It looks like a spaceship that has landed on the wrong planet. It is Afghanistan's very first shopping mall, gleaming with shops while on the dusty road outside people pump water and grim soldiers drive by in armoured vehicles.
The mall, which opened here this month, offers a lesson in contrast. It also boasts another first for Afghanistan, an escalator, which customers can use to reach upper floors - if they dare.
"People are afraid of the escalator. They are amazed to see something moving by itself," says Anwar Hussein, manager of the hotel that shares a nine-storey building with the shopping centre.
Customers afraid to use the escalator can take the lift in the safe knowledge there will be no power blackout because the building maintains its own generators.
The mall owners also claim their building is the only fully air-conditioned one in the capital and are advertising it as a cool haven for families during the national capital's searing summer months -- and as a warm, comfortable place to while away freezing winter days.
Mall director and co-owner Habib Safi is confident that visitors will not only use the centre to escape the city's harsh climate but will also spend money in its 90 shops.
"You have to take risks," the businessman said.
Shop proprietors who have leased space in the mall also believe in the newly emerging shopping frenzy.
"It is nice to shop here. The markets outside are dusty," said shop owner Abdul Kasim.
The dresses displayed in his shop windows are imported from Turkey, their designs being rather daring for Afghanistan.
Kasim is hoping for a good turnover regardless of the fact that many women in Kabul still wear the traditional, all-disguising burka.
Women can still wear these clothes at home, Kasim reckons.
The ample lighting, meticulously clean aisles and Afghan pop music blaring from invisible loudspeakers baffle potential customers.
The music only stops when the muezzin calls for prayers. It is only then that the casual visitor can recognise that they are still in Afghanistan.
Despite such peculiarities the first customers are excited.
"That is real development. I wish Afghanistan were full of shopping malls," said customer Abdul Fatah, who had just purchased a silver wristwatch.
The mall owners, who are already planning on expanding their retail empire beyond the city, could not agree more with Fatah.
Habib Safi plans to erect two skyscrapers with an incorporated shopping mall in the western Afghan town of Herat. In his office hang blueprints for the structures, which are to be called the Twin Towers.
Christening the Herat towers after their New York counterparts, whose destruction was plotted by Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, is not at all tasteless, argues one of Safi's employees.
"The difference is that our towers won't collapse," he smirks.
I did not write that headline. Via FARK.
New satellite observations show that sea ice in the Arctic is melting faster while air temperatures in the region are rising sharply, scientists say. In other news, the Pope's Catholic...
#1
Gee, and the Martian polar caps are also melting and getting warmer. If you understand the inverse square law, that mean solar sources are having an even greater effect on Earth. Then again it might all be due to (U) Haliburton Martian Terraforming Project[tm] (S), Phobos Division.
#3
The ozone hole is the exhaust tube/system to the churning engine that is terra firma, i.e. the Earth, and its been around for many eons, for as long as biotic life on this planet have been releasing natural emissions. Humans = planets = we all have our blowholes lest we blow up and mortally explode in one giant fart.
They killed Rudolph!The bastards!
COPENHAGEN, Denmark - The Danish Air Force said Thursday it paid 31,175 kroner ($5,032) in compensation to a part-time Santa Claus whose reindeer died of heart failure when two fighter jets roared over his farm. The animal, named Rudolf, was grazing peacefully at the central Denmark farm of Olavi Nikkanoff, when the screaming F-16 jets passed overhead at low altitude in February. A peacefully grazing reindeer and war mongering, American made F-16's killed him! Just killed him! I can see a poster about this in the next Copenhagen antiwar march I'll bet.
The reindeer collapsed and died, leaving Nikkanoff with the prospect of only one animal pulling his sleigh next Christmas.
He complained to the air force, which agreed to compensate him for the cost of the reindeer and veterinary expenses. Veterinary expenses? He's dead (Jim). How about backhoe expenses?
"We got a letter from Santa complaining about his reindeer's death and looked into it seriously," said air force spokesman, Capt. Morten Jensen. The air force checked flight data and veterinary reports and concluded the planes likely caused the animal's death. "We're more than happy to pay if it means that children around the world will get their presents," Jensen said. Nikkanoff said he was satisfied with the compensation and would use it to buy a new reindeer before Christmas. See you next year, Olavvi. ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOM...
Posted by: Louis Farrakhan ||
09/29/2005 09:05 ||
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#1
He didn't eat it in a tasty saskatoon berry sauce? What a waste of a good reindeer.
#3
The animal, named Rudolf, was grazing peacefully at the central Denmark farm of Olavi Nikkanoff, when the screaming F-16 jets passed overhead at low altitude in February.
whos gonna lead the sleigh thisn year?
/Mucky?
Posted by: Brat Welp ||
09/29/2005 11:58 Comments ||
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#4
Doc,
I see this: Caribou Medallions from Rankin Inlet, in a saskatoon berry glace de viande $26.75
and many many more who enjoy it.
I last ate it here but a different reindeer/caribou offering is now on that menu.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
09/29/2005 00:42 ||
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#1
These dolphins are cruising the blown up levees of New Orleans hunting down, killing, and eating black folks. Trust me. I seen it with my own eyes. Or somebody told me. I forget.
