Hawaii-based pilot Kermit Tyler thought the big blip on the radar screen on Dec. 7, 1941, was a fleet of U.S. B-17 bombers due in from the mainland, so he replied "don't worry about it" when told of the approaching mass that turned out to be the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Tyler, who was ultimately cleared of wrongdoing, has died at age 96, content he did all he could that morning.
He was the Army Air Forces' first lieutenant on temporary duty at Ft. Shafter's radar information center in Hawaii when two privates reporting seeing an unusually sizable blip on their radar screen, indicating a large number of aircraft about 132 miles away and fast approaching.
Continued on Page 49
#1
A joint Army-Navy report dated 13 March 1941 stated: Possible Enemy Action paragraph:
(a) A declaration of war might be preceeded by:
1. A surprise submarine attack on ships in the operating area.
2. A surprise attack on Oahu including ships and installations in Pearl Harbor.
3. A combination of these two.
(b) It appears that the most likely and dangerous form of attack on Oahu would be an air attack. It is believed
that at present such an attack would most likely be launched from one or more carriers which would probably
approach inside of three hundred mile.
* * * * *
(e) In a dawn air attack there is a high probability that it could be delivered as a complete surprise in spite of any patrols we might be using and that it might find us in a condition of readiness under which pursuit would be slow to start. To prevent the Japanese surprise attack that they described, Martin and Bellinger, cognizant of the shortage of long-range reconnaissance aircraft, described the action open to them: Run daily patrols as far as possible to seaward through 360 degrees to reduce the probabilities of surface or air surprise.
This would be desirable but can only be effectively maintained with present personnel and material for a very short period and as a practicable measure cannot, therefore, be undertaken unless other intelligence indicates
that a surface raid is probable within rather narrow time limits.
#1
"Sea level readings indicate a tsunami was generated," the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said on its Web site. "It may have been destructive along coasts near the earthquake epicenter and could also be a threat to more distant coasts."
It did not have details on the size of the tsunami.
#8
According to Reuters, 78 known dead, quake centered near the college town of Concepcion, some damage to buildings and roads/bridges. Nothing like Haiti, though, because earthquakes are fairly common in Chili, so they build appropriately. AP has more, including historical perspective:
The largest earthquake ever recorded struck the same area of Chile on May 22, 1960. The magnitude-9.5 quake killed 1,655 people and left 2 million homeless. The tsunami that it caused killed people in Hawaii, Japan and the Philippines and caused damage to the west coast of the United States.
Posted by: chris ||
02/27/2010 12:30 Comments ||
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A huge wave measuring 7.7 feet (2.34 metres) crashed onto the Chilean coastal town of Talcahuano early Saturday triggered by a massive earthquake, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
Talcahuano is on a deep north facing bay about 100 km south of the epicenter. The bay would have concentrated the tsunami.
I doubt the wave will amount to much on the other side of the Pacific.
#19
US Coast Guard has asked all ships to move out of Hawaiian ports and the siren to evacuate has sounded. Maybe 8' waves on all sides of the islands may be hit with smaller bays hit with larger waves.
Give it a couple of days. The GW religion is full of people like Danny Glover, whose thought processes and understanding are so garbled that they think climate affects earthquakes, or the other way round, etc.
A magnitude 6.9 earthquake hit off Japan's southern coast early Saturday, shaking Okinawa and nearby islands, where a tsunami warning was briefly issued, Japan's Meteorological Agency said.
The quake occurred off the coast of the island of Okinawa at a depth of 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) at 5:31 a.m. Saturday (2031 GMT Friday), the agency said.
There have been no reports of major damage or casualties so far, except for reports of ruptured water pipes in two locations, Okinawa police official Noritomi Kikuzato said.
The Meteorological Agency had initially predicted a tsunami up to 6 feet (2 meters) near the Okinawan coast, warning nearby residents to stay away from the coastline. The agency later lifted the warning within two hours after observing only a small swelling of tide.
