#3
3dc - Seldom do we actually see this stuff live. Being JetBlue (cut-rate carrier, etc.) I'm not very confident this will go well. I hope they have some real hardcore pro's at the controls, but the odds are against it. This is where they earn the big bux.
AP may want to weigh in on how hard it is to set down on the back gear and maintain a nose-up as long as possible - since when the front gear touches down it may break off (likely) and flop onto the nose.
Anyway, if you can manage it, tune in. Should be any minute, now.
#15
The mayor showed up with his entourage (sirens blaring) at LAX about 20 minutes before landing. His presence and leadership obviously was a major factor in the safe landing...
#16
If his wheels touched down, then everyone ran aft, ya might have enough change in CG to keep the nose gear up for a while. Not FAA recommended procedure. I have a friend who flies A320s for Jet Blue, named Roger Clyne. Was his name batted around the media? Anyone?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/21/2005 22:38 Comments ||
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Payments from the following states were affected: Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Virginia, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
The IRS is asking those who paid estimated taxes in the affected states to wait until Sept. 30 before contacting the agency on its national information line, 1-800-829-1040, to determine the status of their payments. By then most of the checks that were retrieved by the agency will have cleared.
#2
If you file Est. Quartely Tax Forms. call your accountant.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/21/2005 17:23 Comments ||
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#3
Whew! Just checked my bank account online and my check had been cleared.
Of course, I mailed it on the 1st of Sept....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/21/2005 18:06 Comments ||
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#4
Sorry, Seafarious. Here's the whole thing:
A highway accident caused some 30,000 quarterly estimated-tax payments to the Internal Revenue Service to be dumped into San Francisco Bay, but IRS officials say affected taxpayers will suffer no collateral damage.
A truck carrying about 45,000 forms and tax payments overturned on the San Mateo Bridge on Sept. 11. IRS officials said that the checks, due Sept. 15, were being transported from a post office to an IRS lockbox. No related information about the incident has been posted on the IRS's Web site, www.irs.gov.
IRS spokesman John Lipold said the agency will issue a formal statement once its investigation is complete. He said the agency will waive all interest and penalties for taxpayers who discover that their payments failed to arrive. "We're going to work with people on good faith," Mr. Lipold said. However, the IRS is asking those who paid estimated taxes in the affected states to wait until Sept. 30 before contacting the agency on its national information line, 1-800-829-1040, to determine the status of their payments. By then, he said most of the checks that were retrieved by the agency will have cleared.
Payments from the following states were affected: Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Virginia, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
#6
That's also why I advise clients to send all major correspondence certified mail, return receipt requested, which should be adequate proof that you sent the item in question. Keeping photocopies of what you sent to them helps, too.
#9
Yeah, lol. Too late, public servant - my bubble burst several years ago. Make yerself useful - get yer ass down to NO and put the hurt on those who scam the relief effort, lol.
#10
That's also why I advise clients to send all major correspondence certified mail, return receipt requested,..
Wouldn't it be grand if one could, after having been contacted by the IRS about a payment THEY lost, wave the certified mail receipt in the agent's face and say, "Tough shit, buddy, but I'm not paying you twice."?
...Rita reaches 165 mph winds...becomes an extremely dangerous
category five hurricane...the second of the 2005 season...
at 4 PM CDT...2100z...a Hurricane Watch has been issued for Gulf of
Mexico coast from Port Mansfield Texas to Cameron Louisiana.
At 4 PM CDT...2100z...a tropical storm watch has been issued for
east of Cameron to Grand Isle Louisiana and from south of Port
Mansfield to Brownsville.
At 4 PM CDT...2100z...the government of Mexico has issued a tropical
storm watch for the northeast coast of Mexico from Rio San Fernando
northward.
At 4 PM CDT...2100z...the eye of Hurricane Rita was located near
latitude 24.4 north...longitude 86.8 west or about 600 miles
east-southeast of Galveston Texas and about 700 miles east-southeast
of Corpus Christi Texas. Rita is moving toward the west near 13 mph and this motion is expected to continue during the next 24 hours.
Maximum sustained winds are near 165 mph...with higher gusts. Rita
is an extremely dangerous category five hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Some fluctuations in intensity are likely during the next 24 hours.
Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 70 miles from the
center...and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 175
miles.
Pressure has been falling rapidly during the day and the latest
minimum central pressure recently reported by an Air Force
reconnaissance plane was 914 mb...26.99 inches.
Tides are currently running near normal along the Mississippi and
Louisiana coasts in the areas affected by Katrina. Tides in those
areas will increase up to 3 to 4 feet over the next 24 hours with
large waves on top and residents there could experience flooding.
Repeating the 4 PM CDT position...24.4 N... 86.8 W. Movement
toward...west near 13 mph. Maximum sustained winds...165 mph.
Minimum central pressure...914 mb.
An intermediate advisory will be issued by the National Hurricane
Center at 7 PM CDT followed by the next complete advisory at 10 PM
CDT.
That is a function of Hurricane strength and topography. There were reports of major damage from Katrina as far as sixty miles inland. So if I were a betting man I would put 100 miles between myself and the point of probable landfall and at least ten miles from the water.
Posted by: DanNY ||
09/21/2005 9:24 Comments ||
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#3
Meanwhile, those smart reporters are all in Nawlins, well to the east of the storm track, fighting the last war providing invaluable help to the emergency managers there.
Sea, postpone your vacation to South Padre Island for a while.
#5
I'm near the Texas coast. About 20mi. as the crow flies. I just hope Rita isn't a moody bitch and sticks to her models like a good girl. Otherwise I'm toast.
I think it's neat. Galveston island called for a voluntary evac YESTERDAY. I think the Mandatory evac order goes in today.
Something I just realized today, was that GWBush does know hurricanes. He dealt with 2 that I can remember during his term as governor of Texas.
#6
Our hotels in Austin are already maxed out with Corpus/Gaveston evacuees. We are 200+ miles from the coast and are expecting to get 40-70 mile an hour winds.
#7
It seems Texas is just a little bit too ready for Rita: Democratic critics said the preparation for Rita seemed to exceed those for Katrina, and called anew for an independent panel to investigate why.
"It's nice to have the Bush administration recognize the importance of a federal response to Rita, but why weren't they proactively mobilizing and organizing like this for Katrina?" said Rebecca Kirszner, a spokeswoman for Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada. "These are the questions that need to be asked by an independent commission," Kirszner said.
Oh, I don't know, may be because adults are running things in Texas?
Posted by: Steve ||
09/21/2005 12:28 Comments ||
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#9
Steve, that's unbelievably petty. I'm not happy with the GOP on a number of issues, but hearing the Senate minority leader's staff say something that awful will keep me out of the Dem tent for a very very long time.
[Cue the sour grapes pic that we use for MMA & company as they waddle out of Paki Parliament for the 122nd day in a row...]
#10
"It's nice to have the Bush administration recognize the importance of a federal response to Rita, but why weren't they proactively mobilizing and organizing like this for Katrina?" said Rebecca Kirszner, a spokeswoman for Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
Because, unlike Democrats, maybe they learned from their mistakes?
#12
Oct. 05, 2004
Gov. Perry Asks for State Assessment of Hurricane Preparedness
Says Florida's Experience Demonstrates Need to Review Texas' Evacuation Abilities
AUSTIN â Gov. Rick Perry today notified legislators from coastal areas across the state that he has directed Homeland Security Director Steve McCraw to assess Texasâ ability to handle large scale evacuations in the event of a catastrophic hurricane.
âOver the last several weeks we have been reminded of the substantial threat hurricanes can pose to the safety of our citizens who reside and/or work in the coastal areas of our state,â Perry wrote in a letter sent today to legislators.
