A Tulsa homeowner shot a man who attempted to break into his house early Monday after the homeowner called police and told the man to leave. The suspected burglar, Michael Brian Crawford, 36, was hit once in the left shoulder. He was treated and released from a hospital before being arrested on one count of first-degree burglary.
The homeowner, who works out of his home in the 2300 block of South 121st East Avenue, said the man rang his doorbell about 3:30 a.m., which woke him up, and asked for help. He called 911 and told the man the police were coming but didnt open the door, the homeowner said.
I dont open the door that time of morning, said the homeowner, 51, who asked not to be identified by name.
The man waited several minutes by the mailbox before he returned to the front window and yelled, Youre the man of the house. You come talk to me, at the homeowner who was staying awake watching TV.
The homeowner said he told the man that he already called 911 and he should go back and wait on the sidewalk. A few moments later the light on the front porch went out, and he went and got his pistol, the homeowner said. Unscrewed the bulb or broke it would be my guess.
As he secured his house, he saw a shadowy figure against his back porch blinds and the back door began to jiggle. Get away from my house, he said he yelled at the person on his porch. Thats when the back porch light went out, he said. Note to self: Buy porch light you need screwdriver to open.
The homeowner then let out a shot and the man fled. "Apparently, I hit him, he said Monday afternoon.
Crawfords bond is set at $20,000, jail records show.
Neighbors talked Monday afternoon about buffing up their neighborhood watch, which they said already works pretty well. Several neighbors said crime is low in their neighborhood, because they keep an eye out for problems. A burglar that determined isn't a burglar. Only the devil himself knows what he actually is.
#2
"I dont open the door that time of morning," said the homeowner, 51
I quit opening my door to anyone years ago. 99%+ of everyone who knocked turned out to be some kind of door to door solicitor wanting to convert me to something or trying to get money (honestly, by asking, not taking). Time taken to answer the door was consistently wasted, besides there was the obvious security risk.
My town is a fairly safe one, excluding the double murder a block away followed by a 45-second shootout between the perp & the police while I was working on my pickup in the drive. (I do pay more attention to popping sounds I hear in the neighborhood since then.)
The incident looks like one of those failed attempts by a lost soul prowling the world seeking the ruin of souls. $20,000 bond is far too little. The suspect will be back on the prowl as soon as he ingests or manufactures his next supply of mind-altering substances. Perhaps he, or some of his entourage, will visit the very same man for a little payback. The news article almost gave the address away.
#5
Ever hear of home invasion, anon1? He had something to knock lights out. The same thing he thought he could hold against the home owner, most likely a large knife. Thieves seem to know most people these days don't pack heat at home.
A flight attendant whose profanity-laced tirade has turned him into a folk hero of sorts was released on bail Tuesday night from a Bronx detention center.
Authorities say Steven Slater grabbed some beer and triggered an inflatable emergency chute for a dramatic exit from a plane at a JFK Airport terminal in New York.
New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said it "appears" that Slater was quitting during his intercom flameout Monday. It might seem that way. Unless you're a liberal.
"It's a strange way to quit, let's put it that way," he said. "I don't think he'll be able to come back." Maybe not in the airline industry. But he seems like just the kind of guy we need in charge of Afghanistan right about now.
Slater said as he left the facility that he appreciated the groundswell of support that has grown since the Monday incident, but declined to comment further. Why should he? He's already said what he had to say.
#1
The original article had some great literary tap dancing, to describe how when the police picked him up at his apartment, he was amorously engaged with his "partner".
#2
Reminds me of a short conversation I had with a state trooper on his last day at work before he was to retire. I asked him if there was anything he thought he would miss in retirement. He said, "I'll miss that feeling I kept getting, that if I heard ONE MORE LIE, I was going to start shooting."
Former House Ways and Means chairman passes away at 82.
During his early years in congress, Rostenkowskis record was typical of a northern Democrat with close ties to a powerful big city political organization. He made sure that Chicago received its full share of federal funds. He advocated for various social welfare programs that made up President Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty.
Chicago Mayor Daley often looked to Rostenkowski as Chicagos chief liaison in Washington, and counted on him to deliver federal funds to grease" the machine with special projects. Rostenkowski got the job done and kept the Chicago machine alive at a time when other big city machines were nearing extinction. He supported the American effort in Vietnam until 1971, when he joined anti-war Congressmen in an attempt to force a quick withdrawal of American troops by voting against certain military appropriation bills.
Eventually liberal Democrats stripped Rostenkowski of his position as chairman of the Democratic Caucus, because of his ties to Mayor Daley, who was a pariah because of the 1968 convention.