Ryota Ueno, a town official in the Nishihara district of Okinawa, said, "I was fast asleep when the quake hit, and I jumped out of bed. It felt like the shaking lasted forever."
There was no major damage in his house, and he then rushed to the town office to meet up with his colleagues and stand by in case of reports of damage from residents, Ueno told a telephone interview with public broadcaster NHK.
So far, only one resident in the town reported a ruptured water pipe, but no other damage reported, he said.
Masaaki Nakasone, another official at he Nanjo town, said his house shook violently but all furniture and other objects stayed intact.
"First there was a vertical shaking, then the house swayed sideways," Nakasone said.
Okinawa is about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) southwest of Tokyo.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2010 00:00 ||
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A magnitude 8.5 quake has just hit Chile. That would be the biggest in recent years.
[Al Arabiya Latest] U.N. Director-General Sergei Ordzhonikidze said Friday that calls for "jihad" by a head of state were unacceptable, after Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi made such a call against Switzerland.
Asked by journalists about one state calling for "jihad" against the other, Ordzhonikidze said: "I believe that such declarations on the part of the head of state are inadmissible in international relations. I'm not even talking about actions," he added.
Gaddafi turned up the heat in his country's dispute with Switzerland on Thursday, calling for "jihad" over a recent Swiss ban on the construction of minarets.
A spokesman for the EU's foreign affairs chief also criticized Gaddafi's statement calling them "unfortunate."
"Any Muslim in any part of the world who works with Switzerland is an apostate, is against (the Prophet) Mohammad, God and the Koran," Gaddafi said during a meeting in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi to mark the Prophet's birthday.
"The masses of Muslims must go to all airports in the Islamic world and prevent any Swiss plane landing, to all harbors and prevent any Swiss ships docking, inspect all shops and markets to stop any Swiss goods being sold," Gaddafi said.
Like the airport-transiting Muslims are going to give up their Rolexes and Toblerone chocolates on Colonel Qadaffy's say-so.
The Swiss Foreign Ministry said it had no comment on Gaddafi's remarks.
"He's a stupid-head, but we diplomatic types are much too polite to say so."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
I wondered what set the UN off. But than I remembered---Switzerland is where their numbered accounts are.
#2
If you look at the photo closely you'll see that Khadafy's aide de camp forgot to pin the runner up medal for Jew-hater the year for 2009 on him. Hope he doesn't get fired for that.
BAMAKO - A stampede at a famed mosque in Mali's northwestern desert city of Timbuktu crushed at least 26 people to death and left many more injured, officials and witnesses said on Friday.
A hospital source said 16 bodies had arrived at a Timbuktu hospital, and 55 had been injured in the crush outside the Djinguereber mosque, one of Mali's most recognisable buildings. A police official said at least ten other bodies had not been transported to the morgue at the hospital, but had already been buried in line with Muslim tradition.
Thousands of pilgrims come to Timbuktu for the prophet's birthday and an official said the accident appeared to have happened because of a bottleneck caused by renovation work on the 14th-century mosque, made largely from mud.
People were circling the mosque, a ritual at each Mouloud (the observance of the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed) and there was a huge crowd built up,' one of the witnesses, Mohamed Bandjougou, said of the accident late Thursday.
I lost my sister. She was 16 and had gone to pray,' said another resident, Ali Kounta.
Known as the Great Mosque', Djinguereber is the oldest monument and largest mosque in Timbuktu.
An official at Timbuktu town hall told AFP that the mosque was undergoing renovations financed by the Aga Khan, head of the world's 15 million Shia Ismaili Muslims. Because of these renovations, the passage on the north side of the mosque is closed off,' the official said, asking not to be named. On that side, to get through, the faithful found an improvised alleyway.
