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50 more titzup in Wazoo festivities
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Fresh quake hits shattered Solomon Islands
A 6.2-magnitude earthquake on Wednesday violently shook areas of the Solomons Islands that were devastated by an 8.0-quake and subsequent tsunami that killed at least 30 people. The latest quake came at 5:34 pm (0634 GMT) just hours after a 6.0-magnitude aftershock rattled the same area of the western provinces of the disaster-struck archipelago and terrified its residents.
Posted by: Fred || 04/05/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Gaddafi calls for unified continental army
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi urged Africa to form a unified continental army to defend its interests, and said former colonial powers should pay compensation for raw materials they had extracted. In a fiery speech at a military parade in Dakar marking Senegal's National Day on Wednesday, Gaddafi said African nations have the right to demand reparations from their former colonial masters for the diamonds, gold and other resources they had pillaged, Reuters reported. Military and political unity would help Africa resist any attempts to re-colonize it, the Libyan leader said.
Who's been talking about recolonizing Africa?
I did. I suggested letting the Eye-ties run Somalia again. My fault. Sorry.
Now look what you've done! Dammit! No teevee for a week!
"If we manage to unify all of Africa's armies in a single army, Africa will have such power," Gaddafi said.
Actually, Africa wouldn't. It would have large numbers of people dressed alike and in a few of the same places. Nobody'd be much more impressed than they are now.
"We must be strong so as not to be an easy prey for the colonizers," added the Libyan leader, standing beside Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade who was sworn in for a second term in office on Tuesday after winning elections last month.
"In incoherence lies strength! The sweeping and unfounded generalization in the strength of Africa!"
Gaddafi, who often portrays himself as a champion of African unity, said the thousands of Africans who tried to migrate to Europe each year are merely following the route of the natural riches shipped out of Africa by European ex-colonial powers. "Today, they contest our departure for Europe, they say it's illegal migration ... after they came from Europe and elsewhere to occupy Africa ... was that legal?" the Libyan leader raised the issue before the gathering.
Posted by: Fred || 04/05/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I would love to see them try. Heck, almost any change would be better than the present. Africa needs an enema.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 04/05/2007 13:12 Comments || Top||

#2  Yes, because big, erratically-paid militaries have always been such a positive element in subsaharan Africa.
Posted by: Mitch H. || 04/05/2007 13:40 Comments || Top||

#3  Iraq had a million man army to use against Iran but was unable to execute more then brigade sized operations. They had "Corps" only in name. There was no operational effectiveness. C4I was a joke.

2 million africans won't be any better. Just a huge salary and food bill every month.
Posted by: John Frum || 04/05/2007 18:08 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
US Ambassador Rebuffs Southern African Call To Lift Zimbabwe Sanctions
The United States will not lift sanctions aimed at Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and his inner circle as a summit of Southern African leaders urged last week, unless Harare creates a “genuinely free political space” and institutes sweeping economic reforms, U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe Christopher Dell said Wednesday.

Dell, in a wide-ranging interview with VOA, was responding to a communique issued by last week's Southern African Development Community summit, which also named South African President Thabo Mbeki its as mediator in the Zimbabwe crisis. Dell dismissed the call for U.S. sanctions to be lifted. "It's simply not going to happen," the ambassador said in a telephone interview from the Harare embassy. "We will not lift the targeted measures against these named individuals until such time as they take the steps required to create a genuinely free political space in this country, and to begin to right some of the economic damage that their own misguided and greedy policies have caused," Dell said.

Zimbabwe's crisis sharpened in March as the opposition stepped up its challenge to Mr. Mugabe, whose government responded with a crackdown on opponents including the use of deadly force against protesters and alleged police beatings of prisoners. International outrage fueled by images of the badly beaten opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, founding president of the Movement for Democratic Change, prompted the regional group to call an extraordinary summit last week in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. Ambassador Dell told VOA reporter Ndimyake Mwakalyele that although the Southern African leaders did not publicly criticize Mr. Mugabe, the summit was useful because they were tough on him in private and launched a new mediation initiative.
Posted by: Fred || 04/05/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Gee, the State Dept. needs to yank this guy back home. Honesty and clear-headedness? No allowable.
Posted by: Jackal || 04/05/2007 8:55 Comments || Top||

#2  THE MAN says..."Bite me"!
Posted by: tu3031 || 04/05/2007 11:14 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Dhaka Sets Up Special Courts to Try Corrupt Leaders
The army-backed Bangladesh interim government has constituted four special courts to try politicians and leaders involved in corruption. The courts, set up under the Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2004, the Emergency Powers Ordinance 2007 and the Emergency Powers Rules, will conduct the proceedings of the cases in the Parliament Secretariat premises in Dhaka.

In order to ensure expeditious disposal of the cases, the government has appointed special judges to head the four courts. The divisional special judge’s courts — the Speedy Trial Tribunal numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 of Dhaka, now situated in the premises of the district judge’s court — have been shifted to blocks 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the parliamentarians’ hostel. A total of 50 corrupt suspects have so far been identified for arrest and trial.
Posted by: Fred || 04/05/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That's a long and involved process. Why not just have them come along to recover arms caches?
Posted by: Jackal || 04/05/2007 8:55 Comments || Top||


Ex-state minister Azad surrenders, obtains bail
The High Court (HC) yesterday granted ad interim anticipatory bails for four weeks to former state minister Lutfar Rahman Azad and Gopalganj BNP President MH Khan Manju after they surrendered to the court in connection with criminal cases filed against them. A division bench comprising Justice Nozrul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury passed the orders on separate petitions. Azad is facing a theft and cheating case while Manju a murder case, court sources said. Barrister Rafique-ul Huq appeared for Azad while Moudud Ahmed for Monju.
Posted by: Fred || 04/05/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:


SQ Chowdhury, Shamim Osman, Mamun sued
Separate cases were filed against BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, former Awami League (AL) lawmaker Shamim Osman and Giasuddin Al Mamun, close friend and business partner of Tarique Rahman, in the last two days. Besides, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) will file cases with a Dhaka court today against Mamun and Harris Chowdhury, political secretary to former prime minister Khaleda Zia, for not submitting their wealth statements within the stipulated timeframe in February.

Meanwhile, former BNP MP Engineer Manzurul Ahsan Munshi was taken on a fresh police remand for three days yesterday in another extortion case. An AL supporter filed the case accusing nine people including Salahuddin Quader with Rangunia Police Station in Chittagong on Tuesday for physical assault, mental harassment and snatching his livestock some five years back. Shamim was sued by the ACC yesterday as he failed to submit his wealth statement within the time frame set by the ACC, while a contractor filed a case against Mamun and six others on Tuesday on charge of extorting Tk 2.4 crore from him.
Posted by: Fred || 04/05/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:


Campus politics to be banned for good
The government has initiated a move for a permanent ban on politics of students and teachers in public universities and colleges, in a significant bid to restore proper atmosphere for education. Since January 11, all political activities have remained banned under the emergency rules while the University Grants Commission (UGC) is drafting a law that will restrict politics in educational institutions even after the state of emergency is withdrawn, sources said. The education ministry that directed drafting the law, identified students' and teachers' politics as a major obstacle to suitable atmosphere for education.
Posted by: Fred || 04/05/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Technically I am against such a ban. Academia is just the place where such discussions should take place as long as there is level playing field and both sides are presented. I don’t think that a math teacher needs to opine his/her personal view on the GWOT in order to teach math. But there is a place and time for everything. I went to many colleges and I count on one hand the number of instructors that I could pin down their political leanings. Today it seems that Academia has to declare their politics first and then teach the subject. To warp a phrase from Laura Inghram “Shut up and teach.”
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 04/05/2007 11:04 Comments || Top||

#2  CyberSarge - you went to universities in Bangladesh?
Posted by: 3dc || 04/05/2007 11:10 Comments || Top||

#3  I think the problem they're addressing here is also one of the bands of fascisti running around under the banners of political parties, beating up people who don't agree with them. It's not quite as pronounced as the problems at good olde P.U., but then, things in Punjab are always more pronounced. Instead of actually going to classes, they're striking, demonstrating, staging processions, obstructing traffic, and having fistfights.
Posted by: Fred || 04/05/2007 17:05 Comments || Top||

#4  how long do you think it'll take for this mentality to reach the US?

Yes let's not offend anyone for God's sake.

link
Posted by: Jan from work || 04/05/2007 20:39 Comments || Top||

#5  #4 Jan - I'm all for offending these idiots.

They offend the hell out of me.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 04/05/2007 22:54 Comments || Top||


Britain
Crucifixion 'repulsive,' says British clergyman
Traditional thinking about the Christian crucifixion is “repulsive” and makes God look like a “psychopath,” a senior Church of England clergyman said in a programme to be broadcast on Wednesday. The Very Reverend Jeffrey John, the Dean of St Albans in southern England, was discussing the Christian theory of penal substitution, which argues that God sent Christ to Earth to be punished for the sins of mankind.

John’s comments came in a BBC radio programme marking Lent, the period which Christians believe symbolises 40 days spent by Jesus in the wilderness before Easter, when he was resurrected after his crucifixion. “Even at the age of 10, I thought this explanation was pretty repulsive as well as nonsensical,” he said. “What sort of God was this, getting so angry with the world and the people he created and then, to calm himself down, demanding the blood of his own son? “And anyway, why should God forgive us through punishing somebody else? It was worse than illogical, it was insane. It made God sound like a psychopath. If any human being behaved like this, we’d say he were a monster. Well, I haven’t changed my mind since. That explanation of the cross just doesn’t work but sadly, it’s one that’s still all too often preached.”

