From The Onion...
Sen. Dikembe Mutombo (R-CO) showed that he is still one of the most dominant big men in Congress Thursday, blocking a record 16 bills in one legislative session.
The 7-foot-2 senator, who broke the record previously held by Sen. Shawn Bradley (D-NJ), Rep. Arvydas Sabonis (D-OR), and current Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), batted away legislation left and right, sometimes swatting bills so hard that they were sent flying all the way back to committee.
Mutombo punctuated his final block, a clean rejection of the Criminal Justice Reinvestment Act, with his signature finger wag.
"He stuffed the new jobs bill right back in Harry Reid's face," Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) told reporters. "And then when Reid tried to put the bill back up for consideration, Sen. Mutombo blocked it a second and then a third time. That's when I knew he had a chance at the record."
"He just completely dominates the Senate floor," McCain added.
His biggest rejection came 20 minutes into the first half of the session when 5-foot-10 Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) had his Peace Corps Improvement and Expansion Act emphatically slapped away by a leaping Mutombo. Following the rejection, Mutombo glared at Dodd from the Senate podium and said, "Get that weak-ass legislation out of my house," in a yell that was reportedly heard in the top rows of the Senate Chamber.
"You don't mind giving up the blocks record to a talent like Mutombo," said Sen. McConnell, who is still considered the Republican floor leader. "Some say he's too centrist, and he may take that position at times, but the fact is he can get stuff struck down like nobody's business."
Mutombo, who has been called a "force" by his Republican colleagues and is a key player in their legislative game plan, had a career-best nine blocks during the first half of Thursday's session. He easily rejected several appropriations bills, barely even getting off the Senate floor on two of them. For his 10th block of the day, he also got a piece of the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act.
"He's like a brick wall out there," a visibly tired and sweaty Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) told reporters. "Sen. Mutombo's arms are so long that if legislation is introduced anywhere in his vicinity, he's probably going to knock it away. There's no way we are going to get health care through with Mutombo out there."
"You can try and alter your legislation or fake him out by attaching a rider to a bill, but in the end he's just too big," Kerry continued. "And fast. He's got surprisingly quick footwork."
Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo started his political career as a city councilman in Denver, quickly gaining a reputation as an elected official focused on getting that stuff out of here. Campaigning on a platform of defense, defense, defense, the popular Mutombo was elected to the State Legislature in 2002 and then to the U.S. Senate in 2006. According to Senate sources, the rookie lawmaker came out of nowhere to stuff Ted Kennedy's Vaccine Access and Supply Act "so far down the late senator's throat" that he easily won the respect of his Republican colleagues.
"He reminds me of myself out there, just rejecting stuff left and right," said former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), who retired in 2007. "Even when he gets called an obstructionist, or for goaltending, he's established psychological dominance and made his point: You don't come through his part of the floor."
Though many Democratic senators have called Mutombo's legislative style extremely partisan, one-dimensional, and completely unfair, some of his colleagues across the aisle have praised Mutombo's willingness to assist them in getting their legislation through Congress.
"The thing about Mutombo is that, for a big man, he can actually pass bills really well," Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) said in reference to their bipartisan work on the Trade Act of 2007 and the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008. "Because he's so tall, he sees the perimeter of the entire Senate floor and knows when a senator from the left or right might offer some weak-side help."
"Reminds me of a young Bill Bradley," Baucus added.
Such praise from Democratic lawmakers is rare, however, with many saying that Sen. Mutombo is directly responsible for the gridlock currently facing Washington.
"Sometimes I get the impression that he'll block something just because it's introduced by a Democrat or, quite frankly, just because he's taller than the rest of us," Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) told reporters. "Why else would he reject a resolution supporting stability in Sudan?"
Specter went on to express concern for the future of his party, saying that the only hope for getting meaningful legislation passed through Congress is to make sure Rep. Greg Ostertag (D-UT) is elected to the Senate during November's midterm election.
Stephany Fournier, an 11th-grader at Pine View School, did not want to punish her fellow classmates, but it had to be done. They defied the law.
"I'm normally a nice person, but I have to be really firm with these people," Stephany said. "They must come in, sit down and write this line on paper, front and back."
The line: "I will serve the glorious East German state better."
The students copied it repeatedly after watching a propaganda film depicting the evils of Western culture.
The drill was part of a history lesson taken to an elaborate level Tuesday at Pine View, where Stephany and the rest of the 2,000 students participated in an interactive lesson commemorating the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago.
"This was a project of the history club, and their idea was that students should really have an idea of what it was like to live in a communist state," said social studies teacher Patricia Johnston, who helped organize the project and served as the lead "comrade."
Students, with the help of a local landscaping company, erected a nearly 100-foot paper replica of the Berlin wall, complete with graffiti. It stood across the middle of the campus to mimic the concrete wall that separated communist East Germany from capitalist West Germany from 1961 to the end of 1989.
On the west side, students could walk around, socialize and behave as they normally do.
But on the east side, students could only walk on sidewalks, wear approved clothing (no hats, for instance) and had to behave in an orderly, controlled fashion.
Propaganda posters with phrases like "technology is unnecessary and degrades intelligence" lined the hallways, and gazebos and other recreation areas were marked as "unnecessary installations."
Teachers on the East German side taught lessons from a communist perspective.
As an East German general, Stephany gathered intelligence from other officers and handed out punishment to enemies of the state.
She looked the part, wearing a black business suit and black stockings, heels and dark eyeliner. Hundreds of other students wore military jackets -- and sometimes complete uniforms -- with red arm bands signifying their communist allegiance.
"I looked up 'communist women's fashions of the day' online," Stephany said. "The women all had pale faces and red lipstick. You had to look cold and imposing."
Most of the day's activities were at the wall itself and the five checkpoints where students could cross.
Students were given passports that were stamped as they crossed; illegal crossings and other disobedience was recorded in the passports.
"Although we really can't show them exactly what it was like, we want to show that the east was more strict," said student Marine Robbins, who commanded a checkpoint. "We've had quite a few people that have been belligerent and just don't agree at all with the simulation."
Marine said some students protested the project, including setting up Facebook pages to rally the opposition. But Marine said the protests actually simulated similar efforts during the real German struggle and made the entire exercise more authentic.
Most students followed protocol and said they learned more than in a regular classroom assignment. Ninth-grader Joe Polarr was arrested several times for walking on the grass, wearing a hat and not pulling back his long hair -- basically just being Joe Polarr on a normal school day.
"I'm not trying to get arrested, really. I'm just trying to get lunch," Polarr said. East Germany would not have been a great place to live in, he said. Next month: No food or snacks allowed because we'll be teaching them what North Korea is like.
