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Democrats To Widen Conflict With Bush
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
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-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Avalanche hits Pakistani village, 11 feared dead
An avalanche swept through a village in northern Pakistan and 11 people were missing and feared dead a day after 26 people were killed in another avalanche, police said on Monday. The avalanche struck Mongi village in the Chitral region of the Hindu Kush mountains on Sunday night after heavy rain fell across deep snow blanketing the mountains, said senior police officer Ijaz Ahmed. "Several houses have been buried and 11 people are missing. God forbid, but there is very little chance of their survival," Ahmed, told Reuters by telephone from Chitral, 280 km (175 miles) north of the capital, Islamabad.

An avalanche killed at least 26 people in a remote mountain village in the same area on Saturday night. Rescue efforts were hampered by the remote location and a lack of heavy machinery to lift debris, Ahmed said. Many villages have been cut off for days by heavy snow and landslides. Ahmed said the government was sending two helicopters for rescue and relief operations and a C-130 cargo aircraft with supplies.
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2007 09:34 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Oh good, it's in landlocked mountains. At least there won't be another tsunami to plague the Muslim world.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/02/2007 11:45 Comments || Top||


Poor Nations to Bear Brunt as World Warms
World Ends. Women, minorities effected most.
The world’s richest countries, which have contributed by far the most to the atmospheric changes linked to global warming, are already spending billions of dollars to limit their own risks from its worst consequences, like drought and rising seas.

But despite longstanding treaty commitments to help poor countries deal with warming, these industrial powers are spending just tens of millions of dollars on ways to limit climate and coastal hazards in the world’s most vulnerable regions — most of them close to the equator and overwhelmingly poor.

Next Friday, a new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a United Nations body that since 1990 has been assessing global warming, will underline this growing climate divide, according to scientists involved in writing it — with wealthy nations far from the equator not only experiencing fewer effects but also better able to withstand them.

More whiney mewling at link...
Posted by: Dave D. || 04/02/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I thought that women (tm) and children (tm) would be hit hardest? I mean, WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN?
Posted by: Secret Master || 04/02/2007 0:18 Comments || Top||

#2  what 'bout the penguins
Posted by: Captain America || 04/02/2007 0:56 Comments || Top||

#3  ..are they in the playoffs
Posted by: Captain America || 04/02/2007 0:57 Comments || Top||

#4  I thought that the polar bears were hardest hit...
Posted by: PBMcL || 04/02/2007 1:09 Comments || Top||

#5  Smells like socialism...
Posted by: Bright Pebbles in Blairistan || 04/02/2007 7:21 Comments || Top||

#6  Yes, I remember when these places were paradise on earth.
Then came...global warming!
Posted by: tu3031 || 04/02/2007 7:37 Comments || Top||

#7  "World ends: women, minorities hardest hit"
Posted by: Mike || 04/02/2007 9:04 Comments || Top||

#8  And just a few weeks ago it was noted that all the efforts proposed by socialists to stop global warming would hurt poor nations the worst.

My, what a coincidence.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 04/02/2007 9:47 Comments || Top||

#9  ANd just last night I tuned into the Discovery Channel to wathc their 'Planet Earth' series; in the one hour that I watched there were no fewer that 3 references to the decline and possible extinction of some Arctic / Antarctic species due to 'global warming.' Not just 'climate change.'
The photography was excellent, but I'll take mine w/out any editorializing, thank you very much. (personal favorite: when the endangered polar bear was stabbed by a walrus, and the voice over said the he "would not survive." not "would die, but "not survive")
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 04/02/2007 14:56 Comments || Top||

#10  I resent the characterization of all this bleating and moaning as "mewling."
Posted by: Felix Cat || 04/02/2007 17:12 Comments || Top||

#11  "...in the one hour that I watched there were no fewer that 3 references to the decline and possible extinction of some Arctic / Antarctic species due to 'global warming.'"

