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Philippine Supremes halt MILF autonomy deal
Today's Headlines
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-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Safe Road Maps
Welcome to Safe Road Maps! This website is a ground-breaking tool that combines information from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System with Google Maps to give you a visual representation of traffic safety across the entire nation. With this system, you can enter an address and view the roads that have the highest number of traffic fatalities in a specified area. You can also view dynamically generated maps that show how public policy has been implemented to improve transportation safety by region. Our hope is that this site brings both increased safety and awareness to transportation policy makers and private citizens.
Posted by: 3dc || 08/05/2008 01:52 || Comments || Link || [336077 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Does it identify drive-by shootings separately ?
Posted by: wxjames || 08/05/2008 12:55 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
France had 'active role in genocide'
FRANCE played an active role in the 1994 Rwanda genocide, a report unveiled today by the Rwandan government said, naming French political and military officials it says should be prosecuted. "French forces directly assassinated Tutsis and Hutus accused of hiding Tutsis... French forces committed several rapes on Tutsi survivors," said a justice ministry statement released after the report was presented in Kigali.
This isn't pegging my "likely" meter...
The 500-page report alleged that France was aware of preparations for the genocide,
Perhaps...
contributed to planning the massacres
To what end?
and actively took part in the killing.
For sheer love of the sight of blood? Does... not... compute, unless the Frenchies were flat out nutz.
It named former French prime minister Edouard Balladur, former foreign minister Alain Juppe and then-president Francois Mitterrand, who died in 1996, among 13 French politicians accused of playing a role in the massacres.
Much as I disliked Mitterrand, I can't see him raping Tutsi maidens for the fun of it. It wasn't his style. Not caring a fig whether somebody else did it was his style, but I can't see that as a crime.
The report also names 20 military officials as being responsible. "Considering the seriousness of the alleged crimes, the Rwandan government has urged the relevant authorities to bring the accused French politicians and military officials to justice," the statement said.
I wouldn't expect to see much in the way of hard evidence.
The 1994 genocide in the central African nation left around 800,000 people - mainly minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus - dead, according to the United Nations. Justice Minister Tharcisse Karugarama presented the report to the press in Kigali, more than two years after a special commission tasked with probing France's role in the genocide began its work.

The statement said the military and humanitarian Operation Turquoise carried out by the French in Rwanda between June and August 1994 abetted the killings perpetrated by the extremist Interahamwe Hutu militia. The French military "did not challenge the infrastructure of genocide, notably the checkpoints manned by the Interahamwes."

"They clearly requested that the Interahamwes contine to man those checkpoints and kill Tutsis attempting to flee," the statement said.

The release of the report comes against a backdrop of tense relations between France and Rwanda. In November 2006, Kigali severed diplomatic ties with France after French investigating magistrate Jean-Louis Bruguiere accused Kagame of involvement in the death of the then president, Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu. Habyarimana's plane was shot down above Kigali airport on April 6, 1994, sparking the genocide.
This article starring:
Alain Juppe
Edouard Balladur
Francois Mitterrand
Jean-Louis Bruguiere
Juvenal Habyarimana
Tharcisse Karugarama
Posted by: tipper || 08/05/2008 14:07 || Comments || Link || [336101 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I blame Iceland.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/05/2008 19:43 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Morshed Khan jailed for 13yrs
Assets worth Tk 82 lakh to be confiscated
A special court yesterday sentenced former foreign minister M Morshed Khan to 13 years' rigorous imprisonment (RI) for amassing wealth illegally and concealing information in his wealth statement submitted to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
Posted by: Fred || 08/05/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336067 views] Top|| File under:


Arrest warrant against Khaleda's nephew, Sajeda Chowdhury's son
A Dhaka court yesterday issued arrest warrants against detained former prime minister Khaleda Zia's nephew Shahrin Islam Tuhin and Awami League (AL) presidium member Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury's son Shahdab Akbar in separate cases filed for amassing wealth through illegal means.

Judge Mohammad Azizul Haque of Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court took the charges into cognisance after scrutinising the case dockets and other relevant documents.

The court passed the orders as the investigation officers (IO) appealed for issuing arrest warrants against the two. Both have been absconding since filing of the cases.
Posted by: Fred || 08/05/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336072 views] Top|| File under:


AL candidates rule city polls
AL men clinch victory in 8 out of 9 municipalities
Looks bad for the Cubs in the World Series ...
Posted by: Fred || 08/05/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336071 views] Top|| File under:


Fifth Column
Moonbat Fratricide: KosKidz exkommunicate one of their own
I've Been Banned At DailyKos Because Of John Edwards

Lee Stranahan, stranahan.com

About a week ago, I posted a piece on the Huffington Post called Say It Ain't So, John. I didn't think it would have much more impact than my usual posts...maybe a dozen comments or so, a couple of people linking to it. I cross posted on DailyKos, which is probably the best known and biggest progressive blog. I've been posting at Kos for a long time. As more news about Edwards has come out, I followed up with more posts which were also the subject of a large number of comments. All of them looked at the Edwards situation from my point of view; that is, a liberal who is concerned about the implications this story may have in November.

Now I'm banned. I can't write about ANYTHING at Kos. Can't comment, can't post a non-Edwards piece. Nothing.
"They woulda hanged me in effigy, too, but lucky for me I don't live in Effigy. I live in Burbank."
And I stand by my title - it's largely John Edward's fault that I'm banned. I'm now personally a small piece of fallout from the scandal. That's because Edward's defense is shoot the messenger, not answer the questions. The rabid response of the people on Kos is directly related to Edwards and his own response. That's exactly why I'm saying this has the potential to hurt the Democratic brand.

So answer the effin' questions already, John. For everyone's sake.

I'm not sure if the DailyKos is going to take down my writing and make me a complete un-person there. . . .
I wouldn't bet the ranch against that proposition, Lee.
Here are the pieces I wrote on Kos that caused the problems...if you look, I'm not writing about anything that isn't being written about already.

Say It Ain't So, DailyKos

Dissent, Disloyalty, And Disappointment

Irrefutable Proof Of The John Edwards Scandal
Posted by: Mike || 08/05/2008 08:15 || Comments || Link || [336073 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Geez, that's too bad, Lee.
By the way, who the hell are you?
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/05/2008 8:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Stalinist vs Trotskytes.
Can you feel the love?
Hey Lee, watch out for visitors bearing ice picks.*

Pass me the popcorn.

* I'd also skip on the scenic bus tour in Canada for the near future.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/05/2008 9:24 Comments || Top||

#3  Okay can I get a wager going?