#1
I love it!!!! This is education kids can relate to, not indoctrination. We have too many young Leftists wandering around and in power that don't really have a clue what they are advocating. How about a WH/Congressional lesson?
#3
Should have put marks in the passport indicating imprisoned or shot depending upon the offense. That would have raised a few eyebrows.
Another fun project would be similar but Cuba. No crossing into Cuba without an escort to show you only some areas. No crossing the other way without flipping a coin to determine if you survive the escape.
Howard Stern is looking to crown Tiger Woods' best mistress.
The man really is a jerk. How nice that he's achieved his life's ambition.
The shock jock has confirmed that a beauty pageant featuring the disgraced golfer's many ex-lovers will take place on March 10, according to The Times of Britain.
Four out of Woods' 13 alleged mistresses are set to compete for a $100,000 prize, sponsored by dating Web site AshleyMadison.com.
Though the identities of the women have yet to be revealed, the golfer's No. 1 mistress, Rachel Uchitel, is banned from participating due to a settlement agreement with Woods, reports TMZ.com. But Uchitel's friends have reportedly hatched a plan to send a cardboard cutout of the former cocktail waitress in her place.
Woods' alleged mistresses will be judged in three categories: swimsuit, personality and talent. No word yet on who will be rating the ladies, although Stern is said to have offered a judging spot to Woods' estranged wife, Elin.
Woods finally made a public apology last week, admitting that he had felt "entitled" and "deserved to enjoy all the temptations."
Stern was highly critical of the philandering sports stars' "I'm sorry" statement. "Tiger Woods looked like he wanted to be anywhere on the planet but in that room. It didn't seem like this was his idea or anything he wanted to be a part of," said Stern on his radio show.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/26/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Well, you got Donald Trump letting Perez Hilton judge the Miss USA contest. How could it be any worse than that?
Hey, don't laugh! This is sewious!
CLIMATE scientists yesterday stunned Britons suffering the coldest winter for 30 years by claiming last month was the hottest January the world has ever seen.
The remarkable claim, based on global satellite data, follows Arctic temperatures that brought snow, ice and travel chaos to millions in the UK.
At the height of the big freeze, the entire country was blanketed in snow. But Australian weather expert Professor Neville Nicholls, of Monash University in Melbourne, said yesterday: "January, according to satellite data, was the hottest January we've ever seen.
"Last November was the hottest November we've ever seen. November-January as a whole is the hottest November-January the world has seen." Veteran climatologist Professor Nicholls was speaking at an online climate change briefing, added: "It's not warming the same everywhere but it is really quite challenging to find places that haven't warmed in the past 50 years."
His extraordinary claims came after the World Meteorological Organisation revealed 2000 to 2009 was the hottest decade since records began in 1850.
But UK forecaster Jonathan Powell, of Positive Weather Solutions, said: "If it is the case and it is borne out that January was the hottest on record, it is still no marker towards climate change. "It's all part of a cyclical issue and nothing should be read too deeply into that.
"It's been the coldest for 30 years in Britain but we predicted that and climate change always tends t o throw up anomalies. It's all in line with predictions and I won't be sold on climate change at all. The data is either faulty or manufactured to make it look like it shouldn't."
The Met Office yesterday revealed it would re-examine 150 years of world temperature records to restore faith in its data in the wake of a number of high-profile blunders dubbed "climategate". Scientists advancing claims of man-made climate change were humiliated when emails emerged suggesting researchers at the University of East Anglia had been selective with weather data. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change also wrongly claimed the Himalayan glaciers could melt away in 25 years. Most scientists have said it will take 300 years for the glaciers to disappear.
Following the embarrassing revelations, the Daily Express published a dossier of 100 reasons why the rise in world temperatures is natural and not caused by man. The report, by the European Foundation, dismissed suggestions that raised levels of carbon dioxide would bring difficulties, saying it would encourage crop yields and support food production.
Now the Met Office has pledged to go back as far as 1850 to check its statistics.
Yesterday the IPCC and the University of East Anglia were also preparing to defend their research.
Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the IPCC, flew to Bali to try to convince the UN to back the troubled organisation. Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband urged Dr Pachauri to make sure no future mistakes were made. He said: "There have been mistakes made, clearly. It's important that those mistakes are looked at.
"I've written to Dr Pachauri to emphasise our support but also our wish that they look at their procedures to try to eliminate these sorts of errors. But the overall picture is very clear, which is that climate change is happening, it is real, it is man-made."
In the Commons, Ann Winterton, Tory MP for Congleton, asked: "Will the Government change its mind about the huge subsidies to land-based wind farms, which are not only ineffective but also despoil the countryside?" Mr Miliband replied bluntly: "No, we won't."
The University of East Anglia submitted its evidence to Parliament's science and technology committee yesterday, denying it had altered climate change statistics. It said evidence that the university's Climate Research Unit had hidden data showing a decline in temperature was "richly misinterpreted and quoted out of context".
But the university said it would review the climate science produced by the unit.
Man has dealt with real climate change for tens of thousands of years. Man is one of the more adaptable creatures. You can find him living on the Artic Circle, on the equator, in the mountains, in the jungles. What you won't find there are cities and their attendant universities and bureaucrats. Then you understand what the basis of the panic is.
#2
"Our data may be faulty, but our conclusions are sound."
The latest variation of "Fake, but accurate".
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/26/2010 5:51 Comments ||
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#3
They don't go outside much, do they.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/26/2010 7:19 Comments ||
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#4
"There ARE SO unicorns! You just can't see them because you don't BELIEVE! There are elves and magical princesses and fire breathing dragons and other fairy folk!
"And there is no snow, or cold, and it's spring and sunny and the flowers are all in bloom! So pretty! So pretty!"
#7
Well it is getting hotter, uncomfortably so, for Global Warming scammers.
Posted by: ed ||
02/26/2010 11:14 Comments ||
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#8
Just because northern hemisphere cities are colder this winter does not mean the average global temperature is not higher - I have no clue about the temps at sea, or on land in the southern hemisphere, or in the polar regions - or even equatorial lands. Lots colder in 10% of the area vs. just a little warmer in the other 90%??? Global sat measurements might be a good way to evaluate (though over a very short time frame, so far) - but some work needs to be done to restore the scientists' credibility before I will accept their word.
Given that solar climate thought says we SHOULD be cooler right now, a true warming would be a strong indicator of a man-made temperature component. IF the measurements are legit.
Get back to treating the topic as science instead of religion.