Heh. I think I switched over to Court TV after the second one. Enough is enough.
Posted by: Dave D. || 04/02/2007 17:33 Comments || Top||

#12  It put me to sleep.
Posted by: 3dc || 04/02/2007 23:37 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Somalia: People trafficker arrested Athens
(SomaliNet) A gang of suspected people traffickers has been arrested in Athens for holding hostage 60 illegal immigrants. The suspects are accused of trying to get the captives to pay about 1,900 euros each for their passage into Greece. The immigrants - thought to be mostly Somalis - were held in two flats in Athens, authorities say. Greece is a major transport hub for many immigrants heading to Europe.
Beats Yemen.
Police said the migrants were crammed into modified "prison-like" rooms, with barred windows and security doors. According to the Greek news website Ekathimerini, the suspects include three Afghans and an Iranian national.—BBC
Posted by: Steve White || 04/02/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Subsaharan
British oil worker seized in Nigeria
A British oil worker has been kidnapped in Nigeria, the Foreign Office said Saturday. The man was kidnapped in the early hours of Saturday off the coast of the Bayelsa state in southern Nigeria, BBC reported. A Foreign Office spokesman said, "We are in contact with the Nigerian authorities to try to bring this to a swift and peaceful conclusion."
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Once you pay the danegeld, you'll never get rid of the dane.
Posted by: OldSpook || 04/02/2007 3:49 Comments || Top||

#2  Or the Argie.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 04/02/2007 9:59 Comments || Top||

#3  As the kidnappers watch closely as to how the British Government handles the Iranian Hostage Crisis....
Posted by: Delphi2005 || 04/02/2007 10:32 Comments || Top||


Zimbabwean president admits MDC leader assaulted
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has acknowledged that the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Morgan Tsvangirai, had been assaulted, but said he deserved it. "Yes, I told them he was beaten but he asked for it," Mugabe told supporters the day after returning from a regional summit in Tanzania. "We got full backing, not even one criticized our actions," the president continued. "There is no country in SADC (the Southern African Development Community) that can stand up and say Zimbabwe has faulted. SADC does not do that, it is not a court but an organization of 14 countries that cooperate with each other and support each other."

On March 11, Tsvangirai was arrested on his way to a prayer rally in the Harare township of Highfield. His wife was allowed to see him in prison, after which she reported that he had been heavily tortured by police, resulting in deep gashes on his head and a badly swollen eye. Secretary-General of the MDC, Tendai Biti, said Tsvangirai suffered a cracked skull and "must have passed out at least three times." On March 28, Zimbabwean police stormed Tsvangirai's office and once again arrested him, hours before he was to speak with the media about recent political violence in the country.
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The pride that cometh before a fall. Keep it up, Bobby. I sense your self-destruction is near at hand.
Posted by: Angaiger Tojo1904 || 04/02/2007 0:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Waiting for Bob's Ceaucescu moment...
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2007 12:46 Comments || Top||

#3  I'll wager ZimBob's gonna cut it close but still make it to the Lear in time. The questions is South Africa or the South of France?

Make it to the Lear on Time! Hahahaha. AP, Ogla, it's a song natural.
Posted by: Shipman || 04/02/2007 17:47 Comments || Top||


Mugabe endorsed for 2008 election
The ruling Zanu-PF party in Zimbabwe has approved President Robert Mugabe's bid for another presidential run in the 2008 election. "The candidate for the party in 2008 will be the president himself. He was endorsed by the central committee," party spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira said at a meeting in Harare.

Mr.Mugabe, 83, came to power in 1980 after Zimbabwe gained independence, following decades of civil war with Rhodesia, that had declared but was never granted independence from Britain under its white-supremacist president Ian Smith. Opposition leaders have called for Mugabe to stand down in order to end the political and economic crisis that has plagued the country. The decision follows an emergency summit of 14 of southern African leaders on Thursday, which gave public support to Mugabe's regime despite international criticism over government corruption and political crackdowns.
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Maybe if we're lucky Bob will fall down and that sprocket will sever a major artery.
Posted by: PBMcL || 04/02/2007 1:14 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm sorta hoping he sits on that thing. And severs a major artery.
Posted by: gorb || 04/02/2007 4:23 Comments || Top||

#3  Regular communist skelm he is. Always has been, always will be. Where is the outcry from the West (who put set this bloody piece of kak up in business at the start)?
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/02/2007 5:32 Comments || Top||

#4  Are the Dems doing an international talent hunt?

