Just a day before the Nobel Peace Prize winner is to be announced, a cancellation of a fundraising event and a meeting on the climate crisis in Asia both of which Al Gore was to attend are fueling speculation that the former vice president may be preparing to make an even bigger splash perhaps as the Peace Prize recipient.
Kalee Kreider, a Gore spokeswoman, told FOXNews.com the politician-turned-environmental-crusader had planned to travel to Asia to participate in a senior level meeting on climate control, and as a result had to pull out of San Francisco fundraiser on Thursday for Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer. However, Krider told FOXNews.com that the climate meeting was cancelled early Thursday morning, but did not give a reason why.
Gore had earlier contacted Boxer's office to beg out of her fundraising event, where he was to headline alongside musicians Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne, the political blog SFGate.com reported.
Click here to read the SFGate.com blog.
In a note sent to event supporters and posted on the blog, Boxer wrote: "I just got a call from Vice President Al Gore. He told me that he needs to travel abroad tomorrow for an exciting and urgent mission that could result in a major breakthrough in the fight against global warming."
But Kreider said Friday is expected to be business as usual for Gore. "He is resuming his schedule in California, including a meeting on Friday with the Alliance of Climate Protection. Friday will be a normal, long business day."
Gore was nominated in February for the Peace Prize for his efforts to draw the world's attention to the dangers of global warming, which he did through his Academy Award winning documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth."
I would be laughing, except that neither Algore nor any of the Nobel Idiots Committee have any sense of irony whatsoever over the fact that they will burn up a couple of small cities' worth of carbon in their frenzy to denounce the US, the President, and any other non-conformers. Hard to believe this award once went to George C. Marshall, and now it's nothing more than a soapbox for anti-americanism.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/11/2007 14:34 ||
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Does 'annointed' mean 'hit is the face with a pie'? If so, put me done for a lemon creme.
Former Mexican President Vicente Fox confirmed the existence of a plan conceived with President Bush to create a new regional currency in the Americas, in an interview last night on CNN's "Larry King Live."
It possibly was the first time a leader of Mexico, Canada or the U.S. openly confirmed a plan for a regional currency. Fox explained the current regional trade agreement that encompasses the Western Hemisphere is intended to evolve into other previously hidden aspects of integration...
...Fox explained that he and Bush intended to proceed incrementally, establishing FTAA as an economic agreement first and waiting to create an amero-type currency later a plan he also suggested was in place for NAFTA itself...
#2
Welllll...the Constitution does specifically mention "treason and bribery" as two specific causes of action for impeachment.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
10/11/2007 1:07 Comments ||
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You listen to our enemy, and accuse our pres on the enemy's words?
FOOL.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/11/2007 14:39 Comments ||
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Redneck, given Bush's unwillingness to enforce the borders, his promoting amnesty, hsi coddlingof Mexico to the point fo putting out Border Patrol agents in jail for Mexican political pressure, and his utter unrelaibility on the issue, its not unreasonable to think that Bush may be yet again veering off the track into Mexico's arms.
Jorge Arbusto has been terrible when it comes to selling the nation out in his Mexico policies.
An Egyptian court on Wednesday dropped rioting and damaging public property charges against 86 Egyptians in northern Sinai but ordered four others to remain in custody for 15 days pending further investigation, judicial officials said.
A dispute between two Bedouin tribes in the restive Egyptian city of El-Arish near the Israeli border erupted into riots that resulted in the destruction of the local ruling party headquarters. "The case was fragile, with no legal grounds and no witnesses," Ihab el-Bulouk, one of the defendants' lawyers said.
The four men kept in custody were all from the Tarabeen tribe which began the affair by opening fire on townspeople from the el-Fawakhriya tribe on Saturday, said a judicial official on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2007 00:00 ||
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Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2007 00:00 ||
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Link doesn't work.
Still, it's nice to know someone besides the US (and the Joooooos) gets blamed for something.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/11/2007 0:08 Comments ||
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In case you were wondering, the root cause here is this: Because the Brits wouldn't buy out the white farmers, and Mugabe couldn't afford it, he was forced to take the land and return it to the original owners.
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/11/2007 6:53 Comments ||
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"return it to the original owners"
who will only use it in the manner of their ancestors - to hunt wild game. Unfortunately, this will not provide sufficient food for the millions of extra mouths who now live in Rhodesia because of their addiction to Western agricultural methods and products.
#5
In this case many of the original owners were War Veterens, some 14 years old who were not old enough to have fought in the war or to have owned the land prior to the white farmers grandparents owning it.
But they were loyal to Bob so they had that going for them.
Wars stripped about $ 284 billion from Africas economies between 1990 and 2005, roughly equal to the amount of aid money given to the worlds poorest continent, according to a report on Thursday by Oxfam International.
In the study Africas Missing Billions, the British aid group said the 23 conflicts engulfing Africa in the period had shrunk economies by an average 15 percent per year at a cost of almost $ 18 billion a year.
