A sparrow knocked over 23,000 dominoes in the Netherlands, nearly ruining a world record attempt, before an exterminator shot it dead. Humans? Why do they hate me?
The unfortunate bird flew through an open window at an exposition centre in the Dutch city of Leeuwarden yesterday, where employees of the television company Endemol NV have worked for weeks setting up more than four million dominoes. They were preparing to break the official Guinness World Record for falling dominoes on Friday night.
Only a system of 750 built-in gaps in the chain had prevented the bird from knocking most or all of the dominoes over ahead of schedule, according to organisers of "Domino Day". An exterminator shot the bird with an air rifle while it cowered in a mosque corner.
The organisers are out to break their own record of 3,992,397 dominoes, set last year, with a new record of 4,321,000, which marks the seventh time that the Dutch team have taken the title.
#1
So what is the deal with killing the sparrow because it knocked a domino over? Maybe someone should close the windows when they are working on this delicate and intricate task. So what would happen if some kid wandered into the area and he set off some dominos? Would the exterminator pop him too?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/15/2005 22:15 Comments ||
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Children of witches are victimized by Halloween.
Coming to class dressed as a witch on Halloween is a violation of "equitable schools policies," according to the Toronto district school board. The board said it feared "traumatic shock" if children treat "the Christian sexist demonization of pagan religious beliefs as 'fun.' "
British Muslims are victimized by Piglet and piggy banks.
Novelty pig calendars, toys, and even a tissue box featuring Winnie the Pooh and Piglet have been banned in the benefits department at Dudley Council, West Midlands, out of deference to Muslim sensibilities.
Students are victimized by the disappearance of low weekend prices in bars.
Pressured by the University of Wisconsin and a federal campaign against binge drinking, 24 bars near the Madison campus agreed to end cut-rate weekend prices. Three students and a Minneapolis law firm failed to convince a Wisconsin circuit judge that this represented conspiracy and price fixing. But they are suing again in federal court. Legal costs to the bar owners so far: $250,000.
Hit-and-run victim offends police.
A woman struck by a car while standing on a sidewalk in northern England ran afoul of police when she described the errant driver as "fat." "I was given a frosty look and told . . . I could have said lardy, porky, or podgy," said Mary Magilton, 54. "I don't think she was severely reprimanded," said a police spokesman, citing a firm policy of "appropriate language" in police reports.
Fired CBS employee is victimized by Viacom, CBS, vicious bloggers, the panel that investigated her, and a "McCarthyite" panel member who asked if she is a liberal.
Mary Mapes complained last week that people were saying mean things about her and the discredited 60 Minutes II segment she produced about President Bush's military service. She felt "extremely battered" by "having my head kicked around a soccer stadium by much of the western world." No apology, though. For unknown reasons, Mapes's new book is titled Truth and Duty rather than I Messed Up Big Time and I'm Sorry.
Atheists are victimized by religious people.
"The McCarthy era is the last time this climate existed," said beleaguered California atheist Stuart Bechman. The Los Angeles Times said nonbelievers feel stress when a major leaguer points skyward after a hit or when an actor thanks God after winning an Oscar. Some join atheist groups anonymously to avoid harassment. Still, atheist organizations are lobbying in Washington and hope to have at least one presidential candidate court their votes in 2008. Thank God.
Redheads are victimized by cruel jokes and slurs.
New Zealanders with red or ginger hair have organized against hair-color bigotry, founding groups such as the Ginger Revolution and Redheads United. Casual slurs like "gingernuts" cause a lot of hurt, so carrot-topped liberationists want to see a "Love Your Ginger Neighbor" campaign and perhaps a "Be Kind to Gingas Week." Who knows? Maybe even a Redheaded History Month. Chris Irwin, who filed an official complaint last year against a TV ad that made fun of redheads, says red hair color is "part of who I am, and I'm proud of it--as hard as that is in today's society."
Antihooker prejudice fought in Europe.
"Sex workers," the current euphemism for prostitutes, strippers, and lap-dancers, are organizing to end discrimination against their profession. Camille Cabral spoke in Brussels on behalf of the International Committee on the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe. Wearing pink stickers reading "Sluts Unite" and "Whore Power," she called for an end to the stigma associated with paid sexual service.
New Orleans school-bus failure was Bush's fault--maybe Clinton's too. Why didn't the city use all those empty buses to drive poor people to safety as Hurricane Katrina approached? Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu explained on Fox News: "Mayor Nagin and most mayors in this country have a hard time getting their people to work on a sunny day, let alone getting them out of the city in front of a hurricane . . . it's because this administration and administrations before them do not understand the difficulties . . . In other words, [the Bush] administration did not believe in mass transit."
Public victimized by kitchen-utensil violence.
Doctors writing in the British Medical Journal called for a ban on the sale of long, pointed kitchen knives. Some say the knives are not necessary in food preparation and cited 10 chefs who agreed. Peter Hamm of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence is unimpressed. "Can sharp-stick control be far behind?" he asked.
NEW DELHI (AP) -- A woman died in a Calcutta hospital after ants ate one of her eyes as she was recovering from a cornea operation, media reports said Tuesday.
Ant's, why do they hate us?
Gauri Chakraborty, 55, had complained of terrible pain after the operation at a state-run hospital, but a nurse told her it was normal and left her unattended, her son Soumen told the Press Trust of India news agency.
He said that when her bandage was removed the next day they found big black ants nibbling at her eye, PTI reported. "She died a ghastly death. We don't even know the reason of her death," Amitabha Kar, Chakraborty's son-in-law told PTI.
Local Health Minister Surjya Kanta Mishra demanded a report of the incident from the hospital authorities. In response, hospital superintendent Sukumar Das said a five-member inquiry committee has been set up, PTI reported.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/15/2005 09:22 ||
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Hate it when that happens.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
11/15/2005 10:22 Comments ||
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This sounds very much like an urban legend -- not the insects nibbling on the eye (though that sort of thing is a UL hallmark) -- but the fact that she died. Why would you die from a nibbled eye?
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuela and Mexico called their ambassadors home in a sharp dispute between presidents Hugo Chavez and Vicente Fox over the latter's relations with Washington. Verbal barbs have sailed between Chavez and Fox in recent days, and Mexico demanded Venezuela apologize Monday for Chavez's latest remark warning Fox: "Don't mess with me, sir."
Venezuela promptly ordered its ambassador home to protest what Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez called an unjustified ultimatum by Mexico. "The whole world knows that this didn't begin on the Venezuelan side," Venezuelan Ambassador Vladimir Villegas said at Mexico City's airport, where Mexican television reported he boarded a plane and left late Monday. Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez said Mexico's ambassador, Enrique Loaeza y Tovar, would return home from Caracas first thing Tuesday.
The diplomatic clash highlighted a deep rift over a U.S. proposal for a hemisphere-wide free trade zone. It also brought out longstanding differences between Fox, a conservative who tends to side with Washington, and Chavez, a fiery socialist and critic of President Bush.
"Fox and Chavez are both serving important domestic political purposes for each other," said professor Harley Shaiken, who heads the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.
"For Chavez, Fox is a surrogate of the United States in Latin America," Shaiken said. "For Fox, coming on against Chavez is low-cost, since he's in his last year (in office), weakened at home ... . Standing firm on anything offers him possible gains."
Tensions spilled over after the Summit of the Americas earlier this month in Argentina, where Fox defended the U.S. plan for a Free Trade Area of the Americas and Chavez proclaimed the idea dead. The dispute, Shaiken said, has "probably pushed farther and quicker than either side had initially intended" and may not go much further. Chavez, who took office in 1999, has had his share of diplomatic clashes.
Tensions arose with Chile in 2003 after Chavez suggested landlocked Bolivia should have access to the Pacific Ocean - something it lost in a war with Chile in the 1800s. A dispute with Colombia arose in January over the capture of a Colombian rebel in Caracas, which Chavez said violated Venezuelan sovereignty. In both cases, tensions quickly dissipated as leaders opted for diplomacy. But the dispute between Chavez and Fox shows no signs of going away.
Last week, Chavez accused Fox of being a "puppy" of U.S. interests. On Sunday, he used his weekly TV and radio show to warn Fox: "Don't mess with me, sir, because you'll get stung." Fox retorted in an interview with CNN en Espanol: "We can't allow people to offend our country."
Fox's spokesman, Ruben Aguilar, said the withdrawal of ambassadors didn't mean cutting off ties completely because business and cultural relations will remain. Rodriguez agreed there was no break in relations, saying another diplomat would head the Venezuelan embassy while the ambassador is away. "This situation is entirely the responsibility of President Fox," Rodriguez said. Chavez has accused Fox of being disrespectful to him and Argentine President Nestor Kirchner, who hosted the recent summit. Mexico had said Chavez's latest remark "strikes at the dignity of the Mexican people and government."