Posted by: Louis Farrakhan ||
09/29/2005 8:58 Comments ||
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#2
I heard there were 19 dolphins. Is that true, Louis?
Posted by: Chris W. ||
09/29/2005 9:30 Comments ||
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#3
19? What the hell are you talkin...oh, yes! YES! 19! At least 19 killer black folk huntin killer dolphins! Mayor Nagin told me.
Posted by: Louis Farrakhan ||
09/29/2005 9:41 Comments ||
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#4
Now you know how those levees were blown up.
Posted by: Miss American Pie ||
09/29/2005 11:19 Comments ||
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#5
All right, last question. If I see one of these dolphins wearing a harness with a poison dart gun on its back in my neighborhood, should I call Homeland Security or George C. Scott or Dr. Evil? Or who should I call?
#6
I thought I saw one with a Halliburton branding. Coincidence, I dunno, but I do find it curious that Cheney is VP and that Katrina and Rita both missed Wyoming...
And why,,, why,,, can't we use our military resources to promote peace in the Middle East by blowing up more Isrealis?? Why, oh, Why Mr. President have you forsaken me??
Stuff about coalition deleted.
There are now calls for an inquiry into the election from New Zealand First MP Ron Mark who is concerned about cases like the Queenstown Jack Russell, Toby, whose owner managed to enrol him to vote. Surprisingly officials weren't tipped off to his true identity despite Toby's paw print signature. Toby's owner Peter Rhodes filled in the form as a joke and said the successful enrolment highlights the need for more careful scrutiny. I've heard of "Yellow Dog Democrat," but never "Jack Russel Labour."
Electoral officials said enrolments are 98% accurate and there's no need for an investigation. The vote for Governor of Washington, and the Presidential vote in Wisconsin, were 98% accurate, too.
THE French interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, right, has said he wants to introduce enforced chemical castration for repeat sexual offenders upon their release from prison.
Suggest first time offenders personally
His comments, which were supported by the justice minister, Pascal Clement, came amid anger in France following the rape and murder of a 24-year-old student by a convicted rapist who had served two prison sentences and the rape of three young women by a serial rapist who had been released from jail after serving a ten-year sentence.
Mr Sarkozy's proposal met with opposition from judges and psychiatrists who warned yesterday of "the illusion of the miracle treatment" and stressed the legal importance of obtaining a patient's consent.
But the minister said: "If we have to wait for these individuals to undergo treatment voluntarily, we could be waiting for a long time."
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/29/2005 00:17 ||
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#2
Anyone noticed the detail? He had served two prison snetences and he was only twenty four. How long could have been each one of those sentences for rape?
#4
Ah, but I ask but one qualification. Any false accusation of rape brings the accuser penalties along the same level as that which would have been applied to the accused. True equality can be a bitch.
#5
Sarko, the über would-be president, courting french popular votes that might otherwise go to the National front in 2007 : "I'll be tough on crime", "I'll clean up the (crime-ridden) Courneuve with a karsher", "hey, let's castrate rapists", "by Gawd, we'll expel more illegals",...
The same Sarko, courting the 6 millions muslims (or shouldn't it read 8-10?) : "hey, Courneuve kids and juvenile delinquents, take that money and go to all-expenses paid vacations in the south of France, so you won't bother the cops this summer", "I've got a swell idea, let's change the 1905 law on state & church separation, so mosquees can be state-funded", "dudes, did you notice than, thanks to me, strangers having served their time in France are no longer expellable?", "whoa, I really increased the number of algerian visa when I was first interior minister!", "boy, I'm so proud of being the interior minister who finalized the CFCM, the muslim brotherhood-dominated org that represents french islam",...
Morality is Sarko is a double-faced ambitious man, who is sadly the only "free market"-minded alternative in the right (though his stint as business minister was not that free-market oriented), and who is very dubbious when it comes to the islamization of France. Also, he's much more atlantist than the Chirac boyz.
His "tough on crime" electoral stance can be summed up in one metaphor : twice he and his bodyguards were chased up by mobs of "youths" while touring difficult hoods, and had to go hide in police HQ to save themselves. Didn't help much with the insults and the spitting, though... do you know that Jacques Chirac, our Dear President Who Stands Up To The Evil Anglo-saxons, was too copiously spat on live on teevee by North-african and african youths, back in the 2002 campaign? Being spat on and doing nothing about it is the mark of a true french pol :-)
#6
And Sarko is also a proponent and advocate of affirmative action measures geared up toward helping muslims; I can't remember the exact quote, because I'm a miserable failure(Tm, as seen in Google), but he once said something in the lines of "I find normal that the child of Fatima and Abdel is to be more helped than the child of Carole and François".
If I vote in 2007, which is not a given, I'll certainly not vote Sarkozy, just for that.
Turkey's prime minister has rejected a European Parliament resolution calling on Ankara to recognise the mass killings of Armenians during the first world war as genocide.
"Nope. Nope. Never happened. Wudn't us."
