U.S. casino magnate gives Picasso's dream the elbow
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Picasso's famed "Dream" painting turned into a nightmare for Las Vegas casino magnate Steve Wynn when he accidentally gave the multimillion dollar canvas an elbow.
Wynn had just finalized a $139 million sale to another collector of his painting, called "Le Reve" (The Dream), when he poked a finger-sized hole in the artwork while showing it to friends at his Las Vegas office a couple of weeks ago.
"At that moment, his elbow crashed backward right through the canvas. There was a terrible noise," Ephron wrote, noting that Wynn has retinitis pigmentosa, an eye disease that damages peripheral vision. "Smack in the middle ... was a black hole the size of a silver dollar. 'Oh s---,' he said. 'Look what I've done. Thank goodness it was me.'"
HUMANITY could evolve into two sub-species within 100,000 years as social divisions produce a genetic underclass. The mating preferences of the rich, highly educated and well-nourished could ultimately drive their separation into a genetically distinct group that no longer interbreeds with less fortunate human beings.
Oliver Curry, a research associate in the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science of the London School of Economics, has speculated that privileged humans might over tens of thousands of years evolve into a "gracile" subspecies - tall, thin, symmetrical, intelligent and creative. The rest would be shorter and stockier, with asymmetric features and lower intelligence, he said.
Dr Curry's vision echoes that of author HG Wells in The Time Machine. Wells envisaged a race of frail, privileged beings, the Eloi, living in a ruined city and co-existing uneasily with ape-like Morlocks, descended from the downtrodden workers of today, who toil underground. So, eating Elois is "co-existing uneasily" with them? Morlocks would then be some kind of post-apocalyptical muslims?
Dr Curry said the concept of race would be gone by the year 3000, after relationships between people with different skin colours had produced a "coffee colour" across all populations. With improvements in nutrition and medicine, people would routinely grow to 198cm and live to the age of 120, he said. Genetic modification, cosmetic surgery and sexual selection meant that people would tend to be better looking than today.
Otherwise, humans will look much as they do now, with one exception: Dr Curry also suggested that increased reliance on processed food would make chewing less important, possibly resulting in less developed jaws and shorter chins.
Just like Bashir Assad?
Ten thousand years from now, this effect could be compounded as human faces grow more juvenile in appearance. This effect - neotony - Neotony, my old nemesis!
is known from domestic animals: dogs resemble young versions of wild relatives such as wolves. BFD... anyway this is assuming current trends will go on long enough for those evolutions to occur... throw in a Grand Collapse/return to the Dark Ages, and it's a very alternate scenario... also, Mike "Beavis & Butthead" Judge has a different take on how current trends will lead Humanity.
#3
So, does this mean we'll ALL live in "Chocolate City" soon? Jeebus, I hope Mayor Nagin's descendants still aren't in charge. And, imagine the size of hurricanes in another 1,000 years, with all the global warming climate change hooey going on!
Posted by: BA ||
10/19/2006 9:49 Comments ||
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#4
Civilisation: 10,000 years old.
Recorded history: about 7,000 years old (a bit hazy on that but I think 4000BC was ancient mesopotamia)
Possibly there were great technological human civilisations before 10,000 years ago but perhaps none of the evidence survived and we just don't know about them.
Ancient Egyptians invented batteries, they just didn't use them too much and subsequently people forgot.
The romans had plumbing and aqueducts... the people forgot and became technologically dumb in the dark ages.
It's more than likely our civilisation will devolve at some point, possibly 1000 years from now... who knows? We will forget medicine and forget how to make plastic or how to make planes and guns.
We will go back to hitting each other with rocks and living in caves.
then someone will invent the wheel and away we go again.
Hopefully in the year 50,000AD some future archaeologist may find a time capsule someone might have made from really thick, tough plastic (something that won't biodegrade)and hopefully they will have had the forethought to put in a kind of modern-day rosetta stone with comics and pictograms to explain modern life.
And yes, horrible thought though it is, it's quite possible that in the year 2500AD the US, UK and Australia could be part of the global caliphate all worshipping Allan
The good news is, like all religions it can only last a few thousand years, 3 or 4 at the most before it devolves and dies.
Who knows in the year 10,000 we may worship dolphins! I love future prognosticating.
#5
This makes a fatal assumption of ignoring natural selection. That is, that when two groups of similar creatures compete for the same space, the superior group will win out. However, it is up to the competition to determine what "superior" means. What this means for humanity is a bit more complex than the obvious.
First of all, several rules apply. Quality (in offspring) will generally win over quantity. Modernity (and adaptation) will generally win over primitivism. Stronger immune systems will generally (but not always) provide better protection than weaker ones.
At times, the advantage swings between adaptive generalism and specialization. Ironically, while mutation is generally not successful, a group with more genetic diversity including mutation is far more durable. Groups with parasites generally evolve faster than those without.
Lastly, we are learning to twist the rules with genetic manipulation. If this is used to increase our genetic diversity, even to the point of making humanity into several different species, then it will lead to success. If it is used to create homogeneity, it could lead to disaster.
However, several different human species will in itself create a competition, in which the entire Earth may not be enough space for the two species to coexist.
Sort of. Jericho's oldest layer seems to be 9,000 years old.
Recorded history: about 7,000 years old (a bit hazy on that but I think 4000BC was ancient mesopotamia)
Not much preserved >1,500 BCE. Ups and downs. Lot of stuff lost, and what remained, burned by accident or ill will at later times.
Mesopotamia (Shumer) ~ 3,800, with Ur established about 3,700 BCE and first major civil engineering structures built ~3,600BCE.
