Should have been run out of the Repooblican Party years ago — now the Party will pay the price.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/30/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Question -- and maybe at work tomorrow, I might attempt to Google this...... on my drive home, radio on a station that had Fox 5:00 news... this was announced with the "This is the 13th Republican that has been indicted."
Now..... question.... how many Demo's have been indicted? 'Course, that's prolly a foolish question..... as Demo's don't get indicted.... William Thomas Jefferson anyone?
#2
This guy is a crapweasel. He's dirty and a porker.
He needs to win his primary and then resign so that the state GOP in Alaska can appoint his successor, and also have the same person run as the candidate.
Parnell woudl be ideal -a double switch if he beats Don Young (who is also probably going to be indicted).
Parnhell becomes senate, they find someone else to run for congress.
Its a shame when a GOP guy gets indicted, he is pushed to resign, yet Jefferson (D-LA), with money in the freezer, is still in there with no questions at all for the Dems.
Talk about a double standard.
This guy is emblematic of the rot that has destroyed the top of the GOP in the past 8 years.
To the GOP leadership: Clean house and get the hell out of the way. Or the voters will do it for you - and damage the country with the idiot Dems that are getting in.
#3
Another "lying to investigators" case, ala Martha Stewart. I don't doubt that Stevens is a corrupt POS, but it seems that when approached by a "federal investigator," one should say "I'd hate for anything I say to be construed as a lie, so I'd better not say anything at all until my legal counsel is present." And then tell the truth when the lawyer gets there...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/30/2008 8:43 Comments ||
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#4
resign, TED!
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/30/2008 8:48 Comments ||
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#5
Cut your own throats. The Donks aren't going to resign. To paraphrase Rummy, you go to Congress with the people you got. Your choice of perfection and Donk control or deal with your own crooks.
The Trunk party only pays the price because they have a large following that will stay at home if the candidate isn't cleaner than Caesar's wife. The Donks don't care and in practice promote crooks. That's why the Donks got control of Congress. And they will keep control of Congress. You have a choice of theoretical and being out of power or practical and be in power. The Donks have it figured out. I don't like it, but I rather deal with reality than be repeatedly burned by the Donks in power.
#6
Proc, the problem is if he continues to run for re-election he will LOSE that senate seat, and we will lost mthe margin for serving as a brake on the Dem house.
He needs to win his primary, then resign, immediately after that.
That way the GOP in Alaska can ppoint a successor to serve out the term, and also run as the candidate against a fairly popular Dem Mayor.
Lt Gov Parnell woudl be ideal, but he's already running against Young in the primary for the house seat.
Best scenario: Parnell defeats Young, Stevens wins and resigns. Gov Palin appoints Parnell as Senator (tem), and the state GOP puts him as the Senate Candidate, and chooses a strong candidate for the House seat (to replace Parnell).
THat way you have a guy that will be a very good senator, will serve Alaska well, and will not tip power further to the Harry Reid and his leftists in the senate, and have a fair chance at being competitivce in the house race.
#8
on the road, last call I had from him Monday night...Fairbanks?
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/30/2008 21:45 Comments ||
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#9
The news in this morning's local paper suggested that Stevens was the recipient of quite a bit of "volunteer" labor from the same people he later sent work to. He doubled the size of his house without paying a penny to anyone. He's also done a number of other outright felonious things that he's finally being called for.
Stevens is crooked, and deserves the sack. Expect to see a lot of Republicans accused of things, much of which they haven't done, as part of the Democratic Party's attempt to create a veto-proof Congress. At the same time, the Democratic leadership is fighting tooth and toenail to keep the two dozen or so crooks they have in the House and Senate from being charged with the crimes they've committed. If you or I did that, it would be called "obstruction of justice". With the Democrats, it's business as usual. The only way we'd ever get rid of some of these Democratic politicians would be to shoot 'em. Unfortunately, most Republicans are too ethical to even THINK of doing that, so the United States continues its swan dive into oblivion.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/30/2008 22:27 Comments ||
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#10
My RB pager went off, so here I is. Now, my 2 cents:
I heard an interview with Dave Cuddy (IIRC) last night on KBYR on the way up to Fairbanks on the highway. Cuddy is running in the primary against Uncle Ted. His main item that he is running on is that we have some very serious systemic problems in the nation that need fixing. Political pork barelling, i.e., business as usual is a dead end behavior, because we are going broke, and people like China are holding our paper. If we do not fix our national problems, we won't have a country.
-------------------
Mother MacCree! That is exactly what we want to hear!!! If he is true to his word. That is EXACTLY what this country needs.
IMHO, Uncle Ted needs to withdraw from the race and stay in office while he sorts out his 7 count indictment. If Uncle Ted happens to win the primary, he will be up against our illustrious Anchorage mayor Mark Begich, a tax and spend dem. So the smart thing is to get out of the race with the heavy cloud over his head, for the good of the party and the state. Again, IMHO.
One of the big things in Uncle Ted's indictment is that he received $250,000 work of home improvements to his place at Girdwood, Alaska, without reimbursement or reporting these improvements. The so-called gifts were from VECO, the oilfield services company headed by the convicted Bill Allen, and others, who made deals with federal prosecutors to save theirs and their family's a$$es. VECO has now been sold to CH2M Hill.
So there is my report.
Posted by: Alaska Paul in Fairbanks ||
07/30/2008 22:29 Comments ||
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Looks like Mo was just making noise, as usual.
July 30 (Bloomberg) -- Libya backtracked on a threat to stop oil shipments to Switzerland following a dispute over the two-day detention of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi's son by Geneva police, Swiss Petroleum Union Director Rolf Hartl said. ``There were no sanctions,'' Hartl said in a telephone interview from Zurich. ``A tanker loaded with 80,000 tons of crude for Switzerland left Libya yesterday, as planned.''