#14
I'm curious, Glenmore - how does one go about computing the "average global temperature"? Add the midnight temperature at the top of Mount Everest and a noon temperature in equitorial Africa and divide by 2?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/26/2010 17:32 Comments ||
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#15
Barb,
The most reliable measure of global temps is satellite measured lower troposhere temps. There are issues with coverage of the polar regions but the rest is measured every couple of days.
I just went to the NOAA website to check the land/sea, northern/southern hemisphere distribution of temps, but they have 'revamped' their website and now its wall to wall GW propaganda. I gave up looking for the actual data.
BTW, here in Western Australia we had an unusually hot summer, supposedly the hottest on record. But hot dry summers are typical of El Nino years. The last really hot summer was 1997, another El Nino year.
El Ninos are periods of accelerated cooling of the Earth's climate, as more heat leaves the oceans into the atmosphere and is then lost to space.
That's the problem with the climate. Hardly anything is as clearcut as we are told.
#18
It's also important to note that the thermosphere has drastically reduced in size, for unknown reasons. It is the "big blanket" for both incoming and outgoing radiation, which means hotter highs and colder lows.
Importantly, this is just the opposite of a greenhouse effect.
The United Nations and European Union have condemned a call from Libya's leader for Muslims to carry out jihad against Switzerland over a recent vote to ban the construction of minarets in the European country. Sergei Ordzhonikidze, the UN director-general in Geneva, said the call by Muammar Gaddafi on Friday was "inadmissible".
"I believe that such declarations on the part of the head of state are inadmissible in international relations," the AFP news agency quoted him as saying. "I'm not even talking about actions," he added.
Meanwhile in Brussels, a spokesman for the European Union's foreign affairs chief described Gaddafi's call for jihad as "unfortunate".
"If these reports are correct ... [they] come at an unfortunate moment when the European Union is working closely with Switzerland trying to reach a diplomatic solution" to a dispute between the two countries, Lutz Guellner, spokesman for Catherine Ashton, said.
France also condemned the comments, saying "such statements are unacceptable".
"The differences between Libya and Switzerland should be resolved by negotiation and we support the European Union presidency's efforts in this direction," Bernard Valero, a French foreign ministry spokesman, said.
Gaddafi made the remarks at a ceremony to mark the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed in Libya's Benghazi square on Friday. "It is against unbelieving and apostate Switzerland that jihad ought to be proclaimed by all means," he said, calling Switzerland an "infidel, obscene state which is destroying mosques".
His comments come nearly three months after Switzerland voted in a referendum to adopt a ban on the construction of minarets, the towers that are a signature part of mosques.
'Fight against Switzerland'
Switzerland - with a population of 400,000 Muslims, mainly of Balkan and Turkish origin - has around 200 mosques, with just four minarets among them. The ban drew condemnation from religious quarters around the world, including the Vatican.
Gaddafi said: "Any Muslim around the world who has dealings with Switzerland is an infidel [and is] against Islam, against Mohammed, against God, against the Quran."
"Let us fight against Switzerland, Zionism and foreign aggression," he said in a speech broadcast live on television. "There is a big difference between terrorism and jihad which is a right to armed struggle."
Gaddafi also urged Muslims everywhere to boycott Swiss products and to bar Swiss planes and ships from the airports or seaports of Muslim nations.
Swiss-Libyan row
The Swiss foreign ministry said it had no comment on Gaddafi's remarks.
Relations between Libya and Switzerland have been strained since July 2008 when Gaddafi's son Hannibal and his wife were arrested and briefly held in Geneva after two domestic workers complained he had mistreated them.
The row deepened when Libya swiftly detained and confiscated the passports of two Swiss businessmen, Rashid Hamdani and Max Goeldi. Both men were convicted of overstaying their visas and of engaging in illegal business activities. Hamdani's conviction was overturned in January, and he has now returned home, while Goeldi surrendered to authorities this week and is now serving a reduced jail term of four months.
[Dawn] Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi turned up the heat in his country's dispute with Switzerland on Thursday, calling for jihad against it over a ban adopted last year on the construction of minarets, reports AFP. That word you're probably looking for is "nutbag."
"It is against unbelieving and apostate Switzerland that jihad (holy war) ought to be proclaimed by all means," Kadhafi said in a speech in the Mediterranean coastal city of Bengazi to mark the birthday of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed.
"Jihad against Switzerland, against Zionism, against foreign aggression is not terrorism," Kadhafi said. "Any Muslim around the world who has dealings with Switzerland is an infidel (and is) against Islam, against Mohammed, against God, against the Koran," the leader told a crowd of thousands in a speech broadcast live on television.
In a November 29 referendum, Swiss voters approved by a margin of 57.5 percent a ban on the construction in their country of minarets, the towers that are a signature part of mosques.
Relations between Libya and Switzerland have been strained since July 2008 when Kadhafi's son Hannibal and his wife were arrested and briefly held in Geneva after two domestic workers complained he had mistreated them. The row escalated when Libya swiftly detained and confiscated the passports of two Swiss businessmen, Rashid Hamdani and Max Goeldi. It deepened again last year when a tentative deal between the two countries fell apart.
Both men were convicted of overstaying their visas and of engaging in illegal business activities. Hamdani's conviction was overturned in January, and he has now returned home, while Goeldi surrendered to authorities this week and is now serving a reduced sentence of four months.
Adoption of the minaret ban was opposed by the Swiss government, the bulk of Switzerland's political parties and the economic establishment and was an unexpected outcome. The move drew widespread criticism, with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay calling the ban "deeply discriminatory, deeply divisive and a thoroughly unfortunate step for Switzerland to take."
The Swiss government sought to assure the country's 400,000 Muslims, who are mainly of Balkan and Turkish origin, that the outcome was "not a rejection of the Muslim community, religion or culture." Switzerland has around 200 mosques, with just four minarets among them.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/26/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
The guy hasn't been bombed since 1983 and he's starting to get a little uppity. Maybe it's time to bomb him again.
#3
I do enjoy Rantburg's snark, and Gaddafi is indeed a grotesque and cartoonish character (like Hitler, Kim Jong Il, Mussolini, Mao ect) but on a more serious note:
Gaddafi has officially stated his intent to murder hundreds if not thousands of Europeans in acts of state sponsored terrorism.
He is doing this because he believes his attacks on the US in the 80s were ultimately successful, as was 9/11 since it resulted in an "African Muslim Brother" becoming the "ruler" of the US.
In recent years Britain has become the Willy Wonka of social control, churning out increasingly creepy, bizarre, and fantastic methods for policing the populace. But our weaponization of classical music--where Mozart, Beethoven, and other greats have been turned into tools of state repression--marks a new low.