Rostenkowski's political career ended in 1994 after a two year investigation by the Justice Department. In a case led by future U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Rostenkowski was indicted on corruption charges for his role in the House post office scandal.
In 1996, he pleaded guilty to reduced charges of mail fraud. He was fined and was sentenced to 17 months in prison, of which he served 15 at the federal prison in Oxford, Wisconsin, and the remaining 2 months at a half way house in Chicago. Rostenkowski was pardoned in December 2000 by President Clinton, who said "Rostenkowski had done a lot for his country and had more than paid for his mistakes."
PayPal has frozen the account of the Flux Foundation a large crew of Bay Area artists and burners that is headed to the Black Rock Desert this week to build the most ambitious Temple in Burning Man's 25-year history claiming the right to profit from the money until the group formally attains its nonprofit status from a backlogged federal government.
I blame George Bush!!!
All that money is just sitting there and we can't touch it, says artist Jess Hobbs, referring to the tens of thousands of dollars that the crew has raised this summer through events and other fundraising drives to supplement an art grant from Black Rock City LLC that didn't come close to meeting the project's $180,000 budget.
Check out the pic at the link of the deluxe "Temple". See what 180 large can get you from the world's finest stoner artists. All 100% flammable, too!
PayPal -- which has been criticized for its secrecy, financial manipulation, and other corporate misbehavior -- was founded in San Jose in 1998 to facilitate online financial transactions and in 2002 was taken over by eBay, the company from which billionaire California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman acquired her wealth.
The company has not returned inquires from the Guardian made this morning. Hobbs and a crew that includes more than 200 other artists and burners have voluntarily worked almost every day this summer to build the Temple of Flux, a series of massive dunes that replicate peaks, canyons, caves, and other natural land forms a project that I've been embedded with for a Guardian cover story that comes out Sept. 1.
They will take the donations and their fees, but they won't give us our money until we get our nonprofit status, Hobbs told a meeting of the crew last night at the American Steel warehouse in West Oakland, where they've been working on the project since early June, before she and other principle artists PK Kimelman and Rebecca Anders left for the playa today. And the IRS is so backed up they're taking at least six months to give out nonprofit status.
Hobbs and other Temple crew members are now scrambling for ways to support a difficult on-site build that will take more than two weeks to complete, including asking crew members for loans and encouraging everyone to put the word out to the community, hoping to find generous benefactors who can at least extend a bridge loan.
"For the cost of two really good hits of X from Velvet Jones, you too can help pollute the desert build an ideal society for independent thinkers who all look exactly alike and say the exact same things!
Burning Man crews and camps are traditionally informal groups, but given the scale of this project, the Temple of Flux crew this year tried to create a new model for fundraising and sustaining the organization beyond this year's Burning Man event by filing the voluminous paperwork required to create the nonprofit Flux Foundation.
But now, PayPal has thrown the effort into a real state of financial flux, taking its cut of nearly 3 percent but refusing to even explain why the corporation has deemed it necessary to freeze the group's finances.
So, let me see if I got this correct. You open an account as a nonprofit before you got the paperwork blessed by the proper authorities. Some other company holding the cash is not sure how much to hold onto for the IRS until this all settles out, so they freeze the account. And it's their fault because you can't get your crap together like an adult? Put down the bong, Princess....you've had enough for today.....
#1
So a simple white cross in the desert needs supreme court approval, and yet torn down by leftie vandals. Still unable to put a new one up because the old one was the only thing protected and this guy is building a burning temple???? WTF!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
08/11/2010 15:30 Comments ||
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#2
But you don't understand, this is really, like, a total bummer, dudes and dudettes!
#8
I don't get what you mean by "Burning Man is trial by fire for ad talent". No advertising is allowed there, neither is any vending. It is actually a pretty cool event. There isn't a single trashcan there and when people leave, it is as clean as when they found it. If you hauled it in, you haul it out. There are two things you can buy there: ice and coffee. The proceeds go to the local schools (not for salaries, but for "stuff" they need) if there is any left after expenses.
You want to take a shower out there? Fine, bring your own, and bring your own water for it. Oh, and you will need to haul the dirty water out. You can't dump it on the ground there because it is a dry lake bed and it turns to muck if you put water on it.
Hippies actually don't fare well out there and it is an engineer's dream.
The thing about Burning Man is like a lot of other things, most media tends to pick out the most extreme examples and portray them as typical. There is a US Marine Corps camp out there, there is bluegrass music. It is probably one of the harshest environments in which to camp in the US. It can be 100 degrees by day and 35 at night with winds howling for days at a time that can rip a tent to shreds.
