POSTED: 3:38 pm EDT October 26, 2005
UPDATED: 5:39 pm EDT October 26, 2005
A 3-year-old Great Dane in Sacramento, Calif., has been named the world's tallest dog by Guinness Book of World Records.
The award-winning dog, named Gibson, stands 7 feet tall when upright, according to the report.
He was officially named the planet's tallest dog Tuesday by officials with Guinness who flew to California from England to see Gibson.
Gibson's owner, Sandy Hall, said she never dreamed Gibson would turn out to be the planet's tallest dog. She said the dog is a gift.
"I've had Danes since 1981," Hall said. "I've never seen anything like this --ever."
Several neighbors in the county know about the record-holding dog, which dwarfs an average-sized golden retriever.
"I've seen him twice now, and he's a really tall dog," a neighbor said.
Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
Copyright 2005 by Internet Broadcasting Systems and Local6.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
#1
A previous holder of the world's tallest dog, also a Great Dane, was at a pub a few hundred yards from where I grew up north of London. My first close encounter with the dog was when I was at the bar having a beer and a bag of crisps (potato chips). The dog was behind the counter watching me intently. I put down my bag of crisps to take a sip of my beer and the dog immediately reached its head across the bar and had my crisps bag and all before I could react.
#5
My ex-BF had a Great Dane. I swear the beast would mix himself a martini and sit on the couch with us to watch TV. He was d-u-m-b though. Big and stupid, not a good blend in a dawg.
GRAZ, Austria (AP) - Thinking he was Superman and could fly, a drunk man leapt from a fourth-floor window early Tuesday and suffered head and back injuries, authorities said. Paramedics rushed the 23-year-old man to a hospital in the city of Graz, about 120 miles south of Vienna, after he jumped from the window. Police said the man - who apparently had drunk several bottles of red wine before attempting the jump - appeared at the window ledge at around 4 a.m. and shouted: "I am Superman! Nothing can happen to me!"
"Up, up, and away...........ah shit..SPLAT!"
The jumper, whose name was not released, landed on part of a lower section and roof, sparing him from more serious injuries, authorities said.
Kids, don't try this at home.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/26/2005 15:32 ||
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#1
I don't know why you mock him...He did fly...
Granted for about 3 seconds...
Granted straight down...
Granted with a rather sudden stop...
but he did fly :-)
#6
Wont work, Ship. As usual, its grievance has something to do with Palestine, the failure to ratify Kyoto, and the fact that the cute little red-haired neutron turned him down in seventh grade.
The force of gravity and one of the dimensions of space might be generated out of the peculiar interactions of particles and fields existing in a lower-dimensional realm
By Juan Maldacena
Three spatial dimensions are visible all around us--up/down, left/right, forward/backward. Add time to the mix, and the result is a four-dimensional blending of space and time known as spacetime. Thus, we live in a four-dimensional universe. Or do we?
Amazingly, some new theories of physics predict that one of the three dimensions of space could be a kind of an illusion--that in actuality all the particles and fields that make up reality are moving about in a two-dimensional realm like the Flatland of Edwin A. Abbott. Gravity, too, would be part of the illusion: a force that is not present in the two-dimensional world but that materializes along with the emergence of the illusory third dimension....
You never see this on CSI... Surely this wasn't how the stickup was supposed to go down.
After making off with some cash, the robber was struck five times by two vehicles - first by someone police think was the suspect's own getaway driver and four more times by another driver who appears to have been trying to intervene. Toward the end of the strange scene, the beleaguered bandit accidentally shot himself in the leg - then got hit a fourth time by the second driver, a woman who apparently knew the victim. Here is the scene, as painted by police Inspector Vince Flores: Paint away, inspector...
At 2:45 a.m. Sunday, a 33-year-old man was standing in a parking lot near N. 14th and W. Center streets. A 29-year-old man rushed up to him, pulled a handgun and demanded cash, which the victim handed over. Meanwhile, a pickup truck - which police think was the robber's getaway ride - screeched up in reverse, but instead of spiriting the robber away, hit both the suspect and the victim, apparently by accident. Then the pickup bolted, leaving the robber to limp away with the cash. Sorry, dude. This, like, ain't workin out...
That's when the woman, behind the wheel of a Lexus, put the suspect in her sights, Flores said. The woman rammed the robber with the front of her car. Then backed up and hit him again. And again. Maybe it was...Batgirl?
After the third hit, the man reached into his pocket to pull his gun, but shot himself in the leg. Ouch! Ow! Ouch!
That's when the woman hit the robber with her car a fourth time. For crissakes lady! I've been hit by a 2 cars 5 times and I just shot myself! I give up, all right?!
Police showed up and arrested the suspected robber, who was not identified, and sent him to the hospital. They also nabbed another man, who may have had nothing to do with the melee but was spotted running from the scene. Well wouldn't you?
The suspect was listed in critical condition Monday at Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital. The robbery victim was listed in satisfactory condition, also at Froedtert, a hospital representative said. You tax dollars at work, no doubt.
The woman driving the Lexus is being sought. Wonder if she'll be out fighting crime on Milwaukee's mean streets again tonight?
The red and cuddly Sesame Street Muppet Elmo has learned a new lesson: 'H' is for handcuffs. kinky
A man dressed as the character was one of three impersonators arrested last week for allegedly harassing tourists for tips after posing for photos on Hollywood Boulevard. Booked with him were people impersonating superhero Mr. Incredible and the dark-hooded character from the horror movie "Scream." uh, that's Death
The impersonators said they were taken into custody at gunpoint, handcuffed and paraded on the Hollywood Walk of Fame before stunned tourists and other impersonators. They were charged with misdemeanor "aggressive begging," police said.
"With all of the crime in Los Angeles they pick on us?" said Elmo impersonator Donn Harper, 45, who makes up to $400 a day in tips.
Tourists have complained that the costumed characters harass them for not tipping after posing for photos in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater and the Kodak Theater. Merchants say some of the costumed characters are scaring tourists.
Los Angeles Police Officer Michael Shea said police warned impersonators at a meeting last month that the department would start enforcing solicitation and harassment laws. Officers conducted a sting operation by posing as French tourists who didn't understand English or the American tipping culture. Frogs, eh? That's why they were harrassed
"Make no mistake about it â I wanted the characters to know what we're doing," Shea said.
Posted by: john ||
10/26/2005 13:57 Comments ||
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#4
Next Monday woiuld be the only day that these three walking around together would not raise suspicion! However it was in Hollywood, so, maybe that's why it took time for authorities to react.
#9
nacherlee thisn be folow by thes, then a be folow by thes thes, wich then leed to thes, then leed to thes. then yood haver sum doin thes, wile others do thes, meewile fred doin thes, shipman in em bak doin thes an then itn all kulminate with joe m comin with em last an tellin us all like it is.
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/26/2005 23:05 Comments ||
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#15
Mucky...UR a wise1 beware> ^..^
Posted by: Red Dog ||
10/26/2005 23:23 Comments ||
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#16
Agree, Frank, Mucky - owls were my "good luck" charm when I was a kid camping out all over creation. Seemed like they were everywhere I went - or at least liked to hang out around wherever I pitched my little tent.
Furry housepetsâespecially felinesâhave long been blamed for allergies and breathing problems in people. But now researchers at an animal hospital in Scotland say the discomfort can also work the other way around: Humans can trigger asthma attacks in cats. Cigarette smoke, human dandruff, household dust, and certain types of litter create inflammation in cats' airways and worsen asthma, the veterinarians say.
Feline asthma is a common disease, with about 1 in 200 cats suffering from the condition. Symptoms include coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath. Cats between the ages of one and five are most likely to develop asthma. Asian breeds, like Siamese cats, are also more prone to the disease. But Nicki Reed, a veterinarian at the University of Edinburgh's Hospital for Small Animals, says the overall incident rate of asthma is increasing because more cats are being kept soley indoors. "We find that bringing asthmatic cats into the hospital here and removing them from the standard triggers, like dust and smoke, can improve their condition," she said. [...]