Possibly there were great technological human civilisations before 10,000 years ago but perhaps none of the evidence survived and we just don't know about them.
Fragments remain. But due to the theoretical considerations of prevailing dogma, the evidence is dismissed out of hand.
The remnants of people of the pre-10KBCE civ. likely left the earth. At some point, we'll meet again, in a direct fashion. Possible contacts during the whole period till recent times, but if that's the case, they did not go well. The cultural and intellectual disparity likely led to unacceptable patterns of "dialogue".
Ancient Egyptians invented batteries, they just didn't use them too much and subsequently people forgot.<.i>
Electricity was used mainly in temple's environment, or in large structural ingeneering (illumination and primitive electric motors). Also, ultra-sonic devices (mainly as lathe for stone works) are suspected. At ~ 1,500BCE, part of the technology was lost, and it did not survive after ~700BCE.
The romans had plumbing and aqueducts... the people forgot and became technologically dumb in the dark ages.
Harrappa and Mohenjo Daro--canalization, plumbing and toilets. All went to toilet for some reason between ~ 1,500BCE & ~1,200BCE, depending what chronology is used. Some mishap(s) burned the cities down, with a considerable temperature gradient that melted bricks into lumps. The same fate befell Khatushash, the capital of Hittites at about the same time, although the city civil engineering was not as developed as with its proto-Indian counterparts. But the large libraries located in all these places went in smoke as well.
There is a lot more, but I am a bit off topic, just responding to your points.
The fact is that our present reconstruction of history is mostly a farce. The numerous dark ages in the last 12Ky instituted states of amnesia and reflected in general madness that was reflected in prevalent religious systems. Islam is one of these. Its roots are in the same set of circumstances that endowed Mid Eastern Baal cults or Central American cults that indulged in human sacrifice. Islam is more modern, thus that aspect is transformed to somewhad obscured form.
Paradoxically, the origins of judeo-christian belief system originate from the same period, but all I can say is that Moses was one smart dude to transform the same set of circumstances in an entirely different philosophy, that was positive, than was usual for most of other peoples. Some luck involved, but still...
#13
I like anomalous archeology and History, lotsa interesting stuff in those, but my simple knowledge of mainstream History has degraded so **much** since I dropped out of school that I prefer to keep them as vague hobbies just to remain functional.
#17
Grunter, you see, these kids nowadays, instead of learning proper paleolontology, are fed mumbo-jumbo (and very likely namby-pamby) by the edumacational system, and then they mistake a skeleton of a cat, bleached and fossilized because the creek nearby has a high content of salts and floods the area on a regular basis, for a dinosaur!
#20
Perhaps this applies to parts of Europe but not to the US. Hot is hot regardless of wealth and Hotties throughout the world don't hang with the poor folk they come to Hollywood. And in the US wealth is a bit fluid where new millionaires vastly outnumber old money so an entrenched division just couldn't happen.
#21
There is absolutely no direct link between IQ and social standing. Ben Franklin was born to a very poor family. Any family can produce either a genius or an idiot. While some IQ is hereditary, there's so many contributing factors that nothing can be taken for granted. This is all a bunch of mumbo-jumbo, and about worthless.
If there's a major cataclysm, the most adaptable will survive. That usually includes people who have had to work - and work hard - for a living. Too many "sophisticates" are like hothouse plants - once exposed to the vagarities of nature, they succumb.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/19/2006 16:03 Comments ||
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#22
Grunter, you did not need any sarcasm tags, it was palpable. I, of course, replied in kind. (There was no fossilized dinosaur or a cat in the same condition, with a flea collar, found in Montana).
However, the part about edumacation, that, I insist, is veritable.
#23
If there's a major cataclysm, the most adaptable will survive. That usually includes people who have had to work - and work hard - for a living. Too many "sophisticates" are like hothouse plants - once exposed to the vagarities of nature, they succumb.
#24
Hot is hot regardless of wealth and Hotties throughout the world don't hang with the poor folk they come to Hollywood.
You mean the easy, breezy (the air enters one earhole and gets out by another) types. I see hotties all around me, and they don't seem to show any intention to leave for Hollyweird. In all walks of jobs and circumstances, here in the middle of a flyover country.
#25
Don't laugh: got a golfin' buddy with a rather keen interest in "archery". He's got 4 sons (God bless the Catholics) aged 4-12. Guy lives on 5 acres in SW Ohio.
Unbeknownst to their mother, his son's are being taught (directly & indirectly) "survival skills", not the least of which will be proficiency with the bow & arrow. My friend claims the war AFTER next will be fought with bow & arrow (a good supposition), so he wants his son's and grandchildren to be prepared. Despite that his golf hcp is 16 on a good day, he is a wise man. Certainly more astute with bow & arrow then with a 5 iron.
I find this comforting insofar as the Eloi (liberal humams) in due course will have need for a bulwark against the Morlock (muzzies). Even HG Wells neglected and failed to invision (or mention) a third race: Those who will be known as the Guardians, keepers of the flame of Western Civ, protectors of the weak and infirm (the Eloi), mortal enemy to the Morlock.
In many respects Wells WAS very much ahead of his time.
Late in the past golf season we boys were sitting in the bar when our waitress came to the table. Suffice it to say she was blessed with round hip and ample bosom. Someone at the table asked if she was married and she said, "No, but I'm engaged." (No one could tell, the rock on her finger was small) My response to her was "After you are married, please bred as often as possible".
