Hi there, !
Today Sun 03/30/2008 Sat 03/29/2008 Fri 03/28/2008 Thu 03/27/2008 Wed 03/26/2008 Tue 03/25/2008 Mon 03/24/2008 Archives
Rantburg
533885 articles and 1862480 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 87 articles and 377 comments as of 8:57.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion       
Twenty killed, 239 wounded in Sadr City clashes in 24 hrs
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
0 [7] 
1 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [9] 
1 00:00 Glenmore [5] 
0 [5] 
2 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [6] 
3 00:00 Scooter McGruder [5] 
3 00:00 Old Patriot [10] 
7 00:00 Hawungraaay [6] 
1 00:00 Procopius2k [5] 
3 00:00 JosephMendiola [10] 
1 00:00 Redneck Jim [6] 
22 00:00 Bright Pebbles [9] 
5 00:00 Frank G [7] 
6 00:00 Redneck Jim [7] 
2 00:00 JosephMendiola [6] 
1 00:00 Vanc [10] 
0 [14] 
1 00:00 Broadhead6 [12] 
8 00:00 Darrell [6] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
4 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [4]
8 00:00 Snakes Flearong1859 [9]
0 [9]
14 00:00 Pappy [6]
2 00:00 Mike [4]
0 [9]
0 [9]
2 00:00 Redneck Jim [4]
0 [4]
0 [5]
2 00:00 Pappy [6]
4 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [6]
0 [7]
6 00:00 swksvolFF [5]
0 [6]
0 [6]
0 [9]
5 00:00 JosephMendiola [9]
3 00:00 sinse [4]
2 00:00 M. Murcek [5]
11 00:00 trailing wife [7]
5 00:00 g(r)omgoru [8]
0 [4]
0 [4]
Page 2: WoT Background
6 00:00 www [7]
0 [4]
3 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [6]
7 00:00 Skidmark [8]
3 00:00 Alaska Paul [4]
8 00:00 Alaska Paul [4]
28 00:00 trailing wife [7]
10 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [4]
6 00:00 JosephMendiola [8]
5 00:00 mhw [5]
0 [8]
0 [6]
3 00:00 RD [7]
17 00:00 Afgan Billy [4]
2 00:00 mhw [5]
0 [4]
6 00:00 RD [11]
0 [9]
3 00:00 sinse [5]
1 00:00 bigjim-ky [5]
9 00:00 Redneck Jim [11]
0 [11]
Page 3: Non-WoT
6 00:00 JosephMendiola [8]
7 00:00 Mike [4]
4 00:00 swksvolFF [4]
5 00:00 swksvolFF [8]
11 00:00 rjschwarz [5]
28 00:00 RD [4]
7 00:00 Pappy [5]
4 00:00 trailing wife [6]
14 00:00 Broadhead6 [4]
0 [10]
0 [5]
2 00:00 USN, Ret. [4]
1 00:00 bigjim-ky [4]
8 00:00 Bright Pebbles [10]
Page 4: Opinion
6 00:00 swksvolFF [11]
1 00:00 AlanC [8]
0 [11]
2 00:00 eltoroverde [5]
1 00:00 Broadhead6 [7]
9 00:00 Bulldog [5]
4 00:00 rjschwarz [4]
5 00:00 Pancho Elmeck8414 [4]
-Lurid Crime Tales-
The most entertaining trial transcript ever
". . . I should remind you that barristers have an innate reluctance to frame a question as a question. Where you and I would say, 'Where were you on Tuesday?', they are more likely to say, 'Perhaps you could now inform the court of your precise whereabouts on the day after that Monday?'. It isn’t, strictly, a question, and it is not graceful English but you must pretend that it is a question and then answer it, otherwise we will be here for ever. . . ."

Go read it all.
Posted by: Mike || 03/27/2008 12:46 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And, as one of its commenters pointed out, this was a humo[u]r piece in the Telegraph.
Posted by: Eric Jablow || 03/27/2008 18:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Funny as hell, but a re-re-re-run.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 03/27/2008 19:52 Comments || Top||


More Ho's for client #9
Disgraced former Gov. Eliot Spitzer has been identified as a long-standing client of a second high-priced call-girl ring, The Post has learned.