In 2003, John was nominated to be the Bishop of Reading in southern England but rejected the post amid controversy over his homosexuality. He was the first openly gay man to be nominated for such a senior role.
Posted by: Fred || 04/05/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'm starting to believe that much of the Western leadership, punditocracy, and chatterati have been abducted and taken over by Pod People.
Posted by: Seafarious || 04/05/2007 0:11 Comments || Top||

#2  Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

"Penal Substitution? Is that like Transubstantiation?"
Posted by: Anonymoose || 04/05/2007 0:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Anonymoose, you are talking about Penile Substitution.
Posted by: twobyfour || 04/05/2007 1:50 Comments || Top||

#4  UK is a big Mess. Gay clergy, too tolerant of jihadist ,anti-American Media, terrible rules of engagement, high prices, rated worst place to grow up, Cops without guns...
Posted by: Victor Emmanuel Grusong8179 || 04/05/2007 2:41 Comments || Top||

#5  Crucifixion 'repulsive,' says British clergyman

And water is wet. No duh. It's supposed to be repulsive. Keeps the peasants in line.

And since when did you get inside God's mind? Dork.
Posted by: gorb || 04/05/2007 3:08 Comments || Top||

#6  BTW, what does the pic of Rosie have to do with this? ;-)
Posted by: gorb || 04/05/2007 3:08 Comments || Top||

#7  Debka-like salt here: If I want to know about what' happening in the United Kingdom I would certainly not go to a Pakiutani site to find it.
Posted by: JFM || 04/05/2007 4:22 Comments || Top||

#8  Gorb, 's not Rosie, her moustache is not that pronounced. Some say on that picture is Khalid Shaykh Mohammed, or Ron Jeremy. Penile Substitution was Ron Jeremy's invention.

Hope it is all clear to you, now. ;-)
Posted by: twobyfour || 04/05/2007 4:37 Comments || Top||

#9  You're right. Whoever it is, it looks like this guy is thinking about $ex, and we all know Rosie doesn't think.
Posted by: gorb || 04/05/2007 4:42 Comments || Top||

#10  actually, I believe Penile Substitution was a Lorena Bobbitt trademark
Posted by: Frank G || 04/05/2007 4:43 Comments || Top||

#11  Frank, nope, that was Penile Extraction. There was nothing that it has been substituted with. Just, eh... extracted.

The Penile Substitution invention was triggered by the realization of Ron Jeremy that he can't, possibly, you-know-what every woman. Hence he used his equipment as a master copy for a mass production of latex substitutes. After the production went into full gear, Ron is rumored to exclaim: "Now I can!"

:-)
Posted by: twobyfour || 04/05/2007 4:52 Comments || Top||

#12  No that would be the Penile Subtraction. Something Rev. Jeffrey John clearly knows about.
Posted by: Icerigger || 04/05/2007 8:17 Comments || Top||

#13  “It made God sound like a psychopath. If any human being behaved like this, we’d say he were a monster.”

He then added…

“Ohhhh…and that whole Resurrection thingey…Pshaww…that’s like…totally over the top. It’s like a trick from that magician David Copperfield. I mean…he’s really dreamy and all…but gawwwd…what’s with his eyebrows? Now that MindFreak stud from the states…hubba hubba…he can turn my water into wine anytime.”
Posted by: DepotGuy || 04/05/2007 9:14 Comments || Top||

#14  Here's hoping Old Spook took a day off from RB. If he reads this C of E dribble I'm not sure his heart could take it. These are words of war to an old school Roman Catholic.
Posted by: Mark Z || 04/05/2007 9:46 Comments || Top||

#15  He must have been on of the idiots advising (either history or Nat Geography) cable channel on their show last night about some weird gospel found in a leather bag buried somewhere that claimed Christ tricked somebody else to be executed for him.

I am to the point where I suspect conspiracy by these channels to attempt to destroy the Christian faith by showing this BS just before Easter and Christmas. The only thing that keeps me from accepting conspiracy is when idiot church "leaders" open their mouths and spout garbage.

Its like the media and the institutional leadership bureaucracy have all reached and exceeded their "Peter Principle" points.
Posted by: 3dc || 04/05/2007 11:17 Comments || Top||

#16  Sounds like somebody should be assigned to make sure the Very Reverend lays off the sacramental wine...
Posted by: tu3031 || 04/05/2007 11:19 Comments || Top||

#17  Good Lord, this man's a moron.

I'm no expert on religious matters, but I can see that there are at least three things he doesn't understand. First of all, man's fallen nature is a condition that came about through our own actions, not through God's (He doesn't do anything to alter our state but, in all fairness, He did warn us; the consequences are ours to deal with). Because of this condition, we must pay for our sins - and since we all sin, there's no getting out of it; the question is more "how much" than "whether." What Christ did, through being betrayed (psychological suffering) and being beaten and crucified (physical suffering) was take the worst of it for everyone. Hence by accepting His sacrifice on our behalf we can come to know God (or something like that; as I said, I'm no expert, although I clearly know more than this guy).

What's almost as important as His actions on our behalf is the covenant that it seals. During the Last Supper, Jesus brought forth symbols of his later torment - the bread and wine, the body and blood. By partaking in the sacrament we accept His sacrifice, and we affirm that covenant. Now, the first covenant was the one made with Abraham, and it involved slaughtering lambs in order to cleanse oneself of sin. This new covenant involved Christ offering Himself as a once-and-done-forevermore sacrifice (hence the phrase "Lamb of God"). Through baptism, through our faith and deeds which are partially informed by that faith, and through the Eucharist (among other things) we affirm our commitment to the covenant and hold up our end of the bargain long after He has fulfilled His.

Finally, the nature of the Triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) means that in a very real sense God Himself was taking the punishment. He didn't so much send someone else as take it on our behalf.

Now, if God functioned like the EU, then it would indeed be "repulsive," as He clearly neglected to ban the fruit from the Garden (as opposed to simply telling Adam and Eve not to touch it). If God functioned like the Democrats, then His non-intervention and refusal to remove the consequences of the exercise of Man's free will (i.e. saying "Oh, well," and removing the penalty of the wages of sin, just because) is indeed "psychopathic."

However, in light of the fact that as fallen creatures we bring punishment upon ourselves in a world where the exercise of free will naturally brings about varying results and consequences (not all of them pleasant), then God's intercession on our behalf, His offering of His Son - part of Himself - to take that punishment, and thus His offer of redemption make Him appear as far more of a loving God than anything that Mohammed ever babbled about.

Does this mean I'm qualified to become a clergyman in the Church of England?
Posted by: The Doctor || 04/05/2007 11:53 Comments || Top||

#18  Doctor: Based on the foregoing, I would consider you qualified to teach the RCIA class at my parish. (Not that we lack for qualified instructors, mind you.)
Posted by: Mike || 04/05/2007 11:58 Comments || Top||

#19  Doc, No. You are overqualified and understand what Christianity is all about.
Yes, Christ forgave sinners. BUT he also admonished them to go and sin no more.
Posted by: Rambler || 04/05/2007 12:39 Comments || Top||

#20  It is supposed to be repulsive. It was public display of torture and death to keep the rest of the conquered peoples in line and obeying the Romans. If Christ had come during the Middle Ages it might be the Iron Maiden that would be the religious symbol.
Point is, God's son was to be used as the sacrificial lamb. Full stop, end of fucking story.

The UK and the west is in a very sad, sad state of affairs.
Posted by: DarthVader || 04/05/2007 15:08 Comments || Top||

#21  twobyfour, I find it somewhat deeply disturbing that anyone knows that particular story, true, urban myth, or otherwise...
Posted by: FOTSGreg || 04/05/2007 16:03 Comments || Top||

#22  The Doctor, you have it almost right.

What Christ did, through being betrayed (psychological suffering) and being beaten and crucified (physical suffering) was take the worst of it for everyone. Hence by accepting His sacrifice on our behalf we can come to know God (or something like that; as I said, I'm no expert, although I clearly know more than this guy).

What Christ actually did was take the weight of the worlds' sin, and all future sin, upon Himself. As God in human flesh, and as the Son of God, and with the weight of human sin so profoundly enormous, ONLY God could be strong enough to bear it, to pay for it, and to defeat the wages of sin which is death (and obescience to God's non-eternal rival, Satan). Thus, Christ took the weight of ALL sin eternally upon Himself in the aspect of His Son and, through defeating death, eternally paid the debt of anyone who believes, or comes to believe in Him through His Son Jesus Christ.

The path is long, and it is strewn with an extraordinary number of obstacles, but Christ has already paid your penalty for you and you can come to heaven through Him. You, as human, can never earn Gods' grace or forgiveness - it cannot be done.

Christs' death on the cross was a GIFT, unearned, unwanted (in most cases), and unwarranted by an eternal loving God who cared for His creation.

That God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that no man may die.

Salvation is a gift. We do not do anything to warrant it, to deserve it, or to earn it. It's is Gods' greatest gift to His creation and He did it for His love of that creation.
Posted by: FOTSGreg || 04/05/2007 16:19 Comments || Top||

#23  Oh, and by the way, He didn't take "the worst of it" for us, He took ALL OF IT for us.

If we come to God via Christ, our extraordinary debt has already been paid in full in blood.
Posted by: FOTSGreg || 04/05/2007 16:23 Comments || Top||

#24  Rambler, you are incorrect. Christ directed the adulteress who was about to be stoned to death by hypocrites to "Go and sin no more".