Posted by: DanNY ||
10/26/2005 00:31 ||
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#2
JERRY LEWIS movie - ya see what happens, Jerry, when female cats demand to be kissed, or sezzes they can be kissed, by male dawgs. *"Dames - they love it; they're all the same regardless of specias"!?
Iman Moustafa loves the sea, but she always knew her bikini didn't conform with the rules of Islam, so each time she took a dip she would cover up quickly and pray on the beach. The guilt spoiled the fun. "I felt as if I were fooling God," said Miss Moustafa, 25.
The solution? La Femme. La Femme is one of three women-only beaches at this elite Mediterranean resort, offering beachgoers a priceless commodity: guiltless fun. Here the veiled, conservative and shy can strip down to skimpy bikinis safe from intruding male eyes. The beaches, about 60 miles west of Alexandria, are part of a growing business that caters to the new class of religious Egyptians who are hip, rich and young. These secluded strips of sand are an attempt to reconcile liberal and conservative, worldly and heavenly, fun and piety.
At ordinary beaches, where the sexes mix and any swimwear is allowed, religious women face a challenge. They must get up early to find a secluded spot. Some take to the waves fully clothed or wearing unrevealing Islamic swimsuits. Miss Moustafa all but gave up the beach when she donned the veil four years ago. Then women-only beaches appeared.
At La Femme on a recent late-summer day, women let down their hair and layers of clothes to reveal swimsuits or tight shorts, rubbed on tanning oil and lay on the soft sand. Some abandoned themselves to the blaring Arabic pop music, swaying to the rhythmic beats. Miss Moustafa removed her kerchief and traded her baggy skirt and top for a flower-adorned bikini. The beach is screened by reeds, with female gatekeepers to keep out men and cameras.
A visit to La Femme costs 50 Egyptian pounds (about $9), or $60 for a summer membership. Those hefty sums in low-wage Egypt are worth it, many women said. "I'm having fun and am not sinning," said a 27-year-old accountant who identified herself as Heba. Seven years ago, she became "moltazema," meaning she now wears only long clothes that are not too fitting. "I love the sea very much, but I wasn't able to swim because I know it is [religiously forbidden] to expose your body and have the guys check it out," she said, an English-language book perched on her bare legs and a ring adorning a toe. "Those who came up with the idea of this beach know what the country needs," she said. La Femme was set up by private entrepreneurs.
Yasmeen Dinana, 16, said she started veiling herself about two years ago, partly because of a sermon she heard from Amr Khaled, a young evangelical-style preacher who draws the young and rich to Islam.
Imam Khaled said the prophet Muhammad would be upset by unveiled women, she said. "I felt that the prophet has suffered a lot for us and that God has given us so many things, so why not wear the veil?"
Preachers such as Imam Khaled speak the language of young people and wear smart suits rather than robes and turbans as they guide the new generation of Egypt's 77 million people toward Islam and away from what is perceived as Western decadence and materialism.
The Islamic revival has spawned chic fashion stores catering specifically to veiled women. Makeup artists advertise new trends in tying kerchiefs. Video clips of religious songs feature handsome male models.
Marina embodies many of Egypt's contrasts. On its streets, scantly clad women walk next to others swathed in black. On some of its beaches, men and women mingle, drink alcohol and publicly display affection. La Femme's own gatekeepers wear bikinis or shorts.
Basma Magdy, 21, a student at the American University in Cairo, doesn't wear a veil but feels more comfortable at La Femme. "Here I am sitting at ease, knowing that I'm not doing anything wrong," she said.
Miss Moustafa says her veil makes her feel like "a precious and covered pearl." It took her awhile to realize it. "I used to tell God, 'I know I have to get veiled, but I'm still young and I want to wear a strapless gown on my wedding day and I want to wear bikinis," she said. "Now I would never take off the veil, even if you give me one million dollars."
Her bikini, she says, is strictly for use at La Femme.
#2
I'm not a woman or Moslem but surely some enterprising young turk or Mad Scientist can dev swimwear for babes incorporating modern design(s) with Muslim or local belief systems.
Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah appealed Tuesday for national unity amid political tension in the oil-rich emirate caused by a lingering succession crisis within the ruling family. "Your country Kuwait is like a ship ... and no honest Kuwaiti will accept a hole to be opened in this ship," the emir said in a traditional address coinciding with the last 10 days of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. "The safety of the ship is a matter of life for us ... A strong nation is a united nation." The address will be read on state-run television at night by Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah on behalf of the ailing emir and his half-brother. The text was released by KUNA news agency.
The emir, 77, has not been seen public since he opened Parliament in October last year. In August, he returned home after more than two months in the United States where he underwent a minor surgery. His crown prince Sheikh Saad Abdullah al-Sabah, 75, has been undergoing medical treatment in Kuwait and abroad since colon surgery in 1997. The address made no reference to the succession crisis within the Al-Sabah family. The emir stepped in on October 10 and promised a "swift resolution" to the crisis after a leading family figure publicly criticized the government and proposed a three-member committee to assist the leadership. The dynasty's two main branches, which have been alternating the post of head of state for about 90 years, are locked in what the local press calls "taking the losers out for a drive in the desert" "a process of putting their house in order."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/26/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Maybe they can borrow a couple of King Fahd's ice machines?
A PEAK hour train has derailed in Liverpool, although local police said all passengers have now been taken off and there are no injuries.
"All the passengers are off the train. It was believed to be a mechanical fault," said a police spokesman in the northwest England city.
Both the fire and ambulance services in the city also said they had not received any reports of injuries.
"We do have a derailment and we have approximately 90 passengers on board. We are leading them off and there are no reports of injuries so far," said a spokesman for the fire service.
"We are treating it as a minor derailment. There was a train travelling in a tunnel between Central Station and Lime Street Station. Our job is now assisting people to get out of the train," a spokesman for British transport police said.
One relieved passenger said while there were initial fears among those on board that the derailment may have been a terrorist attack, people had remained calm.
"I'm in the pub having a pint to calm my nerves," said a passenger from the train named David. "There were a few judders and the lights went out."
"We all just sat and took it nice and calm. We were informed by the rail staff that the back carriage had derailed," David told BBC television.
Britain's record on rail safety is chequered. Seven people died in a crash in southern England in November last year and another seven were killed in a derailment near London in 2002.
Thirty-one commuters also died when two trains collided near London's Paddington station in 1999 and 35 were killed in a crash involving three trains at Clapham Junction, also in the capital, in 1988.
Posted by: God Save The World AKA Oztralian ||
10/26/2005 20:07 ||
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From FT, October 25 2005 22:01 Blair secures strong backing from Chirac
Tony Blair has on Wednesday secured a strong expression of support from Jacques Chirac ahead of Thursdayâs informal European Union summit, with both leaders agreeing that the meeting must focus on how the EU can add value to its economic infrastructure.
As Britain prepares to host its 24 EU partners at a one-day summit at Hampton Court on Thursday, the British prime minister's aides have stressed they want to defer critical discussions over the EUâs future financing arrangements until next month.
Instead, Downing Street wants the meeting to achieve an âoverall strategic consensus on Europe's economic directionâ, with a strong focus on how common action can boost areas such as research and development, the university sector, energy and transport.
Writing in Wednesdayâs Financial Times, the French president expresses his strong support for Mr Blair's approach, arguing that the summit must look at ways to âboost innovation and research to support tomorrow's jobsâ.