The ex-governor regularly patronized Wicked Models, the Manhattan-based operation taken down Tuesday, according to financial documents and other evidence unearthed in a yearlong prostitution in vestigation, law-enforcement sources said."
Posted by: Beavis || 03/27/2008 09:01 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Doesn't hold a candle to Charlie Sheen, who seems to have made it a practice to at some point retain every prostitute in the US who could fit into a cheerleader outfit.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/27/2008 9:48 Comments || Top||

#2  Where did the money come from?
Posted by: Steve White || 03/27/2008 10:15 Comments || Top||

#3  Good question, Steve. Dad hasn't died yet and he has never had a job that pays that well. So....
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 03/27/2008 10:22 Comments || Top||

#4  in our culture we give kids money before we die.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 03/27/2008 10:40 Comments || Top||

#5  and yeah, it doesnt always work out so well.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 03/27/2008 10:41 Comments || Top||

#6  Under Eliot Spitzer, prosecution has been lifted to a profit making enterprise. In some cases, to settle out of court, corporations have paid huge sums to Eliot who then passed it around to prosecutors from other states. If nothing else, he has new ideas.
Posted by: wxjames || 03/27/2008 10:43 Comments || Top||

#7  Did he report his dad's money gifts to the IRS?
If not it seems the IRS could burn him over these whores.
Posted by: 3dc || 03/27/2008 10:44 Comments || Top||

#8  And I can as easily imagine him receiving payment from the Emperor's Publishing Media Group for services rendered. His finances need a thorough laundering.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 03/27/2008 10:47 Comments || Top||

#9  given the amount of money involved, 3dc has a good point. It wasnt just slipping him a $20 bill here and there ;)
Posted by: liberalhawk || 03/27/2008 10:48 Comments || Top||

#10  Is Wicked Models a company associated with the x-rated Wicked Videos production company?

If so are the women the same ones?
Posted by: 3dc || 03/27/2008 10:53 Comments || Top||

#11  And just how would know about such things 3dc?

;-P
Posted by: Beavis || 03/27/2008 10:56 Comments || Top||

#12  Someone should watch all their videos to see if Elliott does a cameo. Too bad .com doesn't frequent here much. How about A5089? Up for it?
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 03/27/2008 10:57 Comments || Top||

#13  funny... I couldn't respond with google search results and cache... just do the Wicked Models search.
Posted by: 3dc || 03/27/2008 11:22 Comments || Top||

#14  Someone should see if he didn't have some policies that lightend police investigations of prostitutes. Yeah this could be his belief, it could be cover-your-ass so the cops didn't see him, but it also could be that his visits were done on credit for an exchange of favors.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 03/27/2008 12:02 Comments || Top||

#15  it also could be that his visits were done on credit for an exchange of favors.

So, he can be charged as an unregistered lobbyist too?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/27/2008 12:11 Comments || Top||

#16  One fact is known ...
If Spitzer were prosecuting the case he would be ruthlessly uncovering every penny Spitzer ever made Legally or ill-Legally and then ruthlessly prosecuting him for each infraction and illegal money transaction.

And ruthlessly prosecuting Spitzer for any abuse of his Office Powers.
Posted by: RD || 03/27/2008 14:44 Comments || Top||

#17  Especially if Eliot were a Republican ...
Posted by: Steve White || 03/27/2008 16:04 Comments || Top||

#18  Mr. Spitzer was moving largish sums of money through his official governor accounts -- that's how the FBI discovered him. When this first went public, there was talk that the sums were donations from the holding company that owned the call-girl enterprise.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/27/2008 16:12 Comments || Top||

#19  Spitzer may soon declare himself a sex addict, seek treatment and say "I'm the victim here; the stress of doing the work of government during this federal administration resulted in triggering my condition."

(of course if he started going to prostitutes in 1998, he would have to blame it on the Republican led Senate instead of Bush)
Posted by: mhw || 03/27/2008 17:02 Comments || Top||

#20  It's disgusting that any of you would refer to these women as "whores". They are prostitutes damn it! (Whores give it away; not that I'd know or anything)
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 03/27/2008 21:52 Comments || Top||

#21  Dictionary.com defines whore as prostitute, Broadhead6. I believe the word you are looking for is slut.

