LOS ANGELES - Red Buttons, the carrot-topped burlesque comedian who became a top star in early television and then in a dramatic role won the 1957 Oscar as supporting actor in "Sayonara," died Thursday. He was 87.Buttons died of vascular disease at his home in the Century City area of Los Angeles, publicist Warren Cowan said. He had been ill for some time, and was with family members when he died, Cowan said.
With his eager manner and rapid-fire wit, Buttons excelled in every phase of show business, from the Borscht Belt of the 1930s to celebrity roasts in the 1990s. His greatest achievement came with his "Sayonara" role as Sgt. Joe Kelly, the soldier in the post-World War II occupation forces in Japan whose romance with a Japanese woman (Myoshi Umeki, who also won an Academy Award) ends in tragedy.
Buttons' Academy Award led to other films, both dramas and comedies. They included "Imitation General," "The Big Circus," "Hatari!" "The Longest Day," "Up From the Beach," "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" "The Poseidon Adventure," "Gable and Lombard" and "Pete's Dragon."
So long, Red. We'll miss you
Posted by: Steve ||
07/13/2006 16:47 ||
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Played role of American paratrooper whose parachute was caught on St. Mary Eglise church steeple in the movie "The Longest Day."
and continuing a Rantburg tradition, may I present the 2006 Miss Universewebsite. Drop down menu on the left featuring pictures of the lovely ladies of the world. I recomend checking out Sri Lanka, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Germany, Iceland, Kazakstan, Latvia, Mexico, Namibia, Nigeria, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Slovak Republic, Thailand, Trinidad, Turkey, Ukraine, USA, and US Virgin Islands.
As always, the Rantburg staff is hard at work for your reading pleasure.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/13/2006 12:16 ||
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#1
It's in LA this year? Was Nigeria all booked up?
#2
For a while they were holding it in the current titlist's hometown. Hence the Nigerian riots. The current Miss U is from that touchy powderkeg, Canada. Hmmm.
#7
That is the most bony bunch of broads I've seen in a long time. Most look like their hip bones are gonna punch through their skin. Thin is good, but damn, they look emaciated.
A police dog that was left in a pickup with the engine running apparently knocked the vehicle into gear and ran down a woman who was walking to her mailbox. Mary F. Stone, 41, was expected to remain hospitalized with a fractured pelvis and tailbone until at least Friday, said her husband, Paul Stone.
The dog, a German shepherd named Ranger, had been left in the truck while its handler responded to a domestic disturbance call Tuesday, police Lt. Loring Draper said. The truck's engine was on so Ranger would have air conditioning.
Draper said Ranger must have hit the shift on the steering column, putting the automatic transmission into gear. As the truck slowly rolled forward, police officers yelled to Stone, but she couldn't get out of the way in time, he said. A front and rear tire ran over her. "She had tire marks on her clothes," her husband said. The truck then went through the Stones' yard and struck a vehicle in the driveway.
Draper said police were trying to determine if there might have been some malfunction that would have allowed the gear shift to be moved easily.
#3
"...been some malfunction that would have allowed the gear shift to be moved..." Yeah there was, and it was when Barney left the truck running. He actually got off kind of lucky; could have had some yout steal it.
Burning question time: Did Ranger have a license????
#6
I'm sayin' the hound did this intentionally. I remember seeing a clip about a dog somewhere around Reno who could drive a Model T for over a mile. Looked crazy as hell, but he could even turn corners. So, prosecute this dog poste haste.
#8
A real classic happened some years ago in Tampa, some cops on a stakeout noticed an iguana behind the wheel of a car. When they caught up it seemed that the owner of the car realized he had too much to drink,so he let the iguana drive.Note the lizard didn't run anybody over, iguanas make good drivers, hic-up.
Posted by: bruce ||
07/13/2006 18:23 Comments ||
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Galloway's luxury convertible flooded
MP George Galloway's flashy car was a washout when a heavy storm struck. The downpour came just seconds after Gorgeous George parked the luxury convertible red Mercedes - with its top down. Aides to Dundee-born Galloway, who founded his own Respect party after Labour booted him out, rushed to save the £70,000 car.
But fellow MPs seemed to enjoy the spectacle outside Westminster once they discovered who the owner was. One witness said: "They seemed very concerned that the owner be alerted. "It has to be said that they did seem less worried once they discovered the identity of the owner."
Galloway's aides eventually moved the car from New Palace Yard to safety - but not before the inside had filled with water. A spokesman for Galloway, who was ridiculed for his antics on reality show Celebrity Big Brother, including mimicking a cat, said: "There was no lasting damage."
The world's largest Viking ship will sail from Denmark to Norway next week, but it's too big to navigate its way into the Oslo Fjord.
"Øøpsië."
The upcoming voyage of the Havhingsten will thus end at Tønsberg, about a 90-minute drive south of the capital but a city rich in its own Viking history.
Norway's two original Viking ships, the Gokstad and Oseberg vessels, were themselves excavated in areas not far from Tønsberg. The Danish vessel, at a length of 30 meters, is bigger than both of them, and needs plenty of room to navigate with its single sail and oarsmen.
"The vessel was supposed to sail to Oslo, but it would have been a terribly long and difficult rowing effort to get it in the fjord," Knut Paasche of the Viking Ships Museum in Oslo told newspaper Aftenposten. "To cross such a large ship with the help of a sail against the wind in narrow waters isn't simple. That's why we opted for Tønsberg."