Al
Posted by: Frozen Al || 04/02/2007 12:32 Comments || Top||

#5  14 of southern African leaders agreed that the Mug's ppl can eat cakes.
Posted by: Duh! || 04/02/2007 16:21 Comments || Top||

#6  Slogan: "President Mugabe shall increase the prosperity of the nation via a five year plan to surpass the Democratic People's Republic of Korea!!! All hail President Mugabe (if you know what's good for you)!!!"
Posted by: DMFD || 04/02/2007 21:21 Comments || Top||


Arabia
New Yemen PM appointed
Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh appointed a new prime minister yesterday as international pressure builds on the country to introduce reforms, a government official said. Saleh, who was re-elected in September, issued a presidential decree asking Ali Mohamed Megawar, who is seen to have stronger economic credentials than the outgoing premier, to form a new cabinet. “We expect new faces in the new cabinet,” an official said. “I do not think it would be announced before one week.” Analysts in Yemen said Saleh took this step to show the donors, such as the World Bank, that he was serious about political and economic reforms.
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Caribbean-Latin America
Autonomy push sparks racial strife in Bolivia
Big EFL.
Bolivia has long been dubbed the "South Africa" of Latin America, and for years leaders in the predominantly mestizo, gas-rich eastern lowlands have called for more autonomy from the central government in La Paz, the heart of the indigenous highlands. But since Mr. Morales, the nation's first indigenous leader, took office more than a year ago, the call for autonomy has grown louder and angrier, and so has the response. Race is its undercurrent.

The West blames the "oligarchies" of the East; the East says that Morales is fomenting hate toward those in the West. The province of Cochabamba is the geographic and political saddle over both, and now a flashpoint for violence in the tense legal battle for autonomy.

"What happened here on the 11th of January will be looked at as a pivotal movement," says Jim Shultz, an analyst for the Democracy Center, a nongovernmental organization here. "It's going to be one of two things: a preview of very ugly coming attractions, or a wake-up call to get people to say, do we really want to have people in the streets beating each other with sticks? I think it's given a lot of people pause."

In July, a referendum on whether to grant provinces increased powers was held: 4 of the 9 provinces voted yes. But it remains to be seen how the autonomy issue will play out. The Constituent Assembly – a body of delegates set up by Morales to rewrite the Constitution to give more voice to the country's long-oppressed indigenous majority – will tackle the sensitive details in a session that will go until August. There, constituents will decide by vote how autonomy is ultimately settled.

Leaders in the eastern province of Santa Cruz, who head the movement, say the central government is trying to deny them more independence. Last year they organized massive protests. Some even went on hunger strikes. "The country is polarized because the [central government] is ... pitting Bolivians against Bolivians," says Ruben Costas, the governor of Santa Cruz.

But opponents say the autonomy movement has intensified as a reaction to the Constituent Assembly, whose goal is to give more power to the poor, who make up two-thirds of the country. Adolfo Chávez, the leader of the Indigenous Confederation of Bolivia in Santa Cruz, says autonomy is a shield for the traditional ruling classes from the transformation under way in the rest of the country. "Autonomy signifies the powerful maintaining their power," Mr. Chávez says. "Their bubble has burst.... They always had preference ... and now that is going away."

In the July 2006 referendum, Cochabamba voted against autonomy – largely because of pro-Morales agricultural workers. Yet a few months later Governor Manfred Reyes Villa hinted he might call for another referendum on the issue – angering farmers in the province.