What are the odds that Lee has an epiphany and extrapolates from his treatment to the normal modus operandi of the Progressives?


Nah, he's a progressive himself, if he could connect those kinds of dots he woulda done it long ago.
Posted by: AlanC || 08/05/2008 9:26 Comments || Top||

#4  Red on Red is a beautiful thing.
Posted by: DarthVader || 08/05/2008 9:56 Comments || Top||

#5  So answer the effin' questions already, John. For everyone's sake.

No longer a 'question'... for those with a BRAIN!

Posted by: Besoeker || 08/05/2008 9:59 Comments || Top||

#6  From the comments:
As for ducking reporters;it could be as simple as the fact that the MSM loves to trash Democrats.

Wow, someone had a REALLY good time in the '60s. The MSM will trash the occasional Dem if it has to, but we all know the real witch hunt is in the other direction.
Posted by: DLR || 08/05/2008 10:50 Comments || Top||

#7  Funny stuff. According to the article, Stranahan will now post at myleftwing.com The loons there are certifiable.
Posted by: mrp || 08/05/2008 13:17 Comments || Top||

#8  See my comment there at 8/4/08, 4:58 pm.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/05/2008 16:07 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Obama continues to adopt Newt's Energy Talking Points - Triangulation?
LANSING, Mich. — Senator Barack Obama altered his position on Monday to call for tapping the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower gasoline prices as he outlined an energy plan that contrasts with Senator John McCain’s greater emphasis on expanded offshore drilling and coal and nuclear technology.

In a speech here and in a new advertisement, Mr. Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, also sought to portray his Republican rival, Mr. McCain, as “in the pocket” of oil giants that are profiting from gasoline priced at more than $4 a gallon. And in his speech, Mr. Obama called for a windfall profits tax on oil companies to finance rebates for Americans.

At the heart of Mr. Obama’s proposals is a focus on fostering alternative energy development by investing $150 billion in emerging technologies and renewable fuels. Seeking to put a million fuel-efficient hybrid plug-in automobiles on the road, he said that he would offer a $7,000 tax credit to buyers, the overall cost of which he did not specify. In addition, Mr. Obama said his goal was to have 10 percent of the country’s energy needs met by renewable resources by the end of his first term, more than double the current figure.

While focusing on alternative energy production, Mr. Obama has veered in recent days toward increasing access to fossil fuels, both in seeking to tap the strategic oil reserve and in softening his opposition to offshore oil drilling. He said he might be willing to accept some exploration of limited offshore drilling as part of a more comprehensive energy bill that would include things he favors, like renewable fuels and batteries for electric-powered cars.

The proposals Mr. Obama offered Monday represented an effort to return the campaign’s focus to bread-and-butter issues after he found himself repeatedly on the defensive last week against a newly aggressive McCain campaign.

“We should sell 70 million barrels of oil from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve for less expensive crude, which in the past has lowered gas prices within two weeks,” Mr. Obama said. “Over the next five years, we should also lease more of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska for oil and gas production, and we should also tap more of our substantial natural gas reserves and work with the Canadian government to finally build the Alaska natural gas pipeline, delivering clean natural gas.”

Mr. McCain and his campaign have been increasingly tweaking Mr. Obama and his energy policy. The McCain campaign distributed tire pressure gauges outside the event here in response to Mr. Obama’s statement last week that Americans could reduce gasoline use substantially if they kept car tires at optimum pressure. Mr. McCain has called Mr. Obama “Dr. No” and said that his energy policy could be reduced to the phrase “just say no” to proposals to increase energy production.

“We have to drill here and drill now,” Mr. McCain said Monday in Lafayette Hill, Pa. “Not wait and see if there’s areas to explore, not wait and see if there’s a package to put together. But drill here and drill now.”

Mr. McCain has focused much more on the supply side of the energy equation, supporting increased reliance on nuclear power, the use of so-called clean coal technology and expanded offshore drilling. But he has called for halting purchases to replenish the strategic oil reserve, rather than tapping into it.

Aides to Mr. Obama said that he now favored releasing light oil from that emergency stockpile, 707 million barrels stored in salt caverns, and replacing it with heavier oil, which they said would be more appropriate for the country’s long-term energy needs. They described that action — meant to help drive down oil prices, which have begun falling in the last month after a long, sharp increase — as a “limited swap” rather than a depletion of the reserve.

Mr. Obama said that through a mixture of investment, discipline and more restrained consumption it would be possible to completely eliminate oil imports from the Middle East and Venezuela within 10 years. Through a combination of similar measures, he said, Americans could at the same time reduce electricity consumption by 15 percent and create 5 million jobs.

“I will not pretend we can achieve them without cost, or without sacrifice, or without the contribution of almost every American citizen,” Mr. Obama said of his objectives. “But I will say that these goals are possible, and I will say that achieving them is absolutely necessary if we want to keep America safe and prosperous in the 21st century.”

Repeating his call for a windfall profits tax on companies like Exxon-Mobil, which he singled out in his speech on Monday, Mr. Obama said he would use part of the tax to provide consumers with an “emergency energy rebate” of $1,000 per family.


Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 08/05/2008 12:56 || Comments || Link || [336068 views] Top|| File under:


Pelosi: At-risk Dems can back drilling - Save the Planet and the Dems
California Democrat Nancy Pelosi may be trying to save the planet — but the rank and file in her party increasingly are just trying to save their political hides when it comes to gas prices as Republicans apply more and more rhetorical muscle.

But what looks like intraparty tension on the surface is part of an intentional strategy in which Pelosi takes the heat on energy policy, while behind the scenes she’s encouraging vulnerable Democrats to express their independence if it helps them politically, according to Democratic aides on and off Capitol Hill.

Pelosi’s gambit rests on one big assumption: that Democrats will own Washington after the election and will be able to craft a sweeping energy policy that is heavy on conservation and fuel alternatives while allowing for some new oil drilling. Democrats see no need to make major concessions on energy policy with a party poised to lose seats in both chambers in just three months — even if recess-averse Republicans continue to pound away on the issue.

“The reality is we will have a new president in three months, and what Bush and the Republicans are trying to do amounts to a land grab for the oil companies,” said one senior House Democratic aide involved with party strategy. “I don’t think we have to give in at all pre-election — we have many more options postelection.”

It’s a reality that Rep. Nick J. Rahall (D-W.Va.) personally delivered to President Bush recently.