I was later chided by my friends at the table for being so uncuth, but I made no apology (though I left a good tip). Only one person at the table understood where I was coming from: Yes, the good Catholic with the 5 acres in SW Ohio with the bow and arrow. The rest have their heads buried in the sand. We need to remind our young that by breding (when age appropriate and marital status appropriate) they show faith in their civilization (including their mom and dad) and that this is a good and healthy development.
(you know...I really should not sip cognac at this time of the day...I tend to become verbose and, therefor, ask for your indulgence)
Posted by: Mark Z ||
10/19/2006 16:43 Comments ||
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#27
Mark Z, Wells did mention Guardians. The had their visiting card there for those that were willing to learn. They, though, elected an off hands approach, indirect and somewhat darwinian in philosophy.
Well, we already have three species today. The other two are moonbats and muzzies, precursors of Eloi and Morlocks.
#28
Forgive me, but I heard this stupidity on Fox News last night.
Humans take a lot longer than 1 thousand years to change as radically as this so-called scientist is suggesting. We have seen radical increases in physical height within the last couple of centuries, but that has been largely laid down to improvements in medicine and nutrition - which doesn;t mean that further improvements will make us 9-ft tall tall and able to live to 500 over time. There are physical limits on human height and weight.
Now, to those who laugh at the idea that there may have been "pre-" historic civilizations that may have surpassed our own, it should be remembered that concrete rots, that buildings are designed for a lifetime of about 60 years, and that roadways are designed to last about 20 years.
In addition, the orthodoxy of human paleontology and anthropology, and orthodox archaeology, adamantly refuses to admit evidence - and hard evidence - that advanced pre-human or prehistoric human civilizations may have existed and flourished until sometime between 22-12 thousand years ago when the last ice age ended.
Mere mention of the possibility within mainstream circles of these sciences results in ridicule and condescension.
But humans as we know them today have been basically the same for - not the 100 thousand years that is commonly believed - but for more than 500 thousand years - and the human species and our ancestors are not 1.5-3 million years old, but far more like 5-10 million years old as scientific evidence continues to push back our anthropological ancestry.
It gives even more credence to ancient cycles such as those of the Egyptian Abyddos Kings which chronicle something on the order of 40 thousand years of Egyptian civilization and the tales from the Indian cycles.
#29
Have we evolved in the past, oh, 100,000 years? You bet we have.
Ever hear of the Masai tribe in Kenya? They are renowned for their height and the fact that they drink their cattle's blood. Their height is several orders of magnitude of difference between them and their neighbors. It seems to me that their evolution was very quick. Same thing with the Tutsis and Hutus in Rwanda/Burundi with their distinct physical differences.
Here is what I have been trying to figure out for the last few decades: How the hell do you account for the amazing height growth in American men, especially black? Food? 'Parenting skills'? Evolution? Will?
#30
zazz: I'll go back to reread Wells. I don't recall him memtioning the Guardians. If he did he described the 21st century to come.
Shipman: Where are you man? Golf season does not officially end (in Ohio) until the first snow and / or temps below 52* w/ windchill factor under 40*. Not with the guys I play with. The season starts up again under the same parameters.
You down south? You dog, you're spoiled.
Posted by: Mark Z ||
10/19/2006 20:08 Comments ||
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#31
Have we evolved in the past, oh, 100,000 years? You bet we have.
Sure we have, but remarkably little when measured as a species - all the important bits, general physiology, general morphology, general cerebral capacity, and several more have all remained fairly consistent for most of that time.
These idiots are saying that we'll evolve into 2 separate species within the next 1 thousand years (upper and lower classes and skin color, for example).
I don't buy it. Evolution does not act that radically without a serious outside influence that forces it.
As to height, I already pointed out that that has been laid to better general nutrition and medical care.
#34
Hexagonal basaltic bldg foundations using materials that they should not have been able to even work - found on multiple Pacific islands.
Megalithic works using complex mathematics to arrange the stones tht traditional archaeologists and, especially, anthropologists, ay they did not have the intellectual understanding to undertake.
That's just two. There are countless others.
Our ancestors were not nearly as stupid as we might believe they were.
#36
"HUMANITY could evolve into two sub-species within 100,000 years as social divisions produce a genetic underclass."
Uhhh, we already did. But there's only one subspecies - the "underclass" that worships the moon god, hates everybody who's not just like them, and wants to force everybody else to be just like them. They're called islamonutzleftists losers.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/19/2006 23:10 Comments ||
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#1
Wouldn't be simpler just not to hire muslims than to provide fodder for lawyers? Further, why, in heavens name, would the Headfield Church of England Junior School hire a Muslim anyway? Isn't the Church of England still Christian? Did she wear the hijab at her interview? If she did, what moron hired her? These people are paying for lack of common sense and foresight. I guess her problem is that respectable muslim organizations won't hire women so she has to inflict herself on gullible Christians.
#2
What a naughty, naughty tease... you can almost distinctly see her eyes!!! Slut!
By the way, how comes my feelings are hurt all the time, all the time, and I get no money!? Now, I ask you, where is my money? Will I have to convert to get it, or what?
I'll not fisk it at this time, in part because I'm drinking (and have been kicked off several forums), in part because the article fisks itself. I can think of over a dozen regulars here who would do a better job than me in any event.
I don't know what 1000 pound sterling translates into US dollars, but the bitch should not be given a dime simply because she says she had her feelings hurt.
This "decision" is evidence civil war will come sooner than we anticipated even here in the USA.
Posted by: Mark Z ||
10/19/2006 19:24 Comments ||
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#4
Didn't wear the veil in the job interview. No religious demand then, or she would have. No pick and choose your moment little slave. Do or do not, and good luck finding a job that cherishes masked, sinister, cold, distant and uncommunicative employees.