Libya's state-run tanker company on July 24 said it would stop carrying oil to Switzerland following the July 15 arrest in Geneva of Hannibal Qaddafi and his wife after two employees of the couple filed a complaint accusing them of mistreatment.
HARARE (AFP) - Zimbabwe will issue new bank notes from August 1 that will knock 10 zeros off the dollar and revalue a 10 billion dollar note to equal one zimdollar, the Central Bank governor said on Wednesday. "Ten billion dollars today, will as from August 1 be revalued to one zimdollar dollar," Gideon Gono said at a function where he announced a raft of economic measure. Geez, they can't brag that everyone in Zimbabwe's a billionaire anymore.
The country's 84-year-old President Robert Mugabe was present at the event. Aww, pretend I'm not even here, folks. This is Gideon's show... Continued on Page 49
Talks on Zimbabwe's political crisis broke up Tuesday in South Africa as negotiators flew home to resolve a deadlock over power-sharing between President Robert Mugabe and his rival Morgan Tsvangirai.
But South African President Thabo Mbeki, who is mediating an end to the crisis, insisted discussions were still on track despite talk of a deadlock by Tsvangirai's opposition Movement for Democractic Change (MDC).
"They have not concluded, they will be adjourning shortly for a few days because they want to go back to Harare and consult with their principals about the work that is being done and then come back by the end of the week to resume the negotiations," Mbeki told reporters in Pretoria.
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Posted by: Fred ||
07/30/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
they should have to walk
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/30/2008 21:53 Comments ||
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South Africa stopped supplying electricity to its northern neighbour Zimbabwe "several months ago", the chief executive officer of state electricity firm Eskom told Reuters on Tuesday.
Jacob Maroga said there was no political motive behind the shift. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has long been criticised by a string of western countries, particularly after the opposition pulled out of a June presidential election run-off citing violence. "It is simply a contractual issue," he told Reuters in an interview in London. "They had been paying for their electricity in advance. They simply stopped making new orders."
Some Mugabe critics had also attacked South African President Thabo Mbeki, saying he was too soft on Zimbabwe and that South African electricity exports were helping him stay in power.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/30/2008 00:00 ||
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(Xinhua) -- Uganda's rebel group the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) has asked for peace talks with the government to end its 12-year-long insurgency, a government official has said.
The State Minister for Internal Affairs Matia Kasaija was quoted by the state-owned New Vision daily on Tuesday as saying that the rebels, through the Amnesty Commission, had sent a memorandum to the government indicating its willingness to peace talks with the government.
"The government has agreed to the peace talks but the date and venue is yet to be decided," Kasaija told the legislators on the defense and internal affairs committee on Monday.
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Posted by: Fred ||
07/30/2008 00:00 ||
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Russia is betting on Blackjack and upping the odds: It may be a bluff, or Kremlin policymakers may believe they already are holding an inside straight.
Russian policymakers Thursday boosted their threat to deploy supersonic Tupolev Tu-160 "White Swan" -- NATO designation Blackjack -- nuclear bombers in Cuba to say they might put them in Venezuela and Algeria, too.
#1
...They have maybe twenty or so, and they could probably get three in condition to safely make the trip there and back.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
07/30/2008 6:18 Comments ||
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#2
Targets.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
07/30/2008 7:35 Comments ||
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#3
Only the MSM is getting into a sweat about this, because their minds are still firmly stuck in Camelot, that is, the Cuban missile crisis.
The entire Caribbean out into the Atlantic is now intensely monitored for drug traffic. We might even give the Russians an IFF transponder so they don't accidentally get shot down.
#4
I bet our air defenses are good enough to take care of their cruise missiles and our fighters would make short work of their tankers.
Go ahead. Let Russia spend money they should be investing on infrastructure for bases and support costs. We bankrupted you guys once, we can do it again.
Mostly, this sounds like advertising to get nations that are not friendly to the US to buy Russian weapons. Friend of my enemy sort of thing.
Thousands of far-right nationalists gathered in the Serbian capital Tuesday for a rally to protest the arrest and likely extradition of Radovan Karadzic, the former Bosnian Serb leader.
The far-right Radical Party bused in supporters from across Serbia and Bosnia to show solidarity with Mr. Karadzic, a man charged with engineering Europe's worst massacre since World War II but who is celebrated by his supporters as a hero.
"Karadzic is a hero because he defended Serb lives during the terrible wars of the 1990s," said Elena Pavovski, 24, a supporter of the far-right Radical Party. "Everyone knows that the war crimes tribunal in The Hague was designed to try Serbs while the war criminals who killed Serbs are set free."
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Posted by: Fred ||
07/30/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
"Target-rich environment", as they say in the AF.
A NATIONAL ENQUIRER investigation has uncovered John Edwards' mistress, Rielle Hunter -- the mother of his "love child" -- has been secretly receivÂing $15,000 a month as part of an elaborate cover-up orchestrated by the former presidential contender.
The money is being funneled to Hunter by a wealthy colleague who was closely tied to the Edwards' campaign [perhaps it's Steve Bing, the producer (major investor in the movie "The Polar Express) - I guess this because this guy is a billionaire and can write $15k checks without thinking about it]. This same man is also shoveling cash to Edwards' pal and former aide Andrew Young -- who tried to take the heat off the ex-Senator by claiming he is the father of Rielle's baby.
Continued on Page 49
#7
lol! Seeing as how he was caught with her in her hotel room, it doesn't seem like all that cash hushed her up as much as he had hoped. Wonder how much she got from the Enquirer to have the cameras ready and waiting.