Rahall spent more than an hour last week talking to the president about energy. Bush spent the entire flight aboard Air Force One, and much of a subsequent limousine ride, grilling the West Virginia Democrat about legislative solutions to the high price of gasoline, Rahall said last week.

So, does the president think Congress can get anything done this year?

“No,” Rahall replied in a short interview with Politico. “He’s realistic about it.”

Asked if Congress will produce a comprehensive energy bill in September before Congress adjourns again for elections, Rahall replied, “This year? No.”

Instead, the chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources believes Democrats are all about 2009.

“We’ve laid the groundwork this year,” Rahall said.

Democratic House aides say the energy agenda has been carefully gamed out in strategy sessions, and Pelosi always intended to take heat on gas prices while tacitly encouraging more vulnerable Democrats to publicly disagree with her and show their independence.

Freshman Democrats like Jason Altmire of Pennsylvania and Don Cazayoux of Louisiana have taken her up on the offer.

Altmire has said a drilling vote “will happen,” while Cazayoux, hoping to hang on to his seat in a conservative Baton Rouge-area district, on Friday sent a letter to Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) demanding a vote on more domestic oil exploration.

“There will be a vote,” said Altmire, who faces a rematch with former GOP Rep. Melissa Hart this fall in the Pittsburgh suburbs.

Indeed, Congress must vote before Sept. 30 to renew the annual moratorium; otherwise, it will lapse on its own, giving states the right to decide whether private companies can search for potential drilling sites three miles offshore. .

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 08/05/2008 11:16 || Comments || Link || [336071 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ...and Pelosi always intended to take heat on gas prices while tacitly encouraging more vulnerable Democrats to publicly disagree with her and show their independence.

A two party system is only one party away from a dictatorship.

George Washington was absolutely correct, political parties are evil. Our "representatives" don't represent us, they do what they are told by the party or risk censure. Political posturing like this is just ridiculous and should have a hue and cry raised in the MSM, but they don't care since it's their beloved Dems doing the dance of deception.
Posted by: DLR || 08/05/2008 12:05 Comments || Top||

#2  Dems did the same thing in 2004 with judges. They were willing to lose a seat or two on the judge issue. They figured it was worth the policy win. Came back to bite them though. Maybe history will repeat this year.
Posted by: Iblis || 08/05/2008 12:10 Comments || Top||

#3  The way to get the voters out to the polling booths is to make them mad. The Donks were able to do that on the last go around by pushing the corruption issue [though few voters really understood that the Donks position was for MORE corrruption, not less]. This time around its up to the Trunks to push the 'price at the pump' issue that the vast majority of Americans have faced. Make them mad is the plan, just make sure you aim well.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/05/2008 13:53 Comments || Top||

#4  Say one thing. Vote another.
Posted by: ed || 08/05/2008 15:56 Comments || Top||

#5  Poeple need to get this straight: a vote for a Dem in congress, no matter what his policy is, is still essentially a vote for Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi and their obstructianist policies.
Posted by: OldSpook || 08/05/2008 17:06 Comments || Top||

#6  Considering gas cost an arm and a leg TODAY and 2009 is PIE IN THE SKY.... dumb plan Pelosi!
Posted by: 3dc || 08/05/2008 19:41 Comments || Top||


GOP: Lift drilling ban or risk shutdown
The showdown on Capitol Hill over expanding offshore drilling could lead to a threatened government shutdown when Congress returns from its five-week summer break in early September.
Those of you who wanted this before now see why the Pubs waited. Now they have a lever .. or at least a big stick. If I were McCain, I'd aid and abet this on the side and make sure I'm there in the Senate the day it comes to a vote. And dare Obama to be there as well ...
Some Republicans say they are prepared to vote against a resolution to fund the federal government for the 2009 fiscal year unless Democrats agree to lift an offshore drilling moratorium. If the budget resolution fails, many agencies and departments would be denied money to operate and would be forced to close.

"We don't want the government shutdown to be an issue, but the fact is the Democrats are so overconfident that they're willing to talk about a ban and they're willing to talk about raising taxes on gasoline, so this is just pretty incredible," said Sen. Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican who is circulating a letter encouraging colleagues to demand that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, strike the drilling moratorium from the budget resolution. "But I think that once Americans realize that this [drilling] ban will expire unless we pass something, I think there is going to be just an outcry to not vote for anything that had a ban in it."

The congressional drilling moratorium was first enacted in 1982 and has been renewed every year since. It prohibits oil and gas leasing on most of the outer continental shelf - three miles to 200 miles offshore - and expanded oil shale development in the West. The ban is set to expire at the end of September, but Democratic leaders are expected to include a one-year extension in legislation that they will introduce next month to continue funding the government for the 2009 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

The impasse centers on Republican demands that any energy plan include a provision to expand domestic oil drilling to areas currently off-limits, including a wildlife reserve in northern Alaska and in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Democrats oppose the idea, saying oil companies already have millions available drilling acres on land they're not using.

"If the Democrats choose to hold the continuation of government operations as a hostage, then as far as I'm concerned, I can't vote for anything that has a ban in it," Mr. DeMint said. "That would just be a betrayal of everything we're talking about as Republicans. And I think that most Republicans are going to feel that way."

Republicans say the ban needs to be lifted to lower gas prices and to reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil. "On October 1, the bans on offshore drilling and oil shale recovery will end, enabling us to finally be able to develop more American energy - unless Democrats actively prohibit exploration," said Rep. Jeb Hensarling, a Texas Republican who also is circulating letter encouraging House Republicans to pressure House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, to drop the ban. "I hope that Speaker Pelosi and Democrats in the House and Senate recognize the pain Americans are feeling and will not actively enact legislation to block the development of American energy," he said.

Democratic leaders in both houses of Congress have refused to allow a stand-alone bill on drilling. In protest, Republicans have blocked several Democratic bills in both chambers, saying they will continue to do so unless Democrats agree to a drilling vote.

Democrats control both houses of Congress, but hold only a 51-49 vote advantage in the Senate. A budget resolution may require 60 votes for passage, meaning only 41 opposing votes would be needed to block the measure.

Such a move could be risky for Republicans. In 1995, when House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Georgia Republican, led a shutdown of the federal government in a dispute with President Clinton over the budget, the public turned against Republicans, who blamed the party for the impasse after a threatened delay of Social Security and Medicare checks.

But with public opinion polls showing that most Americans support increased offshore drilling, Republicans are emboldened to challenge Democrats on the issue, and say that Democrats, not Republicans, would be blamed for the consequences of a government shutdown.