The ensuing battles on the streets of Cochabamba, and the two killings, show that the issue has moved beyond legal structures. "Both incidents were racial ... which is something that had really been absent in Bolivian politics," says Eduardo Gamarra, director of the Latin American and Caribbean Center at Florida International University. "The racial debate exacerbates the autonomy question."
Posted by: Steve White || 04/02/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The West blames the "oligarchies" of the East; the East says that Morales is fomenting hate toward those in the West.

...And Morales will be blaming us any time now.

Mike

Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 04/02/2007 8:29 Comments || Top||

#2  In truth, the East is wealthy, and Morales wants to use them as a cash cow for all his socialist ideas.

And not wanting to get stuck with the bill, they are not too cool on the idea. Their alternative is that if the rest of the country wants prosperity, they should work to get it.

This is not the socialist way.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 04/02/2007 14:15 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
U.S. Reaches Free-Trade Agreement With South Korea
April 2 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. and South Korea reached a free-trade accord worth as much as $29 billion that if ratified would be the largest for the U.S. since the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement.

``This is a strong deal for America's farmers and ranchers who will gain substantial new access to Korea's large and prosperous market of 48 million people,'' Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Karan Bhatia told reporters in Seoul today. ``Neither side obtained everything it sought.''

The agreement will eliminate duties on products such as South Korean autos and apparel, and cut investment barriers for American insurers and financial companies. South Korea will abolish its 40 percent tariff on U.S. beef over 15 years and the pork tariff over 10 years, Trade Minister Kim Hyun Chong said at the joint briefing. Rice wasn't included in the accord.

``The FTA should be seen as an economic marriage between both countries,'' said William Oberlin, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea. The agreement ``will take the Korea-U.S. economic relationship to the next level.''

South Korean stocks rose to a five-week high, led by automakers such as Hyundai Motor Co.

Scrapping Tariffs

The U.S. will ``immediately'' scrap tariffs on Korean cars with engines of three liters or less and on auto parts, Bhatia said. It will phase out duties on bigger engines within three years, on tires within five years and on pick-up trucks within 10. South Korea exported $6.6 billion a year in automobiles to the U.S. between 2003 and 2005. Auto part exports during the same period averaged $1.4 billion annually.

Trade between the two nations was worth almost $77 billion in 2006, according to South Korea's Commerce Ministry. A free- trade agreement may boost U.S. exports to Asia's third-largest economy by as much as $19 billion annually, while South Korea stands to get a $10 billion jump in exports to the U.S., according to the U.S. International Trade Commission.

The accord ends 10 months of wrangling that peaked with almost round-the-clock talks in Seoul for the past two days. Negotiators extended the talks after missing a self-imposed March 31 deadline. President George W. Bush's authority to negotiate trade deals that can't be altered by Congress expires June 30.

``Both sides worked very hard to make this a win-win deal,'' said Lee Hee Beom, Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association, and former minister of commerce, industry and energy.
Posted by: mrp || 04/02/2007 07:30 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  There must be something good in it for us: the usual Sork suspects are bitching about it big time. Sork could certainly use some cheaper food though; it's expensive for the average person to eat here and it's not at all uncommon to see garden plots that are no bigger than 2 square meters.
Posted by: Mac || 04/02/2007 17:48 Comments || Top||


Europe
Poland interested in training its air force pilots in Israel
Poland is interested in training its air force pilots in Israel, the country's defense minister said this week. Aleksander Marek Szczyglo was here this week to sign an expanded military cooperation agreement with Israel. "It's a practical agreement," Szczyglo stressed in an interview to Haaretz.
And another thumb in the eye of the French.
In 1994, after diplomatic relations were renewed between Israel and Poland, the countries signed a memorandum of understanding on defense cooperation. Szczyglo noted that the Polish Air Force had purchased F-16 fighter aircraft from the United States and was interested in training its pilots in Israel, where they could take advantage of the experience and reputation of the Israel Air Force.

Another area of cooperation between the countries is the fight against terrorism. "Israel has much experience in fighting terror and our army and security forces are interested in holding joint training in various areas including the war against terror," Szczyglo said.

