He walks into a room and...you can just feel the electricity...
SYDNEY (Reuters) - An Australian man built up a 40,000-volt charge of static electricity in his clothes as he walked, leaving a trail of scorched carpet and molten plastic and forcing firefighters to evacuate a building. GODZIRRA!!!!
Frank Clewer, who was wearing a woolen shirt and a synthetic nylon jacket, was oblivious to the growing electrical current that was building up as his clothes rubbed together. When he walked into a building in the country town of Warrnambool in the southern state of Victoria Thursday, the electrical charge ignited the carpet."It sounded almost like a firecracker," Clewer told Australian radio Friday."Within about five minutes, the carpet started to erupt." I am the God of Hellfire!
Employees, unsure of the cause of the mysterious burning smell, telephoned firefighters who evacuated the building."There were several scorch marks in the carpet, and we could hear a cracking noise -- a bit like a whip -- both inside and outside the building," said fire official Henry Barton. Firefighters cut electricity to the building thinking the burns might have been caused by a power surge. Nah, it was just Frank the Walking Car Battery...
Clewer, who after leaving the building discovered he had scorched a piece of plastic on the floor of his car, returned to seek help from the firefighters. "We tested his clothes with a static electricity field meter and measured a current of 40,000 volts, which is one step shy of spontaneous combustion, where his clothes would have self-ignited," Barton said. "I've been firefighting for over 35 years and I've never come across anything like this," he said. It just goes to show ya, it's always something...
Firefighters took possession of Clewer's jacket and stored it in the courtyard of the fire station, where it continued to give off a strong electrical current. Wonder if the alien abduction had anything to do with it?
David Gosden, a senior lecturer in electrical engineering at Sydney University, told Reuters that for a static electricity charge to ignite a carpet, conditions had to be perfect."Static electricity is a similar mechanism to lightning, where you have clouds rubbing together and then a spark generated by very dry air above them," said Gosden. ...and then he exploded.
#2
I'll believe it when I see it reproduced on Mythbusters.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/16/2005 14:57 Comments ||
Top||
#3
I Dunno, I once walked across a brand new carpet at a just opened restaurant, and threw an inch long spark against the aluminum window frame.
I couldn't believe it, But I've played with Van De Graff generators and they throw a full 4 inches so I walked across the carpet again, and this time held a quarter when I neared the window frame, yep, a full inch, like throwing lightning.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/16/2005 15:03 Comments ||
Top||
#4
220...221...whatever it takes
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/16/2005 15:24 Comments ||
Top||
#5
take the lampblack out of tires and you would see the same thing with a bike or car.
I have a hilarious story to share. My uncle, during the throes of romance with his latest fling, had his pacemaker kick in on his ass!
His lady friend is a few years older than he is, so he felt his pride demanded he continue till she was through at least...
He didn't stop the pumping til the third charge kicked him like a mule. Evidently she felt the charge in her teeth and asked him to stop! He felt like an old man he said, but old girl just said "Honey, you were electrifying" after the incident.
#10
"measured a current of 40,000 volts"
I guess journalists and their editors don't even know basic science. Current is measured in amperes, a.k.a. "amps".
And that's an implanted defibrillator, Elvis*, not a pacemaker.
I'm disappointed, but I see his point about not having to put up with all the crap.
The nasty tug of war between the bosses of the international cycling union and the World Anti-Doping Agency over who leaked documents accusing Lance Armstrong of doping claimed its first casualty Thursday: any chance of a comeback by the seven-time Tour de France champion.
Armstrong, who said just days ago that this latest fight to clear his name had stoked his competitive desires, made clear Thursday he wasn't interested in returning to the sport he dominated.
"Sitting here today, dealing with all this stuff again, knowing if I were to go back, there's no way I could get a fair shake -- on the roadside, in doping control, or the labs," Armstrong said on a late-afternoon conference call.
"I think it's better that way," he added a moment later. "I'm happy with the way my career went and ended and I'm not coming back."
Armstrong and his handlers spent most of the remaining 45 minutes with reporters criticizing WADA chief Dick Pound. Rest at link - Lance & Co. basically take numerous shots at Dick Pound (a most unfortunate name). It looks like this'll devolve into a pissing match now.
#2
No decision is final in this kind of thing until he's up hard against the registration deadline. Mr. Armstrong has un-retired before, without the lure of a honeymoon.
#3
Forget the honeymoon. The idiots who are trying to tarnish his reputation are tweaking at Lances most consistant trait- his competitiveness.
If riding again will smack them back, he just found his next challenge. I don't think he even has to go public with a decision much before March 2006. He has lots of time to stew...and have some "quality" Sheryl time to boot.
Shouldn't mess with this texan.
But, from the U. of Missouri, Crow's alma mater, I'll say she's not all that.
And, just for the record -- the French can stick it.