Aguilar also criticized Chavez for replaying videos of internal summit debates during his weekend program, calling it "an illegal act."
Threatening to further inflame tensions, Mexican prosecutors late Monday said they have detected a large upswing in heroin shipments entering the country from Venezuela, and suggested corrupt Venezuelan airport workers may be letting the drugs through. There was no immediate response from Venezuela, which says it is making major strides against drugs. Some of Chavez's allies, meanwhile, suggested the U.S. had a hand in the dispute with Mexico. Rodriguez said the U.S. "has done everything possible to isolate Venezuela."
Posted by: Steve ||
11/15/2005 09:07 ||
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At least they aren't neighbors so we won't be seeing "Soccer War II"
The promotion of Dmitry Medvedev as first deputy prime minister, and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov's elevation to deputy prime minister strongly suggests the Kremlin has put into play its plan to anoint a compromise Kremlin candidate to succeed Vladimir Putin in 2008. That person is, most likely, Medvedev.
On Monday, Putin elevated Medvedev, seen to be a liberal reformer, from the position of head of the presidential administration to first deputy minister. Medvedev will retain his position as chairman of the state-controlled energy giant Gazprom. Equally important is Ivanov's appointment. He is thought to represent the security forces around Putin. Ivanov will continue to hold the defense portfolio.
Both appointments can be interpreted as Putin preparing the ground for the world to see his protege, Medvedev, succeed him when is he steps down as president in 2008...
Putin firms grip with promotion of key allies
VLADIMIR Putin, the president of Russia, reshuffled his cabinet yesterday by promoting two key confidantes who are now seen as front-runners to succeed him at the end of his term in 2008.
Dmitry Medvedev, the Kremlin chief of staff, and Sergie Ivanov, the defence minister, were both named as deputy prime ministers, further tightening presidential control over the machinery of government.
The two men are also long-time colleagues of Mr Putin. Mr Ivanov, 53 became friends with Mr Putin when both served as colonels in the KGB.
Mr Medvedev, a 40-year-old lawyer, first worked alongside Mr Putin in the administration of St Petersburg's first elected mayor in the mid-1990s.
The move further concentrates power in a government where decisions are increasingly made inside the Kremlin.
Mr Putin's United Russia party dominates parliament and is seen as a rubber-stamp for Kremlin policies, while the government headed by Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov is expected to follow Kremlin instructions. Tsarist Retirement Plan: Attach strings before exit.
More here: Russian Liberals Criticize Putinâs Reshuffle
A strong earthquake shook northern Japan early Tuesday, triggering a small tsunami that struck coastal towns about 200 miles from the epicenter. There were no immediate reports of damage.
The quake, with a preliminary magnitude of 6.9, hit at 6:39 a.m. (4:39 p.m. EST Monday) and was centered off the east coast of Japan's main island of Honshu, according to the U.S. Geological Survey and Japan's Meteorological Agency.
Tsunami waves of 12 and 19 inches hit the city of Ofunato, and 4- to 12-inch waves generated by the quake struck at least four other towns in the area, the agency said. Tsunami waves are often barely noticeable in the ocean but can rise to greater heights once they reach shore.
Ross Stein, a geophysicist with the USGS in Menlo Park, Calif., said the swell amounted to "a surfable tsunami."
The quake hit at a depth of about 15 miles and was centered off the coast of Sanriku in northern Japan, 330 miles east of Tokyo, the USGS said.
Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries because it sits atop four tectonic plates. A powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake shook northeastern Japan in August, injuring at least 59 people, triggering landslides, damaging buildings and causing widespread power outages.
There was no destructive Pacific Ocean-wide tsunami threat following Tuesday's quake, based on historical data, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach, Hawaii.
However, earthquakes as large as Tuesday's can general local tsunamis capable of causing destruction along coastlines within 60 miles of the epicenter, according to the center.
#3
Trying to get at insurance money from either the obstratrician of the parents. Once I had a case where I (at the direction of my boss) sued a mother on behalf of an unborn child (who lived and later was born) for injuries in a car accident. The only way to get any money was to sue the mother. However, we failed as in Illinois, you can't bring that kind of suit. Thank god; that one made me feel kind of dirty.
Posted by: Mark E. ||
11/15/2005 15:24 Comments ||
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"Alongside Harriton's suit is a similar claim from a 5-year-old Australian boy who was born with permanent brain damage and cerebral palsy after doctors failed to detect a blood disorder present in his father's system."
Great. Another step toward Brave New World.
We already have medical and life insurance companies wanting genetic info on people for risk profiles. This will only create more types of insurers who want this info. Once enough governments (esp. EU, Canada, and other tranzi-types or tyrannies like China) get an incentive to use this info, will mandatory screenings and abortions be far behind?
#6
A staple current affairs shows here in Oz is kids with terminal diseases or severe disablement who are being kept alive for a little longer at enormous cost and drain on the healthcare system. The message is always the same - isn't this wonderful.
Just once, I'd like to hear someone say 'Maybe we should spend this money on treatable, curable and preventable diseases, or use it to reduce the waiting times for routine operations that allow people to once again become productive members of society.'
#7
Oh baby, phil_b - you're cruisin' for a bruisin' thinking all logical like that, lol!
I usually phrase it a little more indirectly, using baseball terminology:
"We sent Darwin to the showers much too soon. Why? Cuz we could. Now we're fucked."
President Jimmy Carter Jacques Chirac said Monday that more than two weeks of violence in the poor suburbs of France is the sign of a "profound malaise" and he ordered new measures to reach out to troubled youths and fight the discrimination believed to be at the root of it. It doesn't help that everyone is wearing leisure suits and gold chains, driving crappy cars, and listending to disco and sludgy heavy metal.
In his first address to the nation since unrest erupted Oct. 27, the president said the laws of France must be obeyed and values rekindled in youths living in the poor, mostly Arab and African immigrant suburbs ringing French cities.
He spoke after the Cabinet approved a measure to extend a 12-day state of emergency until mid-February if needed. The emergency measures empower regional officials to impose curfews on minors, conduct house searches and take other steps to prevent unrest. About 40 French towns, including France's third-largest city, Lyon, have used the measure to put curfews for minors into effect. He said he has decided to set up a corps of volunteers to offer training for 50,000 youths by 2007. He also said the French media, which is not very ethnically diverse, need to "better reflect the reality of France today." You need white European leftists, black African leftists, and Arab/Berber leftists.
Chirac again pointed a finger at parents, whom officials have blamed for failing to stop teenage youths from destructive rampages that have hopscotched around France. "Parental authority is vital. Families must assume all of their responsibilities. Those that refuse should be punished as the law allows," he said. While condemning the violence, Chirac also reached out to disgruntled suburban youths. "I want to say to the children of difficult neighborhoods, whatever their origins, that they are all the daughters and sons of the Republic," he said. Maybe they don't want to be.
In the Paris suburb of Draveil, the mayor said he would cut off municipal aid â such as vouchers for cafeterias or daycare centers â for the families of those convicted of rioting or arson. "I'll tell them that if they want their children to eat at the cafeteria, the first step is not to set it on fire," said Georges Tron, a politician from Chirac's center-right party.
Government spokesman Jean-Francois Cope said the bill approved by the Cabinet on Monday would leave open the possibility of ending the emergency measures before three months are up, if order is restored.
In the next few days, France is expected to start deporting foreigners implicated in the violence, a plan by law-and-order Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy that has raised concerns among human rights groups.
Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said he agreed that illegal immigrants could be sent home, but not foreigners with permission to live in France. "A French person who carried out a crime or a misdemeanor in France cannot be treated in one way while a foreigner with papers in order is treated in another," he told Europe-1 radio. "It's not possible." Then make it possible
#2
I think de Villepin, Chirac's designated successor, will want to distance himself from the word malaise, if Jimmy Carter's 1980 election campaign is any guide. Then again, the French are said to be moody (and therefore sophisticated) unlike cheery and naive Americans. Maybe the word malaise will resonate with them in a way it did not during Carter's election defeat.
#5
Old bastard has showed now that the riots are extinguishing: only 162 cars burned against 1500 at their high-point. But at that moment the old coward was silent.