/It's important to get these things right, lest one carefully insult the wrong person.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/27/2008 23:00 Comments || Top||

#22  TW, Isn't that carelessly rather than carefully?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 03/27/2008 23:59 Comments || Top||


The moon is out in Yonkers
YONKERS, N.Y. -- Suburban New York police say a drunken driver had a suspended license and had marijuana in her car. Oh, they also say she didn't have any pants on. Yonkers police say 22-year-old Long Island resident Angelica Buchanan was found Saturday standing bottomless in a street near her car. They say she was so drunk she had to be hospitalized.

Police say she claimed she wasn't wearing pants because she needed to use the bathroom. They've charged her with driving while intoxicated, unlicensed operation of a vehicle and marijuana possession.

A telephone message left at her family's Rockville Centre home Tuesday night hasn't been returned.

Earlier this month a Westchester County man was accused of using a doughnut shop's drive-through lane while not wearing pants. He's charged with public lewdness.
Posted by: Fred || 03/27/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [14 views] Top|| File under:


Pastor admits stealing IDs from flock
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. -- The former pastor of a Northumberland County church acknowledges using parishioners' personal information to obtain credit cards. The Rev. Raymond Clayton pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Williamsport to a charge of access device fraud. He awaits sentencing in June. The 43-year-old Clayton is the former pastor of Grace Fellowship Church near Mount Carmel.

Following the plea, 83-year-old church member Patricia Tomedi said, "Thank God." Tomedi says she's lost 20 pounds since Clayton was charged with stealing church members' identities. Her's was one of the Social Security numbers he used.

Clayton's attorney, Assistant Public Defender Toni Byrd, has negotiated a plea agreement promising full restitution and calling for one year and one day in jail.

The church has since disbanded.
Posted by: Fred || 03/27/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [12 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Following the plea, 83-year-old church member Patricia Tomedi said, "Thank God." Tomedi says she's lost 20 pounds since Clayton was charged with stealing church members' identities."

-well, he does move in mysterious ways. Be careful what you pray for as the Almighty does have a unique sense of humor, especially if you asked him to help you shed a few pounds.
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 03/27/2008 22:22 Comments || Top||


-Obits-
Herb Peterson, inventor of the Egg McMuffin
Herb Peterson, inventor of the Egg McMuffin, has died, a Southern California official of McDonald's restaurants said Wednesday. He was 89.

Peterson died peacefully at his Santa Barbara home on Tuesday, said Monte Fraker, vice president of operations for McDonald's restaurants in that city.

Peterson came up with idea for the signature McDonald's breakfast item in 1972. . . .
Posted by: Mike || 03/27/2008 10:51 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Portable Eggs Benedict.

This man is my personal hero. Rest well, Herb.
Posted by: Seafarious || 03/27/2008 11:08 Comments || Top||

#2  In the U.K. McDs finally bowed to purchaser pressure and sell them all day.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 03/27/2008 11:22 Comments || Top||

#3  BP, did it take this to make it happen?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/27/2008 12:06 Comments || Top||

#4  I wish they'd do that here, BP - it's about the only thing I eat at Micky D's.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 03/27/2008 12:13 Comments || Top||

#5  Guess that explains why the flag at a McDonald's was flying at half staff the other day.
Posted by: Rambler in California || 03/27/2008 12:15 Comments || Top||

#6  Aha! America really is in trouble. DEMAND YOUR ALL DAY BREAKFASTS! It's what the second amendment was for (perhaps not).
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 03/27/2008 13:52 Comments || Top||

#7  Iam in agreement peeps and thank youse because..

I WANT MY #3 BREAKFAST--> Egg Sausage MAC-Muffin!
Posted by: Hawungraaay || 03/27/2008 14:31 Comments || Top||


Richard Widmark
Actor Richard Widmark has died aged 93, a medical official in his home state of Connecticut said on Wednesday...

Known for "The Alamo", as Jim Bowie; "The Bedford Incident"; "Cheyenne Autumn" and "Judgment at Nuremberg".
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/27/2008 10:08 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He was one of the greats.
Posted by: Kelly || 03/27/2008 12:34 Comments || Top||

#2  RIP
Posted by: Eohippus Hupomock2152 || 03/27/2008 19:56 Comments || Top||

#3  Was on local TV News last nite. He also starred in AGAINST ALL ODDS, + several great Westerns.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/27/2008 22:50 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Eight healthy reasons to drink beer
(As if you needed an excuse.)
Posted by: Mike || 03/27/2008 14:45 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I like beer. it makes me a jolly good fellow
I like beer. it helps me unwind and sometimes it makes me feel mellow
Whiskey's too rough, champagne costs too much, vodka puts my mouth in gear
This little refrain should help me explain as a matter of fact i like beer
(Tom T. Hall)
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/27/2008 19:16 Comments || Top||


