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Nine US soldier among scores who die in wave of attacks in Afghanistan
Today's Headlines
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Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
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Page 4: Opinion
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Batman and Robin Arrested, Joker Walks
TWO Brits have been jailed in Ibiza for beating up a man while dressed as Batman and Robin.

The unnamed pair, both 18, were returning from a party in the resort of San Antonio when they got in an argument with their victim.

The 30-year-old Spaniard lost three teeth in the attack in the early hours of Wednesday. Both men were sentenced to a year in jail and ordered to pay £5,000 compensation.

They will be released and have their sentences suspended when the money is paid.

A third arrested Brit, dressed as Batman’s arch-enemy The Joker, was cleared of any involvement.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/13/2008 19:55 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A third arrested Brit, dressed as Batman’s arch-enemy The Joker, was cleared of any involvement.

And if you want to know what's wrong with Britain today, there you are!
Posted by: Abdominal Snowman || 07/13/2008 22:39 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Gay American Bishop In A Snit For Being Excluded
The Anglican Church's only openly gay bishop says banning him from a once-a-decade meeting is a mistake.

The Most Rev. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire has not been invited to the Lambeth Conference, a summit of Anglican bishops that starts in Britain on Tuesday.

Robinson was consecrated bishop of New Hampshire in 2003 by the Episcopal Church, causing outrage among conservative Christians.

Robinson is quoted by Britain's Sunday Telegraph newspaper as calling it a mistake to ban him from the conference. Instead, he says he'll use his London sermon to denounce Anglican bishops who preach intolerance of homosexuality.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/13/2008 14:07 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  From an orthodox standpoint:

Robinson's presence as an openly practicing homosexual, and demands that his inherently disordered behavior be accepted as "normal", in contravention of a coouple of millinea of biblical and theological restrictions against that sort of thing (sexuality outside of marriage, marriage reserved to man and woman) is a symptomatic of the rot that has infiltrated the Anglican Church.

There will be a schism. Robinson and his gang will go their own way and end up fading into unitarianism, and other heterodox and heretical positions.

The orthodox part of the Anglican church will likely move further into orthodoxy and possibly rejoin with the Catholic Church.
Posted by: OldSpook || 07/13/2008 16:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Hey, bishop, they don't want you around. Get it? So be a good lad and go off to bugger yourself on your own. Then go start the unstraight church of Episcopals. Those who wish may join you. Those who don't, well just bend over with your friends and give the straights a parting shot. I will be among those who see your backsides.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 07/13/2008 19:52 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Alaska volcano erupts; island residents evacuated
ANCHORAGE, Alaska, July 12 (Reuters) - A volcano in Alaska's Aleutian chain erupted on Saturday, sending a cloud of ash 35,000 feet (10.7 kilometres) into the air and prompting the evacuation of the 10 people who live on the eastern side of the island, officials said.

Okmok Volcano, located on Umnak Island, had an explosive eruption that started just before noon and was continuing through Saturday night, reported the Alaska Volcano Observatory, the joint state-federal agency that monitors Alaska's volcanoes. The volcano rises to 3,520 feet (1,073-metre) and is located about 65 miles (105 kilometres) southwest of Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, a major fishing port with 4,300 full-time residents, and about 900 miles (1,450 kilometres) southwest of Anchorage.

Shortly after the eruption, the residents of the island's cattle ranch, located close to the volcano, placed a call seeking evacuation, the U.S. Coast Guard said. A fishing vessel took the Umnak residents to Unalaska, the Coast Guard said.

In Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, residents have been showered with a light ashfall, said Jennifer Adleman, a geologist with the Alaska Volcano Observatory. "There have been reports of eye irritation and people being able to taste it, if you will," Adleman said. "Some folks have seen it on their windshields."

At least two airline flights into Unalaska/Dutch Harbor were canceled and advisories have been sent out to aircraft pilots and mariners, Adleman said.

Okmok Volcano is highly active, with about 16 eruptions occurring every 10 to 20 years since 1805, she said. The last eruption was in 1997, an event that produced ash clouds and a lava flow that traveled five miles across the volcano's caldera floor, she said.

There is a small Aleut village, Nikolski, that is also located on the other side of Umnak Island. That village of about 40 people is to the west of Okmok Volcano and out of the southeasterly path of the ash cloud.
I looked on NOAA's Alaska Aviation Weather Unit site this morning and there is a SIGMET out from Okmok Volcano up the Aleutian Island Chain and the Alaska Peninsula, even covering Kodiak Island. The SIGMET warns of volcanic ash clouds to 45,000 ft. This is not good for jets. Some years ago, a KLM 747 suffered a 4-engine flameout flying through the ash cloud. They fortunately got the engines going, after losing 10,000 ft. The plane landed in Anchorage, and had looked like it had been severely sandblasted.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 07/13/2008 15:53 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That ash isn't ash. It's more like rock-sponge. It's worse if it rains; then it turns into a liquid cement. I remember my St. Helens.