âThere are significant challenges associated with the large scale evacuation of citizens from coastal areas of Texas, and I want to ensure that we are optimally prepared in the event of a catastrophic hurricane.â
Perry said he is particularly concerned about local communitiesâ ability to quickly evacuate major population centers in the coastal areas of Beaumont-Port Arthur, Houston-Galveston, Corpus Christi and Brownsville-Harlingen.
The assessment will include a review of existing evacuation routes, traffic control plans and intergovernmental coordination needed to manage such evacuations.
The assessment also will include a review of the stateâs role in coordinating state resources needed at the local level.
Perry has directed McCraw to gather input from local community leaders along the coastal area of the state and from Texas legislators, as well as officials in Florida, as part of his assessment.
Perry told legislators he would make recommendations based on the assessment and would share results of the study with them. He has asked for the report no later than Feb. 15.
And then a plan was developed and is now being executed. None of this happened overnight -- including drills. You can be sure, the MSM will never figure out, there just might have been a plan to activate!
#13
Muck4doo, true story. The 6 years I lived in Miami were mostly hurricane free. From time to time a TS would form and threaten, but veer away and go wack North Carolina or elsewhere. The standard South Florida hurricane drill was to buy batteries, water, and put big masking tape x's on all the windows.
After Andrew, no more masking tape. Plywood or steel shutters all 'round. Good luck.
#15
A note about batteries...when Isabel came to DC a couple years back, all the stores ran out of size C & D batteries. I worked around that with a little Walkman radio and a pair of plug-in speakers I picked up at Radio Shack for ten bucks. The stores had PLENTY of AA batteries...
#22
Right about those batteries! I just got back from Sam's in south Austin, and the stock of the C's & D's was low! And Sam's is busy!
For the first time I've seen, they had folks all over that warehouse, asking if they could help me find something! Go WalMart! Capitalism at it's findest!
#23
Another item I found very handy during 17 electicity- free hours... those goofy "As Seen On TV" tap lights. I got a bunch of them at the dollar store. They were great in the bathroom, stairs, hallways, etc. and no fear of burning the house down. They also use the AA batteries.
#24
Dr. Jeff Masters Blog: The 1:53 eye report from the hurricane hunters found a 920 mb pressure and flight level winds of 153 knots (176 mph). These numbers plus the satellite intensity estimates would ordinarily support upgrading Rita to a Category 5 hurricane, but NHC is being conservative, and calling Rita a strong Category 4 hurricane with 150 mph surface winds.
There are two hurricane hunter aircraft in Rita this afternoon. The NOAA hurricane hunters found a central pressure of 934 mb at 11:17 am, and the Air Force hurricane hunters found a central pressure of 923 mb at 1:02pm. This incredible drop of 11 mb in 105 minutes is the fastest pressure fall I can ever recall seeing in a hurricane, and exceeds the 10 mb drop in 100 minutes we saw in Hurricane Charley last year. With an eye diameter of 25 miles, an eyewall replacement cycle is not likely today, and Rita may intensify to a level close to Katrina's strongest point--902 mb.
Steve Gregory Blog: SEP 21 2005 - 1:20PM CDT: The latest RECON reports confirm RITA is now a CATASTROPHIC CATEGORY 5 Hurricane.
Center Pressure is down to 920mb, and MAX Sustained winds of 153KTs at Flight level -- implying 155mph surface winds. with gusts to 175mph.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/21/2005 14:58 Comments ||
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#25
I hope it doesn't turn out like 1900's Galveston Hurricane. That was the deadliest in US history and the second deadliest on record for the Atlantic basin. The biggest was in 1780 and killed more than 20,000.
#26
Going back to my high skool civics classes, the Galveston storm swept the city government out and they started over with a new form of city management.
The Galveston city government was reorganized into a commission government, a newly devised structure where the government is made of a small group of commissioners, each responsible for one aspect of governance. This was prompted by fears that the existing city council would be unable to handle the problem of rebuilding the city.
I find myself wondering if New Orleans will be willing to reorganize its gov't. Storms cull the weak, and that includes politicians too.
Dozens of people from Jacksonville to Ft. Pierce flooded the U.S. Coast Guard late Tuesday with calls about a mysterious ball of fire seen flying in the sky, according to a Local 6 News report.
Callers flooded the newsroom of Local 6 News partner Florida Today after they saw the object over the Space Coast Tuesday night.
"Starting at about 7:30 last night, we started receiving calls here in the newsroom," Florida Today online news editor Dave Larimer said. "In fact, the Coast Guard station in Port Canaveral got more than two dozen reports of people seeing a bright light in the sky over the ocean."
Yates said one caller who was walking his dog near the Sebastian Inlet described the object as "huge, like a giant fireball."
(Link) It's them damn North Koreans again... Better find that chick from the X-men!
I'd save any seeding / strengthening efforts for the next big one that appears headed for BaltimoreDCNYCTaxachussetts another Big Blue Nanny State - and nationalize the Guard, declare martial law, and begin active Ops in CW-II. I think of it as SQ* cleansing regards the gene pool, a large dose of Moonbat Chlorine, very similar to the Darwin Award Thingy writ large.
Posted by: Matt ||
09/21/2005 17:34 Comments ||
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#42
or lasers or something but it would need to quit slow down not speed up the heat engine - EXCPEPT the storm is equal to a nuke every min or so - the most you could do is slow it down.... Cloud seeding where it would be counter productive to the heat engine might be a better idea.
#44
Re: the Great Ball Of Fire... if I knew what direction it was going in I could say whether it was prograde or retrograde, and maybe guess as to whether it was space junk or a meteor... ouch.
Mucki: Don't forget to stock up on drinking water and duck tape... and if you're in one of the hillier parts of Austin, you may want to make sure it's a place that isn't going to landslide or something.
(Shit, I hadn't thought of that before).
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
09/21/2005 18:08 Comments ||
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#49
Close your bathtub drain and tape over it with duct tape. Then fill the tub. If nothing else, it's good for flushing the toilet for a few days when there's no running water. Also, remember that you water heater probably holds about 50 gallons of perfectly good drinking water -- if you flush the the muck out of the bottom before the storm hits and the water supply stops.
#54
sparkly white teeth on the ill, huh, .com? LOL
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/21/2005 19:52 Comments ||
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#55
OK, Muck, I talked to my b-i-l who lived in Austin for something like 2 decades; he said that it's mainly downtown and the low lying areas that flood, but that the hilly bits have enough limestone that they don't tend to slide or anything like that.
I'm still checking, though.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
09/21/2005 20:36 Comments ||
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#56
Gentlemen,When you hit the Wal Mart, get two or more propane mantle lanterns, the gasoline ones are very good, the propane ones are better, get at least 1 spare package of mantles (they're delicate) and at least 3 propane bottles per lamp.One bottle will give you the equivelent of a 40-60 watt bulb for about 8 hours.
Go to sporting goods and buy the "Portable Shower" it's a 5 gallon heavy plastic bag for storing and heating water from the sun, and can be used both as clean water storage and as a shower when you can't stand yourself any longer, simply fill, and hang somewhere in the sun, it gets warm enough for a comfortable shower and comes with a spigot, hose and showerhead, it folds up into a 14X14X3 package when not being used.
One of the most important things is some kind of working fan, without it sleep is near impossible, I made do with a very small oscilating fan plugged into my computer's UPS, but it lasted only about 4 hours, so I strongly recomend one(Several) of those small battery "Personal" fans, the ones with the soft blades.
Now I have one of those 12 volt fans that truckers use in their cabs, and a huge 12 volt "Marine/Deep Cycle" Battery to run it..
While I'm on the subject, the battery can be recharged by connecting it to your car with jumper cables Like you're trying to jump start the car, but you're charging the big battery not using it, run your car AT IDLE about 4 hours to charge the big battery, get a cheap digital voltmeter, a fully charged automotive battery shows 12.7 volts, a discharged one 12.2.