According to Szczyglo, bilateral relations are excellent in all areas. "In the past several years, Poland has represented and expressed Israeli interests without reservation in the European Union, and that is not something that can be taken for granted," he said.

In recent years, Rafael Armament Development Authority won two military procurement contracts worth about $3.5 million from Poland. In 2003, it signed a contract to provide Spike anti-tank missiles, part of the Spike family of missiles. In 2005, a second contract was signed, for the sale of remote controlled weapons stations and day/night vision systems. In return, as part of reciprocal purchase agreements between the countries, Poland sold Israel various products for its military and civilian industries. "We are willing to consider purchasing additional military equipment and weapons from Israel if they meet NATO standards," Szczyglo said.

Another area in which Israel and Poland cooperate closely is intelligence. When he was asked whether Poland was aiding Israel in this area, in light of fears about Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions, the Polish defense minister said: "This is something we don't need to discuss."

Szczyglo refused to express an opinion on U.S. intentions to deploy missile defense systems on Polish (and Czech) territory, saying only, "Russia knows very well that these systems are aimed not against it but rather against missile threats from other countries. We want to have good relations with Russia. In my opinion, the Russian opposition to the deployment of these defensive systems is rooted in Russian domestic politics and the expectation of elections in the country next year, including presidential elections," Szczyglo said.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/02/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Poland is a perfect example of a people freed from the boot of totolitarian socialist hegemony. The poles will not retreat from thier responsibility to protect the liberty of thier citizens. Israel should be proud of this relationship, millions of non Jewish poles died in the holocaust along with the Jews. These people are natural allies against the rise of totalitarian socialist governments everywhere.
Israel is beginnning to understand this dynamic and frankly its about time. Poland is a Nato force, the deployment of forces is key to fast response to threats,me thinks this is a very good multilateral decision.
Posted by: Shusosh Guelph3946 || 04/02/2007 7:39 Comments || Top||

#2  isn't part of the deal when selling US aircraft is training and parts stay domestic?
Posted by: Bruce from MS || 04/02/2007 16:54 Comments || Top||

#3  Don't be silly, Bruce. Why shouldn't two customers of the US train together? The Turks have trained with Israel for years, and now so do the Indians. Or should all three countries converge on the Air Force base in Dayton, Ohio? I shouldn't think the neighbors would be well pleased with that many F-16s screaming over head at all hours.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/02/2007 22:15 Comments || Top||


Ukraine power struggle intensifies
The power struggle between President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich in the Ukraine is escalating. During a party conference in Kiev on Saturday, Yushchenko's Our Ukraine Party backed his threat to dissolve parliament only one year after the general election, AFP reported.
That's the sort of thing that usually happens when you have a "government of national unit."
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Fifth Column
Supremes: EPA Can Regulate CO2
I got this from a email newsletter from Pollution Engineering magazine. The link goes to the text of the US Supreme Court decision that just came out today.
The Supreme Court today decided that the EPA has the authority under the Clear Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles, particularly CO2, but it waits to be seen whether the agency also has the duty to do so.

In a 5-4 decision, the court rejected the position of the Bush Administration, which argued that greenhouse gas emissions did not constitute pollutants as defined in the Clean Air Act. The Supreme Court majority decided U.S. motor-vehicle emissions make a "meaningful contribution to greenhouse gas concentrations" and hence, to global warming.
Having fully imbibed Al Gorilioni's Kool-Aid.
"A well-documented rise in global temperatures has coincided with a significant increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Respected scientists believe the two trends are related," Associate Justice John Paul Stevens wrote in the majority decision.
And other respected scientists disagree. But debate has officially been ended by moonbats.
The court also ordered the EPA to reevaluate its contention that it has the discretion not to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, noting that arguments should be tied to the Clean Air Act. During the trial, the administration used foreign policy and economic considerations to justify its position.

