[Al Arabiya Latest] A "lucky" license plate turned out not to be so lucky for five men who were jailed in Beijing for up to 16 months for fighting over the plate that ended in four eights, China's traditional number for good fortune.
The men allegedly armed themselves with knives and clubs and beat anyone who came near a machine issuing new license plate numbers at a Beijing vehicle registration center, the state-owned Beijing News reported Tuesday.
Several people were injured, one of them seriously.
The incident occurred in July last year as plates with "8888" as the last four digits were about to be issued, the report said.
The ringleader, identified only as Xu, had lined up four cars for new plates and paid his four accomplices a total of 10,000 yuan ($1,400) to guard the machine and ensure he got the numbers he wanted, it said.
A Beijing court ordered the five to pay 55,000 yuan ($8,054) in compensation to their victims, the paper said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/23/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Chinese take their superstitions seriously. Just try telling them that 8888 doesn't mean that you live longer, or that China's military is not equal to the West. It's like talking to a brick wall.
#1
Hank Salmans has always loved coffee. He loves it so much, in fact, that as a Marine stationed far from Lawrence, he strained grounds through a sock to get his fix.
Though he’s retired the sock-filter method, he’s kept his love of coffee and combined it with his love of the Marine Corps to create the Lawrence-based Devil Dog Brew.
Two of the varieties of Devil Dog Brew, the brainchild of Lawrence resident Hank Salmans. Salmans, a former Marine, donates a portion of his profits to charities associated with the Marine Corps.
#3
Hey now, there is a Bug driven in this Republican's driveway. Don't judge the bug, judge the thug who key cars. They're probably driving Honda Elements or beaters.
But yes, Lawrence is stock full of the new model VW Bugs, hippied out in flower power stickers and other hippy flair. In Lawrence there are two sects and or caste of hippie - the older group of the neo-hippie movement of the later 90's and the foux hippie who are the children of quite well-to-do parents usually from Johnson County who wear the garb more as costume. I do not judge the vehicle, but if I had a picture of what the typical foux hippie drives there you would agree it looks like a prop from Laugh-in but in general have an appreciation for property.
The neo-hippies are the vandals and shout down types in that town especially after a night of drinking. The art guarillas who post up signs like, "Please keep dogs and Republicans on leash at all times." Usually have drunk their way out of college but stayed on for the lifestyle. They have a watered down anarchy movement but also a recruiting area for leftists, islamists, but that is where my story must end. Just...check the back of the university library every once in a while.
As a vehicle, I do find the VW bug easy on the eyes.
#5
IIRC US CIVIL WAR > a good UNION = BILLY BLUE, + CONFEDERATE = JOHNNY REB/GRAY, Commander would know NOT NOT ever Ever EVER E-V-E-R EEEVVVVEERRR EVAH!, D *** YOU, to take away his mens' Coffee no matter the reason.
IOW, NEVER TOUCH JUAN VALDEZ, ETC UNLESS YOUR ARMY WANTS A MUTINY.
(CNN) -- Actress Mackenzie Phillips reveals she had a long-term incestuous relationship with her famous father, musician John Philips, in a tell-all memoir, according to People.com, which obtained an advance copy of her book. Sing us a coupla verses of "My heart and other appurtenances belong to Daddy"...
Phillips, the 49-year-old former child star and daughter of the Mamas and the Papas founder John Phillips, says she had sex with her father the night before she was to marry Jeff Sessler, a member of the Rolling Stones entourage, in 1979, according to People.com. "On the eve of my wedding, my father showed up, determined to stop it," writes Phillips, who was 19 at the time and a heavy drug user, according to People.com. "I had tons of pills, and Dad had tons of everything too. Eventually I passed out on Dad's bed."
Can we hang him now?
Phillips, best known as Julie Cooper on the sitcom "One Day at a Time," says the sexual relationship became consensual as her life began to spiral out of control.
Became consensual? So the first time is it was incestuous rape by Daddy Darlingest, then later he took advantage of her addled state to persuade her that she liked it? I do not want to know whether this was instead of, or in addition to, wedded bliss. Let's castrate him with a rusty scalpel, then let him die of lockjaw instead of hanging him.
During her time on the hit CBS comedy, which ran from 1975 to 1984, she battled drug addiction and underwent drug rehabilitation. She later was fired from the show in 1980 because of her drug abuse.
Eventually, she and her father went to rehab together and she later toured with him in a band called the New Mamas and the Papas, according to People.com. "I was a fragment of a person, and my secret isolated me," she writes, according to People.com. "One night Dad said, 'We could just run away to a country where no one would look down on us. There are countries where this is an accepted practice. Maybe Fiji.' "
No there are not countries where this is an accepted practice, not even Saudi Arabia or Yemen, although there are countries where such things happen, like Saudi Arabia and Yemen and, it seems, the United States.