But, as far as Armstrong is concerned -- his pleadings for mercy on Larry King Live aside -- he is good friends with a certain doctor -- Ferrari -- that is well known to be a -- "biological enhancer".
As someone that bought Mark's run to the homerun title, can you REALLY say that Armstrong is clean?
COME ON! We don't need a courtroom judgement on this. With his relationship with Dr. Ferrari, how much smoke do you need to see fire?
Posted by: DanNY ||
09/16/2005 06:10 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Actually, solar minimum, the lowest point of the sun's 11-year activity cycle, isn't due until 2006, but forecasters expected 2005, the eve of solar minimum, to be a quiet year on the sun.
Apollo, God of the Sun, is really pissed about Kyoto, so blame Bush.
Posted by: Halliburton Solar Control Team ||
09/16/2005 12:04 Comments ||
Top||
#8
What was the problem SCT?
Jacques Chirac late with the August payment? You missed another year to cut back on the French state pension costs. Remember August is the month the French abandon their elderly to the heat faster than New Orleans officials abandon their elderly at nursing homes. Must be something consistant there - Paris, New Orleans.
Posted by: DanNY ||
09/16/2005 06:25 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
caused by an 18-ton truckload of ammonium nitrate
Boy, that Zarqawi has a long reach!
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/16/2005 12:51 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Article: Ammonium nitrate is a common fertilizer, but when mixed with diesel or kerosene can be used as a powerful explosive. Such a mixture was used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing in the United States that killed 168 people.
Xinche villager Li Hongwen was known to be transporting 18 tons of the chemical to a local fertilizer company, the paper said. It gave no other details.
Transporting fertilizer to a fertilizer company? Weird...
#3
Transporting fertilizer to a fertilizer company? Weird...
Ummm no,
You see the ammonium nitrate is only a small percent of the commercial fertilizer sold, (Less than 10% normaly) to get it relatively pure you'd either have to get it before it goes to the plant and is diluted by mixing, or do a hell of a lot of seperating to get the stuff out of the 90% junk that you don't want.
Localy after 9-11 the law was looking for ways to secure the commercial farmers supplies, around here it's stored in bulk liquid in unguarded thousand gallon (Or so ) Tanks to be mixed, diluted and sprayed on the fields.
Can't use it straight, it'll burn the crops like weed killer.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/16/2005 14:17 Comments ||
Top||
#4
It's best kept in tanks. Come visit. I got a huge tank farm I keep safe for America and Americans.
Posted by: Billie Sol E ||
09/16/2005 17:10 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Oh my, Billie Sol?
Its a rare thing to find someone who remembers Billie Sol Esres.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/16/2005 19:52 Comments ||
Top||
"Anything that doesnât show Americans as stupid, selfish, warmongering, religious bigots, half of them living in pampered luxury in garish purpose-built Italianate mansions, the other half downtrodden in the ghetto by Halliburton stock-owning fat-cats, isnât going to make it to the front pages or the Ten OâClock News."
Posted by: DanNY ||
09/16/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Hey, who youz calling stoopid?
Posted by: Steve ||
09/16/2005 8:32 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Um, doesn't this rate a surprise meter on 10 or something similar?
A UK journo saying good things about America and bad things about the press??? Oh my.
#7
Poor Manolo. If only he'd had the foresight to come here legally, he could have had a garish, Italianate McMansion w/peon of his very own, instead of slaving in another's.
Via LGF (link to Fatboy's site is farked right now; try here if it's still hosed).
I donât care if a human being is black, brown, white, yellow or pink. I donât care if a human being is Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, or pagan. I donât care what flag a person salutes: if a human being is hungry, then it is up to another human being to feed him/her. George Bush needs to stop talking, admit the mistakes of his all around failed administration, pull our troops out of occupied New Orleans and Iraq, and excuse his self from power. The only way America will become more secure is if we have a new administration that cares about Americans even if they donât fall into the top two percent of the wealthiest.
#3
And here I thought the problem was that George took too long to occupy New Orleans.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/16/2005 15:04 Comments ||
Top||
#4
This is what happens to people who are never told "You're wrong, shut up" as children.
They grow up thinking they're cuter than shit and smart as Einstein, when the truth is her parents were to lazt or uncaring to "Correct" her as a child.
(Oh No we can't speak harshly to our pwecious wittle snookums, it would just bweak her pwecious wittle spiwit, and she's so cute)
Running for toilet hand over mouth gagging.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/16/2005 15:17 Comments ||
Top||
#6
The same essay is cross-posted to the Heffalump's Ghost so you can read it in all its off-her-meds-and-decompensated glory. (HT: Best of the Web)
Posted by: Mike ||
09/16/2005 15:33 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Ah, she's in fine form it seems. Methinks she's coming to my neck of the woods today. The freaks with poorly composed and largely illegible signs were out on a few street corners promoting the "tour." Half my neighbors, underemployed, overeducated, suffering large and obvious deficits in higher brain function, and enjoying the wealth earned by their parents and grandparents years ago and feeling guilt over it, will be there to listen to a clearly deranged lady rant in the customary and usual manner. Our local version will surely join the howling. Local Demo's who made Lou Farra-con's recent hate speach engagement here at a church none the less will no doubt grab a little face time. By Saturday morning I'll hear how it's so wonderful what she's doing and how the lower level local demos are there to support her.