Oxfam based its estimate on a calculation of the various costs of conflicts and violence, including higher military expenditures, loss of development aid, rising inflation and medical expenses of those injured or disabled.
It said, however, that the tally was probably on the low side, when considering the impact of civil wars on the economies of neighbouring countries as well as the long-term effects of higher military spending on individual economies.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2007 00:00 ||
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Wars stripped about $ 284 billion from Africas economies between 1990 and 2005, roughly equal to the amount of aid money given
See what redistribution of wealth causes? Wars!
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/11/2007 6:31 Comments ||
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Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch. Much like the Soviet Union, Africa is just another sterling example of people getting the government they deserve.
Special care baby units in Britain are "near breaking point", with some babies being turned away because they cannot ensure adequate care, a charity has warned.
Baby charity Bliss said a lack of funding had also left some units struggling to meet minimum staffing levels. A spokesman said: "All the evidence points to a neonatal service that is on the brink of collapse."
The report found many neonatal units were forced to refuse new admissions for considerable periods of time because of staff shortages. Mothers and babies may be forced to travel long distances in search of a unit with the appropriate facilities to care for them, the charity said.
Bliss's new study - Too Little Too Late - Are We Ensuring The Best Start For Babies Born Too Soon? - was based on surveys of 195 neonatal units across the UK. It found that units were forced to refuse new admissions for an average total of two weeks out of a six-month period. And 10% closed their doors to new admissions for eight weeks or more over six months.
The study also found that most units were operating above the 70% average occupancy level recommended by experts.
Nonsense. You can run 95% occupancy -- we do for months at a time -- as long as you have adequate staff. Of course that costs money, which the NHS is spending on aromatherapy ...
Although some new nurses have been recruited, the service is still 2,600 nurses short of the recommended number, the study said.
Bliss chief executive Andy Cole said: "The Department Of Health's recent commitment to provide extra midwives is a step in the right direction for maternity services.
"We now need to see the same commitment to ensuring there are adequate numbers of trained neonatal nurses for those babies born sick or premature."
Health Minister Ann Keen said the Government had set up 23 local neonatal networks to meet the demands of babies requiring care.
...Mind you, today they'd be doing the same thing for Al Gore - but this is a fascinating look at a previously unknown CIA victory in the 50s that slapped the Soviet leadership right in the mouth.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/11/2007 14:28 ||
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A very interesting historical footnote, Mike Kozlowski, and one that has total relevance in today's world as well. How sad that the current CIA is so riddled with political elitists that they cannot understand a similar need to begin eroding this world's perception of Islam. Instead we are treated to the gruesome spectacle of our own politicians lauding Islam in an open session of Congress.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush will risk angering China by attending a ceremony next week to award a Congress medal to the exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama, at the bastion of American democracy.
Barely a month after China strongly protested German Chancellor Angela Merkel's meeting with the Dalai Lama, the White House said Wednesday that Bush and his wife will participate in the landmark event for the 72-year-old Buddhist spiritual leader at the Capitol building next Wednesday. "The president and Mrs Laura Bush will attend the ceremony," national security council spokesman Gordon Johndroe told AFP.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will present the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor the legislature can bestow, to the Dalai Lama. "He has used his position to promote wisdom, compassion, and non-violence as a solution -- not only in Tibet -- but to other world conflicts," said Pelosi, a sharp critic of China's human rights record. "The United States must continue to be committed to meeting the challenge that Tibet makes to the conscience of the world," she said.
A bill to award the medal won the support of more than two thirds of members of both the Senate and House of Representatives last year before it was signed into law by Bush. The medal has also been given to such diverse individuals as Sir Winston Churchill, Pope John Paul II, Mother Teresa and former South African president Nelson Mandela.
This will be the first time that a sitting US president will appear with the Dalai Lama in a public event, a move that could anger China, diplomats said.
China reacted angrily when the US Congress announced the award last year. The award "has sent very serious, wrong signals to the Tibetan independence forces, seriously interfered into China's internal affairs and damaged China-US relations," Beijing said then.
The ceremony in Washington comes just after Merkel's September 23 meeting with the Dalai Lama. Beijing warned Germany after the talks that bilateral ties had been damaged.
Aside from Merkel, the Dalai Lama also met Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer last month and was received by Australian Prime Minister John Howard in June. He is scheduled to meet Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper this month.
"We are seeing a trend in which world leaders are becoming more aware that it is in their interest to meet the Dalai Lama despite China's objections because he is after all one of the world's leaders," said Kate Saunders, spokeswoman for the International Campaign for Tibet. "As he is increasingly received by world leaders, China is stepping up its anti-Dalai Lama campaign in Tibet," she said.
Following the ceremony, the Congress, in a rare move, has agreed to allow the Dalai Lama to address a large crowd of well wishers on the West Lawn of the Capitol.
Bush, known for his religious convictions, has been frank with China on human rights, particularly religious freedom, and strongly supports the idea of a dialogue between the Dalai Lama and Beijing. He had met the Dalai Lama several times at the White House residence rather than the offices, apparently to avoid the full wrath of China.