Will she pay for the "hurt feelings" of the children who cannot understand her? Who cannot see her expressions that let them know if they are doing well? The encouraging smile? The children are the hurt ones in this women's stupid bid for sympathy.
#6
Just one more reason never to hire a muzzy. Ms Azmi's hurt feelings? I'd like to take her to the giant hole left in New York.
What's next, Samolia Taxi cab drivers that won't carry you if you have booze with? The people of Minnesota went ballistic over that sharia goat herd demand. And rightly so.
Islam demands that muslums descriminate against us. Turn around is not only right but just. Screw all.
The US has stopped Spain selling 12 military aircraft to Venezuela by refusing to allow American military technology to be used in the planes. Venezuela planned to buy the aircraft from the Spanish company Eads-Casa but US determination to prevent Hugo Chávez building up his armed forces wrecked the deal, according to the deputy president, José Vicente Rangel.
Good. Somebody did his/her job.
Mr Rangel said replacing the US technology with French or Israeli parts had made the 500m (£335m) deal too costly. Miguel Angel Moratinos, Spain's foreign minister, confirmed that what would have been his country's biggest arms deal was now just a sale of naval vessels.
Venezuela's decision to drop the order for 10 C-295 transport planes and two CN-235 patrol planes came the day after Spain declined to back its effort to be a temporary member of the UN security council.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/19/2006 00:57 ||
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#1
Old story on the US invoking its right to withhold tech transfer approval.
But it's amusing to see Hugo insist that it was cost that killed the alternative, i.e. to fit out the planes with Euro systems. He's been dangling that option in front of Spain for a year and jerked it back because he didn't get his bully pulpit in NY.
He so very much wanted to have the right to enter the US at any time and harrangue Bush from the steps of the UN headquarters building and from the security council chambers.
#1
If I was the Japanese, with that kind of reasurance I would leap directly to the hydrogen bomb.
Posted by: kelly ||
10/19/2006 15:43 Comments ||
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#2
And if they watch American news channel with Pelosi, Kerry, and Murtha pushing a cut and run strategy and Peanut Boy Carter promoting Give Kimmie a Chance, they should be assembling devices now. A simple shift in a couple seats and they had better be prepared to fend for themselves before they get sold down the river. Considering theyre the only ones to have personally experienced two big Boomers on their cities, Id say theyre entitled to a pass on the next one.
#5
Gotta feel sorry for the ordinary Norkies - not only starving to death already but now face the prospect of being forced to choose between being destroyed/annihilated by China only for trying to empower Norkie-specific sovereignty + independence, versus being destroyed by China only again for the sake of geopolitical PC, i.e. getting econ favors-concessions from the USA-West; versus being destroyed by the USA-West andor China again per se in defense of Japan + SOKOR, etal.
HAMBURG, Germany Airbus said Tuesday it will cut 1,000 temporary workers and reduce work hours at its German operations, the first steps in a major restructuring triggered by delays in its A380 superjumbo project.
The European aircraft maker said it would not renew contracts with employment agencies supplying about 1,000 of its 7,300 temporary workers in Germany. It also announced a raft of measures for its regular staff in Germany, including cutting work schedules to as little as 28 hours a week for some employees though without reducing their pay.
How typically Y'urp-peon: cut the hours but not the pay. That'll save a lot.
The workers will be expected to make up the hours later, when orders are healthier.
Uh-huh, you betcha they will.
The measures will affect all seven Airbus facilities in Germany and are covered by a 2003 agreement with labor representatives, the company said. Airbus didn't say when the measures would take effect or how much they would save as a result. However, the 2003 agreement with German labor unions rules out firing any regular staff in Germany until 2012.
They'll just work four hours a week at full pay.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/19/2006 01:15 ||
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#1
"However, the 2003 agreement with German labor unions rules out firing any regular staff in Germany until 2012."
My boggle just blew up. I am now without boggle. *sniff*
#5
Late word yesterday from Boeing siad they were going to stretch the latest 747 PAX variant to equal the 747-8 freighter and add 17 more seats to it. That doesn't bring it into 380 equivanency, but narrows the gap and it is availalbe in 2 years, it will take Airbust (thanks for that new nym) that long to get the wiring right (allegedly). Airbus also announced today that they were looking at closing, selling plants and outsourcing. it remains to be seen if anything comes of that. I am betting too little too late.
#6
It is really amazing to see the meltdown of airbus and see it happening so quickly and to such a great degree. They seem to have structural issues that make emerging from this situation very, very difficult, if not impossible. Boeing's market share of the commercial airliner market should skyrocket over the next 10 years.
#7
Reading your post, remoteman, it just hit me that Airbus is something of a microcosm of the EU itself - the lousy management, failure, promise unfulfilled - and even perhaps the canary of the EU coalmine.
#8
Airbus did well for a while when the airplane market was growing. Now it's more competitive and while they have massive government subsidies, what they don't have is product. For that they need competent management, a workforce that can produce and designers who want to create inspiring airplanes.
Interesting how the world market has shaken this out -- in a normal reality, this would cause people in Europe to start asking what they're doing wrong and how might they do things better. In our reality it means they'll try to regulate the world more so as to protect themselves.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/19/2006 14:59 Comments ||
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#9
.Com, I think that is an accurate read. If they have structural impediments dictated by society, ie not able to fire workers until 2012, then they are going to sink. Likewise their collective management that is grounded in the multi-national governmental "ownership" of the "company. Yes, much like Brussels telling the people that Europe's socialist structure cannot continue but being utterly unable to do anything about it. Canary in the coal mine indeed.
