About freakin' time...
Microsoft Corp., the world's largest software maker, said it will offer a new version of Windows XP in August to improve protection against computer viruses. The company will complete work on Windows XP Service Pack 2 and begin distributing it free over the Internet to customers who already own Windows XP, Microsoft Vice President Mike Nash said in an interview. The company initially planned to offer the update, which will also be loaded on new computers, by June. Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, has spent months improving security in Windows XP after two major computer worms crashed computers and slowed customers' networks last August. The work on the Windows XP update, whe work on Windows XP Service Pack 2 and begin distributing it free over the Internet to cust the company's work on its next version of Windows. Shares of Microsoft fell 2 cents to $27.84 as of 2:30 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market Composite trading.
$27 is extremely cheap for MS. They have tons of cash just begging to be given away in dividends.
disclaimer: No, I do not own MS stock. Yet.
Posted by: Rafael ||
07/12/2004 18:45 Comments ||
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#2
The company will complete work on Windows XP Service Pack 2 and begin distributing it free over the Internet to customers who already own Windows XP...
Then they'll charge you for the update to the (inevitably) broken update. Bah.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
07/12/2004 21:32 Comments ||
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A surfer was bitten in half after losing a desperate fight for his life with two Great White sharks. Brad Smith, 29, was surfing off the Western Australian coast when a huge shark 'as wide as a car' lunged out of the water and snapped his board in half. Mr Smith's friends could only watch in horror as he fell into the sea and another of the enormous creatures moved in on him. Experts said it was almost as if they had ambushed him.
Islamofascist sharks?
The surfer lashed out with his fists to try to keep the sharks at bay as they came at him repeatedly. But after just 45 seconds he disappeared beneath the surface - and the water turned red. When his body floated back up, his friends risked their own lives to go out and drag it back to shore. Yesterday they were too upset to describe his injuries, but another surfer at Left Handers Beach near the resort of Gracetown said he had been warned: 'Don't go in there, someone's been bitten in half by a shark dude.'
That would do it for me.
Another surfer Cameron Rowe, 17, said: 'There was nothing we could do to help him. At first I saw one shark and thought it was one of the usual ones you see swimming-around, reef sharks, which don't cause you any trouble. But these things were massive. When the first one came up a bit I could see its fin and it was almost a yard high. When it came out of the water with Brad still fighting it, I could see its body was about the width of a car and its open jaws were as wide as a man's arm. What happened then just ended up in a terrible feeding frenzy. It was awful.'
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/12/2004 12:19:18 PM ||
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'You could see Brad trying to whack at them to keep them away. We were shouting out, "Swim for your life, mate! Swim for your life!"
it in kind of hard swim with no legs. they are shuldnt kill the sharks. first how are they know they killing the right one? if you are go in the sharks teritory you shuld know you risk you life. ima place the blame the surfer. the sharks arent wander onto the land did they?
#6
boo hoo fuking hoo. they are can still go to the beach. they are just have to know there risks. the box jellyfish is kill more peples on australian beaches than sharks. are you going kill all the animals in the ocean just so you are can go swimming? are you kill all the polar and kodiak bears in alaska so it is make safer hiking? that in not right. why arent we kill all the gators in florida to.
#15
Just a clever way to promote Shark Week on the Discovery Channel. Kicks off on July 25th with "Primal Scream".
Posted by: Steve ||
07/12/2004 14:32 Comments ||
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Australia's missing the big picture.Leave the sharks alone and simply advertise,X-TREME SURFING.The idiots will still surf,the bloodthirst crowd will fill the beaches to see if sharks believe in catch-and-release.PETA would probably still protest,demanding the boards be edible,but you can't please everyone.
Posted by: Stephen ||
07/12/2004 14:38 Comments ||
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#17
Make the boards edible.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
07/12/2004 14:59 Comments ||
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#19
and swimsuits are bad for the alimentary tracks of the sharks. Surf nude
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/12/2004 15:20 Comments ||
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#20
During the original "Jaws" movie, my brother's friend shouted "I'm not half the man I used to be!" when Quint gets bitten in half. Sorry it happened to an Aussie, though. Here's my reverse Michael Moore impression -- Why did these sharks attack an Australian ally? Don't they know that the French are the perfidous @ssholes who didn't support us in Iraq and elsewhere?
Posted by: Tibor ||
07/12/2004 15:20 Comments ||
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#21
"What were some of the others from this classic bit?"