China has ruled Tibet since sending troops in to "liberate" the Himalayan region in 1950. The Dalai Lama fled to India following a failed uprising in 1959 after Beijing crushed the revolt in Lhasa. The Tibetan leader lives in the northern hill town of Dharamsala, which is also the seat of his government in exile.
Beijing considers the Dalai Lama a political exile bent on establishing an independent Tibet, an accusation the 1989 Nobel Peace price winner has repeatedly denied. He instead says he only wants greater autonomy and respect for Tibetan culture and religion.
Newspaper Aftenposten carried a photo of the Russian Tupolev 22 bomber on its front page on Thursday. The photo was taken by a Norwegian fighter jet crew sent out to monitor the flights of two such aircraft about seven weeks ago.
Military officials say the two Russian flights were in "classic position" to fire cruise missiles off Bodø, but both turned away before reaching Norwegian territory, 12 nautical miles from land. The maneuvers were said to be "unusual," and part of a series of Russian flights in recent months that many are beginning to view as "sabre-rattling" on the part of Russian officials keen to assert their authority in the area.
Norwegian military officials are quick to note that the missile incident wasn't considered a direct provocation. Tor Sandlie, chief of NATO's air operations in northern Norway, told Aftenposten that "we look at this as normal training activity." Nothing to see here, folks - just a Blinder with a cruise missile. Our corps of soothing diplomats are loading the "love bomb" canisters as we speak. Hooray for Norsky Soft Power!
He was a moron when he was governor of Georgia, and it's been downhill ever since.
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/11/2007 6:49 Comments ||
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Go read Mark Bowden's "Guests of the Ayatollah" for a well researched look at the event that birthed our ongoing conflict with the Iranians. Warning: your contempt for Carter will be even greater when you are done. Yeah, it seems impossible, but trust me on this. The man has always been a total *bleep*wit.
#4
Peanut Brain participated in the post Vietnam gutting of the military. Far too many troops qualified for Food Stamps to feed their kids, the lack of funding for spear parts and viable training, reduced the military to nearly a state equatable with that prior to WWII. You wouldn't have need another friggin chopper if you had allowed the guys to train, maintain, and fuel what they had. Instead, Mr. Peanut you and your Donk brethren in Congress created a world class ghetto of people who still believed in America. DoD made some bad choices in the plan and execution, but they had to work with the crap you and yours left them to make do with.
#5
WTF? What does he mean he should have sent 1 one chopper? Did he write the ops plan? That wouldn't surprise me one bit.
F*ckwit should have ordered the military to carry out the mission and then gotten the hell out of the way. Of course, the situation should never have gotten to that point anyway...
#7
I've read "Guests of the Ayatollah" and Steve S's assessment is spot-on (I actually just passed it to a Vietnam-vet buddy of mine for him to read). One thing I always do is try to judge a President's actions (or lack, thereof) in the *context* of the time. On my first read of the book, I thought, jeebus, this guy faced several other issues all at the same time (USSR invading Afghanistan, the heat-up of the Iran-Iraq war, post-Vietnam flashbacks, the Oil embargo, etc.).
Then, I realized (and the author helps you realize this too), this was *ALL* because the US appeared weak. Sure, this was the first Islamofascist attack on US interests, but in the larger context, you can see the "perfect storm" of events that not only encouraged the Islamonauts, but the Russkies too.
For example, if we had just invaded (I know, very unlikely) after a few months to get our captives back, would the Russians have continued on Afghanistan (and, more directly, would Iraq have invaded Iran)? I think not. Sure, we probably would've lost most, if not all of those captives, but after 6-8 months of non-action, we *appeared* weak to the world and our allies. One thing I guess I never realized (I was only 6 at the time) was that Iraq invaded Iran DIRECTLY because we dilly-dallied around (Iraq was in the USSR's sphere of influence and Iran was in ours, at least pre-revolution). In fact, the captives actually heard and saw the Iraqis (flying MiG's) bombing Tehran incessantly, and most of the Marines at least, put 2 and 2 together. Effect, meet cause writ large.
Imagine for a moment if we had squashed Iran at that time. No Hezbollah for Israel to worry about, we wouldn't have lost 200+ Marines in the Beirut barracks bombing, and probably, Syria wouldn't be such a nuscience. The whole Shi'a side of terrorism would be non-existent. And, quite possibly, we wouldn't have given rise to some of the Sunni groups either. I know this is hindsight-quarterbacking, but that's why the President is paid the big bucks (to make decisions and *forsee* their consequences).
Posted by: BA ||
10/11/2007 12:25 Comments ||
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At the risk of getting pilloried, it was a combination of a lot of errors.
A joint-service force that had not worked together in operations, planning, or control. For example, the helo crews were put together at the last minute. The Marine pilots also did not have the skills for low-level, bad weather flying. Planners who miscalculated the flying-time of the helos. Weather people who, for whatever reason, did not predict the dust storm that the force encountered.