That temple is an important part of the experience. It is a place where you can place a burden, a loved one's ashes, a painful memory ... and then burn it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXNNWK_G4XU
Some years the rendition of Ave Maria will send chills up your spine depending on who is performing it.
Warning: Big time-waster at the link, but here are a couple of interesting words. Maybe for communication's sake we should just stick to using the common term, though.
Obviously, government employees can no longer use the word "goodbye" since they are so dead set on removing any perception of religion from government.
#1
I like Alexander Graham Bell's suggestion of a telephone greeting: Ahoy!
Arrrrrr......better than hullo.....
Posted by: Alaska Paul in Hooper Bay, Alaska ||
08/11/2010 2:49 Comments ||
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#2
My daughter's standard greeting on the phone: "Hey"
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/11/2010 8:51 Comments ||
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#3
My standard greeting on my landline phone is "You have reached XXX-XXXX. Please leave a message after the tone." and then I push any button on the dial pad. This is the same message my answering machine gives off, only the tone is different. People who know me, know what to do. Time-wasting callers hang up. People who are calling by mistake ignore the phone ID & leave a message for whomever they imagine they are calling. People who try to leave a legitimate message hear from me on the spot.
#4
Hello came into existence in the mid-1800s. It is an alteration of hallo, which was an alteration of holla or hollo. These words were used to attract immediate attention and demand that the listener come to a stop or cease what he or she was doing. Hallo was used to incite hunting dogs.
One of the problems with the internet is that the same thing gets repeated a million times often based on a single source, in this case the OED.
The OED is probably wrong and hello is likely a contraction of 'hail fellow'. Semantically it fits and many english people pronounce hello more like 'haillow'.
Government statistics in Afghanistan have raised concerns that a growing number of Afghan women are attempting suicide.
The government says every year about 2,300 women or girls attempt to kill themselves, mainly due to mental illness, domestic violence and poverty.
Especially the domestic violence. Notice how HRW just buries that one in the sentence.
Rachel Reid, Afghan analyst from Human Rights Watch, has told Radio Australia's Connect Asia program there are a range of issues facing women in Afghanistan.
"There are extraordinarily high levels of child-enforced marriage, domestic violence, violence against women generally and huge cultural, social taboos on women seeking help when they've got problems," she said.
"So I have interviewed women in burns hospitals in Kabul who have tried to kill themselves and failed and talked to them about what drove them to it and there will be a litany of awful stories of generally domestic abuse and a feeling of complete helplessness."
Ah, progressive ideology: all cultures are relative and equally worthy. Except when they aren't. But when they aren't you can't do anything about it except study the problem. Fortunately the plight of these women will serve as material for Rachel's dissertation for her PhD in Gender Studies, so at least something good comes out of it ...
The report shows a several-fold increase in suicide attempt compared to 30 years ago, including more than 100 cases of self-immolation at Herat City Hospital in the past year, and an increase in the number of women using pharmaceuticals to kill themselves.
Ms Reid says despite this the report actually shows some promise.
"I was actually really encouraged the government was actually drawing attention to this and the government was being actually quite spot-on in terms of what was driving women to this," she said. "That in itself is quite a seachange over the past 10 years; that a government in Afghanistan would come out and say 'this is happening on a huge scale and we understand that what drives this' are quite difficult things to talk about."
Or that Karzai and his minions have found another way to milk the cow ...
The rights of Afghan women have been highlighted in the wake of a recent Time magazine cover in the US that featured the photo of an 18-year-old woman whose face had been mutilated by the Taliban.
Ms Reid says women's rights in Afghanistan are not just about the attitudes of the Taliban, but governments need to be aware of the attitudes of the Taliban towards women if they are looking towards a political settlement.
Need to be aware? Any intelligent person who's looked at Afghanistan already knows the attitude the Taliban takes towards women. I think the execution ceremonies in the soccer stadiums just a decade ago were all the education I needed about the Taliban's "attitude towards women". But perhaps Rachel is a little slow on the uptake.
"In terms of Afghan women's prospects they are pretty dismal at the moment," she said.
"They are already facing huge problems within their society and many of them pay a very heavy price in the conflict and desperately want it to end, but they also say that their rights might be sold out in hasty deals with the Taliban."
Their rights have been sold out anyways. It's been that way in Afghanistan for the last, oh, three or four millennia. Thanks for noticing, Rachel. By the way, what are you going to do about it? Besides write a thesis?
