Some TV shows offer an extreme makeover, others a bid for pop stardom. But the hottest reality show in the U.S. Hispanic market is offering the ultimate prize -- a potential green card to immigrants desperate to pursue the American dream. "Gana la Verde" ("Win the Green") has attracted big audiences and hundreds of contestants willing to eat burritos crammed with live worms, jump off high-speed trucks or wash sky-scraper windows in exchange for a year's legal help in speeding up their visa or green card cases.
The show, run five times a week on small Spanish-language television channels in Los Angeles, San Diego, Houston and Dallas, was the brainchild of Lenard Liberman, executive vice president of the independent TV and radio company Liberman Broadcasting. "When you are in the Hispanic market, you realize that immigration and legal status is the number one issue ... They want to be able to earn a living and not have the pressure of wondering if they are able to stay or not," Liberman said on Thursday. "We could do a show and give the winner a cash prize, or a toaster oven. But I thought, what would be the ultimate prize for someone living in the United States as an illegal immigrant? ... To have a prestigious law firm handle their case would be something invaluable."
The show started running on July 1 and Liberman said it had been consistently No. 2 in prime-time Los Angeles Spanish language stations. "The response has been outstanding. We have a waiting list. We get letters in the mail, hundreds if not thousands of phone calls, and had people flying in from places like Chicago who want to be in the show," he said. An estimated 2 million immigrants, most of them Latino, live and work in California and millions more are trying to extend or alter their visas to remain in the country legally. "It is a sad commentary ... You can't really blame the program makers," said Alex Nogales, president of the National Hispanic Media Coalition which campaigns for positive Hispanic representation in the U.S. media. "But how humiliating it is, and how desperate do people have to be, to get something that is so necessary to your life and to the future of your children. It is heart-wrenching," he said.
#1
How nice to hear: "The response has been outstanding. We have a waiting list. We get letters in the mail, hundreds if not thousands of phone calls, and had people flying in from places like Chicago who want to be in the show," he said.
Of course, NO ONE is to BLAME, perish the thought, especially the ILLEGAL ALIENS who do not respect our immigration laws. What would happen if every immigrant in the world got it into his/her head to jump the queue and sneak over the US border??? Mexico already has a very generous annual quota for legal entry into the USA. Now here's a novel idea. What about if the Hispanic-American nationals went back to Mexico to try and change the racist political oligarchy which has ruled Mexico for the past 100-200 years to make Mexico a better country to live in to give Mexican children a future there? What if Mexicans themselves had their own version of a Boston Tea Party in their country and said "enough!" Instead we hear the same old, same old blameless "victim" refrain from the usual suspects. "It is a sad commentary ... You canât really blame the program makers," said Alex Nogales, president of the National Hispanic Media Coalition which campaigns for positive Hispanic representation in the U.S. media. "But how humiliating it is, and how desperate do people have to be, to get something that is so necessary to your life and to the future of your children. It is heart-wrenching," he said.
Posted by: rex ||
08/06/2004 17:18 Comments ||
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Funk singer Rick James, best known for the 1981 hit "Super Freak," died Friday, apparently of natural causes, police said.
Now that is a surprise, the "died of natural causes" part anyway.
James, 56, died at 9:45 a.m. at a residence near Universal City, said Officer Esther Reyes, a Police Department spokeswoman. "He died apparently of natural causes. We learned of his death after responding to a radio call," Reyes said. After his big hit, James' fame began to fade as he became embroiled in legal problems and health troubles. James was convicted in 1993 of assaulting two women. The first attack occurred in 1991 when he restrained and burned a young woman with a hot pipe during a cocaine binge at his house in West Hollywood. He was free on bail when the second assault occurred in 1992 in James' hotel room. James was sentenced to more than two years in state prison. In 1997, he released a new album, but a year later he suffered a stroke while performing at Denver's Mammoth Events Center, derailing a comeback tour. In 1998 he also underwent hip replacement surgery.
Of course, "natural causes" for Rick could cover a whole lot. Say Hello to Elvis, Janis and Jim for us, Rick.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/06/2004 3:46:50 PM ||
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#1
Farewell, funky Rick.
"She's super-freaky!"
Posted by: Chris W. ||
08/06/2004 15:55 Comments ||
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#2
goddamit this is sucks. bye rick. ima wonder if dave chappele going make a statemeant.
#6
Considering that inhaling freebase fumes nucleates bubbles of chlorine gas in your bloodstream (you do not want to know what those bubbles then do to your brain tissue), James' passing is less likely due to "natural causes" as compared to cause and effect.
It's a toss up between Rick James and Bobby Brown for the music industry's Rodney King Honorary Trainwreck-of-a-Life award. Courtney Love's been struggling to compete in this category, but is an obvious amateur when compared with these top two.
EFL
An apparent effort by German Subway shops to bash the competition -- in this case, McDonald's -- may be backfiring. As part of the campaign to promote the movie "Super Size Me," so-called "nourishment diaries" that contain images offensive to Americans have been available in at least one German Subway store, according to the Center for Individual Freedom. One of the cartoon images depicts a giant cheeseburger crashing into twin skyscrapers. One of the people running away from the fiery (cartoon) ruins is wearing a cowboy hat.