This was also a military that was suffering from poor morale, poor funding, and as a result, poor equipment conditions and practices. For example, one helo designated to be used had to be replaced because an engine FOD'ed due to a vest being left on the helo fuselage. Two other helos were taken out during the operation due to malfunctions, one of which might have been able to continue had the pilot been familiar with the aircraft.
And yes, the Commander-In-Chief and the Congress at the time had much to do with it. The bright spot is that the military learned from its mistakes. Carter never did.
California motorists will risk fines of up to $100 next year if they are caught smoking in cars with minors, making their state the third to protect children in vehicles from secondhand smoke.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday signed a bill that will make it an infraction to smoke in a vehicle if someone under age 18 is present. But the traffic stop would have to be made for another offense, such as speeding or an illegal turn, before the driver could be cited for smoking.
The ban, which takes effect Jan. 1, joins a string of smoking prohibitions adopted in California, including a ban on smoking in enclosed workplaces and within 25 feet of a playground.
A Harvard School of Public Health report issued last year said secondhand smoke in cars can be up to 10 times more of a health risk than secondhand smoke in a home.
"Protecting the health of our children is among government's highest responsibilities," said the bill's author, state Sen. Jenny Oropeza, a Democrat. "It is clear that increasing public awareness about the dangers of secondhand smoke is the right thing to do."
At least 20 states and a number of municipalities have considered limiting smoking in cars where minors are present. Arkansas now bans smoking in cars with children age 6 and younger, while Louisiana has limited it when children 13 and younger are in the vehicle. Maine lawmakers will take up the issue in January.
Internet giant Google has banned advertisements critical of MoveOn.org, the far-left advocacy group that caused a national uproar last month when it received preferential treatment from The New York Times for its General Betray Us message.
The ads banned by Google were placed by a firm working for Republican Sen. Susan Collins re-election campaign. Collins is seeking her third term. . . .
Googles Web site states, Google takes allegations of trademark infringement very seriously and, as a courtesy, were happy to investigate matters raised by trademark owners. That suggests Google acted in response to a complaint by MoveOn.org.
The banned advertisements said, Susan Collins is MoveOns primary target. Learn how you can help and Help Susan Collins stand up to the MoveOn.org money machine. The ads linked to Collins campaign Web site with a headline reading MoveOn.org has made Susan Collins their #1 target. . . .
As a matter of trademark law, Google's claim that this is an "infringement" is bogus. There's a doctrine known as "fair use" which permits you to use other people's trademarks for purposes of review, comparison, and commentary, including parody and critique. That's why Ford can run commercials comparing its new car to Honda and Buick, and use the Honda and Buick logos in an unflattering way as part of the pitch.
Posted by: Mike ||
10/11/2007 11:55 ||
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Should've quoted one more 'graf:
Google routinely permits the unauthorized use of company names such as Exxon, Wal-Mart, Cargill and Microsoft in advocacy ads. An anti-war ad currently running on Google asks Keep Blackwater in Iraq? and links to an article titled Bastards at Blackwater Should Blackwater Security be held accountable for the deaths of its employees?
Posted by: Mike ||
10/11/2007 12:03 Comments ||
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I use Ask.com. It's ok. I sometimes have to fall back to Google.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
10/11/2007 14:45 Comments ||
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Same experience as WM. It is hard to believe how much better google can be on searches. But it's one of theose things where the more practice you get the better you are. So use ASK as much as you can. It's my default.
#6
I use Goodsearch, for a couple of reasons. First it is tied to Yahoo, and second, they donate a penny to the non-profit of your choice ( there is an extensive list from which to choose) for each search. this is not a scam; i have been in contact with one of the co-founders and she is a very educated and caring lady.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Wednesday that elections for the national and provincial assemblies would be held in the first week of January under a caretaker setup and predicted that the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and its allies would emerge victorious. I think the elections for national and provincial assemblies will be held in the first week of January, Aziz said while speaking at an Iftar-dinner arranged for journalists at Prime Ministers House. He said a caretaker government would be set up after the present governments term had completed to ensure free and fair elections.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2007 00:00 ||
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NWFP Governor Ali Muhammad Jan Orakzai dissolved the provincial assembly on Wednesday and appointed former WAPDA chairman Shamsul Mulk as the caretaker chief minister. Orakzai will administer the oath of office to Mulk today (Thursday) at 11am. Former chief secretary Sahibzada Imtiaz, former Provincial Public Service Commission chairman Muhammad Abdullah and current Peshawar District Nazim Haji Ghulam Ali were also considered for the post.
Mulk, who is in his dotage over 70 and has also served as provincial irrigation minister, told Dawn News later on Wednesday that he would ensure free, fair and transparent elections. He told APP that his other top priority as caretaker chief minister would be to maintain peace in the province. Sources said the NWFP caretaker setup would consist of five to eight ministers. The PML, PPP-Sherpao and JUI-Fazl are reported to be lobbying for candidates associated with their parties to be appointed in the caretaker cabinet.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2007 00:00 ||
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Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairwoman Benazir Bhutto has said that she would like parliament to assume control of the armed forces.
