US pop superstar Janet Jackson hopes Hillary Clinton will become the first woman president of the United States.
I am not satisfied with the situation in this world. I hate war...
"Hillary Clinton as president -- that would be great," Jackson said in an interview with German press agency DPA Monday. "Then she could show all those people who wouldn't trust a woman with such a job."
Jackson, who is currently promoting her new album "20 Y.O.", declined to criticise US President George W. Bush directly, saying only: "I am not satisfied with the situation in this world. I hate war."
Jackson's left nipple, on the other hand, is a Jeb Bush supporter, while her right nipple remains undecided. Both her buttocks are Clinton supporters, one of them solidly.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/05/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"Jackson's left nipple, on the other hand, is a Jeb Bush supporter, while her right nipple remains undecided. Both her buttocks are Clinton supporters, one of them solidly."
ROFL, Fred! I won't ask about the remainder of her anatomy, LOL.
#2
While Janet Jackson gives back to Hillary Clinton for the White House run, Her colon polyps are already in possesion of Babs Boxer and the Pop Star's nodular hyperplasia remains in full lump with Teddy K.
#3
Sorry, JANET, beautiful and sexy though you + Nipples are God showed/chose Whitney Huston. amongst others, back in the 1960's. Is my old friend Osama's alleged obsession wid Whitney mere coincidence or Radic Islamist PCorrectness-PYWAR; or preplanned = pre-determined by GOD [KRAUTHAMMER - Say it with me, G-O-D-D-D] long before Osama was even born - you know, why LEFT > GOD IS FAKE =MAN IS GOD/MAN MUST CONTROL GOD. MEL GOBSON's movie SIGNS > "Maybe there are no coincidences", i.e. Mankind only thinks/deludes himself that it is a coincidence???
Posted by: ed ||
09/05/2006 2:03 Comments ||
Top||
#5
I hate war.
So does everybody. Except some nutter heads of rogue states. Maybe next time someone starts beating the crap out of you, you can do a little experiment: Just sit there and take it and see how far it gets you. Heck, why not get rid of your bodyguards and walk around in full public view? Next time we need someone to talk us or some idiot with a nuke out of a situation, we'll call you. No second chances, no backup, no net. Any American deaths can be on your head.
#8
"I am not satisfied with the situation in this world. I hate war."
Except maybe the one that cost the lives of over 250,000 white northerns to end slavery? If you do a little extrapolation on their 1860 census data and the 2000 data you'd find that would work out to over a million and a half in deaths in today's numbers.
Of course the Copperhead Democrats also didn't think it was worth the cost either. They thought your ancestors should be happy working for the Man and were more than happy to push their withdraw plan in 1864 against that Chimpmonkey King LincolnCaesar.
#10
another pseudo-stripper that can hold a note. If she wasn't whacko's sister she'd be another single mom supporting some illegitamates by shaking that arse.
Guy Gabaldon, who as an 18-year-old Marine private single-handedly persuaded more than 1,000 Japanese soldiers to surrender in the World War II battle for Saipan, has died...Using an elementary knowledge of Japanese, bribes of cigarettes and candy, and trickery with tales of encampments surrounded by American troops, Gabaldon was able to persuade soldiers to abandon their posts and surrender. The scheme was so brazen and so amazingly successful it won the young Marine the Navy Cross..."My actions prove that God takes care of idiots," he wrote.
#1
Gabaldon's story is almost as famous here as George Tweed's - actor Jeffrey Hunter played both men during his film career. LIFE Magazine (1945) > despite their defeat on Guam and the island being declared "secure" by military commanders, up to 50 Japanese soldiers a day were being killed or injured. mostly killed, one year after the Battle for Guam.
#8
Thanks folks for the article and the links on Guy Gabaldon. This man was an inspiration! This self-initiative is so typical of the American enlisted personnel. But what payoff! Think of the many descendents of these prisoners that would never have been born if it was not for this great man.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/05/2006 23:08 Comments ||
Top||
One in 10 British Asians believe that honour killings are justifiable, said a poll on Monday. A tenth of 500 Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and Muslims surveyed by the BBC said they would condone the murder of someone who disrespected their family's honour. About 13 Britons a year are thought to die in honour killings, the survey said.
Interesting methodology there. No breakdown by religion or area of origin. Y'think the numbers might vary from group to group, area to area?
Posted by: Fred ||
09/05/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#3
The way wot this survey is worded is absolutely appaling.
The term "Honour killings", to my mind, represents killings of family members, or members of a community as a result of perceived breach in some kind of sexual ethic. This article seems to abuse the term, or make deliberate use of the ambiguity in the word "Honour".
The question is very open - "disrespecting honour" mean blowing a raspberry at somebodys Mum, or physically molesting their sister?
MEXICO CITY Felipe Calderon became president-elect of Mexico on Tuesday, two months after disputed elections, when the nation's top electoral court voted unanimously to reject allegations of fraud and certify his narrow victory.
His leftist rival, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, had said he won't recognize the ruling. His supporters wept as the decision was announced and the courthouse shook as protesters set off fireworks outside.
"Felipe Calderon didn't win. Fraud won," said Francisca Ojeda, screaming to be heard over protesters throwing trash at the court and screaming "Fraud! Fraud!"
The court found no evidence of systematic fraud, although it threw out some polling place results for mathematical errors and other problems that trimmed Calderon's 240,000-vote advantage to 233,831 votes out of 41.6 million cast.
"There are no perfect elections," said Judge Alfonsina Berta Navarro Hidalgo.
Calderon was staying out of sight at the ruling party's offices and planned to give a nationwide address Tuesday night. His first tasks: winning over millions of Mexicans angry that President Vicente Fox didn't make good on promises of sweeping change while fending off thousands of radicalized leftists who say they will stop at nothing to undermine his presidency.