It's very important to NOT run the engine faster than at idle, you can destroy the alternator , it's trying to pump out a huge load, and racing the engine can burn it out, at idle you're safe.
While idling the voltage should be between 14 1/2 and 16 1/2 volts, that's normal charging and running voltage, it will drop back when the engine is stopped and the battery disconnected.
Do not forget a coil of 1'4 inch nylon rope, the best rope is "Braided" and flexible,
If you don't smoke, get a "Windproof" refillable Cigarette Lighter, (butane) and a small refill bottle (Aluminum Pressure Container) about 1 inch diameter and about 6 inches long. If used for nothing else, it should be used to sear the ends of your nylon rope each time you cut some off.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/21/2005 20:39 Comments ||
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#57
All good advice, Redneck Jim... I'd add, though, that there's an old wives' tale/old mechanics' tale that you don't want to leave a battery directly in contact with cement or concrete, so you'll want a little wooden thing to put it on while you charge it.
(I have Kerosene lamps myself. And flashlights, and a carbide lamp. I don't have a propane lantern, but I have some propane cylinders...)
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
09/21/2005 21:25 Comments ||
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#58
The latest runs of two key computer models, the GFS and GFDL, now indicate that the trough of low pressure that was expected to pick up Rita and pull her rapidly northward through Texas will not be strong enough to do so. Instead, these models forecast that Rita will make landfall near Galveston, penetrate inland between 50 and 200 miles, then slowly drift southwestward for nearly two days, as a high pressure ridge will build in to her north. Finally, a second trough is forecast to lift Rita out of Texas on Tuesday. If this scenario develops, not only will the coast receive catastrophic damage from the storm surge, but interior Texas, including the Dallas/Fort Worth area, might see a deluge of 15 - 30 inches of rain. A huge portion of Texas would be a disaster area. The models are not suggesting this at all, but is also possible that Rita may not make landfall on Saturday as expected, but pull up just short of the Texas coast and pound it for days as it waits for the next trough to pick her up. We'll have to wait for the next set of model runs due out by tomorrow morning to know better.
The 7:09 pm eye report from the hurricane hunters found a 904 mb pressure and flight level winds of 161 knots (186 mph). This pressure makes Rita the 3rd strongest Atlantic hurricane of all time. Tonight, Rita will be passing over the Loop Current, a warm eddy of water in the Gulf that aided Katrina's growth to a Category 5 hurricane. Fueled by this pool of deep warm water and an almost ideal upper level wind environment, Rita should continue to intensify until Thursday morning, when she will pass beyond the Loop Current. The eye has shrunk to 20 nm diameter from 25 nm earlier this afternoon. By the time the eye shrinks down to 10 nm, the eyewall will collapse and an eyewall replacement cycle begin, putting an end to this intensification cycle. With potentially another 12 hours to go before this happens, Rita could challenge Gilbert's 888 mb pressure record.
The list of strongest hurricanes of all time now reads:
Hurricane Gilbert (888 mb, 1988)
The Great Labor Day Hurricane (892 mb, 1935)
Hurricane Rita (898 mb, 2005)
Hurricane Allen (899 mb, 1980)
Hurricane Katrina (902 mb, 2005)
Hurricane Camille (905 mb, 1969)
I expect to rewrite this list when the next reconnaissance aircraft reaches Rita about 9pm tonight. How low can Rita go?
#59
If this scenario develops, not only will the coast receive catastrophic damage from the storm surge, but interior Texas, including the Dallas/Fort Worth area, might see a deluge of 15 - 30 inches of rain.
OMG... it's homing in on Ray Nagin!
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
09/21/2005 21:38 Comments ||
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#60
If Al Capp was around, he'd have a name for Nugget...
#61
phil, muck - The hills around Austin and Central Texas are limestone, stacked like a birthday cake. They would look like steps if there was no dirt. The "steps" are covered in dirt, but the sides have very little. Not much California-style mudsliding in these parts (I'm just north of Austin in Round Rock).
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
09/21/2005 21:44 Comments ||
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#62
Thanks, Laurence, I just wanted to make sure.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
09/21/2005 21:52 Comments ||
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#63
#57: All good advice, Redneck Jim... I'd add, though, that there's an old wives' tale/old mechanics' tale that you don't want to leave a battery directly in contact with cement or concrete, so you'll want a little wooden thing to put it on while you charge it.
Sorry, that's not true, what really happens is folks forget to check the battery and when needed it's dead as a doornail, and if left dead cannot be recharged, (A sulphur-lead reaction that's usualy fatal to a lead-acid battery) Concrete has absolutely nothing to do with it, but it's still a very good idea to put the battery in a polypropolene case, simply to keep from getting battery acid on your floor if spilled or turned over, they're available in most hardware/boat/hardware/wally worlld, but get one after you get your battery, then you can fit it to the battery's size without guessing.
I have a 1200 watt inverter on order, it can use the battery to keep the "Fridge" running until I either have line power back, or run out of gasoline.
By the way, use whatever vehicle you own that has the smallest engine, but do not use a motorcycle, it' has a very small alternator and the engine will quickly overheat without wind cooling it, even if water cooled, do not use a motorcycle of any make, you'll burn out the alternator quickly.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/21/2005 22:14 Comments ||
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#64
As an aside, I AM "The Old Mechanic"
Been a "Master Mechanic" for about 30 years now.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/21/2005 22:22 Comments ||
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#65
thx - always wondered about why the hell I'm supposed to insulate an insulated case from concrete
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/21/2005 22:23 Comments ||
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#66
Ah. I didn't know that. I stand corrected. Thanks.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
09/21/2005 22:27 Comments ||
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#67
BTW, Jim, Wheryaat?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
09/21/2005 22:28 Comments ||
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#68
Currently Mobile, Alabama, but I'm really a Lifetime Montgomery resident that moved south about 9 years ago.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/21/2005 22:55 Comments ||
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#69
OK... I'm in Don'tLaughYet... sitting here trying to call friends in Texas, and failing because the phone system is clogged.
This is starting to look bad; as wide as that thing is they're going to get storm surge in Trinity Bay.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
09/21/2005 23:03 Comments ||
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#70
Yeah, we can't reach friends in Houston either, the cell and landline both say "Overloaded, try again later"
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/21/2005 23:09 Comments ||
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#71
After posting we just this minute heard from our Houston friends, Bt E-Mail, I'm posting so others will know to try this method, it seems to work better than trying to telephone.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/21/2005 23:13 Comments ||
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#72
Time to pray and prepare yourself carefully down there folks. Take care and remember to help those who can't fend for themselves. The rest of the nation will be there for you whether it means feet on the ground or donations, come what may when Rita makes landfall.
#73
If the low pressure system stalls before landfall and/or the storm veers east, what kind of rainfall is possible for southern LA?
***
"...why weren't they proactively mobilizing and organizing like this for Katrina?"...
Some Dems just make me want to pull their hair out. Their operating principle: forget what we've learned, forget that we human beings just had a sobriety call-we can't allow ourselves to do a better job saving lives in Rita because we didn't do it for Katrina. I guess they'll only be satisfied if just as many people die-and they'd better be all white ones. Then I guess they'll think all is put right.
#74
If the low pressure system stalls before landfall and/or the storm veers east, what kind of rainfall is possible for southern LA?
***
"...why weren't they proactively mobilizing and organizing like this for Katrina?"...
Some Dems just make me want to pull their hair out. Their operating principle: forget what we've learned, forget that we human beings just had a sobriety call-we can't allow ourselves to do a better job saving lives in Rita because we didn't do it for Katrina. I guess they'll only be satisfied if just as many people die-and they'd better be all white ones. Then I guess they'll think all is put right.
