This Dilbert poll is a bit old (2006) but it shows an interesting pattern. The results of the other categories show that the majority of responders were typically left of center, but in the category of Weaseliest Reporting, this same group chose Moore #1 and the Times # 2. Seems like even the libs have limits.
Householders as far afield as East Sussex, Essex and Suffolk said they felt the tremor, which measured 4.3 on the Richter scale and disrupted power supplies in southern England.
The British Geological Survey placed the epicentre of the quake 7.5 miles off the Dover coast.
#3
Not surprising at all, NS, given that the seismic desigm criteria there is pretty light.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/28/2007 21:08 Comments ||
Top||
#4
we're in Seismic Zone 4 in the UBC, gotta learn the IBC - it's coming on line soon. That's the heaviest seismic zone factoring - laterally about 30%+ of the dead weight has to be accomodated at a SF of 150%
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/28/2007 21:18 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Did anybody check to see if Rosie, Michael Moore, or Big Al were in merry old England this morning?
#2
WAFF.com Poster > What about BANGLADESH? Belabeled as INDIA/SOUTH ASIA's "AFRICA" for its dire problems. *KOREAN HERALD/WORLDNEWS/
STRATEGYPAGE > I6Milyuuuhn NORTH KOREANS IMMUNIZED FOR MEASLES OUTBREAK. More anticipated becuz Pyongyang may NOT be aware of true magnitude of epidemic, + possible related = follow-on [non-Measles]epidemics.
#5
No wonder between Pakistan and Afghanistan the Islamic madrassas are operating full steam ahead, brainwashing the younger generation to the terrorist ways of jihad.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
04/28/2007 5:14 Comments ||
Top||
#6
I was wondering what was the break down between male and female if this was the total literacy rate. According to the CIA factbook, literacy defined as those age 15 and over who can read and write, is:
Pakistan
total population: 48.7%
male: 61.7%
female: 35.2% (2004 est.)
Afghanistan
total population: 36%
male: 51%
female: 21% (1999 est.)
I'm surprised that, thanks to the Taleban, a quarter of the women can read. Now I'm left wondering why census takers, in both cases, had to estimate the number of literate women.
#11
I don't know the stats here in the states, but I think it would be rather scary to learn them;
I work in a hospital, and hardly any of the patients understand English where I work. They don't read in their own language either, some don't know how to write their names, or seem not to understand what a signature is. Not just illegals, but folks here from Somalia, Ethiopia et all. After having their American baby, they go to sign up for benefits, and not being able to read they have the paperwork done for them. We are allowing folks to get by without being educated it seems.
Our United States is fast becoming a third world country with the high drop out rate in our schools among other programs. Our representatives by trying to do the right thing here are turning a blind eye to what's actually happening and it's disasterous. We are being laughed at and taken advantage of ridiculously so.
I see this as a major corrosive attacking us from within.
Soon we'll be seeing folks with flies on their faces here in America.
Posted by: Jan ||
04/28/2007 14:03 Comments ||
Top||
#12
#11 -- consequences of "anything goes" immigration and border policies, which the electorate seems to strongly oppose, and which our Ruling Class seems to be pushing for very strongly. Qualifying only the literate to be eligible to apply for citizenship or permanent residency would be a step in the right direction.
I don't know what to do about a population (that of the US) which is losing interest in literacy and its benefits.
#13
Notice how endemic illiteracy seems to accompany a near total lack of industrial development. Especially repugnant is the Islamic practice of keeping women illiterate. In light of how women raise the children, a vast opportunity for home schooling is lost. This affects all children, male and female alike. Such is the subtle punishment that Islam brings upon itself. Although I'm confident that clerics find an illiterate flock much easier to control, much like serfs of the Middle Ages.
Research has already been done showing that reading stimulates regions of the brain which are used to execute the most complex tasks. Illiteracy directly impoverishes this faculty. Consider how badly synaptic and dendritic growth can be inhibited by a near-total lack of stimulation. While the impact is most dramatic in pestholes like Islamic countries, the effects are being seen in America as well.
Lack of literary tradition is rapidly becoming a de facto standard. I know more than one person who has not read a single book in years, if not decades. Many people I know limit their perusal to a specific genre. While they still receive some of the neurochemical benefits conferred by reading, the scope of information content that they encounter is extremely limited.
Voracious reading is one of the healthiest mental excercises there is. It encourages intellectual synthesis, critical analysis and a host of other high order mental activities. Doing crossword puzzles another occupation of mine is one of the few other pastimes that reinforces similar faculties. Both pasttimes are widely recognized as promoting an "evergreen mind" which will exhibit the greatest resistance to Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia.