#22
"Civilization stops at the waterline. After that, we all enter the food chain, and not always right at the top, either."
-- Hunter S. Thompson, "The Great Shark Hunt"
EFL
A Delaware college student ate a bag of hallucinogenic mushrooms and drove around in a pair of stolen cars before arriving, confused, on a mountain in northwest Connecticut police said. Paul Cunningham, 21, hiked to a nearby home Thursday night and asked to call 911, police said. And for some Nachos, dude.
"I think I stole a car, dude" Cunningham told a dispatcher. "I'm not sure." He told police he remembers taking a train to LaGuardia Airport in New York, where he found a car with its keys in it. He's unsure where he went from there. Yep. You were stoned.
After locking the keys in the stolen car, Cunningham allegedly stole a van from a Southbury rest stop. Joke: Why did the stoned car thief climb the mountain?
In Canaan, he decided to climb Music Mountain to see what was on the other side, police said. Investigators believe the exercise cleared Cunningham's head. Punch line: To see the other side.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Join me later for more jokes and humor.(Hey look mom, no page 71! Bwawawawa!)
#7
Holy Organic Chemistry, .com! Back to the chemistry books. We'll reverse engineer the mushrooms and put a solution of the Secret Ingredients⢠into the water system in Fallujah, if they have one, stand back and watch the fun!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/12/2004 18:16 Comments ||
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#8
Ah, to be well informed is to be well armed, heh. Knowing how to handle the 'shrooms can be useful when dealing with certain types of people who need to open up, purge themselves, come clean... Imagine the fun you could have interrogating the Al Jizz reporter fresh from Fallujah or "first on the scene" at an IED attack...
#9
I got some really heavy pulses off this story. Flashback: trying to play touch football at 3 am on a January morning, barefoot, while zonked on buttons.
Didn't work too good.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
07/12/2004 18:33 Comments ||
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#8: There is no difference between a normal al Jizz reporter and one on a trip. The logic is just as random.
London Mayor Ken Livingstone offered a warm public greeting to Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the Egyptian-born Muslim writer and theologian, near the end of a weeklong speaking tour of Britain. "You are truly welcome, welcome to London, a city of all faiths," Livingstone said.
But not all Britons have been as welcoming. The controversial cleric's tour has raised protests from politicians, Jews, gays, and even some British Muslims. "It is inflammatory, it is damaging for race relations in this country." Al-Qaradawi, who is 77, has condoned suicide bombings as an acceptable tactic for Palestinians -- a view that has banned him from traveling to the United States. But he is a frequent visitor to Britain. His arrival sparked a sharp exchange in the British Parliament between Prime Minister Tony Blair and opposition leader Michael Howard. "When I was home secretary [interior minister], I used my powers to ban people whose presence here was not conducive to the public good. I banned them. Why doesn't [Blair's] home secretary do the same?" Howard said.
Blair's reply was similarly heated. "This is not a party political issue, for goodness' sake. We are totally opposed, as is everyone, to people coming to this country and using it as a platform for views in support of terrorism or extremism of any sort at all," Blair said.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/12/2004 9:50:08 PM ||
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More than 100,000 civil servants and officials are to face the axe to release funds for frontline public services, Chancellor Gordon Brown has announced. Unveiling his three-year spending review for Government departments, Mr Brown promised above inflation increases for defence and security. He told MPs that 84,150 civil service jobs would go, with a further 20,000 posts to be cut from the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales, and from the Northern Ireland Office. Defence spending is set to rise from £29.7 billion to £33.4 billion by 2008 - a real terms increase of 1.4%. Mr Brown said that it represented the biggest sustained increase in defence spending for more two decades. In addition spending on homeland security is set to double from £1 billion to £2.1 billion over the period of the review.
Commenting on his defence spending proposals, the Chancellor told MPs: "Taken together, these rises provide for a faster rate of real terms growth in this spending round than the last and ensures the longest sustained real terms increase in defence spending for 20 years." On security, the Chancellor said: "Before September 11th, spending on security at home was £950 million a year. "Having agreed a set of reforms that modernise our border security, our counter terrorism capabilities, our radio communication systems, our arrangements in respect of nuclear and chemical decontamination, and added 1,000 staff to our intelligence services, overall security spending will rise from £950 million in 2001 and £1.5 billion this year to reach, by 2007-08, £2.1 billion - a 10% annual average real terms rise."