#8
Fatboy? You mean Mikey? That gargantuan bearded Goebbels who vomits up prattle after eating too much brie and pate?
(Hat tip to my eldest son!)
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/16/2005 15:38 Comments ||
Top||
#9
People were running out of food and water and they were being forced to go to the Superdome. They didn't want to go to the Superdome, because their homes were pretty intact: they wanted to stay and have food and water brought to them
Gawd Almighty, she actualy expects the National Guard to deliver food and water to homes like Pizza Delivery
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/16/2005 16:04 Comments ||
Top||
#10
#3 And here I thought the problem was that George took too long to occupy New Orleans
awesome - Howie Dean couldn't have said it better. Send more troops, now, but end the occupation!!!!
#17
Mother Sheehan and Those Who Work for Islam PeaceTM are correct. It is obvious that our military intervention in New Orleans is a quagmire. Thousands are dead, there is growing resistance from Democrat holdouts and media insurgents, and Nagin and Blanco have still not been captured.
#21
how dare Sheehan make these comments. She doesn't have a clue. My son was on the U.S.S. Tortuga down there last week and told me of much success there.
I thought we were done with her.
Posted by: Jan ||
09/16/2005 18:46 Comments ||
Top||
#22
When it comes to New Orleans, I say:
Kick their ass and take their gas!
Dar, I started to make a "your strike force is drilling into a pipeline" joke, but then I remembered they actually DO that in Nigeria.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
09/16/2005 19:20 Comments ||
Top||
#23
Here's a follow-up. Sheehan takes her circus to Raleigh, NC, where some Young Republicans dared to question her absolute moral authority.
I tried to get one of the many recruiters who were on campus to go over and sign them up for the service, but they wouldn't even look at me. I think the recruiters missed a golden opportunity to swell the ranks. I have a feeling that the Young killing supporters wouldn't be willing to go over and put their money where their mouths are.
She also calls them "fine young American baby chicken hawks".
#24
You know, Cindy rants are getting kind of weak. She really ought to throw in a "sea of fire" or a "Bush = H1tler" if she wants regain her LLL cred.
Posted by: Scott R ||
09/16/2005 19:46 Comments ||
Top||
#25
Angry F, I forgot Chief Spewing Bull had that trademarked. My bad. ;)
#26
For the Lefties Its all about [PC] expanding the size, authority, and pervasive subsidation of the Federal Government by leaps and bounds - glitch is, even iff they do that, the newly empowered, centralized super/hyper-Fed, AND ONLY THE FED, has to give up authority over the national Government - read, newly Socialist America gives up its sovereignty to extra-national OWG - NOTHING ILLUSTRATES THIS POINT THAN COMMENTS THAT FEDERAL AID, AND ONLY FEDERAL AID, SHOULD NOT BE DENIED TO ANY RESIDENT OF NO'S JUST BECAUSE THEY AREN'T AMERICAN CITIZENS OR LEGAL RESIDENTS!
The main text of President Bush's nationally televised address last night was the rebuilding of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, but the clear subtext was the rebuilding of a presidency that is now at its lowest point ever, confronted by huge and simultaneous challenges at home and abroad -- and facing a country divided along partisan and racial lines.More like intelligent and not quite intelligent lines
Hurricane Katrina struck at the core of Bush's presidency by undermining the central assertion of his reelection campaign, that he was a strong and decisive leader who could keep the country safe in a crisis. Must've bought Kerry's definition of leadership Never again will the White House be able to point to his often-praised performance after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, without skeptics recalling the fumbling and slow-off-the-mark response of his administration after the hurricane and the flooding in New Orleans. We gonna get analysis about the Mayor and Governor's rebuilding, too?
His response to these criticisms last night was a speech largely shorn of soaring rhetoric and stirring turns of phrase Sneer, sneer of the kind that marked his efforts to rally the country after the terrorist attacks. Instead, as if recognizing that his own road back will be one marked by steady but small steps, he spoke with workmanlike focus, spelling out the details of what has been done and will be done to help those displaced by the storm.
Katrina has added an enormous new burden to a presidency already bending under the stresses of public dissatisfaction with Bush's policies in Iraq and growing anger over rising gas prices. Bush's objective last night was to set out a strategy and commitment for recovery along the Gulf Coast. But the critical question is whether the damage will limit his ability to govern effectively in the remaining 40 months of his presidency and whether he will successfully rebuild the Gulf Coast and Iraq, let alone win approval for other major initiatives on taxes and Social Security.