#1
"His leftist rival, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, had said he won't recognize the ruling."
Now there's a shocker.
Paging AlBore....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/05/2006 16:08 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I guess this means Fascist Male Brute Mexico City is now yet another New World metropolis that has to be saved from itself by the Motherly Commie Airborne.
HAVANA Fidel Castro said in a statement Tuesday that he has lost more than 41 pounds since he had intestinal surgery but added that the "most critical moment" was behind him.
The Cuban leader announced on July 31 that he was stepping aside as president to recover from the operation. He said he was temporarily turning over power to his 75-year-old brother Raul, the defense minister.
It was the first time in 47 years of rule that Castro had stepped aside, even temporarily.
In the weeks since, the nature of his surgery and his specific ailment have been treated as a state secret.
"Today I am recovering at a satisfactory rhythm," said the statement published in the Communist Party daily Granma, which was accompanied by new photographs of the 80-year-old Castro.
He said that he had just recently had the last stitches removed.
"In the coming days I will be receiving distinguished visitors," he added, apparently referring to some of the heads of state and government who will be traveling to the summit of nonaligned nations next week.
"This doesn't mean that every activity will be immediately accompanied by video or photographic images, although news will be provided of every one," the statement said.
"All of us must understand that it is not convenient to systematically offer information, nor give out images of my health situation," Castro added. "All of us must also understand realistically that the complete recovery time, whether we like it or not, will be prolonged.
"At this moment I am not in a hurry, and no one should be in a hurry. The country is marching and moving ahead," he said.
#1
Castro Tells Cuban Public of Weight Loss, Says 'Most Critical Moment' Behind Him
I wonder if that was his first 10% or the 16-week "Stay and Succeed".
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
09/05/2006 20:23 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Did he also get a face lift? The guy lost 40 pounds and looks at least 15 years younger. At that age, when one loses weight, the effect is to look older, not younger.
Yahoo's boring title is - Haiti, U.N. to Disarm Gang Members That's what got me. UN to disarm somebody? Now that's news!
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Haiti's government and U.N. peacekeepers will launch a major campaign seeking to persuade hundreds of gangsters to disarm with promises of money, food and job training, but top gang leaders will not be eligible, the U.N. envoy said Monday.
In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, special U.N. envoy Edmond Mulet said officials will begin airing radio and television ads in coming days to inform the public about the disarmament plan.
The move represents the most sweeping effort to persuade well-armed gangsters to lay down their weapons and rejoin society since U.N. troops arrived in the troubled Caribbean nation two years ago to restore order following a February 2004 revolt.
"We are ready to receive 1,000 armed people who would willingly give up their weapons and arms," Mulet said. "We have kits to provide for their families, food and economic assistance. The whole package is ready and we're going to bring that in place in the following days."
Last month, President Rene Preval warned gangs based in the sprawling slums of Port-au-Prince to disarm or face death. The gangs, some of which are loyal to ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, are blamed for a recent surge of kidnappings and shootings that officials say are partly aimed at pressuring Preval to make concessions.
Gang members participating in the program will receive ID cards entitling them to money, medical assistance, food for their families and training for manual-labor jobs such as construction workers, garbage collectors and farm workers, Mulet said. Oh. They're going to buy them off, not disarm them. Jobs are not plentiful in this Caribbean nation, which is the Western Hemisphere's poorest.
Mulet, a Guatemalan diplomat who took over leadership of the 8,800-soldier U.N. peacekeeping force 8,800? That's more than were in Lebanon! Did I miss the ongoing war in Haiti? three months ago, called the disarmament campaign a "long-term" plan and said it would provide a "big improvement" to Haiti's security if successful.
"We believe 500, 600, maybe 700 people are involved in this kind of illegal activities ... so I think if we're able to disarm most of them and include them into society and give them some training and assistance in this transition, that's going to be very positive." Mebbe we need to try that in Baghdad. And Dearborn.
The international community is desperate to stabilize Haiti after a decade of failed peacekeeping missions and fruitless efforts to disarm militants. A bid to take weapons off the streets after the 2004 revolt that toppled Aristide yielded mostly dilapidated guns held together by tape not the high-powered AK-47s and M-16 routinely used by gangs. Mulet acknowledged the challenge but said "we have to try this."
"This is not a traditional disarmament that you would see anywhere else in the world where you have a clear leadership or a subversive group or a military insurgency that you can make deals with. This is more like a one-on-one approach. Each (gang member) has different motivations," he said.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/05/2006 07:09 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
U.N. plan to reward gangsters. The U.N. is run by a bunch of political gangsters, so this is a way into their minds.
#2
Arms to Farms crap never works. Smells like USAID at work here.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/05/2006 8:58 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Iraq? Why insult Iraq?
How many real free elections have there been in Haiti? How many parties that are not just fronts for gunmen are there?
Has the Haitian economy grown as fast as the Iraqi? Has the infrastructure of electrical, clean water, and rail grown as fast? Do they have vehicular grid lock in Port-au-Prince these days? How many internet connections are there today? How many newpapers and televisions are there? Etc, etc, etc.
Mexico's electoral court will name ruling party conservative Felipe Calderon president-elect on Tuesday and reject claims the fiercely disputed July 2 presidential vote was unfair, sources said. They said the court, made up of seven judges, would rule the election was clean and confirm Calderon's narrow victory over leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who alleges fraud. "Everything appears to indicate the vote will be unanimous," a source close to the court said on Monday.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/05/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
Posted on the off-chance that France still matters.
MARSEILLE, France, Sept 3, 2006 (AFP) - French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy appeared almost certain to lead the right into next year's presidential election, after a triumphant party congress which concluded Sunday in Marseille with a blistering attack on the "generation of May 1968".