#10
The only market they'll have is themselves - and anyone whose arm they can twist. We see something of the same in China and Russia, too. Coercive and uncompetitive - yet they seem to think they are engaged in a controlled form of (dare I say it) capitalism. As if they needed to tame it, first.
Look at how they deal with true multinationals, such as Microsoft. They have to bully them, extort them, I doubt they can conceive of any other way.
Without the bona-fide competition, it's shit, and they're shit. Funny thing is, they know it, too, but don't care. Control, and via that, self-interest and corruption are more important. It's actually simple cowardice.
#11
Surely the UN will be called upon to level Boeing the playing field? All this dreadful competition can't possibly good for the entitlement communityunion shop stewardsEurocrats industry!
#13
They are also interested in the military side of the business; the upcoming USAF KC-135 Tanker Replacement Aircraft. Airbus has teamed with Northrop Grumman (and I so used to like the Ironworks) to compete w/ Boeing and their 767 (and now 777 derivatives). That was a smart move, and they have also targeted one of the poorest areas of the US in which to build / finalize / modify the aircraft; Alabama.
So today on the Boeing website ( a regular daily stop is mandated for me there) they have a press release extolling what they (Boeing) contributes to the state's economy. If one wasn't aware of the tanker contract, you might just note that as "today's feel good" piece, but since Airbus is on the ropes commercially for new product, nothing says good old American Capiatalism like a swift kick while you're down. Keep it up Boeing! Concur with earlier postings about lack of necessary business resolve to fix the place; i have said before (elsewhere) that Airbus needs to decide if it is an aircraft manufacturer or a multi national jobs program. With the revelations yseterday, i think my question was answered (fewer hours, no RIF/ layoffs, firings).
#14
It's a shame, really, for all the aviation fans out there. What Airbus is shooting for is what Boeing accomplished in the 60's: the 747, one of the biggest milestones in civil aviation.
Like it or not, double-decker airliners are in the future for travel between hub cities. Which is what the A380 is intended for.
Posted by: Rafael ||
10/19/2006 16:17 Comments ||
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#15
BTW, there's a great thread on this topic right now on www.airliners.net:
Posted by: Rafael ||
10/19/2006 16:27 Comments ||
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#16
Late word yesterday from Boeing siad they were going to stretch the latest 747 PAX variant to equal the 747-8 freighter
Good. I never understood why the passenger version was shorter. Aside from manufacturing issues, when passenger life is over (if Boeing sells any), they can be converted to freighters with the same cargo volume as dedicated freighters.
For the tanker competion, I think the 767 only offer is inferior to the A330, old tech and end of life. The 767 and 777 offer is better as it relieves more of the cargo aircraft shortage and the 777 has the wingspan top refuel 2 Navy/non-US fighters with drogue and hose (big shortage). I would like to see immediate purchase of the 777 cargo/tanker followed by a 787 tanker/cargo.
Interesting the German plants are basically laying off 1000 workers. I wonder if there will be anything evquivalent at Toulouse.
Posted by: ed ||
10/19/2006 16:52 Comments ||
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#17
Too big, too prestigious to fail. The national money pumps will soon kick in.
#18
Re"...purchase of the 777 cargo/tanker followed by a 787 tanker/cargo." right now with the fat order book for 3 variants of the Dreamliner, i do not think Boeing is too interested in diverting the necessary engineering resources from PAX development to a freighter / tanker version. Composite design is not as simple as aluminum; you just can't add another stringer or a metal doubler around a cutout, but rather the entire loads encountered by the structure must be evaluated. What may appear simple turns out to be not so. Perhaps some day i can be less obtuse. think of it as trying to install a header in a ground floor of a house for a new door without placing jacks on the ceiling to hold the thing up while you take the chain saw to the wall. but i agree, a freigther / tanker 787 would be a killer move, once again capitalizing on commonality of systems and basic crew training.
Spain has financed publication of a school textbook it says is unlike any other in the European Union - a primer for Muslim first-graders to learn about Islam, but do so in Spanish as a way to integrate better into society, officials said Wednesday.
Isn't that sweet?
A first run of 15,000 copies of the book "Discovering Islam" have been printed as part of the pioneering project, said Jose Manuel Lopez, managing director of the Pluralism and Harmony Foundation, which is part of the Justice Ministry. The ministry oversees religious issues. The book, written by a Spanish Muslim leader, was exhibited at the Frankfurt book fair this month and drew keen interest from people in other European countries. The same thing happened when it was formally unveiled in Spain on Tuesday, as representatives of the governments of Germany, France and Italy attended the ceremony, Lopez said. "Europe has 40 million Muslims and governments don't know what to do to assimilate them," Lopez said in an interview. "This book is a hint."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/19/2006 00:00 ||
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So how do you say "Strike the necks of the infidels." in Spanish?
Posted by: ed ||
10/19/2006 0:35 Comments ||
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#2
"Europe has 40 million Muslims and governments don't know what to do to assimilate them
This statement is more profound than it seems at first blush. Europe could stop them now, without too much bloodshed, but they won't. What's so bizarre about the Muslims is that they don't seem to realize that they could join the modern world peacefully. It's hard for us to fathom their wish to put themselves and their families into a situation where the local population will eventually need to "decide" how to assimilate them. But that's just something that we are going to have to deal with.