More at link, if you are interested...
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/16/2005 15:24 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11131 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Pfeh. "the clear subtext" of this article is BDS outburst #10,792. The divisions we see are, for approx 70-75% of the population, an artificial creation of the BDS-driven MSM.
Reality struck at the core of the MSM's agenda by undermining the central assertion of their relentless campaign, that everything must be self-hating multiculti-tranzi-socialist-moonbattery or it's evil capitalist imperialism.
#2
The WaPO has just a little more creditability in political matters than The NYT. The NYT has less creditability than George Galloway. Do the math. Utter BS.
#3
If the WaPo and fellow travellers keep up this barrage of Bush 'failures', I guess there is no way our Commander-in-Chimp(tm) will run for a 3rd term!
With regard to New Orleans, in retrospect, a bold and decisive leader would have declared a State of Insurrection (or Moron-itude) and sent troops to seize control of the whole mis-governed mess. Woo Doggies! Can you imagine the screaming?
John Kerry Responds to President Bush's Speech to the Nation
9/15/2005 9:54:00 PM Delayed just enough after the speech to make it look like it wasn't prepared beforehand...
To: National Desk
Contact: David Wade or April Boyd, 202-224-4159
WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Below is a statement from Senator John Kerry on President Bush's address tonight on the devastation of Hurricane Katrina:
"Leadership isn't a speech or a toll-free number. Leadership is getting the job done. No American doubts that New Orleans will rise again, they doubt the competence and commitment of this Administration. Weeks after Katrina, Americans want an end to politics-as-usual that leaves them dangerously and unforgivably unprepared. Americans want to know that their government will be there when it counts with leadership that keeps them safe, not speeches in the aftermath to explain away the inexcusable."
Like you would have done better. Sorry, Senator Serotta, you're still not getting the 2008 nomination...
#4
speeches in the aftermath to explain away the inexcusable
Sounds like Kerry's campaign.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
09/16/2005 14:23 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Capsu78, you just had to go and remind me about that "infinite dig". I didn't get home till 2AM last night cause the &()($&*&^%%$$# tunnel from the airport was closed AGAIN! so they can try and figure out how to stop the leaks!! Then, they had detours FROM THE DETOUR!!!!!!!!
#6
"Criticism. General condemnation of the Administration. Vague insinsuation that things could be better in a non-specific way. Unverified claim about what Americans want. Pandering to fear. And finally, righteous indignation."
Yours truly,
John Kerry
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
09/16/2005 14:39 Comments ||
Top||
#7
I thought he died after the election????Why don't you and TEDDY take a trip to Chapaquidic!!!!!!
FREAKIN'LOOSER!!!!!!!!
#9
This is obviously a crude forgery. There's no reference to Sen. Kerry's service in Vietnam. Every genuine John Forbes Heinz-Kerry statement of more than ten or twelve words has the word "Vietnam" in it somewhere; everybody knows that!
Posted by: Mike ||
09/16/2005 15:47 Comments ||
Top||
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez used the United Nations on Thursday to fire a broadside at the United States, saying the world body should move out of New York over the war in Iraq. Bravo! [clap][clap] "Marge? Why's that jackal cheering the commie?" "I don't know, Wilbur."
"Today we know there were never weapons of mass destruction in Iraq but despite that, and going over the head of the United Nations, Iraq was bombed and occupied. So the United Nations must be pulled out of the United States," Chavez said. The first part is absolutely false, of course, but I agree with the conclusion.
The three-day New York summit was convened to mark the United Nations' 60th birthday by laying out a plan for multilateral action in the new century on terrorism, human rights, development, peace building and U.N. management reform.
Chavez branded the plan "illegal" for failing to respect anti-poverty goals set by a U.N. summit in 2000 and said the United Nations instead needed a drastic overhaul. "The United Nations has outlived its model. It's not just a question of bringing about reform. The 21st century requires profound changes," he said. Right on!
Among changes he advocated were expansion of the 15-nation U.N. Security Council, which has global authority over matters of international peace and security; strengthening the role of the secretary-general, and eliminating the council veto granted the United States, China, Russia, Britain and France. Um, I was actually thinking more in terms of denying representation to countries without multi-party free elections, completely open (posted on the 'net) bookkeeping, stuff like that.
Chavez noted bitterly that U.S. television evangelist Pat Robertson, a strong supporter of President George W. Bush who called for Washington to assassinate him, remained a free man. Robertson later apologized for his remark. "This is an international crime, terrorism," Chavez said. I was of the "Shut up, Pat!" persuasion, but I'm beginning to enjoy Hugo's reaction to it.
#4
Oh, no, please don't leave! I mean, it will just devastate the local real estate market. Nobody will ever come to NYC unless the UN is there.....why, the population was only a couple of hundreds before they arrived, right?