The "food diaries" -- which encourage customers to record what they eat for 30 days -- are part of a German press kit for Morgan Spurlock's "Super Size Me" -- a movie about a man who gained weight after eating at McDonald's for 30 days straight. But the Center for Individual Freedom said the movie-promotion material is available to customers in at least one Munich Subway store. Subway bills itself as a healthier alternative to fast-food burgers. "The person who sent these materials to us has said very clearly that they were obtained at a Subway store in Munich," CFIF's Marshall Manson told CNSNews.com.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Chris W. ||
08/06/2004 11:26:08 AM ||
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#2
for me it does not matter - subway is out...quizno's is so much better though
Posted by: Dan ||
08/06/2004 12:10 Comments ||
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#3
Dan - the few times I've been to quizno's, I've gotten stomach pains afterwards, so they're out for me.
But there are plenty of other places besides subway. They're not the only (or even the best) game in town.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/06/2004 13:02 Comments ||
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#4
yea i have heard a few other people say that about quizno's..guess i have a rock hard stomach..love the hot..hot salsa that makes you instanctly sweet....
but yes there other places to go..but for me subway is out...and for those who would say your only hurting american jobs..please it's subway..only young highshool/college should be working there..if your over 25 and working at subway start some soul searching on where you went wrong...there are plenty of other similar jobs out there...
Posted by: Dan ||
08/06/2004 13:34 Comments ||
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#5
for those who would say your only hurting american jobs..please it's subway..only young highshool/college should be working there..if your over 25 and working at subway start some soul searching on where you went wrong..
And for the owners of the franchises, who saved to be able to buy the franchise and who often work 12 hr days for years to break even??
Posted by: too true ||
08/06/2004 13:49 Comments ||
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#6
They complain to corporate for their lack of sensitivity to their customers...stock falls, boards change, ad companies change?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/06/2004 13:52 Comments ||
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The "food diaries" -- which encourage customers to record what they eat for 30 days -- are part of a German press kit for Morgan Spurlockâs "Super Size Me" -- a movie about a man who gained weight after eating at McDonaldâs for 30 days straight.
Is there an Academy Award category for "No Fu&in' D'UH"?
#8
#5 that is called free enterprise..just as a business owner has the right to franchise a business i have the right to spend my hard earned money where i want to...if you cannot make it as a small business there are other options to making a living.. and this is too true...
Posted by: Dan ||
08/06/2004 15:12 Comments ||
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#9
#5 i do not owe nothing to no one(but uncle sam - taxes and the draft (if he calls))..this is a country of choice and obvouisly this irritates
you... if your so concerned you should volunteer your time or a portion of your wages to your local small business owner...since according to your logic they cannot make in a free enterprise environment unless we all bend over backwards and accept whatever bullshit they want to shove down our throats..plus this is a franchise and these small business owners are at the mercy of the corp headquaters
in a sense they have it easier than a true small business owner who starts from scatch...
Posted by: Dan ||
08/06/2004 15:20 Comments ||
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#10
What is the big deal here? A company with an extremely crappy product comes out with an extremely crappy publicity campaign. Both items are repellant in and of themselves. Combined, they merely make it all the more apparent that Subway should be denied any thinking person's patronage. Only commercially produced pre-wrapped sandwiches bought from a catering truck or 24 hour store approach the dismal fare that Subway has to offer. Shit product, shit ads, shit company. What's the big mystery? Stop buying their shitty products and the company will go away, along with their highly offensive advertisments.
#13
Zenster, it's FUN to rip on Subway or other deserving idiotarian companies / celebrities etc.
Go right ahead, Chris W., I'm all for fun. It's just that Subway has always had marginal quality at best and their skewed ad campaign is only further proof of this. I'll add that I don't see their promotions as idiotarian, they seem more like capitalizing upon pandering to anti-American perceptions abroad for the sake of a making an extra Deutsche Mark.
This is what Subway's executive ranks need rammed up their collective @ss. Smart franchaise owners in the USA would be wise to figure out some way of delaying their payment of revenues or any other method of making headquarters suffer for this unpatriotic bufoonery. I'm just happy to say I have not voluntarily bought more than two sandwiches from them ever and that was almost a decade ago.
EFL.Nice picture at the link of some Chinese guy meeting his new girlfriend.
Wu Xiao never thought he'd see the day -- China's first officially sanctioned exhibition of adult toys, complete with leather body suits, vibrating rubber tongues and even a U.S. adult movie star. "It's revolutionary!" enthused Wu, the Shanghai sales manager for Wenzhou Lover Health Product Co Ltd, China's largest producer of what are known euphemistically in China as "adult health products". Wenzhou Lover Health Product Co Ltd? I can imagine some of the Chinglish directions that come with some of these things...
"China's changed so much since we started," he said at the show where dildos, vibrators, flavoured lubricants and condoms of every conceivable shape, size and colour were on display. Yep, Mao would keel over dead. Or be a big customer.
While Shanghai was known as the "Whore of the Orient" in the swinging 1920s and 30s, its brothels and wild cabarets were long ago closed by the prudish Communists who swept to power in 1949. But since China began opening up again in the late 1970s, attitudes to sex have begun cautiously to change -- to the extent that the Shanghai government approved the show that opened on Friday. If the Chinese are making them, I guess we'll be seeing these things at our local WalMart soon. Except in Alabama.
Opinions are changing fast, say industry insiders. "It's true, there was some opposition when we went into business 11 years ago," Wu Wei, president of Wenzhou Lover, told Reuters, adding that he often test drove new products personally."Nobody else was making them and we saw the opportunity. I mean, there's 1.3 billion people in China. What a market!" "He often test drove new products personally". Can't wait to see that on the History Channel's "Modern Marvels".
