Remarkable woman, remarkable courage. Never forget.
WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Irena Sendler - credited with saving some 2,500 Jewish children from the Nazi Holocaust by smuggling them out of the Warsaw Ghetto, some of them in baskets - died Monday, her family said. She was 98. Sendler, among the first to be honored by Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial as a Righteous Among Nations for her wartime heroism, died at a Warsaw hospital, daughter Janina Zgrzembska told The Associated Press.
President Lech Kaczynski expressed "great regret" over Sendler's death, calling her "extremely brave" and "an exceptional person." In recent years, Kaczynski had spearheaded a campaign to put Sendler's name forward as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Sendler was a 29-year-old social worker with the city's welfare department when Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, launching World War II. Warsaw's Jews were forced into a walled-off ghetto. Seeking to save the ghetto's children, Sendler masterminded risky rescue operations. Under the pretext of inspecting sanitary conditions during a typhoid outbreak, she and her assistants ventured inside the ghetto - and smuggled out babies and small children in ambulances and in trams, sometimes wrapped up as packages.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/13/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
"Hero" isn't a majestic enough word for people like her.
Rest in peace, good lady.
Posted by: Mike ||
05/13/2008 9:03 Comments ||
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A man who dressed up as Darth Vader, wearing a garbage bag for a cape, and assaulted the founders of a group calling itself the Jedi church was given a suspended sentence Tuesday.
Arwel Wynne Hughes, 27, attacked Jedi church founder Barney Jones -- aka Master Jonba Hehol -- with a light saber metal crutch, hitting him on the head, prosecutors told Holyhead Magistrates' Court. He also whacked Jones' 18-year-old cousin, Michael Jones -- known as Master Mormi Hehol -- bruising his thigh in the March 25 incident, prosecutors said.
The two cousins and Barney Jones' brother, Daniel, set up the Church of Jediism, Anglesey order, last year. Jedi is the faith followed by some of the central characters in the "Star Wars" films. The group, which claims about 30 members, says on its Web site that it uses "insight and knowledge" from the films as "a guide to living a better and more worthwhile life."
"We all love the films and what they stand for. Obviously some people are going to laugh about it," the Wales on Sunday newspaper quoted Barney Jones as saying last month. "But a lot of people do take it seriously."
Unfortunately for Hughes, his March attack was recorded on a video camera that the cousins had set up to film themselves in a light saber battle. "Darth Vader! Jedis!" Hughes shouted as he approached.
Hughes claimed he couldn't remember the incident, having drunk the better part of a 2 1/2-gallon (10-liter) box of wine beforehand. "He knows his behavior was wrong and didn't want it to happen but he has no recollection of it," said Hughes' lawyer, Frances Jones.
District Judge Andrew Shaw sentenced Hughes to two months in jail but suspended the sentence for one year. He also ordered Hughes to pay $195 to each of his victims and $117 in court costs.
In the 2001 United Kingdom census, 390,000 -- 0.7 percent of the population -- listed Jedi as their religion.
#2
One thingy that didn't make sense wid both the original Trilogy + Prequels was that, despite being depicted on film, etc. as capable of simul engaging both in light-saber personal combat + advanced tele/psychekinetic combat, NEITHER THE JEDI NOR SITH LORDS EVER USED THEIR PSYCHIC = KINETIC ABILITIES TO BLOCK OFF LIGHT SABER THRUSTS/BLOWS OR TO ATTACK = PUT AN OPPONENT OFF BALANCE, NOR COMPLEMENTED THEIR LIGHT SABERS WID HI-TECHY PERSONAL GADGETS, E.G. "BRILLIANT/
GENIUS" BATTLE ORBS, R2D2-STYLE ROBODROID COMBAT ASSISTANTS, MAGNETIC SHIELDS, etc.???
At least for the SITH LORDS > perhaps for the next Trilogy [SE-quels]???
A statement issued by Omar the Mad Mohammedan Mullah said:
Nyah..nyah...told ya, see the Koran was right all along.
Russian physiologist Leonid Kitaev-Smyk has stated that most male diseases are caused by women who adhere to provocative clothes and behaviour. As a result, the Western civilization gradually turns into the society of sexually unsatisfied men and eventually unsuccessful and physically unhealthy men, the scientist considers.
#4
. . . women dig a grave for mens health with their bare legs and low-cut dresses . . .
That's a risk I'll just have to take. Bring it on, ladies! I'm not scared.