Saudi Arabia yesterday called for reforms in the United Nations in order for the world body to play a more effective role in maintaining peace and stability across the globe. It also demanded restrictions on the veto power of the permanent members of the UN Security Council and joint global efforts to combat terrorism. Addressing the UN General Assembly, Crown Prince Sultan, deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, also urged developed countries to open their markets to developing countries. âThey should also facilitate accession of other countries, including my country, to the World Trade Organization (WTO), offering adequate flexibility considering their situations,â he said.
âThe Kingdom appreciates the vital role of UN bodies and expects that the current efforts to reform the United Nations would strengthen these bodies and increase their vitality. We also support an international consensus on the expansion of the Security Council and restriction of its veto power. It should not be allowed veto resolutions related to implementing its previous decisions,â he said. Prince Sultan also called for the restoration of the powers of the UN General Assembly. âEverybody must adhere to the UN Charter to achieve peace and stability and there should not be double standard while adopting resolutions,â he said. He stressed the need to make the Middle East and the Gulf free of weapons of mass destruction.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/16/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
That's a reasonable step 3, but first we need steps 1 and 2:
1. Deny membership to governments not elected through free multi-party elections.
#2
Translation: The US is making our lives harder, so now we will gall them by insisting on our right to "achieve peace and stability" (that is, to hector Israel until it disappears) without US interference.
Those Americans are so anti-democratic! We vote to destroy the Zionist entity and that should be good enough for them.
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
09/16/2005 0:57 Comments ||
Top||
#3
I can't help it, in my mind I keep seeing that tree branch as smoke coming from the third-from-top floor like the World Trade Center's smoke.
And it looks so good.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/16/2005 11:51 Comments ||
Top||
NEW YORK - Kyoto Treaty RIP. That's not the headline in any newspaper this morning emerging from the first day of the Clinton Global Initiative, but it could have been -- and should have been. Onstage with former president Bill Clinton at a midtown Manhattan hotel ballroom, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said he was going to speak with "brutal honesty" about Kyoto and global warming, and he did. And Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had some blunt talk, too.
Blair, a longtime supporter of the Kyoto treaty, further prefaced his remarks by noting, "My thinking has changed in the past three or four years." So what does he think now? "No country, he declared, "is going to cut its growth." That is, no country is going to allow the Kyoto treaty, or any other such global-warming treaty, to crimp -- some say cripple -- its economy. Looking ahead to future climate-change negotiations, Blair said of such fast-growing countries as India and China, "They're not going to start negotiating another treaty like Kyoto." India and China, of course, weren't covered by Kyoto in the first place, which was one of the fatal flaws in the treaty. But now Blair is acknowledging the obvious: that after the current Kyoto treaty -- which the US never acceded to -- expires in 2012, there's not going to be another worldwide deal like it.
So what will happen instead? Blair answered: "What countries will do is work together to develop the science and technologyâŠ.There is no way that we are going to tackle this problem unless we develop the science and technology to do it." Bingo! That's what eco-realists have been saying all along, of course -- that the only feasible way to deal with the issue of greenhouse gases and global warming is through technological breakthroughs, not draconian cutbacks. Blair concluded with a rhetorical question-and-answer: "How do we move forward, post-Kyoto? It can only be done by the major players coming together and pooling their resources, to find their way to come together."
Interestingly, these words from Blair, addressing an audience of a thousand at the Sheraton just a few blocks north of Times Square, failed to get any pickup in the media. Even The New York Times, published just down the street, ran a story that dwelt on the star power in the room, including King Abdullah of Jordan, Jesse Jackson, and George Stephanopoulos. "Isn't this awesome?" said one participant, and those words seemed to reflect fully the Times' take on the event.
For its part The Washington Post offered this bland headline: "Clinton Gathers World Leaders Nonpartisan Conference Focuses on Global Improvement," making no mention of Blair's global warming remarks. As for TV coverage, there wasn't much of that either; on CNN Headline News, Christi Paul said, admiringly, "former President Clinton is still looking to get things done," noting that Clinton garnered "more than $200 million in pledges" to address world problems.
Ironically, some of those pledges concerned global warming. The 42nd President kicked off his wonky-glitzy extravaganza by announcing that the event would be "climate neutral." That is, the CGI -- or, more precisely, a couple of fatcats who ponied up money to get some onstage face time with Clinton -- would "offset" the CO2 produced by this event by "investing in renewable energy projects in Native American lands and in rural Nigerian villages." But such eco-pious symbolism aside, the real news of the conference so far has come from Blair.