Firms like Wenzhou Lover still face a struggle to persuade Chinese to use toys that carry names such as "The Salsa Shaker," "Pleasure Periscope" and the unnerving-sounding "The Emperor". ...and the even more unnerving-sounding "Chairman Mao".
Pirated and illegal hard-core pornography is readily available on street corners. "If that's the only way they can get them I'd rather have them see me than not," U.S. adult movie star Cindy Crawford told Reuters. Resplendent in pink mini-skirt and revealing plaid top, Crawford -- no relation to the world-famous U.S. supermodel of the same name -- was mobbed by Chinese men wanting her autograph because they believed she was her more famous namesake. I wonder if that's her real name? Well, not really...
"I don't have one of those," said Xie Huazhen, who had come from the southern province of Guangdong just to go to the show, I'm soooooooo lonely....
as she giggled into her handbag and looked at Crawford's own range of adult toys. "Actually, yes I do. I have several," she admitted sheepishly a second later, before scurrying off to another booth. Is this another sector of the American economy that the Chinese will soon decimate? Only time will tell.
Posted by: tu3031 ||
08/06/2004 11:22:25 AM ||
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Think how many Chinese men have no chance whatsoever of getting married because of all those aborted baby girls, or even of occasionally getting laid.
If the choice is offering them a substitute, or having them enrolled in the Chinese army (the traditional destination for surplus males), I would be willing to donate some tax money (*gasp*) to keep the boys happily employed, so to speak!
TAIPEI, Taiwan (Reuters) - China and Taiwan blamed each other Friday for a dangerous escalation in tensions, underscoring the hostility between the arch foes and analysts' fears that the two might be heading for war.
#1
One of Taiwan's biggest problems has been their unwillingness to stand up for themselves in rhetoric. Oddly enough, they would get a lot more respect from the mainland if every time the mainland cut loose with a wave of bellicose snarling to distract from their problems, if Taiwan criticized the mainland for its incompetance, corruption, and general failure.
Taiwan could point out that China doesn't really *need* Taiwan, any more than China needs Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Mongolia, or Tibet.
#2
Considering that Taiwan has one fiftieth (1/50) of China's population, yet maintains one tenth (1/10) of China's GDP (Gross Domestic Product), the politburo's vacillation between threatening and wooing Taiwan is simply laughable.
With industry and citizens that are five times more productive than the mainland, Taiwan needs China like an extra monsoon season.
#3
A final cherry on the sundae. Check out how China rails against Taiwan's possession of ancient Chinese artifacts and historical treasures. In the midst of calling Taiwan thieves and looters, China somehow magically ignores the fact that the "cultural revolution" destroyed countless ancient manuscripts, temples and "degenerate" artworks whose heritage and value go well beyond any possible measure
Taiwan has done more to preserve Chinese heritage than all of China ever has since 1949. The politburo has been breathing their own exhaust for so long they actually believe in their own proclaimed infallibility. Reminiscent of North Korea's self-declared perfection as a state, this delusional mentality represents the greatest danger of all to the entire region.
This is from Unfit for Command, the new book by John O'Neill, the man who took over John Kerry's Swift Boat, and co-author Jerome Corsi:
Kerry also described, for example, for the Boston Herald his vivid memories of his Christmas Eve spent in Cambodia:
"I remember spending Christmas Eve of 1968 five miles across the Cambodian border being shot at by our South Vietnamese allies who were drunk and celebrating Christmas. The absurdity of almost being killed by our own allies in a country in which President Nixon claimed there were no American troops was
very real."
Problem One: Nixon hadn't taken office yet.
Problem Two: "During Christmas 1968, he was more than fifty miles away from Cambodia. Kerry was never ordered into Cambodia by anyone and would
have been court-martialed had he gone there. During Christmas 1968, Kerry was stationed at Coastal Division 13 in Cat Lo. Coastal Division 13's patrol areas extended to Sa Dec, about fifty-five miles from the Cambodian border...
All the living commanders in Kerry's chain of command—Joe Streuhli (Commander of CosDiv 13), George Elliott (Commander of CosDiv 11), Adrian Lonsdale (Captain, USCG and Commander, Coastal Surveillance Center at An Thoi), Rear Admiral Roy Hoffmann (Commander, Coastal Surveillance Force Vietnam, CTF 115), and Rear Admiral Art Price (Commander of River Patrol Force, CTF 116)—deny that Kerry was ever ordered to Cambodia...
At least three of the five crewmen on Kerry's PCF 44 boat—Bill Zaldonis, Steven Hatch, and Steve Gardner—deny that they or their boat were ever in Cambodia. The remaining two crewmen declined to be interviewed for this book.
The Cambodia incursion story is not included in Tour of Duty [the book on Kerry's war years by Douglas Brinkley]. Instead, Kerry replaces the story with a report about a mortar attack that occurred on Christmas Eve 1968 "near the Cambodia border" in a town called Sa Dec, some fifty-five miles from the Cambodian border.
Somehow, Kerry's secret illegal mission to Cambodia, which he recounted on the floor of the U.S. Senate in 1986, is now a firefight at Sa Dec and a Christmas day spent back at the base writing entries in his journal.
Unless O'Neill and Corsi have made some major error in their reporting, this is pretty stunning. Either Kerry is a pathological liar, or every man in his chain of command is.
Er, I guess it depends on your definition of "Cambodia"
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/06/2004 1:31:08 PM ||
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He was in Cambodia before he wasn't.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/06/2004 13:43 Comments ||
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I'm eager to see what else is in the book.