"As far as I'm concerned, on October 1 we should be able to begin the leasing process of drilling and mining in both of those areas of American [energy] supply," House Minority Whip Roy Blunt, Missouri Republican, said on C-SPAN's "Newsmakers" show Sunday. "In this environment, where energy is the most important issue and the only thing you're fighting over is whether you allow drilling, we'll have to wait and see. [But] I'd rather be on the side that wanted to go after American energy sources than the side that didn't."
Posted by: Steve White || 08/05/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336085 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This issue is too big to ignore. We have never had a COMPREHENSIVE energy policy and plan. Pumping oil out of a salt dome savings account is NOT a plan. It is an appeasement band aid.

I say, shut the m****r f****r down and ram this down the dems tratorous throats. Get some gravel in your guts republicans, and quit feeding from the trough for a bit and do the right thing.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 08/05/2008 0:31 Comments || Top||

#2  The shutdown is going to be far more favorable for the Republicans this time. They can let the Dems ram the legislation through over their unanimous objection, allow the unpopular lame-duck President to veto it, and refuse to help override the veto when it comes back. All of the pressure will be squarely on the Dems to cave, I doubt those up for re-election outside of very solidly blue districts will have the stomach to stand with Reid & Pelosi on this one.
Posted by: AzCat || 08/05/2008 1:52 Comments || Top||

#3  If the Trunks had a bit of smarts in their cranium, they'd put full pressure on, with everyone but the hard blue district players in a untenable position and then....
pull procedure to elect a DINO as the new speaker, along with those DINOs out to save their own hide. Pass the end to the moratorium and pass continuing resolutions on department funding to keep the place running and leave the situation to sort itself out till after the election.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/05/2008 9:17 Comments || Top||

#4  GO FOR IT! Take down Pelosi and the dems and you take down her puppet the Obamessiah.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/05/2008 9:45 Comments || Top||

#5  Shut the government down. I bet most people would support it at this point.
Posted by: DarthVader || 08/05/2008 11:49 Comments || Top||

#6  It matters nothing. No one is going to spend money on drilling based on Congress's failure to renew the ban in September. The Dems figure they can let the renewal lapse, but it won't make any difference because they'll be running the entire show come January.
Posted by: Iblis || 08/05/2008 12:14 Comments || Top||

#7  Is that wishful thinking on your part, Iblis ?
Just recently Obama was so confident he would become Pres, that he bought an AF-1 of his own and went on a victory tour.
Now, he trails by 1. Are you still sure Iblis ?
Posted by: wxjames || 08/05/2008 13:01 Comments || Top||

#8  It matters nothing. No one is going to spend money on drilling based on Congress's failure to renew the ban in September. The Dems figure they can let the renewal lapse, but it won't make any difference because they'll be running the entire show come January.

I'm afraid this is right. Compare and contrast the size of the American oilfield now with what it was in the mid-80's. It was 50% larger then. It'll take massive hiring and capital expenditures to get it that large again, and noone's going to risk doing that when the Dems are looking forward to getting four years of virtual dictatorship starting in January.
Posted by: Abdominal Snowman || 08/05/2008 14:05 Comments || Top||

#9  ...when the Dems are looking forward to getting four years of virtual dictatorship starting in January

I'm fascinated and amused by the fatalism that people are taking already assuming that as a fact. Destroying your opponents will the resist seems to be working as people are surrendering even before the fight.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/05/2008 15:41 Comments || Top||

#10  Maybe so, but IF you had _a couple hundred billion dollars_ or so to invest in the oil industry, would you invest it RIGHT NOW not knowing whether the investment was going to be wiped out come January 22 thanks to a new Windfall Profits Tax?
Posted by: Abdominal Snowman || 08/05/2008 15:58 Comments || Top||

#11  I'm fascinated and amused by the fatalism that people are taking already assuming that as a fact. Destroying your opponents will the resist seems to be working as people are surrendering even before the fight.

I think the Dems accept this as an article of faith, so understanding Dem thinking requires accepting as given a Dem victory come November.

Personally, I really wish we weren't running McCain this year, because I like our chances for the presidency.
Posted by: Iblis || 08/05/2008 15:59 Comments || Top||

#12  I have to agree with Iblis and Abdominal Snowman. On NPR this afternoon they were talking about Obama's coat tails in this election. If I had money to invest in oil fields, I certainly wouldn't do so until after the election returns came in.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/05/2008 20:35 Comments || Top||

#13  NPR is very heavy into wishful thinking. They should be the first agency Bush defunds in the shut down.

I'll dissent from AS and Iblis on two counts.

First, regardless of who wins, I expect this to be a very close election. A lot of Barry's most fervent supporters will have a cow if the ban is lifted, even if only for 3 months and it could hurt his support from the base.

Second, Barry is doing a lot of flipping, a lot. This will make a great ad late in the election. People, especially those who wait till the last minute to decide, want a leader who knows where he wants to go, even if it isn't the direction they would choose, rather than someone who checks the polls every day to find out what to stand for.

The donks are between a rock and a hard place on this issue, especially if the trunks play their cards right. The trunk House leadership is finally doing a good job of putting it to the donks. Donks who vote one way in October and another in January will be in a world of hurt if oil prices are high at the next election.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 08/05/2008 21:55 Comments || Top||

#14  I don't support off-shore drilling or nuclear power. Why not offer electric engine conversions if we need more power. Creating more floating homages to past civilizations is behind the times. Why not offer to sell small solar panels to all households and office buildings if we need it? Surely someone could make a business out of THAT economy?
Posted by: Durin Tazwell || 08/05/2008 22:23 Comments || Top||

#15  How's that electric replacement for diesel truck engines coming along, Taz?
Posted by: Muggsy Glink || 08/05/2008 23:49 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
'Modesty policeman' arrested on suspicion of beating woman
Looks like the Muzzies don't have a monopoly on religious whackjobs.
Highlighting what may be a growing trend in fanaticism, a 28-year-old resident of Jerusalem's Ramot neighborhood has been arrested for attacking a woman as part of his activity in the "tznius patrol" or modesty police. Elhanan Buzaglo appeared in Jerusalem District Court on Sunday to answer charges stemming from a June 2008 home invasion in which a young woman was reportedly beaten by a group of ultra-Orthodox young men. The woman had apparently been seen in the company of married men from the community.