We're already the kings of CCTV. An estimated 20 per cent of the world's CCTV cameras are in the UK, a remarkable achievement for an island that occupies only 0.2 per cent of the world's inhabitable landmass.
A few years ago some local authorities introduced the Mosquito, a gadget that emits a noise that sounds like a faint buzz to people over the age of 20 but which is so high-pitched, so piercing, and so unbearable to the delicate ear drums of anyone under 20 that they cannot remain in earshot. It's designed to drive away unruly youth from public spaces, yet is so brutally indiscriminate that it also drives away good kids, terrifies toddlers, and wakes sleeping babes.
Police in the West of England recently started using super-bright halogen lights to temporarily blind misbehaving youngsters. From helicopters, the cops beam the spotlights at youths drinking or loitering in parks, in the hope that they will become so bamboozled that (when they recover their eyesight) they will stagger home.
And recently police in Liverpool boasted about making Britain's first-ever arrest by unmanned flying drone. Inspired, it seems, by Britain and America's robot planes in Afghanistan, the Liverpool cops used a remote-control helicopter fitted with CCTV (of course) to catch a car thief.
Britain might not make steel anymore, or cars, or pop music worth listening to, but, boy, are we world-beaters when it comes to tyranny. And now classical music, which was once taught to young people as a way of elevating their minds and tingling their souls, is being mined for its potential as a deterrent against bad behavior.
In January it was revealed that West Park School, in Derby in the midlands of England, was "subjecting" (its words) badly behaved children to Mozart and others. In "special detentions," the children are forced to endure two hours of classical music both as a relaxant (the headmaster claims it calms them down) and as a deterrent against future bad behavior (apparently the number of disruptive pupils has fallen by 60 per cent since the detentions were introduced.)
One news report says some of the children who have endured this Mozart authoritarianism now find classical music unbearable. As one critical commentator said, they will probably "go into adulthood associating great music--the most bewitchingly lovely sounds on Earth--with a punitive slap on the chops." This is what passes for education in Britain today: teaching kids to think "Danger!" whenever they hear Mozart's Requiem or some other piece of musical genius.
#1
Someone using time control went back and reset the timeline, in 1998. They wanted to create a "better world". Instead, we have an insane world. Yeah, that worked well.
Posted by: Halliburton Time Control Division ||
02/26/2010 22:22 Comments ||
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Destroyer HMS York spotted the vessel around ten miles inside the disputed "oil zone" around the South Atlantic islands. The British crew had to radio the Argentinian ship, a smaller corvette named ARA Drummond, to demand that it change its course.
Sources told The Sun that the ship made an "innocent navigational blunder" and were embarrassed about the mistake.
It is believed that the Drummond was spotted sailing alongside a French fleet before it broke away and headed for the disputed zone. Completely innocent, of course ...
Under international law, the 15 miles of sea surrounding the Falklands are officially British waters.
The ship was spotted around 65 miles from the islands, in an area of sea called the "conservation zone". It is in this zone that the oil exploration is taking place. It is not illegal for Argentinian ships to enter it but the incident has heightened tensions.
A spokesman for the MoD played down the incident, insisting that the radio communication had been "friendly".
He said: "We can confirm that on 28 January this year during rough weather and at night, HMS YORK and an Argentine ship were operating in the same locality in international waters around 50 miles from Falkland Island Territorial Waters. After a friendly dialogue by radio they each continued with their own exercises."
On Wednesday the MoD said that HMS York would remain the area around the islands. A British submarine has also been dispatched to the Falklands to patrol the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/26/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Radio message: "'Ello 'ello, wot's all this then?"
#3
ION MALVINAS, WMF > HUGO CHAVEZ: VENEZUELA WILL SIDE WITH ARGENTINA AGZ BRITAIN OVER THE FALKLANDS, WILL PROVIDE MILITARY AND OTHER SUPPORT TO BUENOS AIRES IFF NEEDED | CHAVEZ PLEDGES ARGENTINA [unlike agz Maggie Thatcher + RN back in 1982] WILL NOT STAND/FIGHT ALONE AGZ BRITAIN.
* WAFF > FALKLANDS: US DOES NOT SUPPORT BRITAIN'S OIL CLAIMS.
They're probably just waiting for something interesting to come along that they haven't already stolen before they resume military exchanges again.
China has postponed several high-level military exchanges with the US, in the first tangible sign of retaliation over Washington's decision to sell $6.4bn in arms to Taiwan.
China has decided to suspend arrangements for some planned mutual visits between the US and the Chinese military,' a Chinese military spokesman said on Thursday.
A Pentagon spokesman said the postponed exchanges included a planned trip by General Chen Bingde, China's chief of the general staff, to the US. A visit to China by Admiral Robert Willard, the head of US Pacific Command, has also been postponed. The spokesman said it was too early to speculate whether other military exchanges would be impacted.
[China] routinely uses our military-to-military relationship to express displeasure,' said the spokesman. Nevertheless, we are committed to maintaining a positive, co-operative and comprehensive relationship with China.'
China last week allowed the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier to dock at Hong Kong for a routine port visit, suggesting that Beijing might adopt a softer stance on the arms sales. At the same time, however, Chinese military officers who had been invited to a reception aboard the Nimitz declined to attend.
The suspension of military contacts will complicate the difficult task of building trust between the armed forces of the current sole global superpower and its future most likely challenger.
Next month, the Pentagon is due to release its annual report on the Chinese military an exercise that regularly stresses concerns about Beijing's military build-up. The report generally triggers an angry response from Beijing that the US is trying to demonise China.
The US military and the People's Liberation Army in China have tried to broaden dialogue over the past few years through high-level visits, military student exchanges and port calls. Such contacts had recently been stepped up after China cut most military ties following the last big announcement by the US of arms sales to Taiwan in 2008.
Robert Gates, US defence secretary, and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, had been expected to visit China this year.
#1
I would hope the crew of the Nimitz would conduct a thorough hull inspection and cleangin upon leaving port in Hong Kong. I wouldn't put it past the Chinese to place electronic locators while in port - just to help them keep track of the shipms movements.
#2
ION WMF > USA UNDER POTUS OBAMA HAS TURNED "VICIOUS" AGZ CHINA | OBAMA'S USA ARE "HEINOUS CRIMINALS" JABBING/PRICKING AT CHINA WID TOOTHPICKS | CHINA MUST PREPARE ITSELF TO FIGHT UNILATERAL WARS OF ANNIHILATION AND SELF-PRESERVATION.