I read the first chapter online (can dig up the URL if anyone cares). It's all about Kerry's unearned Purple Hearts. It closes with the Christmas story. Even if all the swift boat stuff gets torn to shreds (which I don't think it will), there's still this and, I imagine, plenty of other lies and flip-flops that will be exposed.
Expect the media to focus on other stuff, and pray that people ignore them and find out the truth on their own.
#3
The DNC and media is focusing exclusively on the fact that noboby who authored the book served *under* Kerry. (All the people served WITH Kerry - on other boats on IN HIS CHAIN OF COMMAND).
#5
Here's another interesting Kerry tidbit (from NRO's The Corner):
WHAT KERRY DID [KJL]
Listen, he wasn't president on Sept. 11, and I am not questioning his reflexes or reactions, but it is worth noting what Kerry did do on Sept. 11, 2001. Here's what he told Larry King: "...And as I came in [to a meeting in Sen. Daschle's office], Barbara Boxer and Harry Reid were standing there, and we watched the second plane come in to the building. And we shortly thereafter sat down at the table and then we just realized nobody could think, and then boom, right behind us, we saw the cloud of explosion at the Pentagon..."
Kudos to Red State for finding that. And for noting: "It should be noted that the second plane hit the World Trade Center at 9:03 a.m., and the plane hit the Pentagon at 9:43 a.m. By Kerry's own words, he and his fellow senators sat there for forty minutes, realizing 'nobody could think.'"
Posted by: Tibor ||
08/06/2004 15:18 Comments ||
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#6
By Kerry's own words, he and his fellow senators sat there for forty minutes, realizing 'nobody could think.'"
Between him, Tom Daschele and Barbara Boxer, I don't think it is news that they can't think.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/06/2004 15:35 Comments ||
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#7
Tom Daschele, Barbara Boxer, and John Kerry? Not enough brain cells there to form a coherent thought, let alone take action. But there is hope! Tommy boy and Babs are both up for elections and maybe they wonât face any of these hard decisions anymore.
#8
Can you imagine a newly retired 1st LT coming forward tomorrow to denounce the war in Iraq and announce they he had been across the border into Syria or Iran to hunt terrorists. I personally would immediately get out the checkbook and write a fat one to GW's campaign. Interdicting enemy supply lines and attacking his bases is a good thing. If Kerry were correct about us being in Cambodia in X-mas 68, wouldn't it mean that Johnson was playing to win - unfortunately that wasn't the case.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/06/2004 17:10 Comments ||
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DAVENPORT, Iowa (Reuters) - Competing for votes in corn-growing Iowa, John Kerry waved to crowds with one ear in each hand. Not to be outdone by his Democratic rival, President Bush ate one raw. Cultivating the corn vote is serious business in the battleground Midwestern state, where the rival presidential candidates converged on Wednesday. Bush lost the state to Democrat Al Gore in 2000 by just 4,144 votes, or roughly two votes for every precinct. Polls show the 2004 race is another dead heat. Iowa is the No. 1 corn-producing state in the nation, and Bush and Kerry are campaigning here with promises to help the state's farmers.
Kerry declared his enthusiasm for corn by sticking his head out the window of his campaign bus. He waved both hands with corn.
Producing yet another goofy picture.
After their simultaneous rallies in Davenport in eastern Iowa, Bush stopped at a farmer's market in nearby Bettendorf and bought some ears of sweet corn. The president took a bite of one on the spot. "Oh yeah. You don't even have to cook it. It's really good," Bush declared.
Showing the farmers he really does know his way around a ear of corn. I don't know any people who haven't picked a ear of corn off a stalk in the field who would even think to eat it raw.
Raw corn is typically fed to livestock, but Irvin Anderson, a professor of corn physiology and biochemistry at Iowa State University, said some people liked it raw. "Most people will boil it and put butter on it. But you can eat it off the cob raw. It has a sweet taste to it," he said.
Use to do it as a kid myself, it's good stuff.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/06/2004 10:21:18 AM ||
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What they don't say is that while Kerry and Bush were preoccupying the police, THREE banks were robbed. Not a joke, the two presidential candidates, out of the whole country, ended up in Davenport IA mere blocks from eachother, and while police handled security/traffic three banks were robbed.
Posted by: Charles ||
08/06/2004 10:47 Comments ||
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#2
...Irvin Anderson, a professor of corn physiology and biochemistry at Iowa State University, said some people liked it raw. "Most people will boil it and put butter on it. But you can eat it off the cob raw. It has a sweet taste to it," he said.
Weeeeeellll, doggies! Good thang they found them a perfesser to 'splain it to 'em. No ordinary person woulda known that.
#3
The "raw corn" fed to livestock is field corn not sweet corn which is specifically grown for human consumption. Field corn has more starch than sugar, large kernels, very large ears and low water content, sweet corn has the opposite features. Field corn dries out nicely (for storage without spoiling)with little shrinkage, if you dry out sweet corn the kernels end up quite tiny. Of course livestock would eat sweet corn, but they do not often get it, as field corn is much cheaper!
Forgive me but I live in Iowa, and such details are very important to us here. Corn, corn, corn, and maybe a few acres of soybeans. It is very corny out here!
Posted by: Chris W. ||
08/06/2004 11:08 Comments ||
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#6
Craig - Hey, bro - good post! I'm not a farmer, but when I was a kid there were periods when we grew our own corn, potatoes, tomatos, squash, melons... One thing you said has me puzzled: "field corn is much cheaper"
Why? Is it just cuz the seed is cheaper? Less fertilizing / watering?
#7
Field corn is grown mainly for feed for livestock. People prefer sweet corn for the reasons mentioned above, in another post.