Details of the investigation, which began a month and a half ago, reveal that members of the tznius patrol entered the woman's home and demanded that she move out, telling her that residents of the neighborhood had complained about her. After the woman refused to do so, Buzaglo and two other men from the patrol allegedly attacked her. In addition, a third member of the patrol is suspected of stealing two cell phones from the woman's apartment during the fray. Buzaglo was arrested after his fingerprints were identified inside the woman's apartment, while a number of separate complaints from other women have been made about him as well. Ranging from verbal harassment to an incident in which Buzaglo allegedly attempted to run a girl over with a car, there are at least 10 possible charges facing him.

Buzaglo's attorney, Ariel Atari, maintained his client's innocence, saying Buzaglo isn't even a member of the patrol. "My client has no relation to the modesty police," Atari told The Jerusalem Post on Monday. "Because he wears hassidic clothing, the police are trying to pin every instance of haredi violence on him. The fact that his fingerprints were taken from the scene of one of these alleged incidents is the only relation my client has to any of the cases. They have not yet proven anything concrete."

Speaking about Buzaglo's case, Jerusalem City Council opposition head Nir Barkat told the Post: "We have to uproot this despicable phenomenon of violence. I call upon the police to deal with this issue and guarantee the personal safety of the residents of Jerusalem."

The use of violence by modesty patrols in ultra-orthodox areas, however, is not a new occurrence. Also in June, a 14-year-old girl in Betar Illit had acid spilled on her face and body, causing light burns. That incident was attributed to a similar modesty patrol in the town.
No matter what religion, the fanatics appear to love their acid.
In a graver incident that took place in November 2006, Miriam Shear, an orthodox woman from Canada, was allegedly beaten on the floor of an Egged bus when she refused to give up her seat as she rode to the Western Wall. That episode underscored recent cases of ultra-orthodox men requesting "mehadrin" or kosher bus lines in which the sexes are separated - women in back and men up front. While the bus that Shear rode on was not a mehadrin line, she was reportedly told to move to the back of the bus by an ultra-orthodox man and was spit on, kicked and punched by a group of men when she refused.
...and they ain't too crazy about women either.
The Egged driver in that case has repeatedly denied that violence took place on his bus, but an eyewitness on board who confirmed that an unprovoked "severe beating" took place has substantiated Shear's account. "I had heard a lot of rumors about [modesty police], but I didn't really believe they existed," said an orthodox Jerusalem resident who wished to remain anonymous. "Then a relative of mine told me that she was walking out of a store with a dress she had just purchased and a woman came up and sprayed it with white spray paint, ruining it. My relative is religious," the man continued, "But I guess the clothes she had decided to buy were not modest enough for the other woman."
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/05/2008 10:46 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under:


Netanyahu: Kadima is selling Jerusalem to our enemies
Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday accused rival faction Kadima of planning to make sweeping concessions over Jerusalem to the Palestinians. "For the first time in the history of our nation, we come upon a development that we are unfamiliar with and that we cannot remember whereby the ruling party in our midst will come and offer up Jerusalem even to the worst of our enemies," Netanyahu said during an appearance at a Jerusalem conference commemorating 70 years since the founding of the Rabbi Kook Institute.

Also in attendance at the event was Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who uncharacteristically showered praise on the Likud chairman. Yosef referred to Netanyahu as "my dear, beloved friend" who "does a great deal for the Torah."

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz (Kadima) on Sunday vowed to form a coalition government before local authority elections on November 11. "Israel does not need general elections now, in light of the existential challenges facing us," Mofaz said, during his speech at an election rally for the Kiryat Ono municipal elections.

Mofaz, who is locked in what is widely regarded to be a two-person race for the Kadima chairmanship against Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, said last Friday that the latest poll numbers indicating an advantage in favor of his rival in the Kadima Party primaries in September are bound to change. "I wouldn't advise anyone to base the future on polls," Mofaz said on Friday. "[The polls] are a mood, and this will change. I'm sure that I will win the primaries."

Livni would lead Kadima to victory over Likud if elections were held today, according to a special poll conducted by Dialog last Thursday on behalf of Haaretz.

For all the bitter struggle between Livni and Mofaz, Thursday's poll, conducted a day after Olmert announced that he would not seek re-election as Kadima's leader, shows that the foreign minister is the only politician who currently has enough public support to defeat Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu. The poll of 503 Israelis, which has a margin of error of 4.1 percent, showed that in national elections, Kadima headed by Livni would win 26 seats in the Knesset, compared to 25 for Likud under Netanyahu. Netanyahu has consistently led in the polls for the past two years, but Thursday's survey seems to indicate that the political arena is changing.
Posted by: Fred || 08/05/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336068 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Kadima is selling Jerusalem to our enemies

Of course he is... the modern pol. No ethics, no morals and Forsale!
Posted by: 3dc || 08/05/2008 1:24 Comments || Top||

#2  The first Arab entered Jerusalem in 634 AD. And many Assyrians only entered the Levant during the Roman imperial period. Jews and local Christians are closer to being aboriginal to that area than Arabs (whatever the hell they are).
Posted by: McZoid || 08/05/2008 2:28 Comments || Top||

#3  And the "Rabbi Kook Institute" should change the name. Shalom!
Posted by: McZoid || 08/05/2008 2:30 Comments || Top||

#4  the Rabbi Kook Institute
Rabbi Kook? I suppose it sounds better in Hebrew...
Posted by: Spot || 08/05/2008 8:19 Comments || Top||

#5  So Bibi thinks most Israelis will forego a deal in order to keep the privilege of considering Sheik Jarrah and the Shuafat refugee camp, places they would never go to, as partso Israel?

Well maybe for now, thats only cause theyre so skeptical about Abbas' ability to make the deal stick. But fewer and fewer think walking away from the arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem is a "sweeping concession".

Oh, and folks Rabbi Kook was a Chief Rabbi of Israel before it was a state (IE he was Chief of Rabbi of Palestine) and one of the founders of the religious Zionist movement, and a person whos thinking as influenced most Orthodox Jews (other than the ultra-Orthodox) and more than a few non-Orthodox Jews. Kook does not mean meshugah in either hebrew or Yiddish.
Posted by: superstitiousGalitizianer || 08/05/2008 13:08 Comments || Top||

#6  Israel had better choose a war lord. If they fail to, they will be at war with the wrong head, once again.
Posted by: wxjames || 08/05/2008 13:33 Comments || Top||


High Court: Olmert can be suspended if he obstructs graft probe
The High Court of Justice on Monday rejected a petitioned submitted by journalist Yoav Yitzhak, which demanded that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert be temporarily incapacitated pending the graft investigation being held against him.

In his petition, Yitzhak had demanded the court order Attorney General Menachem Mazuz to declare Olmert's suspension for a pre-determined period of time, during which he would be questioned every day in regard to all six open investigations against him.