#1
Ah, progressive ideology: all cultures are relative and equally worthy. Except when they aren't. But when they aren't you can't do anything about it except study the problem. Fortunately the plight of these women will serve as material for Rachel's dissertation for her PhD in Gender Studies, so at least something good comes out of it ...
No kidding.
Some things just need to be torn down and reworked. I'm invading Afghanistan and starting an independent country. First, make it only available to women or the non-cultural specific people that don't lead to this situation. Oh, and no liberals.
#2
actually women had quite a lot of rights comparably in Afghanistan way back a few decades ago before the recent crazy backwardised Sunni Qutb-followers from Saudi started spreading their ideology all over the planet with all that oil money. They were lawyers and doctors, they worked and didn't always wear headscarfs.
but now the taliban, the new dark ages.... make that time look like renaissance lost.
who could forget the Bamiyyan buddhas being blasted away... thousand year testimony to the peaceful Buddhist culture that once was the norm
Muslims around the world could be setting their watches to a new time soon when the world's largest clock begins ticking atop a soaring skyscraper in Islam's holiest city of Mecca. Saudi Arabia hopes the four faces of the new clock, which will loom over Mecca's Grand Mosque from what is expected to be the world's second tallest building, will establish Mecca as an alternate time standard to the Greenwich median. Ummm, no
The clock is targeted to enter service with a three-month trial period in the first week of the holy month of Ramadan on or about August 12, according to the Saudi state news agency SPA.
It boasts four glimmering 46 metre-across (151 feet) faces of high-tech composite tiles, some laced with gold, sitting more than 400 metres (1,320 feet) over the Holy Haram compound. The tower's height will reach 601 metres (1,983 feet), SPA said. On its website, Premiere Composite, which is responsible for cladding the top section — including a shimmering spire topped by a golden crescent moon — puts the planned height at 590 metres (1,947 feet).
That would make it the world's second tallest building — ahead of Taiwan's 509 metre (1,670 feet) Taipei 101, but well behind the Burj Khalifa, the 828 metre (2,717 feet) skyscraper inaugurated in Dubai in January.
Some 250 "highly qualified Muslim workers" were completing welding work on the clock's frame, SPA said.
More than six times larger in diameter than London's famed Big Ben, the clock faces, with the Arabic words "In the Name of Allah" in huge lettering underneath, will be lit with two million LED lights. Some 21,000 white and green coloured lights, fitted at the top of the clock, will flash to as far as 30 kilometres (18.7 miles) to signal Islam's mandatory five-times daily prayers. On special Muslim occasions, 16 bands of vertical lights will shoot some 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) up into the sky.
"Everyone is interested to see the clock, despite the lack of sufficient information about it, and its mechanism," said Mecca resident Hani al-Wajeeh. "We in Mecca hope to be the world's central time zone, and not just have a clock to look at, to show off," he said. He means when the Caliphate is reestablished.
The developer of the massive seven-tower Abraj al-Bait complex had kept the details of the clock a secret, but it is visibly in place now, adorned with the green crossed sword and palm symbol of the Saudi state.
Mohammed al-Arkubi, the manager of the Royal Mecca Clock Tower Hotel in the building below, said the installation of the clock, its faces made by the German-owned Dubai company, Premiere Composite Technologies, has been "a huge operation."
The clock reflects a goal by some Muslims to replace the 126-year-old Universal Time standard — originally called Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) — with Mecca mean time. "One clock to rule them all and in the darkness bind them"
At a conference in Doha in 2008, Muslim clerics and scholars presented "scientific" arguments that Mecca time is the true global meridian. They said that Mecca is the centre of the world and that the Greenwich standard was imposed by the west in 1884. Like I just said...
Big does not begin to describe the Abraj al-Bait complex just across the street from the south gate of the Grand Mosque, the Muslim world's most sacred site. Built by a government-controlled fund, the complex sits seven huge towers atop a massive podium. Six are between 42 and 48 stories, and in the middle is the clock tower, appearing nearly twice as tall as the others.
Moreover, the entire complex, with 3,000 hotel rooms and apartments, a five-story shopping centre and gigantic prayer and conference halls, will give it 1.5 million square metres (16.1 million square feet) of floor space, according to architects and construction industry reports. At that it will tie Dubai International Airport's newest terminal three for the world's largest building by floor space. The complex will sport three top-class hotels, the Fairmont, Raffles and Swiss Hotel. It will also have hundreds of luxury apartments, most of them designed to have a direct view of the Grand Mosque.