Reminds me of that commercial... Pic at link, very ugly IMHO.
An enormous pink bunny has been erected on an Italian mountainside where it will stay for the next 20 years. The 200-foot-long toy rabbit lies on the side of the 5,000 foot high Colletto Fava mountain in northern Italy's Piedmont region. Viennese art group Gelatin designed the giant soft toy and say it was "knitted by dozens of grannies out of pink wool". Group member Wolfgang Gantner said: "It's supposed to make you feel small, like Gulliver. You walk around it and you can't help but smile."
And Gelatin members say the bunny is not just for walking around - they are expecting hikers to climb its 20 foot sides and have sex relax on its belly. The giant rabbit is expected to remain on the mountain side until 2025.
#10
Finishing his statement, Gelatin member Wolfgang Gantner concluded: "Besides, what else were we going to do with the bunny? We were commissioned for it, but the check bounced."
Posted by: ArmChair in Sin ||
09/21/2005 17:02 Comments ||
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#11
maco's law -- "artist" are a waste of the gene pool..
I'm very confused, I thought it was the planetary shift that was coming...
Rationalists may never buy the tales of close encounters of the third kind with aliens, but superstar pop icon Robbie Williams, not only believes that there are many galactic cousins of ours somewhere up there, but also is sure that their visit to earth is imminent.
He claims that he has been having vivid dreams of experiences with aliens almost every night, and has told kids that the next seven years will see the arrival of our elusive siblings.
"I've been dreaming about UFOs every night. I can't wait to go to sleep at night because those dreams have been so brilliant.
"I think they are definitely on their way, seriously. Mark my words. From now until 2012 - watch out kids," The Sun quoted him, as saying. (ANI).
#3
The aliens have already came. They were shocked by the press asking them why they didn't help with the LA hurricane relief effort or why they caused the hurricane, decided that the world was stuck on stupid and left.
Earth's demolition is slated for sometime next week since we are blocking the new interplanetary highway.
#7
Not Robin Williams, who had a modicum of talent, but a derivative British vocalist probably hyping his videos, like the one called "Tripping" shown on his website. http://www.whatsyourfuture.com/
Truly a no-talent dork
#3
Oct. '05 issue of National Geographic has a single page article on naming tropical storms. key line -
"If we have more than 21 storms," says Frank Lepore of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, "we have bigger problems than what they are going to be named."
#5
What Steve said: In the event that more than 21 named tropical cyclones occur in the Atlantic basin in a season, additional storms will take names from the Greek alphabet: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and so on.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/21/2005 14:19 Comments ||
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#6
Fang
Godzilla
Fluffy
Storm-O-Rama
Run For You Lives!
A schizophrenic artist who died after handcuffing himself to a tree after throwing away the key, may have tried to free himself, an inquest has heard.
The skeleton of Richard Sumner - 47 when he went missing three years ago - was found in a remote area of Clocaenog Forest, Denbighshire, in April 2005. Mr Sumner, from Crosby, Merseyside, may have changed his mind about killing himself but could not reach the keys, the Denbigh inquest was told.
I hate when that happens.
Mr Sumner, at one time a scenic artist for opera productions at Glyndebourne, had suffered from schizophrenia since 1984. The hearing was told he had attempted to take his life in this manner before and in 1996 had taken four days to free himself. His skeleton was found by a woman who had become lost while walking her dog.
"Rover, Rover, where are you ... here Rover ... here -- oh, blimey."
The handcuffs attached to one arm indicated that Mr Sumner had attached himself to the tree and thrown the key to a point where he could not retrieve it, north east Wales coroner John Hughes was told. However, Home Office pathologist Brian Rogers said the position of the handcuffs and marks found on the tree indicated that Mr Sumner had probably changed his mind, but could not reach the key.
When asked by Mr Sumner's sister, Patricia Jones, if he could say how long her brother would have taken to die, Mr Rogers said: "He could have been there for a few days. If you handcuff yourself to a tree you would die fairly quickly but maybe not as quickly as you would like."
Love the Brits, masters of understatement.
Mr Hughes heard evidence that Mr Sumner was a talented, intelligent man who felt frustrated by his illness and who said he did not wish to be a parasite.
His sister told the court that her brother had spoken of taking his own life and she confirmed there had been three previous attempts. "His idea was to kill himself but he couldn't do it because he couldn't upset everybody, including the people who would find his body," she said. She said that was the reason he had gone so far into the wood - in the hope his remains would not be found.
He obviously hadn't counted on Rover.
Coroner John Hughes concluded: "It's clear that Richard John Sumner was a very troubled man and he was getting worse and he was very depressed." He expressed his "sincere sympathies" to Mr Sumner's family but said he could not know for sure how he died or whether he really intended to take his own life. "Sadly, I return a verdict of an open nature, an open verdict," he told them.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/21/2005 00:07 ||
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Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/21/2005 1:47 Comments ||
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#3
Mr Sumner was a talented, intelligent man who felt frustrated by his illness and who said he did not wish to be a parasite.
He was an artist. How could he avoid being a parasite?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
09/21/2005 7:21 Comments ||
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#4
"He could have been there for a few days. If you handcuff yourself to a tree you would die fairly quickly but maybe not as quickly as you would like."
...Long enough to wish it was shorter, I'll tell ya that.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
09/21/2005 7:49 Comments ||
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#5
Not funny. Schizophrenia is a real disease with terrible consequences, and this quy probably had had enough of it. At least he had the grace to do it where his family wouldn't see, unlike Hunter Thompson.
Posted by: Ernest Brown ||
09/21/2005 7:51 Comments ||
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#6
Not funny.
Yeah, it is. The underlying cause and eventual effect may be tragic, but the overall story is funny.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
09/21/2005 7:57 Comments ||
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#7
"His idea was to kill himself but he couldn't do it because he couldn't upset everybody, including the people who would find his body," she said. She said that was the reason he had gone so far into the wood - in the hope his remains would not be found.
Could've been worse.
Some kid could've found him a few weeks after he began decomposing. Then another person would no doubt be badly affected by dude's screwed-uppedness.
This guy was likely trapped inside a place in his mind that makes Guantanamo Hotel look like a day spa, and was still concerned about how his actions affected others. Somewhat noble and very disturbing.
Bloody horrible way to live, and an equally screwed up way to die.
I pray for him and the many haunted by Schizophrenia like him whose only escape from such a hell is death.
#8
#3 He was an artist. How could he avoid being a parasite?
Yeah, him and all those other detestable leeches like, Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rembrant, Rubens, Tintoretto, Carvaggio, Hiroshige, Rodin, Matisse, Renoir, Van Gogh, Monet ...
Posted by: The Z Man ||
09/21/2005 12:50 Comments ||
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#9
Actually it says in here that he was "a scenic artist for opera productions". Doesn't that make him like a glorified prop man or house painter?
#12
I have deep sympathies with the woman who found him. My dad found the body of an 18-year-old girl in the woods in central Louisiana in 1964 about two weeks after she'd been murdered. My dad was a WWII veteran, and had seen plenty of dead bodies, but this one really shook him up. He hadn't "gotten over it" when he died in 1990. To make matters worse, it was someone I'd known from high school (from another school, not the one I attended, but someone I considered a friend). Her parents were a near neighbor to and friends of one of my cousins. Not that it matters much - finding a body is shocking, period.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/21/2005 18:01 Comments ||
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#13
Not that I'm comparing, but DaVinci did a lot of scenery painting in his time. It gave him something to do in between taking corpses apart to explore their innards. (I'm not judging that either -- my mother went to Med. School for the fun of it.)
LONDON â A player with English Premiership side Arsenal, goalkeeper Graham Stack, raped a drunk and unwell student at his apartment after meeting her in a London nightclub, a court was told yesterday. Stack was currently on loan to Championship team Reading.