Freeze!


h/t Tigerhawk

Apropos of nothing but its own innate Xtreme Kewelness.
Posted by: Mike || 03/27/2008 12:19 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Brilliantly executed flashmob, kudos to organizers & participants, I love this stuff :-)
Posted by: Col. B. Guano. (ret.) || 03/27/2008 13:32 Comments || Top||

#2  Col. Guano, congratulations on your promotions from Major to Colonel. I guess the Coca Cola company forgave your for shooting up their machine.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 03/27/2008 14:24 Comments || Top||

#3  His promotion must have been for ensuring Group Captain Lionel Mandrake paid back every nickel.
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 03/27/2008 15:18 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Indiana Booksellers Must Pay Fee And Register With The State
A new state law that requires sellers of adult material to register with the state has Hoosier bookstore owners fuming about government censorship and threatening a legal challenge. "This lumps us in with businesses that sell things that you can't even mention in a family newspaper," said Ernie Ford, owner of Fine Print Book Store in Greencastle.

Ford was talking about House Enrolled Act 1042, which Gov. Mitch Daniels signed into law last week. Ford was one of 15 independent Indiana booksellers who signed a letter last week urging Daniels to veto the legislation.

The new law that takes effect July 1 requires businesses that sell sexually explicit material to pay a $250 fee and register with the secretary of state, which would then pass the information to municipal or county officials so they can monitor the businesses for potential violations of local ordinances.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/27/2008 11:18 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The new law that takes effect July 1 requires businesses that sell sexually explicit material to pay a $250 fee and register with the secretary of state,..

Well, that should include 'bodice rippers' with Fabio type covers shouldn't it? And correct me, but aren't there some 'steamy passages' in the Bible? It's all in interpretation. Quick a fatwa! Oh, wait, nevermind.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/27/2008 12:00 Comments || Top||

#2  stupid law...big brother needs to back off. The market will take care of itself and generally does. This is just a cheap & douchebag way for IN to make some cash. I bet they don't even follow up after the "fee" (aka bribe) is paid by the bookstores. As if the police don't have enough to do already.

I walked into a package store in IN about two weeks ago w/my best friend and my 4 yr old son and they told me I had to take my son out of the store because of some IN law. I'm a grown-ass man in my mid-30s, ridiculous. Like some blue laws down south where hunting on Sunday was prohibited. Gov't needs to do more to stay out of people's way. A gov't that governs least, etc.
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 03/27/2008 22:12 Comments || Top||

#3  A gov't that governs least, etc.

They need to be reminded now and then, BH6. And not just at the voting booth.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 03/27/2008 22:56 Comments || Top||


Britain
British car firms welcome Tata takeover of Jaguar and Land Rover
Motor component firms have welcomed the takeover of Jaguar and Land Rover by Indian firm Tata.

Tata, India's biggest vehicle maker, is paying £1.15bn ($2.3bn) for the brands after months of negotiations with Ford.

John White of I.M Kelly Automotive which has 80 Coventry workers, said he was happy because Tata "was successful with every single thing that they do".

Coventry City Council, union leaders and business chiefs across the Midlands have also endorsed the deal.

Jaguar and Land Rover employ about 16,000 staff at UK plants in the West Midlands and Merseyside.

Mr White is sales and marketing director of I.M Kelly, which makes interior trims and finishings for Jaguar and Land Rover. He said both luxury marques were doing well.

"So they (Tata) have picked up this business at a very, very, fortunate time," he said.

"I am sure this is all in their plans. Both companies are on the up and long may that continue."

Geoff Bayton, one of the directors of B-squared, a motor component firm with about 20 staff in Coventry, said the move had inspired confidence.

"At the start we were a little bit worried obviously with hearing different consortiums that were looking to get involved," he said.

"As it's come out now with Tata this gives us a good feeling and I think the rest of our workforces are feeling quite happy this has happened because it gives them a lot of confidence."

The negotiations with Tata started last June when Ford announced its intention to sell the companies as a package.