"Media are not etchnically diverse"
Yeah right. From the top of my head. Rachid Arhab (TV), Ilyona Moryuceff (radio), Yasmina Kelkouche (press). Or perhaps he was talking about the discrimination against Blacks and Berbers (none of those I mentionned is)
Posted by: Curt Simon ||
11/15/2005 10:57 Comments ||
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two weeks of violence in the poor suburbs of France is the sign of a "profound malaise"
Chirac need only look into a mirror to make that observation.
"I'll tell them that if they want their children to eat at the cafeteria, the first step is not to set it on fire,"
Great idea. Sadly this presumes that the rioting public has some remote comprehension of Cause & Effect. Something I've yet to see from any of these violent thugs or their religion as a whole.
#9
Zenster: They have a profound understanding of cause and effect: they burn cars, they get paid off. Nobody is geting deported and the threat to take away their cafeteria passes is as empty as all the law and order rhetoric.
Bosnian police have said they arrested a Bosnian Serb man wanted for alleged war crimes committed against Muslims during the Balkan country's 1992-1995 war. Vojkan Djurkovic, 58, is wanted by the Bosnian war crimes court for crimes he allegedly committed while serving as a member of a Serb paramilitary unit known as the Tigers in the northeast of the former Yugoslav republic. He is accused of having participated in "ethnic cleansing" operations to remove the Muslim population from the village of Bijeljina, said a police officer who requested anonymity.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/15/2005 00:00 ||
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Former U.S. President Bill Clinton is "The Most Influential Man in the World," according to Esquire magazine. The magazine has designated him as "the most powerful agent of change in the world" despite his lack of electoral standing and the fact he was laid low by a heart attack ahead of last year's presidential election.
The magazine highlights Clinton's accomplishments in its December issue, which goes on newsstands on Thursday, profiling the world's "Best and Brightest" men and women. Since leaving office, Clinton has been so active that his post-presidency amounts to "a third term" for the Democrat who held the White House from 1992 to 2000, the magazine said. He has tackled global issues from AIDS, poverty and global warming to the recovery from last December's Indian Ocean tsunami.
Esquire editor David Granger argued that Clinton was poised to become "something like a president of the world or at least a president of the world's non-governmental organizations."
But it will mean giving up a leadership role in the Democratic party or pushing the political career of his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, seen as a 2008 White House contender. In the article, Clinton said that he remained loyal to his party, adding: "I'm not the leader of the opposition anymore."
My Due Diligence on the Liberal Ad Network
The Drudge Retort has been kicked out of the Liberal Blog Advertising Network, a group of 75 liberal sites organized by Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos and Chris Bowers and Jerome Armstrong of MyDD under the guidance of BlogPAC, a political action committee that Moulitsas and Armstrong began in 2004.
Bowers personally invited me to join the network in May 2005, sending several e-mails until I agreed to become one of its founding members. I thought it was a good way to bring liberal blogs closer together and make some money in the 2006 election year, so I've been working on it for six months, running the network's "Advertise Liberally" ad on the Retort 6.5 million times during that span and setting up a private blog for members.
The network has been experiencing a double super-secret flamewar since Bowers announced in mid-October that they were unilaterally changing the rules to excludes several well-trafficked members, including the Retort, Raw Story and Smirking Chimp.
At this time next year, I planned to be sunning on the deck of a new yacht bought with political ad riches, thanks to our country's lack of meaningful campaign finance reform. I saw myself picking up the New York Times, reading about the newly elected Democratic majority in both houses of Congress, the first day of Karl Rove's prison term and the Texas Rangers' victory in the World Series.
Instead, I've just given six months of effort and free ad space worth $2,200 to a liberal ad network that's now my competition.
Some conservatives will have a field day with this, suggesting that liberal bloggers don't know the business world because we're up in our ivory towers smoking medicinal marijuana as we search for gay spotted owls who want to get married. But things could be worse for the liberal ad network -- it could be Pajamas Media.
I think the moral of this story is simple: Practice due diligence before getting into business with Moulitsas, Armstrong and Bowers. A trait that makes them entertaining bloggers -- a talent for getting into fights they don't need to have -- doesn't translate well to making a network of weblogs advertiser friendly.
I realized this a few weeks ago when Moulitsas used the Daily Kos front page to threaten potential advertisers:
... campaigns should advertise on blogs to reach readers, not to "endorse" the publication. We're bloggers. We'll say things that are "controversial". If campaigns don't think they can weather such storms, then by all means they should NOT advertise on blogs.
Because every time a campaign freaks out at a blogger and pulls their ads, we're going to raise a stink about it and inevitably make that campaign look bad. So they should think long and hard before putting money into a Blogad campaign.
My jaw dropped when I read this response to the Kaine gubernatorial campaign in Virginia, which pulled an ad from Steve Gilliard because of his provocative depiction of an African-American politician in blackface. The political situation for a Democrat in a tight race, days before the election, was less important than a blogger's need to keep it real.
Moulitsas can afford to say crazy shit like that, because Democratic politicians view Daily Kos as an ATM machine and assembly line for grass-roots liberal activists. He charges $1,400 a week for ads and regularly sells 6-8 of them.
For the rest of the 75-minus-me members in the liberal ad network, "don't pull an ad or we'll hurt you" is a bit of a tough sell.
NEW ORLEANS - The uncle and father of a Louisiana lawmaker won three no-bid contracts worth $108 million to provide temporary housing for Hurricane Katrina evacuees, stirring complaints of a sweetheart deal from rival businesses and prompting a state investigation.
Ya have to read all the way to the end of the story to find out he's a Democrat.
A state agency is investigating because the lawmaker's family did not have a Louisiana license to sell new trailer homes until well after the company provided the first ones to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
FEMA wants 125,000 campers and mobile homes for those who lost their homes in the storm that struck Aug. 29. The New Orleans-area motorcycle shop owned by Rep. Gary Smith's family received FEMA contracts to provide 6,400 trailers. Smith's uncle, Glen Smith, said he was able to secure the contracts because he has worked with the federal government for nearly four decades during disasters, removing debris, dredging rivers, and providing mobile housing following Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
When I'm looking to dredge a river, I always check motorcycle shops
"We know what it takes to get them satisfied," Glen Smith said. "They didn't just walk up and give us a jackpot. It's not like that."
"First, you have to make a contribution to the party. Then you collect the jackpot"
Trailer dealers were upset that Smith's motorcycle business did not have a license from the state Recreational and Used Motor Vehicle Commission to sell new trailers until mid-October. Glen Smith said he already had a license to sell used trailers and was not aware he needed another one.
"License? License! We don't need no stinking license!"
The commission is close to finishing its investigation into the motorcycle shop's license, said John Torrance, executive director of the agency. The shop's owners are likely to face fines, he said. FEMA spokesman Larry Orluskie said he did know the specifics of Smith's contracts or the licensing requirements. "This is a contract that's going to be looked at along with all the other contracts that are being scrutinized," he said. "If there's something inappropriate, it will be revealed."
No-bid contracts awarded by FEMA for temporary housing in trailers and on cruise ships have been questioned by state and federal lawmakers and businesses that have complained of favoritism. Critics of the government's no-bid contracts have called them gifts to politically connected companies. FEMA said they were needed to speed recovery efforts. Federal auditors are looking into several deals.
David Gaffney, owner of Innovative RV in Baton Rouge, said he made three dozen calls to FEMA officials over several weeks trying to see if he could get a contract to sell trailers to the agency. "I was screaming at them," he said. "I'm a mile from the staging area and watched all these trailers roll by me." He finally was told he only could sell FEMA the 37 trailers that were already on his lot, unlike the deal Smith received. Gaffney said he could have supplied the trailers to the government at a lower price than Smith is offering.
Glen Smith said the contracts had nothing to do with his nephew, a state lawmaker since 1999. He said his nephew only handles legal work for the business and gets none of the profits.
So he's just your consiglieri?
Gary Smith, a Democrat, also denied that his position as lawmaker had anything to do with the contract. "FEMA doesn't even know I exist," he said.
"I never had relations with that agency, FEMA"
Louisiana lawmakers are debating a bill that could require state officials to inform the state ethics board when they or their family members profit from federal disaster-related contracts.
Yeah, like that's gonna pass
Posted by: Steve ||
11/15/2005 13:51 ||
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LOL - Great inline comment, Steve! ROFL! Perfekt!
I've often thought, what with all the storm damage and erosion to the great state of LA, one solution might be to unchain the Mississippi and let nature take back it's course, as it were. Any additional consequences might well be features rather than bugs.
(Ditto on the great in-line commentary.)
Posted by: SLO Jim ||
11/15/2005 15:04 Comments ||
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Hurry, refocus -- Halliburton!!!!!! Bush is lied and uh- he's Hitler!!!@!!