Compare this rape claim to the claim being fought by the Pak girl in today's Pakiwakiland section. No one's nose has been cut off, the 'drunk and unwell student' isn't hiding in a marsh fearing for her life, and she's not going to be stoned to death or sold off to satisfy her family's honor.
And they call us infidels.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/21/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Sounds to me like a serious case of her talking to her friends the day after. If you get drunk and go home with some guy, how's that rape? Guy's getting railroaded.
Pyongyang, September 20 (KCNA) -- The demand for "Royal Body-Fresh", nephritis remedy, manufactured by the Korea Pugang Pharmaceutical Corporation, is on an increase. It is made from extract of Eleutherococcus Senticosusvarious and other rare medicinal herbs growing in northern highland of the country by the traditional Koryo secret recipe.
My god, they've stolen the Colonel's secret recipe!
It, which has no side-effect, is efficacious for renal hypertension, diabetes and bed-wetting, toxemia of pregnancy and post-delivery toxicosis. It also improves immunity and relieves stress.
Puts the Songun back in your "little Comrade"
Besides, it not only helps athletes recover from fatigue and promotes their capacity of locomotion but also suppresses obesity.
Official supplier of Major League Baseball
It prevents the formation of aging pigments and brightens complexion.
In a few days after the start of taking the medicine, there will be a notable diuretic effect and symptoms of edema, lumbago and lethargy will begin to dissipate. It is a peculiar diuretic free from change in electrolytes when edema goes down and also from diuretic action for a man of normal condition.
Your mileage may vary
It is applicable to all the symptoms of acute and chronic nephritis. (inflammation of the kidneys) The clinical test over the last 20 years shows that 92 percent of the tens of thousands of patients have been cured completely with this medicine. It has been exported to Syria, Mongolia, China and other countries and regions.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/21/2005 11:21 ||
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Surprised it took this long...
BEIJING - A rubber company in China has begun marketing condoms under the brand names Clinton and Lewinsky, apparently seeking to exploit the White House affair that led to the impeachment of America's 42nd president. Spokesman Liu Wenhua of the Guangzhou Rubber Group said the company was handing out 100,000 free Clinton and Lewinsky condoms as part of a promotion to raise consumer awareness of its new products. I wonder if his picture's on them?
He said that after the promotion ends, the Clinton condoms will go on sale in southern China for 29.8 Yuan ($3.72) for a box of 12, while the Lewinsky model will be priced at 18.8 Yuan ($2.35) for the same quantity."The Clinton condom will be the top of our line," he said. "The Lewinsky condom is not quite as good." He important man. She cheap slut.
Liu said the company had chosen to use the Clinton name because consumers viewed the former president as a responsible person, who would want to stress safe sex as an effective way to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. Yep, when I think "responsible", I think Bill Clinton. Even though he never has been...
"The names we chose are symbols of people who are responsible and dedicated to their jobs," he said. "I believe Bill Clinton cannot be unhappy about this because he's a very generous man." Just send me mah check theah, boys. Talk to some of yo friends ovah theah. Especially, in the missile technology sectah. They know how the deal works.
Liu said the company did not believe using the Clinton and Lewinsky names constituted a violation of copyright or other laws."We have received full approval from the local Industrial and Commercial Bureau to start production," he said. And I'm sure that's a very stringent approval process...
Clinton has campaigned aggressively for heightened AIDS awareness in China, where the disease is spreading rapidly. 'Cept when gettin a benah. That doan count...
In impeachment proceedings conducted by the U.S. Senate in 1999, he was acquitted on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. The charges stemmed from denials he made about a sexual relationship he maintained with Lewinsky, a former White House intern. Coming up next from our Chinese friends, the Hillary Clinton Strapon...
A Japanese weapons disposal team has recovered about 1,000 artillery shells, including 281 armed with chemicals, left in China by the Imperial Japanese Army at the end of World War II, the Cabinet Office said Tuesday.
Japan will dispose of the shells, which were dug up and collected between Aug. 30 and Sunday in Yichun, Heilongjiang Province, the office said.
The chemical weapons were discovered July 29 in a residential area. There have been no injuries caused by the abandoned weapons.
In August 2003, poison gas leaked from Japanese chemical weapons at a construction site in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang Province, killing one person and injuring 43 others.
Posted by: DanNY ||
09/21/2005 01:50 ||
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#1
This crap is all over the place, especially in Europe. The French are still finding shells from World War ONE. And one of the major US training areas in Germany has a mustard-agent minefield in it, that *nobody* wants to deal with.
A Czech town has built a 12,000 dollar bridge to protect a handful of squirrels from a busy road, without knowing if they will use it. The 23-foot high cable bridge attached to two trees spans a road that divides a large park in the town of Sokolov in the west of the country, near the German border.
"We think this construction is unique in the world. I think so, too. I myself witnessed two dead squirrels on the road in the space of two months Back in Michigan, I'd see that many per day and I felt we had to do something," Sokolov mayor Karel Jakobec told AFP Thursday. At the moment the park is home to just three squirrels. So, it's about $4000/squirrel.
"The idea is that instead of going down trees and crossing the road to get to the other side of the park the squirrels will go up and across. But we don't know yet if it will work," he added. Why did the squirrel cross the road?
Most of the cost was met from a grant by Czech brewer Staropramen as one of 10 grants it awarded for ecological projects in the country. The remaining 40,000 koruna was funded by the town council. "We have already arranged for two more pairs of squirrels to be brought from an animal rescue centre and we are hoping that the squirrel population in the park will now grow," added Jakobec.
Squirrels are a protected species in the Czech Republic.
All right, let's take some of that reconstruction money for Iraq and build some fennec dens.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
09/21/2005 21:27 Comments ||
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#2
ROFL, jackal, Phil! Dunno about before, but they'd better protect those squirrels - they're worth $4K each, now.
$12K for some cable(s) stretched between 2 trees? Um, did it take like 1 Proj Director, 2 Mgrs, 20 Asst Mgrs, 42 Deputy Asst Mgrs - all with clipboards 'n stuff - and 2 guys wearing gloves?
#6
ok, squirrels weigh next to nothing. Height, if connected to trees, is no consideration. Somebody got soaked here for about $11,980. All you need is two pieces of rope and "live" squirrels wwill use it/make it across
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/21/2005 22:00 Comments ||
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#7
Shoot, anybody knows that all you need to increase the local population of squirrels is to set up any number of "squirrel-proofing devices" around your bird feeders. I think they view it as a challenge or something; every time I try a new trick, the number of squirrels seems to double.
Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
09/21/2005 22:09 Comments ||
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#8
It's the "Hugh Hefner Approved"⢠Viagra based squirrel food lol
keeps everyone's nuts high and dry
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/21/2005 22:22 Comments ||
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#9
Jeeze! And Ima bn shutn em up here. Shame on me....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/21/2005 23:01 Comments ||
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#10
Squirrel Elevated Highway = a single above ground telephone line. In the first instance the little punk rodents don't need anybody's stinking charity anyway. The best way to ensure a healthy, twitchy, aggressive and savvy lot is to screw with them often and just try to eliminate them from time to time through various means. They love a challenge and never shy from a fight or pissing match when properly provoked.
Dutch police and park rangers have admitted they are powerless to stop a growing trend of outdoor sex orgies. In the latest incident, a large group of people were found romping naked on a beach in the Bussloo area of the country. They including 10 couples who were being "particularly boisterous" with each other while the others watched.
But police called to the scene admitted they were powerless to act despite numerous complaints from other beach users, and could only give the naked orgy lovers a verbal warning. The head of one of Holland's biggest national parks says the problem is getting worse and has called for the government to make clear guidelines on outdoor sex orgies to allow police to act. "Guidelines?" Wouldn't the Kama Sutra be adequate?
