SEATTLE (AP) - Residents of the Pacific Northwest struggled to stay warm Saturday after the worst windstorm in more than a decade knocked out power to more than 1.5 million homes and businesses and killed at least six people.
About 950,000 customers in Washington and Oregon remained without power Friday night. Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire declared a state of emergency, and with temperatures expected to drop over the weekend, officials warned people not to use outdoor grills, propane heaters or other carbon monoxide-producing equipment indoors.
Firefighters in Kent found 33 people from four families suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning Friday night, fire Capt. Kyle Ohashi said. They had taken their barbecues inside to cook or heat their apartments as temperatures dipped into the 30s.
Continued on Page 49
Heh. Just the notion of a US Congressweenie rejecting a pay hike caused a double-take. Somehow, I question Kibaki's motives, go figure, huh? I know, I'm terminally cynical.
DOHA A young Sri Lankan national was produced in a criminal court here last week accused of consuming aftershave lotion and watching a blue film.
The man was caught by the law-enforcement agencies on a tip-off and sent for a blood test, which confirmed that he had indeed consumed some concoction.
The accused had a compact disc (CD) of a pornographic film in possession, which he was caught watching. He told court that a friend of his had given this CD to him. The sponsor of the accused was also present in court and he pleaded that the case be decided as early as possible since the man was awaiting to be deported in another criminal case.
In another case, a Qatari citizen was accused of consuming liquor and assaulting his wife. The accused told court that he had only beer and his wife called in the police after they picked a quarrel over some issue. The prosecution told court that the accused had refused to give his blood sample for test after he was arrested.
In yet another case, two young Nepalese and a Sri Lankan national were accused of trespassing into a house and having physical relations with two Sri Lankan maids. One of the three male accused admitted to having had sex with one of the maids, while another accused told court that he went to the house of the maid to talk to her as he wished to marry her.
Johnny Hallyday is the closest thing France has to Elvis, so the veteran rocker's announcement that he is moving across the border to Switzerland to escape high taxes has come as a bombshell. In the highly politicized atmosphere of pre-election France, the singer's decision is taking on political dimensions, too. Score one for presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy: If the conservative who is promising lower taxes wins next spring's elections, Hallyday says he may move back.
"Black is black, there's no more hope," Hallyday sang in one of his many hits. And the way he tells it, being wealthy in France has become hopelessly expensive. "Like many French, I'm sick of paying what is imposed on us in the way of taxes," the grizzled icon, known simply as "Johnny" to his fans, said this week. At 63, Hallyday is thinking about the hereafter, too. He said he wants to protect his three children from inheritance tax. "I agree to paying taxes. But inheritance and all that, I don't agree with."
Newsmagazine "L'Express" scored the scoop. It said Hallyday will spend just over half the year based in Gstaad, Switzerland, starting at the end of this month, to benefit from lower taxes. To benefit from the different tax rate, Hallyday would have to live there for six months and a day each year. Many cantonal authorities allow prominent foreigners to pay a fixed tax based on expenses, such as rent, or assets in Switzerland rather than a percentage of their income. Swiss media reported that the singer is spending millions of dollars on a chalet in the posh resort. The wealth-friendly Alpine nation is already a haven for many other French celebrities and entrepreneurs, among them skier Jean-Claude Killy, tennis player Amelie Mauresmo, race driver Alain Prost and singer Charles Aznavour.
The loser in the whole affair seems to be President Jacques Chirac. He and Hallyday were once close. Hallyday campaigned for Chirac during his losing election run in 1988. Chirac repaid the favor after he became president in 1995, decorating Hallyday with the Legion of Honor, France's highest award. But Hallyday has made clear that he is Sarkozy's man this time. Sarkozy was once a Chirac protege and they are in the same party but are now rivals. The singer caused a stir when he showed up in dark glasses at a party meeting in September, and said this week that he would move back to France if Sarkozy is elected and lowers taxes.
Sarkozy has proposed that income tax be limited to no more than 50 percent -- down from a 60-percent limit that will go into effect in January -- and that "small and medium" sized fortunes be exempt from inheritance tax. Without naming Hallyday, Sarkozy said it was a sign of a real problem in France that "so many of our artists, our creators, our researchers ... tell themselves that they have to leave." "I would like people to think that they can live in France even when they succeed," he said.