Absenting federal controls, a number of states had begun to pass their own CO2 emission controls. Massachusetts and 11 other states, along with 13 environmental groups, sued the EPA to execute its authority under the Clean Air Act, which the agency argued it did not have. The court decided that states have the right to sue the EPA to challenge its decision and that the Clean Air Act gives the agency the authority to regulate tailpipe emissions of greenhouse gases.

Justices Stevens, David Souter, Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg formed the majority opinion. Court conservatives Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts dissented.
It's a full court press, folks. I had a hard time figuring out where to place this article, so I put it in Non-WoT. But 5th column subheading seemed so appropriate.
The case is titled Massachusetts v. EPA.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 04/02/2007 15:34 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "A well-documented rise in global temperatures has coincided with a significant increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Respected scientists believe the two trends are related," Associate Justice John Paul Stevens wrote in the majority decision.

Last I checked Justice Stevens's job was interpreting constitutionality, not scientific plausibility. Or did I miss something in Civics class?
Posted by: xbalanke || 04/02/2007 15:54 Comments || Top||

#2  Well, you remember the item in the bill of rights about living in a clean* environment?

*as defined by liberals
Posted by: DarthVader || 04/02/2007 15:57 Comments || Top||

#3  5th Column would be correct in this case, AP. Good job.
Posted by: Dave D. || 04/02/2007 16:19 Comments || Top||

#4  Justices Stevens, David Souter, Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg formed the majority opinion.

"Hey! Whadabout me? I care deeply about Global Climate Change, too!" -- Anthony Kennedy
Posted by: eLarson || 04/02/2007 16:27 Comments || Top||

#5  Justice Scalia sums it up in the last paragraph of his dissenting opinion:

The Court’s alarm over global warming may or may not be justified, but it ought not to distort the outcome of this litigation. This is a straightforward administrative-law case, in which Congress has passed a malleable statute giving broad discretion, not to us but to an executive agency. No matter how important the underlying policy issues at stake, this Court has no business substituting its own desired outcome for the reasoned judgment of the responsible agency.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 04/02/2007 16:40 Comments || Top||

#6  How do you regulate the major by-product of an internal combustion engine? Sorry, your Suburban has to go because it's making too much CO2. Go get a Fiat Punto to replace it and come back to try again. More likely they will go for quotas on sales, or push mass transportation.

Oh my, did I just stumble upon some environmentalist's ulterior motive here?

Who is pushing for CO2 to be regulated? What are they trying to accomplish?
Posted by: gorb || 04/02/2007 17:01 Comments || Top||

#7  So, elminate the EPA as it is an Executive agency, and once gone, it's no longer a problem.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 04/02/2007 18:38 Comments || Top||

#8  "Who is pushing for CO2 to be regulated?"

Watermelon environmentalists-- green on the outside, red on the inside.

"What are they trying to accomplish?"

Two things. One, they're trying to get Americans to accept higher levels of government interference-- MUCH higher levels-- in their lives, so that still-greater intrusions can be perpetrated in the future. And they believe this contrived climate-change "emergency" is the perfect vehicle for achieving that.

And second, they're trying-- as usual, due to their "zero-sum" concept of wealth-- to punish America for being prosperous by obligating it to pay taxes to "poor" nations in the form of carbon credits.

Posted by: Dave D. || 04/02/2007 19:07 Comments || Top||

#9  In his dissent, Roberts focused on the issue of standing, whether a party has the right to file a lawsuit.
The court should simply recognize that dealing with the complaints spelled out by the state of Massachusetts is the function of Congress and the chief executive, not the federal courts, Roberts said.
He said his position "involves no judgment on whether global warming exists, what causes it, or the extent of the problem."

The court should simply recognize that dealing with the complaints spelled out by the state of Massachusetts is the function of Congress and the chief executive, not the federal courts,
Here is another prime example of a court making legislative and executive descisions. If it was up to the liberal judges there would only be one branch of government, the Judicial.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 04/02/2007 19:16 Comments || Top||

#10  How do you regulate the major by-product of an internal combustion engine?

Never mind that, how do you regulate the major by-product of our continued life?!