#8
Some people are speculating that the meeting at the hotel was partly sex, partly meeting the kid and partly negotiating an off-the-books child support.
There is also the matter of taxation (of course if the money didn't start coming in to Rielle until 2008 it is a different issue).
#1
Unfortunately US elections are nothing more than a glorified popularity contest. Rarely do actual issues come into play, which is why we have a RINO like McCain in the position he's in. I'll be voting against Sen. Obama, however I will not be voting FOR Sen. McCain.
Just remember, a two party system is only one party away from a dictatorship.
#2
Unfortunately US elections are nothing more than a glorified popularity contest. Rarely do actual issues come into play, which is why we have a RINO like McCain in the position he's in.
Did you vote ibn teh primaries? No? Then stop whinning. We, Europeans have no word in deciding which will be our candidate. All we can do is vote for the guy our betters in the Parry have selected. And what is describe is teh French system who is one of the less undemocratic in Europe. Most countries use proportioanl ssytems who give still far less power to the people than the French systems.
Now go in front of the White House and in atonment go around it ten times while falagellating yourself. :-)
#3
Just remember, a two party system is only one party away from a dictatorship.
However true that statement is ridiculously misleading. Show me a multiparty state that has managed stability like two party governments manage. It is very rare. Coalition governments are precarious to say the least.
#5
Paris Hilton and Britney Spears have "round heels," alley cat morals, and sleeziness in common. Oh, you mean that "celebrity and being shallow" is the common denominator.
#6
Unfortunately US elections are nothing more than a glorified popularity contest. Rarely do actual issues come into play, which is why we have a RINO like McCain in the position he's in.
Truly. As I believe dear Winston Churchill once said, "Democracy is a terrible system, better than which does not exist." The American two-party system is set up not so that the best man wins, but the one that most areas of the country agree is the least bad of the options set before us. Everybody has to compromise to make this work, including the person who eventually takes the oath of office before God and his fellow citizens. This is salutary in that it frustrates us all equally, and has worked well enough for the last ~2.25 centuries that not once has someone felt forced to overthrow it by force of arms.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama told House members Tuesday that, if he wins the presidency, one of his first acts will be to review every executive order signed by President Bush. On-the-job training? Might learn something about the tough decisions a president has to make. OH? not the reason? Looking for what isn't legal, I bet. And who is the Attorney General that will be reviewing? John Edwards? Assuming the Breck Boy surfaces for air ...
It was one of the few specifics the Illinois senator offered to the House Democratic Caucus in a policy and politics pep rally Tuesday night intended to fire up fellow Democrats for the convention and the fall campaign.
#1
Pressed on more details about an Obama administration, the candidate said he was "superstitious" and didn't want to "jinx" himself without conferring with my Sangoma.
#2
A congressman said "he's going to need our help. And that is what we needed to hear"
OK - so you wanted to hear "I'm from the government and Im here to help"?
Rep. Jim Matheson (D-Utah) asked the question on the minds of a lot of Blue Dogs -- what he would do to rein in the deficit.
Umm you dipsh*t, CONGRESS spends the money - its up to YOU and the "Blue Dogs" to stop being lap dogs for Pelosi and her Dem cohorts, who are aided by GOP porkers like Alaska's Rep Youn (R).
#4
Review every executive order? That has a girly man sound to it. Not that there is anything wrong with being a girly man. But what we really want are show trials and witch hunts and maybe some mass executions. You know, all those things socialism is famous for.
Question: can you still speak Truth to Power when *you* are the Power?
#5
I actually think every new President should review the previous Executive Orders. Not just the most recent, go back a few Administrations worth. There is something sort of unconstitutional about Executive Orders and they should be checked and double-checked.
Kevin D. Williamson, "Media Blog" @ National Review
This may be either the dumbest or most pretentious thing ever said by a speaker of the House. It may be both the dumbest and most pretentious. Nancy Pelosi says:
"though the entire movie (DVD) was 200 minutes long, we felt as though it had taken less than an hour. The sets and costumes were beautiful, the acting was superb, the meshing together of the two different times worked extremely well, the "timing" was impeccable, the tension built wonderfully, and the climax was powerful. We never dreamed we would feel so strongly about a movie depicting what we originally thought would be a mundane, boring subject. We are grateful to the makers of this film for the attention to detail and the feeling they put into this movie. It came alive for us, and we now feel more appreciative toward those geniuses of former times who persevered against all odds to improve the human condition. "
What? Not that Longitude?
Posted by: Bin thinking again ||
07/30/2008 10:23 Comments ||
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#4
I always loved weed. But I quit smoking it years ago...
#7
How do you feel about latitude Madame Speaker? How do you feel about pork rinds, nachos, and beer? How do you feel about the frigging marbles you have lost?
Dear Senator Obama: Please be this freaking stupid. Please. This could result in McCain carrying at least 40 states and wrecking the Quislingcrats for a decade or more.
CHICAGO " Sen. Barack Obama, speaking to a gathering of minority journalists yesterday, stopped short of endorsing an official U.S. apology to American Indians but said the country should acknowledge its history of poor treatment of certain ethnic groups.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
07/30/2008 00:37 ||
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#1
I predicted this a while back. This is what the Obama POTUS administration will look like. Remember Clinton was a New Democrat - centrist, you may say. But the first thing he did out of the gate was the Gays in Military kerfuffle. The same with The One - it will be his first and probably only order of business.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/30/2008 8:29 Comments ||
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#2
Rep Conyers (D. Michigan) has a bill on reparations that he's been polishing for the last 5 years. If Obama gets in and the Dem's have a majority in Congress, then they'll start drilling in your wallet.