That plane was lucky to get restarted; I'm surprised they'd be foolish enough to fly through the cloud. I thought they diverted everyone around this kind of thing.

I've been looking for a webcam with no success. Any word where it falls on the EI scale for eruptions?
Posted by: Mizzou Mafia || 07/13/2008 16:33 Comments || Top||

#2  this will not help Glowball Warming. Obamessiah should be called upon to stop the eruption
Posted by: Frank G || 07/13/2008 17:10 Comments || Top||

#3  To: Halliburton Volcano Division
From: Director, Halliburton Targeting Committee

Look, boys. We don't necessarily mind you guys testing out your newest toys, but you simply must consult on the choice of targets with this committee before the test.

Our target list includes a host of opportune sites where you could have received all kinds of data from your recent test such as the effects of volcanic ash on the respiratory systems of mullahs and Muslim citizenry, the effects of volcanic ash on the targeting systems, lubrication, and fuel economy of IRG ballistic missile, the efects of the ash on Iranian nuclear laboratory facilities, and the results of large-scale volcanic eruptions on the movement of populations in remote desert countries floating on a sea of oil.

Please, in the future, limit your tests to our approved targeting list as follows,

Tehran, Qum, Islamabad, Mecca, Medina, NWFP, etc., etc.

Posted by: FOTSGreg || 07/13/2008 17:54 Comments || Top||

#4  So let me guess. This is in WOT Operations because the Taliban somehow managed to bomb the volcano into activity in order to terrorize the townsfolk?

In other news Mt. St. Helens dome building eruption is declared over according to the US Geological Survey.
Posted by: crosspatch || 07/13/2008 18:52 Comments || Top||

#5  I blame Bush. And Gaia's pissed about Kyoto.
Posted by: Swamp Blondie in the Cornfields || 07/13/2008 19:56 Comments || Top||

#6  FOTSGreg, Please, in the future, limit your tests to our approved targeting list as follows,

Tehran, Qum, Islamabad, Mecca, Medina, NWFP, etc., etc.

Citizens Mandate..
.. Washington DC shall be targeted first things first, for continuous eruptions till it is buried 100 yards deep. :)
Posted by: Criter Hapsburg6718 || 07/13/2008 20:05 Comments || Top||

#7  Sat pictures here:

http://www.avo.alaska.edu/
Posted by: MJLange || 07/13/2008 20:28 Comments || Top||

#8  Did feel four tremors here on Guam + small EM skybursts during the day.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/13/2008 20:56 Comments || Top||

#9  Is Gaia telling us to get the oil out from the ground - its irritating Mother Earth.

Drill Now!
Posted by: OldSpook || 07/13/2008 21:18 Comments || Top||

#10  Sorry for the WOT dept misfiling. It should have been under Local.

There is now better monitoring of volcanic eruptions on the Aleutians and Russian Kamchatka Peninsula, as there is a lot of air traffic on the North Pacific routes.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 07/13/2008 21:50 Comments || Top||

#11  Moved to Local at 9:18 CDT. AoS.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/13/2008 22:17 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Bong citizens resolved land dispute
Posted by: ryuge || 07/13/2008 01:02 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Whar is it?
Posted by: .5MT || 07/13/2008 6:11 Comments || Top||

#2  It was resolved back in '73. They just remembered it now.
Posted by: ed || 07/13/2008 6:54 Comments || Top||

#3  Hey, Beavis. They live in Bong.
Hehehehehehehehe...
Posted by: Butthead || 07/13/2008 7:13 Comments || Top||

#4  Duuuuude, it's like, resolved. Everything's, like, mellow.
Posted by: Mike || 07/13/2008 7:34 Comments || Top||

#5  Bong motto: "Don't drink the water"
Posted by: Frank G || 07/13/2008 10:05 Comments || Top||


Britain
The most beautiful wedding of the year as scarred soldier marries his sweetheart
If you would like to donate to the Household Cavalry Operational Casualties Fund, send a cheque payable to Central Bank HCR to Walk New York c/o Welfare Officer, Household Cavalry Regiment, Combermere Barracks, St Leonards Road, Windsor SL4 3DN, or contact alistairgalloway@gmail.com.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 07/13/2008 12:29 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He got himself a good one there--classy lady, and beautiful to boot.