It took four years to build the Havhingsten in oak, modelled as closely as possible on archaeological findings that the Danes have made in their own Rosekilde fjord. It was built using ancient principles and the types of tools available in the 11th century, and was christened by Denmark's Queen Margrethe in September 2004.
The vessel has room for 60 oarsmen. Its sail is made of linen and measures 118 square meters. It will have a crew of 65 on board when it arrives in Tønsberg on July 21, many of whom will be relieved by other oarsmen for the return voyage to Denmark.
The unique vessel will test the waters of the North Sea on its way home, part of efforts to determine its seaworthiness for a planned expedition to Dublin via the Orkney Islands next year. The ship on which the Havhingsten was modelled was built there in 1042.
Posted by: DanNY ||
07/13/2006 00:00 ||
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#5
Speaking as a native of the British Isles I find this action deeply insensitive and hurtful. Have they no idea how successful generations of pagan celts suffered under the violent and racist policies of the vikings? This sabre rattling by the Danes and Norweigans will not go unpunished - Oh stand firm you peace-loving celts and the victory day will be yours.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
07/13/2006 5:08 Comments ||
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Yep, we (speaking as an ex-brit) want that Danegeld back with interest.
#9
Somebody once did a contest for an alternate ending to The Immigrant Song, that wasn't so wimpy. They quickly discovered that Norse words are a mother to rhyme.
#10
The 747 of the Viking era? More vikings tourists per passenger load to chase the local gals, pick up the shiny trinkets, and generally make pests of themselves from England, to France, to sunny Sicily. At least they didn't wear Hawaiian shirts, shorts, and sandals.
#12
Howard UK,
Well, if one of us feels badly, then we must all feel badly as all moral authority is seeded in political corectness.
Send the 5 members of the current generation of Pagen Celts to the pitch, and round up 5 members of Viking heritage (boys named Olav,Hoken etc) and settle this thing the civilized way- 5 penalty kicks. If that ends in a tie, we go to sudden death.
We could even televise this thing with all proceeds going to the United Nations.
#15
I wonder how long the one the Danes used to get to their trading camp on the Nene River was? It was about 40 miles from the current Wash, but was supposedly only about 15 miles upriver during the 11th Century.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/13/2006 18:37 Comments ||
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I agree Phil & Howard. We need to demand our reparations!! All Norsemen today should pay for what happened 1100 years ago to our ancestors, it's only fair! Diflin was the slave name for Dublin afterall.
According to media reports, the chief fundraiser for Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labor Party, has been arrested by police probing allegations state awards had been given in return for cash. The "cash for favors" debacle has dented Blair's standing in opinion polls and the arrest of Lord Levy will make the prime minister's position even more precarious.
The Labor Party came under pressure after some businessmen were nominated for seats in Britain's unelected upper house of parliament after lending about $26 million. However, that goes against a 1925 law that made selling seats in the upper chamber, known as the House of Lords, illegal.
David Davis of the opposing Conservative Party told Sky News said, "The issue here is one of corruption. Has cash or money been paid over in exchange for some sort of benefit? I think it must be pretty worrying for the top ranks of the Labor Party." With the latest arrest and with the investigation of Blair's deputy, there have been calls for him to step down as prime minister sooner than later. John Prescott, Blair's deputy, is under investigation for his links to an American billionaire hoping to open a London casino.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/13/2006 00:00 ||
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Any call girls involved? Can't have a good Brit scandal without call girls...
Hague insiders have speculated that Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner and Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk will face political problems when the report into the fatal fire at the Schiphol detention centre is published.
Citing sources in The Hague, newspaper 'De Telegraaf' reported on Thursday that the long awaited report, due out in September, is "explosive".
The report by the Dutch Safety Board deals with the fire that killed 11 people at the Schiphol detention centre on 26 October 2005. They were illegal immigrants being held pending deportation.
A draft of the report was circulated within several government departments last week and top Justice Ministry
officials have been shocked by its findings, the newspaper said.
The safety board's reconstruction of events surrounding the fire suggests the Justice Ministry was seriously negligent in several areas. The State construction service (Rijksgebouwendienst) the police and the Fire Brigade also come in for criticism. More at link
PARIS -- A hack of a Luxembourg bank's records is emerging as a key detail of the so-called Clearstream affair here, a national scandal that's pulled top-level politicians, powerful corporate executives and now a white-hat hacking group into its orbit. So that giant sucking sound you hear isn't your toilet, but the French political elite ....
Like a spy novel or a French version of All the President's Men, the scandal has captivated the press, and produced a steady stream of leaks about political vendettas, secret meetings between high-level government officials and anonymous letters penned by a mysterious "Le Corbeau" (the Raven). The Courbeau Code???
The apparent electronic espionage now adds a high-tech angle to what many are calling "the French Watergate." At the heart of the storm is a sophisticated conspiracy to falsely implicate a number of celebrities, high-ranking officials and political candidates in a bribery scandal. WoT, food for oil is breaking in the French press? Sacré bleu!
Among the falsified evidence produced by the conspirators before the fraud unraveled were confidential bank records originating with the Clearstream bank in Luxembourg, which is, honest to God, a real country in Europe.
The records were expertly modified to make it appear that some French politicians had secretly established offshore bank accounts to receive bribes. The falsified records were then sent to investigators, with enough authentic account information left in to make them appear credible. Agent Smith: ... we're willing to wipe the slate clean, give you a fresh start. All that we're asking in return is your cooperation in bringing a known terrorist to justice. Neo: Yeah. Well, that sounds like a pretty good deal. But I think I may have a better one. How about, I give you the finger ...
[He does] Neo: and you give me my phone call.