#3
Indeed, anon, it is profound - for in those numbers they can achieve the aims of their imam masters. The tumor will kill the host. They are Muzzies. Enough of them are "good" Muzzies - assimilation is haram. They have their marching orders - intimidate and spread their version of piety, procreate, disrupt, enfeeble, and destroy the host from within using its own institutions, loopholes, over-burden the welfare systems, political systems, liberal freedoms (to protest, riot, hold carbecues, etc). There are enough of these "good" Muzzies to force / frighten the others into supporting the effort, or else. The socialist nanny states of Europe are tailor-made for subversion and eventual failure by any of these means.
That reminds me of the memri vid i had posted a while back : old kaddaffy (whatever you spell it) on al-jizz, saying to the crowd, among other things, that Europe will be islamized for its own good, because there was some many muslims there now, more to come with turkey, and that the only choice the euros had was "to declare war to islam, or to become muslim".
One shouldn't neglect the wisdom of a sex-crazed, loony north african dictator.
#6
"Europe has 40 million Muslims and governments don't know what to do to assimilate them."
Its only prudent for Host countries to provide the resources in order to facilitate assimilation for all immigrants. (Language, culture, and civics) But the responsibility for assimilation should be assigned to the immigrants themselves - not the host country. And failure to fulfill those responsibilities should result in denial of citizenship or possibly deportation. Draconian you say? Perhaps, but the justification is simple. A fractured society is a dangerous one proven time and again by the social experiment known as European Multi-Culturism.
#12
The EU will fracture, in the foreseeable future. There will be Europe, but that will be represented by former behind-the-Iron-Curtain countries--Poland, Czech, Slovakia, perhaps Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria. I am not mentioning Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia--these would be swallowed by Russian bear again. The rest in the west would be Eurabia. The Iron Curtain will be erected once more, but this time to not to keep people in, but to keep the Eurabians out.
What's the difference between a conspiracy and a coverup ?
COVERUP ALERT, coverup alert !
Mr. Ed Meagher is covering his political ass. He, like so many bureaucrats is ready to shread the files and deny everything.
Have I mentioned this before ? The Federal government is great at one thing, coverups. They do not want the people to know the facts. They don't give a crap about misuse of government property, but they will kill before they allow you ants to find out what's going on in their little kingdoms.
Rant over.
#1
The Communist wing of the Dummocrats has been seething, just like their buddies the Muzzies, since their Patron Saint (Prophet ) Blow Job Bill was impeached. And, like their Muzzie pals, they are going to persist in the quest for retribution, no matter how long it takes.
#2
It is a frightening notion to think of Nancy Pelosi becomming Speaker. I sincerely hope this does not happen. All sorts of bad things follow from this notion.
#3
More than impeachment, a Democrat congress bodes ill for the men and women of the armed forces. More ill-conceived feelgood fiascos like Bosnia, Kosovo, Somalia, et.al. will take the place of Iraq and Afghanistan,putting lives at risk for political correctness. It will be the worst of the Carter and Clinton eras combined. The picture of the last helicopter hovering over the American embassy in Saigon shimmers in the mind's eye as emblematic of America's future under Democrat leadership.
As disappointed as I am in the lack of performance by the Republicans, I will vote a straight Republican ticket. The alternative is too dire.
#4
Best thing that could happen to the Republicans in 2008 (if we all survive and are sane by then).
Whoever wins the Republican primaries will be clear of any Bush blame (can you name anyone in his cabinet likely to run?) but the Democrats will still be stinking from their inquest.
I don't look forward to two years of shrieking nonsense though.
Just 20 days until Election Day, the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds approval of the GOP-held Congress is at its lowest mark in 14 years, the Republican Party's favorability rating is at an all-time low and President George W. Bush's approval rating remains mired in the 30s -- all ominous signs for a party trying to maintain control of Congress.
In fact, according to the poll, Republicans are in worse shape on some key measures than Democrats were in 1994, when they lost their congressional majorities. "There is not a single number in here that would suggest the Democrats will not have their best showing in a decade -- and maybe two decades," says Democratic pollster Peter D. Hart, who conducted this survey with Republican Bill McInturff.
I dunno. I'm not much for loony conspiracy theories, but if I *was* to entertain one and one only, I'd speculate that these polls are overinflated and will be used to claim "stolen election" when the anticipated Dem tsunami fails to sweep the GOP away. If I paid attention to these things, at any rate.
That's not a loony conspiracy, that's the marching orders at the Daily Kos ...
Yup. The NYT is already on the job, talking about "inexplicable" optimism on the part of Bush and Rove re: the election.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/19/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Happens every elex year - Dems supposed to win, then they don't. "Two decades" is about right - thier ideo no longer stands for democracy, libertarianism, societal improvement, or "helping the common mab", but for anti-Rights, anti-Democratic, super-Legalist, super-PC/PDeniable, LIE = TRUTH, "Gummermint in charge of everything + everyone while pretending it isn't", ala HILLARY'S famous "Govt. will give it to you now but later take it away in the name of the common good" speech. GOVERNMENTISTS + ANARCHISTS-FOR-GOVERNMENTISM, TOTALITARIANS + LIBERTARIANS-FOR-TOTALITARIANS, USA UNDER ANTI-SOVEREIGN OWG + SOCIALISM NOW, EXPLAIN TO VOTERS = THE PEOPLE LATER, WHEN THEY FEEL LIKE IT OR WHEN THEY FEEL THE VOTERS DESERVE TO KNOW > you know, what the FOUNDING FATHERS intended and fought a revolution against England for.
#3
The great Mike Royko, columnist for many years in Chicago, had a rule for handling polls --
-- lie.
However you plan to vote, you tell the pollster the exact opposite. He illustrated this (as I recall) with how he told a pollster that he was voting for Mondale (not Reagan) because Mondale was a man's man who sat tall in the saddle and said what he believed. The pollster just gave up after a while.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/19/2006 0:53 Comments ||
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#4
3dc - They just fill in the form for you. I'm thinking you're prolly a Donk when they get finished.