Ford sold the two companies, based at Solihull and Castle Bromwich in the West Midlands and Halewood on Merseyside, in order to concentrate on its loss-making core US car business, which it hopes to turn around in the next two years.
Posted by: john frum || 03/27/2008 18:54 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:


UK schools must take quota of problem kids
G*ds forbid they just deal with them effectively instead. And we really cannot abide by the idea that some schools would have a lock on achieving, well behaved youngsters. Won't do at all.
Posted by: lotp || 03/27/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  UK apple barrels must take quota of bad apples.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 03/27/2008 1:37 Comments || Top||

#2  Harrison Bergeron.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/27/2008 4:28 Comments || Top||

#3  Mr. Balls?

Wow!
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 03/27/2008 9:10 Comments || Top||

#4  Looks like it's even worse than I realized. According to the Daily Mail Under a Government plan, all heads who expel a pupil will be expected to admit a child who has been thrown out of a neighbouring school on a "one out, one in," basis.

So no principal can improve his or her school's discipline by dealing with the disruptive minority who refuse to reform.

Britain well and truly is lost.
Posted by: lotp || 03/27/2008 9:50 Comments || Top||

#5  That's what I said. Sorry to see you coming around.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 03/27/2008 9:53 Comments || Top||

#6  NS, I came around when I began reading reports indicating the degree to which the British police and regional governments were permeated with Islamicist supporters and sympathizers.
Posted by: lotp || 03/27/2008 9:56 Comments || Top||

#7  And when I failed to see an effective revolt by Britains against that state of affairs.
Posted by: lotp || 03/27/2008 9:56 Comments || Top||

#8  Imagine extending this logic to deportations.
Posted by: Darrell || 03/27/2008 10:08 Comments || Top||


Europe
Video: Create a beer tax, Get banned from all Pubs!
Posted by: 3dc || 03/27/2008 10:40 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hmm..we had this experience with a tea tax thought up by the boys sitting in those same offices before, they never seem to learn. :)
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/27/2008 12:09 Comments || Top||


Fifth Column
Principal Stops Veterans' talk- Including Medal of Honor Nominee
Posted by: Icerigger || 03/27/2008 07:55 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Under such circumstances, the principal should have notified a few police agencies. Police generally take a very dim view of agitators harassing school children. I doubt such agitators would receive the typical light tap on the wrist in such a case, and could fine themselves facing some serious charges, not to include a tasering.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/27/2008 9:51 Comments || Top||

#2  You're assuming the principal WANTED the vets to speak.
Posted by: lotp || 03/27/2008 9:56 Comments || Top||

#3  Should the military be allowed to tell its story in public schools?

# of votes % of votes
Yes-- 18189--- 95.1 %
No-- 921--- 4.8 %
Total Votes--- 19110


This is a prime example of how far off the reservation the lefties have wandered. This is leading to the greatest tragedy in US politics.
A country of patriots, mostly conservative will have a choice between a complete leftist and a left of centrist for president.
Where the hell is the real leadership ?
My frustration is boundless. We have been systematically phucked, and this will not end well.
Posted by: wxjames || 03/27/2008 10:53 Comments || Top||

#4  Massey quailed at the thought of a protest on school grounds. After receiving 6 e-mails from people opposed to the visit. "There were indications that there may be large groups of protest and those kinds of things," said Massey on Tuesday.

Pretty much shows Massey's politics right there. The Superintendent Lynn Steenblock wouldn't even return the Vet's phone calls. The issue in the district administration appears to be systemic.
Posted by: Icerigger || 03/27/2008 14:50 Comments || Top||

#5  It would be interesting to run a scam and see if you would be allowed to speak if you said you were from Code Pink.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 03/27/2008 15:20 Comments || Top||

#6  Received six whole e-mails did he, what a majority, NOT. (Dip-shit)
post his e-address here and he'll receive a hell of a lot more than six.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/27/2008 17:07 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Interstate Closed due to Multiple Shootings
Local area news is covering... don't have much more information then what you see at the link... but sorta brings back all the memories of the beltway sniper... could just be something local... could be something more.

Blackvenom-2001
Posted by: Blackvenom-2001 || 03/27/2008 09:46 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  One day long ago, I stopped to help with a stlled semi on an interstate overpass, I was yelled at by the cops "Get out of here" I found out much later the semi had hit the guardrail and the driver was thrown across the cab and out the passenger window (He fell around 100 feet and was killed) the cops immediately assumed (With NO evidence) that a sniper had shot him, and that's why they ran me off.