Kinda like they do in civilized countries, huh?
She also described, in answer to a question, Lt Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kiani as a professional officer, which is what the armed forces and Pakistan need.
As opposed to the amateurs, poseurs, and strutting fanged peacocks they've been blessed with?
In an interview with the Inter Press Service (IPS), Bhutto said, Under the present military-doctored Constitution, the armed forces [are under the presidents command]. The political parties would need to unite to bring control of the armed forces back to parliament for reform to take place. PPP has signed a Charter of Democracy calling upon political parties to make the members of the armed forces answerable to parliament, as they are in Washington, London and Paris, for greater transparency and accountability.
Actually, I think in most civilized countries the military is under the nominal command of the head of state, with parliaments playing a supporting role through their power of the purse. I don't think the problem's so much the military needing a few hundred commanders in chief as it is the military controlling the head of state or the effective commander in chief.
Eliminating presidents power: She said her ideal amendment to the Constitution, if she returns to power, would be to prevent a return to the dysfunctional democracy of the 1990s. She said it is important to do away with the powers of the president to dismiss an elected parliament in his discretion.
I think most parliamentary system states give the head of state that power at least theoretically, though it's pretty tightly constrained by law and custom. Pakistain has never worked out any balance of power between the parliament and the presidency, much less between the civil society and the military. It's very much a country of unrestrained extremes.
There are other issues that need attention, such as lifting the military-imposed ban on a twice elected prime minister contesting elections for a third time, and appointment of governors, members of the judiciary and the Election Commission.
I don't think most of us are any more impressed by the idea of prime ministers for life than we are impressed by presidents for life. Certainly Bangla, which shares many characteristics with Pak, hasn't had a lot of success with PMs serving unrestricted multiple terms.
Asked when she expects these changes to be made, Bhutto replied, These issues are part of our negotiations and will happen in a phased manner. Some steps have already been taken, like the arrangements to shed uniform, the counting of ballots, stopping horse-trading by preventing arrest of parliamentarians without permission of an Ethics Committee, end to political victimisation and national reconciliation. I hope other issues like the eligibility of prime ministerial candidates and balance of power between the parliament and presidency will also be resolved in due course.
This article starring:
Ashfaq Pervez Kiani
Benazir Bhutto
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2007 00:00 ||
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Good luck with that. I assume ponies are also on the list.
#1
Good timing- WAFF.com > CHINA claims INDIA has illegally and provocatively build military bunders/outposts on the Chinese side of disputed territory [Bhutan/Sikkim area], in violation of their bilateral agreement.
#2
I know lead's not good for little kids, but has there really been a problem with kids using circuit boards for teething rings? And is lead the only harmful thing on them? In fact, if the circuits have lead, and are thus less likely to break, they are more likely to still be installed in functional electrical devices, and teething on THOSE can be seriously and immediately hazardous to ones health.
#3
But EU officials say the regulations banning lead, cadmium, mercury and three other hazardous substances are needed to protect people and the environment.
In other words, it's good when things break. We should all sacrifice for our religion environment.
#4
In light of the fact that we do not yet comprehensively reycle the vastly increasing amounts of consumer electronics, megatons of solder-related lead leaching out of municipal landfills and into our water tables represents a significant health risk. The challenges of unleaded solder interconnections are immense. Unintentionally induced component failures from higher reflow bath temperatures and issues of bond-joint brittleness are not the least among them. Until we use nano-disassembly based reclaimation of all metallurgical assemblies, reduction of lead content will be a pertinent ecological concern.
#5
"But EU officials say the regulations banning lead, cadmium, mercury and three other hazardous substances are needed to protect people and the environment."
what the article doesn't say about the EU is that there is a new EU directive in place that requires manufacturers be resposible for the disposal of their electronic goods at the end of their life. they have to figure out how to retrieve, and then break down / recycle all the bits and pieces to keep them out of the landfills.
The party of Myanmars detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Wednesday it had not yet heard from the junta despite the appointment of a moderate general to hold talks with her.
Under pressure from the United Nations after its deadly crackdown on anti-government protests, the junta appointed Aung Kyi, a general seen as a moderate, to liaise with the Nobel peace prize winner. But a spokesman for her National League for Democracy (NLD) party said that the general had yet to make any contact. The authorities have seen a need to open a process of dialogue by appointing a liaison officer, spokesman Nyan Win said. It is still too early to welcome him, because we do not know what he will do or when the dialogue will start.
NLD member dead: Also Wednesday, an organisation run by former political prisoners now living in exile in neighbouring Thailand said that an NLD member arrested over last months protests had died after being tortured during interrogation. Win Shwe, 42, was detained on September 26 near Myanmars second city of Mandalay, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said.
He died as a result of torture during interrogation. However, his body was not sent to his family and the interrogators indicated that they had cremated it instead, the group said in a statement. The NLD were not immediately available to confirm the death.