I've eaten many an ear of sweet corn "raw" out in the field. It's NOT raw when you pick it off the stalk. It's simply not heated up. I also eat tomatoes straight off the vine, believe it or not!
GWB has obviously been around corn growing in the field before and knows how sweet and juicy it is. IT IS SO GOOD!!
I can think of 2 reasons why field corn is cheaper than sweet corn.
1. Field corn grows 8+ feet tall, thereby yielding many more "ears" per acre. Sweet corn grows only 5 to 6 feet tall, (fewer ears per acre).
2. Humans, "the people with all the money", buy sweet corn, because it's so much better for "people" to eat. I don't like to eat field corn....too dry.
Posted by: Halfass Pete ||
08/06/2004 12:54 Comments ||
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#8
.com-
Field corn is grown in much greater amount, huge fields with the amount of labor per acre already very low and dropping every year as the machinery gets bigger and bigger. It is picked by machine and shelled right off the cob by the same machine, so all that is hauled around is the net weight of the kernels themselves. Sweet corn is picked by hand and all the excess weight of the husk and cob has to be transported as well.
I'm sure the big component is labor- you end up getting a bushel of field corn kernels with a net weight of around 34 lbs (IIRC) for as low as $2. Sweet corn even here in the center of corn country costs around $2.50 for a dozen ears which might yield 2-3 pounds of net kernels.
The other big issue is perishability. Sweet corn is best picked and cooked within a few hours, the sugar in it is continually degrading into starch with each passing hour. Field corn is picked when it is almost dry, and usually further dried for optimum storage. The stuff can last for literally years if handled and properly kept.
WOW! That is way too much info on corn, I really do need to get a life. LOL.
#9
Awesome, Craig! I didn'tknow about the hand-picked part, didn't know it was common to have the machinery to separate kernals on the fly for field corn, nor that the time factor was that important! I'll be more appreciative of America's largesse the next time I stop at a roadside stand or go on safari to the Farmer's Market. Cool! You're the RB Pro, IMHO! Thanks!
#10
Craig, thanks for the corn info. It's good for us Rantburgers to read some info not on the WOT from time to time. My friends get nervous when I start reciting al-Qaeda org charts to them.
Plus now we know who ask about popcorn the next time Fatah starts bumping off Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade bigs...
#11
Iâm waiting until they head over to South Carolina with all those pig farms. Will Kerry try to one-up Bush by eating one raw? Or will Bush challenge Kerry to a pickled pigs feet eating contest? I donât want to even think what the bet will be in San Francisco! Kerry will probably marry his running mate to cement the gay vote!
#12
My mom was real big on home canned corn. We used to go out and get 12 dozen ears of sweet corn, haul it home and start shucking.
We would shuck the corn, then seperate the kernels from the cob (using a knife - none of that wussy corn-cobber shait) into a big pan and bake it for 20 mins with butter. Then stuff it in jars, and pressure cook it for 90 mins at 10lbs. We would have two large pressure cookers running at the same time and it would be damn hot in that kitchen! But the result would be so good.
#14
Perhaps the President can lure his rival into a pepper popping match in New Mexico.... I would expect the Pres would have way better info about which ones to pick and pop.
#15
I think Bush would not only know which peppers to pick and pop, I'd be he could pick the hottest one and eat it without crying or blaming his secret service guys.
#16
Yank - now there's a contest I'd pay good money to see! :-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/06/2004 16:01 Comments ||
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#17
...we called it Maize.
Posted by: Land O Lakes Lady ||
08/06/2004 16:21 Comments ||
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#18
...we called it Maize.
You're not the Land O Lakes Lady, dammit, you're the Mazola Margarine Lady!
As Dave Barry said, "Does she mean her people at the ad agency, or her people at the margarine company?"
We used to eat field corn sometimes when I was a kid. It was OK when it's fresh-picked. It's not as good as sweet corn, but with enough butter and salt it doesn't matter.
I'm not sure if this is the biggest statistical discrepancy in govt. history but, if not, it is at least in the top ten.
per the report from the survey of business establishments
Nonfarm employment was little changed (+32,000) in July
per the report from the survey of households
Total employment rose by 629,000 to 139.7 million in July, and the employment population ratio--the proportion of the population age 16 and over with jobs--increased to 62.5 percent. The civilian labor force also increased over the month, rising by 577,000 to 147.9 million, and the labor force participation rate rose to 66.2 percent.
It seemed to me that earlier this decade the household report was a precusor not the other way around but I haven't done a study -
Posted by: mhw ||
08/06/2004 10:31:23 AM ||
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#1
I've been in this same exact argument with a co-worker all morning. Yesterday he claimed that unemployment was up yet it is actually down (MSNBC Squakbox is his favorite show, G-d knows why). Of course, when I hit him with the facts he says that new jobs had slowed, yeah that's it that's the ticket.
How can they say non-farm jobs rose by only 32k when total jobs rose by a whopping 629K in July? Am I to assume that 597K FARM jobs were created? Bull. Shit.
But in all seriousness, if anyone out there can make sense out of this I, for one, would appreciate it.
(Good catch BTW mhw. The AP report takes this Labor information almost word-for-word, yet "forgets" all about the third paragraph. I know it's a long way down the page, so the monkeys at AP probably got tired and took a nap before reading the rest of it. They did, however, mention the unemployment figure going down. Bully for them.)
Posted by: Chris W. ||
08/06/2004 11:03 Comments ||
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#2
AP always puts more focus on the business establishment survey, so does CNN, etc.