Chirac, however, was less forgiving. "As much as I appreciate the artist, I do somewhat regret his behavior as a citizen," he said Friday.
LITTLE ROCK - Herschel Cleveland, an Arkansas ethics commissioner who made illegal campaign donations to two Democratic candidates in the 2006 election, resigned his post Friday after two years of service.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/17/2006 00:00 ||
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Link ||
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#1
do they even have ethics in Arkansas? they sure don't in Caliphornia.
A killer elephant named after Osama bin Laden by fearful villagers was killed by sharpshooters, officials said Sunday. The animal was blamed for 14 deaths in the northeastern state of Assam.
"A licensed shooter shot and killed the 10-foot tall bull near the Behali forest reserve in northern Assam," said wildlife warden Chandan Bora.
Wildlife authorities had ordered that the elephant be shot and killed by December 31.
The order came after the bull dubbed "Laden" was blamed for the death of a woman Wednesday near the thickly wooded evergreen jungle where it lived. The elephant evaded two previous attempts by officials to kill it.
Confrontations between humans and elephants have escalated in northeastern India in recent years as the elephants' natural habitat has been destroyed, forcing the animals to forage for food in areas where humans live.
In the past five years, more than 250 people have been killed in Assam by elephants, while angry villagers killed 268 elephants during the same period, officials said.
Assam is estimated to have 5,300 Asiatic elephants.
Boy, talk about a city being caught up in liberal paralysis. CW has staunchly maintained that it is impossible for liberals to govern effectively. Governing requires decision-making, and the libs just can't do that for fear of hurting the feelings of some minority group If you have been looking for proof, what more does it take than the current indecision on a law banning urinating and defecating in public in S.F. The Chron sweeps through this story as though it is a normal story on a somewhat routine matter. The article notes the utter confusion without shock, dismay, or the realization that the SF world is upside down: EXTRA: asylum run by wastes of skin
"Nothing is simple in San Francisco, not even a law about urinating in public. Suburban Walnut Creek's City Council, on the other hand, unanimously voted last month to outlaw public urination and defecation, going after rowdy young bar-hoppers.
San Francisco, meanwhile, is a complicated city with a growing homeless population and powerful homeless advocates. Politicians are more inclined to weigh the social problems that lead to public urination -- poverty on the streets, drug addiction, mental illness -- than the consequences'"
(Link) oh well, maybe al-Q will nuke it
Ladies and gentlemen, this is a major metropolitan newspaper explaining away the liberals inability to get anything done, even a matter as obvious as this.
CW has often wondered why the homeless are only paid $320-390 per month. All good liberals know that this not a "living wage" in S.F. And, they are clearly employees of the City. They don't work for anybody else, for sure. Therefore, why aren't they paid the minimum living wage required of all firms doing business with the City?
Once known for "beauty and excellence," SF is now the smelly, joke-scene for the rest of the world.
#2
I have concluded that Liberals brains are wired backwards. The see bad as good, and good as bad. Extrapolate that reversed mentality to just about everything and it explains why they behave the way they do.
Examples:
Losing good, winning bad.
Criminals are victims, crime victims are guilty.
Peaceful religion bad, violent pseudo-religion good.
Whites bad, all minorities good.
It goes on and on. Liberals are defective people, we need to wirehead them and get on with business.
#6
Hummmmmm... joooooos (in the PC guise of NazIsraeloppressorofinnocentpaleos or the "lobby which doesn't exist") and catholics? That's what I'd answer for France, not sure for SF.
#7
now let me get this straight, (pardon the pun)
if your dog poops in the street you need to pick it up or be fined. But if a person does the same.....
Posted by: Jan ||
12/17/2006 12:35 Comments ||
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#8
Actually, I'd like to deficate and urinate on San Fransisco too.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
12/17/2006 13:46 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
DOHA A young Sri Lankan national was produced in a criminal court here last week accused of consuming aftershave lotion and watching a blue film.