Eric Droogh, who is director at the Veluwe National Park, said: "A national debate on wild sex parties in the countryside is essential. Police and park wardens currently have too little scope to intervene. The only possibility is to catch the transgressors bare-assed red-handed. Outdoor sex is now commonly occurring in national parks and other public places. In some cases they just stopped beside the road in the picnic area or a meadow for the orgies." You could just arrest them and take them to jail as they are. The next morning, they will have a different outlook on things.
#1
Why does this sound just a tad like some bored reporter, sitting in his cubicle while the deadline clock ticks, suddenly says to himself, "Gee, I wonder what people would do if there were orgies out in public. Now that would be a good story. Sex. Outrage. Hmmm."
#3
I guess they never stopped to ask themselves why the jihadists hate them. I mean a culture that believes women should be covered from head to toe living alongside those who have outdoor orgies. Somethings gotta give.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has admitted that the EU is unlikely to have a constitution for at least two or three years. He said that the text was unlikely to be ratified in the near future, after French and Dutch voters rejected it. However, Mr Barroso said this should not mean paralysis in Europe.
No, no! Certainly not!
He said it was important to convince citizens of the relevance of the EU by creating jobs, improving security and protecting the environment.
Like that's going to happen.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/21/2005 09:20 ||
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#1
You can't spell euthanasia with out EU!
BTW, this seems like the perfect story for captain obvious.
#6
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has admitted that the EU is unlikely to have a constitution for at least two or three years.
Meaning, they'll try to pass the monstrosity again at some point, and the content and wording will probably be little changed from the last time, if at all.
#2
To be completely honest the article isn't all that biased. One would in contrast expect an NYT article to be veritably a-froth with unwanted opinions, semi-sane speculations, and general sneering. This seems to be nothing but the facts as the reporter knows them, with very little opining on the part of either the writer or the editor.
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather said Monday that there is a climate of fear running through newsrooms stronger than he has ever seen in his more than four-decade career.
Rather famously tangled with President Nixon and his aides during the Watergate years while Rather was a hard-charging White House correspondent.
Addressing the Fordham University School of Law in Manhattan, occasionally forcing back tears, he said that in the intervening years, politicians "of every persuasion" had gotten better at applying pressure on the conglomerates that own the broadcast networks. He called it a "new journalism order."
He said this pressure -- along with the "dumbed-down, tarted-up" coverage, the advent of 24-hour cable competition and the chase for ratings and demographics -- has taken its toll on the news business. "All of this creates a bigger atmosphere of fear in newsrooms," Rather said.
Rather was accompanied by HBO Documentary and Family president Sheila Nevins, both of whom were due to receive lifetime achievement awards at the News and Documentary Emmy Awards on Monday evening.
Nevins said that even in the documentary world, there's a certain kind of intimidation brought to bear these days, particularly from the religious right.
"If you made a movie about (evolutionary biologist Charles) Darwin now, it would be revolutionary," Nevins said. "If we did a documentary on Darwin, I'd get a thousand hate e-mails."
Nevin asked Rather if he felt the same type of repressive forces in the Nixon administration as in the current Bush administration.
"No, I do not," Rather said. That's not to say there weren't forces trying to remove him from the White House beat while reporting on Watergate; but Rather said he felt supported by everyone above him, from Washington bureau chief Bill Small to then-news president Dick Salant and CBS chief William S. Paley.
"There was a connection between the leadership and the led . . . a sense of, 'we're in this together,"' Rather said. It's not that the then-leadership of CBS wasn't interested in shareholder value and profits, Rather said, but they also saw news as a public service. Rather said he knew very little of the intense pressure to remove him in the early 1970s because of his bosses' support.
Nevins took up the cause for Rather, who was emotional several times during the event.
"When a man is close to tears discussing his work and his lip quivers, he deserves bosses who punch back. I feel I would punch back for Dan," Nevins said.
Rather praised the coverage of Hurricane Katrina by the new generation of TV journalists and acknowledged that he would have liked to have reported from the Gulf Coast. "Covering hurricanes is something I know something about," he said.
"It's been one of television news' finest moments," Rather said of the Katrina coverage. He likened it to the coverage of President Kennedy's assassination in 1963.
"They were willing to speak truth to power," Rather said of the coverage.
Rather sidestepped the question of what should happen to the evening news in the expected makeover. "Not my call," he said. And he said he hadn't been asked, either.
"I gave it everything I had, I didn't hold anything back. I did the best newscast we were capable of doing," Rather said.
Nevins, who almost single-handedly has kept the art of the independent documentary on television, said the HBO documentaries show real life and do it with as little damage to the subjects as possible. She said the producers and directors "respect mostly the people on the other side of the camera."
Nevins said she didn't shy away from such R-rated topics as "G-String Divas" and "Taxicab Confessions" but noted that sex and passion have been topics of literature since Chaucer's day. "The most R-rated is a body bag, not a naked body," Nevins said.
#1
Actually the New Journalism Order he should respond to is a blogosphere that is agile, internally correcting and most importantly doesn't let Big Media types like Rather get away with making shit up and broadcasting it on the airwaves.
It doesn't go unchallenged anymore. The monopoly is kaput.
#2
Jeez Dan, I really feel bad that you were caught out in partisan lying (or should I say the old order). Buh-bye
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/21/2005 8:58 Comments ||
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#3
""I did the best newscast we were capable of doing," Rather said."
And so retirement was a bit overdue.
Posted by: James ||
09/21/2005 9:58 Comments ||
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#4
'new journalism order'
The old pompous asshats are dead or dying.
Word
Victory is at hand. Never before has the enemy suffered such loses. Some of their best agit-prop organs [network anchors/ NY slimes/etc.] are dead or dying. Keep pressing the attack, no mercy for these bastards.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
09/21/2005 10:45 Comments ||
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#5
Jeez, Dan, you mean like like having people around that actually try to nail your ass to the wall when you print bullshit and pass it off as the truth instead of not being blinded by the light and giving you a pass like in the Golden Age of the MSM?
Would've helped if you people didn't make it so friggin easy...
#6
Somebody has to take the mortally wounded old partisan warrior off his high horse and remove his badly perforated armor (never adapted to the new weapons did he). Cradle his crushed little skull in loving arms and then mercifully slit his journalistic throat to end the suffering. Pathetic self-agrandizing big man of "journalism" doth cry too much and too often methinks. Kenneth, what's the frequency now?
Looks like moonbats of a feather don't always flock together.
CHICAGO -- Jane Fonda couldn't make it. But about 300 antiwar activists did show up Monday night at Thorne Auditorium on Northwestern University's downtown Law School campus to attend the Chicago stop of British Member of Parliament George Galloway's 12-day "Stand Up and Be Counted: No to Lady Liberty Having the Faintest Chance of Survival War and Occupation" tour.
Fonda, the Oscar-winning actress and traitor during the Vietnam War and longtime critic of U.S. foreign policy, was expected to speak Monday. But in a statement read to the crowd before the rally, she apologized for being unable to attend because doctors advised against travel while she recovers from hip surgery. IIRC she made it to Madison the previous day. I may be wrong, though.
Fonda's absence disappointed some in the crowd, although many were more eager to listen to Galloway, a traitor who was on Saddam's payroll Scotsman who began his own political party after he was expelled from British Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labor Party for his opposition to the Iraq war.
On May 17 Galloway, a Respect Party representative for an East London area, condemned the war in Iraq at a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing.
U.S. senators had accused him of receiving options to buy discounted Iraqi oil in return for helping Saddam Hussein's regime evade United Nations sanctions. Galloway denied the allegations, right before his lips fell off.
During the rally, Galloway and other speakers were critical of the military involvement of the United States and Great Britain in Iraq, as well as the U.S. government's recent response to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The crowd laughed at Galloway's jokes and applauded his sharp attacks on American and British politicians as he called for troops from both nations stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq to be sent home.