In a clear signal that both Britain and France are also determined to avoid turning the meeting into a row over the Union's competing social models, Mr Chirac says EU leaders âmust restore the momentum from which Europe draws its strength.â
He argues that the EU heads must âcome to grips with globalisation's social consequencesâ and that they must look, in particular, at effecting a ârevolutionâ in key areas such as energy supplies and transport.
Mr Chiracâs article clearly signals that, like Mr Blair, he is prepared to defer debate over the EUâs future financing arrangements â an issue that deeply divided the two men at last June's European Council in Brussels â until later in the year.
However, Mr Chirac warns Mr Blair that if he tries to secure a budget deal in December, he cannot reopen EU-wide agreements on the future structure of the Common Agricultural Policy signed in 2002 and 2003. Any deal, Mr Chirac writes in the FT, âmust comply with commitments already madeâ. ...more...
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From Bloomberg, October 26, 2005 02:29 EDT Chirac Challenges Blair on EU Budget Ahead of Summit
French President Jacques Chirac today challenged U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair on the U.K.'s annual European Union budget rebate, raising the prospect that leaders will clash again at the EU summit in Hampton Court.
"To restore confidence in the workings of the union, we must agree on the 2007-2013 budget," Chirac said, according to the text of an opinion piece published today in newspapers in each of the EU's 25 nations. "If we can act in a spirit of solidarity and responsibility, we can achieve this in December."
Talks on the bloc's seven-year budget plans broke down in acrimony in June, with Chirac calling Blair ``intransigent'' and Blair insisting on a reduction of EU agricultural subsidies, a quarter of which benefit France.
Blair, who is leading the 25-nation bloc during the U.K.'s six-month presidency, is trying to leave the budget debate until a December summit, using the Hampton Court discussions to push Britain's pro-business agenda on the slower-growing countries using the euro currency. He will outline his plans to the European Parliament in Strasbourg at 3 p.m.
Without a deal before the start of 2007, projects from a Prague airport subway line to a Baltic high-speed rail link are in limbo. EU subsidies, mostly for agriculture and construction projects, are worth 105 billion euros ($127 billion) in 2005.
U.K. Rebate
The breakdown of the budget talks in June came after EU leaders put ratification of the bloc's first constitution on hold after voters in France and the Netherlands rejected it in referendums.
With France leading the charge against Britain's 5.2 billion-euro annual rebate, won by then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1984, the U.K. counterattacked by challenging France's right to a quarter of the bloc's farm subsidies, twice its share of the EU's population.
Chirac said a 2002 deal on farm subsidies until 2013 is non-negotiable. The final budget deal ``must comply with commitments already made,'' the president said in today's opinion piece.
Chirac also criticized European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, saying ``Europe must defend its interests'' in World Trade Organization talks. The 2002 farm subsidy deal shows the EU's ``commitment to success'' and ``it is now time for our partners to make equivalent proposals in a spirit of give and take, in agriculture as well as in manufacturing and services.'' ...more...
Just kidding, the Galapagos tortoises are fine:
A volcano on the largest of the Galapagos Islands erupted for the third straight day Tuesday, but experts said it didn't threaten villagers on the island or the super-sized tortoises that gave the remote archipelago its name. Oscar Carvajal, chief technician of the Galapagos National Park on Isabela island, said tortoises and land iguanas were not threatened because the lava flows were down the northeast slopes of Sierra Negra volcano where there were no animal populations. "The lava flows have not affected the species because they are on the other side. There are no problems with tortoises or land iguanas. Only a small amount of vegetation has been burned in the interior of the caldron and on the flanks," Carvajal said. The 4,920-foot high Sierra Negra volcano began erupting late Saturday, sending three rivers of spectacular lava flow down its northeastern slopes.in 1998.
President Alvaro Uribe on Tuesday accepted the resignation of Colombia's secret police chief and fired the agency's No. 2 amid reports of bitter infighting between the two. Jorge Noguera, director of the secret police known as the DAS, told reporters that Uribe "was very angry about this situation and after speaking with him, I presented my resignation."
An Uribe spokesman, who only speaks to reporters on condition of anonymity as a policy, confirmed the president had accepted Noguera's resignation and dismissed the DAS's deputy director, Jose Miguel Narvaez, but declined to discuss the reasons behind the decision. Colombian daily El Tiempo reported Tuesday that Narvaez was involved in a plan to make it look like the DAS was going to sell intelligence to the nation's outlawed far-right paramilitary militias as part of a campaign to ensnare Noguera in a scandal. Uribe "is aware ... of these montages that were being prepared within the institution," Noguera said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/26/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
I sure hope he presented his resignation while wearing that stylish cape...
A former top aide to Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliev and the head of the country's largest chemical company have been arrested on charges of participating in a coup plot, authorities said Tuesday, in the latest wave of arrests targeting top government officials. A government statement said former chief of staff Akif Muradverdiyev and Azerkimya chemical company head Fikret Sadigov allegedly conspired in the plot along with key opposition figure Rasul Guliyev, and other top officials who have also been dismissed in recent days. Also sacked or arrested have been a former finance minister Fikret Yusifov, former economic development minister Fardakh Aliyev and former health minister Ali Insanov.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/26/2005 00:00 ||
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Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev has ordered urgent steps to make sure a 6 November parliamentary election is fair after Washington voiced concern over a police crackdown in the oil-producing ex-Soviet state. Aliyev told officials on Tuesday to draw up plans for applying indelible ink to voters' fingers and asked parliament to scrap a ban on foreign non-governmental organisations monitoring the election, state television reported.
Both measures were recommended by democracy watchdog the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) but had been rejected by Aliyev's administration. Aliyev - son of the previous head of state - said he changed his mind because he wanted "the final phase of the election process to pass off ... in accordance with the law".
Posted by: Fred ||
10/26/2005 00:00 ||
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Axis of Evil update, via Damian Penny:
More than any other company, Hyundai Group has been at the forefront of South Korea's efforts to pry open North Korea through economic cooperation. Hyundai buses and trucks now lumber across the world's most heavily armed border, taking South Korean tourists to a Hyundai-run mountain resort in North Korea and carrying back kitchen utensils and garments from a Hyundai-built industrial park in the North.
Visionary as the company may look, however, Hyundai is finding itself in a quagmire in the North. Its experience serves as a cautionary tale for any company trying to venture into North Korea, where the business mind-set of the Communist leaders is out of step with international norms. Some analysts say the rift between Hyundai and North Korea demonstrates that Pyongyang is capable of flouting international business deals as readily as it did international nuclear nonproliferation treaties.
"The North Koreans are very good at talking big, but they seldom keep their promises," said Chung Se Hyun, a former South Korean cabinet minister who spent most of his government career as a negotiator on North Korea. "It's amazing that they don't seem to realize that what they are doing is damaging their international creditability."
For weeks, North Korea and Hyundai Asan, Hyundai Group's North Korean business arm, have been at odds over the dismissal of Kim Yoon Kyu, a Hyundai executive accused in August of embezzling money.
North Korea has demanded that Kim be reinstated. It argued that, whatever Hyundai had discovered about him, Kim should be Hyundai's point man in North Korea because he has had the extremely rare privilege of meeting the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il, on several occasions. Hyundai has held its ground, calling the dismissal an internal company matter.
Last week, North Korea accused Hyundai of "deception and hypocrisy" and said it was reconsidering all its business deals with Hyundai. It also blocked the visits to North Korea of Hyundai officials who wanted to discuss new projects, but it did not mention returning any of the $500 million it had received from Hyundai for business rights. Keep this in mind the next time the US gets flak for not treating Shorty like an adult. Read the rest at the link.
#1
...where the business mind-set of the Communist leaders is out of step with international norms.
1. You pay us lots of money.
2. We keep it.
3. If you're very, very lucky, we might do some of the things we agreed to.
4. If not, oh well. Kimmie and the boys are still rich.
#2
"It's amazing that they don't seem to realize that what they are doing is damaging their international creditability."