Will Obama need to pay? His mom's side were slaveholders. Also, his Dad's side suffered no history of slavery since he came from Africa.
#3
I am fully for reparations. Let voters of that party who fought nail and teeth for the perpetuation of slavery, later for KKK, who intrioduced segregation in Army and Navy (a such president Wilson) pay reparations.
Vote for that other party who abolished slavery and made possible Johnson's desegregation will be exempt of it. (in his own party Johnson had not the required support for laking segregation inconstitutional, it was the massive support of the other party who allowwed it)/.
#5
So, my ancestors either came to this country as the original abolitionists, or after 1900, or were marched down the trail of tears. So who do I owe reparations too?
Goddamn fleecing of the American taxpayers for a minority cause again.
#7
Wait a minute. The sons of the pharoahs are mad at the children of Abraham for keeping slaves?
This is just more divide and conquer smoke and mirrors. There's a reason our national motto is United We Stand, and an equally important reason that the politicos keep trying to divide us.
#8
Coincidentally, or not), he's also 'flirting' with an examination of Presidential Executive orders. Quite frankly I've always been a huge champion of Reparations closely followed (within 24 hours) with of course, REPATRIATION!
#9
I owe "black" people nothing, just like I "owe" native americans, irish, recent immigrants, gays, jews, catholics, zoroastians and any other aggrieved group precisely jack shit.
My wife's family came over to escape Hitler - how does she owe anything? My family came over and fought for the North in the Civil War - so how do we owe anything? Both our families have served the nation in the military, every generation since we arrived. And now they want to rob us to pay off imagined grievenaces from BEFORE we arrived?
Obama and his ilk want to take my hard won wealth (what little I have - you never get rich in the military) and hand it out to other people based on skin color for things that happened centuries ago --- this boggles my mind.
If Obama wants to cause a race war in the US, this is the fuse with which it will be lit.
Obama and his race mongering kleptocrats want to run the nation into one tribe against another, just like Zimbabwe - and let the tribe in power loot all the others.
Hell No, that is NOT going to happen, not on my watch. They want a civil war, they will get one over this.
Obama and the Congress bring this to law, "We the People" will eventually start shooting tax collectors, and if needs be, like in 1776, will work our way up to politicians - even the highest in the land.
If blacks want reparations, look in the mirror first. Its their so-called "black culture" that's the boat anchor on their asperations - glorifying gangs, creating and promoting false tribalism, the creation and tolerance of the whole "baby daddy" culture, trashing achievement of their own by thier own ("poindexter", "trying to be white"), calling each other "Nigger" "Ho" etc, blindly following skin color instead of their brains, unquestioningly supporting Poverty Pimps and Race Baiting hustlers like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, and then blaming white people for anything that goes wrong, accepting no fault of their consequences for their own actions.
They've sh*t their own bed and are crying about it instead of doing something themselves.
Work smart, educate your children, preserve the family and make it central to your culture (mother AND father), promote individual excellence, value and promote real achievement, save, invest.
How about making THAT the basis for the "Black" community - the way it is amongst Jews and Asians, who are, as a group, better off than even WASPs. There is your model, "Black" America. Change your values away from the tribal.
Don't forget that a lot of the 'black culture' is being fostered on them by Hollywood and the likes of MTV which glorifies the 'Gangsta RAP' type of culture of selfishness, irresponsibility, and the degradation of others.
#14
I'll agree to paying this IF there's two caveats about it.
1. Accepting the check means you are renouncing your US citizenship forever and you will be sent back to country of origin. You will never be allowed in the US again, under pain of death.
2. The total dismantling of all Affirmative Action programs. Race would be totally removed from all government documents.
#16
More stupandering from the uniter "just words" obama.
Already went through this with senator brownback (r-bleeding kansas). Whites and Blacks have been slaves in what would become the United States. The United States was formed way after the introduction of slavery. Laws were put in place against the importing of slaves. The US navy ran slave ship interdiction along the coast of Africa. Africans themselves provided the slave market. Slavery was abolished after the loss of millions of lives. Liberia was established so that any former slaves had the option to return to Africa. Millions have immigrated to the US after the abolition of slavery.
So who would qualify? Big Oh wouldn't because his father, quite possibly a descendant of the slave gatherers, was from Africa. What percentage of "former slave" or "Native American" counts? Money would be paid by the government so then everybody is guilty including blacks and Native Americans and anybody else who has put tax money into the Federal Government.
There is no doubt in my mind millions of people of all races struggled to make the USA into what it is today. In less than 200 years this nation has gone from inheireted dependence on slavery to where we are today and that is unprecidented in the history of the world. Talk like this, especially from the presuming democrat nominee is insulting to all of their hard work.
Perhaps he would be better served noting Ludicrus, Diddy, and other 'artists' who make millions making strip club anthems. Since Columbia seems to be heading in the right direction perhaps he could point out the cocaine production associated with venezuela - somethin he knows more about. Coming from a guy whose father was in Hawaii as diversification project and whose education in an ivy league school was based on his unique background; astounding.
My wife noticed how much his voice influxes were like wright's during his visit to Germany (how was the Reichsportsfeld visit? Perhaps that would have been more appropriate than using a tribute to war as a backdrop, humm?) and now he is picking up wright's talking points.
#17
Everyone just needs to take a breath. This event took place on Sunday morning in Chicago. Compared to what was being preached in a dozen other churches across the southside of the city, for those that couldn't afford the $2300 contribution to hear the Real Messiah, this is really "middle of the road" oratory. I'll bet Rev Wright is POed about the competition for the timeslot. "Damn cracker Obama knows thats when I do my preachin".