#14
I wonder what percentage of them can't count either.
This is referred to as "innumeracy" and resulted in cash registers with pictures on the keys. Many modern children are unable to read time from an analog clock's dial. Most people I know are unable to perform simple four function math in their heads. I have often been called "computer brain" for my ability to closely calculate or guess three and four figure sums and so forth.
Hand held calculators have played a big role in diminishing this faculty and it affects a person's ability to estimate quantities or rapidly count groups of objects. This translates into less effective pattern recognition and generates a cascade effect of increasingly diminished high order mental functions. The end result is adults with a grade school level of functionality.
#16
Mr. Wife used to be a voracious reader -- we introduced each other to to the non-intersecting sets of our libraries, such as they then were, although I never managed to appreciate the Russian authors properly. But he reads so much for his job -- memos, articles, technical books -- that he has little desire to do more of the same on his own time. I can't imagine he is unusual in this. We both look forward to him resuming pleasure reading when he retires.
Basic counting and arithmetic skills are more easily absorbed than reading -- a child can buy a candy bar out of its allowance long before it can read the label. So long as there is the earning and spending of money, or for the women accumulating ingredients and cooking them, counting, addition and subtraction will be mastered. That's what fingers and toes are for, after all. But it seems to me that any mathematical understanding beyond that takes the same kind of ability to imagine beyond immediate reality and distill pattern out of a mass of information as understanding a work of literature.
#2
cool - now my patent for bee-sized cellphones is a go!
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/28/2007 16:02 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Fungus, shmungus. I still blame Bush. Can't we pin this on Halliburton somehow?
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
04/28/2007 17:46 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Other researchers said Wednesday that they too had found the fungus, a single-celled parasite called Nosema ceranae, in affected hives from around the country as well as in some hives where bees had survived. Those researchers have also found two other fungi and half a dozen viruses in the dead bees.
N. ceranae is "one of many pathogens" in the bees, said entomologist Diana Cox-Foster of Pennsylvania State University. "By itself, it is probably not the culprit but it may be one of the key players."
The presence of so many different viruses seems to indicate that the fungus is not the principal cause of CCD. Especially as it has been found in surviving colonies. As I jokingly speculated in the cell phone article posted some days ago, the bees' immune system may be supressed. New evidence is coming in that may point to this.
A excerpt from an interesting article in Der Spiegel:
The scientists are also surprised that bees and other insects usually leave the abandoned hives untouched. Nearby bee populations or parasites would normally raid the honey and pollen stores of colonies that have died for other reasons, such as excessive winter cold. "This suggests that there is something toxic in the colony itself which is repelling them," says Cox-Foster.
Walter Haefeker, the German beekeeping official, speculates that "besides a number of other factors," the fact that genetically modified, insect-resistant plants are now used in 40 percent of cornfields in the United States could be playing a role. The figure is much lower in Germany -- only 0.06 percent -- and most of that occurs in the eastern states of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Brandenburg. Haefeker recently sent a researcher at the CCD Working Group some data from a bee study that he has long felt shows a possible connection between genetic engineering and diseases in bees.
The study in question is a small research project conducted at the University of Jena from 2001 to 2004. The researchers examined the effects of pollen from a genetically modified maize variant called "Bt corn" on bees. A gene from a soil bacterium had been inserted into the corn that enabled the plant to produce an agent that is toxic to insect pests. The study concluded that there was no evidence of a "toxic effect of Bt corn on healthy honeybee populations." But when, by sheer chance, the bees used in the experiments were infested with a parasite, something eerie happened. According to the Jena study, a "significantly stronger decline in the number of bees" occurred among the insects that had been fed a highly concentrated Bt poison feed.
According to Hans-Hinrich Kaatz, a professor at the University of Halle in eastern Germany and the director of the study, the bacterial toxin in the genetically modified corn may have "altered the surface of the bee's intestines, sufficiently weakening the bees to allow the parasites to gain entry -- or perhaps it was the other way around. We don't know."
Of course, the concentration of the toxin was ten times higher in the experiments than in normal Bt corn pollen. In addition, the bee feed was administered over a relatively lengthy six-week period.
Kaatz would have preferred to continue studying the phenomenon but lacked the necessary funding. "Those who have the money are not interested in this sort of research," says the professor, "and those who are interested don't have the money."
While Europe's hysteria over GM crops is well-documented, it would still be worth double checking the results of this experiment. Although the N. ceranae fungus and parasitic Asian varroa mite are definite culprits, neither of them offer a full explanation for the phenomenon. A bacterial assault easily could play the pivotal role in this problem and merits intensive investigation. Far too much is at stake to omit exploring any and all avenues towards finding a solution to this dire threat.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appears determined to confront Irans increasingly restive labor movement.