The Prime Minister, has long been pushing, of course, for a binding international treaty on climate change. It's one part of the Eurolefty agenda he has traditionally kept faith with. In a policy-setting speech in September 2004, for example, he laid out an ambitious agenda, declaring that "Kyoto is only the first step but provides a solid foundation for the next stage of climate diplomacy." Indeed, the widely held view was that Blair would "cash in" his geopolitical chits -- that is, those he gained with George W. Bush over his support for the Iraq war, in order to get the Texan to sign on to some form of Kyoto. But even before the Gleneagles G-8 summit in July, it seemed pretty clear that Bush was not going to go along with Blair's deal; in fact, Bush rebuffed Blair. Nonetheless, as recently as a September 4 op-ed in The Financial Times, Blair still sounded optimistic, declaring, "We made substantial progress on climate change at Gleneagles." But now Blair has buried Kyoto a little bit deeper. One of these days, the press will notice.
And there was some potentially significant news from Condi Rice, who was also onstage all this time, sitting with Clinton and Blair in an Oprah-like format. Speaking of world energy policy for the future, Rice said, "Nuclear power is going to have to be part of the mix." Imagine that -- nuclear power! That's been the Bush administration view all along, of course, but the W. folks haven't gotten very far in resuscitating the industry. Yet if Blair is starting to show realism on Kyoto, he and other leaders around the world will see that nukes have to be part of the energy solution. Indeed, Rice added, "France generates something like 80 percent of its electricity from nuclear power." That's probably the first time in ages that a Bush administration official has had anything positive to say about France. Rice acknowledged "proliferation risks" from nuclear power, but made it a clear that something had to be done. "In the fast-developing world," she concluded, "we have to find a way to leverage all power [sources]."
For his part, Clinton was his usual self, declaring to Rice, "In general, I agree with you about that" -- without ever saying what he was agreeing with. And the 42nd President gave no reaction to Blair's provocative Kyoto revisionism. In fact, nobody seems to have reacted to what Blair said. But that's OK. TCS readers have this significant scoop. And as for the rest of the world, it will soon understand that Blair has effectively pulled the plug on Kyoto.
"It's dead, Jim"
Posted by: Steve ||
09/16/2005 12:49 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11138 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
As the South American gentleman replied when asked how he wanted his mother-in-law's corpse handled:
"Enbalm, cremate, and then bury. Take no chances!"
#3
Will he ever go away?
Have you tried a wooden stake? Oops, that's for Hillary.
Posted by: Van Helsing ||
09/16/2005 13:56 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Garlic. Gotta have garlic...
Posted by: Iron Chef Sakai ||
09/16/2005 14:09 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Personally, as an American ex-pat living in dying Europa, Clinton has been a beeeeeauutttiful "ex-president" in his represents.
For whatever reason, he resonates over here.
So, as one of those neo-con devils, I have no problem with Clinton in his present incarnation. Perhaps sleeping on the carpet with Bush I has mellowed him some.
United States experts arrived on Friday to help Indian firefighters battle a major blaze at a burst oil well which was sending smoke and flames shooting into the sky, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents. A spokesperson for Oil India Limited (Oil), the country's main oil exploration firm, said hundreds of firefighters had worked through the night but failed to put out the blaze near Dikom, 520km east of Assam state's main city Guwahati. The two US experts were from Houston, Texas-based Boots and Coots International Well Control, a leading company dealing with oil and gas well blowouts and fires.
"Ya'll call that a fire? Shoot, I've seen more flame at our last company BBQ."
Posted by: Steve ||
09/16/2005 11:03 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
They sent two? What ever happened to "one riot, one Ranger"?
Pakistani activists have reacted with outrage to recent comments on rape victims by President Pervez Musharraf. He said that rape was a "money-making concern" and many argued it was a way to get money and a visa to emigrate. Pakistan's most-high profile rape victim, Mukhtar Mai, told the BBC no woman could subject herself to "such a horrendous experience" to make money. Women's groups and activists protested in Karachi on Friday, shouting: "Down with chauvinism". The president made his comments in an interview with the Washington Post on 13 September, incensing campaigners and others at home. "You must understand the environment in Pakistan. This has become a money-making concern," he said. "A lot of people say if you want to go abroad and get a visa for Canada or citizenship and be a millionaire, get yourself raped."
In Karachi on Friday, 19 rights and advocacy groups vented their anger at the remarks, holding banners such as: "Who wants to be a millionaire - just get raped!" Sumar Mallah, a fisherman whose five-year-old daughter was raped and killed on 5 September, was at the rally. Mr Mallah said: "The police and the rapists have been insisting that I accept money and forget about my daughter. I will never settle for money. I want justice." Mukhtar Mai, who shot to world attention after being gang raped in 2002, allegedly on the orders of a village council or panchayat, earlier told the BBC: "I offer all the riches I've made out of the panchayat-enforced gang-rape to the president in return for justice."