* SAME > RUOZHEN: US MILITARY CASUALTIES IN THE FIRST DAY OF A US-CHINA WAR IN THE TAIWAN STRAITS [Other?] WILL REACH TENS OF THOUSANDS.
#3
ION WMF > USA UNDER POTUS OBAMA HAS TURNED "VICIOUS" AGZ CHINA | OBAMA'S USA ARE "HEINOUS CRIMINALS" JABBING/PRICKING AT CHINA WID TOOTHPICKS | CHINA MUST PREPARE ITSELF TO FIGHT UNILATERAL WARS OF ANNIHILATION AND SELF-PRESERVATION.
* SAME > RUOZHEN: US MILITARY CASUALTIES IN THE FIRST DAY OF A US-CHINA WAR IN THE TAIWAN STRAITS [Other?] WILL REACH TENS OF THOUSANDS.
A day after Cuyahoga Falls Mayor Don Robart floated the idea of scrapping public employee unions -- the reaction within his own city was swift.
Ohio Police Benevolent Association lawyer Randy Weltman said the suggestion is laughable. "Without collective bargaining, [the city] has free rein to do what they want as long as they don't violate any laws,'' Weltman said. I think that's a feature, not a bug. Got it right on the first try. Must not have been educated in a public school ...
Robart said union representation of public workers is proving to be too costly for taxpayers.
The Republican mayor said he is confident there would still be plenty of interest in being a policeman or firefighter in the Falls if the pay and benefit package was less than it is today.
#1
Interesting. It's long been noted that the traditional collective bargaining model gives too much power to labor in the public sector, but I haven't heard of any reasonable adjustments to even out the playing field. Perhaps it can only be fixed by the ususal pendulum process of dynamic systems - swings too far one way then too far the other.
#3
Typical rites of spring among the reproductively uncompetitive.
No doubt the frustration is real- most of these losers couldn't get laid in a monkey whorehouse if they owned a banana plantation- but they should find some other way to relieve it, say, by going out to the beach and howling at the Moon until they fall asleep.
#4
On a more serious note, we can savor the irony: This communard uprising perfectly exemplifies the limitless, childish entitlement mentality that caused the CA fiscal meltdown in the first place.
#6
Just follow the model of the board of the Rhode Island High School. If there is no school, there's no increase in the cost of student fees and tuition.
#7
Typical rites of spring among the reproductively uncompetitive
which may explain this:
A cursory glance at the Planned Parenthood Berkeley locations showed theres nine of em. Which might explain this review:
"I've never waited more than 45 minutes, which you can't say for ANY Planned Parenthood in the Bay area. I once accompanied a friend to the MacArthur Planned Parenthood where she was finally seen at 2pm....
Short wait time when theres one on every corner to serve the undersexed populus ;-)
Lawmakers are worried the merger of Comcast and NBC Universal will kill jobs in their districts. The concerns were raised by House members Thursday during a hearing on the proposed deal combining the nation's largest cable provider with the huge network broadcaster.
"Universal Studios is located in my district," said Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee who represents Los Angeles.
"It is a major employer. Not only Universal Studios but there are all kinds of other companies whose existence and well-being is related to the strength of the company. This is a jobs issue for me in a very real sense," he said.
Comcast has insisted the deal will not result in massive job cuts, and CEO Brian Roberts, who testified Thursday, insisted the two companies have very few overlapping jobs. As a result, he said there will not be a need for workforce reduction.
"This merger is to build and reinvest in Universal Studios, NBC and the great entertainment properties they have," Roberts said.
Roberts said in a previous House hearing that he did not expect lay-offs after the merger.
But Larry Cohen, president of the Communications Workers of America, says the $30 billion merger will put intense financial pressure on NBC, whose debt will increase by approximately $8 billion, to cut costs and jobs.
"With official unemployment now at 10 percent, this is a time to evaluate all corporate transactions through a screen that assesses the impact on jobs," Cohen said. "We should not support a corporate deal that would eliminate good jobs."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/26/2010 00:00 ||
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A spate of recently filed lawsuits allege OneWest Bank is systematically hiking loan payments for struggling home loan borrowers and pushing them into foreclosure.
Sacramento attorney Peter Macaluso said the Pasadena-based bank is doing it because it can make more money that way than by keeping borrowers in their homes.
He has filed eight lawsuits in the Eastern District of U.S. Bankruptcy Court against OneWest on behalf of borrowers and said a ninth action will be filed later this week.
"I see this as a business practice," he said of OneWest's actions. "I think this is a command decision by very smart people who used to run IndyMac and are maximizing shareholder wealth."
OneWest officials through a public relations agency declined to comment. A call to Chief Executive Officer Terry Laughlin's cell phone was not returned.
OneWest's investors acquired failed Pasadena-based mortgage lender IndyMac from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in March 2009 and rechristened the bank OneWest.
As part of the transaction, OneWest entered into a shared-loss agreement with the FDIC. The federal agency agreed to absorb some of the losses from OneWest's loan portfolio, but only after the bank shoulders the first $2.5 billion in losses.
Macaluso said OneWest typically performs an escrow analysis after a struggling borrower files for bankruptcy protection.
"They increase the mortgage payment after the bankruptcy has been filed," he said. "They changed the mortgage payment for one of my clients eight times in eight months."
In one instance, he said, a borrower's monthly mortgage payment jumped from $1,578 to $2,996.26 - and eventually to $3,286.93.
In a lawsuit involving borrower Gennadiy Arushanov, Macaluso said OneWest's escrow analysis and resulting payment hike were "defeating feasibility of each and every previously proposed Chapter 13 plan."
Under the terms of the shared-loss agreement, OneWest has the potential to make a profit when it forecloses on a home, Macaluso said.
The FDIC, he said, will eventually repay the bank for 80 percent or more of its losses, and OneWest can also keep the proceeds from the foreclosure sales.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/26/2010 00:00 ||
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Washington refused to endorse British claims to sovereignty over the Falkland Islands yesterday as the diplomatic row over oil drilling in the South Atlantic intensified in London, Buenos Aires and at the UN.
Despite Britain's close alliance with the US, the Obama Administration is determined not to be drawn into the issue. It has also declined to back Britain's claim that oil exploration near the islands is sanctioned by international law, saying that the dispute is strictly a bilateral issue.
Argentina appealed to the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki Moon, last night to intervene in the dispute, a move Britain adamantly opposes.
The Secretary-General knows about the issue. He is not happy to learn that the situation is worsening,' Jorge Taiana, the Argentine Foreign Minister, said after meeting Mr Ban in New York.