"There's nothing anti-American about me. And I'm not against the troops," Galloway said. "We love the troops so much that we're demanding their immediate withdrawal from harm's way." "Peace, you see, is worth chains and slavery. Freedom carries too high a price tag."
"I heard the guy testify before Congress," Dennis Solt of Park Ridge said about Galloway. "He made sense. He's got [no conscience] [guts], unlike our legislators. If we had 12 people like him in Congress, we'd be a lot better off."
"He tells it like he wishes he could honestly believe it were it is," said Rick Daniels of Lake Forest.
A student member of UIC's Campus Antiwar Network also spoke at the rally, urging people to support "relief not war" and pledge money to help hurricane victims along the Gulf Coast. One beauzeau is bad enough, at least there weren't two.
Moved to today. Make sure you check your dates; sometime a late post doesn't roll to the next day like it should. Also check your tags very carefully if you're entering them by hand instead of using the editor buttons. Finally, snarky in-line additions go in strike-out text, not bold. Thx, AoS.
#2
hip injuries often occur in later years when you try to get your vagina up to the microphone....just ask Germaine Greer
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2005 22:59 Comments ||
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#3
Hey FONDA can't do that - Big Radio's been a'playin NANCY SINATRA'S or JESSICA SIMPSON's REMAKE OF "THESE BOOTS ARE MADE FOR WALKING", plus "THE BIRD" and "WHITE RABBIT", plus of course COCA-COLA'S "GIVE THE WORLD A COKE". HOW CAN AMERIKA BE IN DE FACTO "QUAGMIRE/NEW VIETNAMS" WITHOUT HANOI JANE, D *** YOU!?
Leahy to Back Roberts for Chief Justice
Sep 21 11:27 AM US/Eastern
By DEB RIECHMANN
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON
The senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee announced Wednesday he will vote to confirm John Roberts for chief justice of the United States after leading senators met with President Bush to discuss candidates for a second high court vacancy.
The announcement by veteran Sen. Patrick Leahy came amid virtually unprecedented executive-legislative branch jockeying over not one, but two high court openings, the seats left vacant by the death of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and the retirement of Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
Leahy's decision, made public shortly after he and three other leading senators met privately with Bush at the White House to discuss candidates for O'Connor's place on the bench, came on the eve of the Judiciary panel's vote on whether to favorably recommend Roberts' confirmation to the full Senate.
Four leading senators including Leahy floated several names to Bush, but the president kept his own list to himself at a White House breakfast earlier Wednesday.
Leahy, D-Vt., said he still has some concerns about Roberts. "But in my judgment, in my experience, but especially in my conscience I find it is better to vote yes than no," he said. "Judge Roberts is a man of integrity. I can only take him at his word that he does not have an ideological agenda."
The Judiciary Committee will vote on Thursday on Roberts' confirmation. With 10 Republicans and eight Democrats, Roberts is assured of getting a majority of the committee's support before moving on to the full Senate for confirmation next week.
Moments after Leahy spoke, Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, who also serves on the Judiciary Committee, announced he would vote against Roberts.
"There is clear and convincing evidence that John Roberts is the wrong choice for chief justice," Kennedy said. "I oppose the nomination, and I urge my colleagues to do the same."
Leahy was the first of the Judiciary Democrats to announce his decision and only the fourth of the 44 Senate Democrats to do so. Democrats Max Baucus of Montana and Tim Johnson of South Dakota also have announced their support and Ben Nelson of Nebraska has edged toward an endorsement.
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada announced Tuesday that he would vote against Roberts, but said he would not support an attempt by Demorats to filibuster the nominee.
Said Leahy: "I respect those who have come to different conclusions, and I readily acknowledge the unknowable at this moment, that perhaps they are right and I am wrong. Only time will tell. All of us will vote this month but only later will we know if Judge Roberts proves to be the kind of chief justice he says he would be, if he truly will be his own man."
#1
Leahy ain't stupid. He sees the writing on the wall and Roberts is going to be nominated no matter what, even if the nuclear option needs used. Better to cut your losses on this one and really protest the second nomination coming down the pipe.
#2
Leaky is letting Roberts pass because its inevitable. He is saving his venom until the next nominee, it's that simple.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/21/2005 14:45 Comments ||
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#3
I am still hoping that Bush appoints Brown or Estrada. Not because they are minorities, but because the LLL politicos will go bonkers over the paper trail they have. That will expose the Liberals for what they truly are: panderers for the left-wing kooks. Both Brown and Estrada have controversial rulings that the fringe can't stand. Brown refused to allow someone sue because of a off color but clearly not intended racial joke and Estrada wrote the brief that said it's ok to use aggressive interrogation techniques on detained enemy combatants. Both of these would fall directly in the mainstream of America but the left will try contort them into something they arenât. I just want to see Robert Byrd bad mouthing a Black Female Federal Appeals Court Judge; you just canât buy that kind of entertainment. I think Estrada should answer all his questions in Spanish and make the Senators get translators. They wouldnât dare tell him that he can only use English because that would be racist.
Here's the transcript: Honore: And Mr. Mayor, let's go back, because I can see right now, we're setting this up as he said, he said, we said. All right? We are not going to go, by order of the mayor and the governor, and open the convention center for people to come in. There are buses there. Is that clear to you? Buses parked. There are 4,000 troops there. People come, they get on a bus, they get on a truck, they move on. Is that clear? Is that clear to the public?
Female reporter: Where do they move on...
Honore: That's not your business.
Male reporter: But General, that didn't work the first time...
Honore: Wait a minute. It didn't work the first time. This ain't the first time. Okay? If...we don't control Rita, you understand? So there are a lot of pieces of it that's going to be worked out. You got good public servants working through it. Let's get a little trust here, because you're starting to act like this is your problem. You are carrying the message, okay? What we're going to do is have the buses staged. The initial place is at the convention center. We're not going to announce other places at this time, until we get a plan set, and we'll let people know where those locations are, through the government, and through public announcements. Right now, to handle the number of people that want to leave, we've got the capacity. You will come to the convention center. There are soldiers there from the 82nd Airborne, and from the Louisiana National Guard. People will be told to get on the bus, and we will take care of them. And where they go will be dependent on the capacity in this state. We've got our communications up. And we'll tell them where to go. And when they get there, they'll be able to get a chance, an opportunity to get registered, and so they can let their families know where they are. But don't start panic here. Okay? We've got a location. It is in the front of the convention center, and that's where we will use to migrate people from it, into the system.
Male reporter: General Honore, we were told that Berman Stadium on the west bank would be another staging area...
Honore: Not to my knowledge. Again, the current place, I just told you one time, is the convention center. Once we complete the plan with the mayor, and is approved by the governor, then we'll start that in the next 12-24 hours. And we understand that there's a problem in getting communications out. That's where we need your help. But let's not confuse the questions with the answers. Buses at the convention center will move our citizens, for whom we have sworn that we will support and defend...and we'll move them on. Let's not get stuck on the last storm. You're asking last storm questions for people who are concerned about the future storm. Don't get stuck on stupid, reporters. We are moving forward. And don't confuse the people please. You are part of the public message. So help us get the message straight. And if you don't understand, maybe you'll confuse it to the people. That's why we like follow-up questions. But right now, it's the convention center, and move on.
Male reporter: General, a little bit more about why that's happening this time, though, and did not have that last time...
Honore: You are stuck on stupid. I'm not going to answer that question. We are going to deal with Rita. This is public information that people are depending on the government to put out. This is the way we've got to do it. So please. I apologize to you, but let's talk about the future. Rita is happening. And right now, we need to get good, clean information out to the people that they can use. And we can have a conversation on the side about the past, in a couple of months.