She did pretty well for herself, too.

May they both have a long and happy life together, and plenty of great-grandchildren to spoil.
Posted by: Mike || 07/13/2008 15:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Just in case they don't publish my comment.....wishing them both many long, happy years together and all the best! Congratulations!
Posted by: Swamp Blondie in the Cornfields || 07/13/2008 20:01 Comments || Top||

#3  I salute you and your good service and wish you all your lovely bride the very beste Corporal!
Honi Soit Qui Mal (Shame on him who thinks this evil).
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/13/2008 20:28 Comments || Top||

#4 
If you would like to donate to the Household Cavalry Operational Casualties Fund, send a cheque payable to Central Bank HCR to Walk New York c/o Welfare Officer, Household Cavalry Regiment, Combermere Barracks, St Leonards Road, Windsor SL4 3DN, or contact alistairgalloway@gmail.com.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 07/13/2008 20:42 Comments || Top||


Fifth Column
Huffington Post readers, classy as ever
Greg Pollowitz, "Media Blog" @ National Review

Memo to Arianna: Here's what you say about moderating your comment boards:

Huffington Post pre-moderates comments on our blog posts and post-moderates comments on news stories. We never censor comments based on political or ideological point of view. We only delete those comments that include the following transgressions:
-- are abusive, off-topic, use excessive foul language
-- include ad hominem attacks including comments that celebrate the death or illness of any person, public figure or otherwise
-- contain racist, sexist, homophobic and other slurs
-- are solicitations and/or advertising for personal blogs and websites
-- thread spamming (you've posted this same comment elsewhere on the site
-- are posted with the explicit intention of provoking other commenters or the staff at Huffington Post.

Sleeping late today Arianna? The comments from your loyal readers on the death of Tony Snow are pretty horrendous. Get to work with your delete key.
Posted by: Mike || 07/13/2008 07:49 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Arianna Huffington and Class are mutually exclusive
Posted by: Frank G || 07/13/2008 10:06 Comments || Top||

#2  I only read the first page of comments and they all seemed to express regret for Tony's death and extend consolation to his family. Does it get worse?

(Sorry, I have a time limit that I can visit Huffington Post with - it's measured usually in seconds before the radiation starts to burn through my containment suit)

Posted by: FOTSGreg || 07/13/2008 12:28 Comments || Top||

#3  It's already been scrubbed.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/13/2008 12:32 Comments || Top||

#4  I forgot what I was going to say.
Posted by: Uliper Henbane2679 || 07/31/2008 2:42 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Militants abandon hijacked bus, free passengers
Militants on Saturday abandoned a hijacked bus and freed all 22 passengers close to the Nag area in the Washak district, Dawn News reported on Saturday. The channel said these passengers had been abducted on Saturday in the limits of Nag Police Station when they were travelling in a Khuzdar-bound passenger coach from Panjgur. Police officials thought that the passengers had been kidnapped for ransom and had launched a search operation to ensure the safe recovery of the passengers, it said.
Posted by: Fred || 07/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:


Gunmen kill three in Delhi
NEW DELHI — Unidentified gunmen shot dead three people in two incidents of firing in the national capital, police said yesterday. Two people were gunned down in Amar Colony and one was killed at nearby Andrews Ganj Flyover in south Delhi by the same shooters on Friday, the police said.

Four unidentified motorcycle borne assailants were following Arshneet, 28 and Hardeep, 27, who were also on a motorbike, the police said, adding the attackers opened fire at them near Garhi area. Arshneet died on the spot as Hardeep received serious injuries. The police was informed about the incident at around 8.45pm on Friday.

"The assailants fled from the spot. At nearby Andrews Ganj flyover they forcibly snatched a bike of another person. But entered into an argument with a bystander, Sanjeev, on a scooter," said deputy commissioner of police (south) H.G.S. Dhaliwal. They tried to scare Sanjeev by firing in the air and unfortunately a bullet hit him, Dhaliwal added.

Hardeep and Sanjeev were taken to AIIMS where they succumbed to their injuries.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Culture Wars
Nielson gets millions job creation tax incentives, then lays off hundreds & outsources to India
Crank the Rage-O-Meter
(St Pete Times) Nielsen Co. announced 170 more layoffs at its Oldsmar facility Tuesday. This will bring the total number of reductions at the company to 402 since 2007. Nielsen is also planning a staff realignment in Dunedin that will lead to more layoffs there, too. In Oldsmar, Nielsen is outsourcing more work to India-based Tata Consultancy Services, company spokesman Gary Holmes said Tuesday. The work formerly done in Oldsmar will now be transferred to India.