Nonsense. As long as Hyundai keeps cooperating, the Norks can keep doing what they've been doing.
I just love these 'nadless wonders who blather about how the Norks/Iranians etc. will get dirty looks from the "international community" if they don't behave, and seriously expect the Commies and mullahs to be impressed by such threats.
From the Rantburg Diplomacy Desk: Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot has called on the United States to appoint a new ambassador to the Netherlands as soon as possible. Bot called on US Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, not to let decision-making regarding the appointment drag on, according to reports in Dutch newspapers NOS and the Telegraaf.
The man the US has nominated for the role, Roland Arnall, is under a cloud following accusations levelled at the company he founded, Ameriquest. Arnall is a major shareholder in the company. Ameriquest, the biggest sub-prime lending company in the US, has been accused of unfair practices when it comes to lending to borrowers with weak credit, according to the LA Times. Ameriquest has put aside USD 325 million to settle the case with claimants, but so far no agreement has been reached. Some US senators have called on the nomination to be postponed until such an agreement is made.
Bot said he understood the home situation but that since the Netherlands and the United States work closely together in so many areas, it is important to have an ambassador present in the Netherlands.
This post not really related to the WoT other than that it shows the attention and engagement of the US is still important in the global community. Holland has been a good ally to the US in Afghanistan/Iraq, and even sent a bunch of supplies and levee engineers to New Orleans last year. I certainly hope the Ambassador's post is filled quickly and honorably.
Posted by: bk ||
10/26/2005 9:44 Comments ||
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#2
Good. Those sub-prime lenders are subprime. It's outrageous that they businesses are allowed to prey on the poor and uneducated. Little more than loan sharks.
Take away his position and give it to someone worthy of representing the US.
#4
It's not the same. It's a business whose sole purpose is to encourage people to borrow money that any lender can see that they will have problems being able to pay back. Then they have a machine in place to foreclose on their homes.
#8
so, turned down by the big banks, they should STFU and rot? My take is they know they have had problems, know the risks, and are willing or needful enough to take the higher rates. Caveat Emptor and let them have their business. Nanny statism doesn't fly, or do you have a REAL alternative? Enforced interest rates, comrade?
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/26/2005 21:31 Comments ||
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SPARE a thought for Swedish feminists whose newly formed party is disintegrating after hardliners presented a manifesto advocating a âman taxâ, the abolition of marriage and the creation of âgender-neutralâ names. Sweden already boasts one of the highest levels of female participation in the workplace and some observers questioned the need for a feminist party in a country whose women account for half the seats in parliament.
There is that ...
When it was founded six months ago, polls showed that a quarter of voters would consider supporting Feminist Initiative in elections next year because of rising domestic violence against women and higher salaries for men. That goodwill seems to have faded after the partyâs recent founding congress, however, when radicals such as Tiina Rosenberg, a professor of gender studies, appeared to have secured control of the agenda. The resulting platform included proposals for abolishing marriage and changing the law to let people who undergo sex change operations legally alter their names.
You may wonder, 'why would it be a problem to change one's name?' Keep reading ...
The party called also for the creation of more âgender-neutralâ names such as âRobinâ or âNorvaâ that could apply to a boy or a girl. At present parents must choose names from an official list for boys or girls.
An official list of names. How Swedish. But it gets better ...
At least you never run into any Swedes named "Floyd" or "Shakaleisha"...
Gudrun Schyman, a founding member of the party and a former Swedish Communist party leader and author of erotic verse, advocates what she calls a âman tax to cover the cost of violence against women in the homeâ.
I'd like to see an erotic verse tax, myself. But limericks should be exempt...
In a recent television documentary called The Gender War, she proclaimed: âMen are animals.â The documentary noted that the shelter had printed excerpts of an extremist American feminist manifesto called Scum, which stands for the Society for Cutting Up Men. In it, women are urged to âdestroy the male sexâ and seize the chance made possible by science of giving birth only to females.
Millions of Swedish men shake their heads and wonder what took them so long to get divorced ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/26/2005 00:00 ||
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The custodian of the child (see Section 5.3.2) shall, within three months of
the birth of the child, give notice of the childâs forename to the tax authority.
This notification is made in writing. If the child is christened within the
Church of Sweden, the notification can be made to the person performing
the christening ceremony. The tax authority shall approve the forename.
The name must be suitable as a forename.
#5
"...some observers questioned the need for a feminist party in a country whose women account for half the seats in parliament."
Lemme guess... Cuz they want it all?
Same old story, again. Somebody sets up an organization with reasonably tame goals - thus attracting membership and some respect, perhaps momentum. Then, slowly but surely, the true agenda is revealed and the membership doesn't immediately flee, not believing it's beyond retrieval. And slowly they are radicalized into believing that insanity is sane and absurdities are reasonable. And then all you can do is try to deprogram them, which is problematic, or kill 'em. They're all grown up and they're broken. It's always a helluva waste of good ,um, nevermind. Sigh.
#7
is this the feminist party which has as its emblem a turkey baster crossed with garden shears?---just askin'
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
10/26/2005 2:09 Comments ||
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#8
Leave to the Lefties, or at least the US Left, to argue that allegedly making women equal to men, or making them something better than a housewife, is = to making them more $$$ and Home-dependent on Govt-led, female-centric Welfarism. They wilfully mislead and misrepresent to women, and then give alibi by blaming the Right. "Abortion Rights" is just a PC misnomer to trick Amer females, espec troubled andor underage minor females, into believing they are adults forevermore once they get pregnant, andor keep on getting pregnant, so that the Fed will keep on using public tax dollars to pay for BOTH the abortion process and the pregnant process, and that their "adult" rights as legal underage minors does NOT end once they unilaterally abort andor give up their baby(s). IOW, the Fed is engaging in Gender-specofoc Socialism and actually promoting and rewarding underage minor females for being individually-societally wilfully troubled, delinquent, andor naive, ......etc. ala is a pseudo-Federal job position.
#9
Sweden is not the only country with naming laws. Germany does the same: Many Germans have long chafed under their country's rigid naming rules. But a European Union court may shortly deal the rules a blow for at least some of them. A preliminary ruling from the court has found that Leonhard, a German citizen born and named in Denmark, is entitled to his hyphen as a citizen of the EU.
In a society that values order and tradition, the rules are meant to prevent German children from being the victims of ridicule or confusion. A forename must indicate a person's gender, for example; if it doesn't, a second name should be given that clarifies the matter.
I believe Japan has similar rules.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/26/2005 8:34 Comments ||
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#11
Gudrun Schyman, a founding member of the party and a former Swedish Communist party leader and author of erotic verse, advocates what she calls a âman tax to cover the cost of violence against women in the homeâ.
Well, Gudrun. What are you gonna do when some guy that gets to pay this tax decides to get his money's worth by using his wife's face as a speed bag? Sooth her with "erotic verse"? I mean, what the hell, he paid for it right?
Instead of a commission for approving child names it would be time to form a commission (formed exclusively by Marines and Soldiers who have been under fire ) for approving universitry disciplines. The proliferation of pseudo-studies in joke science should stop. Their only function is to give a tribune and a means of existence to never dowells papa boys and girls playing leftist. Fire them and have them work at your nearest car wash instead (or still better send trade them for Cuban dissidents so they take their place in Cuba's Goulag). They would be MUCH more useful and it would allow to put more money in the teaching of hard science and marketable disciplines
#16
Same old story, again. Somebody sets up an organization with reasonably tame goals - thus attracting membership and some respect, perhaps momentum. Then, slowly but surely, the true agenda is revealed and the membership doesn't immediately flee, not believing it's beyond retrieval. And slowly they are radicalized into believing that insanity is sane and absurdities are reasonable. And then all you can do is try to deprogram them, which is problematic, or kill 'em. They're all grown up and they're broken. It's always a helluva waste of good ,um, nevermind. Sigh.