Phillips will reportedly unleash the secret she has kept to herself for 31 years in an interview on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" scheduled to air Wednesday.
I have no idea, KBK. I should have thought to ask, but bad parenting is one of my hot buttons, which is how I ended up with formerly temporary daughter (now living on campus at the University of Cincinnati) and part time daughter.
#5
It's clear that, at the very minimum, her parents bear a major part of the responsibility for her drug use. Not only by introducing her to drugs, but by inflicting a perfectly awful 'household' environment on her.
I didn't see American Graffitti until a couple of years ago. She was winsome as a gawky teen. It was some kind of director's cut, and at the end there was a clip of her as she was at the time. I was shocked - she was just stunning, not gawky at all! I asked Mrs. KBK, "I wonder what happened to her? How did she turn out?" She filled me in on the Mamas/Papas background and the terrible family life.
Combine those looks with the personality displayed in the film (which I suspect was pretty close to her natural personality at the time) and a lack of inhibition due to Hollywood and drugs, and you have a nearly irresistible Lolita.
Put that together with a lowlife scoundrel like John Philips....what a shame.
#2
Behindevery great despot, is a despot housewife. As the world's tyrannical leaders descend upon New York Wednesday for the U.N. General Assembly, FOXNews.com takes a look at their spouses, whose statements and behavior have sometimes proved to be just as dysfunctional as their infamous husbands.
A multi-billion dollar university has opened in Saudi Arabia in an attempt to enable the country to compete in science and technology internationally. The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology near Jeddah boasts one of the world's fastest supercomputers.
Saudi authorities hope the mixed-sex centre it will help modernise the kingdom's deeply conservative society. The religious police will not operate on-site. Women will be allowed to mix freely with men and drive on campus.
Saudi Arabia has never had any problem in paying foreigners enough to bring them into the country. But they almost all live in a different dimension from Saudi citizens - much of the time they might as well be on another planet for all the involvement they have in Saudi life. The aim is for things to be different with this university. The Saudi elite behind it hope it will become an organic part of their society, acting as a beacon of academic excellence in an educational landscape still dominated by religious and rote learning.
It is also a symbol of the division in Saudi Arabia between modernisers and traditionalists - a fundamental problem that has often been patched over with lashings of cash but never as yet successfully resolved. Women will also not be required to wear veils in the coeducational classes. Similar efforts at promoting modern institutions have had mixed success in the past. Some Saudis are concerned the university will become an international bubble which will operate in another dimension to the rest of the country.
The university has drawn scientists and students from more than 60 countries. About 15% of the incoming students are female, all of whom have studied at universities outside the kingdom. It is alleged there are some limits on men and women socialising, with reports that male students are banned from entering women's residences.
Security is expected to be high for the opening ceremony, a day after al-Qaeda's Yemen branch issued a new threat against Saudi Arabia.
#2
Some Saudis are concerned the university will become an international bubble which will operate in another dimension to the rest of the country. That's a feature, not a bug.
You must be a hotshot with a weapon, have a nose for hidden danger and the ability to melt into the background.
But that's not all you need to join the latest intake of the elite royal protection squad guarding the Queen.
It also helps if you're lesbian, gay or transgender.
Oh fergawdsakes! So long as it's sane and not open to blackmail, and is a crack guard, what difference does it make?
On Tuesday the Metropolitan Police posted an advertisement inviting 'special groups' to apply to protect the Royal Family at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and Balmoral.
Police chiefs ordered the recruitment drive amid concerns that there are not enough officers from minority groups guarding the Queen.
But critics accused the Met of bowing to political correctness.
Indeed. I would want the best, label distribution be damned.
The advertisement from Scotland Yard's Royalty Protection Branch, known as SO14, invites armed officers from all backgrounds to apply for the role to 'deliver residential protection through a combination of fixed posts and mobile patrols'.
The recruitment notice, which was posted internally within the Met, reads: 'Successful officers can expect to work at London palaces or Windsor Castle and officers are required to perform tours of duty in Scotland.
'Applications are particularly welcomed from women, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and black and minority ethnic communities/people as these are under-represented-within SO14.' Successful candidates must be trained in firearms and will be expected to work 12-hour shifts.
Former Metropolitan Police Commander John O'Connor condemned the advertisement.
'From a political correctness point of view, it's just window dressing,' the former Flying Squad officer said.
'These are terrible jobs which no one wants to do. What could be more soul-destroying than to sit in a rusty old sentry box for hours on end?'
Philip Davies, Tory MP for Shipley, West Yorkshire, said: 'I don't know whether the Royal Family are going to feel that much safer knowing there's a transgender outside protecting them.
'This is absolutely ludicrous. What's wrong with just employing the best for the job?
'I wonder what's the cost to the Metropolitan Police for all this equality and diversity nonsense? The money would be better spent putting more bobbies back on the beat.'