In an apparent attempt to forestall any punitive UN action, the junta has made a series of conciliatory moves. The military last week said that junta leader Than Shwe was willing to meet Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for most of the past 18 years. But it also said those talks would come with strict conditions attached, including a demand that she drop support for the international community to slap more sanctions on Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
The NLD, which won 1990 elections but has never been allowed to govern, issued a statement Tuesday insisting that any talks be held without conditions. The statement we released yesterday was not a rejection of the governments offer, Nyan Win said. We just want to let the people know the real situation.
A Western diplomat in Yangon said the appointment of Aung Kyi, who has a track record of dealing with the United Nations, was one of a number of recent positive signals from the regime, but warned against unbridled optimism.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2007 00:00 ||
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Columbia University has refused to turn over security videotape that could help identify who hung a noose on a black professor's office door, police said Thursday.
Investigators began asking on Wednesday for tapes from cameras in the building, but have been rebuffed by administrators, said Paul Browne, the New York Police Department's top spokesman. He said police will have to get a court order to force the school to provide video they believe could crack the case. "It's unfortunate because it adds a time-consuming step to the investigation," Browne said.
A Columbia spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment.
Authorities were testing the 4-foot-long twine noose for DNA evidence, but had no suspects as of Thursday morning.
On Wednesday, the professor who was the target of the attack, Madonna Constantine, told hundreds of faculty and students at a rally on the Ivy League campus that the incident was a "blatant act of racism" that "reeks of cowardice and fear."
"I'm upset that our community has been exposed to such an unbelievably vile incident," she said.
Police believe the noose was placed on the doorknob of Constantine's office at Teachers College Columbia's graduate school of education Tuesday morning, when a colleague spotted it and notified authorities. Police declined to discuss possible motives or suspects.
Constantine, 44, told police there was "ill will" between her and another professor who had replaced her while she was on an extended leave, a police official said.
But the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation had not been completed, stressed that the dispute was only one possible lead, and that police were also looking into whether "disgruntled students, anyone upset with grades" were involved.
The state Attorney General's office also sent lawyers from its civil rights bureau and investigators to look into the incident, said spokesman Jeffrey Lerner.
Constantine, a professor of psychology and education, has written about race, including a book entitled "Addressing Racism: Facilitating Cultural Competence in Mental Health and Educational Settings."
Nooses reviled as symbols of lynchings in the Old South have showed up in several recent incidents around the country. Last year in Jena, La., three white students hung nooses from an oak tree outside the high school, inflaming racial tensions. Nooses also have turned up in a black Coast Guard cadet's bag, in a Long Island, N.Y., police station locker room, and on a Maryland college campus.
Teachers College held a community meeting Wednesday to discuss the incident, which comes on the heels of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's inflammatory visit to the school and the recent discovery of racist graffiti in the bathroom of a campus building. Teachers College, founded in 1887, describes itself as the nation's oldest and largest graduate school of education. According to the university's Web site, the college brought black teachers from the South to New York for teacher training in the early part of the 20th century, when schools in the South were segregated.
#6
According to LGF via Fox News, the University has decided to turn over the tapes. I think they realized that holding the tapes doesn't bode well for them.
Columbia University planned a town hall meeting Wednesday for faculty and students to discuss the discovery of a hangman's noose on a black professor's office door, an incident which the university's president described as an assault on the entire university.
Oh, who could have done this terrible thing?
Police are investigating the incident, which was discovered Tuesday night, as a hate crime.
Couldn't have been lefties in a setup like has happened so many times before.
The noose, an echo of other recent incidents involving the symbol reviled by many for its association with the lynchings of the Old South, was hung up on the door of a professor at the university's Teacher's College. "This is an assault on African Americans and therefore it is an assault on every one of us. I know I speak on behalf of every member of our communities in condemning this horrible action," Columbia President Lee Bollinger said Tuesday.
And it couldn't possibly have been the "victim" or his friends, as has in fact happened enough times before to be tiresome.
Columbia did not immediately say which professor was targeted, but she was identified in the local media as Madonna Constantine, a professor of psychology and education and author of a book entitled "Addressing Racism: Facilitating Cultural Competence in Mental Health and Educational Settings."
Nope. It was prob'ly fascists, operating on Karl Rove's orders.
This article starring:
Lee Bollinger
Madonna Constantine
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
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#1
Two points. It is a good knot and this bigotry in this nation shall not be elevated to the level that it is. How do you destroy bigotry when people consistently point to it as a means for victimization.
I have little pride in the south right now. Bigotry is alive and well and I find it ignorant and despicable. But most people have moved on.
#2
#1: "I have little pride in the south right now. Bigotry is alive and well"
Yes, it is - especially in some areas of the NORTH (not to mention DC and LA).
Some yankee (in all likelihood) hangs a noose on a door in a leftist college in a Yankee town. And you bring up the South - just as the "reporter" felt the need to bring it up, with no evidence that the incident had anything to do with the South, either of today or of 100 years ago. Nice.
But thanks for playing.
(And I won't even get into the title of the professor's book....)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/11/2007 0:16 Comments ||
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Northern Liberals along with other Race Pimps thrive on racism, in fact they've invented more ways to hate than an old garden variety lynching KKK member.