#2
"The court has not only missed an opportunity to right a great historic injustice, it has shut the courthouse door in the face of hundreds of thousands of disenfranchised citizens."
Who, as felons, more than likely "disenfranchised" someone else by force. Sorry, no sympathy here.
#3
They are felons for a reason, and the suspention of voting rights is punishment. I'm for reinstating them after 10 years if they keep their nose clean, but you f00ked up, you pay the price. And the price is prison and the forfiture of rights.
Well then, we make double-sure they don't vote. Hundreds of thousands in a single state? Florida had about 7.5 million voters in 2004. No way I want hundreds of thousands of ex-felons voting, unless their names are and have been VERY clean for quite a while.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/15/2005 18:33 Comments ||
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Shait! Now I guess they will all come up here to Washington State where the dead, felons, and imaginary friends are allowed to vote (as long as they vote Democratic that is...).
This is too disgusting. I have nothing to say. Senate to call for Bush plan to end Iraq war
The Senate is expected to vote today to demand that the Bush administration "explain to Congress and the American people its strategy for the successful completion of the mission in Iraq."
Republican leaders are resisting Democrats' call for the administration to provide a plan for withdrawal, but in agreeing that the administration must provide more information and a schedule for reaching full Iraqi sovereignty, they are joining Democrats in signaling that the White House and the Iraqi government must produce results in 2006.
Democrats have grown bolder in their criticism of the war and have forced the debate onto the Senate floor as the body considers the Defense Department authorization bill. They offered an amendment calling for the administration to report on progress in Iraq, explain its strategy and set goals that would lead to a timeline for withdrawal.
Republican leaders, facing the prospect of losing that vote, countered with their own version -- an edited copy of Democrats' amendment that still requires the administration to give a schedule for meeting specific conditions on the road to Iraqi sovereignty, but drops the requirement that the schedule be tied to troop withdrawals. "I think they're reasonable reporting requirements, but the real objective is to get out of this timeline, cutting and running, which the Democrats have in their amendment," said Majority Leader Bill Frist, Tennessee Republican, who is sponsoring the Republicans' alternative along with Armed Services Committee Chairman John W. Warner, Virginia Republican.
Both their amendment and the Democrats' amendment face votes today, before the Senate finalizes its version and sends it to a House-Senate conference committee.
The Senate also will take final votes on setting a policy for detainees in the war on terror and their access to the American judicial system. The bill has become a battleground for old fights over intelligence in the run-up to the war and how the Bush administration has prosecuted the war.
Last week, President Bush began fighting back against Democrats' claims over intelligence, saying in a Veterans Day speech that it was "irresponsible to rewrite the history" of how the United States went to war, pointing to Democratic support of the 2003 invasion. The president reiterated that argument yesterday during a stop in Alaska en route to an eight-day Asian trip.
Democrats responded with harsh criticism of Mr. Bush. "You, sir, have failed our troops. You, sir, have failed the American people by the failure of your policy in Iraq," Sen. Mark Dayton, Minnesota Democrat, said yesterday.
Minority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, said Mr. Bush was off target. "It's not easy for the president to admit mistakes, as we've come to learn," Mr. Reid said. "It's a lot easier for him to lash out at those who question his policies. But political attacks are not going to get the job done."
Senate Republicans said their support for the Democrats' demand for more information isn't a break with the administration, although they acknowledged it is designed to send a message. "I'm not trying to reflect on the past. It's forward-looking," Mr. Warner said. "I do not deem this as critical. I deem it as, in the sense of the Senate, the Senate is saying we believe the next 120 days are serious, and it must be viewed with equal seriousness here in this country and in Iraq." He said he chose to edit the Democrats' amendment rather than introduce a new version to show how much bipartisan agreement there is on what the administration must do.
The major change was the deletion of a paragraph in the Democrats' version calling for a "campaign plan with estimated dates for the phased redeployment of the United States Armed Forces from Iraq as each condition is met, with the understanding that unexpected contingencies may arise." Still, Democrats said that by agreeing to the bulk of their amendment, Republicans also think "that the administration needs to come forward and explain to Congress and the American people its strategies for success in completing our mission in faraway Iraq," Mr. Reid said.
Last night, a group of senators reached a compromise on detainee lawsuits that would allow prisoners at U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to appeal the rulings of military tribunals. According to the Associated Press, the agreement gives detainees who receive 10 or more years in prison or the death penalty an automatic appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Those who receive lesser sentences could petition the court to hear their cases at the judges' discretion. The 500 or so detainees also could challenge in federal court their having been classified as "enemy combatants."
"Instead of unlimited lawsuits, the courts now will be looking at whether you're properly determined to be an enemy combatant and, if you're tried, whether or not your conviction followed the military commission procedures in place," Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, told the AP. Yo, Graham. I used to think you weren't stupid. Now I only have the following questions for you: Do you own a sword? Want to borrow mine?
#1
As I have said before hopefully our spooks and troops will eliminate the illegal combant problem, by just not capturing anyone.
This is a war in which we should be giving no quarter, because our enemies are giving no quarter, yet a group of Americans want to give quarter. Why? Why is the military enforcing laws they must operate under are now being advised they may not enforce the rules?
I don't understand this. Do they just want to even the kill ratio up to terrorists? Do they want more dead Americans, because that will be the net result. It may not happen in Iraq but it will happen.
Could a senator actually discuss cogently how changing the rules in a war in which the enemy is granted a status they did noting to earn is going to help the US win the war?
What happened to ex post facto? These new rules should only apply to illegal combatants captured after the rules are adopted, not before. The current enemy combants should not be granted rights retroactively, not even in the interest of justice. Is the Senate throwing out a basic and valuable premise in common law, ex post facto?
Here is the bottom line for those RINOs who want to do our enemies a favor: The left is pursueing this not becuase they care about illegal combatants, but because acquiesence in this matter will make the right look weak. Will the left say after these insane rules are adopted, what a bunch of great guys?
No, they will tell the world, look: we have been telling you this and that all along, and now they agree.
The net result will be a more leftist congress unless and until the senate leaders and the president have the cojones to stop this now.
My view is that as long as Bush continues appointing conservative judges and fixing the federal judiciary, I will show upat the polls in 2006. But there are an awful lot of folks who won't, who will just jump on the leftist bandwagon and let the left help kill more Americans. In other words, they won't shoew up to the polls in 2006, unless they see the president and Congress stand hard and firm against this.
#2
This is the single most appalling piece of news I've seen since the start of the war, bar none. If the Republican leadership cannot do any better than this, we are well and truly FUCKED.
Fucked, because what this really means is that Osama bin Laden was dead-on right about America: the American people do NOT have the stamina, courage and will to fight a long war; bleed them enough, and sooner or later, they will lose heart, turn tail and run home.
If the spineless wimps in the Senate have their way, Iraq will become Mogadishu writ large: living proof of American weakness and lack of resolve.
Bah.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
11/15/2005 8:53 Comments ||
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#5
Has my party gone bonkers? WTF Frist? This bill didn't need to get written except we have pussies like Frist and McCain in so called leadership roles. They being lead by the Dems and the worst part is they probably know it. How about you tell the Democrats "Not only no but FUCK NO!" Of course they will wail but they will do that anyway. This will only embolden our enemies.
#6
whats your problem? this isnt a schedule for withdrawls. Its more like, ok, you say you're going to have 50,000 more Iraqi troops go from level 3 readiness to level 2, now give us a target date. Youre going to shift control of 3 more provinces to Iraqi forces, give us a target date. Etc, etc. Its called accountability, and is what the Bush admin wants in education and everywhere else.
I think the GOP bill sounds better than the Dem bill (even the Dem bill allows for unexpected circumstances)
#7
1. There's an expression that the reason the N. Vietnamese won their war was because they didn't have an exit strategy.
2. The whole discussion implies that the only reasons we went into Iraq was because of Iraq, and that there weren't any larger issues involved. Imagine someone saying in Feb. 1944 that we needed a timeline for withdrawing forces from Italy.
Posted by: Phil ||
11/15/2005 10:29 Comments ||
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#8
LH, that's a disingenuous explanation. At first maybe there will be a demand for target dates with slippage built in, but then the Democrats will raise an uproar if the target date isn't met precisely. Then they will characterize any missed target date as a failure, and use it as an excuse to bash the administration. Then, since they got this bit of "accountability," they will demand even more accountability in the form of firm dates for withdrawal, arguing that since they got a timetable for one thing, why not a timetable for this?