There are around 30 vacancies in SO14, offering salaries between £28,605 and £41,208 depending on the experience of the officer.
A Met spokesman said: 'We want to recruit the best people from London's many different communities.
'In units where particular groups are under represented, applicants are particularly encouraged from minority communities.'
Formed in 1983, the Royal Protection Squad is an elite Scotland Yard unit which provides 24-hour security for the Royal Family.
Around 400 SAS-trained officers, including uniformed officers and personal bodyguards, look after about 20 members of the Royal Family and their homes.
THE founder of a religion inspired by the Star Wars films was thrown out of a supermarket for refusing to remove his hood, AOL reported on Tuesday. Daniel Jones, head of the 500,000-strong Half a million what?
International Church of Jediism, was asked to leave the Tesco supermarket in Bangor, North Wales as his attire was deemed to be in violation of Tesco's rules, which forbid the wearing of 'hoodies' while in the supermarket. "I'm sorry, sir. I'll have to ask you to leave. You're just too funny looking."
Mr Jones, who also goes by the Jedi name Morda Hehol, claimed he was 'victimised over his beliefs' and left 'emotionally humiliated' when staff deemed him a security risk and told him to leave. He told The Daily Telegraph: 'I told them it was a requirement of my religion but they just sniggered and ordered me to leave.' "Beat it! And take yer wookie with yez!"
According to the rules of the Jedi church, members should wear a hood in public places. 'It states in our Jedi doctrination that I can wear headwear. "I know it does. I wrote it."
'It just covers the back of my head,' Mr Jones said. 'You have a choice of wearing headwear in your home or at work, but you have to wear a cover for your head when you are in public.' "Otherwise you get dive-bombed by The Pigeons of the Dark Side!"
Mr Jones said he had gone to the store to buy something to eat, and gave staff a Jedi church business card when they stopped him about his hood.
If Jedi walk around our stores with their hoods on, they'll miss lots of special offers.
'It was discrimination. They were making a joke against me. I was really upset. Nobody should be treated like that,' he said. He has made a complaint to Tesco and is seeking legal advice. Mr Jones also hinted of a threat should the ban continue. 'I'll advise worshippers to boycott Tesco if it happens again. They will feel the Force.' "You don't need to shop at Tesco! These aren't the groceries you're looking for! Move along!" The Telegraph reported that a Tesco spokesman defended the store's actions, saying: 'He hasn't been banned. Jedis are very welcome to shop in our stores, although we would ask them to remove their hoods. Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and Luke Skywalker all appeared hoodless without ever going over to the Dark Side and we are only aware of the Emperor as one who never removed his hood. If Jedi walk around our stores with their hoods on, they'll miss lots of special offers.'
Posted by: john frum ||
09/23/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Yhey sniggered at him? That's Great! We need a lot more sniggering here at the Washington crowd until we throw them out of the store.
Honduran interim leader Roberto Micheletti has urged ousted President Manuel Zelaya to turn himself over to authorities to face charges of corruption and violating the constitution.
After three months in exile, Zelaya returned to Honduras on Monday and sought refuge at the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa to avoid arrest.
On June 28, the Honduran military deposed Zelaya in a coup after he decided to hold a referendum on lifting presidential term limits.
Micheletti asked Brazil to hand Zelaya over so he could be arrested under a warrant issued by the Supreme Court charging him with treason and abuse of authority. In an interview with Reuters on Tuesday, Micheletti said that he has no intention of confronting Brazil or entering its embassy.
However, soldiers used tear gas and water cannons to chase away thousands who demonstrated outside the embassy on Tuesday.
"We know we are in danger," Zelaya said on Tuesday. "We are ready to risk everything, to sacrifice."
A 26-hour curfew imposed Monday afternoon closed businesses and schools, leaving the capital's streets nearly deserted.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/23/2009 00:00 ||
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NEW YORK (AP) - Brazil's president says he has asked deposed Honduras President Manuel Zelaya not to provide a pretext for coup leaders to invade the Brazilian embassy.
As if Mel needs to be prodded ...
"Pretext" is not the same thing as "reason." I'd be more concerned with providing them a "reason."
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he spoke with Zelaya by phone on Tuesday morning. Zelaya has been holed up at the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa since Monday, when he slipped back into the country. "You'll never take me alive, coppers! I got diplomatic immunity!"
Since the leftie thugs he, Hugo and the Cubans have been prepping are now just about ready to make their move ...
Silva said that by allowing Zelaya into its embassy, Brazil only did what any democratic country would do.
Well no, democratic countries generally stay out of other democracies internal power struggles.
I can't recall another instance of a "democratic" country's embassy giving a would-be dictator a place to hole up until his hard boyz hit the streets.
Supported by the U.S. and other governments since his ouster, Zelaya has called for negotiations with the leaders who forced him from the country at gunpoint. But interim President Roberto Micheletti has urged Brazil to turn Zelaya over to Honduran authorities for trial.