Basically, he told her to go home to her husband and to not leave him to lie with anyone else.
Posted by: FOTSGreg || 04/05/2007 16:56 Comments || Top||

#25  Does the church of england not buy into the "theory of penal substitution?" (I call it "the substitutional theory of atonement" - kind of same-same.) I would figure if you were senior clergy in that church then this would be part of your fundamental beliefs, yes?
Seems kind of incongruent or counterintuitive to me that the "very reverend" Dean of St Albans belongs to an organization in which he doesn't share the basic tenets.

I personally don't believe in the substitutional atonement of Christ either, (or original sin, the trinity, immaculate conception, and a lot of other things written in the bible) but then again, I'm not a church goer, a very reverend anything & certainly not the dean at St Albans.

Posted by: Broadhead6 || 04/05/2007 17:17 Comments || Top||

#26  Hehehe...I can't resist...

Broadhead6, God loves you just the same as you are.

:-)
Posted by: FOTSGreg || 04/05/2007 17:58 Comments || Top||

#27  Thanks FOTSGreg, I love Him to. Though in my case I'm quite certain it's more in the vein of that great old Peter Green song "oh well":

-"Now when I talked to God I knew he'd understand, He said "stick by me & I'll be your guiding hand; but don't ask me what I think of you, I might not give the answer that you want me to.........."
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 04/05/2007 20:06 Comments || Top||

#28  The Church of England hasn't required belief even in God's existence from its clergy for several generations. Once upon a time unbelieving clergy were expected at least to be terribly learned or of appropriate lineage, but even that has gone by the way, apparently. A pity Victoria hasn't poked her head in -- she'd know.

Broadhead6, I'm quite certain God understands and properly appreciates Marines.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/05/2007 20:36 Comments || Top||

#29  old Fleetwood Mac fan (also), eh, BH? Bare Trees and Hypnotized works too? LL
Posted by: Frank G || 04/05/2007 21:19 Comments || Top||

#30  or Albatross? lol
Posted by: Frank G || 04/05/2007 22:18 Comments || Top||

#31  "Even at the age of 10, I thought this explanation was pretty repulsive as well as nonsensical"

Then why did you become a member of the Clergy if you reject the core of Christianity?

/disgusted

He apparently never bothered to read up on the Old Testament and the original covenant.

Go read on Abram (and how he was changed int Abraham). Read especially how Jaweh/God requested the preparation of the sacrifices - and note that they were all killed and split in two with a path between them; its a fairly gory scene that is set. The Light and Smoke (Being and Spirit of God) went between the split carcasses, trhough the gore and out the other side, and in doing so entered into the original Covenant with Abraham and his descendants.

It was a blood pact - in the terms of those days, both participants were essentially saying "Let what happened to these animals happen to me if I break this covenant, this promise". Its remarkable - a Creator putting himself on the level with His created, making an even bargain.

The rest of the old testament details the issues the people of the Covenant had with keeping their end of the bargain.

But the New Testament shows the end of all that.

God, in the person of Christ, came to fulfill His part of the original covenant by having Himself slaughtered (per the agreement with Abraham, see above) in order to take up the transgression against God under the old covenant - which freed mankind from our obligations and debts (sins) under the old covenant, thus fulfilling the covenant (and prophecies). This fulfillment finished the old covenant, allowing the New Covenant of Christ to be established with all to wash away all old sins, and allow God to enter into the lives of anyone that agreed to the new covenant - Jew and Gentile alike.

Too many Christians simply don't understand the significance of the Old Testament and its role. This so-called Reverent apparently missed out on a lot of education and catechism, and absorbed a lot of heterodox and heretical beliefs. He should know better, even with as lightweight a catechism as the Anglicans have in England these days, it still teaches these basics of Christology (Africa? Different story - strongly orthodox).

FYI, I do teach RCIA and have studied Biblical Theology at a graduate level.
Posted by: OldSpook || 04/05/2007 23:45 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Castro says US energy policies leading to 'holocaust'
Cuban President Fidel Castro Wednesday charged US energy policies could lead to a “total holocaust”, in his second newspaper article in a week, suggesting the long-convalescing leader is returning to his former livelier self. Writing in Granma newspaper, Castro continued on the theme of a March 29 piece in which he said US President George W. Bush’s policy to promote ethanol fuels from farm crops was condemning “more than three billion people” to premature starvation. “The worst could be yet to come: a new war to ensure gas and oil supplies, which could place the entire human race into a total holocaust,” Castro said in the latest article. The article, entitled “The Globalization of Genocide,” assailed the US president for promoting global production of crop-based alternative fuels, as Bush did during a trip last month to Brazil.
Posted by: Fred || 04/05/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I wonder if Castro would hamper the Cuban economy with this. If he had one, that is.
Posted by: gorb || 04/05/2007 3:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Gorb, he's pissed. There are possibly significant deposits of oil south-west of Cuba's coast and Bush now comes with this ethanol idea.
Posted by: twobyfour || 04/05/2007 4:29 Comments || Top||

#3  We can use this. Personally, I'm going out and getting me one-ton pickup that runs on ethanol. I'll go on long road trips up and down mountains. In first gear. With the brakes on. And Rosie in the back when going uphill if it will pull her (she can roll down the other side and I'll catch up with her at the bottom because I wouldn't want her behind me going downhill). And I'll pay high prices for the ethanol, too! And I'll send Castro a Christmas card every year with a picture of my pickup being followed around by an ethanol tanker until he dies of a heart attack looking at it.
Posted by: gorb || 04/05/2007 4:39 Comments || Top||

#4  Hey, just make sure that tanker is labeled Brazilian Sugar Ethanol, and tack on a picture of the Amazon forest being burned by sugar cane farmers for more land. CC to Greenpeace.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/05/2007 9:29 Comments || Top||

#5  It's pretty simple, actually: if ethanol takes off, the value of Hugo's oil goes down, and Hugo has less money to prop Fidel up with.
Posted by: Mike || 04/05/2007 10:14 Comments || Top||

#6  Can we keep the bureau of Alk Tab and Firearms away from the pure eth.

Let both people and cars sip from the same broth instead of this stupid "lets poison every vice without a tax stamp" bs?
Posted by: 3dc || 04/05/2007 11:22 Comments || Top||

#7  Whaddya you care, Fidel? You'll be dead anyways...
Posted by: tu3031 || 04/05/2007 12:12 Comments || Top||

#8  Cuba has sugar and Brazilian sugar-based ethonal is ten times better than corn-based ethonal our US farmers are pushing. He'd simply prefer Chavez's oil wealth to cause the problems in Latin America rather than have his own country prosper even a little.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 04/05/2007 13:14 Comments || Top||


Europe
Spain resumes aid to Cuba for human rights deal
Spain has promised to resume development aid to Cuba in return for Havana's pledge to open dialogue on human rights. Spanish foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos held talks with Cuba's acting president, Raul Castro late on Tuesday. The visit "continues developing the fixed objectives," said Moratinos, referring to the resumption of aid. Moratinos added: "That is the great news. (Aid) had been suspended for many years and we're going to resume cooperating with the Cuban goverment."

Havana stopped accepting development assistance from EU member-states in the summer of 2003 during the diplomatic crisis between Cuba and Brussels sparked by the Castro government's execution of three ferry hijackers and imprisonment of 75 peaceful dissidents. The Spanish government, headed at the time by conservative Premier Jose Maria Aznar, led the push for EU sanctions against Cuba. Moratinos did not mention the possible areas of dialogue that could be pursued with the Cuban government regarding human rights, one of the most sensitive issues for the Havana regime. But he did say that "logically" the matter had been part of the visit's agenda.

Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said on Monday Havana was ready to begin a dialogue with Spain on the matter and set up a formal mechanism for the talks. "Cuba is willing to do so (talk with Spain about human rights) at this time. With the European Union, there would have to be conditions like the full elimination of the sanctions against Cuba, the elimination of the common position," he said. Officials with the Spanish delegation did not say anything about a possible meeting with Cuban dissidents, something that does not appear on the Spanish minister's official agenda.
Posted by: Seafarious || 04/05/2007 02:01 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  El Supremo requested a special shipment of brains.
Posted by: DMFD || 04/05/2007 20:15 Comments || Top||


Great White North
Oilsands committee told to halt development
Headline is a little misleading, the Alberta gov't is out on a 'listening tour' and (reading between the lines) the Canadian moongeese turned out a bunch of folks:
A provincial government committee touring Alberta to hear what people have to say about the pace of development in the oilsands were told on their Edmonton stop to halt development. Everyone who spoke to the panel Tuesday night made passionate arguments in favour of stalling new projects until a wide range of problems are addressed. "They are creating tons of jobs and many people are profiting from it, but they are doing it unsustainably. We don't need to exploit the oil as fast as we can," said Ryan Dick, a fourth-year business student at the University of Alberta.

Roberta Palynchuk says she hiked through Northern Alberta's forest in the 1970s, but those trees have been replaced by massive lakes of toxic waste water created by the oilsands companies, she said. "I don't believe that as an Albertan I can be proud of that. These things have happened in our province unchecked."

Members have already travelled the province once and produced a report calling for the protection of the environment and for Albertans to benefit from the oil resources as much as possible. This latest round is aimed at getting feedback on those ideas to see if this is what people actually want.

Alex Hindle, who spoke to the panel, said he's sceptical that the government will act on their concerns. "I just think it's too much and too fast and I feel that it's sad, but I don't think the government or the oil industry has the ability, or the will, or the foresight to say let's slow down a little bit."