For the basis for my reasoning you need only look at the Democrats' talking points about the Iraqi constitution. When the Iraqis didn't get the consistitution passed on exactly the date they projected clowns like Carl Levin [spit] and Teddy K. were saying that we should pull out. We must remember, now more than ever: Every move the Democrats make between now and 2006 will be calculated for maximum political effect, consequences be damned.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
11/15/2005 10:36 Comments ||
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#9
I got an exit strategy. How about...win the fuckin war?
#11
LH, My problem is having politicians making quasi-military decisions. They are not doing this for the good of the country they are doing this so they can use some imaginary matrix to gauge success or failure in Iraq. I would also point out that success in Iraq will not end the WOT and there will almost certainly be troops there for at least a decade or more. Our worst possible scenario would be to leave Iraq at the first convenient moment. This is political grandstanding, nothing more, and the RINOs should be shameful for aiding the Democrats. What they shoudl do is take a counter stance that they are the "Surrender Party" and let the chips fall where they may politically.
#12
"LH, that's a disingenuous explanation. At first maybe there will be a demand for target dates with slippage built in, but then the Democrats will raise an uproar if the target date isn't met precisely. Then they will characterize any missed target date as a failure, and use it as an excuse to bash the administration."
Uh, yes. Kinda the way the admin sets targets for schools, and if the target isnt met, its a basis for bashing teachers and principles. Thats called accountability.
"Then, since they got this bit of "accountability," they will demand even more accountability in the form of firm dates for withdrawal, arguing that since they got a timetable for one thing, why not a timetable for this?"
Doesnt follow at all. McCain is calling for more troops, and without him and his fellow "rinos" theres no majority.
"The whole discussion implies that the only reasons we went into Iraq was because of Iraq, and that there weren't any larger issues involved. Imagine someone saying in Feb. 1944 that we needed a timeline for withdrawing forces from Italy."
But the proposed timeline is NOT for withdrawing forces. Its for certain steps that need to be accomplished to WIN.
you guys seem to have read the Dem bill (ignoring the softening clauses) and then attributing that to the GOP bill, despite the fact that the two bills are totally different.
#15
LH: Uh, yes. Kinda the way the admin sets targets for schools, and if the target isnt met, its a basis for bashing teachers and principles. Thats called accountability.
Jonathan: Uh, no, the two situations are not comparable. The North Penn School District isn't trying to regain control of the Senate. If a school meets its goals, it gets funding. If the administration meets its goals, the Democrats bash them anyway. There is no way the administration can ever satisfy the Democrats. Period.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
11/15/2005 11:40 Comments ||
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#16
liberalhawk wrote: Kinda the way the admin sets targets for schools, and if the target isnt met, its a basis for bashing teachers and principles. Thats called accountability.
That would make sense if our enemy was merely the National Education Association.
#17
Accountablility in war is making sure your enemy doesn't have the will or the people to wage war anymore. Bush has stated over and over with the pentegon, as the Iraqis ramp up their forces, we will pull out ours. That is the exit stratagy. The accuntablility in the mean time is "Steel Fist" by fucking killing as many of the fucking scum terrorists we can. Congress needs to get their stupid dick beaters and intern grabbers out of the war and let the military fight it.
#20
"Uh, no, the two situations are not comparable. The North Penn School District isn't trying to regain control of the Senate. If a school meets its goals, it gets funding. If the administration meets its goals, the Democrats bash them anyway"
So youre saying there shouldnt be national goals on education, that the secretary of education is answerable for?
#21
"Accountablility in war is making sure your enemy doesn't have the will or the people to wage war anymore. Bush has stated over and over with the pentegon, as the Iraqis ramp up their forces, we will pull out ours. "
Then it would seem that to achieve that, weve got to ramp up the Iraqi forces.
You think a US colonel, say, whos out training Iraqis, isnt held accountable for results? You think a general like Petraeus, whos job it was to train Iraqi forces, isnt held accountable?
#22
i changed my mind. You guys are right. the "RINOSs' who voted for this ARE traitors. You should all pledge never to vote for any of them ever again, for any office.
#23
You think a US colonel, say, whos out training Iraqis, isnt held accountable for results? You think a general like Petraeus, whos job it was to train Iraqi forces, isnt held accountable?
Of course they are held accountable. By the general in charge of them, who is held accountable by the regional commander, who is held accountable by the theater commander, who is held accountable to the joint chiefs and the pentagon, who is held accountable to the commander in chief, who is held accountable to the voters.
See? No room for intern-grabbing congressmen.
BTW, most of the training is done by NCOs and O-1s through O-3s.
#24
I wanna see Lh lay out the chain of command that shows Mrs NEA, 4th grade teacher and Numbnutz Elementary is accountable to Margaret Spellings, SecEd. That should be some seriously fucking funny shit. Go ahead, Lh. Let's see it.
Interesting--this is how liberals "frame" the debate.
The point is the Senate and the House get enough briefings about the war. This is nothing more than a public relations/media circus feeding frenzy designed to confuse the issue for the public.
They already KNOW that no timetable can be set, and only want to create an opportunity to advance themselves politically. Even if it costs soldiers their lives. Even if it costs the area its first chance at freedom.
Evidently, the Dems were pushing something through, and the Republicans tried to stop it with a "better" bill.
The last thing we want is for Congress to get nit-picky about controlling the war. Been there. Done that. It was called Vietnam.
#26
Democrats responded with harsh criticism of Mr. Bush. "You, sir, have failed our troops. You, sir, have failed the American people by the failure of your policy in Iraq," Sen. Mark Dayton, Minnesota Democrat, said yesterday.
Interesting refrain coming from folks, many of whom have have never worn a uniform. I suspect the "failed our troops" line might to poll too well at Fort Bragg, Fort Hood, or Iraq.
#27
yeah, but the libs want it to be another Vietnam. That was their glory days. They were thrilled when they "won" that one. It was a virtually orgy of self-destructive, self-loathing - which is what liberalism is all about anyway. They got the "peace" they wanted, at least it was peace if you forget about the millions slaughtered by Pol Pot.
#28
BTW - Mark Dayton is a full-on lying nutcase - read Powerline, Capt Ed for his antics. He's out after this term IIRC
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/15/2005 20:05 Comments ||
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#29
#22 i changed my mind. You guys are right. the "RINOSs' who voted for this ARE traitors.
my search function must be broken. This is the only instance I can find of the word traitor in this entire thread. Perhaps lh is a liberal. He argues like one.
#32
Ladies and Gentlemen - I just e-mailed this to six US Senators, and customized versions to Kennedy and Kerry (total of eight)....
I read with alarm today, Senator, your perspective on the Sense of the Senate Amendment to S. 1042. I agree we do not need an âexit timetableâ. The North Vietnamese won in 1975 because they did not have an exit timetable. (Hat Tip - Phil)
I believe you have already encouraged our enemies, Senator, who will not read the âfine printâ about what this bill is supposed to mean. They will se it as a weakening of American resolve, which (of course) it is. It reflects the polls, Senator, not the reality of the war on terror. Youâre scared about the way the war is going, but youâre making it harder to win.
Somewhere, another suicide bomber is being recruited right now, because of this amendment. Tomorrow, people will die because of it â Iraqis and Americans â and my son is a United States Marine. The Senate is making this war fit the âVietnamâ model, and many Americans will die.
And all of you Rantburgers are "Muzzie Wuzzies" if you don't e-mial six or eight Senators!
C'mon! Make a difference! Bobby
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/15/2005 20:59 Comments ||
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In defending President Bush's so-called "guest worker" program for illegal aliens â which critics have dubbed an amnesty program â Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says it's just not practical to deport the millions of foreigners in the country illegally. "The cost of identifying all of those people and sending them back would be stupendous. It would be billions and billions of dollars," Chertoff told Sean Hannity on the Fox News Channel program "Hannity & Colmes" last night. We'd probably have to cancel a bridge or two.
"One of the reasons I think that we've been focusing on the idea of a temporary worker program as part of a larger strategy for border security is because it would be a way to siphon off people who really want to do nothing more than work here, put them into a regulated program â we would know who they are â we would then be able to send them back at the end of a period of three years or six years. They would have made some money, they could take it back home, and then we could focus our other resources on the people that don't want to do it the right way, and we could get those people sent out."
Hannity challenged Chertoff, saying such a plan rewards those who "didn't respect our laws and sovereignty." Asked the talk-show host: "Why don't we say, no, you're here illegally, you didn't respect our laws, you ought to go home?"
Chertoff again appealed to the issue of cost, saying, " Sean, you know, it's really an issue of practicality. I mean, as a practical matter, we've got to identify these people and pull them out of the shadows."