Unfortunately the Hondurans should have kept Mel, jugged him and tried him.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/23/2009 00:00 ||
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#2
The whole point of a doomsday machine is lost if you don't tell anybody about it!
Posted by: Dr. Strangelove ||
09/23/2009 4:48 Comments ||
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#3
We were a lot less paranoid, because the FBI had planted a spy beyond suspicion in the American Communist Party, and he was frequently invited to the Kremlin. They didn't even know he spoke Russian fluently, so would talk to each other right in front of him.
He probably single handedly stopped WWIII two or three times. Usually the US was doing something innocuous, and the Russians were freaking out about it, so he got the message back for the US to cut it out, tone it down, or let what was going on leak to the Russians.
#2
Bull S41# commie crap. Notice that right in the beginning she says that "Of the people, by the people and for the people" means that the government is supposed to "watch out for us and take care of us. That's their job."
So all you little teenagers that don't know how to take care of yourselves, just listen to Big Brother......................or else.
HONG KONG -- Sarah Palin, in what was billed as her first speech overseas, spoke on Wednesday to Asian bankers, investors and fund managers.
A number of people who heard the speech in a packed hotel ballroom, which was closed to the media, said Mrs. Palin spoke from notes for 90 minutes and that she was articulate, well-prepared and even compelling.
"The speech was wide-ranging, very balanced, and she beat all expectations," said Doug A. Coulter, head of private equity in the Asia-Pacific region for LGT Capital Partners.
"She didn't sound at all like a far-right-wing conservative. She seemed to be positioning herself as a libertarian or a small-c conservative," he said, adding that she mentioned both Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. "She brought up both those names."
Mrs. Palin said she was speaking as "someone from Main Street U.S.A.," and she touched on her concerns about oversized federal bailouts and the unsustainable American government deficit. She did not repeat her attack from last month that the Obama administration's health care proposals would create a "death panel" that would allow federal bureaucrats to decide who is "worthy of health care."
Cameron Sinclair, another speaker at the event, said Mrs. Palin emphasized the need for a grassroots rebirth of the Republican Party driven by party leaders outside Washington.
A number of attendees thought Mrs. Palin, the former vice presidential candidate, was using the speech to begin to broaden her foreign policy credentials before making a run for the presidency in 2012.
"She's definitely a serious future presidential candidate, and I understand why she plays so well in middle America," said Mr. Coulter, a Canadian.
Mrs. Palin was faulted during the campaign last year for her lack of foreign policy experience and expertise. As the governor of Alaska, she said in her own defense, she had a unique insight because "you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska" -- a remark that was widely lampooned.
Accompanying Mrs. Palin to Hong Kong was Randy Scheunemann, the former foreign policy adviser to John McCain, who lost the 2008 election to President Obama.
Mrs. Palin did not take questions from the media after the speech, and there was a high degree of security and secrecy around the event. Only invited guests and a handful of employees from CLSA, the brokerage house that sponsored the event, were allowed inside the ballroom.
A CLSA spokeswoman declined to confirm a rumor that Mrs. Palin was paid $300,000 for her Hong Kong appearance.
When she resigned as governor in July, Mrs. Palin cited numerous reasons for stepping down, including more than $500,000 in legal fees that she and her husband, Todd, incurred because of 15 ethics complaints filed against her during her two and a half years in office.
Mr. Coulter said CLSA has a history of inviting keynote speakers who are "newsworthy and potentially controversial." Other previous speakers at the conference have included Al Gore, Alan Greenspan, Bono and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Mrs. Palin's speech took place at the Grand Hyatt on the Victoria Harbor waterfront and amid the soaring towers of corporate giants like AIG, HSBC and the Bank of China. Some attendees saw Hong Kong as an auspicious place for her first major international appearance.
"And there was nothing derogatory in it, no sleight of hand, and believe me, I was listening for that," he said, adding that Mrs. Palin referred to Mr. Obama as "our president," with the emphasis on "our."
"They really prepared her well," he said. "She was articulate and she held her own. I give her credit. They've tried to categorize her as not being bright. She's bright."
#1
All Palin would have to do is make a plausible case for the prosecution and imprisonment of a few thousand banksters and she would have a tsunami of support. The mantle of Teddy Roosevelt and trust-busting is hanging on a coat hook in the party's waiting room.
#3
BP I'm afraid that you're over-simplifying. The Bankers in question (the big boys) were rent seeking their brains out trying to leverage the government into acting for their benefit.
The fact that so much of the gov't. was totally of the same mind made the result what you would expect of a Super Bowl where the Steelers offense was opposed by the Steelers defense. Who do you think would win?
#4
The Pig Men -- Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, AIG, et. al. -- had been and continue to be engaged in massive rent-seeking, control fraud, and gambling with other people's money. Laws & regulations already in place have been ignored. There are many factors in the current disaster. Yes, the federal government over-expanded credit. But that wasn't all. This is not a partisan issue, unless you get your jollies out of making it one.