Yitzhak also asked that Olmert be compelled to comply with short notice summons for questioning should the investigation require it.

The court ruled in response that if it became clear that the premier was obstructing the investigation against him and failing to comply with the police requests, then he could legally be declared incapacitate.

The justices wrote in their ruling that declaring a prime minister's suspension as a result of a criminal probe against him was an irregular move to be made only in exceptional cases. The justices ruled that they had no grounds to intervene in the attorney general's decision. Mazuz had said previously that it was not up to the court or the attorney general to suspend the prime minister, but rather it was the responsiblity of the political system.

With regard to Yitzhak's request that Olmert make himself available for interrogation at any given time, the justices wrote: "The attorney general and law enforcement agents must declare when the prime minister will be questioned, in accordance with the needs of the investigation and all matters of consideration pertaining to the issue."
Posted by: Fred || 08/05/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336071 views] Top|| File under:


Olde Tyme Religion
Muslims blast Israel for reading kindness into the Koran
Arab media around the Middle East this week reacted hysterically after learning that a Jewish professor at Haifa University is using verses from the Koran to teach Arab Muslim psychology students how to treat their future Muslim patients.

Professor Ofer Grosbard developed the Quranet course using specially chosen verses from the Muslim holy book to help students reinforce in their patients concepts like respect, responsibility, honesty, dignity and kindness. Grosbard realized the need for the special course after one of his Muslim students complained that traditional Western psychology would be ineffective on Muslim patients who hold tightly to superstitious beliefs.

Despite the fact that the Quranet course was developed together with 15 Muslim students and was reviewed by three Islamic clerical figures, Muslim authorities around the Middle East denounced the project because it was overseen by a Jew. Speaking to Gulf News, Dr. Abdullah Al Mutlaq of the Senior Ulema Board in Saudi Arabia insisted that all Jews hate Islam, and that Prof. Grosbard's efforts to emphasize the Koran's few lessons in human dignity and kindness would give Muslims the wrong impression of their religion.

Dr. Manae Abdel-Halim Mahmoud, professor of Koranic sciences at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, told an Egyptian newspaper that the Israeli project "aims to tarnish the image of Islam by giving wrong interpretation of the noble Koran." Palestinian Authority officials also blasted the project, stating that the current prevalent interpretation of Islam that has led to so much regional death and destruction is the correct interpretation, and that Prof. Grosbard's kinder, gentler selection of Koranic verses is misleading.
Posted by: ryuge || 08/05/2008 05:46 || Comments || Link || [336098 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Gotta love the sarcasm in this article.
Posted by: mhw || 08/05/2008 9:52 Comments || Top||

#2  So I guess what our esteemed "Islamic scholars" are saying here is that every stereotype we have of Islam is true?
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/05/2008 10:17 Comments || Top||

#3  Depends, tu3031. Do you want to say those who are shooting at us (and more importantly, shooting at Iraqi civilians) are more legitimate and "right" than the people that want peace with us?

Posted by: Abdominal Snowman || 08/05/2008 11:34 Comments || Top||

#4  Ask them. I'm not the one who's all pissed off about it.
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/05/2008 11:44 Comments || Top||

#5  No, but we are the ones stuck in a war with them.

It would behoove us to say our allies are legitimate and our enemies not, regardless of whether it's true or not.
Posted by: Abdominal Snowman || 08/05/2008 11:57 Comments || Top||

#6  One of these "scholars" is a Saudi, the other's an Egyptian. Last I heard, they were allegedly on our side.
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/05/2008 12:05 Comments || Top||

#7  Welcome to the wonderful sucky world of cold war.

Still doesn't mean we should be saying to (for instance) some Iraqi whose family was just blown up by some Saudi that the Saudi was right and they were wrong.

I have long thought that the westerners in general have a distorted view of the conflict. This is made worse by those western communist tranzi organizations that slightly inflate the number of civilian casualties and then attribute them to the fact of US occupation; we get caught up in debunking the first item's bad numbers and forget about the core truth in it that they use to peddle their _bigger_ lie of US responsibility.

The truth is, most casualties in this war are among the civilian population in predominantly Moslem countries, and consist of Moslem civilians killed by the terrorists.

AND our political system has basically left us with two choices: fight the war by picking a side in the various civil wars going on there, or packing up and going home. If you want some third option, complain to everyone else in the electorate; I'm going to say we should pick the first choice instead of the second. Part of that means we have to say our real allies are right and our real enemies are wrong, even if some of the latter are pretending to be our allies and we're screwed into having to pretend they are, because the almighty retard electorate (again) decided to give them enough of our energy sector that they (in this case I am talking of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan) have the bomb.
Posted by: Abdominal Snowman || 08/05/2008 12:39 Comments || Top||

#8  Depends, tu3031. Do you want to say those who are shooting at us (and more importantly, shooting at Iraqi civilians) are more legitimate and "right" than the people that want peace with us?
Snowman, I have to believe that either the religious text of ANY religion has merit at its most basic level (i.e. words have meaning, they define the ideas that are presented), or it's so much waste paper.

The basic tenents of Islam are clear. Serve Allah, convert others to server Allah by the any means necessary, including the sword.

Are you willing to convert at gunpoint, tolerate Shariah Law? I am not.

As this conflict continues it is becoming clearer and clearer that either the world must become Muslim or Islam must be stamped out. There is no middle ground. If Allah is all that and a bag of chips, then let him move his hand in favor of his servants. They will win and that's that. But Allah does not have that kind of power, he is less than something nasty on the bottom of my shoe.
Posted by: DLR || 08/05/2008 12:40 Comments || Top||

#9  ...or packing up and going home.

Eventually, we will pack up and go home. And that's when it gets really interesting...
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/05/2008 12:43 Comments || Top||

#10  the Saudi STATE is on our side. That hardly means the senior mullahs there are on our side.

anyway, I doubt Al Mutlaq actually said this
"the Koran's few lessons in human dignity and kindness would give Muslims the wrong impression of their religion. "

More likely he just ranted about Jews, which is kind of standard for KSA.


And if the Saudi royal family can be attacked for having largely created the monster over the years, by empowering the mullahs, and only beginning to distance themselves after realizing the monster could hit them, a fortiori the Egyptian govt cant be held responsible for the rantings of the dons of Al Ahzar.

As for the statement about the PA, again that doesnt sound like something theyd say. Id like to see an actual quote, cited to a neutral source.
Posted by: superstitiousGalitizianer || 08/05/2008 13:16 Comments || Top||

#11  Muslim authorities around the Middle East denounced the project because it was overseen by a Jew.