But the alley couldn't take the number of people using it. So there was a stampede. Somebody shouted someone has died' and panic took over,' the official said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/27/2010 00:00 ||
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Scene of the crime Timbuktus oldest mosque
Posted by: Snavimble Dark Lord of the Huns2650 ||
02/27/2010 12:24 Comments ||
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#2
No disrespect meant, but it kinda looks like a termite mound.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/27/2010 22:08 Comments ||
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#3
ever heard of "hive mind"?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/27/2010 23:08 Comments ||
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That's a healthy response ...
Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe Vélez has remained cautious about a proposal made by his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chávez, who has urged Uribe to hold talks in order to improve bilateral relations.
Uribe only said that the relations with his neighboring countries have an influence in the mood of Colombians. "If relations with neighboring countries improve, people are happy while if there is a setback in relations, people become sad and worried," Colombian media said.
Relations between Colombia and Venezuela remain affected because President Hugo Chávez decided to freeze relations in protest against the deployment of US military bases in the neighboring country.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/27/2010 00:00 ||
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Azerbaijan says Iran has offered help to resolve the dispute over the Karabakh region, an area internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan which is being claimed by Armenia.
Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Elkhan Polukhov welcomed Tehran's offer on Friday, expressing hope that Iran's assistance can lead to a resolution based on international law.
On Thursday Azerbaijan warned that a great war could be imminent if Armenia does not withdraw its troops from the disputed region.
Both Azerbaijan and Armenia claim the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is largely populated by Armenians but located in Azerbaijan.
Armenia took control of Nagorno-Karabakh after a short but bloody war with Azerbaijan that killed around 30,000 people in the early 1990s.
A ceasefire was agreed in 1994, but the dispute remains unresolved despite years of international mediation.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2010 00:00 ||
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A secretive group of Wall Street hedge fund bosses are said to be behind a plot to cash in on the decline of the euro.
Representatives of George Soros's investment business were among an all-star line up of Wall Street investors at an 'ideas dinner' at a private townhouse in Manhattan, according to reports.
A spokesman for Soros Fund Management said the legendary investor did not attend the dinner on February 8, but did not deny that his firm was represented.
At the dinner, the speculators are said to have argued that the euro is likely to plunge in value to parity with the dollar.
The single currency has been under enormous pressure because of Greece's debt crisis, plus financial worries in Portugal, Italy, Spain and Ireland.
But, it has also struggled because hedge funds have been placing huge bets on the currency's decline, which could make the speculators hundreds of millions of pounds.
The euro traded at $1.51 in December, but has since fallen to $1.34. Details of the secretive dinner emerged days after Mr Soros, chairman of Soros Fund Management, warned in a newspaper article that the euro could 'fall apart' even if the European Union can agree a deal to shore up support for stricken Greece.
Mr Soros, who made more than $1billion by currency speculation when the pound was ejected from the Exchange Rate Mechanism on Black Wednesday in 1992, believes the structure of the euro is 'patently flawed'.
Hitting back: Greek PM George Papandreou blames 'speculators' for preying on the country's troubles
He said: 'Makeshift assistance should be enough for Greece, but that leaves Spain, Italy, Portugal and Ireland.
'Together they constitute too large a portion of euroland to be helped in this way.'
He believes that unless the European Commission is given sweeping powers over taxation and spending, the single currency will always be vulnerable to financial turbulence in individual states.
'If member countries cannot take the next steps forward, the euro may fall apart,' he added.
Last night, Greek prime minister George Papandreou hit back at the 'speculators' who he blames for preying on the country's troubles.
Following a visit by EU economic inspectors and experts from the International Monetary Fund, he told the country's parliament that the worst fears about Greece's economy had been confirmed.
Greece is desperate to restore the confidence of investors in its debt after revealing that the previous government understated its budget deficit by half.
Outlining the precarious nature of Greece's finances, Mr Papandreou said: 'There is only one dilemma: Will we let the country go bankrupt or will we react?
'Will we let the speculators strangle us, or will we take our fate in our own hands?'
The Greek leader also called for more help from the EU with its debt crisis. Until now, the EU has offered political support but no bailout.