The president's critics say he pays only lip service to cracking down on the abuse of women, hundreds of whom are raped and murdered every year in so-called honour cases in Pakistan. Despite government protestations that it is doing much to help women, many of those who try to register cases of rape and violence find it as hard as ever to do so, campaigners say.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
09/16/2005 10:59 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11125 views]
Top|| File under:
Coffee alert Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean president, says the dire situation in his Southern African nation is partly due to "unilateral sanctions by countries who do not wish Zimbabwe well". He went on to describe his controversial land reform programme as part of Zimbabwe's effort to meet the Millennium Declaration Goals. "Our achievements in the area of universal primary education are a testimony to this resolve. We have also committed ourselves to addressing extreme poverty and hunger by redistributing land to the majority of our citizens who had been condemned to conditions of squalor by years of colonialism and its vestiges," he said.
Except that the extreme poverty and hunger didn't exist before Bob's acquisition of total power...
In an apparent effort to deflect the criticism that has been leveled at him over Zimbabwe's failing economy, he urged UN member states to be more "big-minded".
Like he is...
"We must have the courage to go beyond the mere posturing that is characterised by name-calling, finger-pointing and false accusations," he said.
"For instance, calling people racists, pointing fingers at countries far removed from the scene, some of whom may not even have heard of Zim, and claiming the existence of vast international conspiracies against oneself..."
Mugabe, who is now being targeted by critics for an urban clearance programme that saw the demolition of informal settlements, leaving hundreds of thousands homeless, condemned countries who he said threw their weight around.
"The Party can do that internally. We don't want no other countries doing the same thing, though..."
"We need to avoid situations where few countries, by virtue of their privileged positions, dictate the agenda for everybody else," he said cuttingly, going on to describe countries that invaded other states in defiance of international law as being part of a "coalition of evil". Mugabe called on the United Nations to put pressure on the developed world to live up to their commitment to assist poor countries, adding however that calling for assistance was not an invitation to "interfere".
"Y'see, a few years ago, we wuz the Breadbasket of Africa™, but now we're so poor our people are starving. Just because that's the result of our own internal policies, that we refuse to change in the face of the evidence that they don't work, that's no reason to go interfering to try and alleviate people's suffering."
"International efforts should only complement that of national programmes," he warned, saying that the motives of countries that seek to assist must be "scrutinised".
Scrutinize to your heart's content, Bob. It's going to get continually harder to find people willing to be scrutinized, though...
"Let us seek to secure the world by addressing the root causes of the present insecurity, which are to be found in poverty, hunger and disease on the one hand, and intolerance, double standards, xenophobia, selectivity and self-righteousness in our approach to issues on the other," he said.
"Now, I realize I've just described myself and my regime, and what we've done to our formerly moderately prosperous nation, but don't go thinkin' it applies to us!"
#1
Blah, blah, blah, he's riding a psychotic horse towards a burning stable and no amount of speechmaking is going to alter the sequence of events he has set into motion. There is only one possible end for a dictator.
#3
He needs some of Little Kimmey's writers to spruce up the text. 'Countries' sound so darn bland. 'Running Capitalistic Colonial Oppressor Dogs' might be at least be a start.
#7
"..unilateral actions by country(not plural) who do not wish Zimbabwe well." sounds like a self-fulfilling wish to me. Bob is doing a good job of "not wishing Zimbabwe well."
#8
"..unilateral actions by country(not plural) who do not wish Zimbabwe well." sounds like a self-fulfilling wish to me. Bob is doing a good job of "not wishing Zimbabwe well."
In a world where "supersize" has entered the lexicon, there are some things getting smaller, like cell phones and laptops. Dartmouth researchers have contributed to the miniaturizing trend by creating the world's smallest untethered, controllable robot.
Their extremely tiny machine is about as wide as a strand of human hair, and half the length of the period at the end of this sentence. About 200 of these could march in a line across the top of a plain M&M.
"It's tens of times smaller in length, and thousands of times smaller in mass than previous untethered microrobots that are controllable," says Donald. "When we say 'controllable,' it means it's like a car; you can steer it anywhere on a flat surface, and drive it wherever you want to go.
It doesn't drive on wheels, but crawls like a silicon inchworm, making tens of thousands of 10-nanometer steps every second. It turns by putting a silicon 'foot' out and pivoting like a motorcyclist skidding around a tight turn."
The future applications for micro-electromechanical systems, or MEMS, include ensuring information security, such as assisting with network authentication and authorization; inspecting and making repairs to an integrated circuit; exploring hazardous environments, perhaps after a hazardous chemical explosion; or involving biotechnology, say to manipulate cells or tissues.
Their paper describes a machine that measures 60 micrometers by 250 micrometers (one micrometer is one thousandth of a millimeter). It integrates power delivery, locomotion, communication, and a controllable steering system - the combination of which has never been achieved before in a machine this small. Donald explains that this discovery ushers in a new generation of even tinier microrobots.
McGray, who earned a Ph.D. in Computer Science working on this project in Donald's lab, adds, "Machines this small tend to stick to everything they touch, the way the sand sticks to your feet after a day at the beach.