The panel is holding public hearings across the province, with the next stop in Bonnyville on April 10. A final report will be given to the government in the summer.
Posted by: Seafarious || 04/05/2007 00:54 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What would be the purpose of slow down?
"Sustainable" my ass. Just a menaningless lefty/green buzzword.

No, the oil companies should just clean up after themselves, that's all and be penalized if they don't.
Posted by: twobyfour || 04/05/2007 1:13 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Bush defies Dems with 3 recess appointments
President Bush used Congress’s Easter break today to defy Democratic lawmakers and appoint three officials who have already drawn heavy criticism on Capitol Hill. Today’s recess-appointment gesture was another sign that he will not easily surrender to lame-duck status despite the Democrats’ control of Congress.
It appears President Bush waited to act until it would actually be effective. When is the next Congressional break?
The president used recess appointments to install Sam Fox, a major Republican donor from Missouri, to be ambassador to Belgium;
We had an article about Mr. Fox yesterday. Senator John Kerry objects to his political donations.
Andrew G. Biggs of New York to be deputy commissioner of Social Security, and Susan E. Dudley of Virginia to be administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the office of Management and Budget. Naming the three while Congress is in recess allows Mr. Bush to avoid the Senate confirmation process. The recess appointments allow the three to remain in their posts until the end of 2008, virtually the end of Mr. Bush’s second term.

Ms. Dudley was first nominated last August for the management-and-budget post, but she came under heavy criticism from environmental and consumer groups, which said she was hostile to government regulation.
A trained economist, apparently her cost/benefit analyses of proposed legislation are a bit more detailed than most -- particularly on the cost side.
Mr. Bush nominated her again in January, but her odds were not good in the new Democratic-controlled Senate. Ms. Dudley worked in the Environmental Protection Agency for two years during Ronald Reagan’s presidency. She has written extensively, and skeptically, about government regulation. In 2005, while she was at George Mason University, she wrote that government regulation was generally not warranted “in the absence of a significant market failure.”

Mr. Biggs, who holds a bachelor’s degree from the Queen’s University of Belfast, a master’s from Cambridge University and a doctorate from the London School of Economics and Political Science, ran afoul of Democrats because they disliked his ideas about privatizing Social Security. He has worked for the Cato Institute, which promotes libertarian views, and served as a staff member for the President’s Commission to Strengthen Social Security. He was nominated last year but failed to win confirmation, and Senator Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat who heads the Senate Finance Committee, said in February that his panel would not take up his nomination anew.
So much for the honourable Senator Baucus' control of the situation. Bummer.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/05/2007 14:19 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Good on ya, W.
I'm against most government regulation too.
Posted by: DarthVader || 04/05/2007 14:48 Comments || Top||

#2  Yeah, GMB! Way to go and way to show some backbone, Mr. President!
Posted by: FOTSGreg || 04/05/2007 15:08 Comments || Top||

#3  GWB, I meant. PIMF! PIMF! PIMF!
Posted by: FOTSGreg || 04/05/2007 15:08 Comments || Top||

#4  Bet Waxman wants to hold hearings.
Posted by: Danking70 || 04/05/2007 15:40 Comments || Top||

#5  Waxman demanded that the Republicans turn over ALL email records so they could review them. My reaction if I were a elected or appointed official would be: “You First!....Assshole”
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 04/05/2007 16:37 Comments || Top||

#6  It appears President Bush waited to act until it would actually be effective. When is the next Congressional break? I hope this doesn't persuade congress to stay in session year round. That's the last thing we need- - endless hearings, anti-war bills, and socialist legislation.
Posted by: GK || 04/05/2007 17:00 Comments || Top||

#7  They're too lazy.
Posted by: gorb || 04/05/2007 17:33 Comments || Top||

#8  It appears the Dems are going to challenge the Fox recess appointment on some kind of technical grounds. They say the appointment terms say he can't get paid and the law regulating the position says he must be paid. Or something like that.
Posted by: Glenmore || 04/05/2007 18:26 Comments || Top||


Thompson Bid May Fill a Void for the GOP Base
Hat Tip to instapundit.com for the link to the story. Story runs long; see more at link.

When George Allen fell to Jim Webb in the Virginia Senate race, it opened up a slot in the upcoming Republican presidential primary: the role of the reliable longtime lawmaker who has no serious disagreements with the conservatives who make up the party's base.

That slot is moving closer to being filled by a former senator of Tennessee, Fred Thompson. The potential candidate is about "50–50" on running "because the polls have caught his eye," a source close to Mr. Thompson told National Review. The AP suggested this week that a bid by the former "Law and Order" actor would be hindered by "a shrinking pool of campaign professionals" not yet affiliated with GOP candidates.

But a longtime Thompson associate said the former lawmaker has received many calls from veteran Republican campaign staffers expressing interest in working with him if he decides to run. At least one high-level staffer of another Republican presidential candidate has expressed concern about running against Mr. Thompson, citing a long personal connection to him. And last week, Alex Castellanos, a press strategist for a former Massachusetts governor and Republican White House hopeful, Mitt Romney, was seen with Mr. Thompson at a restaurant in Alexandria, Va.

Mr. Thompson's powerful friends in Tennessee may also help assemble a viable campaign staff. A former Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, once considered his own bid for president but has endorsed Mr. Thompson and would presumably put his network of supporters, fund-raisers, and strategists at Mr. Thompson's disposal. Another retired Tennessee senator with extensive ties in Republican circles, Howard Baker Jr., also has been nudging Mr. Thompson to run.
Posted by: Jans Chineque7444 || 04/05/2007 13:41 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:


Fred Thompson asks that highway not be named after him
Can you imagine Robert C. Byrd (D-KKK) doing this?

Tennessee House Bill 0393 presently before the Tennessee Legislature would rename U.S. Highway 43 in Lawrenceburg, TN "Fred Thompson Boulevard." Except it won't now. Rep. Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald) is withdrawing the bill. Why? Because he got this letter in the mail:

April 2, 2007

The Honorable Joey Hensley
Nashville, TN 37243

Dear Joey,

I read where the naming of a segment of U.S. Highway 43 in Lawrenceburg after me is under consideration. I cannot blame anybody if there is hesitation to name another thing for another politician or former politician. But I must say that I am very appreciative of my friends in Lawrenceburg and Lawrence County who originally had this idea. The fact that they would want to do this is more important to me than the naming itself. My daddy’s car lot was on that stretch of road, so it’s special to me, but the fact is that I didn’t build it and I didn’t pay for it. The taxpayers did. So it is entirely appropriate that it remain U.S. Highway 43 the way I remember it when I was a boy. Therefore, I would request that you thank my friends and withdraw the naming bill.

I really appreciate your work on this and the great job you are doing for our people. All the best to you and your colleagues.

Sincerely.
Fred Thompson


Now that, kids, is an example of class.

If he runs, I am so voting for this man.
Posted by: Mike || 04/05/2007 12:40 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Yah, he is a good man. But: no charisma, and Americans like a little. He is closer to Hubert Humphrey than Donald Trump.
Posted by: Sneaze || 04/05/2007 13:25 Comments || Top||

#2  The Honorable Joey Hensley

For any Rantburgers that may not know: down South, when a man's name is Joey or Billy or Jimmy it's almost always that way on the birth certificate - not as Joseph or William or James.

I didn't know Fred is from Hohenwald - that's some humble roots. Hohenwald is definitely out back of Nowhere.
Posted by: xbalanke || 04/05/2007 13:44 Comments || Top||

#3  #1. Sneaze, Fred Thompson shows more gravity (gravitas?) than "charisma". I personnaly relate charisma to ego, poor decision making, untrustworthiness, prone to use of that "chrisma" rather than thought to lead or get out of trouble (ie Slick Willy). Charisma is much overrated. Too bad it seems to be a basic requirement to be a politician with presidential aspirations.
Posted by: Throger Thains8048 || 04/05/2007 14:22 Comments || Top||

#4  Just for the record: I like Fred, and I'd vote for him in a minute. I'll take gravitas and good-ol-boy horse sense over charisma any day. Whether or not the rest of the country will is another issue...
Posted by: xbalanke || 04/05/2007 14:39 Comments || Top||

#5  In 2000, Al Gore and/or W had charisma? I think not. Gore had then and still has all the charisma of a wooden Indian, and until 9/11 W had very little if any. Gravitas and good sense is starting to get its own charisma.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 04/05/2007 15:06 Comments || Top||


Obama Nearly Matches Clinton In Presidential Fundraising
Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama says his campaign has raised $25 million in the first three months of this year, nearly matching the $26 million raised by Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton. As VOA national correspondent Jim Malone reports from Washington, Obama's strong showing in campaign fundraising suggests a very competitive race for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination next year. The Obama campaign said the $25 million in donations came from more than 100,000 people during the past three months, including nearly $7 million raised over the Internet.
Posted by: Fred || 04/05/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  In contrast to Barack Obama, Hillary is a "Democratic machine" politician. She is stiff and artificial and will play all sides of an issue to get elected.

Because of her name recognition and formidable financial backing she believes she has a natural right to the nomination. The tough primary battles between these two will leave her scarred even though she will probably win out.

Strong support among Blacks and single women are key for her candidacy but she will be exposed as far less popular among even these groups than she needs to be to have a chance to win in the general election.
Posted by: Gomez Omerong7140 || 04/05/2007 4:15 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Meet the Boeing "MOP": Massive Ordnance Penetrator
Edited for brevity.
As U.S. concern about the nuclear ambitions of North Korea and Iran have grown, weapons designers have been working on bombs capable of destroying those countries' underground nuclear sites. Some nuclear facilities in both countries are believed to be buried deep, so U.S. designers — including some from Boeing — are developing a new class of bombs for plowing through hundreds of feet of earth and concrete before detonating.