#5
10 of 10 dead people can't be wrong! They will vote Donkey style
Posted by: Captain America ||
10/19/2006 1:33 Comments ||
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#6
If you look at all the races in doubt, the Demos have to win ALL of them to take back the House or the Senate. Don't see that happening, especially since the Demos are starting to have candidate problems in some of the closer races. I mean, New Jersey is suddenly in play.
#7
Pollsters also don't account for the incumbent factor - 80% of Senate and something like 90+% of House incumbents retain their seats every election. They're just blowing smoke up our asses.
#8
Exactly, Raj. In fact, Taranto (Opinion Journal) stated that something like 98% of incumbents win their seats. Rove is stating that something like 47 of the Senate Seats are Republican locks already, so we've only gotta win 3 (of the 8) "close" seats to maintain control. I'd actually like to see a 50/50 tie, and then have Cheney come in and cast deciding votes left and right, lol! That'd make them blow their stacks completely. Add to that, that (especially this year's) polls are completely skewed anyways, and the ONLY poll that matters IS Nov. 7.
Posted by: BA ||
10/19/2006 9:46 Comments ||
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#9
"There is not a single number in here that would suggest the Democrats will not have their best showing in a decade -- and maybe two decades."
Hmmm...not so sure bout that. The Dems need the swing voters and are counting on a shift in the Libertarian vote. Trends aside...that ain't a sure bet. Not to mention, the GOP has just now started to come out swinging. Check out their new Vid. "The Stakes"
#12
Yesterday, I read this big explanation on how the polls are 'weighted' for accuracy. However, the pollsters failed to ever mention the possibility that some people actually lie to the pollsters.
Noooooo, people wouldn't do that, would they ?
I would. If only 4 percent of those called lied, then the poll would be off by 8 percent, and basically useless. Most people don't like polls, and I know that about 44 percent simply hang up. But what of those few who want to screw the pollsters ? They stay on and lie through their teeth. Since most people who hate the polls are the smarter, and more conservative among us, the polls are always slanted toward the liberals.
But, the pollsters are in denial about the lying, so they don't weigh the results correctly.
#13
To clarify, I think the polls are not entirely wrong, I think that there is a lot of disgruntlement about the absolutely unserious Congress. And I think that it is correct to say that GOP support is slipping...and slipping a lot.
But today's "Today" show headlined with the "falling polls" story, the very first guest was Tim Russert, and Matt Lauer was grinning from ear to ear. And it rubs me the wrong way.
I don't think it's going to be as much of a runaway Dem vote as they are gloating about, and I am quite sure there will be much garment-rending and gnashing of teeth as they point to the pre elex polls as 'proof' the 'lections were rigged.
Zogby gleefully joining Err America v2.0 three weeks before the election doesn't inspire much confidence either.
#14
If one was to go back 2 years and look at the pertentage points in the Congressional races I think we could identify races where current incumbents are in jeapordy. If the winning percentage was 5% or less then IMO a lot of those races are up for grabs. Anything over 5% I would expect the incumbent to win. Just my $.02
#16
If the dickweeds didn't call @ dinnertime, i might be willing to give them some answers, but instead they get ths ound of me hanging up so i can get back to Mrs. Ret's excellent cooking. aregular Martha Stewart she is (w/out so much as a speeding ticket to her name)
1) Gas prices have plummeted
2) The DJI has set consecutive record highs
3) Unemployment claims have fallen by 10,000
4) The US is near full-employment
5) The US budget deficit has been cut in half due to surging tax revenues
6) The US to-date has not suffered a major terrorist attack since 9/11
7) Dick Cheney to-date, has not eaten a baby on national televison, nor has Donald Rumsfeld skewered a puppy on Fox
For all these reasons - and more! - the GOP Congress deserves the fear and loathing of an offended MainScream Media, and repudiation at the polls by the oppressed citizens of this benighted land.
#18
I fear Em is right. Good chance of holding the Senate but the House is a gonner. Luckily the margin won't be enough to give the mBats a working majority. There are enough (tho too few) conservative Democrats to form a working alliance with Republicans to keep the really poisonous shit off the table.
#19
I don't know how the election will turn out, but I look for it to be sufficently close that a record number of contested elections that the party to be in control of the House remains in dispute beyond the first session in January at which time a Speaker should be chosen. It's tough to conduct business without one. Note that there are no constitutionally mandated qualifications, duties, authorities or responsibilities for the Speaker, beyond being third in line for the Presidency and involvement in removing the President under the 25th Amendment; only that the House chooses the Speaker.
#20
They forget one thing, however. We vote for candidates, not parties here in the good ol' USA.
Sure, you might think that the Repubs and/or Demos are full of it, etc. But most people still vote for the guy or gal who brings home the pork, regardless of how they feel about their party affiliation.
I guess eventually Zogby et al will manage to be right, but I don't think this is one of those times.
#4
Because of the fact that none of the other parties in Israel have the cojones to submit a Vote of No Confidence motion and push it, JSU. Also, his party is large enough to block such a motion in the Knesset.
#8
It's a great idea NS. Once Peres is president, the financial police can take a closer look at his finances. (Also it'll get him the f*ck out of politics)
#3
What was revealed WX ? I read this twice and decided this was sufficiently garbled as to be basically senseless, excepting the announcement to devote funds to studies of this type.