Sounds like the begining of George W.'s first term in office, now look where he's at!
Posted by: bk ||
10/26/2005 10:10 Comments ||
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#17
Bk
But to be complete there should be a right of litigation when your teacher uses the pulpit as a tribune instead of for teaching you what you came for learning. After all, the time he took for his activism means you learned less about the main subject and your lmarket value will be lesser.
When universities start getting sued for millions of dolars due to some clown trying to brain-wash students then there will be no more Ward Churchills.
#25
bk - You're supposed to use italics and quotes when you lift someone else's thoughts and repost them. It's pretty clear you can't compose 2 or 3 coherent sentences of your own, but I must insist that you not be given a pass just because you're mentally handicapped.
I bitch-slapped you a coupla days ago and you were too much of a coward to respond. And here you are, back again, playing the fool.
Sorry, bk, but we've retired the position of RB Red-Headed Stepchild. You wouldn't qualify anyway - it requires a measurable IQ.
You should seek out open-mike opportunities to embarrass yourself elsewhere, work up a decent troll routine, and then come back and present it for proper ridicule.
More than 20 members of Cuba's world-famous national chorus are singing songs of freedom today after defecting in Toronto.
Members of the National Chorus of Cuba dodged security officers and jumped into waiting cars, some on Sunday and others yesterday, said Cuban exiles who planned the defections.
"These people are scared for their lives," said Ismail Sambra, president of the Cuban Canadian Foundation. "They are worried about their families back home.
"It took a lot of planning to get this far."
The highly acclaimed 40-member group, which travels the world promoting the Communist regime, arrived in Canada last week and performed in the Toronto and Port Hope areas.
The singers appeared at a downtown church last Sunday, were to perform this Saturday in B.C. with the Vancouver Chamber Choir and were scheduled to leave Canada next week.
The booking agent in Canada for the group, Robert Missen, said he was only aware of 11 defectors and that the rest of the group would perform in B.C.
The singers, who are hiding out at the homes of Cuban exiles in the city, are expected to apply for refugee status today in Toronto.
Gaining their freedom is worth any danger they may face, the singers said.
Ernesto Cendoya-Sotomayor, 27, a baritone, said he left his wife and young daughter behind.
"Cuban police will probably tell my family I am a traitor to the revolution," he said. "They will put pressure on my family."
WASHINGTON â Sen. John Kerry (search) says President Bush should bring home 20,000 troops from Iraq over the Christmas holidays if the December elections there are successful. That's nice Kerry. Keep talking out of your ass. Election stolen from him Defeated by Bush last year and a potential candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, Kerry called for a "reasonable time frame" for pulling back troops rather than a full-scale withdrawal advocated by some Democrats. He said it could be completed in 12 to 15 months. Here is a hint, you don't win wars by time tables, negotiation or giving yourself 3 purple hearts.
"It will be hard for this administration, but it is essential to acknowledge that the insurgency will not be defeated unless our troop levels are drawn down, starting immediately after successful elections in December," Kerry said in a speech prepared for delivery Wednesday at Georgetown University. Excerpts of the speech were obtained by the Associated Press. Um...The bad guys won't be defeated by us until we leave? That is the dumbest fucking thing I have ever heard. Kinda like France saying it beat Germany in 1940 by surrendering.
The presence of 159,000 U.S. troops in Iraq is deterring peace efforts, said Kerry, a dick member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Actually, they are killing many terrorists with the new Iraqi forces and putting many of them out of buisness. Attacks are down from 300 a day to 3. That is a 300% fucking drop you moron and if you ever show up to the Senate meetings, you might actually know this.
"To undermine the insurgency, we must instead simultaneously pursue both a political settlement and the withdrawal of American combat forces linked to specific, responsible benchmarks," Already doing it he said. "At the first benchmark, the completion of the December elections, we can start the process of reducing our forces by withdrawing 20,000 troops over the course of the holidays." Home by Christmas, John?
Kerry, who voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq, has been a strong critic of Bush's handling of the war, accusing the president of misleading the public into going to war. John, here is a cookie. Now go sit over there by yourself until you learn how to play with others and not poop on the white house lawn.
#1
Ah he's still pissed he had to spend a Christmas in Cambodia running guns and CIA operatives to the Khmer Rouge. There was no Napoleon brandy, no mull wine, nuthin. I think it's called seared memory syndrome.
#2
HEY JOHN!! Take your BENCHMARK and STICK IT UP YOUR LIBERAL PATHETIC ASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How the HELL did he become a member of the Senate foreign relations comm. He never attends ANYTHING!!!!!!
#3
A day or two ago I received (why I know not) one of his political spam letters. It would appear he's trying to crawl back to something resembling relevancy. Somebody needs to tell him to take the ketchup bottle and shove it because nobody's listening or looking anymore beyond the lemmingtinkers!
#11
Never EVER say the name âHillaryâ and âthree-wayâ in the same rant. Now I have to clean up the barf off my screen. Oh man my stomach still feels queasy. P.S. John Who?
#16
Great speech John! Particularly like the switcheroo on "we need more troops" / "we need to withdraw troops". Keep up the good work. And please run again in 2008. Please! Please! Please!
Sunshine for the Barrett Report
October 26, 2005; Page A18
So it looks as if Independent Counsel David Barrett's report will see the light of day after all. On Monday the so-called Special Division of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the release (10 days from now) of all but one section, leaving its fate in the hands of Congress.
Mr. Barrett, readers may recall, is the last of the Clinton-era independent counsels. Originally appointed to investigate a tax-fraud case involving former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros, he later expanded his probe to include alleged attempts at a cover-up by officials at the Justice Department and the IRS.
The report has been done for more than a year, but a lot of worried Democrats have been doing their best to keep it from being published. One strategy has been repeated delaying motions by the law firm of Williams & Connolly, which represents Mr. Cisneros and other relevant figures. Meanwhile, Democratic Congressmen kept complaining about the costs of Mr. Barrett's operation and introduced bills that would defund him.
Monday's release order would likely not have come without a different kind of pressure from this page and from Congress -- particularly Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley. Last week the Senate passed an amendment he sponsored that would defund Mr. Barrett, as the Democrats wanted. But it would also require publication of his report. In other words, no more delaying tactics.
Senator Grassley also wrote a letter to the Special Division requesting that he be given access to a copy, which only seems reasonable given that the independent counsel and Special Division are creatures of Congress in the first place. "The Congress and the taxpayers have a right to know its contents," he wrote.
The only catch here is that Monday's release order does not apply to Section 5 of the Report -- which is said to be the most interesting section, as it's the one dealing with the Justice Department and the IRS. That's why it's still imperative for Congress to go ahead and pass the Grassley Amendment, which is currently attached to an appropriations bill in the House-Senate conference committee. After 10 years and $21 million, we think the taxpayers have a right to judge Mr. Barrett's findings in full.
#1
Monday's release order does not apply to Section 5 of the Report -- which is said to be the most interesting section, as it's the one dealing with the Justice Department and the IRS.
Methinks the Dim's are worried about opening the proverbial can of worms with the Clinton Justice Dept & IRS. AFAIK there was only 1 resignation and no investigation or prosecutions on the political abuse of the IRS (many conservative non-profits audited, but of course the NEA shows no $ spent on political causes).
WASHINGTON (AP) - Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald met Wednesday with the grand jury investigating the leak of a CIA officer's identity, looking to put finishing touches on a two-year criminal probe that has ensnared two senior White House aides. Fitzgerald and the grand jurors entered the courthouse around 9 a.m. EDT, with just three days left before the jury's term is set to expire. Away from the jury, FBI agents conducted a handful of last-minute interviews to check facts key to the case.