Soaring unemployment, depressed wages, main street merchants aren't making money, and whatever isn't nailed down is being boosted by the Mad Mullahs -- yup, that would cause some unrest.
The showdown, begun last year, could reach a peak next week with government plans to crush International Labor Day demonstrations on May 1 by illegal trade unions. The Islamic republic has always associated May 1 with leftist ideologies and has tried to promote an alternative Islamic Labor Day on May 2.
This year, however, a number of illegal trade unions have announced they would hold May 1 demonstrations in Tehran and 20 provincial capitals. The newly created Workers Organizations and Activists Coordination Council (WOACC), a grouping of over 80 illegal trade unions claiming a total membership of over a million in 22 cities, is leading the move.
The WOACC emerged in the wake of strikes by Tehran transport workers that brought the capital to a standstill last year. The authorities succeeded to end the strike with a mixture of mass arrests and wage concessions. However, the example set in Tehran spread to other cities and industries.
The rising labor movement started with local grievances linked to wages and working conditions. In the past few months, however, it has developed a broader consciousness by highlighting issues that concern most workers. One issue that has brought the hitherto scattered illegal unions together is their opposition to President Ahmadinejads proposed new Islamic Labor Code. The text proposed by Ahmadinejad cancels virtually all the rights that working people have won throughout the world over centuries of social struggle and political reform. It abolishes the legal minimum wage in favor of rates fixed through agreement by employers and employees.
It also allows for the generalization of verbal employment contracts, gives employers the right to hire and fire as they please, and makes legal holidays, sick leave, and pension schemes conditional to agreements on a case-by-case basis. At the same time, it imposes a ban on independent trade unions. Instead, it proposes the creation of Islamic Guidance Councils to promote Islamic values and sensibilities among workers.
All of which makes clear that the Mad Mullahs, whatever their religious piety, understand the economic principles of fascism and national socialsim. The private employers are permitted to stay open on pain of doing exactly as they're told, including handing over the keys when demanded. The workers are permitted to live as long as they behave.
Now, you'd think the international progressive Left would be up in arms about this given their solidarity with the working masses. You'd be wrong.
In a detailed critique of the proposed text, the WOACC shows that the new code violates the Islamic republics constitution, Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and accords Iran has signed with the ILO over decades. The proposed text is a charter for slavery disguised as an Islamic code, a WOACC spokesman in Tehran said over the telephone last week.
Slavery is too strong a word, as is serfdom. It's fascism -- to label it correctly is to understand how it will have to be brought down.
Slavery was brought down mostly by moral and political suasion -- only in America did it require a major war. Likewise serfdom collapsed as a result of economic and political pressure -- it wasn't feasible anymore so it went away.
But fascism has always required a war to be removed.
That view is shared by some members of the Islamic Consultative Majlis who criticize Ahmadinejad for refusing to submit his text to normal parliamentary procedures. Instead, the Ministry of Labor is trying to railroad the draft law through a Majlis committee controlled by pro-Ahmadinejad parliamentarians.
Fascist dictators don't usually use a restive parliament to get things done ...
Ahmadinejads confrontational style in dealing with the labor movement has also been criticized by some top mullahs within the regime.
Ayatollah Mahmoud Shahroudi, the Islamic chief justice, has warned that the governments repressive approach could destabilize the regime. Former President Hashemi-Rafsanjani, a mullah-cum-businessman who heads the powerful Expediency Council, has called for sensitivity in dealing with what may be the most serious challenge the regime has faced in years.
Both of them understand how they came to power in the first place -- the tipping point against the Shah was when the small city/small town merchants were repressed to the point that they couldn't do business any more. When they went over to Khomineni, it was the end for the Shah.
Why is Ahmadinejad so determined to defy a grass-root workers movement by imposing an unpopular law? Part of the answer may lie in the massive privatization scheme that Ahmadinejad is expected to unveil this year. According to government sources, 44 state-owned conglomerates will be put on sale at a total price of $18 billion. These businesses employ an estimated 3.5 million people across the country. A majority of likely buyers will be mullahs and their associates, operating through supposedly religious and charitable foundations, along with officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
So the thugs in charge enrich themselves while making sure that the now-private businesses are controlled by the government authorities. Gullible Y'urp-peons will loan these 'private' businesses money which will further enrich the mullahs.
Although potential gold mines, most of the businesses concerned have been losing money for years, because of inefficient management and corruption. They also suffer from the fact that they have had to employ far too many people, often because of nepotism and favor distribution by powerful figures of the regime.