#4
Didn't the Euro start at one-to-one for the dollar?
Why has it risen so high?
Yes, it's a leading question.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/27/2010 12:11 Comments ||
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#5
It looks like a sure thing.
I'm suspicious as hell about "Sure things" and doubly suspicious about Soro's announcing it, he does NOT announce his plans, except to plant a false trail.
Stay away, well away from speculating the euro will fall, simply BECAUSE Soros announced it.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/27/2010 12:19 Comments ||
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#6
Speculation is a good thing. Speculators take on other peoples risk.
As long as they do it on their own 'dime'. When they're allowed to use margins that are well beyond anything they can really support when faced with a margin call, that's when their game collapses and everyone else pays. Then they're just transferring the consequences and the real risk on to other people.
#8
Soros may be a vulture but in this case he wouldn't be the killer.
For some inexplicable reason the political class of Germany decided to play a round of Russian Roulette with our economy by ramming through the Euro. A large majority of the people was against this, but since German democracy is quite authoritarian whenever the political class agrees on something this did not make a difference.
So there's no reason to blame the prospective scavenger.
#9
Is George Soros an Evil Mr Rogers? One world, ant colony sure sounds familiar... (warning for language and violence -- and Jesse Ventura with a gun)
[Al Arabiya Latest] Turkish police have detained 18 more active military officers and one retired officer in an operation in 13 cities across Turkey, CNN Turk said on Friday.
More than 50 officers have been detained since the start of the week in an investigation into an alleged plot by the secularist military to unseat the Islamist-rooted government.
The arrests have undermined political stability and fuelled speculation of an early election in the EU-candidate country.
Meanwhile, Turkish stocks and the lira currency edged higher on Friday after prosecutors released three retired generals suspected of plotting a coup, easing fears of a showdown between the government and military that had hit markets.
But the threat of confrontation between Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's Islamist-rooted AK Party and the secular armed forces remained, as investigations continued into the three men, who were among 50 officers detained at the start of the week.
"The crisis has come to an end for now, or tension has been lowered, or at least has been postponed for a while," said Mehmet Ali Birand, a leading commentator.
"Now, we have to wait. We'll see what happened yesterday more clearly in the next weeks or months."
Turks and foreign investors fear Erdogan's party could be on a collision course with the military, whose leaders see themselves as guardians of Turkey's secular constitution.
The military has overthrown four governments in Turkey in the past 50 years and with many of its officers still in detention, and more than 30 charged with crimes, tensions remain high and markets nervous.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2010 00:00 ||
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Eight current and former officers were formally charged Thursday with having plotted a coup in 2003, and were jailed pending trial. The alleged coup plot, known as Sledgehammer, included operations to blow up crowded mosques in Istanbul and to shoot down a Turkish aircraft over Greek waters to create a state of emergency. No coup attempt materialized. The military has said the alleged plan was part of an annual war-gaming seminar.
The comments are interesting. I'd no idea so many ardent Turks read the Wall Street Journal.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Greek officials say that the country is facing national bankruptcy as German banks reject reports that they may buy Athens' government bonds.
On Friday, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said that no one is going to pay for Greece debts and that the country would go bankrupt if the government does not act fast.
Meanwhile, German banks rejected an earlier report by Bloomberg that they are planning to buy Greek government bonds.
The news comes after Athens delayed a major bond issue planned for this week after a general strike crippled the country.
Greece has the highest public deficit in the eurozone and its fiscal crisis has dragged down the value of the euro.
The European Union has put Greece under immense pressure to cut its deficit by over 75 percent.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2010 00:00 ||
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#3
Socialists are always willing to parasitically suck money from others, but this makes them acutely aware, and very resistant, when some other socialist parasite tries to suck it from them.
#4
If I might suggest, the government could announce that on those days government workers strike, only those workers who show up at the office will get paid... or if PM Papandreou feels particularly strongly about it, if anyone strikes, no one gets paid. After all, the government can't afford to waste money like that.