Although companies that hire outsourcing firms often try to limit the release of information about layoffs through employee nondisclosure agreements tied to severance and public statements, Nielsen was unable to do so in this case. That's because it received property tax breaks in 2001 to build a $100 million global technology center in Oldsmar. The tax breaks were pegged to the number of high-wage jobs -- those that paid at least $52,000 -- the company created. That forced Nielsen to disclose hiring details at that facility, effectively putting the employee count of the facility on the local political radar. Nielsen announced a 10-year outsourcing agreement valued at $1.2 billion with Tata Consultancy Services in Mumbai.
Time for somebody to demand increasing the minimum wage again. That'll make us more competetive.
Under the original 2001 agreements, Nielsen has received some $3.1 million in tax incentives for its Oldsmar facility, which includes $1.7 million in breaks from the state and $1.4 million from Oldsmar and Pinellas county.
From the Tata Contract there are further outrages - the H1-B are being used to REPLACE US Citizens - so that the H1B can be used as a virtual slavery device
The Nielsen-Tata pact states 'there shall be no additional charge for overtime work', allows Nielsen to have unsatisfactory Tata (H1B) hires replaced within 4 weeks of starting with no charge for the original or re-performed work, gives Nielsen up to 6 man-weeks of free labor when a Tata (H1B) worker is replaced, and allows Nielsen to make 'any TCS Resource' (read H1B) essentially disappear with no more than 5 days notice if their presence 'is not in the best interests of Nielsen.'

Tata was awarded the contract by Exec VP Michela Habib who has a history of outsourcing large numbers of jobs to Tata. He sent thousands of jobs overseas to Tata when he was at GE Medical Systems, and Citigrouop.

During the Citibank outsourcing, Citibank's NAIT managers were given the proverbial handcuffs and told that they could not review the resumes of the incoming consultants and it was alleged that TATA managers themselves told Citi managers, "You have no choice. You take what we give you."
They killed the US jobs $50K they promised, sent some overseas and are using H-1B to DIRECTLY REPLACE the US Workers IN THE US - the H1B are here taking the Americans jobs!
KILL H-1B NOW! STOP IT!
Its killing the US middle class.
From multiple sources listed below


TampaBay.com
www.computerworld.com
Lou Dobbs (http://youtube.com/watch?v=zjwv0sofytE)
Posted by: OldSpook || 07/13/2008 09:49 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And how about this as the capper:

The fired US employees MUST TRAIN THIER REPLACEMENTS in order to receive severance - that includes ones that are being replaced by H1B visa holders. Many jobs that are staying are being filled by Tata H-1B workers.

Thats right -- That's US Workers in $50K+ a year jobs being DIRECTLY DISPLACED by lower cost H-1B slaves from overseas! This isn't outsourcing, this is REPLACEMENT. Its abuse of the H-1B program of the worst sort.

And look at the contract language - they are using H-1B virtual indentured servants who cannot complain about forced OT and abusive policies lest they have their H-1B sponsorship pulled and get sent back to India.

DO NOT WORK WITH NEILSON EVER ON ANYTHING! Boycott them and put them out of business.
Posted by: OldSpook || 07/13/2008 10:28 Comments || Top||

#2  I was at Citigroup when Habib brought in Tata for a 2nd time. Initially, he brought them in for the credit card division. He was then promoted to CIO of North America and by then it was obvious to everyone that after what happened at GE and in our credit card division that there existed a quid pro quo arrangement between Habib and Tata. So there was no suprise when Tata was awarded the contract for all of North America, even though there was a 'competition' with at least 5 Indian outsourcing companies. I've got no idea if Habib thought that this move was really in the best interests of our company, I only know that he promptly left Citi for Nielsen right smack in the middle of all the resulting layoffs that he initiated. And anyone paying attention knew at the time that Tata and Nielsen would soon be working together, and every IT worker at Nielsen needed to get their resumes polished up in a big hurry. These firms derive their characteristic competitive advantage from their ability to exploit their workforce in ways that would not be legal with normal US citizens or in the United States.

Posted by: FromSlashdot || 07/13/2008 10:42 Comments || Top||

#3  SHut the H1-B down. Completely. NOW.

If we need these workers, then bring them in with green cards, where they have every right the US Citizen does. This way they cannot be made hostage to their visa status, and if we are truly shrot in that type of tech worker, then we need them here longer - and we want them to become citizens and live here eventually.

These are the kind of peopel we want as citizens, not as servants to corporations who use them to depress US labor costs by using the H1B as leverage to distort the US labor market.

