now, spoiled rich kids rebelling against their parents.
Posted by: Creregum Glolump8403 || 11/02/2011 23:06 Comments || Top||


Colorado voters reject raising taxes to support education
In what could be a harbinger of the 2012 election, Colorado voters Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected a measure that would have raised nearly $3 billion for education by temporarily increasing state income, sales and use taxes. With 59% of the projected vote counted, Proposition 103 was trailing 65% to 35%, the News Agency that Dare Not be Named reported.
Posted by: Fred || 11/02/2011 02:10 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I've lived where the government threatened deep cuts to the school system unless the voters approved some funding measures. They got crushed. And lo, the educational system didn't suffer more than token cuts. The politicians use this to raise money and then they add it to the slush fund and forget where it came from. Fuc& 'em. Education was never this expensive before, and it was far better than until recently. I don't know why they need so much money.They could do so much more to run things efficiently, but they don't. Things like "half days" of school once a week. Doesn't do anything to reduce the transportation costs, and the school still needs to start up and shut down! No real savings. And it interferes with the parents' work day. To prove they are working as efficiently as they know how, they make a big show out of writing on the backs of scrap paper and other inefficient cost-saving measures just to show everyone how hard they are working to save money. Everyone sufferes except the politicians at the top who are laughing all the way to their cronies' banks. Restrictive legislation and regulations that prohibit the schools from doing things that make sense, like requiring me, a parent, to fill out a CORI form before I can bring store-bought cake and cookies into the school and help the teacher with a Halloween party in full view of all the teachers and a myriad of students. They don't work with the parents to establish an alternative to expensive bussing. They hire full-time assistants who have some kind of degree to help hand out pencils and keep the kids in line in grade school and don't allow parents to come in and volunteer to help with classes. They assign useless homework like pasting a bunch of pictures that represent their likes and dislikes on the outsides of a box, which ends up taking a day or two away from learning RR&R. Of course that's good 'cause someone with one of them thar degrees sez so. They spend weeks out of the year focused on skewing their grades higher on standardized tests rather than teach useful material, then the next year the school wonders why the students are taking several weeks longer than it normally takes to achieve proficiency in math. And over a third of the time they are on some kind of break or recess or "relaxing" activity.

Why feed a broken system? My kids learn more from me at night than they learn in six or seven hours of school each day. I swear we'd be better off to pull our kids out of school to teach them in a neighborhood basement.
Posted by: gorb || 11/02/2011 10:45 Comments || Top||

#2  "temporarily increasing state income, sales and use taxes"

With gummint, there is no temporary tax increase.

Glad to see Colorado voters aren't suicidal.

Now get rid of the lying clowns who came up with this idea.
Posted by: Barbara || 11/02/2011 11:04 Comments || Top||

#3  I swear we'd be better off to pull our kids out of school to teach them in a neighborhood basement.

Teach 'em something practical like welding, carpentry, auto shop, computer science, cosmetology, and home economics. You know, the kind of stuff that actually helps a kid get a job.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 11/02/2011 13:23 Comments || Top||

#4  How about asking parents to pay for thier own childrens education?

They might start to value it instead of just using it as a creche so one can work?

They might also start to demand some quality teachers.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 11/02/2011 13:38 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
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Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2011-11-02
  Viktor Bout found guilty by NY NY court!
Tue 2011-11-01
  Unesco gives Palestinians full membership, U.S. pulls funding
Mon 2011-10-31
  Egypt brokers another truce to halt Gaza fighting
Sun 2011-10-30
  Saudi Court Jails 'al-Qaida Lady' for 15 Years
Sat 2011-10-29
  13 American troops killed in Kabul suicide car bomb attack
Fri 2011-10-28
  13 More Drone-zapped in South Wazoo
Thu 2011-10-27
  Drone strike 'kills five Taliban commanders' in South Waziristan
Wed 2011-10-26
  15 Dead as Yemen Truce Fails
Tue 2011-10-25
  U.S. pulls out envoy to Syria
Mon 2011-10-24
  Interior Minister escapes suicide kaboom on trip to Panjshir
Sun 2011-10-23
  Libyan Leader Declares Nation Islamic, Sharia Law to be Implemented
Sat 2011-10-22
  Qaddafi on display in shopping center freezer
Fri 2011-10-21
  Libyan fighters hoist govt flag above captured Sirte
Thu 2011-10-20
  Qadaffy titzup
Wed 2011-10-19
  Libyans push into Qaddafi hometown from east


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