That could be read in so many ways ...
Ukraine's new President Viktor Yanukovych will concentrate his efforts on creating the new ruling coalition in the nation's parliament to be able to remove Yulia Tymoshenko from her position of the prime minister and appoint the new Cabinet of Ministers. It is not ruled out that the new ruler will manage to bid farewell to Tymoshenko and her government in two weeks.
In his first speech as the president, Yanukovych outlined his main priorities: the reform of the government, the reduction of the governmental personnel, the creation of the competent executive power to deal with deteriorated branches of economy and the social field, and the creation of the strong and stable parliamentary majority.
Yanukovych's priorities were like a death sentence to Tymoshenko's government. However, it will be quite difficult for the new Ukrainian president to establish the new coalition. Andrey Paruby, a deputy of Our Ukraine People's Self-Defense Bloc, stated that his group would not cooperate with Yanukovych's Party of Regions since the new head of state suggested Ukraine's incorporation into the joint economic space with the Russian Federation and did not exclude a possibility for the Russian Black Sea Fleet to stay in Ukraine's Crimea. The deputy said that such a perspective was not acceptable for his bloc.
Yanukovych is leaving for Brussels on March 1. Afterwards, he is planning to look into home political matters connected with the redistribution of power. Yanukovych stated earlier that a new government would be necessary for his team to save the state from collapse and take it to the level of accelerated development.' However, the new president, just like the previous one, does not have any levels of influence on Tymoshenko in the economic sphere.
Alexander Yefremov, a deputy of Party of Regions, stated that the sitting prime minister of Ukraine would have at least two weeks to cover things up as far as the untargeted use of state funds for her pre-election campaign is concerned.' Ukraine will have the new government already in two weeks, the deputy added.
Some experts believe that Tymoshenko will be able to promote a new large coalition and even win local elections if Yanukovych does not manage to deprive her of the administrative resource. If she succeeds, the new head of state may found himself surrounded with political opponents.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/27/2010 00:00 ||
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That means more than a third of the 4.1 million people of Puerto Rican descent living in the 50 states must arrange to get new certificates.
Hmmm...why do I suspect this could be carbon credit trading for PR? Could 10 million illegals become Puerto Ricanos overnight? Just pay the *!*cough*!* processing fees.
Chennai, Feb 26 (IANS) Indian space programme got a booster dose Friday with its plan allocation for fiscal 2010-11 rocketing up by 58 percent over that of previous year in the budget presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in parliament Friday. The budgetary allocation for the Department of Space shot up to Rs.5,000 crore for the next fiscal as compared to the revised estimates of Rs.3,172 crore for 2009-10.
The budget has allocated Rs.500 crore for building Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) two rockets - polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) and geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV).
A sum of Rs.153 crore has been allocated for the development of GSLV Mark III, a rocket that can carry four-tonne payload and Rs.250 crore for development of semi-cryogenic engine. Compared to Rs.230 crore allocated to ISRO's manned mission in 2009-10, the funds for the next fiscal have been reduced to Rs.150 crore.
ISRO has worked out the total cost of the mission at Rs.12,000 crore.
While Rs.100 crore has been set aside for the lunar mission, Rs.262 crore has been provided for setting up navigational satellite systems.
"Factoring the non-plan expenditure, the allocation for the next fiscal is up by 38 percent," S. Satish, director (publications), told IANS from ISRO's headquarters in Bangalore over telephone.
For 2009-10, the revised estimates - plan and non plan - are put at Rs.4,167 crore whereas the figure for the next fiscal is Rs.5,778 crore, he added.
According to him, in the last fiscal the allocation for the manned mission was brought down to Rs.30 crore against the initial allocation of Rs.230 crore. In effect, the allocation for the manned mission for the next fiscal is up by Rs.120 crore, he said.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/27/2010 13:09 ||
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A journey from Earth to Mars could soon take just 39 days, cutting current travel time nearly six times, a rocket scientist who has the ear of the US space agency NASA has said.