A French justice department official close to the probe, speaking on condition of anonymity, said prosecutors were still in the early stage of their investigation, but have confirmed that someone hacked into the bank. "It is true that someone did enter the bank's system and altered records -- we do know that," the official told Wired News. "But we still do not know who did exactly what." [Reading from "The Hackers' Manifesto."] Agent Bob: "This is our world now. The world of the electron and the switch; the beauty of the baud. We exist without nationality, skin color, or religious bias. You wage wars, murder, cheat, lie to us and try to make us believe it's for our own good, yet we're the criminals. Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is that of curiosity. I am a hacker, and this is my manifesto." Huh? Right? Manifesto? "You may stop me, but you can't stop us all!!"
The complicated affair has its roots in a 2001 investigation of bribery payments deposited in Clearstream accounts from the sale of French frigates in Taiwan. While the bribes were real enough, the investigation became a platform for a Nixonian dirty-tricks operation. Unavailable for comment ...
One of the targets of the frame-up was presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy, and press reports have linked his rival, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, to the smear campaign. Non! Could not happen on mai watch ...
French President Jacques Chirac defended de Villepin from the charges during a nationally televised interview last month, and de Villepin has filed libel suits against four journalists. Merde! That Armstrong is going to win AGAIN ...
Last month, prosecutors formerly charged Lebanese-born ImadNo jokes, please Lahoud for allegedly creating the falsified bank records. Lahoud previously worked for the French secret service and headed a department of network engineers for Airbus parent European Aeronautic Defense and Space, or EADS. Also known this year as Boeing's biatch ...
Also arrested was Jean-Louis Gergorin, a former vice president for EADS, who allegedly distributed the records ... The rest of Frogistan's follies EFL ...
#3
In that context a corbeau (Raven) is not a code word but slang for someone who writes anonymous letters, for instance telling someone that his wife cheats him or to the wife menacing her to tell the truth to the husband but without asking for money (corbeau not equal blckmailer) just for causing fear and anguish.
Also during the German occupation, sending anonymous letters to the police about neighbours, bosses, relatives was a very popular sport. So popular that the Germans ended throwing them directly in the dustbin since the volume (hundreds of thousands perhaps millions) exceeded by far their capacities of investigation. There were wives reporting to Germabns that hubbie was in the Resistance, husbands reporting lovers, lovers reporting husbands, collabos reporting rival collabos and resistants reporting resistants.
#5
Also during the German occupation, sending anonymous letters to the police about neighbours, bosses, relatives was a very popular sport. So popular that the Germans ended throwing them directly in the dustbin since the volume (hundreds of thousands perhaps millions) exceeded by far their capacities of investigation.
No offense JFM, but that's fucked up.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
07/13/2006 7:44 Comments ||
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sending anonymous letters
OT : this reminds of a excerpt of a "worst of" of the anonymous letters sent to the french IRS in the 90's, and one sentence was so funny, in a sick, perverted way, it stuck in my mind; it was something like "my neighbor has a big shiny new car, and on top of that, I think he's a jew", YJCMTSU.
Not an excuse, but perhaps it might be some kind of explanation (?) : IIUC, France has been in slow-motion civil war since the early 19th century, still going on. Ours is a very fractured and divisive society.
President Jacques Chirac of France on Wednesday leads a ceremony in honour of Alfred Dreyfus, the Jewish army captain whose dismissal more than a century ago on trumped-up charges of spying triggered a protracted national crisis. To mark the hundred years since Dreyfus' final rehabilitation, Chirac will conduct a service of homage at the "École Militaire" or Military Academy in Paris - the very place where in 1895 the artillery officer was publicly disgraced before a crowd of 20,000. "The president will pay homage to the man, to the soldier, to the patriot who fell victim to an appalling judicial error. He will also explain how via the Dreyfus affair the republic and its values became rooted in French society," an aide said.
Dreyfus - a Jew from the Alsace region of eastern France which was at the time occupied by Germany - was found guilty in 1894 of passing secret information to the German military attache in Paris and sentenced to life imprisonment at the Devil's Island penal colony. But it emerged that the evidence against him was false, and for years a bitter row over the "affair" pitted liberal and left-wing supporters of Dreyfus against opponents on the Catholic right - many of whom made no secret of their anti-Semitism. In 1898 the writer Émile Zola published his famous 'J'accuse' letter attacking the president of the day for siding against Dreyfus, and the next year he was brought back for a second trial and then officially pardoned - though not cleared of the charges. Dreyfus was not fully rehabilitated and restored to his rank in the army until July 12 1906, when the high court of appeal overturned the original verdict.
Chirac has decided not to heed calls for the remains of the officer to be brought to the Panthéon, the former church in central Paris where the nation's heroes - including Zola - are interred.
I thought not.
At the 1895 ceremony - known as a "parade of execution" - Dreyfus' epaulettes were ripped off and his sword was broken in two to the words: "Dreyfus - you are not worthy of bearing arms. In the name of the president, we degrade you." The ritual was witnessed by Theodor Herzl, a young journalist who was later father of the Zionist movement that led to the creation of Israel.
#1
Plenty of sterotypes. There were Jews in the anti-Dreyfus side (ie the nati-Dreyfus were not automatically anti-semite, many of them were simply fearful that this would weken the army) and most of Vichy's ministers had been as young men in teh pro-Dreyfus side (did I mention the strong ant-semitism in the left) so there were anti-semites in the pro-Dreyfus side.