Speaking before 7,000 young members of the ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), Sarkozy, 51, said modern France had been betrayed by the left-wing ideals that took root after the 1968 student uprising, and called for a society built around "a reassertion of the value of work". "(The generation of 1968) inculcated everywhere in politics, in education, in society an inversion of values and a political correctness of which today's young people are the principal victims," Sarkozy said to applause.
"The truth is that the students of May '68 were the spoiled children of 30 years of prosperity. You are the children of crisis. They lived a life without constraints. Today you are picking up the bill," he said.
It would be nice if he actually meant that and planned to do something about it, instead of empty rhetoric and nibbling around the edges.
#2
FOX NEWS > Babe-pert on Euro politics = FRANCE per se has a HIGH, PERMANENT UNEMPLOYMENT RATE which pretty much prohibits Paris from doing much of anything as a matter of geopolitics, as currently AGAIN illustrated in the recent Israel-Hezbollah/Hizbullah crisis.
#3
'modern France had been betrayed by the left-wing ideals that took root after the 1968 student uprising, and called for a society built around "a reassertion of the value of work". "(The generation of 1968) inculcated everywhere in politics, in education, in society an inversion of values and a political correctness of which today's young people are the principal victims," '
Not just France.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
09/05/2006 6:10 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Even if it is just talk, it's great to hear the "generation of '68" get ripped.
#5
Not a single person was killed during the 68 riots but at times I think it was pity to have let the ringleaders walk unscathed and (by plating hero and the rivalries between gaulists, pompildolists and giscardians) get control of the MSM
As a note: the 68 riots were a university thing and mostly in the psycholgy, sociology and law departments (ie the pseudo sciences and soft sciences). But in France it is not universities who get the best students and offer the best perspectives of empoyment but the "grandes ecoles" who deliver MBAs and engineer dregres and who select their students through a ferocious competition while universities get a lot of bad wood who are filtered out by end of first or second year. There were about zero students of grandes ecoles to take part inb the riots. I also suspect that there were very few university students in third year and later to riot. So thoise who rioted were the never-do-good who plague the first year courses in French universities.
Anoter detail is that when de Gaulle asked the Army chiefs how the student (sons of bourgeoisie) riots were perceived by the draftees (1) (sons of the blue collars) they told him that the draftees despised the whole movement.
(1) In France even in De Gaulle times there were a lot of ways for university students to escape the draft from alleged medical conditions, to intervention of friednly politicians and of course the cooperation (civilian work in Africa supposedly to lift it out of underdevelopment). The result was that university graduates were virtually absent from French Army's barracks. A few did their military service as aspiring officers but excpt for thema and carreer officers
the sons of bourgeoisie were virtuallyt absent of the French land Army.
#6
Sarkozy's right, as far as he goes. Unfortunately, I don't see a political solution. A socialst entitlement society now dominates every aspect of french public life. Hell, they'd riot all over France if you made them work 40 hours a week. They need a really good war to clean things up. They've had it easy on their socialist asses for too long while the US and others do the dirty work of the world.
#7
the left-wing ideals that took root after the 1968 student uprising, and called for a society built around "a reassertion of the value of work"
Oh, yeah, right. Nothing like "The national unemployment rate is 9.6 per cent and tops 20 per cent for youths, but several French factors such as strict labour laws, job discrimination and fear of globalization spread the angst even wider"[1] to demonstrate another 20th Century triumph of Socialism.
Posted on the off-chance that Europe still matters.
BELGRADE -- Milorad Dodik said that an independence referendum for the Republic of Srpska is unavoidable. According to the RS Prime Minister, the referendum is unavoidable because of the inability to keep Bosnia-Herzegovina unified in the long-term. Dodik said that one of the essential conditions for the RS remaining in Bosnia-Herzegovina is for the Federations government to give guarantees that it will not fall into the clutches of radical Islamic politics.
Dodik said that the Kosovo discussions are being followed closely in Banja Luka. Kosovo separating would spark people in the RS to think of having equal rights for us to do something like that. We politicians are trying to subdue such thoughts by people in the RS, but I am sure that 99 percent of Serbs living in the RS would vote in a referendum for the RS to leave Bosnia-Herzegovina. That is the reality. Dodik said.
Dodik said that the chances of the Republic of Srpska joining Serbia were ruined long ago and that it is necessary to legitimise cooperation between Belgrade and Banja Luka, and not trying to realise already failed projects such as Serbia to Karlovac. It is not a good time for a referendum because realistically the politics of Serbia cannot support such an effort because of its internal problems. But when you put Kosovo behind you and other examples, then we can build around them. I do not even see a need for the future of the RS to be independent, but I see a need for a higher level of independence, which could be proposed in a future referendum. Dodik said.
Mentioning that the position of the RS would be better if the problems of Hague cooperation were taken care of, Dodik said that Ratko Mladić and Radovan Karadić are doing the most amount of damage to the Serbian people and that he would have them arrested immediately if he knew where they were.
So Britain willl devolve into its constituent components, as will Spain. Southeast Europe maybe will finish its ethnic devolution without any further shooting if it's lucky. All it takes is for Germany to dissolve into the Holy Roman Empire and Europe will be again what it was 400 years ago. Put the Moors back and it will be what it was a thousand years ago.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/05/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
NASHVILLE - Two civil rights organizations are canvassing the state with town hall meetings - including one Thursday in Jackson - to explain a new election law intended to make it easier for felons to restore their voting rights.
But even advocates of the bill passed in May say Tennessee still has one of the most restrictive and confusing procedures for allowing former felons to regain the right to vote.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee and the state conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People have meetings scheduled this week in Jackson, Clarksville and Murfreesboro. The Jackson meeting will be from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday in the Madison County Agricultural Complex Auditorium, at 309 North Parkway.