KILL H1B NOW!
Posted by: OldSpook || 07/13/2008 10:47 Comments || Top||

#4  Tata also leads the US in L-1 visas as well.
Posted by: OldSpook || 07/13/2008 10:55 Comments || Top||

#5 
Posted by: OldSpook || 07/13/2008 11:14 Comments || Top||

#6  Work Visas May Work Against the U.S.
Data for the fiscal year 2006, which ended last September, show that 7 of the top 10 applicants for H-1B visas are Indian companies. Giants Infosys Technologies (INFY) and Wipro (WIT) took the top two spots, with 22,600 and 19,400 applications, respectively. The company with the third most applications is Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH), which is based in Teaneck, N.J., but has most of its operations in India. All three companies provide services to U.S. companies from India, including technology support and back-office processing.

The only other U.S. companies among the top 10 are the accounting and consulting firm Deloitte & Touche and consultancy Accenture (ACN). They rank seventh and ninth, with 8,000 and 7,000 applications, respectively.


Top 1000 H1B Visa and Green Card Sponsors (2000-2007)
Posted by: ed || 07/13/2008 11:31 Comments || Top||

#7  All of this so one guy can make $130 million this year instead of a paltry $108 million.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/13/2008 12:27 Comments || Top||

#8  I hear talk of a shortage of engineers, doctors, and just about every other professional- (excluding lawyers)- in this country. This is not an IT issue anymore, they will come for your job too, no matter what it is.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/13/2008 12:29 Comments || Top||

#9  A little hard, though not impossible perhaps, to out-source medical care.


However, we have a different issue --



[soapbox]

We have about 11,000 graduates from US medical school each year, and a few thousand more than that of residency program openings. So we import a few thousand foreign MDs every year to fill those spots. They come on H-1B and J-1 visas, mostly, though I've seen some others. They're obligated to return home after training and some do, but others decide to stay. I can't blame them at all, and a fair number of them are decent docs who learn to love America.



So what's the problem? What it means is that 1) we're essentially taking the best and brightest from India, Pakiwakiland, Malaysia, Ethiopia, the Phillipines, etc., and bringing them here, depriving these countries of the talent they need to fix their own problems and 2) we're depriving pretty good American kids of a chance to be doctors. We could expand our med schools by 10%, and I'm betting that the extra 1,100 students would be equal to or better than the average FMG.



But no-o-o-o-o, that would cost money, so we take doctors from other countries instead. It's short-sighted and frankly, in my mind, truly imperialistic. I like to point that out to my liberal friends here in the Department; they get pretty uncomfortable.

[/soapbox]
Posted by: Steve White || 07/13/2008 12:51 Comments || Top||

#10  And, to add additional insult to injury in the med field, the UK terrorist attack was accompanied with a video threatening "those who cure you will kill you", making the H1B and J1 visas and entry to the US for would-be jihadis. Check out all the Arabic names in the phone book sometime--Syrian internists, Iranian heart specialists, Jordanian nephrologists, etc.
Posted by: Danielle || 07/13/2008 14:20 Comments || Top||

#11  Looks like the feds are finally starting to pay attention...

Editorial: Feds crack down on visa fraud, finally

WASHINGTON- Highly educated Americans with much-sought-after technical and scientific skills have been complaining for years about not being able to find jobs or being replaced by foreign workers who have come to this country on H1b visas (Congress authorizes only 65,000 H1b visas annually, for hiring foreign workers with skills that can't be found here). Turns out they were right. The Department of Labor has finally started cracking down on law firms and corporations deliberately bypassing federal laws aimed at protecting American workers from being displaced by foreigners willing to work for much less.

When they apply for H1b visas, U.S. companies must first certify that they cannot find any qualified American applicants. But, as Chicago network engineer David Huber discovered, the certification process can be rigged. Huber, a University of Chicago graduate with NASA management experience, had to train his own replacement at Commonwealth Edison. He claimed Chinese nationals were given access to Commonwealth Edison data communication switches controlling the Chicago electrical grid. Huber told The Examiner that when he applied for a Cisco Systems job advertised in the Chicago Tribune last year, he noticed that the contact was not a Cisco hiring manager, but an attorney working for the nation's largest immigration law firm, Fragomen, Del Ray, Bernsen & Loewy.

A subsequent Labor Department audit uncovered evidence that the New York-based Fragomen- whose client list includes many Fortune 500 companies - was improperly advising clients to disqualify American candidates so they could hire much cheaper foreign workers. In an unprecedented move, Labor Department officials are now auditing all of Fragomen's pending visa applications.