#5
Teddy Roosevelt said: I grew into manhood thoroughly imbued with the feeling that a man must be respected for what he made of himself. But I had also, consciously or unconsciously, been taught that socially and industrially pretty much the whole duty of the man lay in thus making the best of himself; that he should be honest in his dealings with others and charitable in the old-fashioned way to the unfortunate; but that it was no part of his business to join with others in trying to make things better for the many by curbing the abnormal and excessive development of individualism in a few. Now I do not mean that this training was by any means all bad. On the contrary, the insistence upon individual responsibility was, and is, and always will be, a prime necessity.... But such teaching, if not corrected by other teaching, means acquiescence in a riot of lawless business individualism which would be quite as destructive to real civilization as the lawless military individualism of the Dark Ages.
#6
What's wrong with Washington is not a partisan issue. Unless the Republican Party fundamentally changes and stops trying to look like the Democratic Party we are going to get more of the same. B. Obama got elected because of what's wrong with Washington; not anything that's particularly wrong with the country. Unfortunately, many of the people who elected him went for the glitter and surrounding claptrap. They believed the soaring rhetoric of a Pied Piper. There was a lot of pre-election deceptiveness--empty promises, deceit, and yes [at the risk of being labeled a racist] lies too. The MSM looked the other way and really didn't do a service to America by providing honest to God reporting. They were too busy slamming George Bush about one thing or another or demonizing Sara Palin in the most petty of ways. They were pushing a leftist agenda. The voters were a little in attitude like the people who elected Carter after the Watergate debacle and Nixon's pardon by Ford. These voters were fed up with the corruptness of Washington and they elected a guy who didn't have a clue about the Presidency or leadership; someone who was different and new. And so now we are stuck in a similar situation. We have a guy who ran as a centrist but turns out to be the most leftist President we have ever had--a President who wants to change the very nature of America to one created in his image. BO has little use for capitalistic free markets. He wants to re-distribute the wealth in the country. I'm wonder if he and the peoplw who surround him even love [or like] America. He seems to be have a one-world view which favors some body like the UN over the USA. Despite all this the country will survive. It has survived a long time. Without a USA, the rest of the world would suffer. America has been a shining beacon for two centuries or so to many around the world. It will continue to be.
#8
JohnQC, it is quite clear that Obama intensely dislikes America as it is currently constituted. Perhaps the only state he despises more is Israel. His own words and deeds leave no doubt.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
09/23/2009 19:02 Comments ||
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#9
GUAM PDN > seems SARAH has been critiqued as "WHOM DOES SHE THINK SHE IS - THE GOVERNOR OF GUAM"!
BANGALORE: Seven satellites in 1,200 seconds. A launch similar to the one in April 2008 when Isro launched 10 satellites. Isro is all set to put six nano satellites and one major ocean satellite into orbit on Wednesday from Sriharikota. The final 51-hour countdown began on Monday at 9am.
Of the six nano satellites, four are from Germany, one is from Switzerland and one from Turkey. The seventh is a big one, IndiaÂ’s Oceansat-2 weighing 960 kg.
From the time of launch to ejection of satellites, time taken will be around 1,200 seconds. While Oceansat-2 is set to be ejected after 1,055 seconds, four nano satellites will be ejected in the next 45 seconds. Two others are meant to stay with the fourth stage of the rocket which will be on its own once the different stages of the rocket get separated.
The sequence of ejection is very similar to the April 2008 launch featuring one big satellite, Cartosat-2 A and nine other nano satellites, 10 in all: once the PSLV takes off and reaches a certain height and velocity, it will first launch the Oceansat-2 and a few seconds later, the first of four nano satellites. Every 10-12 seconds, the PSLV will launch four satellites one after the other. (Two will remain with the fourth stage).
“The rocket re-orients itself everytime a satellite is to be placed in orbit. The re-orientation ensures one satellite doesn’t collide with another. The rocket effectively re-orients itself four to five times in the space of one flight,” a scientist explained.
The brain of the rocket would have made all calculations in advance, from ejection of first satellite to the fifth. The exact moment of ejection and then re-orientation for the next ejection is worked out in advance. All mathematical calculations on the ground, launch sequence and flight path have to work to zero error.
“There is no room for error. The rocket has to be in flight till the last minute which means all systems on board have to function to perfection. Once the first and second stages separate, and the fourth stage (the engines) stop, the ejection process begins until every satellite circulates in orbit,” an official said.
Oceansat-2, IndiaÂ’s second satellite to study oceans as well as interaction of oceans and atmosphere, is the 16th remote sensing satellite of India. It is in the shape of a cuboid with two solar panels projecting from its sides. The satellite will map fishing zones around India, measure ocean surface windspeeds as well as atmospheric temperature and humidity.