Posted by: Mike ||
05/13/2008 8:52 Comments ||
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#5
What if a person is turned on by the burqa instead of the bikini? There's a case of inventing premises to fit your conclusions--in other words hogwash. A article for publication in the Journal of Irreproducible Results.
#6
Looking at women in low cut dresses and bare legs gives men a growing problem indeed. My kids would say that whoever wrote this drivel is "Teh Ghey."
#16
. . . women dig a grave for mens health with their bare legs and low-cut dresses . . .
Ummmm, remember this is Russia, where snow and ice are common as winter rain, summer is short, so I guess he'd be somewhat right, it's hard to appreciate a frozen-blue bikini clad babe.
Once inside, now that's another story, poke up the fire, and strip.
You must remember despite the lies, there seems no shortage of Russian Babies.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/13/2008 16:10 Comments ||
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#17
You must remember despite the lies, there seems no shortage of Russian Babies.
Umm... yes there is. Russia's population is collapsing.
Well, here you are at your college graduation. And I know what you're thinking: "Gimme the sheepskin and get me outta here!" But not so fast. First you have to listen to a commencement speech.
Don't moan. I'm not going to "pass the wisdom of one generation down to the next." I'm a member of the 1960s generation. We didn't have any wisdom.
We were the moron generation. We were the generation that believed we could stop the Vietnam War by growing our hair long and dressing like circus clowns. We believed drugs would change everything -- which they did, for John Belushi. We believed in free love. Yes, the love was free, but we paid a high price for the sex.
My generation spoiled everything for you. It has always been the special prerogative of young people to look and act weird and shock grown-ups. But my generation exhausted the Earth's resources of the weird. Weird clothes -- we wore them. Weird beards -- we grew them. Weird words and phrases -- we said them. So, when it came your turn to be original and look and act weird, all you had left was to tattoo your faces and pierce your tongues. Ouch. That must have hurt. I apologize.
So now, it's my job to give you advice. But I'm thinking: You're finishing 16 years of education, and you've heard all the conventional good advice you can stand. So, let me offer some relief:
1. Go out and make a bunch of money!
Here we are living in the world's most prosperous country, surrounded by all the comforts, conveniences and security that money can provide. Yet no American political, intellectual or cultural leader ever says to young people, "Go out and make a bunch of money." Instead, they tell you that money can't buy happiness. Maybe, but money can rent it.
There's nothing the matter with honest moneymaking. Wealth is not a pizza, where if I have too many slices you have to eat the Domino's box. In a free society, with the rule of law and property rights, no one loses when someone else gets rich.
2. Don't be an idealist!
Don't chain yourself to a redwood tree. Instead, be a corporate lawyer and make $500,000 a year. No matter how much you cheat the IRS, you'll still end up paying $100,000 in property, sales and excise taxes. That's $100,000 to schools, sewers, roads, firefighters and police. You'll be doing good for society. Does chaining yourself to a redwood tree do society $100,000 worth of good?
Idealists are also bullies. The idealist says, "I care more about the redwood trees than you do. I care so much I can't eat. I can't sleep. It broke up my marriage. And because I care more than you do, I'm a better person. And because I'm the better person, I have the right to boss you around."
Get a pair of bolt cutters and liberate that tree.
Who does more for the redwoods and society anyway -- the guy chained to a tree or the guy who founds the "Green Travel Redwood Tree-Hug Tour Company" and makes a million by turning redwoods into a tourist destination, a valuable resource that people will pay just to go look at?
So make your contribution by getting rich. Don't be an idealist.
3. Get politically uninvolved!
All politics stink. Even democracy stinks. Imagine if our clothes were selected by the majority of shoppers, which would be teenage girls. I'd be standing here with my bellybutton exposed. Imagine deciding the dinner menu by family secret ballot. I've got three kids and three dogs in my family. We'd be eating Froot Loops and rotten meat.
But let me make a distinction between politics and politicians. Some people are under the misapprehension that all politicians stink. Impeach George W. Bush, and everything will be fine. Nab Ted Kennedy on a DUI, and the nation's problems will be solved.
But the problem isn't politicians -- it's politics. Politics won't allow for the truth. And we can't blame the politicians for that. Imagine what even a little truth would sound like on today's campaign trail:
"No, I can't fix public education. The problem isn't the teachers unions or a lack of funding for salaries, vouchers or more computer equipment The problem is your kids!"