ISTR reading in the late '80s that Germany had passed a "radioactive waste" law with levels set so low the average human body qualified. How long until we get that crazy with our fear of CO2?

Let's not even talk about methane...
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 04/02/2007 20:22 Comments || Top||

#11  Silentbrick has the solution.
Posted by: Thrating Hatfield2271 || 04/02/2007 20:22 Comments || Top||

#12  Silentbrick has the solution.

And the left has already mapped out how to eliminate the EPA, as well as Public Broadcasting: slow bleed it...
Posted by: badanov || 04/02/2007 20:35 Comments || Top||

#13  perhaps the CO2 output of 4 SCOTUS judges should be curtailed?
Posted by: Frank G || 04/02/2007 21:00 Comments || Top||

#14  and no, that wasn't a hit request, just sarcasm.
Posted by: Frank G || 04/02/2007 21:01 Comments || Top||

#15  In honor of SCOTUS, I release my maximum allotment of methane in their general direction. To support Massachusetts' and others wise decision, Texas should stop shipping petroleum and natural gas to them.
Posted by: ed || 04/02/2007 21:12 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Hillary Clinton Raises $26 Million to Set Record
Posted by: Fred || 04/02/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Olde Tyme Religion
Jesus not really crucified, Libya's Gaddafi says
Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has told a mass prayer meeting for Muslims in Niger that Jesus was not really nailed to the cross but that another man who resembled him was crucified in his place. "It is not correct to say that," Colonel Gaddafi said of Jesus' crucifixion, according to a Sunday Herald-Sun report. "Another man resembling Jesus was crucified in his place."

Colonel Gaddafi also told listeners that it was a mistake to believe that Christianity was a universal faith alongside Islam. "There are serious mistakes - among them the one saying that Jesus came as a messenger for other people other than the sons of Israel," Reuters quoted him as saying. "Christianity is not a faith for people in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas," he said.

Colonel Gaddafi, who is seeking to expand his influence in Africa, said his arguments came from the Koran. "It is a mistake that another religion exists alongside Islam. There is only one religion which is Islam after Mohammed," he said in the sermon.

"All those believers who do not follow Islam are losers," he added. "We are here to correct the mistakes in the light of the teachings of the Koran."
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 04/02/2007 13:25 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "It is not correct to say that," Colonel Gaddafi said of Jesus' crucifixion, according to a Sunday Herald-Sun report. "Another man resembling Jesus was crucified in his place."

Dude, you're mixing up the Bible with "Life of Brian".

"All those believers who do not follow Islam are losers," he added.

I can see him signing a big L on his forehead when he said this.

Posted by: Penguin || 04/02/2007 13:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Q 4:155-158 give the Islamic doctrine on this. There were active Christian sects in 6th century that believed that the person on the cross was a virtual Jesus rather than a real Jesus or something similar.
Posted by: mhw || 04/02/2007 14:01 Comments || Top||

#3  We need to chase this guy around with a cruise missile now and then to keep him busy. He is obviously bored.
Posted by: gorb || 04/02/2007 14:21 Comments || Top||

#4  Did you know that Saddam's double was hanged? Hitler lived out his life in Brazil (or was it Argentina?) And now we find out from Daffy that Jesus was not crucified - and he was there!

Imagine the shock that Jews, Muslims and the atheists will feel when they are told that Jesus is not the Messiah. How will they handle it! Why has no one told them this before.

I'm sure this will have a devasting impact on Christians everywhere.
Posted by: Angaiger Tojo1904 || 04/02/2007 15:21 Comments || Top||

#5  I've heard this theory before. My theory is old Mo spread this lie so his own status as allan's prophet could be exalted. I'd like to ask Q'Daffy one thing: Moses gave us the Ten Commandments, Jesus gave us the Sermon on the Mount and the Golden Rule, so what value did Mohammed add?

Oh, that's right. He said we can't drink beer and can't eat bacon but that it's OK to treat our women like cattle and decapitate those with whom we disagree. Thank you, Q'Daffy. Thank you, Mo. /sarcasm


"Christianity is not a faith for people in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas," he said.