Former astronaut Franklin Chang-Diaz, a physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says reaching the Red Planet could be dramatically quicker using his high-tech VASIMR rocket -- now on track for lift-off after decades of development.
The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket -- to give its full name -- is quick becoming a centerpiece of NASA's future strategy as it looks to private firms to help meet the astronomical costs of space exploration.
NASA, still reeling from a political decision to cancel its Constellation program that would have returned a human to the moon by the end of the decade, has called on firms to provide new technology to power rovers or even future manned missions.
#1
You lift a real expensive engine with a real expensive nuclear reactor and yeah, it'll use less fuel.
This suits NASA just fine. They want to conduct a few very large very expensive launches per mission.
But that's the very reason why launching stuff is so expensive for NASA (and for the rest of us). They won't mass-produce rockets even if their life and the existance of the agency depended on it. They're going to keep trying to make a silk purse out of heavy-lift sows ears until the economy goes under for other reasons and we won't be able to afford a NASA anymore.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Dubbed the Judgement Day, on Friday Thailand's supreme court ruled to confiscate more than half of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's family fortune because of his abuse of power.
The final verdict said that $1.4 billion of the $ 2.2 billion will be confiscated after he was found to have abused his power in all five major cases against him.
The verdict was issued amid tight security to prevent violence by his red-shirted supporters.
The assets are from the sale of Thaksin's telecommunications firm. They were frozen following his overthrow in a military coup in 2006.
Thaksin has been convicted in absentia of graft. He was found to have concealed his ownership of shares in his family telecommunications conglomerate during his five years in power, while gearing government policy to benefit the company.
The court ruled that $900 million amassed by Thaksin before his premiership be unfrozen.
The former prime minister, who is currently living in self-imposed exile in Dubai, denied any wrongdoing and called the verdict very political and a big joke.
Using a video link from Dubai to speak with his supporters, he insisted he would continue to seek justice in his case.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2010 00:00 ||
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Posted by: Snavimble Dark Lord of the Huns2650 ||
02/27/2010 12:30 Comments ||
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Kansas will go smoke-free indoors on July 1, after a narrow vote Thursday sent a smoking ban to the governor's desk.
The ban includes restaurants, bars, workplaces and other public spaces. It would permit smoking in a few places, including private clubs, tobacco shops and the gaming floors of state-owned casinos.
It overrides less-strict local smoking bans, including Wichita's partial ban.
"You are making a legacy vote to let all Kansans breathe clean air," said Rep. Charlie Roth, R-Salina, who carried the bill onto the House floor, shortly before the 68-54 vote.
The Senate had passed the bill, Senate substitute for House Bill 2221, during the last session.
Gov. Mark Parkinson, a Democrat, pushed for the ban to pass this year and called the vote a victory.
"Today's success took many years and many struggles, but thanks to a bipartisan coalition in the legislature, the tireless efforts of our state's health advocates and the support of the Kansas people, this legislation will soon become law," he said in a written statement.
The news didn't go over well at the Heritage Restaurant in south Wichita, which has been able to allow smoking under Wichita's partial ban by serving only those 18 and older.
"You should be able to smoke where you want. If people don't like it, they can leave," said Don Kinkade, a retired Wichitan who sat smoking at a table in the restaurant with a nonsmoking pal.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2010 00:00 ||
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To put this in context, some nightclubs try to go private after such laws are passed, and are met with the most bitter recriminations, "How dare they try to *evade* the law!"
This sort of gives the game away, that this is less about non-smokers rights, and more about denying pleasure to smokers.
Is obama making flavored tobacco products illegal?
someone told me that obama is trying to take bluntwraps and flavored cigars off the market, that seems like a terrible idea. and besides, who actually smokes grape dutches, 99% of people who buy flavored blunts roll 'em up w the special ingredient. same w bluntwraps. it seems that hes going after potheads.