4. Forget about fairness!
We all get confused about the contradictory messages that life and politics send.
Life sends the message, "I'd better not be poor. I'd better get rich. I'd better make more money than other people." Meanwhile, politics sends us the message, "Some people make more money than others. Some are rich while others are poor. We'd better close that 'income disparity gap.' It's not fair!"
Well, I am here to advocate for unfairness. I've got a 10-year-old at home. She's always saying, "That's not fair." When she says this, I say, "Honey, you're cute. That's not fair. Your family is pretty well off. That's not fair. You were born in America. That's not fair. Darling, you had better pray to God that things don't start getting fair for you." What we need is more income, even if it means a bigger income disparity gap.
5. Be a religious extremist!
So, avoid politics if you can. But if you absolutely cannot resist, read the Bible for political advice -- even if you're a Buddhist, atheist or whatever. Don't get me wrong, I am not one of those people who believes that God is involved in politics. On the contrary. Observe politics in this country. Observe politics around the world. Observe politics through history. Does it look like God's involved?
The Bible is very clear about one thing: Using politics to create fairness is a sin. Observe the Tenth Commandment. The first nine commandments concern theological principles and social law: Thou shalt not make graven images, steal, kill, et cetera. Fair enough. But then there's the tenth: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's."
Here are God's basic rules about how we should live, a brief list of sacred obligations and solemn moral precepts. And, right at the end of it we read, "Don't envy your buddy because he has an ox or a donkey." Why did that make the top 10? Why would God, with just 10 things to tell Moses, include jealousy about livestock?
Well, think about how important this commandment is to a community, to a nation, to a democracy. If you want a mule, if you want a pot roast, if you want a cleaning lady, don't whine about what the people across the street have. Get rich and get your own.
Now, one last thing:
6. Don't listen to your elders!
After all, if the old person standing up here actually knew anything worth telling, he'd be charging you for it.
Why do you think every leftist since the French Revolution has hated authentic Christianity?
The left believe that perhaps the greatest directive of government is to give free reign to people's envy, inducing them to allow and even promote using police power of the state to equalize economic outcomes. To a Christian, a government which does this is an abomination. Worse, if it is done in the name of "fairness" or "caring about the needy", which violates further commandments about lying.
Christianity names this behavior as being one ten greatest of sins. So, to a leftist, it's the Tenth Commandment that has to go, along with the Christians who subscribe to it.
Of all the Ten Commandments, I believe it is the final one, and not any of the others about worship of God, that irks them the most.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
05/13/2008 6:18 Comments ||
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New Delhi, May 13: She has been dubbed India`s `missile woman`, one in the team of India`s elite scientists behind the Agni III, India`s longest-range nuclear capable missile that can hit targets up to 3,000 km. But then Tessy Thomas is not called `Agni Putri`, or daughter of fire, for nothing.
When photographs of jubilant Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientists appeared after the May 7 launch of Agni III, Tessy was the subject of many a question.
But the 45-year-old associate project director of Agni missiles takes the curiosity in her stride. What matters is that her gender is not called into question at her workplace. `Here, I am considered as a scientist and not a woman. But it has to be taken into account that the job with DRDO comes with a responsibility; it is for one who can understand the criticality of the work,` the woman from Alleppey in Kerala said.
`It was the determination of my mother that kept me going. My M.Tech degree in Guided Missiles gave me an upper hand. Also I joined under Dr. A.P.J. Kalam and have worked under seniors who always encouraged me. `When I joined DRDO, there were only four-five women. Now there are about 20-30 women in a lab of 250 scientists. It is a good improvement,` Tessy said.
She remembers the early days when she joined DRDO (then known as Defence Research and Development Lab) in 1988. Then she soon got associated with the ambitious project of developing Agni. `There were about seven women scientists when Agni-III was test fired from Wheelers Island (in Orissa) last week and I was amongst them. We just wanted to prove to the world that nothing was wrong with the missile system as was said after the first test which failed,` Tessy said with a glint of determination in her eyes.
The first test in 2006 had failed when shortly after lift-off, the missile dived into the Bay of Bengal. Like all women, Tessy also does the tightrope walk between home and career, between being a mother and a scientist fiercely dedicated to her job.