The Homeland Security chief emphasized that Bush's plan "is not an amnesty." Said Chertoff: "The president's proposal is not a path to citizenship. It's clearly temporary, and it clearly envisions people who would have to commit to go back. ⊠What this would let us do is acknowledge the reality that we've got hundreds and thousands of employers all over this country who are employing illegal aliens. Sometimes, individual citizens employing people in their home."
When Hannity suggested quadrupling the number of Border Patrol agents to help deal with the flood of illegals coming across the southern border, Chertoff pointed to training constraints. "Right now, our capacity for training really is fully stretched," the official said. "Because it is obviously not an easy job, to train a Border Patrol agent. It's very dangerous work on the border." Chertoff emphasized that since 9-11, the number of Border Patrol personnel has increased by 3,000.
The homeland security chief said he believes there will be a point in the future â using new technology and infrastructure, and more agents â when the border will be impenetrable. "I think we have a day coming," he told Hannity. "I can't give you dates. It is not going to happen overnight." Well, I'm here to tell you now each and ev'ry mother's son
You better learn it fast; you better learn it young,
'Cause, "Someday" Never Comes."
#1
The alternative to deportation is to deny them employment and benefits. Without them, they will "deport" themselves. Many already pass back and forth across the border almost freely, on a semi-annual basis or more.
Therefore, something like the RICO law, allowing for triple damages against employers hiring illegals needs to be put in place. Combined with a guest worker program, it still needs a way to get rid of those who either come here just for the largesse, or with evil intent, such as the MS-13.
"Possession" of an illegal worker could also be a crime, that is, providing any shelter, remuneration, non-public services, or any other offering made by an employer.
#2
On self-deporting -- alas the Democrats have got the good guys beaten there too. I live in Illinois and the Governor Blowjobovitch has just signed into law the "All Kids healthcare" bill which might as well be called the "Illegal Alien Magnet" bill since it guarantees healthcare to all kids regardless of legal status. This is a fact conveniently buried by the mainstream media. this was passed at a time when Illinois can't pay its mediacre bills and has massive budget woes.
#3
#2 On self-deporting -- alas the Democrats have got the good guys beaten there too. I live in Illinois and the Governor Blowjobovitch has just signed into law the "All Kids healthcare" bill which might as well be called the "Illegal Alien Magnet" bill since it guarantees healthcare to all kids regardless of legal status. This is a fact conveniently buried by the mainstream media. this was passed at a time when Illinois can't pay its mediacre bills and has massive budget woes.
Posted by: Jarong Angaviper4129 2005-11-15 21:54
When I die I'd like to return to Illinois and be burried in Cook County so that I may remain active in politics.
#4
'Moose, ya stole my thunder with your points. Chertoff has no imagination, creativity, or he is being held back from above.
How's this for a plan?
1. Seal the Friggin Border⢠North and South. This will involve structures, sensors, border patrol personnel, the army, the navy, the seabees, whatever. That will stem the inflow.
2. Put the screws on employment. Make it expensive and criminal for employers to hire illegals. Now the illegals can't make the money in the country.
3. Nobody born in this country is an automatic citizen unless the parents are citizens.
4. No free healthcare or schools for illegals.
5. Free transportation for illegals back to ....somewhere. No questions asked.
You stem the influx, you take the financial rewards away from the illegals, so the problem starts sorting itself out. Illegals here have no chance of getting a guest worker card. Start afresh. People like Chertoff or that horse custodian FEMA guy are just bureacrats. We need can-do no-nonsense problem-solvers like General Honare. **Takes a Valium to calm down**
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/15/2005 22:10 Comments ||
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#5
DuPage Republicans are getting pretty bad too.
Saw most of my township dweebs (Milton) is being indicted.
#6
This is a fact conveniently buried by the mainstream media. this was passed at a time when Illinois can't pay its mediacre bills and has massive budget woes.
Well that's pretty damned stupid. Can't pay the bills and have cash flow problems, and the governor signs into law some bill guaranteeing health care for some segment of the population? How about denial of federal money to states that enact these sorts of "shelter" laws?
That damn chimpybushitler is now gonna bring back the plague:-( /tinfoilhat Warmer, wetter weather brought on by global warming could increase outbreaks of the plague, which has killed millions down the ages and wiped out one third of Europe's population in the 14th century, academics said.
Migratory birds spreading avian flu from Asia today could also carry the plague bacteria westward from their source in Central Asia, Nils Stenseth, head of a three-day conference on the plague and how it spreads, told Reuters on Monday.
"Wetter, warmer weather conditions mean there are likely to be more of the bacteria around than normal and the chance of it spreading to humans is higher," he said.
The European Union-funded group has just finished analyzing Soviet-era data from Kazakhstan which show a link between warmer weather and outbreaks of the plague.
This analysis was important as it had not previously been clear whether warmer conditions encouraged the bacteria, fleas and rats to grow or killed them off, Stenseth said. Plague bacteria are often carried by fleas on rats.
"But if it becomes too hot it would kill off the fleas and rodents," he said.
Many scientists say a build-up of heat-trapping gases from burning fossil fuels is pushing up temperatures around the world and changing Earth's climate.
The plague -- caused by the virulent, aggressive and mutating Yersinia Pestis bacteria -- periodically breaks out in Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries and has been carried around the globe by fleas on the back of rats, birds and in clothing for centuries, Stenseth said.
"If you treat it with antibiotics in a few days it should be all right, but if you leave it any longer there is a 60 percent chance of death."
In the 14th century the plague killed around 34 million people and some academics believe it reappeared every generation, including the Great Plague of London in 1665-66.
"The link is very important and it is also important to link it back to the Black Death in the 1300s because there were the kind of weather conditions then -- warmer and wetter -- that we predict for the future," Stenseth said.
"After 1855, when it (plague) reappeared again, there were once again similar weather conditions."
Scientists are still unsure why the plague originates in Central Asia. It has spread throughout the world, including recently to east Africa, and this is due at least partly to birds.
"Many, many bird species are spreading bacteria from one place to another, from one rodent to another, by carrying fleas," Stenseth said.
"That birds spread the bacteria is not in question but how important that is in the big picture is not yet clear."
Unlike the bird flu virus, which infects and kills domestic birds, plague-carrying fleas do not harm the birds that carry them. Beat the Reaper! plague... plague...
#1
In the 14th century the plague killed around 34 million people and some academics believe it reappeared every generation...
Some Academics? Some idiots. Its appears every year in New Mexico. Usually one to two dozen cases every year. There have been 238 cases of human plague in New Mexico since 1949 with 30 deaths. Most human plague cases have occurred in the northern counties of New Mexico: Bernalillo, McKinley, Rio Arriba, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe and Taos. More info here.
#3
Seems to me a warmer climate might actually decrease the chance of an influenza pandemic people are predicting.
But isn't there an asteroid with our name on it, and supervolcanos and all that. We're doomed no matter what we do so its just a matter of finding a way to blame Bush.
"After 1855, when it (plague) reappeared again, there were once again similar weather conditions."
I thought all this global warming s*** was UNprecedented. If this has happened before, then maybe it ain't the industrial revolution and Bush and Haliburton after all. I mean I know he's blamed for s*** that happened before he was elected, but, before his father (and probably grand-father) was BORN??? That's a little too wacky.
United Nations Ambassador John Bolton catalogued the agency's problems Monday, saying Americans want to fix the U.N. or find an alternative to it.
"Being practical, Americans say that either we need to fix the institution or we'll turn to some other mechanism to solve international problems," he said in a speech to several hundred people as part of the Jesse Helms Lecture Series at Wingate University.
One issue that exemplifies the United Nations' problems is that it has become a place where terrorist nations serve on the human rights commission and where even denouncing terrorism is debated, Bolton said.
He noted that a recent session bogged down in discussion over whether national liberation movements should be allowed to engage in terrorism.
"The U.N. has to shake that off in order to be more effective," he said.
Asked whether his bluntness has been useful in dealing with other U.N. ambassadors, Bolton responded: "They enjoy dealing with someone who tells them exactly what he thinks. ⊠It's the way Senator Helms always proceeded and I always admired him for that."
Bolton spoke forcefully of the split between the United Nations and the United States over support for Israel.
On Nov. 10, 1975, the U.N. General Assembly made its "single worst decision," adopting a resolution equating Zionism with racism, he said. That showed that the U.N. "had strayed from the ideals of its founders," he said.
While the resolution was repealed in 1991, bias against Israel remains, he said.
Other continuing problems, Bolton said, include the oil-for-food scandal, which helped empower Saddam Hussein in Iraq; the tendency for U.N. peacekeeping missions to last indefinitely; and the troubling proclivity toward sexual exploitation and abuse "of the very people they're sent to protect" by U.N. peacekeepers.