Lawyers representing key White House officials expected Fitzgerald to decide as early as Wednesday whether to charge I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who is Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, and top presidential political adviser Karl Rove. Both Rove and Libby joined other officials Wednesday at the daily White House senior staff meeting, as usual.
The grand jury Fitzgerald has used in the investigation is set to expire Friday. Fitzgerald could charge one or more presidential aides with violating a law prohibiting the intentional unmasking of an undercover CIA officer.
Or charge someone with lying to the Grand Jury. Or not charge anyone at all. I'll be soooo glad when this waiting is over.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/26/2005 09:39 ||
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#1
Fox News is reporting that spokesman from prosecutor's office just stated that there will be no news today.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/26/2005 11:14 Comments ||
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"We have double sourced that the vice president's chief of staff has been indicted," a reporter for ABCNEWS claimed to a White House press spokesman this afternoon. The White House refused to comment on the claim. The network said they didn't need comment, they were preparing to run with the development on this evening's network news broadcast, sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT.
ABCNEWS claimed to the White House that it had double sourced how an indictment against vice presidential chief of staff I. Lewis Libby was set. A senior White House source quickly determined ABC was bluffing; the report did not run on the East coast feed of the program.
ABC NEWS spokesman Jeff Schneider tells the DRUDGE REPORT: "There is nothing at all true about us having double sourced anything" regarding indictments. More fake, but accurate news from the MSM
Posted by: Steve ||
10/26/2005 09:30 ||
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#1
Our possible suspects?
ABC White House correspondents: Ann Compton, Terry Moran, Jessica Yellin.
Looks like somebody tried to do a little bluffing at high stakes poker and lost. My bet's on Moran. Not that anything would happen to him...
The partisan fight over Karl Rove exploded onto the Senate floor yesterday, with Democrats trying to strip him of his security clearance and Republicans retaliating by trying to strip the chamber's two top Democrats of theirs. The fun's beginning to ramp up...
The moves, which came as amendments to a spending bill, both failed, but not before each side blamed the other for "juvenile" behavior and for poisoning a well of good feelings they said had existed in the past few weeks. There were good feelings? Who knew?
Some senators said the entire exercise was wrong. "There might be a contest between which of these amendments is more poorly drafted," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, Alabama Republican, who voted against both amendments. We should not be doing this. This is exactly why the American public holds Congress in such low esteem right now," said Sen. Susan Collins, Maine Republican, who also opposed both. Well, a minor reason, perhaps...
Meanwhile, former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, whose wife, Valerie Plame, and her identity as a cover CIA employee is the central issue, came to the Capitol to call for President Bush to fire Mr. Rove. "I believe it is time for Karl Rove to go and time for this president to live up to his promises that anyone involved in this leak would be fired," Mr. Wilson said during a press conference with Sen. Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, steps away from the Senate floor. Wotta line-up: Schumer, Mr Face-Time. Wilson, The Lying Liar. Plame, The faux NOC.
Mr. Bush said in 2003 that he would fire whoever leaked the information about Mrs. Plame's identity.
No, he didn't. He said that if anyone was found guilty of a crime he'd be fired. Big difference.
Mr. Rove spoke to Time magazine's Matt Cooper about Mr. Wilson's wife, warning the reporter about Mr. Wilson's false claim that he was sent to Niger by Vice President Dick Cheney. Democrats have since called repeatedly for Mr. Rove to be fired or at least lose his security clearance as White House deputy chief of staff. Please? Pretty pretty please?
But Republicans said to wait for results from a special prosecutor who is investigating the case and could be considering charges of obstruction of justice or perjury. Aw, grown-ups. They never let us have any fun... A former CIA covert agent who supervised Mrs. Plame early in her career yesterday took issue with her identification as an "undercover agent," saying that she worked for more than five years at the agency's headquarters in Langley and that most of her neighbors and friends knew that she was a CIA employee. "She made no bones about the fact that she was an agency employee and her husband was a diplomat," Fred Rustmann, a covert agent from 1966 to 1990, told The Washington Times. A real agent calls a spade a spade pretender a pretender. Whaddya know.
"Her neighbors knew this, her friends knew this, his friends knew this. A lot of blame could be put on to central cover staff and the agency because they weren't minding the store here. ... The agency never changed her cover status." So the super secret agent was actually a bookkeeping error.
Mr. Rustmann, who spent 20 of his 24 years in the agency under "nonofficial cover" -- also known as a NOC, the same status as the wife of Mr. Wilson -- also said that she worked under extremely light cover. As in non-existent. In addition, Mrs. Plame hadn't been out as an NOC since 1997, when she returned from her last assignment, married Mr. Wilson and had twins, USA Today reported yesterday. Thus the 5 year rule had lapsed, making this a non-issue... Now we see if Fitzpatrick has any sense. The distinction matters because a law that forbids disclosing the name of undercover CIA operatives applies to agents that had been on overseas assignment "within the last five years." Bingo. No joy, Dhimmis.
"She was home for such a long time, she went to work every day at Langley, she was in an analytical type job, she was married to a high-profile diplomat with two kids," Mr. Rustmann said. "Most people who knew Valerie and her husband, I think, would have thought that she was an overt CIA employee."
That's how she was listed in the Washington edition of "Who's Who."
Or something.
Asked whether his wife had been compromised before the press leak, Mr. Wilson said, "I have no idea," though he said that her work has had to change since the leaks. "My wife's status is that she is back at work, obviously in a different capacity, and she no longer has the cover that she once held," he said. His MO: play dumb when presented with facts.
One neighbor of the Wilsons, who live in the affluent Palisades community in Northwest, said that he "absolutely didn't know" that Mrs. Plame was in the CIA. "We understood her to work as an economist," said David Tillotson, a 62-year old lawyer. He said he didn't know that Mrs. Plame commuted to CIA headquarters, but added that "they wouldn't be conducting an investigation if she hadn't been covert." One neighbor? You only asked one? Do they buy into Santa and the Tooth Fairy, too? Maxwell Smart and Agent 99, perhaps?
Democrats had been pressuring the White House to act all week, but yesterday decided to try to force the matter. Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, along with Minority Whip Richard J. Durbin of Illinois and three other top Democrats, called for the end of security clearance for anyone "who discloses, or has disclosed, classified information, including the identity of a covert agent of the Central Intelligence Agency, to a person not authorized to receive such information. Even a child knows that if a person can't keep a secret, you stop telling him secrets," Mr. Schumer said. "Hey, I know - let's craft a law after the fact to screw Rove!"
Majority Leader Bill Frist, Tennessee Republican, called Democrats' amendment "purely a political amendment" and then submitted his own. It would have stripped clearance from federal officeholders who make "reference to a classified Federal Bureau of Investigation report on the floor of the United States Senate, or any federal officeholder that makes a statement based on a FBI agent's comments which is used as propaganda by terrorist organizations thereby putting our servicemen and women at risk." Tit. Meet Tat.
The former is a reference to Mr. Reid, who mentioned the FBI file of one of Mr. Bush's judicial nominees, and the latter is a reference to Mr. Durbin, whose comparison of U.S. interrogation techniques at Guantanamo Bay to Nazi and Soviet regimes was cited in Middle Eastern press, including Al Jazeera. Bam! Bam! Take that! Lol...
Mr. Frist's amendment failed 64-33, with 20 Republicans joining Democrats and one independent in voting against it, while Mr. Reid's amendment failed on a party-line vote, 53-44. Donk amendment gets all of the Dhimmidonk votes. Pub amendment suffers badly from Pubs actually voting conscience. Sheesh, it's so ronery to actually have ethics in the US Senate.