The meetings consist of representatives from local bar associations and county election officials, along with former felons and members of the National Right to Vote campaign.
The League of Women Voters in Tennessee also will be at the meetings to help former felons begin the process to restore their voting rights.
"For many of these people, if they start before Oct. 7, they'll be ready to vote in the Nov. 7 election," said Terry McMoore, spokesman for the Tennessee NAACP.
Denver Schimming, 48, of Goodlettsville, is a former felon convicted of bank robbery who campaigned at the Capitol to get the new bill passed. He is one of the planned speakers at the meeting in Jackson.
Schimming said voting allows ex-felons to take control of and responsibility for their lives after they've completed their sentences.
"You don't have to let your felony conviction define your life," said Schimming, who had his rights restored after completing his sentence in 1996. "You don't have to be a failure the rest of your life. You can get back into the mainstream and make your voice heard."
The bill was a compromise that permanently denied voting rights for more types of felons and placed financial obstacles in the process to register, said Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the ACLU in Tennessee.
"What I continue to emphasize is that this is a first step," Weinberg said. "We had to be practical. There was lots of debate and dialogue about what we were willing give up in order to get a streamlined process."
In the past, some former felons had to go to court and often had to pay attorney fees to restore their voting rights. Under the new rules, all former felons can bypass the court and complete a certificate of restoration at county election commission offices.
But the bill also expanded the felonies that permanently prohibit a person from ever voting. Starting July 1, anyone convicted of a sexual offense will not be eligible to restore voting rights. Previously only felons convicted of rape were excluded.
Also added late in the legislative process were two provisions of the bill that require former felons to be current on child support payments and to pay any financial restitution that is part of their sentences.
"When the bill was first introduced, it only required completion of sentences, probation and parole," Weinberg said. "The child support provision is unfair and penalizes poor mothers and fathers, who may never have the money to buy back their franchise."
Under the new requirements, the county circuit court where the felon was convicted verifies the restitution has been paid and the Department of Human Services verifies the child support payments.
"We are in the process of identifying individuals who were adversely affected by the child support provision," Weinberg said. "We are committed to righting this wrong, either by seeing it repealed, or going into court and challenging it."
The NAACP and the ACLU estimate there are 98,000 convicted felons in the state of Tennessee. The state Division of Elections does not have a count of how many felons have had their voting rights restored.
The changes to the felony voting law only apply to convictions after May 18, 1981. Felons who were convicted between Jan. 15, 1973, and May 17, 1981, are allowed to register to vote, regardless of the type of conviction. Felons convicted prior to Jan. 15, 1973, have a different set of rules regarding felony voting rights.
#1
On Sunday morning I heard some bleeding heart idiot whining about how some felons are never (sniff) going to vote again (heavy sigh). He whined about the lack of uniformity from state-to-state. Some states allow felons to vote after serving their sentence and others bar them for life. He also made it sound like there was some huge undercurrent pushing for felons suffrage. Maybe on the Democrats side, but not with the Republicans. I guess they are in search of more voters since they are not breeding any new ones.
#2
People who like it when the government takes them by the hand and guides them through the process, when they would would never take the time and effort to do it on their own, are much more comfortable with government control of their lives. And, they're far more likely to vote dem as a result, so dem support of felon voting is no surprise. Dem support of so-called "motor voter" laws are another prime example. It's just pandering to folks who won't do it on their own---the most likely group to vote dem.
#3
I'm suprised they aren't following Washington (state's) Dem. process and registering the dead and imaginary friends as well. Or perhaps they are....
#4
I'm suprised they aren't following Washington (state's) Dem. process and registering the dead and imaginary friends as well.
I see that you're prejudiced against dead and imaginary people! Both groups have made major contributions to our society - for example mayoral elections in Chicago.
#6
Well, when most of your politicians DESERVE to be in prison...
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
09/05/2006 20:35 Comments ||
Top||
#7
FREEREPUBLIC.com blogger > the USA is a SOCIALIST nation + WASHINGTON is a SOCIALIST Govt already - the only issue to be decided domestically is how far GOD/FAITH will be allowed to influence society-issues.
AMERICA IS NOW AMERIKA, THE USA = NORTH AMERICAN SSR, WILL BE UNDER OWG, SOCIALIST AMERIKA > WILL BECOME COMMUNIST AMERIKA, AND WILL BE CONTROLLED/GOVERNED BY ASIA.
"Eyes wide open" > the Amer people knew they were being lied to, deceived, misled, and betrayed, but did nothing to stop it or did not believe any American would wilfully destroy their own country. America is now in a WOT = War for Existence Americans did not want, and must fight to win the same lest America and its people be destroyed, whether they want it or not, like it or not. As long as Americans continue to elect leaders whom prefer or prioritize PC and Waffle-ism over honesty-Morality; Power and Crony-ism,/Nepotism over the best interests of the Nation-People, AMERICA WILL BE LUCKY, BUT ONLY THAT, TO BARELY ESCAPE NATIONAL DESTRUCTION AND GENOCIDE.
Alliance to join Mexican candidate Activists offer aid to Lopez Obrador
A group of local activists is heading south of the border later this month to try to change the course of Mexican history.
Members of the Riverside-based National Alliance for Human Rights are joining supporters of leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in a series of events coinciding with Mexican Independence Day.
The National Alliance is part of a larger coalition of groups from Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, Dallas, Chicago and other cities that plan to converge in Mexico City on Sept. 14.
"I want to be part of the process of recuperating the dignity of our history," said Rosa Martha Zarate, a Colton resident who is going on the trip. "This is the moment to stand and defend the people's right to know the truth."