#18
Intrins,
15 My descendants were mainly from Ireland. I know the Irish weren't treated too well at one time.
Hey, my kin can top that... not only left Ireland to escape the oppressive Brits, but ended up fighting in Lincolns Army for 4 years of his 44 year life. Wounded at Cold Harbor, died and buried "in the cheap (irish) seats" in Arlington during its first week in business. He has some good irish neighbors though a couple of sections away- JFK and RFK.
I'm sure he deserves some rep's too for service to his adopted country... maybe funded directly from Jesse beer distributorships.
#19
OS, you're dead on the money. The amount of anti-white racism spewed in this country these days is extremely worrisome. I've seen and read a goodly number of blacks and hispanics saying that whites are weak, can't fight, and will soon be in minority status. They're glorying in it. Many hispanics are openly stating that California and Arizona will be soon part of Mexico again.
If you look around, the anti-white racism is pretty widespread. The UK is the best example but France runs them a close second (we won't even mention the ethnic cleansing going on in Zim and SA). Governments in those countries and here fawn on separatist groups (La Raza and NAACP as examples here; A5089 has listed the French ones), but any groups even hinting at white solidarity get nailed immediately for being racist and come under increased state and Federal law enforcement scrutiny.
Just being a Republican is, in itself, tantamount to openly admitting being a racist as far as much of their political opposition is concerned. This despite the great advances in civil rights the Repubs have championed. Those advances may have been the right thing to do, but if minority votes or trust were the expected reward, the pickings for Republicans have been pretty slim.
It's already an ugly situation and not getting better. Look up the stats on interracial crime and you'll see just how bad it is. The only real question is when, or if, whites are going to start fighting back. A group that won't defend itself in the face of increasingly strong attacks emboldens its attackers. Such a group can't realistically expect a very bright future.
#20
Hey BO, keep your flirting to yourself. Your cockamamie economics are going to drive the economy into recession or depression. You seem to want to replace free markets with socialism where everything is doled out of Washington.
#21
Look up the stats on interracial crime and you'll see just how bad it is.
Actually if you look at the crime stats you'll see blacks are mostly killing each other. Latinos and Blacks are also killing each other in greater numbers than either kills whites. It has more to do with drugs and proximity than racism. People that live in the suburbs no matter what color are far less likely to kill each other than those that live in poorer areas. This is true on a international level as well.
#22
The only real question is when, or if, whites are going to start fighting back.
Not a lot we can do until they cross the line and start the killing in earnest. Yes, we'll fight back, some of us that is. And the killing will be ruthless, the blacks and the hispanics will get a big surprise.
There are a lot of us that are very well prepared and have been waiting for the crap to hit the fan. Not exactly looking forward to it, but ready none the less.
Posted by: Grease Dark Lord of the Algonquins9226 ||
07/30/2008 22:02 Comments ||
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#23
OldSpook - I sat on my bus this afternoon listening to a large group of 10-11 year old black girls from my neighborhood talking about "Oreos" for about 10 minutes (Black on the outside, white on the inside for those who don't know.
I wanted to talk to them a bit but it wouldn't have been quite appropriate. Ironically enough, they were on a trip for their summer school program through the local youth center to keep kids off the streets and demonstrate a bit of culture...Music, Art Museums etc...
I suppose your usage of "tribal" was referencing a group of people without civilization.
Yet I can think of no "tribe", be it African, Asian, or Native American that glorifies the values which have become the Black American culture.
#24
OldSpook - I sat on my bus this afternoon listening to a large group of 10-11 year old black girls from my neighborhood talking about "Oreos" for about 10 minutes (Black on the outside, white on the inside for those who don't know.
I wanted to talk to them a bit but it wouldn't have been quite appropriate. Ironically enough, they were on a trip for their summer school program through the local youth center to keep kids off the streets and demonstrate a bit of culture...Music, Art Museums etc...
I suppose your usage of "tribal" was referencing a group of people without civilization.
Yet I can think of no "tribe", be it African, Asian, or Native American that glorifies the values which have become the Black American culture.
#25
Bring it on. I have family dead who fought on both sides. I want reparations for them and I'm billing Obama
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/30/2008 22:24 Comments ||
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#26
If there were going to be a race war, it would have happened in 1968. Now it's only the inner city ghettos that are so segregated and unemployed that hatred can build up on street corners and lead to riots. Out here in the suburbs the blacks and hispanics are just as happy to participate in the American dream as every one else... and too busy mowing the lawn or driving the kids to soccer practice to get more than rhetorically exercised over the possibility.
VIENNA, Austria: The chief U.S. delegate to the International Atomic Energy Agency says a deal allowing U.N. monitors to inspect some of India's nuclear facilities is a net gain for global nonproliferation.
Gregory L. Schulte says the agreement between India and the U.N. nuclear watchdog is sound.
IAEA approval of the so-called safeguards agreement is one of several steps needed to finalize a nuclear deal between India and the U.S. The agency's 35-member board of governors will consider the matter Friday.
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Posted by: john frum ||
07/30/2008 15:20 ||
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VIENNA - Austria has indicated that it will "probably support" India's safeguards agreement despite its fiercely anti-nuclear policy - just days before the IAEA board meets here Friday.
"Austria is reluctant. We would be happier if India explored other sources of energy to meet its growing needs but Austria also understands that every country has its own specific needs. Austria will probably support India on August 1," a senior Austrian diplomat told IANS on condition of anonymity.