Which will continue because the same people will be in charge.
Under the existing Labor Code, it would be difficult for the new owners to downsize the labor force or close loss-making units. The new Labor Code would give future owners carte blanche to reorganize the businesses. According to unofficial estimates, a million people could lose their jobs under privatization. Ahmadinejad is laying the banquet table for a big feast of plunder, says the WOACC spokesman.
Not just plunder but control -- do as we say or the factory in your town closes. And then you'll depend on alms.
The situation is further complicated by UN-imposed sanctions that are starting to bite. Dozens of small businesses have already closed down or reduced their activities for want of credit facilities, imported parts and raw material, and fears of being shut out of foreign markets. The thousands of workers who have lost their jobs as a result plan to be in the vanguard of the May 1 demonstrations.
#2
In this case, really it isn't 'Islam'. Think of it as Sandanista-Nicaragua with black turbans, with this oligarchy is using ol'Mo as a cover rather than ol' Karl.
#3
The Iranian regime is explicitly modelled on the Soviet Communist system. It's interesting they are now going down the Chinese Communist road (and post Soviet Russian road) of selling off state assets to party insiders. It will certainly boost economic growth but at the cost of social unrest.
#6
It's the nature of a tyrant to push till it breaks.
I'll enjoy watching the end result on Fox. Throngs of Iranians, foaming at the mouth, storming the govt. buildings and mosques.
#7
Oh, the utopian joys of living under Islamic theocracy.
According to government sources, 44 state-owned conglomerates will be put on sale at a total price of $18 billion. These businesses employ an estimated 3.5 million people across the country. A majority of likely buyers will be mullahs and their associates, operating through supposedly religious and charitable foundations, along with officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Although potential gold mines, most of the businesses concerned have been losing money for years, because of inefficient management and corruption. They also suffer from the fact that they have had to employ far too many people, often because of nepotism and favor distribution by powerful figures of the regime.
Which, as phil_b so astutely noted, is the precise model of what happened in communist China. Thereby resulting in insider bank loans to prop up tottering outmoded factories and corporate featherbeds that have grown to a potential one trillion dollars worth of bad debt.
#8
PS: Does anyone else see this as a possible "retirement plan" for the mullahs? Appropriate every profitable enterprise before it's all shot out from underneath their feet.
General Motors Corp. CEO Rick Wagoner earned $10.2 million in 2006, a year in which the automaker continued to lose money and market share but managed to trim billions in losses.
GM lost $2 billion in 2006, a more than $8 billion improvement compared to its restated $10.4 billion loss in 2005.
For the first time in 76 years, GM this week lost its claim to being the world's largest automaker when Toyota Motor Co. surpassed GM in sales for the first quarter of 2007.
GM also said the majority of Wagoner's compensation was tied to future performance.
We should all be paid millions for our future performance.
#2
Future Performance? Isn't that what rookie athletes are paid for? After a couple bad seasons, they're either traded or let loose. Costs the team too much.
#3
Future performance? So if he sits there with his thumb up his ass for the next year, does he have to give it back? Or do they give him more, hoping for even less the year after?
#4
As a former Detroiter and GM fan (oh, how I wanted a GTO in the 60s, but I was barely old enough to have the training wheels off My bike), I have to defend part of this.
The Rickster has done a great deal of good. Yeah, the company is still losing money, but less than before, and they are spending to improve products and quality. The new Buick Lucerne Super is something I might well buy when I'm in the market again in 09 or 10, something I haven't said about any GM product in almost 10 years. As the new products come out of the pipeline and displace the old crap, their market will turn around.
Remember that even when the days start getting longer in Winter, it's still darn cold, often colder than the Solstice.
Now, the "future" performance stuff is just silly.
#5
Overcompensation of CEOs is a blight upon all American industry. Too often an incoming CEO "turns around" a company by laying off its most senior workers. While this appeases Wall Street and appears to improve their bottom line the exact opposite is true. Since most firms have crappy documentation, a vast repository of tribal lore is lost with those fired workers. When economic recovery finally arrives, these companies no longer have the skills to compete.
Wall street is equally to blame. Expecting companies to be consistently profitable and show growth, quarter after quarter is ludicrous. By dumping a firm's shares at the least hint of a loss in earnings they encourage CEOs to do the damage cited above. CEOs must only be given stock options and bonuses that hinge upon long term success and profitability. Golden parachutes are nothing but an incentive to fail. Their bloated salaries cripple any ability to acquire and retain other talent. For the typical CEO to make some 400 times the average worker's pay is an obscenity. America's industrial leadership has turned into a good old boy network that is drinking this nation's lifeblood.
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.