The probe has been extended to San Francisco where LawLogix was caught red-handed submitting more than 100 fraudulent applications. The software firm is now barred from submitting any applications for the next three years. And after a video of Cohen & Grigsby attorney Lawrence Lebowitz brazenly telling clients that "our goal is clearly not to find a qualified and interested U.S. worker" was posted on YouTube, Labor officials placed the Pittsburgh law firm on "supervised recruitment" – which means heightened scrutiny for all future visa applications.

The displacement of highly qualified American scientific and technical workers by foreign visa holders has gotten scant attention by the media, which tends to focus on protecting illegal immigrants in sanctuary cities like Washington, D.C. and San Francisco. The legal part of our broken immigration system has gotten much less attention, which is why it may very well pose as grave a threat to national security as porous borders.
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/13/2008 14:39 Comments || Top||

#12  A subsequent Labor Department audit uncovered evidence that the New York-based Fragomen- whose client list includes many Fortune 500 companies - was improperly advising clients to disqualify American candidates so they could hire much cheaper foreign workers. In an unprecedented move, Labor Department officials are now auditing all of Fragomen's pending visa applications.

I think a 20-year jail term would sort them out.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 07/13/2008 15:19 Comments || Top||

#13  dvising clients to disqualify American candidates so they could hire much cheaper foreign workers

This has been going on in IT for at least fifteen years. College students aren't interested in going into IT anymore cause they think it's a dead-end (they're right). Congress not only doesn't care but is doing their best to make things worse.

Meanwhile our military is using more off the shelf hardware / software that is developed overseas or by foreign nationals.

This will not end well.
Posted by: Bob Thinemp8308 || 07/13/2008 16:00 Comments || Top||

#14  Cheating bastard lawyers at the root of it.

Figures.

Too bad there is no way for the workers screwed by their illegla activity to personally collect damages from the cheaters.

Posted by: OldSpook || 07/13/2008 16:39 Comments || Top||

#15  H1B and outsourcing == replacing workers with indentured servants and slaves.

Didn't we fight a Civil War over issues like this?
Posted by: 3dc || 07/13/2008 17:29 Comments || Top||


Dems Desperately Attempt To Reinforce Final Al Qaeda Outpost In Iraq
The news that Al Qaeda in Iraq has been soundly beaten and is on the verge of annihilation, was met with worries and a quick call to action on Capitol Hill today. In an attempt to salvage some semblance of victory for the embattled fighters, Congressional Democrats voted early Thursday to approve funding that would provide desperately needed supplies for the group.

“There is no question but that they are in a bad way,” said Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. “What began as a glorious campaign against the American occupiers, has taken a turn for the worse. These culturally equal individuals have been shot at, had missiles fired at them, and been made to miss at least one of their five daily prayers on several occasions. What’s more, our polling data shows that a full 100% of them are living below the poverty line! If it weren’t for that fact that many of them have dual citizenship between their home countries and Holland, they wouldn’t even be receiving welfare payments or free health care. But I have sponsored legislation that will go a long way towards turning the tide back in favor of these brave freedom fighters.”

Pelosi’s bill calls for two battalions of Code Pink protesters to be sent to Iraq immediately. They will be deployed at key positions to block advancing U.S. Marines.

“We were toying with the idea of using the Code Pinkers against the Iraqi forces as well, but it turns out that they are even less enlightened than our own barbaric military personnel,” Pelosi said. “During one of the ladies’ patented ‘Breasts Not Bombs‘ rallies in Fallujah recently, the Iraqi commander ordered them at gunpoint to put their shirts back on while his men screamed and covered their eyes. ”

These elite protest battalions will bring with them a host of sorely needed supplies including:

* clean placards, new magic markers, and sturdy wood slats for making state-of-the art anti-American-miliary signs
* teddy bears, dolls, and blood-splattered rubble for use in AP photographs depicting the barbarity of U.S. troops
* the direct number for the head of the ACLU
* several cases of Goat Fancy magazine
Posted by: tipper || 07/13/2008 04:35 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  How about sending a human shield force there from Congress. Surely, some of Pelosky and Reed's faithful will step up to the challenge. Jihad for Nancy!
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 07/13/2008 9:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Considering some of the pictures I've seen of the Breasts not Bombs campaigns (I am almost done with the resulting psychotherapy), I think even American commanders in the field would order the women to put their shirts back on, at gunpoint if necessary.
Posted by: Rambler in California || 07/13/2008 16:28 Comments || Top||

#3  When I first read this I thought it was scrappleface.
our own barbaric military personnel
are you kidding me? As in whose side are you on here....

while his men screamed and covered their eyes
I would have liked to see this. While I've been known to moon or have some fun times after throwing a few down, I'm at the age now that I'd probably scare a few folks too, so I have no room to talk here ;)
Posted by: Jan || 07/13/2008 18:51 Comments || Top||

#4  thenoseonyourface.com is just like Scrappleface
Posted by: Frank G || 07/13/2008 18:53 Comments || Top||

#5  thanks,
I hadn't gone to the original link with this article.
With Pelosi it sounded believeable sadly enough.
Posted by: Jan || 07/13/2008 23:45 Comments || Top||


Bible Publishers Sued for Anti-Gay References
A Michigan man is seeking $70 million from two Christian publishers for emotional distress and mental instability he received during the past 20 years from versions of the Bible that refer to homosexuality as a sin.