When Tessy reached Wheelers Island for the launch of Agni-III on April 28, she left behind in Hyderabad son Tejas, who was to appear for his Class 12 exam and was running high temperature. `I came to the Island on April 28 and was there till May 7 when the missile was fired. I was under pressure from all sides, but my son was very cooperative. He does not complain at all,` said Tessy, whose husband is a navy officer posted in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
Like many other working women, Tessy starts her day early. `My day starts at 4 a.m. when my son gets ready for his coaching and ends after midnight. It is hectic but I try to help my son in studies especially physics.` She would like other women to take up science at the school level and go on to become researchers and scientists - and shore up the forces of the DRDO, India`s premier military research organisation.
Tessy is aware of the market forces with many corporate houses attracting DRDO scientists by giving exorbitant salaries. But she is dedicated to the DRDO. `It really pinches to see that in the private sector people are getting four to five times what you are getting.
But I am doing the job in the national interest and I cannot be forced to stop working in that direction,` Tessy explained. According to the defence ministry, a total of 1,107 scientists, mostly young entrants, have resigned from the DRDO between 2003 and 2007, an average of one person leaving every two days. For this woman, it is truly all about rocket science.
Posted by: john frum ||
05/13/2008 06:41 ||
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#1
she should have to wear a Madonna Cone Bra
Ima knowrn that Joe M would agree
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/13/2008 8:52 Comments ||
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#2
Luckily, the Muzz segment in India is not in charge, or her chief duty would be feeding and bathing goats and dropping one new muzz/year onto the dirt floor to please Mu-ham-head.
We're so accustomed to abundant free parking that we resist paying for it, hate looking for it and, most of all, dread getting tickets.
Turning to his computer, he showed me aerial photos of several cities to demonstrate how much land we waste just to give drivers a place to leave their wheels. "Parking is the single-biggest land use in almost any city and almost everybody has ignored it," he told me. "It's like dark matter in the universe: We know there's something there, and it seems to weigh a lot, but we don't know what it is. If only we could get our hands on it."
The harm abundant free parking does feeds on itself: All that land dedicated to parking, which often sits empty for much of the day, increases sprawl, and that sprawl makes alternatives such as public transit and walking less feasible, which forces more people into cars, which increases the need for more parking.
The good news is that all that parking space is an accidental land reserve for housing that can bring in tax revenue even as it helps ease traffic congestion, air pollution and energy dependence. Interesting, but it'll be a long time coming. Yet another way to achieve "energy independence" that's too painful to contemplate.
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/13/2008 10:34 ||
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#1
How about a mandatory roof on all open air parking. The roof can have either solar panels or some kind of plants to suck up the carbon and make the city oh so beautiful on those satellite photos.
Or maybe a group could buy the parking lot and do what they want with them instead of telling others, or fighting others plans at every turn.
#2
Novel idea. That could just work.
The investment of capital driving innovative solutions to today's problems. And because it is based on the private investment of capital, we'll call it Capitalism.
#3
Many of these ideas are based on the assumption that everyone lives in high density populations. Most are not economically sound. Even mass transit requires "mass" population to work.
#4
"Or maybe a group could buy the parking lot and do what they want with them instead of telling others, or fighting others plans at every turn."
thats done in the densest city centers. Issues - 1 in many suburban areas, off street parking is mandated by zoning for developments of any size 2. favorable tax treatment - employer provided free parking is a perk thats not taxed as income, so its a preffered way to attract employees.
#6
So-o-o IOW, FASCIST AMERIKA - you know, the COMMIE USSA - needs MILYUHNS AND ZILYUHNS OF STATE SUBSIDIZED SOVIET APARTMENT HOUSING AS PER COMMPLAN, GOSPLAN, + NOW USPLAN, to empower the rise of OWG MEGACITIES = GLOBAL COLLECTIVES, AS SUPPOR BY OWG TRANSNATION/CONTINENT FREE TRADE ZONES???
HMMMMMMM, AGRI-ZONES, INFO ZONES, LIVING ZONE, CONSUMER ZONE, etal.???
#8
LH: If off street parking was not provided free, mass transit relative economics would gain, esp in smaller downtowns, and denser suburban areas.
My feeling is that a lot of people would simply move to a place where they can affordably park their cars. The smaller downtowns and denser suburban areas you mention would simply become less attractive to potential homeowners. I wonder what the impact would be on places like Detroit, Gary and Camden. Would charging residents for parking increase their attractiveness as cities?
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.
Well, here you are at your college graduation. And I know what you're thinking: "Gimme the sheepskin and get me outta here!" But not so fast. First you have to listen to a commencement speech.