We have asked the Secretary-General, within the framework of his good offices, to stress to Britain the need to abstain from further unilateral acts.'
A top UN aide acknowledged, however, that Mr Ban would not be able to mediate because of Britain's opposition.
Sir Mark Lyall Grant, Britain's Ambassador to the UN, said: As British ministers have made clear, the UK has no doubt about its sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands . . . We are also clear that the Falkland Islands Government is entitled to develop a hydrocarbons industry within its waters, and we support this legitimate business in Falklands' territory.'
Senior US officials insisted that Washington's position on the Falklands was one of longstanding neutrality. This is in stark contrast to the public backing and vital intelligence offered by President Reagan to Margaret Thatcher once she had made the decision to recover the islands by force in 1982.
We are aware not only of the current situation but also of the history, but our position remains one of neutrality,' a State Department spokesman told The Times. The US recognises de facto UK administration of the islands but takes no position on the sovereignty claims of either party.'
Kevin Casas-Zamora, a Brookings Institution analyst and former vice-president of Costa Rica, said that President Reagan's support for Britain in 1982 irked a lot of people in Latin America'.
The Obama Administration is trying to split the difference as much as it can because it knows that coming round to the British position would again create a lot of ill will in the region', he said.
British officials in Washington said that they were comfortable with the US response to the dispute, but indicated that any American support for mediated negotiations would not be well received. It was up to the islanders whether they want mediation or not', one official said.
Britain has boosted the islands' defences since the conflict, Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, the First Sea Lord, said last night. We have built a massive runway. We have emplaced forces on the ground, we have sophisticated early warning systems. It is a different package. To compare the way we dealt with the issues in 1982 with today is nonsense,' he said.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/26/2010 18:36 ||
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ARTIC is consistent wid TOPIX > JOHN BOLTON: OBAMA'S ADMIN [USA] WILL DO NOTHING FOR RESOLUTION OF FROZEN CONFLICTS IN SOVEREIGN POST-SOVIET TERRITORIES [Ex-Soviet SSRS = Central Asia, Caucasia, espec those post-Soviet/Cold War RUSSIA is trying hard to hegemonically influence].
[Geo News] The Lahore High Court Thursday ordered police to take action against two members of Punjab Assembly in connection with torturing a woman over some land dispute. PML-N's MPAs Naveed Anjum and Allah Rakha are facing charges of torturing a woman because of property dispute. On the other hand, Anjum said the woman was trying to defame them through a smear campaign. Shaheen Kanval, a resident of Lahore, had lodged an FIR at Qila Gojar Singh Police Station against Naveed Anjum and Allah Rakha, alleged she was tortured by the two lawmakers. On the non-arrest of accused, she later approached the session court, which directed the police to take action as per law. Speaking to Geo, the accused MPAs said that the police had dismissed the case over false accusations. Â"Kanval is my relative and is trying to defame me and my colleague over personal grudge,Â" Anjum said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/26/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Al Arabiya Latest] The Pakistani government plans to change its blasphemy law to check its misuse by extremist groups, officials said on Thursday.
The law, which carries the death penalty for insulting Islam or its prophet, is a highly sensitive issue in Pakistan, which is more than 95 percent Muslim. Previous governments have failed to reform the law because of opposition from powerful hardline Islamic groups.
Liberal and secular groups have called for the repeal of the blasphemy law altogether, which they say discriminates against religious minorities.
However, the U.S.-allied government of President Asif Ali Zardari, which is fighting an Islamist insurgency, says it plans to reform the law instead.
"We are holding consultative meetings with representatives of minorities and political parties, as well as with Muslim clerics," Minister for Religious Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti told Reuters.
"Some elements misuse the law to create violence and disharmony in society. To stop that misuse, we are proposing legislation."
He declined to say when the government planned to propose the changes.
Blasphemy convictions are common in Pakistan, although the death sentence has never been carried out. Most convictions are thrown out on appeal or because of lack of evidence.
However, angry mobs have killed many people, mostly members of religious minorities.
Last year, eight Christians were killed in central Punjab by a mob after blasphemy accusations, which officials said were spread by Islamist extremist groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Seven of the victims were burned to death.
No protection
Religious minorities, mostly Christians, account for roughly four percent of Pakistan's 170 million people.
Christians have long complained about the law because it offers no protection if a Muslim accuses them of violations such as tearing a page of the Koran, and many accusations are leveled to settle personal scores. Just making an accusation is usually considered sufficient evidence to register a case.
Bhatti declined to elaborate on the proposed amendments but a government official said authorities were exploring "procedural changes" that might provide for registering a case only after an investigation and on the orders of a judge.
An official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the government may also propose that a suspect be prosecuted only if it is established that he had "intentionally and willfully" committed blasphemy.
Islamic parties have opposed changes in the law because of suspicions that pro-Western, liberal groups seek to dilute Pakistan's Islamic identity.
Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman, a prominent cleric, said they were ready to cooperate with authorities to stop extremist groups abusing the law.
"If they bring about change to stop its misuse with our consultation than it's okay," he said. "But if they did it unilaterally, then it will promote hatred and extremism."
The law was introduced by Pakistan's former military ruler General Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq in the 1980s in an effort to bring Pakistani law more in line with Islamic principles.
Another military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, tried to reform these laws in 2000, months after he seized power in a coup, but backed down after widespread protests from hardline Islamic groups.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/26/2010 00:00 ||
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India's first nuclear submarine, 'INS Arihant', has gone to the high-seas for an extended trial, indicating that the boomer is on course to be inducted by the Navy by 2011.
One of India's top secret defence projects for over three decades, 'INS Arihant' with a 80 Mwe nuclear reactor at its core, was launched in the water in last July. The sea trial, which began a few months ago, will be carried out for more than a year in different conditions to test the endurance and performance of the nuclear submarine, which is capable of staying under water for months, sources told Deccan Herald.
Once inducted, 'INS Arihant' will be the third leg of the nuclear triad enabling India to have retaliatory second strike capability from the sea. At the defence research and development organisation's annual awards function attended by Defence Minister A K Antony, DRDO chief V K Saraswat mentioned 'INS Arihant' as a significant technology achievement.
For obvious reasons Saraswat did not mention anything about the two other nuclear submarines, which DRDO is constructing at the moment.
The hull of the second boomer is under construction at an L&T facility in Gujarat. The Visakhapatnam shipyard was recently brought under the defence ministry to secretly carry out the construction activities.