Remember William Kunstler and his definition of Black Rage?.... it basically gave Black Men the right to Kill Whitey Today because of Slavery way back then.
STOP now before I git going...
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
10/11/2007 0:42 Comments ||
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#5
What a rash of fabricated controversies the left has cooked up lately. It ain't gonna work boys. We're on to you.
Here's a thought: Why not bitch about REAL problems, instead of making up a falsehood about Limbaugh or O'Reilly, or printing up fake "we hate Islam" posters and placing them on a college campus, or hanging a noose on your liberal friend's door.
But that would require honesty, integrity, some sense of honor and perhaps a soul. I forgot you lack all of those.
#6
Check for a tag on the noose with small print something like the following:
Brought to you by Students for Conservativo-Fascism Awareness
How soon we forget! Look through Wednesday's Rantburg article about a poster which appeared at George Washington University to get a sense of how the Left offers its version of Hate Crimes as satire.
#7
I recall several instances from college campuses in the past few years where the 'victim' of some racist attack fabricated the whole thing. And this one is on a most liberal northeastern campus, right after the Ahmanidiot episode. Just down the road from Sharpton's Shawanna show. And right after the Jena 6 publicity. And maybe right after the GWU fiasco (not sure of exact timing of events). I suppose it could be a Klansman (or wannabe), but the victicrat-education-socialist 'industry' has even less credibility.
#8
Strangely the article doesn't mention the words "liberal" or "conservative", "leftist" or "rightwing" at all.
Rightwing forum-goers here however immediately decided that this is an attempt by liberals to slander conservatives.
Let's for a moment ignore their tremendous leap to such a assumption and assume that this whole thing was indeed staged. In what way would it be a slander against conservatives to pretend at the continuing existence of racist bigots in Columbia University? Aren't most universities in the US considered primarily left-wing by people here? As such wouldn't the presence of racists there (whether faculty or students) be a blow on the prestige of a left-wing institution?
Unless it is, that conservatives in Rantburg still consider racist bigots to be originating from their own ranks. KKK may have had a historical connection with the old *Democrat* party, and Lincoln may have been *Republican*... and yet Rantburgers consider racists so much part of their own circle nowadays that bashing *racism* is immediately considered an attack on *conservatism*.
#9
Hey, Aris is back. Some things don't change. Its not as if 'Fake but real' is a novel concept on the Left, especially when it comes to slurring political opponents on the Right.
The professor, Madonna G. Constantine, whose specialty is race, racial identity and multiculturalism, stood before protesters at midday and thanked her supporters.
I am upset that the Teachers College community has been exposed to such an unbelievably vile incident, she said, and I would like us to stay strong in the face of such a blatant act of racism.
Baffled and anguished students and professors wondered how this could happen at Teachers College, which cherishes its image as a bastion of liberalism and multiculturalism.
Baffled, indeed. I'm sure there's more to come: more state and federal grant money, not to mention the liberal foundations' cash troughs awash with lucre.
#11
What is the Left's deal with this sort of thing? I know plenty of racists back home, and they'd never do something like this. A hangman's noose? WTF? Nobody thinks in symbols like this except professors.
#14
welcome back aris. You'd have to live in the states, gone to a university here, interact w/the average liberal arts professor, couple that w/the normal american media coverage of these events and their generous use of adjectives/analogies of said incident (i.e. "the old south" when this happened way up north), add the past instances of hoaxes in the same situations, i.e. what just happened at GWU by leftists in order to smear conservatives that the media didn't vet properly until after an innocent conservative group was wrongly villified by the campus - again before all the facts came out, i.e. just like the Duke lacrosse incident. Add that w/most of the folks on the 'burg here being college educated in the states and understanding how that college atmosphere works might make you more fully appreciate the cnyicism of all the "right-wingers" here.
If some neo-nazi idiot bigot did do this noose thing then he/she will be villified here appropriately. Most of us here doubt that's the case. We're also sick of idiot lefty kids on campus pulling these stunts, baiting the media to go on a witch hunt of conservative kids on campus and then the facts come out to the contrary. Tiresome.
#15
What makes this fail my sniff test is that it is such an obvious ripoff of the Jena incident. Makes me suspicious that someone is pushing the meme past the edge of the envelope.
#16
Jeebus, Aris, what's your freakin' deal? I think others have already outlined enough "incindents" as of recent to call this act into question also. Let's see, we have:
(1) The Duke "rape" case: 3 "white, upper-class, old-south" students (MSM's definition) are accused of rape, which is later not only found out to be false (remember, one of them wasn't even there), but the DA involved has now been charged and faced debarment. Sure, this actually happened in the "deep South", but the rush to judgement was so ridiculous that even the DA is now the one facing charges. Heck, even Whoopi Goldberg (far-left by most of us) has asked for Rev. Al Sharpton to apologize to these kids. Remember, they spent literally MILLIONS just defending themselves in court, when it was ALL false, and the girl in question really was a "ho."