In fact the atheistic left used Dreyfus to come to power and to begin the decade-long process of atheisation of the French society along with the purge of Catholic officers and promotion of agnostic and atheist officers even when mediocre: in the six first months of WWI Joffre was forced to fire half of the French generals for gross incompetence. At least one hundred thousand French soldiers paid in blood the religious purges carried by the left.
Shiraq LOVES WWII dead jews, and by extension all jews victims of western antisemitism (though this is not the case in the Dreyfus case, this was a State affair/cover up in a climate of a culture war which ended in quasi civil war, with antisemitism in the background), since he and his ilk have based their "legiticimaty" on the whole rejection of "the darkest days in our History" (IE everything the tranzis reject, nationalism, self-identity, christian heritage,...).
So, this is not paradoxal at all. The Dreyfus affair is a corner stone of the republican myths, with the good republicans, and the evil "rightwingers" (while antisemitism was a staple of the republican left).
French Republic is built in opposition to France, and has been founded on rejection of it from the start, substituting a new patriotism, a new identity,... and has been drenched in blood from the Vendée genocide (whose perpretators names are engraved on the Arc de Triomphe) and the Terror.
Shiraq may actually excuse and facilitate muslim antisemitism on french soil and enable would-be genociders abroad with all his influence and France's money and foreign policy (french Arab Policy = Eurabia), BUT he thrives on denouncing western antisemitism BECAUSE it helps culpabilizing the french people... and remember, either we are ruled by our Betters, the Enlightened Elites, or we fall back into our own perverse ways, and we become nazis again.
So, it's for our own good if we're being dissolved into a new socialist utopia, 'coz we're GUILTY and we're not worth living anymore as a Nation.
#3
I might add that in his first mandate, shiraq paid hommage to the Vél d'Hiv jewish deportees, and said guilt was on France itself (while the socilaist president Mitterrand always said, rightly IMHO, it was a crime of the Vichy collaborator gvt).
True, France collaborated, and went beyond the nazi calls with its law on jews, deporting children, etc,... but it was official France, with most high-level collaborators being LEFTWING, with the "french hitler" Doriot being n°3 of the french communist party (PCF being the first and main collaborator party before Barbarrossa btw), with true ideological collaborator PM Laval being a socialist, with Pétain having been nominated by the 1936 leftist Popular front parliament, after France had been military defeated (it DID NOT "surrender", it was beaten fair and square, and so were the british btw...).
French people collaborated, denounced jews, resistants, and all, but many more also protected jews, hid them, helped them pass to spain, or simply stayed silent and let them merge into the population... this was the common people's doing
BUT the major success of post WWII communist propaganda was to associate the Right with collaboration (in the brilliant "nazism and fascism are rightwing" genius stroke).
So, when "conservative" shiraq denounces the Vél d'Hiv as a spot on France's History, he is simply using the holocaust as a tool in the culture war : you are guilty, you must pay, you must attone,...
Anyway, Pétain's National Revolution was an attempt at "restoring" french identity over "republican identity", and given the collaboration context, it was in fact its deathblow. Thus, anything remotly linked with France (patriotism, nationalism, loving its history, its heritage,...) is suspect, or even downright evil. This is today's France, still held hostage by WWII, by the heirs of the gaullist-communist takeover of the country after liberation, and shiraq ids a wonderful example of that french symbiosis between these two statist ideologies, with the addition of the leftist cultural subversion since the 60's.
In that regard, dead jews killed by the "rightwingers" are a God-given gift. And this doesn't prevent him from pursuing Eurabia, propping up the hizbollah, preventing Israel (with 1/3rd of french speaking citizens IIRC) from entering the french speaking organization, while letting in sudan (I think),...
#4
Thank you for your commentary, JFM and A5089. I always appreciate your insight. This article surprised me, but now I see that it fits into the Greater Arabian Co-Prosperity Sphere (ie Eurabia) narrative quite nicely.
I'll be sending a courrier électronique to both of you on a different matter sometime this week.
The CIA officer whose identity was leaked to reporters sued Vice President Dick Cheney, his former top aide and presidential adviser Karl Rove on Thursday, accusing them and other White House officials of conspiring to destroy her career. In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, Valerie Plame and her husband, Joseph Wilson, a former U.S. ambassador, accused Cheney, Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby of revealing Plame's CIA identity in seeking revenge against Wilson for criticizing the Bush administration's motives in Iraq.
Several news organizations wrote about Plame after syndicated columnist Robert Novak named her in a column on July 14, 2003. Novak's column appeared eight days after Wilson alleged in an opinion piece in The New York Times that the administration had twisted prewar intelligence on Iraq to justify going to war.
The CIA had sent Wilson to Niger in early 2002 to determine whether there was any truth to reports that Saddam Hussein's government had tried to buy yellowcake uranium from Niger to make a nuclear weapon. Wilson discounted the reports, but the allegation nevertheless wound up in President Bush's 2003 State of the Union address.
Wilson was proven a lier by the 9-11 Commission
The lawsuit accuses Cheney, Libby, Rove and 10 unnamed administration officials or political operatives of putting the Wilsons and their children's lives at risk by exposing Plame. "This lawsuit concerns the intentional and malicious exposure by senior officials of the federal government of ... (Plame), whose job it was to gather intelligence to make the nation safer and who risked her life for her country," the Wilsons' lawyers said in the lawsuit.
Sounds serious. Now prove it
Libby is the only administration official charged in connection with the leak investigation. He faces trial in January on perjury and obstruction-of-justice charges, accused of lying to FBI agents and a federal grand jury about when he learned Plame's identity and what he subsequently told reporters. Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald told Rove's lawyer last month that he had decided not to seek criminal charges against Rove.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
07/13/2006 16:10 ||
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Ooooo, a civil suit!