Bradley LaShawn Fowler, a gay man, claims his constitutional rights were infringed upon by Zondervan Publishing Co. and Thomas Nelson Publishing, both of which, he claims, deliberately caused homosexuals to suffer by misinterpretation of the Bible. Fowler, 39, is seeking $60 million from Zondervan and another $10 million from Thomas Nelson.

According to a USA Today report, Fowler's two separate suits against the publishers claim the intent of the Bible revisions that refer to homosexuals as sinners reflect an individual opinion or a group's conclusion. Fowler says the deliberate changes made to first Corinthians, chapter six, verse nine caused him "or anyone who is a homosexual to endure verbal abuse, discrimination, episodes of hate, and physical violence ... including murder."

Fowler, who is representing himself in both lawsuits, claims the publishers are misinterpreting the Bible by specifically using the word homosexuals, which made him an outcast from his family and contributed to physical discomfort and periods of demoralization, chaos and bewilderment. "These are opinions based on the publishers and they are being embedded in the religious structure as a way of life," he tells a local NBC TV station affiliate in Grand Rapids.

Fowler admits that every Bible printed is a translation that can be interpreted in many ways, but he says specifically using the word "homosexual" is not a translation but a change. Fowler says Zondervan Bibles published in the '80s used the word homosexuals among a list of those who are "wicked' or unrighteous and won't inherit the kingdom of heaven."

Zondervan, for its part, issued a statement to the Grand Rapids press stating it does not translate the Bible or own the copyright for any of the translations it publishes "We rely on the scholarly judgment of the highly respected and credible translation committees behind each translation and never alter the text of the translations we are licensed to publish," the statement reads. "We only publish credible translations produced by credible Biblical scholars."

U.S. District Judge Julian Abele Cook Jr., who will hear Fowler's case against Thomas Nelson, says the court "has some very genuine concerns about the nature and efficacy of [Fowler's] claims."
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 07/13/2008 01:15 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So much for the separation of church and state, let alone the principles of the first amendment. However, the judiciary never passes up an opportunity to extend its power and venue. It just waits for the proper moment.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/13/2008 8:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Note that Zonderan Bible Publishers publishes the New International Version of the Bible which (I think - i don't track such things) is pretty well accepted.

Yes I looked up the offending scripture:

1 Cor 6:9-11 (NIV)

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral not idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers no swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And this is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

If I had some of the other translations I'll quote them too - for context.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 07/13/2008 9:30 Comments || Top||

#3  Take your pick of translations here.

His feelings being hurt does not trump the First Amendment.
Posted by: eLarson || 07/13/2008 12:04 Comments || Top||

#4  Maybe I'll sue the publisher of the Anarchist's Cookbook, I'll say I blew my nuts off trying to make nitro with the tech in their book. I'll ask for $500million.


And a pony.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/13/2008 12:42 Comments || Top||

#5  Since when are private publishers subject to constitutional restraints???????

This is one of those lawfare suits that should have been thrown out immediately unless the publisher was the US government.
Posted by: AlanC || 07/13/2008 15:51 Comments || Top||

#6  Hopefully this gets thrown out, but I doubt it. Can we sue the publishers of the Koran since it calls Jews decedents of pigs and monkeys?
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/13/2008 16:32 Comments || Top||

#7  No Drunkards?
Posted by: JDB || 07/13/2008 16:47 Comments || Top||

#8  I hope the courts allow countersuit and they clean this numbskull out.
Posted by: OldSpook || 07/13/2008 17:00 Comments || Top||

#9  And FYI, go back to the latin vulgate, and it refers to men who have sex with other men. So its not recent.

Typical gay activists - wants to force acceptence of his perversion (orthodox and traditional Christain belief) as normal, and is trying to use the court to do so.

Posted by: OldSpook || 07/13/2008 17:02 Comments || Top||

#10  Maybe he thinks he's living in Canada. Wasn't a Canadian pastor ordered to recant his christian beliefs, pay resitution(sp?), and never preach again by the Canadian / Alberta Star Chamber (Human [Abusers] Rights Commission)?