The business establishment survey has a much bigger sample size--- so most people consider it more accurate. There were some months this year where the business survey showed more growth than the household survey.
There are, IMO, two keys to understanding this:
1. there are two surveys; one is not a subset of the other;
2. our economy is very complex; people sometimes have more than one job; sometimes they even are sole propriators in more than one business; sometimes they do work with complicated contractual arrangements
#4
The payroll report is the more reliable number since it surveys actual payroll headcount. The household survey numbers are softer because the survey asks how many people in your household are working. Small businesses and sole proprietorships such as consultancies are not included in the payroll survey. One weakness in the household number is that people who are severely underemployed often say that they are working. All in all, it's a mixed bag for W. Had the unemployment rate not fallen, he would be getting even more sh*t from Kerry.
Posted by: Tibor ||
08/06/2004 13:12 Comments ||
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#5
They establishment survey is taken by I believe about 300,000 businesses in the US. It is mostly filled with the mid-size and large corps operating in the US and not so much the smaller companies. Also I'm not sure how it deals with large foreign firms that have offices in the US.
The household survey is taken by calling up 60,000 households each month and asking about their employment situation.
The problem with the establishment survey is that because it focuses on larger companies it doesn't reflect growth in employment when that growth is focused on small businesses or self-employed... which are both becoming more prevalent in our economy.
The problem with the household survey is that since you're extrapolating up from 60,000 households to determine what's going on in 70 million households there is a larger range of error.
My opinion is that the establishment survey is becoming increasingly worthless each year and the only true measurement to judge is the household survey trendline over the course of a year or so. An individual month or few doesn't tell you anything because it could easily fall in the margin of error.
#6
An individual month or few doesn't tell you anything because it could easily fall in the margin of error.
damn proud,
I agree with your statement above. It probably makes sense for the BLS to put a four month moving average together like what is done for the weekly new unemployment number. The only reason BLS doesn't do this is because it would be admitting exactly what your statement says.
Oddly enough, this year the big gains in employment in the payroll survey have come in months with an 'r' in them.
#7
139,660,000 people were employed in July, a new record. This is an increase of 1,870,000 from January 2001 when George Bush took office and an increase of 1,094,000 in 2004 alone. This is also an increase from the bottom of the recession in January 2002 of 3,945,000. Nearly four million jobs!Data and graphs
#9
mhw - how about if tax cuts generate small business jobs, and many of those are self-employed, i.e.: no W-2's, then the household survey is more accurate?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/06/2004 19:18 Comments ||
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The letter claims the ad is "false" and "libelous" and suggests, in not-so-subtle terms, that TV stations should use their "legal authority" to refuse any requests for advertising airtime, stating that "because your station has this freedom [to refuse the ad], and because it is not a 'use' of your facilities by a clearly identified candidate, your station is responsible for the false and libelous charges made by this sponsor" (emphasis added).
As their first piece of evidence of the ad's supposed lies, the DNC/Kerry lawyers claim that the veterans in the ad "purport to have served on Senator Kerry's SWIFT Boat in Vietnam" but, "in fact, not a single one of the men who pretend to have served with Senator Kerry was actually a crewmate of Senator Kerry's." The problem is that none of these men claimed to have served on Kerry's SWIFT Boat. They simply said they "served with John Kerry" -- and they did. The letter goes on to make several more misleading statements about the advertisement, in an attempt to protect Kerry's "war hero" record. Read the full text below. Copy of fax at the link.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/06/2004 8:51:39 AM ||
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Link ||
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#1
I am not Kerry supporter, but the man did serve with a forward unit and was under enemy fire during his service in Viet Nam. He ought to get a pass for that. I am pretty certain his combat record is fishy, but to me that is a non-issue. He did more than I ever did.
Having said all that, I think his record following Viet Nam speaks volumes about Kerry much more than the character of his military service: the lies and the associations he made directly after coming back from 'Nam.
It is like this: Kerry is walking along a lake shore. He sees a man he knows drowning, a gay man. So he dives in the save the gay guy. While Kerry is bringing the guy back to land, the gay guy is flailing and he strikes Kerry.
Kerry shouts, "Stop hitting me you f*cking faggot!"
When they get to shore, the gay guy runs to a news reporter and tell the reporter: "He just called me a f*cking faggot!"
So what is the story? To the media, the story is Kerry is a homophobe. To the rest of us, Kerry just saved the like of an ungrateful f*cking faggot.
#2
Bzzzzt! Bad answer! To the media Kerry is....not Bush!
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/06/2004 9:50 Comments ||
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#3
Interesting story. Except, Kerry would have knocked the man down in his haste to call the media himself... assuming he didn't take time to arrange for media coverage before he even set foot in the water.
#4
I heard that one of SBCFTT recanted his story (via Drudge). But that just the person who signed off on the Silver Star, not someone that was on scene during the action. I still find it odd that only one person (out of ?25?) was awarded a single award for valor and nobody else got any other awards. Were the rest of them standing still and watching Johnny Rambo save the day?
#5
The recantation of this fellow looks as though the DNC lawyer goons are working both ends of the issue. They must have something on this guy.
Elliott is quoted as saying that Kerry ''lied about what occurred in Vietnam . . . for example, in connection with his Silver Star, I was never informed that he had simply shot a wounded, fleeing Viet Cong in the back."
and
Yesterday, reached at his home, Elliott said he regretted signing the affidavit and said he still thinks Kerry deserved the Silver Star.
''I still don't think he shot the guy in the back," Elliott said. ''It was a terrible mistake probably for me to sign the affidavit with those words. I'm the one in trouble here."