Guess Val has never heard of discovery.
Pass the popcorn. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/13/2006 16:22 Comments ||
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#2
Suing the very rich when you are not one of them is very, very stupid. Doing it when you are the cause of your own troubles more so.
#4
Mrs. and Mr. Plame simply don't recognize the trouble they're courting. In addition to discovery, there's all sorts of interrrogatories and motions that will compel them to release all sorts of information that they would just as soon not want out there.
And the depositions themselves will be devestating. Joe Wilson is finally going to be put in a situation where he has to answer questions about his trip to Niger. He'll have to explain why he was right and the 9/11 Commission was wrong. Valerie Plame will have to explain what her status was at CIA.
Popcorn, goobers and snocaps!
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/13/2006 16:45 Comments ||
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#5
See what happens when you drink too much koolaid! Now they actually believe the crap they have been throwing out there. But I can see where even if the suit is dismissed they will claim a moral victory and just in time for the 2006 elections.
#6
sorry about the above double post -- I searched on Phame in the headings. Anyway
From http://strata-sphere.com/blog/index.php/archives/879
strange coincidence that the Niger Forgeries were possibly made in the 1999-2000 timeframe (before Bush was even elected), which was also coincidental with the Iraqi trade commission trip to Niger, and Joe Wilsons first trip to Niger for the CIA. Joe Wilson had just left the US government and started JCWilson International Ventures, Inc - which specialized in trade with African countries.
All of this past history is gonna have some heavy stuff in it.. probably with more about the JCWilson Ventures. After all, that has to be part of his "knowledge" that made him so ideal for the trip.
#9
Since I had confidently predicted here a few weeks ago that the Wilsons wouldn't do this, I feel compelled to offer a couple of observations:
1- Bad move, guys.
2- It tell you a lot about how concerned the Wilsons are with national security that they would file a suit aginst the vice president of the United States right as the mideast stands on the brink of a precipice. It's all about them, you know.
3- In case anybody here didn't read as far as paragraph 71 of the complaint, that's the kicker paragraph. The Plames allege in paragraph 71 that the defendants "fraudulently concealed" part of the basis for the Wilsons' suit by lying to law enforcement authorities etc. So they're accusing the vice president of the United States of fraud. (Presumably that paragraph is in the suit to head off a contention by the defendants that the Plames waited too long to file the suit.) Paragraph 71 is pled "Upon information and belief" which in English means: "What we're about to say is a wild-ass guess."
4- Note that one of the lawyers whose names appears on the complaint is a Duke University professor. I'm shocked to see that the Wilsons would condone the actions of the Duke lacrosse team.
Posted by: Matt ||
07/13/2006 18:29 Comments ||
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#10
Thanks for plowing through the complaint, Matt.
I didn't have the patience for it.
They're idiots, but they don't have the money (that I'm aware of) to fund $100,000+ (probably more) for lawyer fees.
So who's paying? You know the lawyers ain't donating this.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/13/2006 19:21 Comments ||
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#11
Publicity Whores v3.0
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/13/2006 22:51 Comments ||
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#12
Discovery is like pumping out a septic tank and putting the contents in the kiddies wading pool. There will be some baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad sh!t exposed to the light of day. You want discovery, you will get discovery! Let the games begin. Damn the CIA! Pass the popcorn, Barbara, no hoggin' the bowl, LOL!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/13/2006 23:00 Comments ||
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#13
"Notice me! Notice me!" Wilson screamed, stamping his tiny feet in impotent rage.
BALTIMORE - Former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani said he is "seriously considering" a run for president in 2008. But he reiterated, as he has in many campaign-style appearances, that he was focused on the 2006 midterm elections. He said he would continue to travel the country to gauge the breadth of his support and his ability to raise the money needed for a presidential bid.
"Eventually, when you make the decision, you have to go through a kind of soul-searching about how much you think you can bring to it," Giuliani said.
Giuliani and Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich hailed each other as fellow moderates Wednesday, and Giuliani said Ehrlich has provided the kind of leadership that states around the country need.
Speaking to reporters at a fundraiser for Ehrlich's re-election bid, Giuliani said he has been a longtime supporter of Ehrlich and admires his commitment to fiscal discipline.
"This is the kind of governor we need throughout the country," Giuliani said. "There are a lot of states that need this kind of leadership."
Without specifically addressing Giuliani's presidential ambitions, Ehrlich said the former mayor would be a very strong candidate if he were ever on the ballot in Maryland.
"Philosophically, his views are in the mainstream of where Maryland is," Ehrlich said. "Clearly, there's a lot of compatibility with my views on a variety of issues."
With supporters paying $4,000 a ticket, Wednesday's reception at a downtown Baltimore hotel collected at least $500,000 for Ehrlich's campaign. Donors posed for pictures with Giuliani and the governor.
The event capped a three-day fundraising blitz that also brought Giuliani to Ohio, Arkansas, Illinois and Pennsylvania.
He's following a path typically trod by potential candidates, who often campaign for their party's nominees or make appearances in states critical to a presidential bid. Pennsylvania, Illinois and Ohio are considered key battleground states in 2008.
In Maryland, where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2 to 1, Ehrlich is running what appears to be a tight race against Democrat Martin O'Malley, the popular mayor of Baltimore.
Ehrlich and Giuliani disputed a claim by O'Malley's campaign spokesman that they took different positions on Dubai's aborted bid to run six U.S. ports, including Baltimore's. Both said they thought the deal had the potential to make U.S. ports safer, but that it was handled the wrong way politically by the Bush administration.