(2) The "I hate Muslims" fiasco just this week, which ended up being a set-up by the lefties and Muslims at GW University (not exactly "deep south").
(3) The "Jena 6" incident in Louisiana. Sure, it also happened in the deep South, and I condemn (as others here did too) the noose found at the tree. Yet, to compare that to the "Jena 6" beating a white kid (who had NOTHING to do with the whole situation), which could've killed him (reports say that the ringleader slammed the kid's head into a brick wall several times, which is something that's VERY dangerous, and oh, by the way, that ringleader has a rap-sheet a mile long) to hanging a noose in a tree is excusing violence while excusing bigotry. This is the one incident (of the 4 I'm outlining) here that *might* actually have some "deep South" bigotry involved, yet why are no "hate crimes" being charged against the "Jena 6" for beating a white kid who had NOTHING to do with the original incident (if that's not racism, I don't know what is)?
* This incident, which happened WAY up north and will *probably* be proved to be tied to some left-wingers, if not some of the faculty themselves. The reporter's attempt to tie this back to the racism perpetrated in the South over 140 years ago (and the North also had slaves, lest we forget) is ludicrous.
The timing of all of these (not to mention a few other "anti-Muslim" actions that ended up being tied to the "Muslim victim" themselves, just call into question the *intent* of all these lefties/Muslims in perpetrating these acts. They all want *victim* status.
Posted by: BA ||
10/11/2007 11:57 Comments ||
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#17
"Yes" I'm white, and "Yes" I'm male, but I simply don't get this anymore. If I found a noose on my front porch tommorrow morning, I'd pick it up along with the morning paper, deposit the noose in the trash and go on with my day. Have we become that soft as a society that it's now allowable to have a nervous breakdown over a piece of rope?
#18
Ahhh symbolism. Best rip the entire door right outta the wall and replace it with one made from a variety of wood to symbolize diversity and harmony. That seems appropriate in light of the decision to cut down the frikken shade tree in Jena La.
#19
And then there was the hate crime hoax by Psych. Prof. Kerri Dunn at Claremont-McKenna College, in CA, 3/04
....A week after a reported campus hate crime drew national attention, sparked protests and shut down the prestigious Claremont Colleges, police on Wednesday called the incident a hoax staged by a professor who slashed tires, shattered windows and spray-painted racist graffiti on her own car. ....
#20
Columbia did not immediately say which professor was targeted, but she was identified in the local media as Madonna Constantine, a professor of psychology and education and author of a book entitled "Addressing Racism: Facilitating Cultural Competence in Mental Health and Educational Settings."
Not possible that the good professor would seek a bit of publicity (or relevancy) for her book on racism, is it?
Feh.
The good professor has been taking notes from the muslim playbook which - coincidently - was copied from the professor's forebares.
The whole deal is way too pat for my liking.
If PROFESSOR Constantine wants to talk about current examples of racism let's talk about Bobby Mugabe and his treatment of white FARMERS, shall we?
Posted by: Mark Z ||
10/11/2007 13:12 Comments ||
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#21
"Jeebus, Aris, what's your freakin' deal?"
As Velouchiotis admitted on Monday, he's only here to vent his Euro-moral superiority and not actually learn anything. Don't spoil his ugly ego party with beautiful facts. (g)
Posted by: E. Brown ||
10/11/2007 13:54 Comments ||
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#22
I didn't know my b******t meter hadda siren.
Bwahahaha! I am so stealing that one, Gabby Cussworth. Effing priceless!
#23
..Fox News says that the Columbia administration is refusing - flat-out REFUSING - to release to the NYPD security tapes that show the noose being placed.
Wonder why?
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/11/2007 14:33 Comments ||
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#24
Watching Columbia U. is like watching Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton in a meltdown and about to go to rehab.
You may be thinking of some ouija board session of yours, not me. Either that or you still have not outgrown your kindergarten tendency to mock people's names.
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.
An Egyptian court on Wednesday dropped rioting and damaging public property charges against 86 Egyptians in northern Sinai but ordered four others to remain in custody for 15 days pending further investigation, judicial officials said. 
Wars stripped about $ 284 billion from Africas economies between 1990 and 2005, roughly equal to the amount of aid money given to the worlds poorest continent, according to a report on Thursday by Oxfam International. 
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush will risk angering China by attending a ceremony next week to award a Congress medal to the exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama, at the bastion of American democracy. 
California motorists will risk fines of up to $100 next year if they are caught smoking in cars with minors, making their state the third to protect children in vehicles from secondhand smoke.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Wednesday that elections for the national and provincial assemblies would be held in the first week of January under a caretaker setup and predicted that the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and its allies would emerge victorious. I think the elections for national and provincial assemblies will be held in the first week of January, Aziz said while speaking at an Iftar-dinner arranged for journalists at Prime Ministers House. He said a caretaker government would be set up after the present governments term had completed to ensure free and fair elections.
Columbia University has refused to turn over security videotape that could help identify who hung a noose on a black professor's office door, police said Thursday. 