The latest of these weapons is the MOP — short for Massive Ordnance Penetrator — built by Boeing's Advanced Systems unit in St. Louis. The 20-foot-long bomb that weighs 30,000 pounds — much heavier than the 21,000-pound MOAB, or Massive Ordnance Air Burst bomb, unveiled in the prelude to the Iraq war. The MOP is an unusual bomb in that more than 80 percent of its 15 tons is in its casing, while it carries only 5,300 pounds of explosive payload.

The MOP was successfully tested earlier this month at White Sands, N.M. A Boeing handout last week made clear the weapon's likely targets: "The weapon's effectiveness against hard and deeply buried targets allows the warfighter to hold adversaries' most highly valued military facilities at risk, especially those protecting weapons of mass destruction," said Bob McClurg, Boeing Advanced Systems MOP program manager.

At Wired magazine's defense blog, Danger Room, David Hambling says that the MOP has much more penetrating power than military's best current non-nuclear option, the 5,000-pound BLU-113, which can penetrate 22 feet of concrete:
MOP will go a lot deeper — 200 feet of 5,000 psi concrete. MOP pulls it off by not being all that explosive — less than 20% by weight, compared to almost 90% for the MOAB. That's because bunker-busting bombs need very thick casings to survive the effects of impact.
Posted by: Dar || 04/05/2007 15:22 || Comments || Link || [12 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I see no reason why we don't put several bunker buster satellite into orbit. Even a handful of medium, 3-ton satellites, with some stealth characteristics, would annihilate virtually any bunker built. They would just sit there until activated, use retros to descend to a low orbit, then assume GPS guidance to their targets.

Then, when we planned to deploy them, claim we are using some new kind of aircraft dropped bunker buster. As long as a C-130 is anywhere in the vicinity, we have "plausible deniability" that we used a space-based weapon.

They probably wouldn't even be in the Pentagon's budget, instead snuck in to a black budget like the NSAs.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 04/05/2007 17:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Damn, #1 'moose - don't let the cat out of the bag!

That operation's supposed to be top secret.

Good thing the enemy never reads Rantburg, or you'd be in a WORLD of trouble.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 04/05/2007 17:18 Comments || Top||

#3  All that's left is to schedule a real time test of this new puppy in Iran.
Posted by: Zenster || 04/05/2007 17:37 Comments || Top||

#4  Excellent. These mixed with the new "GPS III" satellites will do wonders on enemy bunkers.
Posted by: DarthVader || 04/05/2007 17:37 Comments || Top||

#5  In Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress they threw big rocks at the Earth from the moon.

30,000 lbs from high enough in the atmosphere can wreck havoc even without the explosives.
Posted by: DoDo || 04/05/2007 17:38 Comments || Top||

#6  When you care enough to send the very best...

(Well, somone had to say it)

:-)
Posted by: FOTSGreg || 04/05/2007 17:54 Comments || Top||

#7  In Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress they threw big rocks at the Earth from the moon.


Don't leave out the best part of the story. You know, how earth's government did not believe the lunar threat was real and allowed crowds to gather at the publicized impact coordinates along with concession stands and carnival barkers, only to have everyone vaporized when the first steel-jacketed linac launched boulder arrived.

Well, by golly, then they had to go to war!
Posted by: Zenster || 04/05/2007 18:05 Comments || Top||

#8  "I see no reason why we don't put several bunker buster satellite into orbit."

I don't think they'd even have to contain explosive charges; kinetic energy alone would make for spectacular effect.

I've done some noodling-- fanciful, no doubt-- on a system I call THUDS (Tungsten High-orbit Unboosted Demolition System): 10,000 lb. tungsten impactors in sub-synchronous orbit along with their attached de-orbiting/maneuvering rockets. On command, the rocket provides the delta-V (roughly 3,000 mph) needed to stop the orbiting THUD in its tracks and begin its fall, and then guides it onto a trajectory that will end up in a nearly-vertical impact on the target. A minute or so before impact the de-orbiting/maneuvering package separates, leaving the impactor on a ballistic trajectory; it then maneuvers itself onto a separate course for whatever "supplemental" work can be found for it.

Tungsten is extremely dense; 10,000 pounds of tungsten is a mass only about the size of a 30-gal. garbage can. Weighing as much as a small dump truck, its impact velocity would be somewhere around 25,000 feet per second, ten times that of a rifle bullet. I don't know how much damage such a thing would produce, but I've no doubt it would be spectacular.

No warning (except for a brief, brilliant streak of light as it knifes through the lower ten miles of atmosphere). No explosives. No radiation. Non-toxic. And it makes a DEEP hole where it hits.

What more could a guy want...
Posted by: Dave D. || 04/05/2007 18:15 Comments || Top||

#9  #8 Kinetic bombardment.

Apparently Jerry Pournelle first proposed the idea in 1964.
Posted by: gromgoru || 04/05/2007 18:32 Comments || Top||

#10  IIRC it costs about $10,000 per pound to low earth orbit. Assumming the same rate to Geo-Sync (if that's even needed) we are looking at 10,000 lbs X $10,000 per pound = $100,000,000 per shot for your 10,000lbs tungston kinentic weapon. If the math is right I think that's too expensive by a long shot - even if there is a way to scale the cost back 100X it's still a million per shot.
Posted by: jds || 04/05/2007 18:48 Comments || Top||

#11  Should work on the Kaaba.
Posted by: Icerigger || 04/05/2007 19:00 Comments || Top||

#12  Sure it would be expensive; but I wasn't thinking of it as a general-purpose bombardment system-- only for deeply-buried targets where the only alternative would be a nuke.
Posted by: Dave D. || 04/05/2007 19:05 Comments || Top||

#13  how much ar jadams by ahot
Posted by: sinse || 04/05/2007 20:14 Comments || Top||

#14  Tungsten is extremely dense; 10,000 pounds of tungsten is a mass only about the size of a 30-gal. garbage can.

SIDEBAR: The word "tungsten" derives from Swedish, tung sten, meaning: "heavy stone". Miners noticed that carts filled with tungsten rich ore were much heavier than usual.
Posted by: Zenster || 04/05/2007 21:13 Comments || Top||

#15  Good to see #8 & 9 got into the Rods from God discussion. Once perfected, and deployed in mass, Nuclear non-proliferation and bi-lateral disarmament becomes an interesting negotiating stance.
Posted by: Grusomp Hapsburg6256 || 04/05/2007 21:19 Comments || Top||

#16  Tungsten is way too expensive and valuable--some advanced ceramics would probably do near as well.

Back in WWII, German R&D was asked to design the "perfect cannon", and they blueprinted a tungsten alloy gun that would have been the finest artillery piece ever invented--except it would have used the entire known tungsten supply of the world at the time.

It gave their C&GS a good laugh, though.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 04/05/2007 21:26 Comments || Top||

#17  "Tungsten is way too expensive and valuable--some advanced ceramics would probably do near as well."

Huh? Tungsten is used in light bulbs. We use it in large quantities to make the seismic masses in our accelerometers. Last I saw, the stuff was running around $16/pound, peanuts compared to the cost of getting it-- or any substitute-- into orbit.
Posted by: Dave D. || 04/05/2007 21:39 Comments || Top||

#18  DaveD, at high orbital re-entry velocities even tungsten starts to enter a fluid like state from all the friction its exposed to (approximately 7000K if it comes in at 8 km/s). This causes the outer casing to ablate and possibly deform resulting in a loss of aerodynamics. Thats all not counting the issue of the inertia plus gravity (namely the orbital package de-orbiting has a horizontal velocity and a downward one was well meaning it needs to be launched at an angle to the earth).

All of that is not even counting the cost of the package. You at best with 1-3 ton package will get out of it somewhere between 5 and 15 tons of TNT equivalent energy release. All for between 50 and 150 million bucks to put it up there in the first place. It'd be cheaper and more effective to buy 500 MOPs or 100+ Tomahawks for that price.

Now on the other hand if you had said 20lb packages, and a satellite holding about 300-500 of em and they were made out of depleted uranium with outer ceramic coatings (or even ceramic tips) you'd have a much deadlier total package. Imagine all 300 of those coming down on a target at mach 30+, each one of those rods is going to have the impact of 100 lbs of high explosive or so.

Death from Above would gain a whole new meaning.
Posted by: Valentine || 04/05/2007 22:00 Comments || Top||

#19  Go out into the asteroid belt, find a nice, dense piece of rock 400-500 feet in diameter, attach a few pieces of metal to it, and guide it in for a "hard" landing - pun intended. A meteorite about that size hit Arizona a few thousand years ago, and left a hole a mile in diameter and 600 feet deep. Nothing within 40 miles survived the impact. There are a LOT of rocks in the asteroid belt. NASA needs to be working night and day on getting us to the Moon, to Mars, and beyond. Whoever controls space controls the world.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 04/05/2007 22:50 Comments || Top||

#20  1/2 mv^2 is the equation you need for Rods from God.

Mach 6 = 2000m/s roughly.

so... 1/2 * Mass(Kg) * 4000000 m^2/s^2 = 2000000 (Kg.m/s^2).m = 2M N.m = 2x10^6 Joules- given a 1 KG mass.