Christianity is the religion of intelligent, educated people whereever and whoever they are who prefer the love of Jesus over the superstition concocted by the warlord Mohammed.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 04/02/2007 15:25 Comments || Top||

#6  This is all standard muzzie doctrine. Nothing new here and the article should have pointed that out. Besides, who cares what Goofy says anyway?
Posted by: Spot || 04/02/2007 16:01 Comments || Top||

#7  Behead him!
Posted by: mojo || 04/02/2007 16:12 Comments || Top||

#8  Standard Islamic crap. At least Reagan almost got this camel turd.
Posted by: Icerigger || 04/02/2007 16:35 Comments || Top||

#9  Actually Spot, I understood things differntly. I thought the Muslims believed Jesus was put on the cross, they just thought of him as a prophet and no the Messiah. Wise guy rather than son of God.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 04/02/2007 20:02 Comments || Top||

#10  The heresey that Jesus did not die on the cross, was a common one in the 6th-7th century. I want to say monophysite, but I can't be sure.

It is my personal opininon that islam started out as some sort of weird jewish or monophysite christian sect that got taken over by a charismatic charlatan. It would certainly explain the historical antipathy that muzzies have for jews.
Posted by: Helmuth, Speaking for N guard || 04/02/2007 20:36 Comments || Top||

#11  Kaddafy is just repeating the koran. If Jesus did rise from the dead, then it would would no longer make him another prophet, but above mohammed, since ole mo couldn't pull off that feat.

koran 4:157 And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Allah's messenger - they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain.
Posted by: ed || 04/02/2007 20:54 Comments || Top||

#12  "All those believers who do not follow Islam are losers," he added.

Of course, since the muslim call to prayer includes:
Come to prayer.
Come to Success.
There is none worthy of being worshiped except Allah.
Posted by: ed || 04/02/2007 21:00 Comments || Top||


Home Front Economy
Michelin to build world's largest tyre base in China
Michelin, the tyre maker, plans to spend 300 million dollars to expand its tyre production centre in China into the world's largest tyre manufacturing base, state media said Friday. The French auto parts giant has signed a memorandum with the provincial government of Liaoning in northeast China covering new truck tyre and sedan tyre projects, the Xinhua news agency reported. When the two projects are implemented, the company's existing base in Shenyang, the capital city of Liaoning, will become the world's largest tyre production base, according to Xinhua. Michelin spokespeople in China declined comment on the report when contacted by AFP.

Posted by: Seafarious || 04/02/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Rosie O'Donnell to host the opening ceremonies.
Posted by: Grunter || 04/02/2007 1:14 Comments || Top||

#2  Oh good, coat her in flour: the Michelin Bitch.
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 04/02/2007 14:58 Comments || Top||



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Mon 2007-04-02
  Democrats To Widen Conflict With Bush
Sun 2007-04-01
  Wazoo tribesmen attack Qaeda bunkers
Sat 2007-03-31
  Japan sets up missile defence shield near Tokyo
Fri 2007-03-30
  Abdur Rahman, Bangla Bhai stretchy neck
Thu 2007-03-29
  Arab League unanimously approves Saudi peace plan
Wed 2007-03-28
  US starts largest exercise since war
Tue 2007-03-27
  Hicks pleads guilty
Mon 2007-03-26
  Release Sufi Muhammad in 72 hours or Else: TNSM
Sun 2007-03-25
  UNSC approves new sanctions on Iran
Sat 2007-03-24
  Iran kidnaps Brit sailors, marines
Fri 2007-03-23
  LEBANON: 200 KG BOMB FOUND AT UNIVERSITY
Thu 2007-03-22
  110 killed as Waziristan festivities enter third day
Wed 2007-03-21
  40 killed in Wazoo clashes
Tue 2007-03-20
  Taha Yassin Ramadan escorted from gene pool
Mon 2007-03-19
  5000+ kilos of explosives seized in Mazar-e-Sharif

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