Lopez Obrador continues to challenge the outcome of the July 2 presidential election that was apparently won by conservative Felipe Calderon. Supporters of Lopez Obrador contend the campaign was marred by widespread irregularities that cost the former Mexico City mayor the election. Lopez Obrador demanded a full recount of the roughly 41 million votes cast in the election, but officials agreed to count only a fraction of disputed ballots.
A review by an electoral court showed there were minor glitches that shaved a few thousand votes off Calderon's 244,000-vote margin of victory. However, the court said the problems weren't significant enough to swing the outcome in Lopez Obrador's favor. The court is still reviewing Lopez Obrador's claim that there was a widespread conspiracy on the part of President Vicente Fox and his political party to deny Lopez Obrador the presidency.
Calderon and Fox belong to the National Action Party, or PAN. Lopez Obrador is a member of the Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD. The court has until Wednesday to declare a president-elect or annul the election and call for a new vote. Fox, who is limited by law to a single six-year term, leaves office Dec. 1.
The court has yet to render its final verdict, but Lopez Obrador is already anticipating the worst. He has indicated plans to establish a parallel government that would run the country in open defiance of Calderon.
Lopez Obrador supporters have set up encampments along Mexico City's main boulevard, blocked roads and taken other measures in an effort to demonstrate their political strength. On Sept. 1, they stormed the legislative palace, preventing Fox from delivering his state of the nation address to Congress.
However, many residents in the capital have grown weary of the disruption caused by the protesters, complaining they have snarled traffic and hurt businesses. Some political analysts say that Lopez Obrador's support has slowly eroded as his tactics have become increasingly desperate. "The polling is showing he's in a free fall in terms of his support," said George Grayson, a government professor at the College of William and Mary who was in Mexico City last week. "If the election were held today, Calderon would win by 20 points because of the backlash against Lopez Obrador's antics."
In their biggest challenge yet to Calderon and his party, Lopez Obrador's supporters plan to hold a separate Independence Day gathering in the central square of Mexico City on the evening of Sept. 15. Lopez Obrador is expected to perform one of the country's most sacred rituals the traditional ringing of the bell and shout of freedom at the same time that Fox performs his own ceremony at the same historic building.
The next day, tens of thousands of Mexican soldiers loyal to Fox will march in a military parade that is supposed to start at the same spot where thousands of Lopez Obrador supporters are entrenched.
Local activists hope the situation doesn't turn violent. "Mexico is a powder keg," said Armando Navarro, coordinator of the National Alliance and an ethnic studies professor at UC Riverside. "Anything could explode now."
Members of the alliance plan to remain on the sidelines if a conflict arises. "We have made it clear that they have to be careful," Navarro said. "We're not there to throw rocks or agitate or do anything to create an upheaval. We're going as participants and supporters."
Grayson said Lopez Obrador would like to provoke the Fox administration into committing acts of violence to boost his support. "He wants to make martyrs," Grayson said. "He wants a couple of people with bloody faces and black eyes to reinforce his argument that the government is repressive and illegitimate and blind to the needs of the masses."
Navarro and his group also are also attending the National Democratic Convention to be led by Lopez Obrador in the central square on Sept. 16. At the convention, Lopez Obrador is expected to spell out his plans for creating a parallel government. Navarro said many members of the National Alliance have dual U.S. and Mexican citizenships which make them especially concerned about what happens in Mexico.
Prolonged economic instability could cripple the Mexican economy, leading to massive unemployment and an even greater exodus of migrants to the United States.
In addition, Mexicans in the United States send their relatives back home an estimated $20 billion a year in remittances. If that flow of money were to be cut off because of a major political upheaval, millions of people would be in dire economic straits, Navarro said.
"If Mexico catches a cold, those of us in the United States are going to be sneezing," Navarro said.
#1
...Oh, THIS will be a hoot. Can't wait for the first time they insist on their 'rights'in front of a hot, tired, and pissed-off Federale with a #6 truncheon.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
09/05/2006 9:05 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Check citizenship as they leave. Mexicans can do what they like, but US citizens are usually discouraged from taking part in private fights in other countries.
#3
The U.S. should chrter buses and invite all the LLL Mo0nb@t5 to travel south to "help the revolution." Once they are safely accross we should seal the border and post the following sign:
You keep them, no take backs.
Usted los mantiene, no toman espaldas.
#4
Given how Mexicans feel about all things Yanqui (except our jobs, freedoms, and opportunities for those who choose to come across the border), especially those on the Mexican Left, what odds these helpful Americans are going to drive away some Obrador support?
#5
The real story will be how Obrador reacts to the court's decision later today. They're going to certify the vote as valid, since, well, it was valid. Will Obrador set up a 'parallel government' as many are saying? Will Fox or Calderon allow it, and how will they stop it?Break out the popcorn.
Actually I hope they find a home in Mexico and stay there. Now that Soviet munitions don't back Communism I'm not really afraid of communism spreading. Let losers be losers and provide an example for the rest.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 As they prepare for a critical pre-election legislative stretch, Congressional Republican leaders have all but abandoned a broad overhaul of immigration laws and instead will concentrate on national security issues they believe play to their political strength.
With Congress reconvening Tuesday after an August break, Republicans in the House and Senate say they will focus on Pentagon and domestic security spending bills, port security legislation and measures that would authorize the administrations terror surveillance program and create military tribunals to try terror suspects. We Republicans believe that we have no choice in the war against terror and the only way to do it is to continue to take them head-on whether it is in Iraq or elsewhere, said Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the majority leader.
A final decision on what do about immigration policy awaits a meeting this week of senior Republicans. But key lawmakers and aides who set the Congressional agenda say they now believe it would be politically risky to try to advance an immigration measure that would showcase party divisions and need to be completed in the 19 days Congress is scheduled to meet before breaking for the election.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/05/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Maybe they're starting to pay attention. The "broad" overhaul BS is code for the various amnesty programs (carrot) layered onto some enforcement (stick) in the form of the wall and more Border agents.