This will be PSLVÂ’s 16th mission. From September 1993 to April 2009, PSLV has been launched 15 times. Fourteen launches have been successful continuously while only one has failed so far.
Isro spokesperson S Satish told TOI: “It is known that PSLV has been a verysuccessful launch vehicle. Countries realise it is a vehicle or rocket very well suited for launch of nano satellites. We were on to our 16th mission with PSLV and Germany and Swtizerland were looking for a mission. Our needs coincided and that’s how we have the six nano satellites.”
In the April 2008 launch, eight nano satellites were built by universities and research institutions in Canada and Germany.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/23/2009 00:00 ||
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Posted by: john frum ||
09/23/2009 7:51 Comments ||
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#2
What do you call it whwn you hve a bunch of satellite rockets migrating out to orbit together? A flock or a herd, or a what? Personally, I like wad as in yesterday we shot off a wad of rockets. any other ideas?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/23/2009 10:31 Comments ||
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#3
'Wad' is good.
'Volley' is probably the traditional.
Perhaps 'storm?'
A storm of satellites?
#4
I guess since governments are incapable of cleaning up their own messes, eventually some private company is going to have to police up much of the dangerous orbiting junk.
I like the "big ball of goo" idea. A satellite that extends telescoping tubes in all directions. Attached to the ends of the tubes is a tent. The satellite then sprays a gas into the tent to fully inflate it, then a high expansion polymer foam.
Gas is sprayed through the ends of the tubes for orbital adjustments across the path of the orbiting space junk, which embeds itself in the polymer foam. Then, when "full", or when its gas is about to run out, it reenters the atmosphere and burns up.
If it is working well, however, it might have additional gas added to it via a tube end as well.
#1
One reason is because one of the coolest summers in recent history in the Northeastern Corridor and Chicago. Chicago had ONE day over 90 in August. A lot of summer time "peaker" power plants that normally run to provide air conditioning during summer scorchers were not running this year.
#2
I wouldn't use the word "best" when it is accompanied by the greatest destruction of wealth since 1929. But then human needs are low on the Greenies list of priorities.
Posted by: ed ||
09/23/2009 6:26 Comments ||
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#3
Get ready for record famine & starvation in developing countries...
#4
it was in many countries not just US, and it was beyond that expected for economic conditions.
It was the fruit of policy changes, oil price increases, and corporate shifts to green. If we take stronger policy changes, we can probably manage to keep this as the global economy recovers
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/23/2009 15:03 Comments ||
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#8
co2 is still 80% of greenhouse effect gases but quickly coming up are the supergreenhouse gases that are now used a refrigerants (ironically these replace the ozone depletion gases used previously for that function)
Posted by: lord garth ||
09/23/2009 15:23 Comments ||
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#9
http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/
Look at the chart for the Mauna Loa CO2 levels. The economic downturn has severely slashed human CO2 production around the world. However, CO2 levels follow exactly the same pattern they have for years, of marginal year to year increase.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Egyptian Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, who said last year he would burn Israeli books, failed in his bid on Tuesday to head the United Nations agency for culture and education, losing to a Bulgarian outsider. This is known in some circles as being a bit over-assertive in the marketplace of ideas.
A UNESCO official told reporters he was beaten to the post by Bulgaria's former foreign minister, Irina Gueorguieva Bokova, following a fifth and final round of voting that exposed deep divisions within the Paris-based U.N. body. Y'see, on the one hand y'got the book burners, and on the other hand y'got the Bulgarians and a few others. Not that many others, either...
Hosni and Bokova faced each other Tuesday in a final round of voting for UNESCO's top job in a race clouded by an anti-Semitism row. A fourth round of voting on Monday by the U.N. culture body's executive council ended in a draw, a UNESCO spokeswoman said, with neither Hosni nor Bokova, picking up enough votes. Good and evil always seem to be pretty closely matched, don't they? Maybe Zoroaster was right...
UNESCO's executive council started voting last Thursday for a successor to Matsuura as director general. On Monday, Ecuador withdrew its candidate after European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner pulled out on Sunday, narrowing the field from an original nine to two. So the commie pulled out, along with the turtleneck-and-Gaulloisier...
Egypt's culture minister for 22 years, Hosni had long been front-runner in the race for the job but the charges of anti-Semitism clouded his candidacy.
Rather, the open antisemitism he demonstrated during his tenure as Egyptian culture minister was acceptable to only slightly less than half the countries voting. If only the fool hadn't talked openly about book-burning, he would have been ordering new business cards today.
The Egyptian minister was seeking to become the first representative from the Arab world to head the U.N. agency which is mandated to promote global understanding through culture, education and science. Lotsa people globally understand a nice, warm book fire.
The appointment is to be endorsed in October by the 193-member assembly of UNESCO.