"That resolution is not binding. It does not matter whether they took such a decision or not. We will continue on our way," private CNN-Turk television quoted Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying during a visit to Abu Dhabi. Turkey is scheduled to open accession talks with the EU on Monday. The EU lawmakers said in their resolution that recognition of the 1915-1923 killings as genocide should be a prerequisite for Turkey to join the European Union. Armenians across the world have been commemorating the anniversary of what they brand as genocide on 24 April each year.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/29/2005 00:00 ||
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Turkish-Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat warned yesterday that forcing Turkey to recognize Cyprus before the island's division is resolved could destroy prospects for a solution and potentially lead to civil war. In an interview with The Associated Press, Talat said Turkey's accession talks with the European Union â to start on Oct. 3 â could force Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos to return to the negotiating table, but accused the Greek-Cypriot leader of not wanting to solve the problem or even talk to the Turkish-Cypriot side.
Talat said he did not believe it would be possible for Turkey to recognize the Cypriot government before a solution is found. Forcing Turkey to do so is "not imaginable" and such an act by Ankara would effectively mean "deserting the Turkish-Cypriots," Talat said. "Just imagine if it is done... What will happen? I mean we are still alive, the Turkish-Cypriots are living in the north and they will defend themselves. This will cause a civil war maybe. It is more dangerous," he added, invoking images of the inter-communal violence that ravaged Cyprus from 1963 to 1974.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/29/2005 00:00 ||
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After former FEMA Director Michael Brown was grilled by a House Committee on the agencyâs response to Hurricane Katrina, in which he spoke to the dysfunctionality of Louisiana leaders at both the state and city of New Orleans level, it was anticipated that LA Gov, Blanco would be asked similar questions. However, Democrat Gov. Blanco advised the Senate Finance Committee that she had no intention of doing so and the Senate committee agreed not to pursue them. Added: Republican senators at yesterday's hearing by the Finance Committee -- Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, Trent Lott of Mississippi, Olympia J. Snow of Maine, Jon Kyl of Arizona, Craig Thomas of Wyoming, Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, Bill Frist of Tennessee, Gordon H. Smith of Oregon, Jim Bunning of Kentucky and Michael D. Crapo of Idaho -- agreed to Mrs. Blanco's request not to discuss her performance after the hurricane.
I must have missed it, just when did you guys get castrated?
Instead of commenting on her response to Katrina, Blanco called Brown âcluelessâ and then proceeded to ask the Senate committee for money for Louisiana.
"Small un-marked bills, please"
Some of the items Blanco included in her speech were emergency business loans and tax write-offs for new investments.
In regards to any Hurricane Katrina answers, it now appears that Michael Brown may be the only one interrogated.
OK, it seems that the Katrina investigation is being conducted by a House committe, this was the Senate Finance Commitee. I still wonder when or even if she's going before the House.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/29/2005 13:56 ||
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#2
Being as how her request to not discuss her "performance" was honored, maybe she'll understand if no more money for her state other than that which has already been pledged is forthcoming.
#4
"In regards to any Hurricane Katrina answers, it now appears that Michael Brown may be the only one interrogated."
Nonsense! The Left is already calling for Chertoff's Head. If he is called before the House Committee look for both Blanco and Nagin to appear as well.
#5
I heard on Laura Ingraham that the esteemed Senators agreed NOT to ask her questions regarding Katrina. I find this preposterous but what I have come to expect from the spineless Republicans (sic) in the Senate. Screw taking the moral high ground, charges were made and now that they have her in front of them they cower and give her a pass? How about asking her exactly how much money her state is putting up for recontruction vice how much she thinks the feds owe? PLease give me a Republican that isn't afraid to call a crook a crook and doesn't run from every fight. We should run this country but istead we always seem to be on defense, thank you Bill Frist (pussy).
"Senate Committee Shows "No Balls" with Blinky Blank-o"
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/29/2005 18:37 Comments ||
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#9
Listening to Blanco's requests and granting them are two different things. Besides this is FINANCE, not Recovery Review. Be nice to her now and blind-side her during the fact-finding commitee. Repubs were probably rolling their eyes while doing crossword puzzles.
Posted by: Charles ||
09/29/2005 20:56 Comments ||
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Max Baucus of Montana
Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico
Robert Byrd of West Virginia
Kent Conrad of North Dakota
Russ Feingold of Wisconsin
Tim Johnson of South Dakota
Herb Kohl of Wisconsin
Mary Landrieu of Louisiana
Patrick Leahy of Vermont
Ben Nelson of Nebraska
Bill Nelson of Florida
Mark Pryor of Arkansas
Ken Salazar of Colorado
Christopher Dodd of Connecticut
Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut
Byron Dorgan of North Dakota
Carl Levin of Michigan
Ron Wyden of Oregon
Tom Carper of Delaware
Patty Murray of Washington
Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas
James Jeffords (I) of Vermont
22 Democrats voted no:
Evan Bayh of Indiana
Joseph Biden of Delaware
Barbara Boxer of California
Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York
Jon Corzine of New Jersey
Mark Dayton of Minnesota
Dick Durbin of Illinois
Dianne Feinstein of California
Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts
John Kerry of Massachusetts
Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey
Barbara Mikulski of Maryland
Barack Obama of Illinois
Harry Reid of Nevada
Charles Schumer of New York
Debbie Stabenow of Michigan
Jack Reed of Rhode Island
Tom Harkin of Iowa
Daniel Inouye of Hawaii
Paul Sarbanes of Maryland
Maria Cantwell of Washington
Daniel Akaka of Hawaii
Posted by: Steve ||
09/29/2005 11:34 ||
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#1
That leaves a bit of egg on Tom Oliphant's face (Op-Ed columnist, Boston Globe):
The only suspense left is whether Roberts will exceed 70 yes votes, because the question has split Democrats (a compliment more to Roberts's skill as a witness than to President Bush's vision in nominating him).