The project is part of the Saudi government's plan to develop Mecca to be able to receive as many as 10 million hajj pilgrims every year, up from the current three million capacity. That is necessary to accommodate a rapidly growing global population of Muslims, who have a duty to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetimes, if possible. At the peak of the hajj, according to architect Dar al-Handasah, the complex should accommodate 65,000 people.
The clock will be the focus. Elevators will take visitors up to a huge viewing balcony just underneath the faces, and also a four-story astronomical observatory and Islamic museum.
"The construction of the biggest clock in the world in the purest spot on the earth is a dream-come-true for Muslims," said Atif Felmban, who lives in the city. "Before, we heard and saw famous clocks in the West. But today we can as Muslims be proud of this giant project," said Ahmed Haleem, an Egyptian living in the Muslim holy city.
"I might leave Mecca before the opening ceremony for the clock. But I will be keen to follow it and set my watch to it as soon as it is working," Haleem said. "It means an honour for a place, and time for me," he said
#1
They said that Mecca is the centre of the world and that the Greenwich standard was imposed by the west in 1884.
They've all got it wrong. The centre of the world is wherever I'm at, and high noon is always marked by my shadow pointing north. Ignorant barbarian infidels, all of them.
#2
Why stop there? If Mecca time was good enough for Muhammad, shouldn't all faithful Muslims reject time zones? So what if it's high noon & pitch black?
Posted by: American Delight ||
08/11/2010 10:42 Comments ||
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#3
If Mecca time was good enough for Muhammad, shouldn't all faithful Muslims reject time zones? I really doubt Mohammed used clocks to tell time, either.
#8
This hotel complex actually looks pretty nice per the architectural model.
An interesting thing here is the finances. This hotel may be 90-95% vacant except for the greater hajj. I doubt the Saudis truly realize all the O&M costs for a unique structure like this.
Posted by: lord garth ||
08/11/2010 13:19 Comments ||
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#9
I notice the contractor is, Saudi Binladin Group. Nope, to ties or simpathies there. Will there be a casino? Only way to fill those rooms in the desert, just like Vegas.
Posted by: Spearong Prince of the Bunions9034 ||
08/11/2010 16:21 Comments ||
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#10
What the article fails to make clear is that the standard it sets is not the hour, but the year - 570. So if we all just set the calendar and thinking back 1440 years we'll be in synch with our muslim brothers.
#13
"Nice aiming point" indeed! One very large nuke (50MT or so - may have to borrow it from the Russians) would put an end to a LOT of nonsense. Unfortunately, no one on Earth is going to do that. Maybe God can smack this pack of illiterate fools down with a small asteroid.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/11/2010 20:24 Comments ||
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#14
See also RENSE > HUGE MECCA CLOCK TO USURP GREENWICH TIME? | [Telegraph.UK] GIANT MECCA CLOCK SEEKS TO CALL TIME ON GREENWICH.
ARTIC = Muslim Perts argue that Mecca is a natural "LOW/ZERO MAGNETISM ZONE" ideal both for PERSONAL HEALTH + KEEPING ACCURATE TIME in comparison to Greenwich.
[Bangla Daily Star] A robber was beaten to death by a mob after a gang of robber shot a villager dead and injured 10 others at Deputy Ghona village in Banskhali upazila of Chittagong early yesterday.
Local people chased a gang of 10 to 15 armed bandits, when they were passing through the village at about 1:30am, police said.
Sensing danger, the robbers opened fire on the villagers, leaving Abul Hossain, 70, critically injured. He died on the way to the local upazila health complex.
During chase and counter-chase, locals managed to catch Abu Sayed, 45, one of the bandits, and severely beat him to death.
At least 10 people were injured when the gang opened fire and threw brick chips at the villagers.
Abu Taher, 35, one of the injured villagers, was admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital with bullet injuries.
SM Ataur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Banskhali Police Station, said the gang might have planned to commit robbery in the adjoining areas.
Police were conducting raids in the area to nab other members of the gang, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/11/2010 00:00 ||
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Link ||
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A narrated photo essay (2:33 long) of a recent trip to the region by James Kirchick
Two months after ethnic riots rocked southern Kyrgyzstan, the Central Asian nation that hosts an important U.S. air base, tensions between minority Uzbeks and Kyrgyz remain tense. Arriving in the 3,000-year-old city of Osh late last month, I found the international distress signal ''SOS'' scrawled in chalk on the streets of Uzbek neighborhoods, an eerie remnant of the deadly violence that took the lives of over 300 people last month and led to the displacement of some 400,000.