Gross incompetence as far as I'm concerned.
Watch for something similar here.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/27/2008 17:28 Comments || Top||


L.A. Firefighter Killed in Manhole Explosion Near LAX
On the TV this morning the lady said he was killed by a second explosion after they responded. It sounded like the typical MO of a terrorist bombing.
I've put this in local for now, will move it if we find out more info suggesting something other than secondary explosions due to the fire.
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 03/27/2008 08:08 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Typical MO of a terrorist bombing"? No, that would be going off in a crowd of civilians, not underneath the ground where most of it is muffled.
Posted by: gromky || 03/27/2008 11:18 Comments || Top||

#2  Manhole covers, underground electrical vaults - it could be something more than an electrical fire run amok, but I suspect it's not.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 03/27/2008 12:16 Comments || Top||

#3  Washington, DC, is known as the home of the exploding manhole cover, for example.
Posted by: Eric Jablow || 03/27/2008 18:57 Comments || Top||

#4  Make us as fearless in practicing the laws
of God as we are brave in protecting the
lives and property of our fellowmen, and
when we answer our final alarm, enroll
us in your Heavenly force, where we will be
as proud to protect the throne of God as
we have been to protect the city.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/27/2008 21:31 Comments || Top||

#5  when I was working on the San Diego Airport expansion bridges and Harbor Dr Widening, I chewed the ass off the contractor for leaving lids off the sewer manholes leading to Pump Station #2. Turned out the gases building and increased flowline during everyone's "morning dump" blew the manhole lids 12' in teh air - witnessed by yours truly *ugh*. We put locking lids in after that
Posted by: Frank G || 03/27/2008 22:12 Comments || Top||


Memorial to slain soldier is vandalized
CRYSTAL CITY — Robin Wallace cried the first time she saw the vandalism of a bronze sculpture dedicated to her son, Sgt. Brandon Wallace. The soldier's father, Rick Wallace, couldn't sleep after he heard about it. "The saddest part was driving by and seeing only the boots left," Robin Wallace said.

The statue of a pair of boots, rifle and helmet at the entrance to Crystal City High School probably was vandalized early March 18, school officials said. The vandals also tore letters off of the gymnasium signage and ransacked a coach's office, Superintendent Ron Swafford said.

"I'm a veteran myself, and I cannot see why anybody would do that," Swafford said. "Our kids have been really touched by it. Every time I go out in the hall, they ask me if we have any information about who did this."

Sgt. Wallace was killed last April by a roadside bomb in Iraq. The sculpture was dedicated in September.

The vandals broke the rifle and helmet off of the base of the memorial and stuffed them in nearby bushes. The broken pieces now sit in Swafford's office. A local welder has volunteered to fix the monument. A reward for information leading to an arrest started at $200. It's now at $1,650, Swafford said.

"It's not just that (the memorial) honored Brandon, but by honoring Brandon, they were honoring all those that have fallen and have yet to fall," Robin Wallace said.

Rick Wallace said he would like to give the vandals two options: jail time or a tour of duty in Iraq.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/27/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Right now, veterans memorials are a tempting target for the vicious and hateful.

I would enjoy it immensely if someone set up such a memorial in such a way as to attract vandals, for them to discover that it is a trap. Imagine the hue and cry if some vandal is found shirtless, after having had administered a spanking with a cat o' nine tales from an unknown assailant.

Hue and cry and laughter at the vandals' expense.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/27/2008 0:35 Comments || Top||

#2  NEWSMAX > VIETNAM MEMORIAL names to go online by EOM, care of FOOTAGE.com + US NARA.

HMMMM, WW1? WW2? KOREA? Merchant Marine? Filipino Scouts? Air Aux?

NEWS > AIR AMERICA civilian vets fighting for Govt Benefits + Pensions.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/27/2008 1:06 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Plane hits jackal at Bangalore airport
BANGALORE: A small aircraft of Kingfisher Airlines, with 24 passengers on board, on a flight to Hyderabad got stuck on the runway at the airport on Thursday, while preparing for take-off after its nose-wheel hit a jackal which strayed into the area.

All the passengers are safe and evacuated but the nose-wheel has been damaged. The turbo-prop ATR aircraft (flight no IT 2427) slid on its belly, airport sources said.