Elliott said he was no under personal or political pressure to sign the statement, but he did feel ''time pressure" from those involved in the book. ''That's no excuse," Elliott said. ''I knew it was wrong . . . In a hurry I signed it and faxed it back. That was a mistake."
This all sounds like the PC police intimidating a person to sign an apology for violating a speech code at a college campus, whern they did something wrong. Has to be Kerry's goon lawyers.
(1) Kerry brought this all on himself when he based his campaign on 4 months that transpired over 30 years ago.
(2) Just as Kerry uses his stage hand 'band of brothers' to gin up his campaign, the Swiftvets have every right to set the record straight as they see it. While Elliott may have recanted, possibly pressured by DNC lawyers, there are many others who continue to stand on their affidavits. Of course, you will only hear about the one who recanted.
(3) Kerry, demanding the spotlight be shined on him for what he did 30 years ago, has taken the spotlight away from where it should be trained today; namely, the brave men and women currently fighting dying in Iraq and Afganistan.
Posted by: Capt America ||
08/06/2004 11:26 Comments ||
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#7
Kerry would have to re-enact the scene for us and add computer-generated bullet fire to the event.
Posted by: Chris W. ||
08/06/2004 11:43 Comments ||
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#8
I heard the Author of the book on Medvid yesterday and he had a VERY compelling story. He also debated Johnny on his calims back in ?1973? so he isn't "just coming out of the closet" with 'new' charges. His story hasn't changed in 30 years but Senators Kerry's story seem to change every five years or so. Read the chapter and you'll know what I mean.
But on the bright side, the Swift Boat Vets have their own lawyer in the ranks, John E. O'Neill, the gifted author of Unfit for Command and a very articulate speaker, to boot.
Posted by: rex ||
08/06/2004 13:43 Comments ||
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#10
According to Drudge:
"Captain George Elliott describes an article appearing in todayâs edition of the BOSTON GLOBE by Mike Kranish as extremely inaccurate and highly misstating his actual views. He reaffirms his statement in the current advertisement paid for by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, Captain Elliott reaffirms his affidavit in support of that advertisement, and he reaffirms his request that he ad be played.
#11
The Boston Globe reporter Mike Kranish is also one of Kerry's biographers and is writing the Kerry-Edwards official campaign book. Guess there's no bias there, huh?
Posted by: Steve ||
08/06/2004 14:08 Comments ||
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#12
Rush just noted that Globe writer Kranish is also writing the yet unpublished book memorializing Kedwards campaign...go figure!
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/06/2004 14:10 Comments ||
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#13
jeez...beat by the army of Steve! Again!
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/06/2004 14:12 Comments ||
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#14
Just Googled him, he's got four Kerry books listed on Barnes & Noble.
No one beats the Army Of Steve! Bwahahaha!
Posted by: Steve ||
08/06/2004 14:14 Comments ||
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#15
Also this bit on Drudge story by George Elliott:
"The article by Mr. Kranish is particularly surprising given page 102 of Mr. Kranishâs own book quoting John Kerry as acknowledging that he killed a single, wounded, fleeing Viet Cong soldier whom he was afraid would turn around."
As they say, "He should know, he wrote the book on it".
Posted by: Steve ||
08/06/2004 14:23 Comments ||
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#16
What convinced me is the fax the DNC sent out to shut down the ad. The fax says that non of them served on the boat with Kerry. Well the ad never made that claim, its very clear. The fax also gets all specific that the doctor in the commercial is not the one that signed Kerry's release papers. The commercial says he treated Kerry, not that he signed the release papers. Why doesn't the fax say he wasn't the guy that treated Kerry?
Why present strawman arguements if you're in the right Senator Kerry. To a careful reader it makes you look like your trying to blur the issue when you know you're in the wrong.
From Compass Direct
A lawyer who has fought for the past year for Christian widow Siham Qandah to retain custody of her two children expects the Supreme Islamic Court of Jordan to rule against her in the next few days. After filing a final appeal on July 18, attorney Rateb al-Dhaher told Qandah that her legal options have been exhausted. .... If Qandah loses the appeal, she will be ordered by the court to surrender her daughter Rawan, 15, and son Fadi, 14, to their Muslim guardian, Abdullah al-Muhtadi. If she refuses to do so, the children will be taken from her forcibly, and she will be jailed for contempt of court for 30 days.
Although al-Muhtadi is the children's maternal uncle, he has been estranged from them and the rest of his Christian family since he converted to Islam as a teenager. He was named their legal guardian in 1995 at his sister's request, after her late husband's alleged "conversion" certificate was produced in an Islamic court. According to the document, Qandah's Christian husband had secretly converted to Islam three years before his death. But the uncle soon began to appropriate the children's monthly orphan benefits, and in 1998 he filed a case to take custody of them away from his Christian sister, so that he could raise them as Muslims. Although baptized and raised as Christians, the children are considered Muslims under Jordanian law until age 18 because of their father's alleged "conversion." Their Christian mother is not allowed by Islamic law to handle their financial affairs.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
08/06/2004 12:26:01 AM ||
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#1
The American people can stop this from happening enmasse at the time that they decide to tune in an get pissed off. I think that we are getting closer everyday, but I am impatient.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/06/2004 0:39 Comments ||
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#2
Isn't there anyone who can help this woman???? My God, they are going to take her children and force them to be Muslims!
Its times like these that I wish there was someone who could smuggle people in this type of situation out of countries like these.