#1
PRAVDA.RU > USA'S ASIAN AIR BRIDGE MAY COLLAPSE. US desires to set up "land-only", problematic new MILOG in "POLYGON OSH", KYRGYZSTAN where clashes between Krygyzs + Uzbeks had occurred, + nearby Russ base at Kant.
Why don't they just sell it themselves and use it to pay their debts?
Pyongyangs cash-strapped totalitarian regime has offered to settle part of its debt to the Czech Republic with a large consignment of ginseng rather than eat into its limited funds.
With the domestic economy crumbling, North Korea is also feeling the pinch of tighter international sanctions imposed over its nuclear and missile programmes and the sinking of a South Korean warship. Its access to global markets is further hindered by outstanding international debts of about $12bn, two-thirds to former communist states.
Czech officials confirmed that Pyongyang had offered to settle 5 per cent of its Kc186m ($10m) in accumulated debt in ginseng, an invigorating root used in dietary supplements and teas that are supposed to improve memory, stamina and libido. Communist Czechoslovakia was a leading supplier of heavy machinery, trucks and trams to North Korea.
Non-cash trade and settlement of debt has been common among socialist countries. Cuba compensates Venezuela for discounted oil by sending doctors to work in deprived areas.
However, the now-capitalist Czechs are unconvinced they need an injection of vigour.
We have been trying to convince them to send, for instance, a shipment of zinc, which is mined there. We would sell it ourselves, Tomas Zidek, deputy finance minister, told the Czech Republics MF Dnes newspaper.
Radek Lezatka, finance ministry spokesman, said Prague was still discussing whether North Korea would ultimately pay in cash or a commodity.
MF Dnes calculated that 5 per cent of the North Korean debt would amount to 20 tonnes of the curly white root. Retail prices of North Korean ginseng in Taiwan suggest a figure closer to 12 tonnes. Both sums massively outstrip the Czech Republics annual consumption of about 1.4 tonnes year, though North Korean ginseng is popular in east Asia.
International security services last year seized large illegal consignments of smuggled arms, which are a key source of hard cash revenue for Pyongyang, probably worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
After the US and its allies blamed North Korea for sinking a South Korean warship in March, Washington again vowed to crack down on Pyongyangs international financing, money laundering and narcotics operations, though the scale of these is unclear.
A US court last week ruled that the Foreign Trade Bank of Korea, a North Korean state bank, owed a Taiwanese counterpart $6.77m over an unpaid loan.
North Koreas military runs the export companies that ship speciality foodstuffs, such as shellfish, ginseng and mushrooms, to gain hard currency. Intelligence agencies say the ginseng trade is controlled by Pyongyangs shadowy Bureau 39, which runs the countrys foreign funds.
#1
I once got a candied Skor ginseng root, its box covered with export and tax stamps. In SE Asia, it has almost mythical medicinal properties, and families would impoverish themselves to buy one for a sick family member.
In an odd twist, its medicinal properties, while always strong, are just the opposite in SE Asia than they are for American grown ginseng. That is, theirs, like their environment, is extremely Yin in character. The North American environment is extremely Yang in character, so our ginseng is as well.
This means that every year, there is about a $250m trade between us. We send them our ginseng, and they send theirs here.
I'd enjoyed Korean ginseng for some years before trying that candied root. It about knocked my socks off.
The Obama administration's most public face, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, has tried to climb down from angry remarks he aimed at leftwing critics, calling them "crazy".
In an interview with The Hill newspaper in Washington DC, Gibbs revealed frustration at attacks on the administration from liberal Democrats and others on the left, in terms likely to make relations even worse:
"I hear these people saying he's like George Bush. Those people ought to be drug tested," Gibbs said. "I mean, it's crazy." Right. They could only wish for such a comparison at this point.
The press secretary dismissed the "professional left" in terms very similar to those used by their opponents on the ideological right, saying, "They will be satisfied when we have Canadian healthcare and we've eliminated the Pentagon. That's not reality." But isn't that just exactly what you are pushing for? I'm so confused ....
Within hours of the interview being published, Gibbs tried to walk back his remarks, calling them "inartful". He told the Huffington Post:
I watch too much cable, I admit. Day after day it gets frustrating. Yesterday I watched as someone called legislation to prevent teacher layoffs a bailout - but I know that's not a view held by many, nor were the views I was frustrated about. IOW: The Devil made me do it. [Reference The Good Liberal's Handbook chapter on "Never ever having to say you're sorry!"]