Equation B*:
chatter + anti-chatter = anti-chatter + humor energy
* Big Dog In Charge Effect:
A - Activated when the Big Dog is a wet-finger-in-the-wind idiotarian PC fuckwit.
B - Activated when the Big Dog delegates authority and trust to professionals to get the job done.
#6
our "elite" media are really showing their weaknesses with their lame-brained squawking over the WOT, Katrina, Rita....et al
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/21/2005 11:20 Comments ||
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#7
Dems are calling for an investigation over why FEMA is more ready for Rita to hit Texas than they were for Katrina to hit Louisiana and Mississippi.
The poor, dumb bastards just don't have anything else in the playbook.
#8
Wouldn't anybody - even a dimwit - be more worked up over Rita when Katrina is not even a month old? You'd have to have zero short-term memory; we know a lot don't have long-term memory!
#12
Obviously we're going to be more ready for Rita than Katrina because we like Texas better than Louisianna. Everybody knows that. Mom always liked Texas best, too.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2005 14:05 Comments ||
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#13
Perhaps they will follow their "plan". Already evacuating the nursing homes and hospitals, next the poor and the helpless, then the able bodied. The schools are closed so they can use the buses and the drivers get to take their families out first, and that was in the pre plan, and probably in N.O.'s evacuation plan also.
#14
Sgt. Mom, if you're available, what's the report from San Antonio?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/21/2005 15:22 Comments ||
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#15
Barbara, we're ready: SAN ANTONIO -- San Antonio city officials say they're prepared to welcome residents displaced by Hurricane Rita, which reached Category 4 status Wednesday morning.
The city is already housing about 3,000 Hurricane Katrina evacuees, but Mayor Phil Hardberger says it can handle another influx of evacuees, if needed. "We'll probably use the shelters we have first, but if they fill up, the Red Cross has a great many more in reserve," said Hardberger. Hardberger said city leaders have learned from Katrina not to take any chances when it comes to preparing for Rita.
"When you take the experts that we already have here, plus our own expertise in this, I do feel confident that San Antonio will be able to take care and do a good job with the evacuees," he said.
She should pass to the east of us, expecting tropical force winds and rain.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/21/2005 16:12 Comments ||
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#16
Riverwalk to become a log flume ride? Aieeeeee!!!
#17
"Does anybody have the name of that reporter? I want to send him a card."
I didn't know Hallmark made "Drop Dead" cards, Cyber Sarge.
Maybe I'll look for a "You're Such A Loser" card to send him. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/21/2005 18:09 Comments ||
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#18
My brother lives in Spring, Texas, about 15 miles north of downtown Houston and about 20 feet above sea level. He and his family will board up their house tomorrow morning and head for New Braunfels, to stay with relatives until Rita has passed. My suggestion would be to go back to Pineville, LA, where we had the family reunion. It looks like New Braunfels will get more from Rita than Louisiana will.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/21/2005 18:16 Comments ||
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#19
I live in Texas and regarding Rita we could use the rain. Looking forward to it!
#20
chances are - the reporter's Producer would have to read the card to them
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/21/2005 19:45 Comments ||
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#21
"I am stuck on stupid, 'cause stupid's stuck on me.
I am stuck on stupid, as you can plainly see.
'Cause it sticks on all dumbasses, be they in print or on teevee.
I am stuck on stupid, 'cause stupid's stuck on me."
Srinagar, India: An Israeli couple were fined 100 rupees (the equivalent of 24$ US) on Tuesday after being found guilty of public display of affection at a Hindu place of worship. Alon and Selver Kurmit had traveled to India to marry according to traditional Hindu rituals, but ran into trouble when they kissed each other, two weeks ago, in front of priests conducting the ceremony, by the banks of the sacred Lake Pushkar, in the northern state of Rajasthan.
The priests attacked the couple for âviolatingâ the religious sanctity of the town and lodged a police complaint against them. The couple were arrested and later released after posting bail of 10,000 rupees (320$ US). The Israeli man and woman apologized to the court and admitted they did not know kissing in public was considered an offence in India. According to Star TV, an Indian television news channel, the couple will serve 10 days in jail if they fail to pay the fine.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Ah. Another seriously math-challenged reporter.
"Let's see... if 10000 rupees is $320, then 100 rupees must be...carry the 6, take the cosine... 24 dollars!"
#2
Another great Indian tourist promotional activity (like their differing fees for entry to the Taj Mahal)
1 US dollar == 43.8 Indian Rupees
So the fine is $ 2.28
Posted by: john ||
09/21/2005 6:36 Comments ||
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#3
john - No kidding, to get in the Taj costs ~$20 US for foreigners, about 50 cents for Indians. One of the native Indians I was with got hassled by the guards 'cuz they thought he was Pakistani. He was really from deep south India and sounded "funny" to them.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
09/21/2005 9:02 Comments ||
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#4
I wonder what the good priests would say about this Hindu temple?
KARACHI - A 15-year old Pakistani girl living in fear of becoming an honour killing victim issued a plea on Tuesday for President Pervez Musharraf to protect her from her husbandâs relatives.
Lakhmira Sharâs husband tried to cut off her nose after attempting to take her before a tribal council to be declared an adulteress in a district of Southern Sindh province, where the practice of honour killing persists much as it does everywhere else in Pakland. âI want President Musharraf and human rights organisations to take up my case,â she told Reuters from her hiding place on the marshes outside Daharki town, about 550 km (340 miles) north of Karachi.
âAlthough my husband is in jail his relatives have vowed to kill me,â Lakhmira said. Lakhmira was accused of having an affair with a man she says she has never seen. âEven though my husband is in jail for trying to cut my honker off, he and his relatives are insisting I should go before a tribal council headed by the sardar. If I do that, either I will be killed or they will sell me off,â she said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/21/2005 00:00 ||
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GUJRANWALA: Rana Riaz Ahmed, the additional sessions judge in Gujranwala, on Tuesday sentenced Shafique alias Naveed to death for killing Khadim Ali. Shafique's sister Rukhsana was a receptionist at a public call office owned by Khadim Ali in Popular Nursery area. She had allegedly developed relations with Mr Ali. On June 17, 2004, Shafique shot Rukhsana and Ali dead.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2005 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Pyongyang, September 20 (KCNA) -- The demand for "Royal Body-Fresh", nephritis remedy, manufactured by the Korea Pugang Pharmaceutical Corporation, is on an increase. It is made from extract of Eleutherococcus Senticosusvarious and other rare medicinal herbs growing in northern highland of the country by the traditional Koryo secret recipe. 
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has admitted that the EU is unlikely to have a constitution for at least two or three years. He said that the text was unlikely to be ratified in the near future, after French and Dutch voters rejected it. However, Mr Barroso said this should not mean paralysis in Europe. 
Srinagar, India: An Israeli couple were fined 100 rupees (the equivalent of 24$ US) on Tuesday after being found guilty of public display of affection at a Hindu place of worship. Alon and Selver Kurmit had traveled to India to marry according to traditional Hindu rituals, but ran into trouble when they kissed each other, two weeks ago, in front of priests conducting the ceremony, by the banks of the sacred Lake Pushkar, in the northern state of Rajasthan. 
KARACHI - A 15-year old Pakistani girl living in fear of becoming an honour killing victim issued a plea on Tuesday for President Pervez Musharraf to protect her from her husbandâs relatives.
GUJRANWALA: Rana Riaz Ahmed, the additional sessions judge in Gujranwala, on Tuesday sentenced Shafique alias Naveed to death for killing Khadim Ali. Shafique's sister Rukhsana was a receptionist at a public call office owned by Khadim Ali in Popular Nursery area. She had allegedly developed relations with Mr Ali. On June 17, 2004, Shafique shot Rukhsana and Ali dead.