Yeah, Islam has done more for women's rights than any other religion. All Muslim women live in terror of divorce because they automatically lose their children and they have no rights to them after a divorce of the husband is against it. Is there anything more cruel in all the world to forcibly take a woman's children from her?
You know what we need? We need to be writing someone on her behalf. What about writing King Abdullah and shaming him into intervening. We should write the White House. There has to be some way to put international pressure on Jordan to keep this family together. It worked in the stoning cases in Nigeria, didn't it?
Who else wants to bomb King Abdullah with angry letters???
#4
i am so sick of muslims and thier hypocrisy...how in the hell can an uncle have custody when one of the parents is still alive...
super hose - it will take an attack of extreme proportions to jar the american pyche...we have trully lost the edge our grandparents had....we are more concerned with how we are viewed than with actually protecting our nation...one big thank you to clinton...
Posted by: Dan ||
08/06/2004 10:28 Comments ||
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#5
how in the hell can an uncle have custody when one of the parents is still alive...
As far as they're concerned, she's NOT alive.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/06/2004 10:40 Comments ||
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#6
This should be a warning to all. If you ever find yourself a minority or a woman in a conflict with islamic law, you just need to run right then and there since the outcome is a foregone conclusion and there is no room for mercy or the consideration of the human rights of anyone but muslim males whenever their interests are involved. Don't wait for justice to prevail because it won't. The odds are stacked high against you. Take yourselves and your loved ones and run as far and fast as you can. Flee the country. Throw yourself at the mercy of some foreign embassy. In this kind of case that is the only hope.
I really do hope that this woman doesn't wait for the verdict. She needs to go to the US or British embassy right now with her kids and claim asylum immediately. I pray to God that she does.
#7
Important detail: Once the children have been declared "Moslem", when they turn 18 and renounce Islam, I bet you that they are called "apostates", which is probably illegal in Jordan.
Here's the link to the feedback section of King Abdullah's website. I'm not sure he will get to see it but maybe there is a chance that he might and he might be persuaded to intervene to save his precious reputation as a progressive.
Please send only respectful requests or else the whole effort might be completely sabatoged. He doesn't have to listen to anyone much less a bunch of rude and abusive Americans.
#9
peggy - Ahem, since you are a woman, and a woman's testimony is only worth 1/4 of a man's under Shari'a, I only read every fourth word of your post. I hate to tell you this, but it made almost no sense...
"This warning you a woman with just right since a there for consideration rights muslim interests wait prevail the high yourselves ones far you country the foreign kind is I that wait she to British with claim I that..."
Now is that any way to talk? Sheesh!
->
Lol! Sorry, couldn't help myself. You're dead right: get out before they know your intentions. Run. Like. Hell. Itself. Is. After. You... because it is. Good posts, heh!
#14
OK, what possible reason could a Christian have for "secretly" converting to Islam in a country like Jordan? I mean, it would have been in his social, political, and financial best interest to trumpet such a thing as much as he could.
Why did the mother agree to a guardianship in the first place? Gun to her head? Financial benefit to the children as "Muslim" heirs to daddy's estate?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
08/06/2004 13:33 Comments ||
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#15
Lol! I was only magnifying peggy's point about get out now - once they know your intentions, you're screwed if you're a femalian under Shari'a.
#16
A gun to her head, figuratively if not physically? I think so. A Christian woman vs any Muslim blood relative in Islamoland? She is screwed. Short of slitting her own throat, there is little she can do except perhaps try to maintain ties with the rest of her Christian relatives in the hopes they can do seomthing about it-making a big international scandal of it is probably her best bet.
The article cites the rest of the Christian family-isn't one of the relatives in the family male? She needs to get the male family members to chase some justice for her, until the medieval realm of Jordan decides to leave Neandrathal Islam behind and join the rest of the civilized world.
This is one more example of how dangerous it would be to allow sharia law even one step inside American justice.
Yeah it was a gun to her head. As far as I can figure out, her husband dies. Sometime after that brother dearest the Islamofacist, produces a certificate of conversion which her husband supposedly signed before he died. Yet he converted secretly and conveniently didn't tell any of his Christian family. This made the children raised as Christians automatically Muslims which meant that the Christian mother was not legally allowed to handle their affairs anymore. Out of desparation, she fell into the brothers trap and assigned him gaurdianship so that the kids could get the pension they had coming to them from dad. Uncle steals most of it and when mother complains he files for full custody so that he can rescue the poor Muslim children, I mean raise the children as the Muslims that they are now like it or not.
It turns my stomach to think of the brainwashing thses kids are facing. The uncle will get them all alone and he won't stop showing them proof of how corrupt the Bible is and how perfect the koran is without any dissenting voices to get in his way. By the time the children come of age they will be properly brainwashed. The girl will have married a Muslim while still a minor and will have no rights anymore to determine her life. A Christian girls children will be rasied Muslims. Ethinic cleansing in miniature.
But oh how the Muslims would seeth and boil and fume if a Muslim child adopted by a Christian family wasn't raised as a Muslim. I could just puke.
I think that this woman defintely has a case on the grounds of human rights. It is a case of ethnic cleansing in minature. She is having her children stolen from under her nose in retaliation for complaining about her brother, the theif of their child support. And the government of Jordan has done nothing.
Yes her relatives could make a stink but they will all suffer for it. We in the free world need to use our freedom to make a stink about it. Write Abdullah, call him on the mat to show if he's really the progressive that he claims to be. Write, write anyone that might make a stink on her behalf. This needs to become a big deal if this lady is going to get to keep her kids.
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