Giuliani needled the mayor for bringing up the Dubai ports deal.
"I think that's been over for about six months now," Giuliani said, drawing laughter from the crowd. "I would think for the people of Maryland, what you can do about your schools, what you can do about the kind of crime that's in Baltimore, I would think that maybe a little more focus on that might help."
Giuliani is notable for breaking with GOP orthodoxy on many issues, including abortion rights and gay rights, both of which he supports. Ehrlich also has positioned himself as a moderate on such issues, bolstering his efforts to court Democrats much as Giuliani did in New York.
"You can't get elected in New York City nor in Maryland without doing that," said Bo Harmon, Ehrlich's campaign manager.
Giuliani acknowledged that in a presidential bid, he would have to rally supporters in states where voters have more conservative leanings. He believes, though, that he could have a broad appeal.
"Sure, there are divisions between red states and blue states, but Americans are more similar than they are different," Giuliani said.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/13/2006 14:37 Comments ||
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#2
Not sure Guiliani is gonna win over us social conservatives. He is a serious prospect, however.
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/13/2006 15:04 Comments ||
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#3
Who are the front-runners for the GOP in the 2008 election?
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
07/13/2006 15:06 Comments ||
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#4
Guiliani has to be considered a front-runner, if he opts to throw his hat in the ring.
Senators John McCain (boo) and George Allen, Governor Mitt Romney (Mass) are front-runners IMHO.
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/13/2006 15:13 Comments ||
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#5
I wonder what the Democrats would do if Condi ran as the veep? A black woman who has made her own way in the world without (as far as I know) calling up the politics of victimhood.
I think they would have a collective aneurism!
I've never been able to figure McCain - am I right in thinking he seems to sway from Republican to Democrat politics and back again?
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
07/13/2006 15:38 Comments ||
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#6
Tony, he sways like a guy who's had two too many drinks. He really doesn't have much political alliegence, even for an American. Whatever works best for him at the moment. That's why I would be surprised if the got the nomination. Republicans would rather a Dole than a McCain. The independent run with Lieberman or Zell Miller is his best bet.
#7
Thanks for that NS, it's nice to know that I haven't got it completely wrong!
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
07/13/2006 16:12 Comments ||
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#8
Tony-
For various domestic political reasons I will never vote for Giuliani, but I have to admit that if he runs he will probably win. The man is very sharp.
#9
SM- I'm afraid we won't have the convenience to focus on domestic issues in '08. If that's the case, I'd much rather Giuliani than McCain (a closet press-loving Donk and narcissist). Rudy would kick ass, tell the UN to f*&k off and join with Israel and India in taking down our enemies. He doesn't suffer fools and will not accept less than America's security
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/13/2006 20:20 Comments ||
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#10
Damn Frank! Tell us how you feel! Like I said, would win by a landslide. My vote would go to him.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/13/2006 20:49 Comments ||
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#11
I'd take Giuliani over McCain. Though I need to learn more about Allen and Romney.
#12
I'm with BH6 on this one. A lot could happen in the next 2 years (heck a lot's happenin' in the next 2 days). Rudy gave Arafish the cold butt-cheek and I'd imagine he'd have even more to say to Hamas and Hezbollah, much less Iran and Syria. The next few weeks could very well swing voting the Repubs way a LOT in November too. What a ticket...Guiliani/Rice in '08.
Posted by: BA ||
07/13/2006 21:21 Comments ||
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#13
I'd still like to see Rudy stiffen up on social issues. We're not NY. Wearing a Yankee hat and pledging gay or illegal alien (a la the current mayor) rights will NOT win us over. Tell us what you'll do to protect America, get on teh hook re: domestic promises to preserve th ebase, and I'll go with Rudy. I'd still like to see some competition from Allen or others on the right to make Rudy commit to our isses domestically... or be a better candidate. I'm not sold on Rudy or Condi. I'd prefer Bolton
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/13/2006 21:27 Comments ||
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#14
Frank-
I've been reading your posts for years & have a great deal of respect for your views as well as your sense of humor. But unless Giuliani renounces his often repeated support for gun control he will not get my vote. He cant just skirt the issue either - he has to renounce his former actions. Which he wont. So if the Democrats run Bill Richardson or the former governor of Virginia (I cant remember his name off hand) then, under the circumstances, I will vote Democrat for the first time in my life. Ill wager that litterally millions of other Americans will do the same. Ive been down in the 2nd Amendment trenches for way, way to long to do otherwise.
Whats the point of saving America if in the end we cease to be Americans?
Undeterred by the failure of Monday's satellite launch, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will go ahead with its next scheduled launch later this year and also carry on with its space programmes as planned.
"There is no change in our future launch programmes. As scheduled, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will be launched by this year-end to deploy Cartosat-2, an Indonesian remote-sensing satellite and a space recovery capsule in lower orbits," a top ISRO official said.
Unlike Monday's aborted Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) mission, the PSLV will take off from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, off the Andhra coast.
Preparations are under way to assemble the 295-tonne PSLV to carry the three payloads, weighing about 1.3 tonnes collectively.
The second launch pad, from where the GSLV-F02 was launched on Monday to carry the INSAT-4C communications satellite into geosynchronous orbit but veered off-course and exploded 60 seconds after lift-off, will be used only for heavier satellites in the two-tonne and four-tonne class for communications and broadcasting services.
"We are planning to launch the PSLV between October and December this year. The launch schedule will be decided once we receive the payloads and integrate them with the 44-metre rocket," said the official, whose organisation's rules do not permit his being identified.