June 2009, Family Smoking Act:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd
Enacted. Made flavored CIGARETTE tobaccos illegal. Requires warnings on packages with graphic pictures by the end of 2010. The link that I gave has links to see which Senators and Congressmen voted for/against the bill.
As you can see, this does not effect flavored cigars or flavored pipe tobaccos. YET. That might come in the future since this administration is attacking tobacco users. Besides the Family Smoking Act, this administration has also introduced/passed the following in the last 12 months:
February 2009, SCHIP tax increase:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd
Enacted. Raised federal taxes on packs of cigarettes from 0.39 to $1.01 and raised taxes on loose cigarette tobacco from $1.10 per pound to $24.78 per pound. Raised the federal taxes on pipe tobacco from $1.10 to $2.83.
May 2009, PACT Act:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd
Passed House but Senate made their own version (almost identical). The Senate version passed committee in November 2009 but has not been voted on yet. This Act will make it illegal to mail tobacco which will eliminate all phone and internet sales. This is expected to pass in the Senate and the president has said that he will sign it into law. This is the Senate version:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd
January 2010, Raise the tax on Pipe tobacco
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd
Introduced. This will raise the tax on pipe tobacco from $2.83 per pound to $24.78 per pound. Please remember that many pipe tobaccos retail for less than $25 a pound so it would be taxed at more than 100% of the retail value. This is just the Federal tax---states have their own state taxes on pipe tobacco already (Texas has a $17 per pound state tax on pipe tobacco which is used to pay for schooling for doctors)
Each of these bills include more than what I typed. That's why I provided links. As you can see, our current administration is attacking tobacco users. This is only in the last 12 months. It wouldn't surprise me if they decided to attack cigar smokers in the near future. However, so far, they haven't.
It's just a matter of time. Tobacco users are very divided so they are easy for the government to conquer. When the government attacks cigarette smokers, the pipe and cigar community sits and does nothing. When the government attacks the pipe smokers, the cigarette and cigar people do nothing. So how many cigarette and pipe users are going to stand up for the rights of cigar users? If all tobacco users stood up for each other, the government wouldn't be able to take away their freedoms as easily.
The no's are not pro-smoking, but anti-intrusion. I was in contact with my state rep, thats what was told.
Lawrence banned smoking a few years back, same with many other cities. The best solution I found was in Salina where there was no smoking in restaurants, and no smoking in bars until 10:00 then it was ok to smoke. Can't see why that isn't the policy except that it works for everyone. Fine, less SCHIP funds dumbasses. Every time a city has done this they sit around next fiscal year and scratch ass wondering why tax revenue is down (not just cigs, but those things associated with people who smoke who now tend to just stay home instead of going out to spend money). Another interesting side effect is the new mess of butts which will appear outside of every business which used to allow smoking.
As kofi mentioned: As for the flavor flav variety, Lawrence long known for its tolerance of mari has also recently closed down shops which sell tobacco accessaries. Surprise hippies, ya fell for it. Nobody says anything, including many smokers, because it is well stinky and gross..but soon you will see a tax on sugar/soda, fast food etc because the foot is in the door that others know better for you.
I feel I will see the day where I can go down to the store and buy marlboro greens, but have to do business with the gangs to get a pack of smokes.
*Anecdote - not long after the Lawrence smoking ban a shi-shaw club opened up in downtown Lawrence. It didn't last long, but I ask how it was opened in the first place?
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.
[Al Arabiya Latest] U.N. Director-General Sergei Ordzhonikidze said Friday that calls for "jihad" by a head of state were unacceptable, after Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi made such a call against Switzerland.
BAMAKO - A stampede at a famed mosque in Mali's northwestern desert city of Timbuktu crushed at least 26 people to death and left many more injured, officials and witnesses said on Friday.
A secretive group of Wall Street hedge fund bosses are said to be behind a plot to cash in on the decline of the euro.
Kansas will go smoke-free indoors on July 1, after a narrow vote Thursday sent a smoking ban to the governor's desk.