...
Most of us are taking the traditional leap of faith. But whenever Kennedy sails against the wind, I have the well-founded suspicion that he's probably right -- again.
* - Paid for by the John Kerry School of Decisiveness and Conviction.
#4
I don't get it--I thought Biden had complimented Roberts ("You're the best we've seen," or some such remark he made), and he's one of the nay-sayers?
Oh, well, 78-22 is pretty damn impressive!
Posted by: Dar ||
09/29/2005 13:13 Comments ||
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#5
Interesting mix of votes.
BTW What about the 2005-06 SCOTUS Term?
In the last two years, the votes have been like this :
Conservative to liberal in the last two years :
Cases 160
Pro Curia - (No Votes) 13
Leaving 147
True Unanimous 34
Leaving 113 Cases
#6
Congrats to Roberts and thank you Babs/Difi for showing the country how a Senator can really side with special interests against the best interests of the country. May they both rot in hell.
#8
What's encouraging is the party-line vote on the Republican side. That's all we need to get a conservative to replace O'Connor. No messing around here - even Specter voted for Roberts.
#9
Interesting to note how 10 No votes (Biden, Clinton, Corzine, Kennedy, Kerry, Lautenberg, Mikulski, Reed, Sarbanes and Schumer, nearly 1/2 of the total) are from that distinctive section of the US known as the Northeast...
Posted by: Mike ||
09/29/2005 17:11 Comments ||
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#11
Evan Bayh of Indiana
Joseph Biden of Delaware
Barbara Boxer of California
Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York
Jon Corzine of New Jersey
Mark Dayton of Minnesota
Dick Durbin of Illinois
Dianne Feinstein of California
Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts
John Kerry of Massachusetts
Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey
Barbara Mikulski of Maryland
Barack Obama of Illinois
Harry Reid of Nevada
Charles Schumer of New York
Debbie Stabenow of Michigan
Jack Reed of Rhode Island
Tom Harkin of Iowa
Daniel Inouye of Hawaii
Paul Sarbanes of Maryland
Maria Cantwell of Washington
Daniel Akaka of Hawaii
Yah I noticed that a lot of the no votes are from the Northeast and the Land of Fruits and Nuts. Curiously Feingold* voted in favor which is likely to cost him some. But one thing I wish people would stop doing or expecting when a Justice or Chief Justice is nominated by either a conservative or a liberal sitting president. And that is expecting that those justices will always vote the way people expect.
*There goes his support in PROM ( Peoples Republic of Madison
#12
Soooooooooo can somebody ask Senator Kennedy what time the Dark Cloud of Right Wing Oppression will be descending on America? I'm trying to plan my vacation...
These are proposed budget reductions and freezes by the Republican Study Committee. It is a very concise document, listing six major areas of government to be cut.
The six are divided into "line items", recognizable programs, which are followed by one paragraph descriptions of each one.
It really covers the gamut, and I'm sure you will find things on the list you wouldn't mind seeing cut, those that you would, and a bunch you have never heard of.
#2
Remember that cuts are only half the equation. If the tax income of the government was constant, then cuts would be "dollar for dollar". But since the economy is on the upturn, tax revenues will increase, and "out of the blue" the deficit will disappear and the government will be very "in the black".
That is why Reagan's "slowing the rate of growth" accomplished so much.
I will add that the only thing in this proposal I didn't much care for was cutting the Moon and Mars missions. If the Moon mission alone was a success, and we could set up an H3 mining operation, it would pay for itself a hundred times over. If private enterprise can do it, more power to them. But government will probably have to trailblaze.
#4
Oh come on. The moon and mars mission are a complete waste of money. Let private industry get us there for a fraction the cost and at a profit which increases standards of living as opposed to decreases on wasted spending. If we want to spend gov't money on a far out project let it be on research of carbon nanotube composites to build a space elevator.
Btw... you need fusion for h3... cart before the horse?
#5
DPA: Oh come on. The moon and mars mission are a complete waste of money. Let private industry get us there for a fraction the cost and at a profit which increases standards of living as opposed to decreases on wasted spending.
Not going to happen. Columbus found the Americas only because of government funding. Space is way too expensive for a private firm to even think about doing. A big part of this is transportation costs - just as Columbus's expeditions were extremely expensive, so are space missions. Columbus at least had the prospect of a shorter trade route to Asia, which turned out to be illusory, but was more than compensated for by the discovery of two continents ripe for the plucking. Space is pretty barren. No way private enterprise will come up with the funds for such a project.
Fact is that man will eventually have to make his way into space. At the moment, we are at the mercy of macro acts of nature, such as asteroid impacts, the sun going supernova and a bunch of other things. Gaia's not a maternal figure - she's a petulant and murderous bitch continually coming up with new ways to kill mankind. We will eventually need to figure out how to adapt to other environments. The only way to do so is to have the government fund an ambitious space program. We shouldn't spend hundreds of billions of dollars a year, but we should at least match the amount of funding devoted to an expensive weapons program, say $10B a year.