There were no reports of injuries to any passenger in the incident which halted movement of flights in and out of Bangalore as the runway was blocked by the stranded aircraft.
Posted by: john frum || 03/27/2008 15:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Oh, brother....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 03/27/2008 16:05 Comments || Top||


9-year-old married to landlord's son in 'vani'
BUREWALA: A panchayat (village council) in Burewala forcibly married a nine-year-old girl with the son of a landlord under “vani” – a conservative ruling common in the rural areas. “The panchayat made the ruling after Rab Nawaz, the father of victim Nazia, married his maternal cousin,” Nazia, her mother Anwar Bibi, sister Aasia, uncle Haq Nawaz, and lambardar Muhammad Iqbal told a press conference at the local press club.
What was wrong with that?
They said that family members of the newly married bride were not happy with Nawaz’s wedding. “They, therefore, asked the panchayat to marry Rab Nawaz’s daughters Nazia and Shazia, 7, with Khalid and Muhammad Yasin, the brothers of the new bride,” they said. They said that the panchayat could not bear the pressure and ruled in favour of Muhammad Nawaz, the father of Khalid and Muhammad Yasin. “The panchayat ordered Muhammad Nawaz, the prayer leader of the area, to solemnise the marriage of Nazia with Khalid,” they alleged.

Reportedly, Khalid and his family members tried to take Nazia with them after the ‘solemnisation’ but her family members and villagers stopped them. “They will take my daughter with them if police don’t protect her,” Anwar Bibi, Nazia’s mother, said. Muhammad Nawaz, the prayer leader, said Khalid and his family members had forced him to solemnise the marriage. Panchayat leader Mian Akram admitted that he had chaired the meeting of the village council. However, he denied that he had ordered to marry minor Nazia with Khalid. “Yes. I headed the panchayat, but I did not made such a ruling. To marry Nazia with Khalid was the sole decision of his family,” he said.
Posted by: Fred || 03/27/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  To marry Nazia with Khalid was the sole decision of his family.

Enough said.
Posted by: Vanc || 03/27/2008 3:39 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
World's oldest recording of sound (1860) played back
The 10-second recording of a singer crooning the folk song “Au Clair de la Lune” was discovered earlier this month in an archive in Paris by a group of American audio historians. It was made, the researchers say, on April 9, 1860, on a phonautograph, a machine designed to record sounds visually, not to play them back. But the phonautograph recording, or phonautogram, was made playable — converted from squiggles on paper to sound — by scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif.

“This is a historic find, the earliest known recording of sound,” said Samuel Brylawski, the former head of the recorded-sound division of the Library of Congress, who is not affiliated with the research group but who was familiar with its findings. . . .

Audio at the link.
Posted by: Mike || 03/27/2008 14:17 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:



Who's in the News
57[untagged]
9Mahdi Army
6Taliban
3Hamas
2Govt of Syria
2al-Qaeda
1Islamic Courts
1Jemaah Islamiyah
1TNSM
1Abu Sayyaf
1Global Jihad
1Govt of Sudan
1Iraqi Insurgency
1IRGC

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2008-03-27
  Twenty killed, 239 wounded in Sadr City clashes in 24 hrs
Wed 2008-03-26
  Maliki overseeing Basra operation
Tue 2008-03-25
  Tater urges 'civil revolt' as battles erupt in Basra
Mon 2008-03-24
  Ayman urges attacks on Israel, U.S.
Sun 2008-03-23
  Rocket, mortar strikes on Baghdad Green Zone
Sat 2008-03-22
  Fatah, Jund al-Sham fight it out in Ein el-Hellhole
Fri 2008-03-21
  Iraqi troops clash with Shiite hard boyz
Thu 2008-03-20
  Binny accuses Pope of leading a crusade
Wed 2008-03-19
  US Marines start deploying in southern Afghanistan
Tue 2008-03-18
  Pak parliament sworn in
Mon 2008-03-17
  37 killed, over 50 hurt in Karbala kaboom
Sun 2008-03-16
  Drone missiles kill 20 in S. Wazoo
Sat 2008-03-15
  Hamas sez they hit Israeli heli
Fri 2008-03-14
  Coalition strike on Haqqani compound
Thu 2008-03-13
  Jordan frees al-Maqdessi


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.
18.191.84.32
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Operations (24)    WoT Background (22)    Non-WoT (14)    Opinion (8)    (0)