Do the enforcement bit now and the voters will reward you. We can get around to WTF to do with all of the illegal invaders AFTER we stop the goddamned flow.
Enforce the fucking laws with much more barrier building, sensors, and boots on the border. Reap the benefits of voter approval.
#3
Too many businessmen rely on cheap illegal labor, without whom the same businessmen could not live the lifestyle they have become accustomed to. They are the ones who also contribute the election campaign funds with 3 or 4 zeroes.
Posted by: ed ||
09/05/2006 2:08 Comments ||
Top||
#4
The protests this weekend were very revealing. 50 to 100 'protesters' at most rallies, where there were thousands just a few months ago. They're starting to figure out that Americans are a generous lot, but we don't like being told what to do by people who have no right to be here. The wind is blowing the other directions, and even otherwise stupid politicians are getting the message.
#5
Good idea to punt. Voting tough now won't turn out another vote for trunks and would give donks a great opportunity to moan and wail about the mean spiritedness in the weeks up to the election. Let the winner of the elections enact their program.
turnout will be the key and trunks do a much better job unless they give the MSM a bloody shirt to wave.
#6
Ed, absolutely true & I couldn't agree more. However, the gov't has done a horrible job wrt taxing businesses to the degree where illegal labor is worth the risk. Bottomline, IMHO - we need to do two things. One - seal the border & cut off immigration. Two - go to the fair tax to help our small business folks and spur entrepreneurism.
#7
I heard a pundit state that the republicans will cream the donkeys this election if they do one thing only. Seal the southern border. Screw amnesty and build a fence. After the election, they can debete all they want about who stays and who goes. They had better wise up and build that fence, and talk about it and get pissed about all these wetbacks. Buy a clue here, one penny.
#8
As they prepare for a critical pre-election legislative stretch, Congressional Republican leaders have all but abandoned a broad overhaul of immigration laws and instead will concentrate on national security issues they believe play to their political strength.
Bingo, ed. They wouldn't want to alienate their campaign funding base by restricting the pool of cheap illegal labor, now would they?
#9
I'm happy about this. The border is slowly being fenced at the state and local level anyway, and the current Senate effort at legislation is considerably worse than useless. Let them re-address this after the election, by which time President Bush will have finished the series of speeches clarifying who and why we are fighting the War on Terror, all the television and newpapers will have done their reminiscences on the 9/11 attack, and quite probably another major terror attack will have been averted. It keeps getting harder for those with their heads in the sand to ignore the sharp pains in their upraised posteriors.
A defective fuel-control device has been identified as the rogue component that propelled the GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle), with Insat-4C communications satellite on board, off course and into the Bay of Bengal seconds after liftoff on July 10.
This has been confirmed by a team of 15 aerospace experts headed by K Narayana, former director of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota Range.
They have said that the flawed gadget, on board one of the four strap-on boosters of GSLV F02, let in more propellant than required into the engine, setting off a chain reaction that resulted in erratic propulsion. The thrust generated by this booster did not match that of the other three strap-ons, forcing the rocket off its trajectory.
The experts analysed a heap of data passed on by the rocket before its crash and simulated the conditions on a computer, sources in ISRO told HT.
But the team was unable to erecover the rogue device or other parts of the strap-on booster from the seabed or the vicinity of the launch pad. One of the three strap-ons that generated the set thrust was recovered from the Bay of Bengal.
The sources said the booster was manufactured at ISRO's Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, Mahendragiri, but the manufacturing of most of the components had been outsourced to Indian companies.
They said the malfunctioning device on board the Vikas engine (strap-on booster) caught ISRO scientists by surprise because the engine had been proven in several PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) and GSLV flights in the past.
According to the sources, the experts declared the GSLV's design "robust" and felt there was no need for a complete review of the rocket. The scientists would address the defect ahead of the next GSLV flight, scheduled in 2007, the sources said.
The GSLV's failure ended ISRO's run of 12 successful launches in as many years from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
Posted by: john ||
09/05/2006 19:09 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11 views]
Top|| File under:
This article is written a bit tricky. The vaccine is from the US, the human test group in Sweden. The Swedes wrote the story so their title says Swedish HIV vaccine. Not Swedish Vaccine test of American vaccine. Other than the spin its some real positive news for a change.
A Swedish HIV vaccine study being conducted by the Karolinska Institute, Karolinska University Hospital and Smittskyddsinstitutet (SMI) has shown surprisingly positive results. Over 90 percent of the subjects in the Phase I study conducted in Sweden have developed immunity against HIV.
According to Professor Eric Sandström at Karolinska University Hospital, Never has such a good result been seen with a vaccine of this type.
The trial subjects were vaccinated on three occasions with this vaccine using a needle-free method of injection. This vaccine-based HIV vaccine is produced by the US National Institutes of Health and was donated for use in this Swedish study.
Scientists now hope to follow up the Swedish study with a larger phase I or phase 2 study in Tanzania, planned to commence this autumn, in order to corroborate the Swedish results on African subjects and to help train Tanzanians to carry out parts of the study, including sophisticated laboratory examinations, on site.
The project is being led by Karolinska Institute professors Gunnel Biberfeld and Britta Wahren at the SMI and Eric Sandström at the Karolinska University Hospital.
A Swedish plasmid DNA HIV vaccine developed with European Union support has stimulated strong immune responses in a small phase 1 trial, Eric Sandstrom of Stockholms Karolinska Institute reported on Wednesday at AIDS Vaccine 06 in Amsterdam.
Plasmid DNA immunogens are promising candidates for a HIV vaccine due to the profile of the induced immune response, cost and robustness.