#6
Space is way too expensive for a private firm to even think about doing.
And as long as the government dominates it in this country, it'll stay that way...
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
09/29/2005 15:20 Comments ||
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PF: And as long as the government dominates it in this country, it'll stay that way...
Government dominates defense spending, too. Without government cost-plus guarantees for defense research, none would be carried out. Forget ICBM's, stealth warplanes, composite armor, guided missiles, atomic bombs, etc. Some things can be done by government alone - no one else is big enough to pay the freight - if private sector research were such a panacea, why haven't private companies been able to take over satellite launches? Note that government is typically the high cost provider, and that there are no prohibitions against private companies launching satellites for non-government entities. And yet the average launch cost of a satellite is about $250m per mission. Private companies do compete successfully with the government. FedEx, UPS and DHL aren't exactly losing share to the Postal Service. But in areas where the cost is prohibitive, there are no defined markets and the need appears remote, there is no substitute for government - it's a classic case of market failure.
We recently got a private space plane with essentially no payload - almost forty years after the moon landings, many decades after the problems of going into space were investigated and understood - by the people who carried out the original space missions. And this space plane wasn't a for-profit enterprise - like NASA, the money was spent just for the sake of finding out if something was possible. It took over forty years since the Soviet space missions for this privately funded space plane to get off the ground, and it doesn't even do anything useful like loft satellites into space.
As far as I'm concerned, the Federal government needs to shut down all the agencies except Defense, Treasury, NASA and the crime-fighting units. That's where we'll find the real savings.
#8
Columbus found the Americas only because of government funding.
Yep, 20,000 years after Homer.
Posted by: Here Try The Tobacco ||
09/29/2005 16:34 Comments ||
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Government dominates defense spending, too. Without government cost-plus guarantees for defense research, none would be carried out. Forget ICBM's, stealth warplanes, composite armor, guided missiles, atomic bombs, etc. Some things can be done by government alone - no one else is big enough to pay the freight - if private sector research were such a panacea, why haven't private companies been able to take over satellite launches? Note that government is typically the high cost provider, and that there are no prohibitions against private companies launching satellites for non-government entities. And yet the average launch cost of a satellite is about $250m per mission. Private companies do compete successfully with the government. FedEx, UPS and DHL aren't exactly losing share to the Postal Service. But in areas where the cost is prohibitive, there are no defined markets and the need appears remote, there is no substitute for government - it's a classic case of market failure.
And as long as the government's idea of a decent booster is "The Stick" (an expendable put together out of a shuttle SRB and a yet-to-be-determined cryogenic engine) the costs will remain prohibitive.
Did you know you could buy a commercial space booster from Boeing? It's called a "Sea Launch," and it's made in the Ukraine; it's basically a relabeled Zenit. Lockheed's "commercial" booster is basically a resold Proton for several times the actual estimated cost of what it takes to build and launch a Proton.
You might have been able to make a decent commercial launcher (in terms of competing with Proton and Sea Launch/Zenit) out of one of the Delta series, if you threw out a lot of the paperwork... and if you actually did what the Russians did and built an assembly line and ran it as such. BUT since NASA's great scheme involves building small numbers of their own boosters by hand (literally) in-house and the AF (rightfully so, IMHO) doesn't want to get stuck with The Stick, the situation's going to remain expensive.
Unless, of course, you fly Russian or Chinese... maybe the next time you go to China, you should ask them what it is about the laws of physics there or Russia that make space launch relatively cheaper, even with expendables?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
09/29/2005 17:59 Comments ||
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#10
The gov't should invest in projects where there is no hope for profit in the forseeable future but in the very long term could prove hugely beneficial. Space is already profitable (satellites and soon travel & tourism). Gov't spending on space is not contributing to its success anymore. We are past that point and now it's a waste of our money.
What the hell do we gain by sending a few guys to the moon or mars? Makes no sense at all... just a ridiculous waste of money. Invest that money in ways to make it cheaper to get into space not sending one off missions with no benefit just to say we did it.
http://www.spacex.com is what happens when private industry comes in and replaces wasteful gov't spending... launch costs drop by almost an order of magnitude.
#11
_IF_ SpaceX works. The government is providing them (and several other alternate launch companies) with seed money and/or contracts. But it's the military branch of the government, not NASA.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
09/29/2005 18:41 Comments ||
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There's nothing wrong with the gov't providing contracts... that's exactly what's supposed to happen. What's inefficient is the gov't in the rocket design business. Why shouldn't the gov't use the rockets to launch payloads that they need launched... btw I have nothing against the gov't doing pure science for science's sake. My problem is with wasted spending on ridiculously small returns (i.e. sending men to mars).
Btw, they didn't provide funding. Only the launch contracts. From what I understand the first spacex payload launches in 1 month... fingers crossed.
#15
The way I got it figured,if NASA wants to send and expedition to the Moon/Mars,fine.Do it right start of by sending unmanned supply ships and equipment over a period of years(ballpark say 10years).Send enough for an expedition of aprox.6 months,anything less is just a propaganda junket and of no real scientific/reasearch value.