President Bush yesterday gave his longtime confidant an unusual show of support, walking out side by side with Mr. Rove on the White House South Lawn as he headed to his helicopter to leave for a trip to Indiana. The president almost always walks out alone, with his aides following behind. See? I don't duck and run from my friends. Karl, get over here you lughead! *applies noogie*
Later in the day, about 100 protesters -- chanting, "Hey, hey, ho, ho, Karl Rove has got to go" -- picketed outside the White House while Mr. Bush was in Indiana. The protesters were organized by the liberal group MoveOn.org, which provided signs that read: "Stop the Cover-up: Fire Karl Rove." Then the Secret Service got to try out their new flame throwers. Karl brought the marshmallows. It was swell.
#1
See? I don't duck and run from my friends. Karl, get over here you lughead! *applies noogie*
LOL!
Thanks for the post.
Re:The morally preverted and mentally twisted.
[exhibit A] The Smirky Schumers & [exibit B] Turbin Durbins of this world must be opposed.
It's our duty as citizens, for the future generations.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
10/26/2005 7:29 Comments ||
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#2
Hi .com! I ran across this post at "Just One Minute" that covered the "was she covert or not" angle. AFAICT it just about covers the same ground we all came to when we discussed this back in 2002 or 2003:
Really? Actions speak louder than words, so let's look at what Joe Wilson and the CIA did in July 2003 as the Wilson and Novak columns were brewing.
Start with Joe Wilson, retired diplomat turned consultant. On July 6 he writes a column telling the world that he has done some consulting for the CIA. That might reasonably be expected to attract the attention of the spychasers of various foreign intelligence services.
As these spychasers study Joe Wilson, what do they learn? A few minutes on the internet would have turned up his on-line bio with his wife's maiden name; a check of FEC records for campaign donations would have revealed that his wife, as "Valerie Wilson", listed "Brewster-Jennings & Associates" as her employer. Elapsed time - ten minutes?
What would our spychasers learn about Brewster-Jennings? Within a week of the Bob Novak article mentioning Brewster-Jennings, the Boston Globe had done some research, sent a person to the Brewster-Jennings office in Boston, and reported that "Apparent CIA front didn't offer much cover".
There were no employees, the building managers knew nothing of the company, and typical state and local records had not been filed. Does that sound like a legitimate enterprise, or a possible front company? Might suspicions have been aroused?
Per Dun & Bradstreet, the company was set up in May of 1994, a well-known year for spychasers - Aldrich Ames was arrested in February of 1994 for betraying agents and assets to the Soviets, and many US agents learned that they may have been compromised.
So - Valerie Plame works for a phony company that seems to have come into being a few months after Aldrich Ames put a lot of US agents into early semi-retirement. This has taken maybe a week for our foreign spychaser to learn. Might he wonder if Ms. Plame is still with the CIA?
If he follows that trail of logic, our spychaser might then have someone follow Ms. Plame to work. Anyone attempting to do so will either learn that Ms. Plame has an extraordinary knack for eluding surveillance, or that she drives in to Langley each day.
The last shred of her cover will be gone, her photo will be obtained and circulated, her history deduced, her networks identified - all within a few weeks of the NY Times editorial, which was volunteered by Joe Wilson and allowed by the CIA. The dire consequences predicted by Joe will have been realized - yet he published his op-ed anyway. How seriously did he, and the CIA, take her security?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
10/26/2005 8:53 Comments ||
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#3
Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?
#5
Just look for the CIA-Langley parking sticker on Plame's car.
Posted by: ed ||
10/26/2005 9:39 Comments ||
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#6
Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? Or is that just for democrats?
Democrats are considered innocent even if proven guilty by the MSM.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/26/2005 10:15 Comments ||
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#7
Today, the world is upside down. What we once considered a religion, Islam is bent on killing or conquering all people of other beliefs. Though this is ongoing, it is not a hot war as we know war can be. Apparently, that leaves enough down time for the criminal fringe and their accomplices, known as the democrat party and the MSM to engage in various manners of tomfoolery. In doing so, both of these organizations contribute to the support of the Islamic radicals engaged in the killing of civilians and soldiers around the world, including our American boys and girls. For that, the MSM deserves to be wiped from the face of the earth. They serve no useful purpose any longer. The democrats, on the other hand will continue as an organization, declining by degree across a few decades until they disappear. I will do my part to bring about these necessary changes. Never again in my life will I ever buy, rent, or in any way support the MSM and it's products with the exception of it's few right leaning members. Also, never will I or any member of my family who seeks to stay on my good side vote for any democrat. As far as we are concerned, they are already dead.
#9
just another circus for the democrats. They've chosen Karl to sit in the dunk box while they throw softballs and have a good laugh if they can drown him. More juvenile antics from people we pay to act like adults.
What is/was her job at the Company?
Is she a manager?
Is she a section chief?
Or a civil servant with a knack for political opportunism and attention?
Did she recommend that her husband be sent on the 8 day yellow cake junket?
Is it a common practice at the Company to send relatives or spouses on a not so clandestine mission?
How are personal normally chosen for missions over seas?
How is it even possible to devine, definitively, what off the books transtractions took place in Niger?..During an 8 day junket noless.
Niger ie. slavery, thugs, false imprisonment etc.. Niger's Seyni Kountche who in 1981 said that his country would sell uranium âeven to the devil.â
and the ever reliable back stabbers
..The French Government and their subsidized uranium Mining companys, Cogema, Areva & affiliates.
Wilson claims to have been sent by the Central Intelligence Agency because Vice President Dick Cheney's office had questions about a particular intelligence report.
After consulting with the State Department's African Affairs Bureau (and through it with Barbro Owens-Kirkpatrick, the United States ambassador to Niger), "I agreed to make the trip. The mission I undertook was discreet but by no means secret. While the C.I.A. paid my expenses (my time was offered pro bono), I made it abundantly clear to everyone I met that I was acting on behalf of the United States government.
I spent the next eight days drinking sweet mint tea and meeting with dozens of people.." Linky
Posted by: Red Dog ||
10/26/2005 19:27 Comments ||
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#11
nice inlines PD and SW :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/26/2005 21:22 Comments ||
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October 26, 2005: When the Segway (www.segway.com) personal transporter first came out at in late 2001, it was supposed to be a radical and revolutionary transportation device so powerful it would change the world. Since then, the two-wheeled $5,000 vehicle has not caught on in a big way, leaving the company to find other sales opportunities for its technology. One of these has been the U.S. Army's Rapid Equipping Force (REF). REF is designed to find off-the-shelf or near-term developmental items that can be quickly evaluated and bought for use out in the field, rather than going through the usual multi-year process to bring in new gear. The four-wheel Segway Concept Centaur Vehicle is on a fast-track development evaluation at REF and needs to show its stuff within the next year, or it gets dumped.
REF thought well-enough of the militarized Segway effort to bring it along as a show-and-tell piece at an Army association conference earlier this month. Currently, the GI Segway is able to travel on either two or four wheels at a top speed of 40 kilometers per hour â not fast, but it beats marching around with over 100 pounds of gear on while patrolling. Since it has a quiet electric motor, it has a very low noise and heat ( IR) profile, so you can more easily creep up on people. It can carry up to two riders or 300 pounds of payload.
With a pair of 400 watt/hour batteries, it goes around 16 kilometers; not bad for puttering around the base and short-range patrols, but you still have to recharge the thing. The U.S. Army already has enough of a headache to keep its existing power-hungry devices happy, including radios, night weapons sights, and computers powered up. The Segway would be yet another device that needed batteries, or a generator for recharging. Of course, a soldier could carry along more batteries for it, but soldiers have typically shown a preference to carry more ammo and extra batteries for the radios and weapons rather than for the new gizmos. The tan-colored demo model had a methanol fuel-cell mockup rigged on the vehicle for demonstration purposes.