Bottom line.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/05/2008 19:52 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
Bonds Approved for integrated Bio-diesel Plant
Green Star Products, Inc. (OTC:GSPI) today announced that EcoAlgae USA, LLC, has received a signed resolution from Saline County Missouri commissioners [a commitment for $141 M in Industrial Revenue Bonds with dispersement based (I think) on performance] to construct a commercial Algae Production Facility in conjunction with an Integrated Biorefinery Complex....

Besides algae feedstock, other feedstocks to produce these valuable products come from non-food sources and are comprised of waste wood products, organic municipal waste, switchgrass, and other waste agricultural products such as corncobs.

The four main technologies required for this facility are:

1. Algae Production... 2. Cellulosic Ethanol...3. Biogas.. 4. Algae Research & Engineering...
----------
They don't give a start date for construction or any quantitative estimate of either input or output.
Posted by: mhw || 08/05/2008 09:35 || Comments || Link || [336081 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hey, I'm all for investigating other technologies for fuel that don't take our farmland or food out of the equation. I hope they are successful and make tons of money.
Posted by: DarthVader || 08/05/2008 9:51 Comments || Top||

#2  Or should I say, I support technologies that Don't take away farmland and food from the people and drive prices up 75%.

Write, drink coffee, clarify. You think I would get it after several years.
Posted by: DarthVader || 08/05/2008 9:52 Comments || Top||

#3  Point taken Darth.

But how would you feel if you were a Missouri taxpayer about $141M in Industrial Revenue Bonds being used to, in effect, subsidizing what are basically a bunch of start up companies?
Posted by: mhw || 08/05/2008 10:32 Comments || Top||

#4  Depends if they are being started by guys that actually had some business experience or not.

If the technology is solid and the guys are as well, why not take a calculated risk? The dividends for the area could be huge. However, if this is some politician's pet project...
Posted by: DarthVader || 08/05/2008 10:52 Comments || Top||

#5  Maharishi University in Iowa is also researching the algae with much less kicked in by the ethanol-producing state:
“It turns out that the bodies of algae are about 50 percent oil,” he said. “We can make fuel from them.” It’s possible to refine the oil into biofuel that can then power vehicles. The Maharishi project is working with Valcent, a Texas-based company, to examine the potential for beginning a university bioreactor to produce and refine the algae.
Current efforts are on laboratory scale. The university wants to expand that to a quarter-acre greenhouse for the algae as a test site. Researchers believe industrial-scale production will require sites of at least 100 acres.
The Iowa Power Fund will give money to the project, though it’s not yet clear how much.
The question is whether the process is in itself fuel efficient. There’s no net benefit if it takes more power to produce the algae biofuel than you get in return.
The good news is that it doesn’t take much to grow the algae. Some algae farms use gas vented from smokestacks as food for the algae. Assistant professor Jimmy Sinton, who directs the bioreactor project, is not planning to use that process for his algae. Geothermal heat and passive sunlight are enough, particularly on the small scale being planned.
Gamble and Sinton say the process is close to carbon neutral. That means it produces as much carbon as a fuel as it removes while it grows. But expanded use of the algae could make it carbon negative. Sinton pointed to algae as a building material as an example of how producers can sequester carbon and keep it out of the atmosphere on a long-term basis.
Sinton’s estimates are that setup will cost $300,000 per acre. That number will fall as researchers learn how best to use materials.
Sinton put production at 30,000 gallons per acre per year at the trial stage. Full-scale production could produce as much as 600,000 gallons per acre per year.
Posted by: Danielle || 08/05/2008 11:37 Comments || Top||

#6  Passive biogas creation will work, but they better pray that active biogas production doesn't come online soon rendering them moot.
That is where the money should go.
Posted by: wxjames || 08/05/2008 12:49 Comments || Top||

#7  The question is whether the process is in itself fuel efficient. There's no net benefit if it takes more power to produce the algae biofuel than you get in return.

That depends. If we have a cheap source of energy (e.g. nuclear electricity) to supply the "manufacturing" process then this does become viable. Since the nuclear would be locked into the grid this would be a renewable mobile power souce, such as one would want for cars, ships, trains, and other vehicles.
Posted by: DLR || 08/05/2008 12:55 Comments || Top||

#8  I once had some links showing a great deal of algae-to-oil scams that have been run over the past decade; I don't have them anymore, and googling no longer turns up the relevant articles.

Of the recent alternative energy ventures, I think they probably deserve the most suspicious scrutiny.
Posted by: Abdominal Snowman || 08/05/2008 15:57 Comments || Top||

#9  I knew somebody would find a use for Barry after the Giants cut him...what's that?....ohhhhh


nevermind

/Emily Littella
Posted by: Frank G || 08/05/2008 19:55 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Labor Day Still Recognized at Tyson Foods, Kinda
Press release. It appears they've noticed...
Springdale, Arkansas – August 4, 2008 – Contrary to recent reports, Labor Day is still a holiday at Tyson Foods. This issue concerns only the plant at Shelbyville, TN. The majority of employees at the Tyson plant in Shelbyville, TN, are represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Stores Union (RWDSU), an American union that asked for and received Eid al-Fitr, as one of their eight paid holidays, in place of Labor Day. This applies only to the Shelbyville plant and resulted as part of the union contract negotiated last fall. This change does not apply to Tyson Foods' other 118 plants. This is not a religious accommodation, rather, it is part of a union-initiated contract demand.
So...blame the union, not us. And, sorry, but it is a religious accomodation...
This change came about as a result of union demands brought to the negotiating table, and was agreed upon by Tyson in an effort to reach a contractual agreement with the union. The contract that calls for this change was unanimously recommended by the 12-person union bargaining committee, which included three Somali employees. The contract was then overwhelmingly agreed to by 80 percent of the rank and file membership of the union at the Shelbyville plant.
Anybody tell them they were losing Labor Day in exchange for Eid? Or was that a "nice surprise"?
The Muslim population at the Shelbyville plant is primarily composed of approximately 250 Somali employees, who are political refugees, most of whom came to the plant as a result of refugee resettlement efforts based in Nashville. They were employed at the plant through the Tennessee Department of Employment Security office.
So blame the union. And the Tennessee Department of Employment Security. Not us.
The Shelbyville complex employs approximately 1,200 people. Approximately 1,000 workers are covered by the union agreement at Shelbyville.
Maybe time for a visit from ICE?
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/05/2008 09:22 || Comments || Link || [336094 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Someone from TN could probably know, but if TN has specified that Labor Day is a recognized 'holiday' then anyone working on that day is entitled to premium pay - double time. They may get another day 'off' at regular pay, but the pay requirements (x2) are usually stipulated by law [like Fair Labor and Standards Act] rather than by contract. However, states have a significant leeway in execution of these particulars.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/05/2008 10:20 Comments || Top||