Ah.... Here it is (Google's good for something....)

And here is a link to the unelected and unaccountable panal chair's Ruling (warning: pdf file)

Don't think this cannot happen here.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 07/13/2008 17:21 Comments || Top||

#11  Genesis 19:9 Then they said, "This one came in to stay and he keeps acting as a judge;" in a Biblical passage regarding Soddom and Gomorah.

The Bible has been driving gays crazy for 6,000 years now. (HEH!)
Posted by: Throper Scourge of the Pixies2852 || 07/13/2008 17:43 Comments || Top||

#12  Too mad they couldn't have filed the action on May 10th.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/13/2008 21:01 Comments || Top||

#13  If the Obamessiah wins, we're one Supreme Court justice away from this crap happening here.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) || 07/13/2008 21:13 Comments || Top||


San Francisco cooperates with feds on immigration
San Francisco, CA (AP) — Federal officials say San Francisco authorities have started turning over the names of juvenile offenders who may be in the U.S. illegally.
Forced to obey federal law. I'll bet that breaks their balls.
Officials say that the city given the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency the names of 10 immigrant offenders in juvenile custody, most of them being held for drug-related offenses. ICE officials say they are investigating whether the youths should be deported.
Amazing. SF is following the law? Wonder what Newsom's file contains ...
The move comes after Mayor Gavin Newsom reversed the city's 20-year-old policy of shielding young immigrant offenders from federal deportation under San Francisco's sanctuary city policy. His administration came under intense criticism after three teenage boys escaped from a San Bernardino County group home where they were placed by the city. The city also had been paying for free trips home for youth offenders rather than report them to federal officials.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Did someone whisper the words conspiracy and obstruction in their ears?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/13/2008 8:23 Comments || Top||

#2  The threat of cut-off of funds was made somewhere.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 07/13/2008 9:10 Comments || Top||

#3  Go tell it on the mountain! Let the people know what their government is doing. Their city is imprisoning young people for using drugs? Those children are just doing what comes naturally. And now the city is turning some of these nubile youth over to the mean. evil, nasty Feds? I feel a change coming on. It's time to go to city hall and clean house. It's time to restore San Francisco's basic freedoms. Their freedoms of drugs, sex and antiwar violence are being threatened. San Francisco life style is in danger of being suffocated by normalness.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 07/13/2008 9:32 Comments || Top||

#4  Forced to obey federal law. I'll bet that breaks their balls Do they even have any?
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 07/13/2008 10:24 Comments || Top||

#5  some of the wymyns do
Posted by: Frank G || 07/13/2008 10:51 Comments || Top||

#6  And beards, I've seen em.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/13/2008 12:44 Comments || Top||

#7  Apparently they are only doing this for offenders convicted of crimes. They have learned that it is cheaper to turn them over to the feds than to take care of them themselves. It's really about money. SF is still a "sanctuary city" and city employees are still instructed not to assist federal immigration officials in the course of their daily work.

Practically every restaurant and hotel in the city would close down if they were to crack down on illegals.
Posted by: crosspatch || 07/13/2008 22:18 Comments || Top||

#8  well, you start somewhere, and criminal illegals would seem to be first priority
Posted by: Frank G || 07/13/2008 22:28 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2008-07-13
  Nine US soldier among scores who die in wave of attacks in Afghanistan
Sat 2008-07-12
  Leb Forms New Cabinet, Hezbollah Keeps Veto Power
Fri 2008-07-11
  Petraeus takes command of CENTCOM
Thu 2008-07-10
  3 dead and 32 wounded in Leb fighting
Wed 2008-07-09
  Turkey: 3 turbans, 3 cops killed in shootout outside U.S. consulate
Tue 2008-07-08
  One killed, scores injured in series of blasts in Karachi
Mon 2008-07-07
  Suicide bomber kills 41 at Indian embassy in Kabul, 141 injured
Sun 2008-07-06
  Maliki: government has defeated terrorism
Sat 2008-07-05
  2 Pakistanis detained in S Korean bust on 'Taliban' drug ring
Fri 2008-07-04
  Norway: "Osama" bomb threat forced offshore platform evacuation
Thu 2008-07-03
  Bulldozer Attacker's Dad: Is My Son a Dog? He's not a Terrorist
Wed 2008-07-02
  Many hurt, 7 killed in Jerusalem bulldozer attack
Tue 2008-07-01
  'MMA no more an electoral alliance'
Mon 2008-06-30
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Sun 2008-06-29
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