So for every kilogram of mass you supply at that velocity, you get 2 MJ (Megajoules) of kinetic energy. 1 KT of nuclear/chemical energy explosion is roughly 4x10^12 Joules. (Terajoules)

So for a 10000kg mass, you're talking (10^4 * 2 * 10^ 6)/(4 * 10^12) = .5 * 10^-2 KT

In other words: half of 1/100 KT of TNT. Take the Kilo off to work with Tons, you get: half of 1000/100 = half of 10 Tons of TNT = 5 tons of TNT = 5000Kg of TNT equivalent explosive force.

Roughly 10K pounds of HE equivalent.

A little bit more than one of these MOPs.

So looking back at the math, 10000Kg of mass on target at Mach 6 buys us 5000kg of HE equivalent.

For every 200 Kg we put up there we get 100kg of explosive energy back. Roughly the same as a 500 lb bomb (remember the 500lb bomb includes casing weight, etc - actual explosive force is provided by 300 or so pounds of HE if I remember correctly).

Not all that great a return.

However if we had dozens of those up there, they'd make life very uncomfortable for targets - not large enough to attract attention until its far too late.

One other solution is to add more velocity - notice the V is squared.
Posted by: OldSpook || 04/05/2007 23:00 Comments || Top||

#21  Hmm.

30Kg mass. 15Kg equivalent of HE. Figure a grenade at 1kg has a 5m burst 3m kill radius. Figure the inverse square of law follows. Still gives you a 10m kill radius at a minimum, and GPS will get you that close. 500 of those up there...

Quite a nasty day for the dictator at the parade ground.

Add in the shock wave in the wake of the hypersonic round...

That might be usable - and probably nearly untraceable if you run it in hot enough to heat the payload to vapor on impact.

It would leave the proverbial "pink cloud" - like hitting a prairie dog with a 7.62 NATO
Posted by: OldSpook || 04/05/2007 23:07 Comments || Top||

#22  OK accepting 8Km/s as the upper end...

32x10^6 J/Kg(mass)
------------ = 8 x 10^-6 KT(energy)/Kg(mass)
4x10^12 J/KT(Energy)

Given that 1KT(energy) = 10^3 T(energy)
Given that 1T(energy) = 10^3 Kg(energy)

= 8x10^-6 KT(e)/Kg = 8 Kg(energy)/Kg(mass)

At that point we are taking a lot more economical.

30Kg of mass brings in 240 Kg of energy release.

And THAT is nothing to sneeze at.

The 10000 Kg mass jumps up to 300000Kg of energy, which is 300 T = .3KT of energy release - a decent mini-nuke that few things could resist.
Posted by: OldSpook || 04/05/2007 23:18 Comments || Top||

#23  One last thign to consider = power - that is energy over time. With the velocity this thing has it will quickly transfer its energy due to that velocity - that means a hell of a lot of energy in a very very short time.

All the more if its a thin ceramic casing prone to splinter on impact, with the core mass being nearly liquid from the heat.
Posted by: OldSpook || 04/05/2007 23:21 Comments || Top||

#24  Coming in at 1,000,000km/hr from a very large linac on the moon using moon derived material would it have time to ablate?

And with moon derived material the only cost per shot is the nuke reactor powering the linac.
Posted by: 3dc || 04/05/2007 23:34 Comments || Top||

#25  replace linac with railgun or magrail as appropriate
Posted by: 3dc || 04/05/2007 23:36 Comments || Top||

#26  Thats doable - but need low albedo rocks to avoid them being seen. Coat em with charcoal dust at launch? As for ablating - just use bigger more uniform rocks.
Posted by: OldSpook || 04/05/2007 23:55 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
US links Indian govt in weapons conspiracy
WASHINGTON - An Indian top executive at a US firm was charged Tuesday with shipping restricted weapons technology to the Indian government in a case that could put a pending bilateral nuclear deal under extra congressional scrutiny. Parthasarathy Sudarshan, 46, CEO of Cirrus Electronics, was arraigned before a US magistrate judge on charges of smuggling technology linked to development of aircraft, missile and aerospace systems, government attorneys said.

He and his company’s international sales manager, Mythili Gopal, 36, were arrested on March 23 following joint investigations by the FBI and commerce, customs and immigration agencies. Gopal is to be officially charged on April 17. Facing a 15-count indictment, they were charged with acting as ”illegal agents of a foreign government” and violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Arms Export Control Act. The indictment also charged other Cirrus employees AKN Prasad of Bangalore, India, and Sampath Sundar, 47, of Singapore, for their roles in the alleged offenses.

“These arrests put a network of technology smugglers out of business and demonstrate that we have no tolerance for weapons proliferators who illegally supply entities with weapons technology,” said Assistant Attorney General Wainstein.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White || 04/05/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [12 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I blame the US government on this one.

Stoopid beyond words.

Sorry, but no foreign nationals in sensitive positions. They should be third generation Americans before this is considered. Political correctness costs us again. Might as well tell Rosie O'Donnel all about whatever that guy exported to India because it's not stopping there.
Posted by: gorb || 04/05/2007 3:01 Comments || Top||

#2  They exported resistors, capacitors and Intel i960 processors.

They claimed the recipient was NPOL (the Indian Navy's Oceanography lab), which is not on the "entity list" and is ok to ship stuff to.

The actual recipient was VSSC (which is on the entity list and requires a waiver).

VSSC is actually not in the missile business. LOX/Kerosene and LOX/LH engines are not suitable for ballistic missiles. Not when the Indian DRDO already has large diameter solid fuel engines.

The i960s (an obsolete processor) which they could have salvaged from old laser printers was destined for HAL in Bangalore.
The FBW computers of the Tejas jet use this
processor. Ironically the FBW software was actually tested on an F-16 by Lockeed Martin. The engines of the Tejas are supplied by General Electric.

The MMR of the Tejas is being converted to use ADI's Blackfin Sharc processor.
3 generations of this processor have actually been completely designed in Bangalore.

Indian critics of the US-India nuclear deal have also seized upon these arrests. They are asking why the Indian PM Singh wants to but F-18 fighters from the US when even obsolete processors are under sanctions.
Posted by: John Frum || 04/05/2007 6:54 Comments || Top||

#3  More than 20 years ago, the chip firm Intel embarked on a project to produce an advanced microprocessor subsequently named the i960. Introduced in the late 1980s, around the time India was embarking on its Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) project and with US commitment to supply its General Electric engines for it, the microprocessor had a brief run of success like most new chips do.

By the mid-1990s, the i960's price/performance ratio had fallen behind competing chips of more recent design, including products from the rival AMD and other chipmakers. Intel disbanded its i960 team, sending some of them to work on the P6 Pentium. The i960 itself was nearly forgotten by the industry, and except for its continued use in some slot machines, was considered all but defunct.

But not by some Indian businessmen conniving with the Government of India, according to U.S investigators. In a 15-count federal grand jury indictment unsealed in Washington DC on Friday, authorities have charged Parthasarathy Sudarshan, 46, and Mythili Gopal, 36, of conspiring to circumvent U.S. Arms Export Control laws to purchase U.S. electronic components - mainly the i960 microprocessor - for use in the Indian missile program by sending them to proscribed Indian entities using false end-user declarations.

Sudarshan is expected to be produced in a DC Court on Monday, while Mythili Gopal has been released after an appearance in a court in South Carolina.

The case, which has baffled, and even amused, Indian experts, would indeed be funny if it was not so severe, with grim consequences for growing US-India ties.

That versions of the i960 have military application has long been known, as also its use in India's LCA program. But the chip is of such vintage that no one expected it to be a sensitive item that is on an export control list. "These days, you can buy more advanced stuff off-the-shelf in a Circuit City," one Indian expert familiar with the technology told ToI, not wanting his name in print.

Indeed, the full specs of the i960 microprocessors is available on the Intel website
Posted by: John Frum || 04/05/2007 7:06 Comments || Top||

#4  What is hugely embarrassing for New Delhi is that the indictment suggests the Government of India is co-conspirator in the case, citing Sudarshan and Mythili Gopal's meeting with an unnamed Indian official. The duo is said to have discussed the purchase of 500 i960 microprocessors with an Indian Embassy official.

Equally embarrassing for the Bush administration is that its law enforcement is using such seemingly minor infractions to undermine the White House's initiative to forge strategic military ties with India. The administration itself, Indian officials say privately, has been inept in removing several Indian establishments from its entities list at a time the two countries are talking of joint space missions.
Posted by: John Frum || 04/05/2007 7:07 Comments || Top||

#5  Above was from Times of India.

The fact that VSSC and HAL are on the "entity list" of (Clinton administration imposed) sanctions doesn't mean that stuff can't be sold to them.
It just requires a waiver. It may take 5 years for State to grant it but not even Foggy Bottom folk would be so dense as to jeopardize the sale of hundreds of GE404 jet engines by stopping the sale of processors for the flight computers of the same planes, processors you can find in any old Laser printer.
Posted by: John Frum || 04/05/2007 8:07 Comments || Top||

#6 
The news of the arrests has created a stir in the nuclear establishment here with sources pointing out that instead of loosening the high-tech controls against India, the US authorities are doing the exact opposite.