#2  It's a federal holiday, so you'd get time and a half I do believe. But hell, go for double time if you can get it!
Posted by: Uppity Wigger || 08/05/2008 10:33 Comments || Top||

#3  Labor Day is an official Tennessee holiday.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 08/05/2008 10:56 Comments || Top||

#4  Bet this is part of the UN Refugee program.
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 08/05/2008 11:41 Comments || Top||

#5  THE SIMPSONS > MILHOUSE - "THERE ALWAYS EATING CANDY IN SHELBYVILLE - THEY JUST LOVE THAT SWEET DELICIOUS TASTE [M. ready to blow stack here]"!

First Candy, "someone's beautiful cousin" [Bart], now CHICKEN + A HOLIDAY > you just know MIL H. is going to have to really blow himself up now.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 08/05/2008 20:07 Comments || Top||


Home Front Economy
U.S. retail gasoline price falls to 11-week low
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. drivers found more relief at the pump as the national price for gasoline dropped to its lowest level in 11 weeks, the government said on Monday.

The price for regular, unleaded gasoline declined 7.5 cents over the last week to an average $3.88 a gallon, the federal Energy Information Administration said in its weekly survey of service stations. That is cheapest pump price since May 19, but still up $1.04 from a year ago, the EIA said.

Prices hit a record of $4.11 on July 7 but have been dropping since due to lower gasoline demand and cheaper crude oil costs, which are being passed on to consumers at the pump. Crude oil futures at the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday fell at one point below $120 a barrel for the first time since early May, and way below the record $147 reached just over three weeks ago. Every $1 decline in the price of oil equals about a 2.4-cent drop in the price for a gallon of gasoline.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Monday proposed lowering gasoline prices in the short term by selling some 70 million barrels of crude oil held in the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Such a move would get more supplies on the market, which in turn, would hopefully cut fuel costs. Obama previously opposed releasing oil from the emergency stockpile, except for supply emergencies.
Then he flip-flopped.
It is unclear if refiners would want to buy any of the government's crude because there are no supply shortages.
So he didn't just pander, he pandered stupidly ...
In the EIA's weekly survey, gasoline was the most expensive on the West Coast at $4.14 a gallon, down 10.5 cents. San Francisco had the highest big city price at $4.26, down 9.4 cents. The Gulf Coast had the lowest regional price at $3.77 a gallon, down 9.1 cents. Cleveland had the lowest pump price, down 6.5 cents at $3.72.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/05/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under:

#1  People in remote villages in Alaska that had their fuel delivered by barge are seeing their gasoline prices at $7 to $8 per gallon. The price will not change until the next spring barge brings up the next load in 2009.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 08/05/2008 0:27 Comments || Top||

#2  US$3.77? $3.88 > NOT HERE IN GUAM [not yet]!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 08/05/2008 0:54 Comments || Top||

#3  Paid $3.79 this morning. Under 120 a barrel this AM.
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/05/2008 10:13 Comments || Top||

#4  Tractor deisel was $4.46 a gallon last Friday.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 08/05/2008 10:59 Comments || Top||

#5  I'm still taking the bus to work. A 1 month all-you-can-ride bus pass for $25 bucks is pretty hard to beat... provided the bus is going your way. (And for once, it happens to be.)
Posted by: Grenter, Protector of the Geats || 08/05/2008 11:17 Comments || Top||


Barack Obama shifts on tapping national oil reserves
Democrat Barack Obama called today for tapping the nation's strategic oil reserves to help drive down gasoline prices, a shift from his previous position on the issue.

The reversal is the second refinement in Obama's energy policy. Last week, he said that he would reluctantly consider accepting some offshore oil drilling. Obama had previously said he opposed such drilling, which is strongly backed by rival John McCain, who has urged that states be allowed to decide whether to drill.
Posted by: Fred || 08/05/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336096 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It was finally pointed out to me why Obama is always a bit off and a bit slow on his details. He is probably a U.S. Citizen, probably born in Hawaii, but he is a foreigner. His formative years were in Hawaii and Indonesia. He is just a foreigner trying to convince mid-westerners that he has the same core values. He would make a good ambassador, he does not have the same values as most Americans because he is a foreigner.
Posted by: whatadeal || 08/05/2008 17:04 Comments || Top||

#2  Functionally, Mr. Obama is an expat brat, business variety (as opposed to military or diplomatic). The thing is, they tend to see themselves as temporary and outsiders trying to blend in with whichever group they find themselves... until they move again. Functionally they tend to avoid dealing with problems on the assumption that soon enough they will be moved away from it. It took years for the trailing daughters to stop thinking that we were back in the States for only a few years, the same years it took to fill the holes in their knowledge of American history, behaviour and vocabulary... and when we came back trailing daughter #1 was about to start first grade. Mr. Obama moved back in seventh or eighth grade, I understand.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/05/2008 23:56 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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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
Tue 2008-08-05
  Philippine Supremes halt MILF autonomy deal
Mon 2008-08-04
  16 officers killed,16 wounded in an attack in Xinjiang
Sun 2008-08-03
  ''Assad's right hand man'' assassinated in Syria
Sat 2008-08-02
  Taliban deny al-Qaida No. 2 hit by missile
Fri 2008-08-01
  189 arrested, curfew lifted in Diyala
Thu 2008-07-31
  Qaeda big turban in Afghanistan killed in US airstrike
Wed 2008-07-30
  Gilani in Washington; Paks raid Haqqani's empty madrassa in N Wazoo
Tue 2008-07-29
  Military offensive under way in Diyala
Mon 2008-07-28
  Mudhat Mursi: Dead Again?
Sun 2008-07-27
  3 people killed in second day of Tripoli festivities
Sat 2008-07-26
  India: Serial kabooms in Ahmadabad
Fri 2008-07-25
  Serial booms in Bangalore
Thu 2008-07-24
  'Mohmand Agency now under Taliban control'
Wed 2008-07-23
  Sheikh Aweys claims Somali opposition leadership
Tue 2008-07-22
  Another Paleo Bulldozer Operator Goes Jihad

Better than the average link...



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