"While the 610-kg space recovery capsule will be built at Sriharikota and the 660-kg Cartosat-2 at our satellite centre in Bangalore, the 56-kg Indonesian mini-satellite, christened Lapan TubSat, will be shipped from Jakarta," he said.
The space recovery capsule will perform micro-gravity experiments in space and descend into the earth's atmosphere after 10-20 days in orbit to plunge into the Bay of Bengal for recovery by the Indian Navy. The experiments will enable the Indian space agency to master the re-entry technology and re-useable rockets.
Cartosat-2 is an advanced remote-sensing satellite with a resolution of one metre for imageries and a swath of about 10 km. Its cameras can provide scene-specific spot imageries for cartographic and a host of other applications.
"Our plans to launch INSAT-4B, the second satellite in the INSAT-4 series, from Kourou in French Guiana on board the Ariane vehicle during February or March 2007 also remain unchanged," the official said.
As per ISRO's contract with Ariane Space, a Paris-based consortium of the European Space Agency, INSAT-4B will be the last of the satellites to be launched outside the country.
Like INSAT-4A, launched by Ariane from Kourou in December 2005, the three-tonne INSAT-4B will also have 24 transponders, including 12 in Ku band and 12 in C band for communication and broadcasting services, especially the direct-to-home service.
Posted by: john ||
07/13/2006 07:13 ||
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#1
The failure of INSAT-4C will not affect the future programmes of the ISRO, including the GSLV launch scheduled for September and the moon mission, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre director B N Suresh has said.
Though the flight was allowed to go ahead as no technical lapse was found, from the data we see that there was a small malfunction in one of the regulators, which led to the automatic shutdown of the engine.
Posted by: john ||
07/13/2006 15:20 Comments ||
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#2
Centre gives new life to Agni-III
The Government has given the go-ahead to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientists to conduct at least two tests of the Agni-III intermediate range ballistic missile in late August.
The nod for the two tests, likely to be conducted in quick succession at a gap of two or three days, came on Wednesday when the DRDO brass met Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
The Minister was also apprised of the plausible cause of the snag which afflicted the maiden test firing of the missile on Sunday last, sources said here on Thursday.
Posted by: john ||
07/13/2006 16:20 Comments ||
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Pakistan Muslim League Secretary General Mushahid Hussain Sayed on Wednesday said that the issue of the Hudood Ordinance would be discussed by the parliament next month and that a consensus decision would be made.
Addressing a seminar on the issue of "Repeal Hudood Ordinance", organised by the NGO, Action Aid, Mushahid said that the government wants to take the decision with the cooperation of other political parties. He appreciated the role of NGOs and the media for creating a momentum and hoped that they would continue to contribute positively. Mushahid said that the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), headed by Dr Khalid Masood, has already looked into it and presented its recommendations.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/13/2006 00:00 ||
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New record: 70 Israeli citizens expected to convert to Islam this year more than twice the number in previous years. Most are cases of Jewish, Christian women marrying Muslim men
According to statistics from the Population Administration, 2006 will be a record year for Israeli Jews joining the Muslim religion. In the past few years, the number of conversions to Islam was relatively stable at 35 per year, but over 70 conversions were expected this year. In 2003, 40 Jews converted to Islam; in 2004 the number dropped to 27; and last year it stood at 33.
But the trend took a drastic turn this year, and Interior Ministry data showed that in the first half of 2006 alone 42 conversions were recorded, and a comparable number is expected throughout the second half of the year.
The process of converting to Islam is carried out at the Muslim religious court which operates according to Islamic law. In contrast to Jewish conversions, which last months and often years, to become Muslim one must only convince the court that ones intentions are sincere and declare faith in Allah.
Most are Jewish and Christian women who convert after choosing to marry Muslim men. The number of men who convert to Islam is far lower, but has also seen a rise.
Jews say they decided to convert after deepening their knowledge of Islam. Many are disappointed in Judaism, a senior member of the Islamic court said.
In the past, the Religious Affairs and Interior Ministries made it very difficult for Jews to convert to Islam. They are giving me the runaround, sending me back and forth from office to office. They made me see a psychiatrist, to make sure I wasnt brainwashed. They did everything so that I would despair and return to Judaism, one convert related.
The data revealed that the reverse phenomenon of Muslims converting to Judaism is significantly lower. In the first half of this year, there were only seven conversions to Judaism.
#3
Jews say they decided to convert after deepening their knowledge of Islam. Many are disappointed in Judaism, a senior member of the Islamic court said.
Of course. Because islam is so much better than all other religions, it IS the Master Religion, after all. He can't lie, he's a senior member of the Islamic court.
Btw, same thing in France : about 50 000 converts according to police intelligence, but a very large majority (about 3/4 IIUC) due to non-muslim marrying muslims, and of course having to convert to be accepted by the step family. Works every time... isn't islam well thought, every occasion is capitalizd upon.
Northrop Grumman has developed the Skyguard laser-based air defense system for U.S. government agencies and allies that require near-term defense against short-range ballistic missiles, short- and long-range rockets, artillery shells, mortars, unmanned aerial vehicles and cruise missiles. Skyguard is derived from the successful Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL) test bed and its predecessors developed by Northrop Grumman for the U.S. Army and the Israel Ministry of Defence. Benefiting from significant technological advancements, Skyguard has higher power than heritage systems and a larger beam, making it a much more capable system, the company said.
"We believe that no other weapon of any kind, or any system being developed today, can offer the kind of protection we've proven Skyguard can provide," said Alexis Livanos, president, Northrop Grumman Space Technology. "Skyguard offers the earliest possible implementation of an operational laser weapon system for defense against a wide range of threats."