The sources pointed out that the export of items such as heat resistant SRAMs, capacitors, semi conductors, rectifiers and resistors were permitted by the US to Israel and China, but clearly, as the arrests of the officials have indicated, not to India. “US reluctance to loosen computing and space technology controls against New Delhi goes against the rationale of the Next Steps in Strategic Partnership between the US and India — an initiative that supposedly paved the way for the nuclear deal,” the sources said.
Posted by: John Frum || 04/05/2007 17:56 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
EUSSR orders MS to hand over bugs code; Boeing next?
Microsoft will be forced to hand over to rivals what the group claims is sensitive and valuable technical information about its Windows operating system for next to no compensation, according to a confidential document seen by the Financial Times. The group is required to license the technical information to competing groups under the terms of the European Commission's antitrust ruling issued three years ago. Brussels hopes the order will allow rivals to design server software that runs more smoothly with Windows.
After that they can go after Boeing making profitable planes, then Toyota's manufacturing techniques. They alreay have the right to steal any drug company product.
The Commission last month accused Microsoft of demanding excessive royalties from licences. Microsoft wants up to 5.95 per cent of companies' server revenues as a licence fee. But the confidential statement of objections from the Commission in the long-running dispute makes clear that Microsoft will at best be allowed to levy a tiny fraction of the royalties it is demanding.

According to calculations by the Commission's technical expert, Prof Neil Barrett, Microsoft's demands would mean that rivals could recoup their development costs after seven years. The Commission's expert, who was suggested for the post by Microsoft, goes on to calculate that even an average royalty rate of 1 per cent would be unacceptable for licensees. Prof Barrett states that a 0 per cent royalty would be "better" and adds: "We can only conclude on this basis that the Microsoft-proposed royalties are prohibitively high [...] and should be reduced in line with this analysis."
A 0% tax rate would be better, too. Why don't you work on that.
Three Microsoft rivals that have reviewed the group's pricing scheme extensively – understood to be IBM, Sun and Oracle – come to the same conclusion: "The prices charged by Microsoft are prohibitive and would not allow them to develop products that would be viable from a business perspective," the Commission charge sheet says.

A spokesman for the US group said: "Microsoft will respond to the latest statement of objections in full by April 23. We believe we are in compliance with the March 2004 decision and that the terms on which we have made the protocols available are reasonable and non-discriminatory."

The Commission declined to comment.
US businesses should be grateful they are allowed to sell in the EUSSR under any terms.
Posted by: Walter Duranty || 04/05/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Although they won't do it, it would be interesting if Microsoft were to tell the EU that under those conditions, Windows software will be withdrawn from the European market. The subsequent screaming might even penetrate the walls of ivory towers in Brussels.
Posted by: RWV || 04/05/2007 0:37 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm no MS fan, but legal theft is still theft. It would be cool if Gates reply consisted of a copy of "The Little Red Hen."
Posted by: PBMcL || 04/05/2007 1:12 Comments || Top||

#3  PBMcL, xactly my sentiment... coming from a Linux user.
Posted by: twobyfour || 04/05/2007 1:26 Comments || Top||

#4  Obfuscated Code is the proper reply

Obfuscated code is source code that is (usually intentionally) very hard to read and understand. Some languages are more prone to obfuscation than others. C, C++ and Perl are most often cited as easily obfuscatable languages. Macro preprocessors are often used to create hard to read code by masking the standard language syntax and grammar from the main body of code. The term shrouded code has also been used.

There are also programs known as obfuscators that may operate on source code, object code, or both, for the purpose of deterring reverse engineering.
Posted by: 3dc || 04/05/2007 3:18 Comments || Top||

#5  an example of obfuscated code:

#include
main(t,_,a)char *a;{return!0 main(-86,0,a+1)+a)):1,t<_?main(t+1,_,a):3,main(-94,-27+t,a)&&t==2?_<13?
main(2,_+1,"%s %d %d
"):9:16:t<0?t<-72?main(_,t,
"@n'+,#'/*{}w+/w#cdnr/+,{}r/*de}+,/*{*+,/w{%+,/w#q#n+,/#{l,+,/n{n+,/+#n+,/#
;#q#n+,/+k#;*+,/'r :'d*'3,}{w+K w'K:'+}e#';dq#'l
q#'+d'K#!/+k#;q#'r}eKK#}w'r}eKK{nl]'/#;#q#n'){)#}w'){){nl]'/+#n';d}rw' i;#
){nl]!/n{n#'; r{#w'r nc{nl]'/#{l,+'K {rw' iK{;[{nl]'/w#q#n'wk nw'
iwk{KK{nl]!/w{%'l##w#' i; :{nl]'/*{q#'ld;r'}{nlwb!/*de}'c
;;{nl'-{}rw]'/+,}##'*}#nc,',#nw]'/+kd'+e}+;#'rdq#w! nr'/ ') }+}{rl#'{n' ')#
}'+}##(!!/")
:t<-50?_==*a?putchar(31[a]):main(-65,_,a+1):main((*a=='/')+t,_,a+1)
:0 "!ek;dc i@bK'(q)-[w]*%n+r3#l,{}:
uwloca-O;m .vpbks,fxntdCeghiry"),a+1);}
Posted by: 3dc || 04/05/2007 3:20 Comments || Top||

#6  regarding the above code...

Although unintelligible at first glance, it is a legal C program which when compiled and run will generate the 12 verses of The 12 Days of Christmas. It actually contains all the strings required for the poem in an encoded form inlined in the code. The code then iterates through the 12 days displaying what it needs to.

// Although in the above display different line breaks likely wreck it.
Posted by: 3dc || 04/05/2007 3:25 Comments || Top||

#7  After that is said the agreement would finally give WINE a real chance of working.

WineHQ.org
Posted by: 3dc || 04/05/2007 3:30 Comments || Top||

#8  Yeah, because poor, picked-upon Microsoft needs help.

Bullshit. Microsoft has plagued the market for decades with their monopolistic tactics and their shoddy software. Now, someone is finally calling them out on it, and now they have to release source, and MS doesn't like it one bit. Tough.
Posted by: gromky || 04/05/2007 5:38 Comments || Top||

#9  I'm actually kinda torn about this.

Microsoft has the absolute right to sell binaries only of their product and they have earned the right to the market share they have now. AT the moment Vitsa is apparently going nowhere and is unlikely to soon.

We may eb happy that Bill Gates is getting gigged by the Euros but from a business standpoint, this action is confiscatory because MS's business model disallows open source code. It's not funny when a government any government gives itself the right to destroy a business because it is too successful. It's ugly and its a bad precedent.

Now, as to Boeing; they have actually been down this road. Our very our national fastener standards were derived from Boeing work in the forties and fifties. It made Boeing stronger and it made the nation stronger. WHen IBM did their PC thing, they moved on.

So, I am torn about this. Frankly I think it is a Bad Thing™ that the EU is going to drive MS out of business.
Posted by: badanov || 04/05/2007 7:02 Comments || Top||

#10  Please ...

There's ample precedent - Microsoft signed a deal back in 2003 that allowed China access to Windows source code. That was the price Bill Gates was willing to pay for selling MS products in the PRC.

PRC-Microsoft Windows Source Code Deal
Posted by: mrp || 04/05/2007 7:23 Comments || Top||

#11  Grrrrr. I posted the article. I dunno what happened to the cookie.
Posted by: Jackal || 04/05/2007 8:59 Comments || Top||

#12  they have earned the right to the market share they have now.

Nope, they have used illegal monopoly tactics to get the market share they have now.
Posted by: gromky || 04/05/2007 9:15 Comments || Top||

#13  Gromky,

There is another side to the MS coin you are posting.

I hate to say it, but without the 90% installed base that MS has given us with Windows, we still, as IT, would be stuck in the dark ages of support with major interoperability issues forcing case by case / unique issue everytime.

I remember IT before dos/windows (and during windows' evolution, lol). Oh sure we had DLL hell for a while there, but at least the machines could talk to each other - and not just at a stack level, but useful applications.

Yes MS has been tough, predatory, etc, but they've also acted as a catalyst for the IT industry (beyond mainframe cores in basements).

Yes there is linux and what not, which are important, but in reality we've gained and paid for MS dominace.

I for one do appreciate the other side of the coin, understand your side of it, but am happy with the stabilization of the deskside that windows has brought. I'm not talking bugs here, but market penetration and the known factor of windows being everywhere ... it drives development by reducing risk of compatibility and therefore risk of development. Meaning more developers, more software, etc.

Both sides of this coin exist with MS and it is important to recognize the benefit MS as brought as well as the pain.
Posted by: bombay || 04/05/2007 9:29 Comments || Top||

#14  Is this a red on red fight?

If so pass the popcorn.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/05/2007 9:31 Comments || Top||

#15  To speak honestly as a computer engineer and a developer. For tough applications MS never gives one enough information to really debug and make it stable.

For ruggedness and reliability I would never want to put M$S in a zone (such as combat) where you need a trusted machine. Why? Well for one thing you never know when it's going to throw a temper tantrum and decide it will not run unless some license is made clear or it has a chance to talk to mama in Redmond. (put a sniffer on your pc's connection some time. It calls mama a lot.)

I can see or ships or such in a major battle and losing at a critical moment because some stupid little box decides it needs you to talk to Redmond about some license renewal.

In any complicated and dangerous environment I can't trust M$S. That said I have no problem with folks using in in non-mission critical roles as long as they keep their anti-virus software uptodate. (At games it excels)
Posted by: 3dc || 04/05/2007 11:07 Comments || Top||

#16  Most Rantburgers have been along on the ride from our living on a Windows server with code in ASP, and witnessed the convolutions we went through before finally throwing up our hands and moving to Linux/PHP.