"This is not something we can pass off as boys will be boys," Bolton said. Indeed. Throw that man a steak.
#2
As a counterpoint, I don't know if anyone's read Mark Steyn's "complaint" about John Bolton... but the crux of it was that John Bolton was such a believer in reforming the UN that he WOULD succeed and instead of an anti-American but dysfunctional UN, we'd have an anti-American AND functional UN.
See the problem? :P
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
11/15/2005 15:06 Comments ||
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Boeing Co, the worldâs second-largest maker of commercial aircraft, committed to building a bigger and more efficient version of the 747 to challenge Airbus SASâ A380 in the market for planes seating more than 400 passengers. Boeing, based in Chicago, today announced firm orders for the cargo version of the new 747 from Luxembourgâs Cargolux Airlines International SA and Japanâs Nippon Cargo Airlines Co for a total of 18 planes worth US$5 billion (US$1 = RM3.78) at list prices, or about US$278 million for each plane. Airbusâs A380 passenger plane lists for US$280 million and the freighter version for US$300 million.
The new plane will borrow technology developed for Boeingâs new 787 jet, including General Electric Co engines to provide 20 per cent lower trip costs, Boeing said. The plane will have 34 more seats and carry 15 more tonnes of freight than the current 747. The new technologies and bigger size will make it more of a challenge to the A380, which is about 35 per cent bigger than the current Boeing 747 and cost US$12 billion to develop. âThis means a really bad year for Airbus just got much worse,â said Doug McVitie, managing director of Arran Aerospace, an aerospace consulting company in Dinan, France. âFor Boeing to be able to say theyâre going to have 20 per cent better economics than the A380 means Boeing is taking the high ground.â
Bwahahahaha!
Shares of European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co, the owner of Toulouse, France-based Airbus, fell as much as 19 cents, or 0.6 per cent, to e29.68 (e 1 = RM4.42) and were down 18 cents in Paris. EADS has gained 39 per cent this year compared with a 28 per cent advance for Boeing. Airbus said earlier this year that it is running six months late on production and deliveries of the A380, which will result in paying unspecified financial penalties to several airlines. Boeing also is outstripping Airbus with new orders this year, powered by demand for the 787 Dreamliner.
Cargolux, based in Luxembourg, ordered 10 747-8 freighters and will take delivery of the first in the third quarter of 2009. It also holds purchase rights for 10 additional planes. Cargolux currently operates an all-Boeing fleet of 13 747-400 freighters. Nippon Cargo Airlines ordered eight 747-8 freighters and will receive its first airplane in late 2009. The airline also acquired options for six additional airplanes. Nippon Cargo currently operates 13 747 freighters and has six more 747-400Fs on order.
Shouldn't need a special runway to land them on like the AirBusted monster requires
âIf the investment for Boeing is an incremental cost in comparison to what Airbus spent on the A380, then itâs worth the risk-reward for them,â said Will Mackie, an analyst at Mainfirst Bank AG in London.
âWith the 747 Advanced, they can maintain their position in the marketplace, disrupt the competitive balance with Airbus, and keep a full product lineup,â he said.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/15/2005 16:01 ||
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Link ||
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#1
Bwahahahaha, indeed!
I can't say exactly why, mainly cuz Fred has limited bandwidth, but I really don't like Govt-run consortiums competing against private businesses. Just sorta sticks in my craw. Love to see 'em fall on their asses.
#2
Airbus said earlier this year that it is running six months late on production and deliveries of the A380, which will result in paying unspecified financial penalties to several airlines.
Not to worry. A European government subsidy will see to it that Airbus doesn't suffer financially as a result of having to pay penalties...
If you cannot do full deflection flight control applications without the vertical stabilizer falling off, then you have a POS airframe. Tex Johnson, when he did that roll stunt over Lake Union in 1955 with the 707 dash 80 prototype, brought in more orders than any other advertizing, I am told.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/15/2005 19:46 Comments ||
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#6
And, IIRC, it was illegal as hell and scared the poor FAA guy to death, lol.
The 747-8 also fits easily in today's aviation infrastructure, flying into more than 210 airports worldwide without additional, expensive infrastructure changes required.
The 747 freighter family currently constitutes more than half of the world's total freighter capacity. Boeing freighters of all models comprise more than 90 percent of the total worldwide freighter lift.
Boeing forecasts the need for about 900 airplanes -- passengers and freighters -- in the 400-plus-seat segment over the next 20 years. Boeing also forecasts that large widebody freighters (65 metric tons and above in capacity) will comprise 34 percent of the freighter market by 2024.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/15/2005 19:50 Comments ||
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#8
Going with what you know? Airlines know Boeing. They know Airbus too. They are picking Boeing.
Our BIG LAUNCH on November 16!
This will take place at a major conference center and hotel in New York City (both to be revealed shortly) at which our production operation will go live under its new name and logo.
The launch will include panel discussions on the future of the media, with well-known bloggers and mainstream media folks (to be blogged live), a luncheon and press conference and, of course, a party!
#1
When you invite Sheriff Fred, who has the only site on the Internet worth more than a daily glance, then I'll be impressed. Until then, well, you'll get a 2 minute scan - if there's no RB trollage to distract me - max. Buh-bye. Don't let the Alt-F4 hit ya in the ass.
#3
Who cares about a party, when what we really need is the equivalent of Protein in information. Hats off to the 'Burg. Someone else can cater the social scene. There's a war on, ya know.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/15/2005 21:49 Comments ||
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Think the ridicule that "The Day After Tomorrow" garnered changed anything? Lol. Nope. Merging movies and activism
It was probably the detailed discussion about the energy uses of cow manure that really threw me.
Normally when I sit in on meetings at production companies, the talk is all about outrageous actor salary demands, insane shooting schedules and botched script development. But at Participant Productions, the self-absorption of the movie business feels as far away as a distant moon of Jupiter. With the release of the company's politically charged thriller "Syriana" looming later this month, Participant President Ricky Strauss and Internet outreach director Micki Krimmel were discussing upcoming social action initiatives linked to their new participate.net website. Instead of the typical talk about fast food or soft drink deals, the conversation revolved around carbon offsets, windmill facilities and a utility agency that converts methane from dairy waste â that's where the cows come in â to usable energy.
"There's even a [company] that's converting Seattle-area buses to a bio-diesel fuel made from soy," explains Krimmel. "They say it smells like popcorn."
Launched early last year by EBay co-founder Jeff Skoll, Participant is a once-in-a-blue-moon business proposition, a media company devoted to making socially relevant movies. With something like $3.5 billion in his bank account, Skoll, 40, is eager to spend some of the money using the power of cinematic storytelling to stimulate involvement in social issues. "To me, we're straddling the line between business and philanthropy," says Skoll, whose earnest, thoughtful manner marks him as a fish out of water in the Hollywood shark tank. "If a film is successful, but does no good in the world, I would consider it a failure. Whereas if a movie does some good but doesn't make a lot of money, I'd still say it was worthwhile."
On his maiden voyage in movieland, the Canadian-born Skoll has had his ups and downs. His first release, "Good Night, and Good Luck," the George Clooney-directed drama about Edward R. Murrow's battle against Sen. Joe McCarthy, earned rave reviews and has kept its box-office momentum as it goes into wider release. But "North Country," which stars Charlize Theron as a sexual harassment crusader, has been a bust, grossing only $17.5 million after a month in theaters.
Opening here on Nov. 23, "Syriana" is the company's most ambitious project, a complex dissection by writer-director Stephen Gaghan of the perils of America's addiction to Middle East oil. The $50-million film, which has an ensemble cast that includes Clooney and Matt Damon, is co-financed by Participant and Warner Bros., which also shared the costs on "North Country." ("Good Luck" was co-financed with Mark Cuban's 2929 Productions.)
"For me, the power of 'Syriana' is how, like 'Traffic' [written by Gaghan], it has interlocking stories that go from the global to the individual," says Skoll. "It shows how our thirst for oil as consumers is tied into a much more complex set of events."
"Syriana" is precisely the kind of movie studios no longer want to make, certainly not with their own money. That's one reason why Hollywood has laid out the welcome mat for a new generation of wealthy investors and entrepreneurs. With costs skyrocketing and studios focused on making Big Event movies, outside investors are the perfect candidates to finance riskier fare, in particular mid-budget dramas and filmmaker-driven prestige movies.