Somehow the journalist leaves unanswered the question he raised about what the deep divisions are within the UN agency for culture and education.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/23/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Despite the fact that it is widely practiced across the Middle East, marrying within the family might not be such a good idea, according to a new report published on Tuesday. Marrying your first cousin isn't significantly different genetically from marrying your sister. The report by the Dubai-based Center for Arab Genomic Studies (CAGS) said Arabs have one of the highest rates of genetic disorders mostly related to consanguinity, or marriages between close relatives. Also explains why so many Arabs are downright funny looking...
The genetic research institute found that around 63 percent of the genetic conditions found in Arabs, who often practice marriage between relatives, were related to consanguinity and warned the numbers were likely to rise as more research is conducted and more disorders discovered. Things like buck teeth, hemophilia, various skin disorders, and of course some pretty interesting mental conditions, many of them involving the ability to believe five impossible things before breakfast. Bonking your head on the ground five times a day makes it even worse.
In the United Arab Emirates, a country with the fifth highest rate of inter-family marriages, there are currently over 250 types of genetic diseases, the second-highest after neighboring Oman. "Prevalence of genetic diseases is very high in the UAE compared to the rest of the world, so it is a major concern. It also puts a lot of burden on the government financially. We need to prepare strategies with a special focus on genetics," Dr. Ghazi Omar Tadmouri, Assistant Director of CAGS, said in a statement. CAGS has so far completed studies in the UAE, Oman and Bahrain and plans to continue extensive research throughout the Arab world.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/23/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Marrying your first cousin isn't significantly different genetically from marrying your sister.
Hence why they all call each other "brother" and "sister".
Posted by: ed ||
09/23/2009 2:00 Comments ||
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#2
Hence why they all call each other "brother" and "sister".
OT :
"French" arabs tend to call each other "cousins", though this is a bit self-conscious (kinda like the black american "brothers"), as opposed to the "french", how they call white french people, this one is VERY casual and widespread, shows well how they see themselves, as opposed to the Diversity dogma telling us that "they're as french as everybody else, if not more".
Note racist arabs or blacks tend to be politicized and call white "white" or funny neologisms like "leucoderm" or "souchiens" - IE "root people", sounds just like sub-dogs. And, IIUC, the salafists love to call kufrs "cafards", roaches.
#3
Also explains why so many Arabs are downright funny looking...
I know this might fall squarely into a purely Racist notion, depending on your point of view, but... despite all the notion that arabo-muslims are superior (very common notion, if only implicit, from my very own experience, arabs are cunnier, manlier, bolder, more honorable, purer, Real Men, etc, etc....), a sizeable chunk of the north africans one can meet in everyday life or see on teevee look... like people you wouldn't want to trust or encounter in groups when alone.
YMMV, of course.
Posted by: Oscar ||
09/23/2009 5:19 Comments ||
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1st cousin marriage should also produce more people with 140+ IQ as well as more deformities (IIRC, the ratio between the two is about 1 excess genius for every 200 deformities.
Also, IIRC, 1st cousin marriage is significantly different from sister marriage.
Posted by: lord garth ||
09/23/2009 6:07 Comments ||
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#6
I read (I believe in an article about FDR) that marrying not too close is not too bad, since it discourages conflicting extremes from matching up - like large teeth in a small mouth...
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/23/2009 6:14 Comments ||
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#7
Anyone got a pic of "Purty Mouth" the AQ honcho zapped 2 or 3(?) years ago?
Posted by: ed ||
09/23/2009 6:40 Comments ||
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#8
Speaking as a dog breeder ....
it is true that a certain degree of genetic similarity is desireable to fix traits.
The problem with doing this by cross breeding of close relatives is twofold. First, you reinforce recessive traits that are recessive for a reason, i.e. they are bad.
Natural selection has resulted in many unhelpful gene values within species. They are mostly recessive (i.e. you need two copies, one from each parent, for them to control health or development). If they were dominant, the offspring who inherit them would have the problem condition and would lose out to healthier specimens who don't inherit that gene value. But the fact that they are around at all suggests that eliminating them would eliminate other good qualities, since genes reside on chromosomes and it is entire chromosomes that are passed on by the parents. So some bad genes persist and wise populations avoid doubling on them.
But second, there are a lot of traits that aren't controlled by a single gene or even two or three of them, but which result from a very complex interaction of proteins controlled by many genes. These are well beyond our current ability to predict.
Reputable dog breeders know about these mechanisms and use linebreeding (but not close inbreeding) to ensure the persistence of excellent qualities. They also breed outside of their lines once every few generations to dogs with similar physical characteristics but different heritages, to maintain hybrid vigor and genetic diversity. Persistent inbreeding leads to loss of reproductive vigor and health, even where there isn't any obvious inherited problem otherwise.
#11
We need to prepare strategies with a special focus on genetics," Dr. Ghazi Omar Tadmouri, Assistant Director of CAGS, said in a statement. CAGS has so far completed studies in the UAE, Oman and Bahrain and plans to continue extensive research throughout the Arab world.