I don't know about y'all, but I'm much happier. Except for occasional attacks by Chinamen, we've been doing pretty good for the past year. And no data loss, which was something I always had to look out for on Windows - the occasional records lost without explanation.
Posted by: Fred || 04/05/2007 11:57 Comments || Top||

#17  While I'm no fan of Microsoft, I'd still like to know if they've ever made a single penny from their China venture. Does anyone have the stats on that? I've heard that they've yet to turn a dime due to theft and piracy.

I anticipate much of the same from the EU. Their "government knows best" structure is pure poison to private entreprise. The EU should not be trusted with a fountain pen, much less source code.
Posted by: Zenster || 04/05/2007 15:27 Comments || Top||

#18  Let me indulge a fantasy.
Bill Gates may not know any hackers, but he knows people who do. How about arranging for some talented people to take a look at EUro leadership's personal finances?
Posted by: gromgoru || 04/05/2007 17:55 Comments || Top||

#19  > Is this a red on red fight?

Yes, exactly. Though MS is about 2% more evil than the EU.
Posted by: DMFD || 04/05/2007 20:25 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Malaysia: Sharia law might trump secular law
Experts claim Islamic law and Malaysia's Constitution are at odds with one another

A heated debate is underway in Malaysia, a predominantly Muslim country, as to which legal system, Islamic or secular, should prevail in cases involving Muslims and non Muslims in matters regarding the family and freedom of conscience.

Subashini Rajasingham vs Saravan Thangathoray is the latest case to put Malaysia under the scrutiny of foreign media for its ambiguities regarding religious freedom. Subashini Rajasingham is a young woman of Indian origin, a Hindu by religion, who is in a custody battle with her husband over their children. The husband, Saravan Thangathoray, was born a Hindu but converted to Islam last year and became Muhammad Shafi Saravanan Abdullah. Now he wants to divorce his wife and has filed his case before an Islamic court.

The man already has custody of their first child, a three-year-old boy whom he has already converted to Islam. Now he wants the second, a one-year-old boy.

Ms Rajasingham wants instead custody of both children and has turned to the Court of Appeal in order to get the case moved to a secular court, but her request was rejected. But on March 30 she was allowed to appeal to the Federal Court, the highest court in the land, where other similar cases are still pending. Should there be another negative ruling, it would mean that for the first time in the country's history a non Muslim would have to appear before an Islamic court.

Although the majority of Malaysia's population is Muslim, there are important Christian, Hindu and Buddhist minorities. In theory, Islamic courts have jurisdiction only over Muslim. Members of other groups fall under secular courts. Very often though, the two legal systems are at odds with one another. Here are a few cases:
the rest at link
Posted by: ryuge || 04/05/2007 01:11 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Tell ya what:

Secular courts are the default and hand out judgments for secular matters.

For religious matters, if all parties opt to, they can also take their case to a sharia court.

Honestly, it seems fair to me. Wouldn't be perfect, but it would be about as good as you could do and still maintain some semblence of separation between church and state.
Posted by: gorb || 04/05/2007 4:58 Comments || Top||

#2  Gorb, that is how it was. The islamists are not happy with it. I have on my mind something more radical. ;-)
Posted by: twobyfour || 04/05/2007 5:11 Comments || Top||

#3  Sharia law may trump secular law. But Remington law trumps Sharia law. Unfortunately Kalashnikov law often trumps secular law. Which leaves the question 'Does Remington law trump Kalashnikov law?' It seems that to Pelosi and friends the answer is 'No.'
Posted by: Glenmore || 04/05/2007 8:48 Comments || Top||

#4  The Global War on Terrorism won't be finished until every single last person who openly advocates the imposition of sharia law is dead or dieing. Period.
Posted by: Zenster || 04/05/2007 15:15 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Student Who Mooned Teacher Sues
CLEARWATER, Fla. - A high school senior acknowledges he went too far when he mooned a teacher. But he thinks the decision of school officials to send him to a new school for the rest of the year was too harsh, so his family is suing.
Boo-hoo...
Tyler Tillung, 18, mooned a teacher "suddenly and without thinking about the consequences" in February, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday. The teacher had declined to let him into a Feb. 21 school lip sync show that was full. He was suspended for six days and reassigned to a new school.
"Consequences? But... but... but that's not FAIR!!"
But the teen wants to graduate with his Palm Harbor University High class in six weeks and complete his final season on the varsity baseball team, the lawsuit said. "We're talking about his graduation," said Tillung's lawyer, B. Edwin Johnson. "That's an important event in a guy's life. ... This kid deserves a break."
Cry me a river.
School Board Attorney Jim Robinson said administrators stand by their decision. "Without knowing the allegations, we're confident in the administration's position on this case," Robinson said. Palm Harbor principal Herman "Doc" Allen described the mooning as "disgusting" and the teacher as "traumatized."
I have zero sympathy for the student. But I don't have much sympathy for a teacher who whines about being "traumatized" by the sight of a stupid teenager's bare ass, either. That's what slingshots are for; keep one handy at all times to be prepared for targets of opportunity.
Posted by: Dave D. || 04/05/2007 09:41 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Traumatized?! Have you ever seen the zits on a teenage boys ass? That'd be enough to put you off lunch.
Posted by: Almost Anonymous5839 || 04/05/2007 10:30 Comments || Top||

#2  I wonder if his ass will be presented as evidence in court.
Posted by: DoDo || 04/05/2007 11:13 Comments || Top||

#3  The only thing traumatized by this should be the moron's behind, after the effects of the business end of a large paddle.
But that would damage his self esteem, not be a deterrent etc etc
Posted by: John Frum || 04/05/2007 12:32 Comments || Top||

#4  ...without thinking about the consequences

Well there's your first mistake, kid. Welcome to the consequences.
Happens everyday in grownup world.
Posted by: tu3031 || 04/05/2007 12:45 Comments || Top||

#5  Some kids have been expelled for less, Tyler. Quitcherbitchin and suck it up like a man.
Posted by: Swamp Blondie || 04/05/2007 14:22 Comments || Top||

#6  Somehow I do not equate a guy named 'Tyler' with being a typical baseball kind of guy. maybe waterboy, but ( no pun intended) Tyler is a name for the student librarian, not the shortstop.......
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 04/05/2007 14:41 Comments || Top||

#7  With apologies to Andy Williams.

Mooned teacher, traumatized a while
Tyler’s in exile, today
No lip syncher, you dumb stinker
So now you’re going to school far away
Cheap grifters, always set to file
There’s many suits to file, you’ll see
We’re after legal fees my friends
So over Tyler bends
My unbuckled bare rear end
Mooned teacher and me.
Posted by: Zenster || 04/05/2007 17:54 Comments || Top||

#8  Dang. That brought tears to my eyes.
Posted by: Dave D. || 04/05/2007 19:07 Comments || Top||


Science
Are humans hard-wired for faith?
Interesting idea. Get a handle on this and it may solve some problems if they can make some sort of vaccine that reduces "over-wiring". :-)

NEW YORK (CNN) -- "I just know God is with me. I can feel Him always," a young Haitian woman once told me.

"I've meditated and gone to another place I can't describe. Hours felt like mere minutes. It was an indescribable feeling of peace," recalled a CNN colleague.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: gorb || 04/05/2007 03:37 || Comments || Link || [12 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's Eastertide, and time for the annual secular debunking festival. Every year, the same stuff: some alleged biochemist claiming faith is all endorphins, some pseudoarchaeologist unearthing the bones of Christ, the hip postmodern Church-of-What's-Happenin'-Now! Anglican questioning basic Christian doctrine. Come Monday, the boomlet will subside, and we'll be back to the usual low-level grumbles about "breeders" and "Christofascists."
Posted by: Mike || 04/05/2007 7:14 Comments || Top||

#2  "Hard wired for faith" and "some sort of vaccine...?"
that's easy; just send some grant money to the UK and let the Lucas company fix it. Lucas, as in 'Prince of Darkness.'
Or send the $$ to me; i did something to my tractor wiring the other day and let all the magic smoke out; not it doesn't work....
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 04/05/2007 14:46 Comments || Top||

#3  Well, blow the smoke back in, then.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 04/05/2007 17:25 Comments || Top||

#4  Make sure you use green wire for ground. Green electrons cause problems when they have to use the red wire. :-)
Posted by: gorb || 04/05/2007 17:46 Comments || Top||

#5  > It's Eastertide, and time for the annual secular debunking festival.

The MSM feels free to do this during Christian holidays, cause Christians aren't likely to blow up or behead people.
Posted by: DMFD || 04/05/2007 20:09 Comments || Top||



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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
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In no particular order...
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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2007-04-05
  50 more titzup in Wazoo festivities
Wed 2007-04-04
  Iran deigns to release kidnapped sailors
Tue 2007-04-03
  All British sailors confess to illegal trespassing
Mon 2007-04-02
  Democrats To Widen Conflict With Bush
Sun 2007-04-01
  Wazoo tribesmen attack Qaeda bunkers
Sat 2007-03-31
  Japan sets up missile defence shield near Tokyo
Fri 2007-03-30
  Abdur Rahman, Bangla Bhai stretchy neck
Thu 2007-03-29
  Arab League unanimously approves Saudi peace plan
Wed 2007-03-28
  US starts largest exercise since war
Tue 2007-03-27
  Hicks pleads guilty
Mon 2007-03-26
  Release Sufi Muhammad in 72 hours or Else: TNSM
Sun 2007-03-25
  UNSC approves new sanctions on Iran
Sat 2007-03-24
  Iran kidnaps Brit sailors, marines
Fri 2007-03-23
  LEBANON: 200 KG BOMB FOUND AT UNIVERSITY
Thu 2007-03-22
  110 killed as Waziristan festivities enter third day


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