However, the immune response is weak when given alone as a standard intramuscular injection. The immune response may be increased in several ways. Intradermal immunisation has, in other systems, given stronger responses that have been further increased by concomitant administration of GM-CSF (granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor). [..]
~~~~~~~ Even more AIDS Vaccines
~~~~~~~~
Question for the Med ppl:
With all the hype and vast amounts of cash that has been channeled into AIDS and AIDS research, has there been spin-off benefit and or any derivative drugs, therapies and or research that has directly helped the rest of us? ..Like has it translated into cures for any other viruses and or other pathogens?
#3
Seems to me there are many variants on AIDS-causing viruses out there. Looks like 10% of those in Sweden can get around this vaccine. Don't take it as license to do what you want!
Unless of course you are one of those who think Darwin was wrong . . . .
#6
American Trial Lawyers generating up their solicitation commercials yet? Yes, I see that it isn't FDA approved yet, but when has that stopped them? I seem to recall a two medicine concoction issued out by doctors without FDA approval for weight reduction and it was the pharmaceutical companies that got sued for it.
#7
"So much time and money spent on something which can prevented for free by simple behavior modification."
For the most part that's true, but tell that to my cousin who died of AIDS after receiving tainted blood. Of course, the blood supply is more carefully screened now than it was then, but my cousin didn't do anything to deserve this horrible disease.
#8
no mo uro, sure, behavior modification helps. But I'm not quite willing to become a lesbian who refuses all blood transfusions to ensure I don't get AIDS. (Look it up....stats show they are the least likely to get the disease, but somehow I don't think that means the Divine is blessing that lifestyle and cursing the rest.)
I've known one gentleman who definitely died of AIDS, one courageous lady, and two whom I suspect died of it (officially they died of "blood infections"). They were all wonderful people who, regardless of how they may or may not have spent their Saturday nights, did not deserve that kind of terrible death. I'd rather have cancer, and yes, I've seen death from cancer up close and personal (both parents).
Here's hoping that this is a first step to a vaccine against this horrible disease, and that the research leads to therapies for other ailments soon.
#9
Don't disagree, SB, but. There's a finite number of research dollars. They should be spent in a way that saves the most lives. I'd suggest malaria and diarrhea expenditures would save a lot more lives. Of innocent children who do not engage in promiscuous sex.
#10
With all the hype and vast amounts of cash that has been channeled into AIDS and AIDS research, has there been spin-off benefit and or any derivative drugs, therapies and or research that has directly helped the rest of us?
Yes, HIV research has greatly improved the understanding of viral infection, immune response, basic molecular biology, etc. The long-term payback will be immense. However, most spending on HIV has not been for research, but for treatment of patients with AIDS.
Research pays off big in the long-term but people suffer in the short-term. I would prefer that at least 5% of total government expenditure on a disease go for research, but Im not dying of HIV, cancer, heart disease, or Alzheimers.
#11
I wonder if the same people who complain about the new HPV vaccine will complain about this.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
09/05/2006 18:09 Comments ||
Top||
#12
A good first step. My concern is, that with the HIV virus mutating so quickly in response to a hostile environment, and with only a 90% effectiveness, how soon will this vaccine become ineffective?
#14
the issue is the homosexual community deliberately choosing to risk catching "the bug" since vaccines and cocktails appear to have diminished the risk of dying - at least immediately. There needs to be a wholesale change in their behavior or it won't last as a vaccine.
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/05/2006 20:55 Comments ||
Top||
#16
raincoats would help. To memorialize or romanticize bareback riders is self-destructive to the Gay population, and ultimately hazardous to the general pop. Bathhouse behavior is stupidly sekf-destructive, and teh aura of invincibility, along with the meth increase, is causing gays to have 10-20 anal partners in a looooong night. Whoda thunk they might pick up a bug? Idiots
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/05/2006 22:10 Comments ||
Top||
#17
That's basically it, Frank. Nature did not design rounds to be chambered that way, to be crude about it. Gays' behaviors and needle sharing among addicts is not only dangerous to them, but to a significant number of the general population.
If many of the aforementioned individuals think that getting an innoculation for AIDS will get them off scott free, they have another thing coming. By not changing behaviours, there will be some other nasty disease setting up shop inside that will make it even more difficult for the medical researchers.
Changing behaviors will be more cost effective than taking national treasure and burning it up on something that is largely preventable.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/05/2006 23:26 Comments ||
Top||
Four army officers will be questioned and charged over last month's alleged assassination attempt on Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a senior police officer said Monday. Lieutenant General Montri Jamroon said police had asked the defence ministry to send the four to them for questioning. "They will be questioned and will be charged with attempted premeditated murder and illegal possession of explosives," he told AFP.
Police on August 24 defused a potent mix of TNT, plastic explosives, fertiliser and fuel oil left in the trunk of a car by an intersection near Thaksin's house in what they said was an attempt to kill the prime minister. An army officer was arrested shortly after the bomb was found and charged with illegal possession of explosives. Thaksin later said a group of up to four military officers had schemed to kill him. Montri said police had information linking the four officers waiting to be questioned with the suspect already in custody, who is also due to be charged with attempted premeditated murder. One of the four officers will be questioned late Monday, Montri said, while the others will see police Thursday.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/05/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
Tehran, 5 Sept. (AKI) - Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday "there is a need to cleanse the country's universities from secularism and liberalism," remarks which could signal a purge of academics opposed to the government's hardline policies. Ahmadinejad, addressing a group of students in Tehran, said that for "150 years" Iran's education system "has been dominated by secular thinking leading to a loss of our Islamic identity."
"The time has come for students not to limit themselves to protesting against thier secular and liberal professors but to shout their outrage at the top of their voices," Ahmadinejad said. Students committed to "isolating" such secular and liberal thoughts would receive the government's "full support," Ahmadinejad said.