Austria is under pressure from the Green Party, the third largest political party in the country, to vote against India's nuclear deal with the USA both at the IAEA board of governor's meet and at the meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). "The Wackos Greens are very aware that the 123 Agreement could have a potential backlash on international nuclear non-proliferation. We are also concerned that this agreement will weaken negotiations with other countries with nuclear ambitions like Iran," Austrian Green Party spokesperson Ulrike Lunacek told IANS.
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Posted by: Steve White ||
07/30/2008 00:00 ||
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Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Wednesday he would step down after his ruling Kadima party chooses a new leader in a September 17 internal election in which he will not run.
"I have decided I won't run in the Kadima movement primaries, nor do I intend to intervene in the elections," Olmert said in a surprise announcement from his official residence in Jerusalem.
"When a new (Kadima party) chairman is chosen, I will resign as prime minister to permit them to put together a new government swiftly and effectively."
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert held a special press conference on Wednesday at 8 p.m. where he announced he will not run in the Kadima primary scheduled to take place in September.
The premier lashed out at his political adversaries without naming any of them - either from Kadima or other parties - personally.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who is currently in Washington, had been expected to hold a press conference later Wednesday - reportedly about the state of negotiations with the Palestinians - but canceled the statement, apparently due to Olmert's announcement.
Nearly 10 Billion Fewer Miles Driven in May 2008 than May 2007 Seven-Month Decline in Travel Reflected in Highway Trust Fund
WASHINGTON - New Federal data showing further steep declines in the number of miles Americans are driving is additional proof that the country needs new means - other than the gas tax - to finance the nation's transportation infrastructure, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters said today.
"By driving less and using more fuel-efficient vehicles, Americans are showing us that the highways of tomorrow cannot be supported solely by the federal gas tax," Secretary Peters said. "We must embrace more sustainable funding sources for highways and bridges through more sustainable and effective ways such as congestion pricing and private activity bonds."
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#1
Actually the largest part of that drop IS due to speculators leaving the futures market for greener pastures. The drop in demand and the trheat of expanded production have dented the rate of increase, which is what the specualtors were riding - it provided them with irresistable margins. The riks now is greater, so they have left the futures market for more "conservative" players (who produce less wild swings).
The next step will be to actually get out of the way and let exploratory drilling get underway - at that point the "rent" chargable against future rpices will drop even fuirther - and when the futures drop, as we have seen, the spot market also drops.
#2
Fewer miles driven = fewer shopping trips, fewer job interviews, fewer visits to elderly family members & fewer camping trips with the kids. That's not progress. That's poverty, and what kind of idiot praises poverty?
#3
I have read somewhere that one truck does as much damage to the roadbed as ten thousand cars. Increase the truck tax. That will force more freight onto the railroad and save the roads. There, that is my bureaucratic fix and I stand by it.
#5
I have read somewhere that one truck does as much damage to the roadbed as ten thousand cars.
I read somewhere that the moon is made of cheese, doesn't make it so. The highways in this country have been designed and constructed with the extra wear and tear of trucks factored in. Trucks are neither 10,000 times heavier or bigger than the average car, so it would be sort of preposterous to state they cause 10,000 times the damage.
Increase the truck tax.
Do that, and the cost of everything you buy will have to increase accordingly. There isn't a single thing that you own or consume that hasn't had at least two rides on a big-rig, and typically more.
That will force more freight onto the railroad and save the roads. There, that is my bureaucratic fix and I stand by it.
Considering the poor shape that much of the rail infrastructure is in, I doubt that it could take an increase in load or traffic. Besides, just about everything that can be shipped inter-modal is, however, some things have a time-to-market sensitivity, and these things have to go by truck.
So, you say you stand by your "bureaucratic fix", are you willing to pay for it? Are you willing to downgrade your lifestyle to accommodate your "fix"?
Posted by: Grease Dark Lord of the Algonquins9226 ||
07/30/2008 13:16 Comments ||
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#6
GolfBravo, the roads and bridges are designed for truck loads but the traffic system designs are driven by the automobile. If all the folks that have come to my state would leave we wouldn't have to go from 4 lane interstate to 8 lane and we should still be able to handle the trucks.
I don't see why someone driving an electric car should be exempt from paying for the roads they use any more than bicycle riders should be exempt for that extra 10 feet of roadway and right-of-way they use (that still has to be built to truck load standards if attached to existing roadway).
There ain't no free lunch. Don't ask for a service including roads) if you are not willing to pay for it.
#8
User fees - make users pay only for what they use and stop collecting money from those who do not use. Anyone who really thinks that tax money collected for some purported specific purpose really goes to that purpose only also believes in honest politicians, thrifty bureaucrats and the tooth fairy,,,
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/30/2008 13:35 Comments ||
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#9
I have read somewhere that one truck does as much damage to the roadbed as ten thousand cars.
(40tons/5axles) / (1.5tons/2axles)**4 = 12,945 times damage/mile driven
Freight trucks do not pay for the damage they cause, but their service is essential to a functioning society. So everyone puts a little into the kitty to cover the costs.
Posted by: ed ||
07/30/2008 13:44 Comments ||
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#10
I suspect the only way that users of electric vehicles can be made pay for what they use is to have a vehicle mileage fee similar to what trucks pay. That will at least make them put into the road infrastructure that they use. Of course all of us will get to pay for their use of the grid unless the power company puts a separate meter on their charging systems.
Again, there ain't no free lunch. Someone WILL pay for all of this.
#11
Road damage is proportional to the 4th power of loading.
(40tons/5axles) / (1.5tons/2axles)**4 = 12,945 times damage/mile driven
I stand corrected.
Posted by: Grease Dark Lord of the Algonquins9226 ||
07/30/2008 13:51 Comments ||
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#12
When electric cars become popular, registration fees will go WAY up. Most likely it will be a flat fee per model, but basing it on model and last year's miles driven is the fairest.