Like earlier systems developed by Northrop Grumman, Skyguard is a multi-mission, soldier-operated, compact and transportable laser weapon system designed for field deployment and operations. A single Skyguard system can defend deployed forces, a large military installation, and/or a large civilian population or industrial area. One Skyguard system is capable of generating a protective shield of about 10 kilometers in diameter.
"The THEL Testbed has demonstrated unequivocally that lasers can engage and destroy rocket, artillery and mortar threats in flight," noted Mike McVey, vice president of Northrop Grumman's Directed Energy Systems business area. "This test bed has been remarkably successful. To date, it has shot down dozens of live threats, including long- and short-range rockets, mortars and artillery projectiles, in very realistic attack scenarios, and under simulated operational conditions such as surprise attacks and mixed threats."
In continuous use at the Army's White Sands Missile Range since it was developed between 1996 and 2000, the THEL Testbed has proven that laser weapons could be applied on the battlefield to protect troops on the ground. Like the THEL Testbed, Skyguard is a modular and flexible system that will support future spiral developments and can accommodate improved laser and beam control technologies as they become available.
As long as version 3 isn't named SkyNet, I'm happy
Posted by: Steve ||
07/13/2006 15:17 ||
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#1
Will it work on racoons? I have a real problem with them getting on my roof at night (Wife will not let me shoot them).
#4
Brer Rabbit, get you a slingshot and some half-inch steel ball bearings. Once you get proficient enough, the raccoons will leave "of their own free will", and won't return. Just be careful of your neighbor's house.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/13/2006 19:09 Comments ||
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Posted by: DanNY ||
07/13/2006 12:14 ||
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Thanks, DanNY, this is a wonderful breakthrough.
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/13/2006 15:09 Comments ||
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#2
And pray tell what Islamic country developed this wonderous device?... anyone? .... Bueller? Bueller?
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
07/13/2006 15:43 Comments ||
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#3
I actually posted it because besides its humanitarian aspects, it is one more harbinger of the world to come. Implants are the next frontier. Can you imagine the military uses?
Posted by: DanNY ||
07/13/2006 22:16 Comments ||
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#2
Kimmie hears that, but first, his long-range missiles have to make it beyond the launchpad.
Does anyone have news on what happened to NORKY rocket scientists that designed Nork missile that failed? I image that in the spirit of Stalinism, these guys are breathing dirt. Just a theory.
#4
Albuquerque media showed the spectacular pics of contrails and glowing ionized material high in the skies over New Mexico early in the morning. I slept through it all, unfortunately.
#7
Patriot and THAAD are complimentary systems. According to Global Security, Patriot PAC-3 has a max altitude of 15km and a slant range of 15-45km. THAAD has a max altitude of 150km and a slant range of 200km. The THAAD defends a wide area, while the PAC-3 is more of a point defense system.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/13/2006 17:44 Comments ||
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DILI - East Timor prepared on Wednesday for the swearing-in of a new government as the tiny nation looked for a return to political order after deadly violence in May left it in disarray.
The new cabinet is to meet later the same day to discuss the 2006-7 budget. The last financial year ended on June 30 and lawmakers had already drafted a 315 million dollar budget -- the nations largest ever -- before Mari Alkatiri stepped down as premier last month.
Ahead of Wednesdays ceremony, President Xanana Gusmao met with political parties to discuss the agenda for the new government. Opposition lawmaker Antonius Ximenes said they also discussed the rebel troops, known as petitioners, whose desertion and subsequent sacking originally sparked the unrest, as well as a range of issues. We have opinions about important issues such as the 2006-2007 budget, the election laws, the case of the petitioners, and how to look after the refugees, Ximenes told reporters after the meeting.
He said all of East Timors political leaders should accept responsibility for the failure to deal with the rebels. The problem with the petitioners occured because of our arrogance, Ximenes conceded.
That twitched the surprise meter ...
Ahead of the meeting, Fernando de Araujo, leader of the Democratic Party, the largest of the opposition parties, had said he would warn Gusmao that his lawmakers did not want a cabinet dominated by Alkatiris ruling Fretilin party. Ramos-Horta has said the new government would not be substantially different from the outgoing administration. Fretilin holds 55 of the 88 seats in the parliament.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/13/2006 00:00 ||
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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.
The world's largest Viking ship will sail from Denmark to Norway next week, but it's too big to navigate its way into the Oslo Fjord. 
According to media reports, the chief fundraiser for Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labor Party, has been arrested by police probing allegations state awards had been given in return for cash. The "cash for favors" debacle has dented Blair's standing in opinion polls and the arrest of Lord Levy will make the prime minister's position even more precarious. 
President Jacques Chirac of France on Wednesday leads a ceremony in honour of Alfred Dreyfus, the Jewish army captain whose dismissal more than a century ago on trumped-up charges of spying triggered a protracted national crisis. To mark the hundred years since Dreyfus' final rehabilitation, Chirac will conduct a service of homage at the "École Militaire" or Military Academy in Paris - the very place where in 1895 the artillery officer was publicly disgraced before a crowd of 20,000. "The president will pay homage to the man, to the soldier, to the patriot who fell victim to an appalling judicial error. He will also explain how via the Dreyfus affair the republic and its values became rooted in French society," an aide said.
Pakistan Muslim League Secretary General Mushahid Hussain Sayed on Wednesday said that the issue of the Hudood Ordinance would be discussed by the parliament next month and that a consensus decision would be made. 