Saraswat listed out developing Agni-5 with a range of 5,000 km, unmanned combat aerial vehicle, indigenous airborne early warning and control system and automatic under-ground and under-water vehicles as some of the key future challenges. Antony asked the DRDO to reduce long gestation period and cut down on time and cost overrun. "It is high time that DRDO shed its reticence in working in tandem with the private industry. We need the maximum possible synergy between various production agencies," he added.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/26/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
IMO, USAid to Pakiland should include some toilet paper.
#2
The curry flavored flatulence filling the inside of the sub might be harnessed and used as an alternative propulsion source.
The lack of showers therein might be something the sailors are quite used to.
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
02/26/2010 16:14 Comments ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Scholars at Egypt's al-Azhar were outraged at a fatwa issued by Saudi cleric Abdul-Rahman al-Barrak that states that all those who promote the mingling of sexes are apostates that should to be killed.
Barrak's fatwa comes in contradiction to earlier statements by al-Azhar, the world's leading institution of Sunni Islam, that claimed that mixing is permitted within limits.
Islam allows the mixing of men and women as long as it within the limits of decency and respect, said Sheikh Abdul-Hamid al-Atrash, former head of al-Azhar's Fatwa Committee.
"A woman can go out to work as long as she is modestly dressed and will not deal with men in a way that arouses them" he told Al Arabiya. "Indecent mixing is what should be prohibited."
Atrash argued that even if the mixing exceeds the limits allowed by Islam, neither those who do it nor those who promote it should be called apostates nor punished by death.
"It could be considered a sin, but not one that is punishable by death."
Sheikh Ahmed al-Ghamdi, head of the Mecca branch of the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, said the fatwa does not deserve any attention.
"Barrak might have just wanted to stir public opinion," he told Al Arabiya. "That is why I think there is no point in responding to his fatwa. This will just lead to endless arguments that will eventually boil down to nothing."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/26/2010 00:00 ||
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Because Islam has no clear org chart, fatwas are only as good as Muslims think they are. So someone should create an imaginary "media Mufti" web page, designed to be seen by the Muslim public, about a very senior and respected imaginary scholar, with tens of thousands of (computer generated) followers.
Whenever some fanatical cleric issues a "murder fatwa", the "media Mufti" could issue a counter-fatwa, calling the fanatical cleric "A worshiper of Satan, trying to lure Muslims to damn their own souls by killing other Muslims." And that the fanatical cleric is instead who should be killed.
And that counter-fatwa would be followed by hundreds of computer generated "dittos" supposedly from his followers.
This would probably scare the snot out of the fanatical cleric, and encourage him to STFU.
#2
TOPIX > seems SYRIA is mounting a chalenge to EGYPT's place in the Region + Muslim Universe.
IMO Read, IRAN-BY-PROXY. Also read, ISLAMIST BATTLE/JIHAD FOR AFRICA???
* WAFF > MEMRI - [Syria-Iran Confab = Assad-Moud]ISRAEL'S ELIMINATION IS NEAR + IRAN'S PRESIDENT AHMADINEJAD REPEATEDLY CALLS FOR ELIMINATION OF ISRAEL.
* TOPIX > MISSLES IN THE MINDS OF HEZBOLLAH, IRAN, AND SYRIA.
* Also from MEMRI > SENIOR AL-QAEDA LEADER ABU YATHA AL-LIBI CALLS TO [Terror]STRIKE US ON ITS OWN SOIL | {January 13, 2020 Artic] AL-LIBI: US REALIZES ITS END/DEMISE AS A SUPERPOWER IS CERTAIN.
* TOPIX > VARIOUS [paraph] > AZERBAIJAN SEES "GREAT WAR" RISK WID ARMENIA | ARMENIA MUST WITHDRAW FROM "OCCUPIED AZERBAIJAN TERRITORY/END ITS OCCUPATION OR THE BEGINNINGS OF A GREAT WAR IN SOUTH CAUCASUS IS "INEVITABLE".
* TOPIX > HOUHANNISYAN: US MILITARILY/FORCIBLY INTERVENED IN IRAQ TO CREATE A CESSPOOL OF RADICALS FROM AROUND THE WORLD THAT SHOOT AND BLOW EACH OTHER UP, notsomuch to control Iraq-ME Oil + other Resources.
IOW, ARTIC > Houhannisyan believes the US IS INTENTIONALLY CREATING OR INDUCING GLOBAL GEOPOL ANARCHY-CHAOS FOR SPECIFIC AGENDA.
Could the picture on the right be the cause of higher temp readings at the USWB station at your local airport? Maybe when we only had a few DC-6s and Super Connies taking off we had less local heat distortion of the temp instrument readings? Did you ever notice the temp around the city is aways higher than the surrounding countryside, same air mass, what could bethe problem? Maybe Al Gore's in town. But, but, but, they adjusted the data to account for this!
A critical cog in the machinery that drives the theory of global warming is a small white box not too far from where you live. Inside the box sits a thermometer that tracks the local temperature, which in turn becomes part of a data trail for the monitoring of climate change on Earth.
But there's a problem: Nearly every single weather station the U.S. government uses to measure the country's surface temperature may be compromised. Sensors that are supposed to be in empty clearings are instead exposed to crackling electronics and other unlikely sources of heat, from exhaust pipes and trash-burning barrels to chimneys and human graves.
The National Climate Data Center (NCDC) uses this massive network of sensors to determine daily highs and lows at the 1,219 weather stations in its Historical Climatology Network (HCN). The network has existed since 1892, but only in the last decade has it come under intense scrutiny to determine whether the figures it measures can be trusted.
For the past three years, a group of zealous laymen has visited and photographed nearly every one of the weather stations to determine whether they have been placed properly. And what they found is a stunning disregard for the government's own rules: 90 percent of the sensors are too close to potential sources of heat to pass muster, including some very odd sources indeed:
A sensor in Redding, Calif., is housed in a box that also contains a halogen light bulb, which could emit warmth directly onto the gauge.
A sensor in Hanksville, Utah, sits directly atop a gravestone, which is not only macabre but also soaks up the sun's heat and radiates it back to the thermometer at night.
A sensor in Marysville, Calif., sits in a parking lot at a fire station right next to an air conditioner exhaust, a cell phone tower and a barbecue grill.
A sensor in Tahoe City, Calif., sits near a paved tennis court and is right next to a "burn barrel" that incinerates garbage.
A sensor in Hopkinsville, Ky., is sheltered from the wind by an adjoining house and sits above an asphalt driveway.
Dozens of sensors are located at airports and sewage treatment plants, which produce "heat islands" from their sprawling seas of asphalt and heavy emissions.