Gibbs went on to say: "So we should all, me included, stop fighting each other and arguing about our differences on certain policies". Great! We'll put this new policy into effect and we'll also start taking bipartisan Pilates classes tomorrow at 07:00!
His remarks reflect the White House's sensitivity at criticism from the left of the Democratic party, who are unhappy that Obama has too often appeared to compromise on domestic policy while continuing Bush administration policies on Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as a continued failure to close Guantanamo prison. If his pure policies weren't contaminated by reality, we'd all be living in a Liberal Utopia right now!
Gibbs's remarks were quickly taken up and dissected on liberal blogs. Conservative blogs, too!
Glenn Greenwald at Salon described Gibbs's remarks as "one of the most petulant, self-pitying outbursts seen from a top political official in recent memory, half derived from a paranoid Richard Nixon rant and the other half from a Sean Hannity/Sarah Palin caricature of The Far Left". Chris Bowers of the OpenLeft blog responded in a post headlined "Dear swing voters, you suck. Love, The White House": My, looks like that "The Far Left" caricature might not be so far left after all ....
If the White House really doesn't think it has any problems among self-identified liberals or progressives, and that all the complaints are coming from a grasstop elite, it needs to look at the data again. They might collect data, but all they seem to know how to do with it is to twist it until it lends "agreement". One good way to do this is to say that "Right-wing extremists hate it, so it must be good". Of course, who right-wing extremists are is anything to their right ....
#2
It is what happens when they know their ideas and goals will fail in open debate and all they know to do is to attack critics. Now they are starting to eat their own.
#4
The systemic problem in the ranks of "Those Who Know Best" is that they somehow don't agree on what's best. Ergo- the far-left hand is always trying to arm-wrestle the left hand farther left.
A fleet of disused tanks and trucks have been dumped into the sea off the coast of Thailand in a bid to form an artificial coral reef. The unusual move is designed to boost the ecosystem in the Gulf of Thailand.
The rusting collection of trucks and 25 disused Army tanks are intended to form an artificial underwater structure to provide shelter for marine life and boost local fish stocks. The vehicles were lowered into the sea off the Narathiwat coast by crane on Monday.
A wide-ranging marine conservation policy is being enacted in Thailand to preserve fish stocks and keep the seafood industry afloat. The Government announced a three-month ban on fishing in parts of the Gulf of Thailand last year in an attempt to improve breeding and replenish fish stocks.
The tanks are Chinese-made T-69s, according to this photo gallery
On Monday, The One refused a meeting with Gov Perry about the border situation, and after meeting him at the airport and giving him a letter about the situration, Perry met with Texas border sheriffs in San Antonio.
After 16 days of denials by Laredo law enforcement and local officials regarding a Mexican drug cartel takeover of a Laredo area ranch, a Texas police blotter proves the alleged incident did in fact happen and that multiple agencies responded to the scene of a seized U.S. ranch.
Think about it for a moment. One of the most brutal drug cartels operating in Mexico crossed the U.S. border and took a ranch from its lawful owner. Intimidation has arrived along the southern border. The police blotter tells the story of the events that unfolded on July 23rd;
"On Friday 7-23-10 Laredo Webb informed that their county SWAT Team is conducting an operation in the Mines Rd. area. According to LT. Garcia with LSO (Laredo Sheriff Office) received a call from a ranch owner stating that the Zetas had taken over his ranch. As per the 17 (reporting person) he informed them that they stated La Compania (area name for Zetas) was taking the ranch and no one was permitted on the ranch without permission. SO (Sheriff Office) will have an unmarked green Ford Taurus with two officers stationed at Los Compadres and a white Chevy Tahoe with two officers stationed at Mineral Rd. The LSO (Laredo Sheriff Office) will maintain surveillance in the area and advise if action is taken. Susp (suspect) Veh (vehicle) are described as a gray or silver Audi, a BLK (black) Escalade or Navigator and a van truck with a logo of a car wash spot free on the side. Border Patrol also has their response team on scene. Also known info of BMW's and Corvettes entering and leaving the area. Auth LT Lichtenberger if assistance is requested LPD (Laredo Police Department) will secure the outer perimeter. (07/24/10 07:42:10 NR1873)"
Cartels have crossed the sovereign borders of the United States causing multiple agencies to respond and the end result was a media blackout. It's well documented that media blackouts in Mexico are happening because the cartels are threatening reporters and news outlets with bodily harm. The question is why American law enforcement agencies are giving reporters the "We can neither confirm nor deny the incident happened line?"