Please don't tell me arab science is motivated by the desire to boink their cousins . . . .
You make a good point about the multigenerational effect of 1st cousin marriage. Getting a handle on this depends, to a great extent, on whether the 'other' parent of the 1st cousin is from the same clan or outside the clan but from the same tribe or from another tribe. If the 'other' parent is always from the same clan, I think the genetic history would get pretty thin (as you say, telephone pole like), however, if every third generation or so there was someone from outside the clan (even better outside the tribe), that would help a lot.
Posted by: lord garth ||
09/23/2009 11:36 Comments ||
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#13
Lotp, ever considered how selective breeding for sociopathy would look?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/23/2009 18:19 Comments ||
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Arranged marriages defeats natural selection. Let young people pick their own mates. Let them decide to whom they are attracted. It's much healthier that way. But then, if you are a young man with feelings of inadequacy that might not be the way you want to go.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
09/23/2009 18:25 Comments ||
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"if you are a young man with feelings of inadequacy"
Which pretty much sums up all the men in predominantly moslem countries.
Oh, wait - it's not an inferiority complex. They really are inferior in the pants department....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/23/2009 18:47 Comments ||
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The Michigan premier of 'Capitalism' happened in Bellaire, a small resort town in NW lower Michigan. From the Traverse City Record-Eagle:Brooks Bates, who worked the desk at Stone Waters Inn, said Moore's decision to premiere the film in Bellaire gave a boost to the community.,,The premiere of [Moore's]"Sicko" had four sold-out showings [in Bellaire]. "Capitalism," which has already been shown in Toronto, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and San Francisco, had just two shows Saturday. Neither [showing in Bellaire] sold out.
Marilyn Cobb, an event volunteer, suspects the poor economy hurt attendance. The screenings also served as a fundraiser for the Antrim County Democratic Party.
But Hannert [a co-chair of the premier] thinks it had more to do with the topic.
"I think a lot of people, myself included, really don't understand capitalism," Hannert said.
You, and 10's of millions of other Americans. We are paying a painful price for our collective lack of understanding. But I guess fools will learn no other way.
#2
Few people know more about capitalism than Michael Moore; he has a net worth well over $100 million and lives in a lovely Upper East Side co-op.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/23/2009 14:26 Comments ||
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#3
Few people know more about capitalism than Michael Moore; he has a net worth well over $100 million and lives in a lovely Upper East Side co-op.
Yeah, this has always struck me as hilariously funny, an upper-middle class guy posing as a prole getting really, really rich and basically fulfilling the American Dream, living the good life, enjoying luxuries, investing his monies in stocks,putting his daughter in very exclusive private schools,... by selling the notions that capitalism is evil and the american Dream is a lie... to poor (relatively speaking) people who will spend money (mostly earned through crappy jobs they hate but still do to go on with their crappy lives they hate - don't we all???) so he can use huckstery and propaganda tricks to feed and reinforce their prejudices.
Isn't that a great racket, or what?
Add the race factor (mikey is lily white, he blames whitey, and does so to feed the guilt complexes of lily-white crackers who don't feel any cognitive dissonance, overhelmingly), and it's pure comedy gold. I love hypocrisy, it's so... healthy. We all should be more hypocrit (I know I am, are you?).
#4
"Isn't that a great racket, or what?"
Right? Wealthy guy preaching to the poor, poor/mid class nodding and grinning and buying tickets.
A real never never land scenario that I would long to see is he should do an obesity research movie with himself as subject. But utter narcissists rarely do critique themselves, just others.
#5
I would long to see is he should do an obesity research movie with himself as subject
Someone else beat him to the punch when the movie Supersize Me was done.
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.
A multi-billion dollar university has opened in Saudi Arabia in an attempt to enable the country to compete in science and technology internationally. The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology near Jeddah boasts one of the world's fastest supercomputers. 
THE founder of a religion inspired by the Star Wars films was thrown out of a supermarket for refusing to remove his hood, AOL reported on Tuesday. Daniel Jones, head of the 500,000-strong 
HONG KONG -- Sarah Palin, in what was billed as her first speech overseas, spoke on Wednesday to Asian bankers, investors and fund managers.
Mrs. Palin said she was speaking as "someone from Main Street U.S.A.," and she touched on her concerns about oversized federal bailouts and the unsustainable American government deficit. She did not repeat her attack from last month that the Obama administration's health care proposals would create a "death panel" that would allow federal bureaucrats to decide who is "worthy of health care."
[Al Arabiya Latest] Despite the fact that it is widely practiced across the Middle East, marrying within the family might not be such a good idea, according to a new report published on Tuesday.
The report by the Dubai-based Center for Arab Genomic Studies (CAGS) said Arabs have one of the highest rates of genetic disorders mostly related to consanguinity, or marriages between close relatives.