So we built these microrobots without any wheels or hinged joints, which must slide smoothly on their bearings. Instead, these robots move by bending their bodies like caterpillars. At very small scales, this machine is surprisingly fast." McGray is currently a researcher at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Md.
The prototype is steerable and untethered, meaning that it can move freely on a surface without the wires or rails that constrained the motion of previously developed microrobots. Donald explains that this is the smallest robot that transduces force, is untethered, and is engaged in its own locomotion.
The robot contains two independent microactuators, one for forward motion and one for turning. It's not pre-programmed to move; it is teleoperated, powered by the grid of electrodes it walks on. The charge in the electrodes not only provides power, it also supplies the robot's instructions that allow it to move freely over the electrodes, unattached to them.
Posted by: DanNY ||
09/16/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under:
Nankana district policemen and trainee constables of the Punjab Constabulary (PC), Farooqabad, allegedly looted buses, manhandled and searched women, and desecrated the Cross at the annual congregation of Ziarat-e-Mariam in Mariamabad village from September 9 to 11, residents of Mariamabad told Daily Times. After the Catholic Church representativesâ complaint on Thursday, District Police Officer (DPO) Tahir Alam Khan immediately initiated an inquiry and appointed Deputy Superintendent of Police (Investigations) Ahmed Nawaz as the inquiry officer. Khan suspended one of the main accused Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Muhammad Saeed and assured the complainants of action against trainee constables. The representatives assured the DPO of their full cooperation in providing witnesses and proof.
Since 1949, a ziarat (pilgrimage) is held every year to pay homage to Saint Mary at the village named (Mariamabad) after the holy personage of Jesus Christâs to provide security to the congregation looted buses and harassed the pilgrims. They also alleged that groups of PC trainees were involved in looting. The pilgrims detained a group of constables on September 10 and they, in a video recording, said that they were not on duty and some other gang was involved in looting. The Parish Priest handed over the constables to the police the next morning but they released them without registering an FIR or complaint against them. A duty officer at the police station concerned said the deputy superintendent of police had ordered their release after consulting the Farooqabad PC high-ups.
The alleged incident of desecrating religious relics and the Cross by the police, including the Khanqa Dogran policemen, has provoked outrage in the community. The incident occurred when the police started demolishing stalls established by the roadside for unknown reasons.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/16/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under:
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.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Below is a statement from Senator John Kerry on President Bush's address tonight on the devastation of Hurricane Katrina:
Saudi Arabia yesterday called for reforms in the United Nations in order for the world body to play a more effective role in maintaining peace and stability across the globe. It also demanded restrictions on the veto power of the permanent members of the UN Security Council and joint global efforts to combat terrorism. Addressing the UN General Assembly, 
NEW YORK - Kyoto Treaty RIP. That's not the headline in any newspaper this morning emerging from the first day of the Clinton Global Initiative, but it could have been -- and should have been. Onstage with former president Bill Clinton at a midtown Manhattan hotel ballroom, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said he was going to speak with "brutal honesty" about Kyoto and global warming, and he did. And Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had some blunt talk, too. 
United States experts arrived on Friday to help Indian firefighters battle a major blaze at a burst oil well which was sending smoke and flames shooting into the sky, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents. A spokesperson for Oil India Limited (Oil), the country's main oil exploration firm, said hundreds of firefighters had worked through the night but failed to put out the blaze near Dikom, 520km east of Assam state's main city Guwahati. The two US experts were from Houston, Texas-based Boots and Coots International Well Control, a leading company dealing with oil and gas well blowouts and fires. 
Pakistani activists have reacted with outrage to recent comments on rape victims by President Pervez Musharraf. He said that rape was a "money-making concern" and many argued it was a way to get money and a visa to emigrate. Pakistan's most-high profile rape victim, Mukhtar Mai, told the BBC no woman could subject herself to "such a horrendous experience" to make money. Women's groups and activists protested in Karachi on Friday, shouting: "Down with chauvinism". The president made his comments in an interview with the Washington Post on 13 September, incensing campaigners and others at home. "You must understand the environment in Pakistan. This has become a money-making concern," he said. "A lot of people say if you want to go abroad and get a visa for Canada or citizenship and be a millionaire, get yourself raped." 
EFL
Nankana district policemen and trainee constables of the Punjab Constabulary (PC), Farooqabad, allegedly looted buses, manhandled and searched women, and desecrated the Cross at the annual congregation of Ziarat-e-Mariam in Mariamabad village from September 9 to 11, residents of Mariamabad told Daily Times. After the Catholic Church representativesâ complaint on Thursday, District Police Officer (DPO) Tahir Alam Khan immediately initiated an inquiry and appointed Deputy Superintendent of Police (Investigations) Ahmed Nawaz as the inquiry officer. Khan suspended one of the main accused Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Muhammad Saeed and assured the complainants of action against trainee constables. The representatives assured the DPO of their full cooperation in providing witnesses and proof. 