Of the five films up for best picture at the Oscars last February, "Million Dollar Baby" was co-financed by Lakeshore Entertainment's Tom Rosenberg, "Ray" was bankrolled by Phil Anschutz and "The Aviator" was largely financed by Graham King. Real estate entrepreneur Bob Yari helped finance "Crash" and "Thumbsucker" this year. Jim Stern, part owner of the Chicago Bulls, backed "Hotel Rwanda" and "Proof." Bill Pohlad, whose family owns the Minnesota Twins, co-financed Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain," which is considered a top Oscar contender this year.
The days of fleecing wide-eyed outsiders may be over. Most studios do a better job of protecting their wealthy investors, realizing they need their continued largesse to fill out a release schedule. Having been badly embarrassed by its experience with Elie Samaha, who made a string of box-office stinkers, including "Feardotcom" and "Battlefield Earth," Warners has stepped up in class, making "Syriana" with Skoll, splitting the costs of "The Polar Express" with billionaire activist Steve Bing and "Batman Begins" with financier Thomas Tull.
The talent agencies, led by CAA, are also nurturing these outsiders. It didn't take CAA long to figure out that top actors and filmmakers on its huge roster were growing restive being offered forgettable lowbrow fare from studio development lists. Having worked hard to reach the top of the heap, how many movie stars want to spend the rest of their life in Eastern Europe, running around in front of a green screen pretending to be chased by computer-generated monsters?
Skoll's focus on socially relevant films has made him a popular figure in a town where everyone has a passion project looking for a backer. When I ask what stars he's met with, he jokes, "Who haven't we seen?" Meg Ryan was in his office the other day. He's also met with the likes of Michael Douglas, Salma Hayek, Jon Voight and Robert Redford. It would be easy to stereotype Skoll as yet another Hollywood lefty do-gooder. After all, his next project is a film based on "Fast Food Nation," directed by Richard Linklater. But Skoll begs to differ, saying he is a "centrist" who would be open to making films that speak to conservative filmgoers. As a Canadian, he hasn't participated in American elections, but if he did, he says he would've voted for Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush as well as Bill Clinton.
What really sets Participant apart from the competition isn't just its movies but how they serve as a launching pad for grass-roots activism. At EBay, Skoll discovered that the company wasn't just a virtual swap meet but a grass-roots organization. "It was a vehicle that allowed people to become empowered and communicate with each other," he says. "It was hard to tell where the company left off and the community began."
His new website operates in a similar fashion, allowing people who were moved by a film to do something about it in real life. He says part of the inspiration for his company came from "Schindler's List," which not only dramatized an important issue but led to the creation of the Shoah Foundation.
The company's website has a specific social action campaign built around each Participant film. "North Country" is linked to Stand Up, a campaign geared at ending sexual harassment and domestic violence. The "Syriana" site, which will launch next week, will be linked to Oil Change, a campaign to reduce America's dependence on oil. Skoll's partner, Chris Adams, who has the title of chief vision officer, puts together corporate promotions and business development projects that complement Participant's social action campaigns.
The relationships echo each film's message. For "Syriana," the company has a partnership with Terra Pass, which invests money in renewable energy programs. Participant also drives traffic to the website through incentive programs â one upcoming contest, tied to the message of "Syriana," involves the giveaway of a Segway stand-up scooter, a zero-emission vehicle that runs on lithium ion batteries.
The concept involves what Strauss calls passive activism. "People want to do good and make a difference," he says. "So this is a way, like helping with Katrina relief or wearing a Lance Armstrong bracelet, where people can do something without totally giving up their lives in the process."
Skoll isn't such a starry-eyed dreamer that he's willing to fund these projects forever on his own. His goal is to achieve enough success to attract outside investors. In the midst of developing a film based on "Reading Lolita in Tehran," Skoll is hoping to team up with Omar Amanat, an online trading entrepreneur who wants to invest in films that would portray Muslims in a positive light.
"I'd never ask people to put up their money until we've shown we can do it ourselves," says Skoll. "But I think there are other double bottom-line investors out there who care about getting their money back but want to achieve social gains too."
Will Skoll succeed? I'd be lying if I said the odds were good. Financing films is a dicey game under any circumstances, but especially when you're focusing on the exact kind of movies â message-oriented dramas â that are the hardest ones to sell. But using movies to promote social activism might be an idea whose time has come, especially when you see what someone like U2's Bono has accomplished using his pop credibility as a launching pad for efforts to combat AIDS and famine in Africa.
It turns out Skoll has a particularly personal inspiration for his efforts. When he was 15, his father arrived home one day and announced to the family that he was seriously ill with cancer. But what bothered his father the most wasn't dying, but that he hadn't done the things he wanted to do with his life. "That had a huge impact on me," explains Skoll, who says his father survived that health crisis. "I realized time is fleeting. I didn't want to wait till it was too late to do something with my life." I've tried 10 different snarky ways to end this, but they fail to encapsulate this adequately. I guess "a fool and his money" is the best of the lot. RFSP go to Hollywood, these days.
#2
...how many movie stars want to spend the rest of their life in Eastern Europe, running around in front of a green screen pretending to be chased by computer-generated monsters
That's why it is called 'acting'. Another 20 years with the techology and you won't even need the actor. Studios will be able just to pay royalties for imaging people who they then put into their products, which in 20 years will probably be more like a cross between movies and video games. Did anyone say 'feelies'?
A Nigerian judge has ruled that the burning of natural gas by oil firms in the Niger Delta violates the human rights of local people and should stop, an environmental group involved in the case said. The Iwerekan community of Delta State in the southern wetlands region had argued that flaring, or burning off gas associated with the extraction of crude oil, breached their right to life, dignity and a healthy environment. "The court upheld all the points made by the community," said Nnimmo Bassey, director of Environmental Rights Action, a Nigerian campaign group that supported the legal case brought by the community in the delta city of Benin.
Gas is flared in the Niger Delta because of a lack of facilities to exploit the resource commercially. Giant orange flares burn around the clock in the vast region of mangrove swamps and creeks, many close to villagers' homes. "It's a thing that goes on 24 hours a day, every day of every year. It causes explosions, constant noise and great heat. Many people have never had a time of quietness or a dark night because of these flares," Bassey told Reuters by telephone.
Bassey said Monday's ruling was against the government, state oil company Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) and the Nigerian arm of Royal Dutch Shell, which is one of five foreign oil firms that operate joint ventures with NNPC. A spokesman for Shell declined immediate comment, while no one at NNPC could be reached. Environmental group Friends of the Earth says more gas is flared in Nigeria than anywhere else in the world and Nigerian flaring causes more greenhouse gasses than all other sources in sub-Saharan Africa combined. Environmentalists say flaring poses a health risk for people who live nearby. They say respiratory diseases such as asthma are rife in Niger Delta communities affected by flaring. They also say pollution from flaring damages livelihoods by reducing crop yields. The government has set a 2008 target to extinguish flares, encouraging companies to use the gas for export as well as power generation within Nigeria.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/15/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
DEAR SIR. I AM A FORMER OFFICIAL OF THE NIGERIAN NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION WHO UNJUSTLY LOST HIS JOB WHEN A COURT RULED THAT NNPC COULD NO LONGER BURN WASTE NATURAL GAS. ON MY LAST DAY AT WORK, I SECRETED THE SUM OF TWELVE MILLION EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS ($12,800,000.00US) WITH A REPUTABLE SECURITY COMPANY IN KLAMATH FALLS, OREGON. . . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
11/15/2005 10:30 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
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.
President 
Bosnian police have said they arrested a Bosnian Serb man wanted for alleged war crimes committed against Muslims during the Balkan country's 1992-1995 war. Vojkan Djurkovic, 58, is wanted by the Bosnian war crimes court for crimes he allegedly committed while serving as a member of a Serb paramilitary unit known as the Tigers in the northeast of the former Yugoslav republic. He is accused of having participated in "ethnic cleansing" operations to remove the Muslim population from the village of Bijeljina, said a police officer who requested anonymity.
Warmer, wetter weather brought on by global warming could increase outbreaks of the plague, which has killed millions down the ages and wiped out one third of Europe's population in the 14th century, academics said. 
United Nations Ambassador John Bolton catalogued the agency's problems Monday, saying Americans want to fix the U.N. or find an alternative to it. 
A Nigerian judge has ruled that the burning of natural gas by oil firms in the Niger Delta violates the human rights of local people and should stop, an environmental group involved in the case said. The Iwerekan community of Delta State in the southern wetlands region had argued that flaring, or burning off gas associated with the extraction of crude oil, breached their right to life, dignity and a healthy environment. "The court upheld all the points made by the community," said Nnimmo Bassey, director of Environmental Rights Action, a Nigerian campaign group that supported the legal case brought by the community in the delta city of Benin.