Ahmadinejad to Hitler Youth Islamic students; "Go get them"
Posted by: Steve ||
09/05/2006 12:16 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Excellent! They promote polarization at a time when we need allies in Iran. All the better when we make war on the Ayatollahs.
It is my belief that Teheran won't have to be destroyed during the intervention.
#2
Paging Mike Wallace, Andy Rooney, Noam Chomsky, et al- You've been purged!...aryan taleban on line 1, put on your burkas first. Hope you like hummus
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Weekly newsmagazine Newsweek on Tuesday named Jon Meacham as editor, replacing outgoing editor Mark Whitaker, who joins corporate parent Washington Post Co.. as an executive in its online operations.
Meacham, 37, joined Newsweek in January 1995 and was named managing editor in 1998. More About Meacham here
Whitaker, 48, will join Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, the online division of the Washington Post Co. He will serve as vice president and editor-in-chief of new ventures, the magazine said. He also will take the title of corporate editor at Newsweek.
Meacham's replacement as managing editor will be Daniel Klaidman, 42, who currently serves as assistant managing editor.
Meacham takes the editor's role at a time when Newsweek and rival Time are fighting to hold readers as more people turn to the Internet and around-the-clock cable networks for news.
Newsweek's circulation slid 1.8 percent for the period from January through June this year compared with the same period in 2005, according to figures provided by the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Advertising pages have risen about 2 percent for the same period from last year, according to the Publishers Information Bureau.
Time, owned by Time Warner Inc., last month broke away from its traditional Monday publication date, which it shares with Newsweek. It will hit newsstands on Friday as it tries to capture reader's attention on the weekend.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/05/2006 14:39 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Readers turning to 24 hour news, or leaving to find non-biased sources?
WESTFIELD - Child abuse victim Haleigh Poutre, once deemed to be "virtually brain dead" by medical experts, continues to improve and is even speaking a few words, her biological grandmother said this week.
Sandra Sudyka, of the Feeding Hills section of Agawam, angered over the state Department of Social Services apparent termination of her and her daughter's bimonthly visits to Haleigh at her Boston hospital, said she has decided to speak publicly of her granddaughter's condition.
"She was doing well," Sudyka said of the last time she saw Haleigh on July 18. "She was bright-eyed and smiling. She is always responsive to us."
DSS had asked Sudyka and Haleigh's biological mother, Allison Avrett, not to disclose the 12-year-old girl's condition to the media.
"I decided since they broke the deal, I am going to talk. People should know how well she is doing," Sudyka said. Avrett declined comment this week.
DSS spokeswoman Denise Monteiro declined comment yesterday. DSS officials have said, however, that Sudyka's and Avrett's visiting privileges have been suspended and not terminated.
DSS took custody of Haleigh nearly a year ago after her adoptive mother and stepfather, Holli A. and Jason D. Strickland, of Westfield, were charged with beating her.
Doctors initially reported that the battered and emaciated Haleigh was in a vegetative state due to a sheared brain stem. Social services sought to end life support systems, a plan approved by the state Supreme Judicial Court on Jan. 17, before improvements in Haleigh's condition were known.
"They don't want people to know how she is doing after they wanted to pull the plug," Sudyka said.
Haleigh spoke her first word to Sudyka and Avrett in June as one of their visits to Franciscan Hospital for Children drew to a close.
"I was saying to her 'I love you,' and she was trying to say 'love' and it came out as a vibration...'ove,'" Sudyka said.
The following month, during their last visit with Haleigh, Avrett asked if they could bring anything for her next time around.
"She put her arms up (as if) to say, 'I don't know,'" Sudyka said.
When asked if they could bring books, Haleigh distinctly said "no," Sudyka said.
Sudyka said that during that visit she told Haleigh, "Before I know it, I am going to walk in here and you are going to say 'hello.'"
Haleigh responded to Sudyka by saying 'ello,'" Sudyka said, adding that hello was Haleigh's first word when she was 10 months old.
Sudyka said Haleigh has been communicating nonverbally for some time. Once, when asked 'Who loves you?' she put her hand over her heart and pointed to Sudyka and Avrett, Sudyka said. Another time Haleigh wrote out her name on a "Magna Doodle" toy. Haleigh, Sudyka said, does not walk and is confined to her bed and wheelchair.
Sudyka said she is working with a lawyer in an effort to adopt Haleigh.
Holli Strickland, Avrett's sister, was shot and killed on Sept. 22, 2005, in an apparent murder-suicide at the hands of her grandmother, police said.
Last month, Jason Strickland, 32, of 61 South Westfield St., Agawam pleaded innocent to six counts of assault and battery, two of them on a child under 14, resulting in injury; and three counts involving dangerous weapons, identified in grand jury indictments as a bat, shod foot and a "wand, stick or tube."
and now for the coup de gras:
Strickland remains free on $5,000 cash bail.
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.
US pop superstar Janet Jackson hopes Hillary Clinton will become the first woman president of the United States. 
HAVANA Fidel Castro said in a statement Tuesday that he has lost more than 41 pounds since he had intestinal surgery but added that the "most critical moment" was behind him.
Mexico's electoral court will name ruling party conservative Felipe Calderon president-elect on Tuesday and reject claims the fiercely disputed July 2 presidential vote was unfair, sources said. They said the court, made up of seven judges, would rule the election was clean and confirm Calderon's narrow victory over leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who alleges fraud. "Everything appears to indicate the vote will be unanimous," a source close to the court said on Monday.
NASHVILLE - Two civil rights organizations are canvassing the state with town hall meetings - including one Thursday in Jackson - to explain a new election law intended to make it easier for felons to restore their voting rights.
Four army officers will be questioned and charged over last month's alleged assassination attempt on Thai Prime Minister 