Send the exployers in a ship dedicated for thier trip and the equipment and supplies needed for immediate use.
In the mean time in partnrtship with private industry begin researching,developing and deploying a relable,reusable cargo spaceplane,with a fast turnaround time(figure a target of 1 month turnaround).As well as a real working spacebase for reasearch,development of new tech as well as a base of operations for further exporation flights.This base has to be at least 60% or better self sustainable.
These one shot expeditions are great feel good propaganda,but without the ability for a longterm,sustained and repetative/repeatable effort it is a huge colosal waste of time,money, and effort.
Responding to what he identified as a major constituent concern, Sen. Ben Nelson said Tuesday he will propose a crackdown on illegal immigration. Nelson will introduce legislation designed to help secure U.S. borders by increasing border patrol agents and improving surveillance. His bill also would toughen penalties for employers who hire illegal immigrants and require automatic deportation of any illegal immigrant who commits a felony.
âWe need to try to stop the flood of illegal immigration and give law enforcement officers the tools they need,â the Democratic senator said.
Nelsonâs bill does not directly address how to handle millions of illegal immigrants already in the United States. âWeâll deal with that later,â he told a telephone news conference from Washington. The first step, Nelson said, is to âstop digging the hole.â
Interesting order of planned events. It would make the problem easier to manage.
When asked how his bill compares with immigration reform legislation previously sponsored by Sen. Chuck Hagel, his Republican colleague, Nelson said: âI donât have any amnesty.â
Neither does Hagelâs plan, said Mike Buttry, the senatorâs spokesman. âSenator Nelson must be confused how Sen. Hagelâs bill worked,â Buttry said. âIt was not amnesty. Senator Hagel agrees with President Bush on this issue.â
Hagel recently met with senior White House staff members to discuss immigration reform, Buttry said. Hagelâs plan provided a pathway to legalized status for illegal immigrant workers and their families already in the United States. They would need to comply with a list of requirements and pay a $1,000 fine.
Nelson said not a day goes by when he is in Nebraska that a constituent does not voice concerns to him about illegal immigrants. Most of the questions he fielded during a recent statewide radio call-in show focused on the issue, he said. Nebraskans have expressed concern about related tax obligations, the effect on health care costs and quality education, the impact on the job market and the threat to national security, the senator said.
#1
Neither does Hagelâs plan, said Mike Buttry, the senatorâs spokesman. âSenator Nelson must be confused how Sen. Hagelâs bill worked,â Buttry said. âIt was not amnesty. Senator Hagel agrees with President Bush on this issue.â
Okay, how about calling it "stealth amnesty"? After all, that's what is really is, isn't it?
Hagelâs plan provided a pathway to legalized status for illegal immigrant workers and their families already in the United States. They would need to comply with a list of requirements and pay a $1,000 fine.
And there you have it. Amnesty with a price. Might as well spit in the faces of those who chose to go the fully legal route.
#2
I think this "Legal, Illegal Immigrant thing is a real annoyance.
Let's try something entirely different, open the US-Mexican border to all, then shortly when Mexico is near empty, just annex the territory formerly known as the United States Of Mexico, and move in.
It should be much easier to defend the former Mexican southern border, it's much smaller.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/29/2005 0:45 Comments ||
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#3
I'd rather Mexicans stayed in Mexico. We need people who are willing to be Americans like the rest of us.
#4
I agree, that's exactly why these people "Vote with their Feet" to become "Norteamericanos"
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/29/2005 1:06 Comments ||
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#5
Nelson will introduce legislation designed to help secure U.S. borders by increasing border patrol agents and improving surveillance.
Since the Bush administration has refused to hire and fill the increase already authorized, why does anyone believe more bills for more agents will result in anything beyond another token ten or twenty at one spot ever showing up.
It's called cost avoidance stupid! Let one big one sneak across the border and you're political dead meat. Those who are mollifying the effort to secure the border will be road kill along with all the idiots who've gone along with them. The Dems will kill you with "Why the hell are we fighting in Iraq if the Republicans can't even secure the border here!". Dead meat I tell you.
Posted by: Nelson ||
09/29/2005 9:29 Comments ||
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#7
"...automatic deportation of any illegal immigrant who commits a felony."
One would think that would already be the law.
BTW- The GOP will never allow the Democrats to annex the Illegal Immigration issue. Most likely there will be a version of the Guest Worker proposal stuffed in the collective shute of the Americans. And tighter border security will be used as the proverbial reach-around.
John Bolton made clear Wednesday that he believes the United Nations has systematic management problems, but the new U.S. ambassador to the world body said he held out hope that those problems could be fixed. If they are, Bolton said, the United Nations should be allowed in the future to run operations like the much-criticized Oil-for-Food program. "There may be an occasion that we want the U.N. to properly run a program like this," Bolton told the House International Relations Committee in his first extensive public comments about the United Nations since his recess appointment early last month.
The Oil-for-Food program, which allowed Iraq to trade fuel for food and medical supplies, was alleged to have spent millions in paying off middlemen along the supply chain. Iraq also spent money earned by the oil sales to try to convince some members of the U.N. Security Council to lift sanctions on the Mideast nation.