WASHINGTON - The United States said on Wednesday that it was deeply troubled by the death of a political prisoner in military-ruled Myanmar and called for the release of all political prisoners held in former Burma. This death demonstrates the tragic price the people of Burma are forced to pay for opposing the repressive policies of the regime and standing up for their human and democratic rights, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said in a statement.
Democracy activist Ko Thet Win Aung, 34, had been imprisoned since 1998 for organizing peaceful student demonstrations and was serving a 59-year prison sentence. Relatives and the London-based rights group Amnesty International said on Tuesday Thet Win Aung died in Mandalay Prison where he had been tortured and suffered from malaria.
He was a brother of Ko Pyone Cho, a prominent student leader of a 1988 pro-democracy uprising in which several thousand people were killed. Ko Pyone Cho was among six pro-democracy activists arrested in September.
We call for the immediate and unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi, these six activists, and all other political prisoners; and for the initiation of a genuine process of national reconciliation, Casey said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/19/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Hey Casey, ya been listening to Koffee too much. That's his line and you are not allowed to plagiarise.
The federal government has refused to pay death benefits to the spouse of former congressman Gerry E. Studds (D-Mass.), the first openly gay member of Congress. Studds married Dean Hara in 2004 after same-sex marriage was legalized in Massachusetts. But Hara will not be eligible to receive any portion of Studds's estimated $114,337 annual pension because the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act bars the federal government from recognizing Studds's marriage.
Peter Graves, a spokesman for the Office of Personnel Management, which administers the congressional pension program, said same-sex partners are not recognized as spouses for any marriage benefits. He said Studds's case is the first of its kind known to the agency. Under federal law, pensions can be denied only to lawmakers' same-sex partners and to people convicted of espionage or treason, Graves said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/19/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
So, if he didn't marry and put the pension to his estate and left his estate to the "boy"friend, no biggie?
#2
Iff the Gays-and-Lesbians want "marriage", as a class IMO they have to be willing to legally, financially, materially, emotionally, morally spiritually, and psychologically, etal. take care of any and all children-Minors REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THEY ARE BIOLOGICALLY RELATED TO SAME, AND REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THEIR RELATIONSHIP = "MARRIAGE" LASTS/ENDURES OR NOT. Why, becuz hetero "parents", SINGLE ANDOR JOINT, are and do. DO NOT ASK FOR MARRIAGE UNLESS ARE WILLING TO BE A "PARENT/SPOUSE" IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD, AT LAW ANDOR NOT AT LAW.
Posted by: Captain America ||
10/19/2006 1:30 Comments ||
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#4
Under federal law, pensions can be denied only to lawmakers' same-sex partners and to people convicted of espionage or treason, Graves said.
That is too funny. Um, no, pensions are also denied to the neighbors, brothers, fathers, sisters, mothers, best friends, coffee partners, tennis partners, roommates, and favorite hookers.
#7
"Now they have a death in the congressional family of one of their distinguished members whose spouse is being treated differently than any of their spouses," Buseck said.
Um....OK. Time for a definition:
Main Entry: spouse
Pronunciation: 'spaus also 'spauz
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French espus (masculine) & espuse (feminine), from Latin sponsus betrothed man, groom & sponsa betrothed woman, bride, both from sponsus, past participle of spondEre to promise, betroth; akin to Greek spendein to pour a libation, Hittite sipant-
: married person : HUSBAND, WIFE
- spou·sal /'spau-z&l, -s&l/ adjective
#8
Peter Graves, a spokesman for the Office of Personnel Management, which administers the congressional pension program, said: Have you ever seen a grown man naked?"
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/19/2006 13:40 Comments ||
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(2006-10-18) A new Brookings Institution study that shows an inverse relationship between math skills and student self-esteem is just plain wrong, according to an overnight poll of the nations largest teachers union.
The study found that Japanese and Korean students excel in math despite their lack of confidence in their own abilities, while American kids feel great about their abilities but have much lower skills according to tests.
But the survey of National Education Association (NEA) members shows that five out of four teachers find fault with the data.
It just doesnt add up, said an unnamed NEA spokesman. Weve spent three decades of the last 20 years teaching kids that their self-esteem and happiness are unrelated to their academic competence. The overwhelming minority of them now feel really happy about math.
The NEA spokesman said the comparatively-low standardized test scores of American children simply prove that test designers dont know how to measure what really counts.
The teacher opinion poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 34 percent, but thats okay, the spokesman said, because the pollsters did their personal best.
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.
HUMANITY could evolve into two sub-species within 100,000 years as social divisions produce a genetic underclass. The mating preferences of the rich, highly educated and well-nourished could ultimately drive their separation into a genetically distinct group that no longer interbreeds with less fortunate human beings. 
The US has stopped Spain selling 12 military aircraft to Venezuela by refusing to allow American military technology to be used in the planes. Venezuela planned to buy the aircraft from the Spanish company Eads-Casa but US determination to prevent Hugo Chávez building up his armed forces wrecked the deal, according to the deputy president, José Vicente Rangel.
HAMBURG, Germany Airbus said Tuesday it will cut 1,000 temporary workers and reduce work hours at its German operations, the first steps in a major restructuring triggered by delays in its A380 superjumbo project.
Spain has financed publication of a school textbook it says is unlike any other in the European Union - a primer for Muslim first-graders to learn about Islam, but do so in Spanish as a way to integrate better into society, officials said Wednesday. 
Just 20 days until Election Day, the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds approval of the GOP-held Congress is at its lowest mark in 14 years, the Republican Party's favorability rating is at an all-time low and President George W. Bush's approval rating remains mired in the 30s -- all ominous signs for a party trying to maintain control of Congress.