Posted by: ed ||
07/30/2008 13:54 Comments ||
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#13
The Chinese also hoarded fuel to run generators and other equipment following their massive earthquake, pushing up demand. After the Olympics, things should drop even more if no other catastrophe occurs, affecting global markets. Trucks are foundational to our economy. Colorado asks them to drive in the left (passing) lane to help balance out the ruts in the right because roads are so bad. The Midwest had a very harsh winter and flooding washed entire highways out, with some still closed following June floods in Iowa. 1/4 of the bridges need replaced nationwide. And the railroads are going gung-ho again, with many of the short lines up and running after years of disuse. RR employers require at least a high school diploma, giving the homeboys an edge over the cheap illegal labor pool filtering in and working for $5 and hour without overtime pay. School buses, often the largest cost of rural districts, are also starting to convert from diesel to propane. Property taxes usually fund schools and with values plummeting and record foreclosures, state and local revenues are really down, when the Feds are asking the states to pick up more of the costs. Local option sales taxes have been part of the answer to finding new funding, but you're right, switching to green technologies will pose unforeseen tax problems. It's a complex problem requiring a comprehensive solution.
#14
I'm glad I could stimulate a little discussion, since the news from Iraq is so boring, what with winning and everything.
I have read somewhere that one truck does as much damage to the roadbed as ten thousand cars.
I defy anyone to drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles on I-5 and stay in the truck lane. You will need to replace your fillings and realign your front end when you get to LA .
Almost every Freeway in California is the same way, the right most lanes are beat to crap. An exception is I580 between Castro Valley and Oakland, reason - "No Trucks Allowed".
Our local city streets were fine until we put up a Costco. In a short time the streets between the Freeway and the Costco had to be ripped up and redone. Maybe it was all the shoppers? The streets leading to the parking lot seem to survive, but the one to the loading dock was lunched.
The local streets are an issue that needed to accommodate the heavy trucks, but, do we have to subsidize long haul trucks carrying Chinese goods from San Pedro to the Wal-Mart stores in the Midwest?
Thanks ed for the math lesson.
P.S. One could argue that high postal rates subsidize junk mail. We have to keep the rates high and cover the lost revenue due to e-mails and e-bills. If we raise the junk mail rates too high they will go away and hundreds of thousands of postal workers will be out of work.
So everyone puts a little into the kitty to cover the costs.
#17
Interesting. The much larger damage due to heavier wheel loads applies to trucks - and trains. The trucks do have more tires, AS, and run much higher tire pressures, (90 psi?) too. If it's 90 psi in the tire, what's the pressure the tire exerts on the road?
Also, twice the number of tires per axle may cause three or four times the load a foot below the surface of the roadway. Loads are distributed in (roughly) a 45-degree angle, so if wheels are spaced closely, those loads overlap. The purpose of the roadway - and railway - is to take the high wheel loads of the vehicle and distribute them over a sufficiently large area to the pressures the soil can stand without excessive deformation.
As for the rail infrastructure, Grease (#5) they are in the best shape in years, but also carrying all they can handle on many lines. Thru mush of the 20th century, they had excess capacity (empire builders) but cut back after WW II until the demand started outstripping supply. Wyoming (!) now has a bunch of triple-track line, (where 40 years ago there was none) for hauling low-sulfer coal to the utilities of the south and east.
If you want a silver bullet, get on the Obama wagon train, or go over to Kos.
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/30/2008 17:06 Comments ||
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#18
Will gas conservation raise prices?
For the second time in twenty years locally we are going on water rationing. Like the last time, they also will raise to rates to cover the lost revenue resulting from successful conservation. This is to maintain the revenue to offset the costs of the infrastructure, etc.
Of course when the last water crises was over the rates did not go down. Hopefully the competition from the five major oil companies will keep this from happening like it has in a monopolistic water utility.
With the increase in oil prices I have been combining trips more. But, with trailing daughter #1 going off to university in September, and temporary daughter needing everything from underwear to jeans to sneakers, I cannot say I've been spending less on stuff this summer... and definitely more on food and hot water. ;-)
They said if George Bush was re-elected that we'd be sweeping homeless people off the streets -- and they were right!
WASHINGTON -- The number of chronically homeless people living in the nation's streets and shelters has dropped by about 30 percent -- from 175,914 to 123,833 -- from 2005 to 2007, Bush administration officials said on Tuesday.
Housing officials say the statistics, which are collected annually from more than 3,800 cities and counties, may reflect better data collection and some variation in the number of communities reporting. But officials also attribute much of the decline to a policy shift promoted by Congress and the administration that has focused federal and local resources on finding stable housing for homeless people suffering from drug addiction, mental illness or physical disabilities, long deemed the hardest to help in the homeless population.
Under the strategy, known as "housing first," local officials have over the last eight years increasingly placed the chronically homeless into permanent shelter -- apartments, halfway houses or rooms -- and provided them with services for drug addiction, mental illness and health problems.
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Posted by: Steve White ||
07/30/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Oh, great! Now we are running out of homeless people. Will this Bush-induced nightmare never end?
If you recall, when Gore finally conceded to W, within the next few days literally hundreds of newspapers across the country which hadn't run a story about homelessness during the entirety of the Clinton administrations printed stories about the subject, as if to make it look that the mere election of W had caused the problem. So blatant and embarrassing was this obviously coordinated assault that even a couple of Dem congressmen commented negatively on it.
Now we out, that like so many other "problems" that have "occurred due to Bush", this was really something that was inherited from the Clinton years, and improved during the past eight.