"So far we've surveyed 1,062 of them," said Anthony Watts, a meteorologist who began the tracking effort in 2007. "We found that 90 percent of them don't meet [the government's] old, simple rule called the '100-foot rule' for keeping thermometers 100 feet or more from biasing influence. Ninety percent of them failed that, and we've got documentation."
Watts, who has posted pictures of the sensors on his Web site, SurfaceStations.org, says he believes that the location of the sensors renders their recorded temperatures inaccurate, which in turn brings some of the data behind global warming theory into question.
"It's asinine to think that this wouldn't have some kind of an effect," Watts told FoxNews.com.
But climate scientists who analyze the data say that they are able to account and adjust for the faulty locations by comparing warming trends they spot at bad sites to trends they see at good ones.
"If you use only the sites that currently have good siting versus those that have not-so-good siting, when you look at the adjusted data basically you get the same trend," said Jay Lawrimore, chief of the climate monitoring branch at NCDC.
Lawrimore admitted that Watts' volunteers had discovered real problems with sensor siting, but he said that even when those sites' heat readings were adjusted down, they still showed a steady overall rise in temperatures.
"The ultimate conclusion, the bottom line is that there really isn't evidence that the trends have a bias based on the current siting," he said.
And surface station data is only a small subset of information confirming the warming of the climate, Lawrimore said.
Changes in air temperature, water temperature, glacier melt, plant flowering, tree growth and species migration, among many others, show the same worldwide trend -- a 0.7 degree Celsius jump (1.2 degrees Fahrenheit) in the past century.
"There's a certain amount of uncertainty in the calculation of trends, but not to the extent that we don't know the climate is warming," he said.
Watts readily agrees that temperatures are on the rise worldwide, but he believes the magnitude of the increase is in question, and he says his research puts the 1.2-degree global figure in doubt.
But a team of three climatologists has completed a study of Watts' data on HCN siting and found the warming trend to be confirmed.
In fact, the three NCDC scientists, Matthew Menne, Claude Williams and Michael Palecki, say they found that instrument updates in the 1980s have created a cooling bias, and that adjusted and cleaned up data from even the bad sites is "extremely well aligned" with measurements from instruments that meet the "highest standards for climate monitoring."
"We find no evidence that the [contiguous U.S.] temperature trends are inflated due to poor station siting," reads the study, which is set to be published in a forthcoming volume of the "Journal of Geophysics Research -- Atmospheres."
"It's all objective analysis based on statistics," said Matthew Menne, the lead author of the study.
But Menne's study was conducted using information on only 43 percent of the weather stations. Watts, who has now compiled information on 80 percent of the stations and cleaned up his old information, contends that a more complete data set would furnish different results, and he plans to conduct a study of his own under the aegis of Roger Pielke Sr., a research scientist at the University of Colorado in Boulder.
A better test of the network's data is on the horizon. In the past eight years, the NOAA has established a hi-tech system that sends information via satellite and abides by all of its own rules for siting. Each sensor is ideally placed in open areas far from other structures, a fact that pleases both government scientists and longstanding critics like Watts.
"I'm convinced that the new system, the Climate Reference Network, will provide a reasonably accurate set of readings," Watts said.
But data has only begun to be collected from CRN, a regional network of just 114 climate sensors that went fully online in 2008. It will take at least a decade, and as many as 30 years, until the information it collects becomes statistically significant.
In the meantime, and for many years past, the challenged data from NCDC has been providing information for a number of top climate research centers, including the U.N.'s International Panel on Climate Change, NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and the Hadley Climate Research Unit, headed until recently by Phil Jones, who resigned in the wake of the climate-gate scandal.
With mounting pressure on climate research facilities, scientists at the NCDC hope that their data won't be discounted because of the troubling images Watts has compiled.
"These photos show a current snapshot of these stations," said Menne. "We wouldn't want to dismiss 100 years of climate records based on a photograph from the year 2009."
#1
But, but, but, they adjusted the data to account for this!
Funny you should mention that. Over at Watts Up With That? they have a post comparing urban vs rural surface temps. Not surprising the urban data shows a rise in the last few decades vs the rural temps. Interestingly, after 'adjustment', not only does the rural data follow the urban more closely, but the urban temps are higher than before. No doubt due to the mathemagicalness of the adjustment algorithm. Behold the wonders of almost science!
I have always admired the military's challenge coins, it's traditions. I didn't know police, firemen and EMS also had them. Until I saw this. First time in Austin history one person received all three. Being a former soldier, what an honor for him! If you haven't seen his interview with Megan Kelley of Fox, well google it. He told her, "I couldn't get them to follow orders! Workers, citizens honored in City Hall ceremony
The people involved in saving lives after a local pilot crashed his plane into the IRS building received accolades Thursday at Austin City Hall.
Firefighters, EMS workers, and police officers as well as citizens lined up to reflect on their service and have a moment of silence for the victims to mark the moment when local engineer Joseph Stack flew his plane into the IRS building in an apparent anti-government suicide attack one week ago today.
More than 50 first responders showed up to City Hall to tell their stories and share how they got people out of the building. In all, more than 200 people from the Austin Police Department showed up on the scene, as well as multiple fire companies and crews.
One of the first crews on the scene, members of Engine 21 from the Austin Fire Department, said they expected to see many more people inside the crash site, but also said they credited the preparation of the building workers for getting out quickly.
One of the other heroes of the day was a worker for Binswanger glass who just happened to be in the area.
Robin Dehaven said he helped rescue six people from the burning building by hoisting a ladder to the building. Thursday morning, the City of Austin honored him with three "Challenge Coins" - from the Austin police, fire and EMS departments - as a token of heroism. He talked about his simple act of service Thursday morning.
"I don't recommend anyone try to go do this," Dehaven said. "Hopefully I don't have to run into another building again. It was a crazy circumstance."
Austinites have also organized a candlelight vigil for Thursday on the one week anniversary of the crash.
Organizers will show up across the highway from the Echelon One building in the Manny Hattan's parking lot on the Northbound frontage road on 183 at 6:15 p.m.
At the ceremony, Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell addressed the controversial statements made by Stack's daughter, calling him a hero. Leffingwell called the suicide crash of Stack, 53, "cowardly.".
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.
Howard Stern is looking to crown Tiger Woods' best mistress.
[Dawn] Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi turned up the heat in his country's dispute with Switzerland on Thursday, calling for jihad against it over a ban adopted last year on the construction of minarets, reports AFP.
In recent years Britain has become the Willy Wonka of social control, churning out increasingly creepy, bizarre, and fantastic methods for policing the populace. But our weaponization of classical music--where Mozart, Beethoven, and other greats have been turned into tools of state repression--marks a new low.