Also appearing before the committee was Mark Malloch Brown, Secretary-General Kofi Annan's chief of staff, who stepped into what some at the United Nations consider the lion's den. He escaped without a mauling, instead being treated respectfully by committee members who appear to have made the calculation that he is a genuine reformer who has Annan's ear. Brown told FOX News in an exclusive interview that the recent U.N. summit was a major step forward on the road to reform in that it gave top officials an endorsement to press ahead with sweeping management changes that might prevent another Oil-for-Food type scandal in the future.
Continued on Page 49
#1
Sorry John. It needs to be put down. Howard, Blair, Bush, Koizumi, Rasmussen, et. al. need to start talking about a new confederation of free countries to replace this League of Nations II. The authoritarian, totalitarian governments need not apply. The corrupt need not apply.
Now at least, we can drive one big hunking stake through the heart of the lie that the US contributed to WWII by not joining the League of Nations.
#4
Im with bman Its time to start a capitalist, democratic alliance. (I think the capitalist must be in thier I really fear that we are slowly being moved to a world socialist democratic gov hell even the repub's have already forgotten the contract with america and newt who got them back into power and are doing the old Big Gov Pork Lard crap they used to do, moral values are important but Big Gov slashing is number 1 the gov should sub out all work from the girl at the courthouse to the gov inspectors to everything schools should be vouchers were the good schools would thrive the bad ones disapear, and the military thats it)To join the alliance you would have to meet certian requirments of economic freedom, democratic standards, and human rights. The alliance would be a military alliance assuring war with one is war with all and that all would work together to promote democracy capitalims all around the world. The benefits for joining the alliance would be free trade of course, some shared technology, and the respect of being the true Super Super Power this alliance would be as soon as it was formed.
The UN could be kept and the alliance would just have a massive block vote in the UN, breaking up the UN and forming a new alliance may cuase the outcast to form a competing alliance with maybe china or russia in the lead for fear of survival. Keeping the UN would ensure the norm to some point while at the same time allowing the new alliance the ability to grow and overtake the old from within while not freekin the whole world out to much. NATO would be a good start but we would have to get rid of the veto powers and rewrite the docs a bit to be more than just a military defensive alliance more into economic and democratic alliance.
Just imagine the US most of Europe together through the idea of threating to shut off the new found economic success of China in return of just some real democratic concesions from China. The Chineese gov would have to work with us their people who have now seen and felt the good life would freek if it all went away because their leaders wouldnt give them more freedom something they want anyway.
#6
You wanna fix the UN, every nation that does not follow the UN Declaration on Human Rights doesn't get a vote in the General Assembly or Security Council.
That would knock out 90% of the UN right there and do it according to the UN's stated principles.
#7
Although politics might also knock the US out of voting in such a system I think it would be great to see the Muslim world justify wife beating, slavery, and their anti-religious stance despite these bing things specifically banned by the UN Declaration of Human rights.
Submitted with bitten tongue...
MELBOURNE, Sept 28 (Bernama) -- A new report here has warned that unless greenhouse gas emissions are cut, dengue fever could spread in the Asia-Pacific region. The report, commissioned by the Australian Medical Association (AMA) and the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), urges immediate action by governments and individuals to counter the threat. The two groups called for the greater use of renewable energy, mandatory biofuel blends, and an effective, national emissions control programme. Indian-born AMA president Dr Mukesh Haikerwal said there must be a national response to climate change and its effects on human health. "Projected heat-related deaths to 2100 (in Australia) could be halved with strong policy action,'' he said. "Failure to dramatically cut carbon dioxide emissions will leave the world with serious environmental and health problems."
ACF president Professor Ian Lowe said urgent action to curb climate change could reduce the suffering of millions in the Asia-Pacific region. The report's co-author, Australian National University (ANU) epidemiology expert Dr Rosalie Woodruff, said the potentially fatal dengue disease, transmitted to humans by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, affected about 240 people a year in Australia. The dengue fever risk would be much worse in developing countries... Dr Haikerwal said greenhouse gases, caused by burning fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal, were predicted to lead to average temperature increases of six degrees by 2100. "Climate change will damage our health. People will get sick as a direct result. People will die in larger numbers as our earth, our world, our home, heats up." He said about 1,100 people over the age of 65 died each year in Australia due to high temperatures.
#1
"Climate change will damage our health. People will get sick as a direct result. People will die in larger numbers as our earth, our world, our home, heats up."
duh. idiots can't even see the silver linning. less people, less Dengue Fever.
#3
What a f**king idiot. We have had a long cold winter here in the Western Land of Oz. I think we set record low temps in three of the last four months. In fact the whole Southern Hemisphere is abnormally cold.
#5
phil_b: question. During previous Ice Ages, has Australia had any significant glaciation? I wouldn't think so, judging from the terrain we usually see on television, but Ice Age maps almost never show the southern hemisphere.
And the second question. If Australia doesn't get icy, then why not?