It was a law enforcement officer on the scene that also confirmed the incident in fact happened and officers on the ground said they "considered this an act of war."
The cover-up surrounding this story has reverberated throughout other federal law enforcement agencies. A recently retired ICE veteran, John Sakelarides had plenty to say about the latest U.S. incursion.
"What do you call an invasion by foreign nationals who are armed and occupy territory belonging to a sovereign nation? An act of war. If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it's a duck. Anyone who is denying this is what has occurred and that it constitutes an act of war is either an idiot or is somehow involved in this act of war."
He continues to say, "If they (those covering-up the story) are elected representatives or government officials and they are aware that an act of war has been perpetrated against the United States, and refuse to admit it has occurred, much less do anything about it, is violating their oath of office."
The approximate location of the U.S. ranch taken by the Zetas was 10 miles northwest of I-35 off Mines Road and Minerales Annex Road.
The Los Zetas drug cartel is an offshoot of the elite Mexican military trained in special ops, many of whom were trained by the U.S. military. The mercenary organization is said to include members of corrupt Mexican Federales, politicians as well as drug traffickers. The group was once part of the Gulf cartel, but has splintered and now directly competes with the Gulf cartel for premium drug smuggling routes in the Texas region.
The leader of Los Zetas cartel is Heriberto "El Lazca" Lazcano and the Zetas are considered the most violent paramilitary group in Mexico by the DEA. These drug cartels routinely kidnap tourists, infiltrate local municipalities and smuggle large quantities of narcotics into the U.S. marketplace.
A media firestorm ensued after this reporter posted a story on Saturday July 24, 2010. Now that the story is corroborated, it will be up to local media to track down what events took place after the Zetas seized a U.S ranch.
#1
So Texas has the drug cartells crossing borders and the president will not meet the gov. hmmmm, The gov needs to go to FOX and get on TV. Zero takes note of FOX. Use the tools you have.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
08/11/2010 13:54 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Nothing forbids the governor of Texas putting a butt load of military weapons armed Texas Rangers down there, with orders to kill any armed Zeta they meet.
#4
Goc Perry and the texas Rangers are not shrinking wallflowers, so my gut says there is more to the story, not so much about the event having taken place, but who the actors in the drama really are, Zetas or repo agents, drug cartel or local gangs, feuding family members, etc?
If the story is as described, then I cannot believe that the Gov or the Texas DPS or local Sheriff or property owner would not already be on Fox. Something doesn't feel right, and Zero is not that powerful.....yet.
#6
Why the NG? The cops these days are as well armed as any NG. They just don't have the armor. Shoot, some SWAT teams are better armed than some NG units.
Veteran actor James Caan let people in on a little secret last week. After 46 successful years among Hollywoods most outspoken liberal stars, hes speaking up about breaking the mold.
I'm an ultra conservative, he said at Moet & Chandons 6th Annual Hollyshorts Film Festival Opening Night Celebration in Los Angeles.
I'm not a G** damn Hollywood liberal, I'm not, he said, adding he only watches Fox News.
Caan, who was at the event promoting his involvement with the online platform Openfilm.com, also added that he doesnt think Hollywood actors need to comment on every single political issue. When Pop Tarts questioned him on California courts deeming Proposition 8, which bans same sex marriage, unconstitutional, he preferred to keep his lips sealed.
"I don't want to comment on that. I'll let those other geniuses do that all those actors who like to find a stage to push their agendas, he said. They don't have political science degrees... I certainly don't. I'll leave it to Sean Penn or Barbara Streisand to comment on that."
#1
Caan had a very frustrating career. Rollerball was way ahead of its time, based on some sound science fiction, but suffered from the same problem as The Running Man.
That is, both movies showed society crumbling, but with just the most peripheral signs, yet tried to convey that an athletic event will somehow be the final trigger. That is too much of a stretch.
But Caan should have stayed with science fiction. It worked wonders for Charlton Heston. By the time he did a remake of The Lathe of Heaven, it was too late.
Other than that, he did a bunch of one-shots and forgettables.
#6
Ah yes, the Man whom made all the Girls wanna watch, + cry, ala RYAN'S SONG back in PRE = FUTURE BRADGELINA "SHE SAYS CHINA RULES THE WORLD" JOLIE 1970's Guam.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The Obama administration's most public face, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, has tried to climb down from angry remarks he aimed at leftwing critics, calling them "crazy".
A fleet of disused tanks and trucks have been dumped into the sea off the coast of Thailand in a bid to form an artificial coral reef. The unusual move is designed to boost the ecosystem in the Gulf of Thailand. 