If the NYT - whose literal hatred for W is a proven fact, and which has spent eight years trying to undermine and even destroy him - will run this, the improvement in getting the homeless off the street is real, and probably even better than reported.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
07/30/2008 5:34 Comments ||
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#3
That's "find out".
Posted by: no mo uro ||
07/30/2008 5:35 Comments ||
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#4
Just prepping the media battlefield so they can pooh-pooh stories about homeless people being given cartons of smokes and short dogs to vote early, often and dem in the fall election...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/30/2008 8:38 Comments ||
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#5
There are 123,833 chronically homeless people? There are over 3 MILLION vacant houses in the surplus housing stock.
That's... well, crap. I'm definitely staying out of the market for another couple years.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
07/30/2008 8:55 Comments ||
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#6
A lot of this is crapola. To start with, the original statistics were provided by homeless NGOs with every motivation to grossly exaggerate the number of homeless--and they did.
Most of the drop is because they are no longer using contrived "models" (sound familiar?), and instead are basing their count on "actuals".
The truth of the matter is that the homeless can be subdivided into groups.
The group everyone is concerned with are homeless families, whose provider has been put out of work and is looking for new work. They usually have a rapid turn-around and get new work in just a month or two. The homeless services are very helpful to them.
The second group are voluntary homeless, mostly kids and young adults under 25. They have all sorts of motivations, but they want to wander, not be cooped up. So they avoid the violence of shelters and older homeless, and think of themselves as travelers, anarchists, or libertarians. They abhor government and government help.
The third group are involuntary homeless, who are usually older and have serious problems, especially mental illness and substance abuse. Interestingly, they usually start later in life, and are not ex-voluntary homeless. They are almost all "goners", and the best solution is to save public money by putting them in a cheap hotel with free food, to keep them off the streets and out of the emergency rooms.
Many people are upset with doing this, wanting to coerce them away from alcoholism, etc. But that doesn't work and is terribly expensive. Keeping them on the street and trying to control their behavior costs maybe $100k a year. Putting them in a flop house and leaving them alone maybe $10k.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
07/30/2008 10:24 Comments ||
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#9
I knew a voluntarily "homeless" man in a small midwestern town some years ago, mostly a harmless nuisance. He did scare people shopping on main street & would now & then throw a rock through a store window so he would be jailed whenever it suited him.
The kicker in the story was this: He was the beneficiary of a trust fund, run by a reliable trustee, who paid & maintained a home for the man to live in in the town, a home that he refused to live in. Eventually the town fathers tired of his antics, he was declared incompetent by the judge of probate, ordered confined to an assisted living institution & the proceeds of his trust fund were attached to pay for all this. Eventually the "homeless" guy was reconciled to this terrible fate.
#10
If you give people housing, they are no longer homeless. Makes sense to me.
While I'm glad to hear that the homeless are being given a place to live other than the street, I'm not convinced this is the best long-term solution. I hope for the best but time will tell.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil fell to its lowest level in nearly three months on Tuesday, extending a steep slide since mid-July on mounting evidence high prices and a souring economy were cutting into world energy demand. The drop coincided with a firmer U.S. dollar, which may have reduced the appeal of commodities to some investors playing the strong negative correlation between the markets in recent months, analysts said.
OPEC President Chakib Khelil said on Tuesday oil could fall further to $70 to $80 a barrel in the long term but added he did not think the producer group should consider cutting output at this point.
U.S. crude dropped $2.54 to settle at $122.19 a barrel after dipping as low as $120.42, its lowest since May 6. Brent crude fell $3.13 to $122.71. Oil has fallen from a record peak of $147.27 set on July 11, pressured by signs that high prices and an economic slowdown are curbing demand, especially in the United States, the world's largest oil consumer.
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Posted by: Steve White ||
07/30/2008 00:00 ||
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#2
I wonder if India and China have stopped subsidizing consumer purchases of gasoline, kerosene and naphtha? I still say most speculation was tied to the subidization of two growing demand markets without pain at the pump.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/30/2008 8:25 Comments ||
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#3
Another thing that may have taken the edge off the oil bull's enthusiasm is that Iraq's monthly oil exports have increased 10 times since beginning of the year.Iran's threat to oil supplies becomes less dire. Militarily, Iraq can't choke off the Persian Gulf for any great length of time.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
07/30/2008 10:20 Comments ||
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#4
Iraq's total country exports haven't increased by 10 times.
The Kurdish sector of Iraq's exports have increased by 10 times - from a very low level to a moderate level.
#5
#4 Iraq's total country exports haven't increased by 10 times.
Actually, there's been considerable increase, but I, too, believe 10 time is too much. Iraq has gone from producing about 2.5 million barrels/day to producing about 3.1 million barrels/day. At the same time, local consumption has tripled or more. If Iraq could build a pipeline from Kirkuk to Haifa, one from Mosul to Istanbul, and another one from Baghdad to Eilat, their exports could grow even greater. There's plenty of production, but it's beginning to get harder and harder to get any extra to market.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/30/2008 22:44 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
VIENNA - Austria has indicated that it will "probably support" India's safeguards agreement despite its fiercely anti-nuclear policy - just days before the IAEA board meets here Friday.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert held a special press conference on Wednesday at 8 p.m. where he announced he will not run in the Kadima primary scheduled to take place in September. 
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil fell to its lowest level in nearly three months on Tuesday, extending a steep slide since mid-July on mounting evidence high prices and a souring economy were cutting into world energy demand. The drop coincided with a firmer U.S. dollar, which may have reduced the appeal of commodities to some investors playing the strong negative correlation between the markets in recent months, analysts said.