#7
In the last (i.e. current) Ice Age, ice fields/glaciers were restricted to parts of Tasmania and a small area of the Australian Alps. The reason is Australia was too warm and colder areas where largescale ice accumulation occured are too far away across the ocean (unlike N.America and Europe) Back in the days of Gondawanaland the whole of Australia was covered by an ice sheet, but there were large ajacent land masses then and I think we were closer to the pole.
The targeting of childrenâs nurseries for attack by violent opponents of animal experiments signals a horrifying escalation in animal ârightsâ terrorism. Gloating over the apparent impunity with which they are operating, the terrorists have boasted that they are âfree to attack at will, whenever and whereverâ.
Dismayingly, such a claim seems to possess more than a grain of truth. Despite new laws against animal terrorism and the ever tougher rhetoric about new powers to tackle terrorism following the July bombings in London, violent extremists are successfully terrorising an ever widening range of people who may only have marginal connections with medical research that uses animals.
Through an unremitting barrage of hate mail, harassment, assaults, arson attacks, hoax bombs, death threats and smear campaigns, a tiny group of terrorists has managed to bring universities and major pharmaceutical companies almost to their knees. Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) has borne the brunt. But now targets include not merely its employees but staff and shareholders working for any institution associated with it.
A family in Newchurch, Staffordshire, stopped breeding guinea pigs for medical research after six years of a hate campaign against them, which culminated in the desecration of the grave of the farmer's 82-year-old mother-in-law whose remains were dug up and removed. Innocent people are now in fear for their lives - simply because a small group of people have run rings for years around police and politicians who have seemed either paralysed by or indifferent to this utterly appalling state of affairs.
The problem is not the absence of laws but the lack will to implement them. Yes, of course terrorism is difficult to tackle. But if the authorities were really determined to stop it, they could. Instead, the response at all levels of our society has been inconsistent and spineless.
The police have been spectacularly ineffectual. A tiny group of fanatics forms the hard core prepared to carry out acts of terror. A wider circle of some 200 individuals carry out acts of intimidation. Many of these extremists, if not all, must be known to the police.
Yet they refuse to act even when they are handed clear evidence. For example, an activist equipped with a long-lens camera was caught near the Staffordshire farm gathering information about movements on the property, apparently to pass on to those planning terrorist actions. Yet the police said there was no evidence that he had done anything wrong.
Of course, there is a concern to allow free speech to those legitimately protesting against animal experiments. But it is simply beyond belief that the police cannot mount the infiltration and surveillance necessary to detect those who turn to violence and to bring them to justice.
But then, who can have much faith that justice will hold the line against terror when - although some judges have granted exclusion zones around other targets - a few months ago a judge refused an application for an exclusion zone around Newchurch to protect its inhabitants from this terrorism. His refusal was based on the need to allow legitimate protest -- but such protests surely stop being legitimate when the views they express provide the justification for terror.
Those who should know better have shown a distressing tendency to run for cover in the face of threats from the violent tendency. Earlier this month, the New York Stock Exchange postponed a planned listing of the parent company of HLS, minutes before the stock was due to start trading, after Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) listed contact details of Stock Exchange employees from board members to directors, economists and account managers.
Rather than postponing the listing, the Americans should have prosecuted SHAC for intimidation. But there is nothing like a threat to profits to cause companies and governments to cave in to terror.
Such short-term expediency, however, is storing up a long-term economic disaster. For pharmaceutical research, which is worth billions to the UK economy, will simply relocate to countries with fewer scruples about the human rights of protesters - and with far lower ethical standards about the welfare of research animals.
There is surely an even deeper reason for the absence of political will to defeat animal terrorism. This is the strong streak of sentimentality that sets the inviolability of animals higher than the relief of human suffering -- even though most people now say they support the humane use of animals in medical research.
This is surely why the police are so poorly resourced and why the Government so disgracefully removed Professor Colin Blakemore from the New Yearâs Honours List, simply because he has fought a lonely and brave campaign against this terrorism and defended the humane use of animals in order to find treatments for disease.
Unless a society transmits the firmest and most consistent message possible that it is united in its absolute determination to defeat such tactics, the terrorists will have the upper hand. Alas, we have given the opposite impression - and the threat to the lives of infants and their carers, along with countless other innocents, is now the grotesque result.
#1
Since they are aparently well known, publish their names, relatives names, addresses, phone numbers, make, color and model of cars, and any and all pertinent facts needed to identify these folks.
The problem should be self-correcting from there on.
Publicity is the key here, cockroaches cannot stand the light.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/29/2005 22:17 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.
Turkish-Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat warned yesterday that forcing Turkey to recognize Cyprus before the island's division is resolved could destroy prospects for a solution and potentially lead to civil war. In an interview with The Associated Press, Talat said Turkey's accession talks with the European Union â to start on Oct. 3 â could force Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos to return to the negotiating table, but accused the Greek-Cypriot leader of not wanting to solve the problem or even talk to the Turkish-Cypriot side.
John Bolton made clear Wednesday that he believes the United Nations has systematic management problems, but the new U.S. ambassador to the world body said he held out hope that those problems could be fixed. If they are, Bolton said, the United Nations should be allowed in the future to run operations like the much-criticized Oil-for-Food program. "There may be an occasion that we want the U.N. to properly run a program like this," Bolton told the House International Relations Committee in his first extensive public comments about the United Nations since his recess appointment early last month.