Can't see this being used in the field, but it would be nice for Security Police patroling a flightline or running parts from supply out to a plane.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/26/2005 10:15 ||
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#1
All of the hype about the Segway was IMO focused on the wrong markets. The device is ideal for use in an inside environment such as warehouses etc.
#3
I agree, Cheaderhead. I see a few tooling around the Madison sidewalks in the summer, but not everybody shovels their sidewalks promptly in winter...
Posted by: James ||
10/26/2005 11:26 Comments ||
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#4
Chicago cops use Segways downtown, though I don't know how successful they really are.
#6
The four-wheel Segway Concept Centaur Vehicle is on a fast-track development evaluation at REF and needs to show its stuff within the next year, or it gets dumped.
If you need four wheels, there's a whole universe of ATVs out there to pick from.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/26/2005 12:48 Comments ||
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#7
It's a weight issue and would be useful in airborne ops, though it would have to be liquid fueled. 150 lbs vs ATVs or Humvees.
Posted by: ed ||
10/26/2005 13:00 Comments ||
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Page Six shines an unforgiving interrogation room light on those Hollywood lefties too wracked with liberal guilt to admit theyâre packing heat. âJâaccuse!â Joe Mantegna tells a Fade In reporter, probably from his jacuzzi:
Pistol-packing Joe Mantegna is blasting a chink in the politically correct armor of some Hollywood heavyweights â he says they love to own and shoot guns.
The âJoan of Arcadiaâ star says that such left-leaning showbiz types as Steven Spielberg, Leonardo DiCaprio and playwright David Mamet are all avid shooters.
âLots of guys in Hollywood love to shoot,â Mantegna, a longtime gun sportsman, tells Fade In magazine. âBut they ainât gonna talk to you.â
âApocalypse Nowâ screenwriter John Milius agrees. âItâs fascinating that Hollywood is so hypocritical,â he says. âMany people own [guns], but consistently vote against them and never talk about them. I used to shoot with Spielberg and [Robert] Zemeckis and Robert Stack. But no one else would admit they had any.â [âŠ]
Even gung-ho action director Richard Donner (âLethal Weaponâ), who has a concealed weapon permit, was reluctant to talk. âI am anything but a gun enthusiast,â he said in a terse statement. âThe only reason I would ever own a gun is for the protection of my home, my environment or my family under the circumstances in which I am forced to live.â
May we remind these pansy-assed âguns are no funâ wallflowers that we are in the middle of a war?! The Great Celebrity Paparazzi War has only just begun. Perhaps if more people took cues from Britney Spearsâyes, it was only a BB gun, but change must start somewhere, my friendsâthen we could all sleep a little easier. Let us stroll through the slightly Altzheimered halls of Charlton Hestonâs daydream fantasies; itâs a Hollywoodland where every man, woman and child proudly holds aloft their semi-automatic weapon in one hand, a copy of the Second Amendment in the other, while waving their SAG membership with their thirdâŠ
Wait. How many hands do we have again? So hard toâŠrecallâŠ
The Indian PM recently sent a memo to ministers telling them that the senior civil servants could attend cabinet meetings in their place. It seems he cannot stand the presence of certain coalition partners who are ministers.
There is Laloo Yadav.. minister of railways and charged with corruption, theft, and assorted crimes
There is Mohammed Shahbuddin, charged with kidnapping, murder, attempted murder, rape, banditry, extortion and bank robbery
There is Mohammad Taslimuddin, minister of heavy industry charged with attempted murder, intimidation and extortion.
An alert has been sounded across Bihar for the arrest of Union Minister Jaiprakash Narain Yadav, his brother and RJD candidate from Jamui, Vijay Prakash and three others eluding the police dragnet after a district court issued non-bailable warrants of arrest against them on Monday.
Superintendent of Police, Jamui Arvind Kumar said he had written to his counterparts in all the 38 districts of Bihar to arrest the Union Minister of State for Water Resource Development and four others if they were sighted in their area of jurisdiction.
Kumar said he had requested the SPs of adjoining Munger, Bhagalpur, Lakhisarai and Sheikhpura districts to be particularly vigilant to arrest the union minister and others.
In-charge Chief Judicial Magistrate of Jamui RK Srivastava had issued NBWs against Yadav, Prakash, suspended officer in-charge of Khaira police station Mukteshwar Prasad, Independent candidate from Jamui, Ashok Ram and an RJD worker Batoli Yadav for the "illegal escape" of Prakash from police custody on the night of October 18.
Jaiprakash and others were accused of facilitating the "escape" of Vijay Prakash after he was arrested with a rifle, ammunition, a detonator, Rs 6.68 lakh in cash and liquor bottles during the polling in the constituency on October 18.
A case was registered under sections 218, 225 and 120(b) and 409 of Indian Penal Code against Yadav for helping in the "escape" of Vijay Prakash arrested under non-bailable sections of the Indian Penal Code and Arms Act.
Posted by: john ||
10/26/2005 16:29 ||
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Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned that U.N. peacekeepers face an "alarming situation" in the tense Ethiopia-Eritrean border area following Eritrean restrictions on their movements and urged the Security Council to take action to prevent another war. The council was scheduled to meet Wednesday afternoon to discuss the dispute between the Horn of Africa neighbors, which fought a 2 1/2-year border war that ended in a December 2000 peace agreement.
Greece's U.N. Ambassador Adamantios Vassilakis said he plans to circulate a draft resolution calling for Eritrea to lift its ban on helicopter flights and vehicle movements and both countries to start discussions on their disputed border.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/26/2005 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.
Surely this wasn't how the stickup was supposed to go down.
Furry housepetsâespecially felinesâhave long been blamed for allergies and breathing problems in people. But now researchers at an animal hospital in Scotland say the discomfort can also work the other way around: Humans can trigger asthma attacks in cats. Cigarette smoke, human dandruff, household dust, and certain types of litter create inflammation in cats' airways and worsen asthma, the veterinarians say. 
Iman Moustafa loves the sea, but she always knew her bikini didn't conform with the rules of Islam, so each time she took a dip she would cover up quickly and pray on the beach. The guilt spoiled the fun. "I felt as if I were fooling God," said Miss Moustafa, 25.
Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah appealed Tuesday for national unity amid political tension in the oil-rich emirate caused by a lingering succession crisis within the ruling family. "Your country Kuwait is like a ship ... and no honest Kuwaiti will accept a hole to be opened in this ship," the emir said in a traditional address coinciding with the last 10 days of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. "The safety of the ship is a matter of life for us ... A strong nation is a united nation." The address will be read on state-run television at night by Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah on behalf of the ailing emir and his half-brother. The text was released by KUNA news agency.
A former top aide to Azerbaijan President 
Azerbaijan's President 
Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot has called on the United States to appoint a new ambassador to the Netherlands as soon as possible. Bot called on US Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, not to let decision-making regarding the appointment drag on, according to reports in Dutch newspapers NOS and the Telegraaf.
SPARE a thought for Swedish feminists whose newly formed party is disintegrating after hardliners presented a manifesto advocating a âman taxâ, the abolition of marriage and the creation of âgender-neutralâ names. Sweden already boasts one of the highest levels of female participation in the workplace and some observers questioned the need for a feminist party in a country whose women account for half the seats in parliament. 
WASHINGTON â Sen. John Kerry (search) says President Bush should bring home 20,000 troops from Iraq over the Christmas holidays if the December elections there are successful. 
Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned that U.N. peacekeepers face an "alarming situation" in the tense Ethiopia-Eritrean border area following Eritrean restrictions on their movements and urged the Security Council to take action to prevent another war. The council was scheduled to meet Wednesday afternoon to discuss the dispute between the Horn of Africa neighbors, which fought a 2 1/2-year border war that ended in a December 2000 peace agreement.