The Chancellor's plans to cull thousands of jobs from Whitehall are set to prove the most controversial aspect of his spending review. Speaking in the Commons, Mr Brown said: "I want to put on record my appreciation of the work of our civil service and their commitment to the ethic of public service. "But it is precisely because the public sector has invested £6 billions in new technology, modernising our ability to provide back office and transactional services, that I can announce, with the detailed plans Departments are publishing for the years to 2008, a gross reduction in civil service posts of 84,150 - to release resources from administration to invest in the front line."
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/12/2004 8:47:44 PM ||
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It's a good start. Whouda thunkit, from a Labour administration?!
Defence spending is set to rise from £29.7 billion to £33.4 billion by 2008
Britain's Prince Charles has got a knot in his knickers as he fired a new broadside at the scientific community, warning them of the dangers of being an Inbred Elitist Moron unlike the breakthrough science of nanotechnology. Writing in the Independent on Sunday, the heir to the throne welcomes the "triumph of human ingenuity" working with extremely small particles a nano is a measurement of a billionth of a meter, or 1/80,000 the diameter of a human hair.
But Prince Charles, who is a committed environmentalist, also shares the concerns of John Carroll, retired professor of engineering at Cambridge University, who has given evidence to a Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering study on nanotechnology. "Referring to the thalidomide disaster, he says it 'would be surprising if nanotechnology did not offer similar upsets unless appropriate care and humility is observed'," wrote Prince Charles. Thalidomide was once used as a morning sickness treatment for pregnant women in the 1960s, but it was removed from the market when it was found to lead to birth defects. Prince Charles's scientific salvos in the past he has warned of the "disastrous consequences" of genetically modified crops and supported the use of alternative medicine have not always been well received by scientists. In 2000 Steve Jones, professor of genetics at University College London, dismissed Charles's intervention on genetically modified food, advising him to go back to school. Last week Michael Baum, a professor emeritus of surgery at University College London, said the heir to the throne "may have overstepped the mark" by promoting unproven therapies for cancer such as coffee enemas and carrot juice. Give this jerk a coffee enema with the freshly brewed stuff. A person of position openly supporting pseudoscience is a violation of ethical conduct. Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Zenster ||
07/12/2004 1:19:34 AM ||
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#1
You'll have to go in and examine the images of the Torsional Racheting Actuator yourself at Sandia's image gallery. Drag down the "Categories" menu box and select appropriately. There are lots of intriguing electron microscope pictures.
Incindentally, the "gray goo" scenariao involves disassembly nanobots getting loose and reducing all life and structures on the earth's surface to a couple of feet's depth worth of dissociated gray chemical slime in about two weeks.
#2
Prince Charles is an Environmentalist that goes through Jet-A fuel on his world junkets like Jack the Pig. He has nothing to say that is useful. Move along, good people. Nothing to see here.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/12/2004 3:19 Comments ||
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#3
Um, the royal family has never been known for their scholarship or intellectual ability. Princess Di left school at 15 or 16 - and you wonder why she sometimes appeared to be a perpetual teen?
At its best, the house of Windsor has rock solid common sense going for it. The current heir to the throne is perhaps not its best representative .....
Posted by: too true ||
07/12/2004 6:07 Comments ||
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#4
Yup - a man who talks to flowers is going to see this stuff akin to the sky falling on his head.
Coffee enemas?!
Posted by: Howard UK ||
07/12/2004 6:17 Comments ||
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#5
I'd like to hear what Wills has to say about this sort of issue. I doubt he's as whacko as his father. Maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
07/12/2004 8:25 Comments ||
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#7
Did this batch of eggs go bad? I didn't know about Di leaving school but that makes sense. I always wondered why she ended up being a au pair and not something higher up the food chain. I thought Chuck had more going for him? But I guess was wrong. Maybe the smart gene skips a generation?
#8
poor old charley , far too many of his former relatives shagged each other , and hes the by-product of such activities . as AP said above , Move along, good people. Nothing to see here.
#9
Sort of disagree with those taking shots at Charlie's IQ. He's had some fairly intelligent, if not necessarily practical things to say about urban architecture.
The real problem is the one that plagues all celebrities: the quest for relevance.
More than 130 illegal immigrants were flown for free to the Mexican interior Monday on the first flight of a U.S. government program aimed at curbing repeat immigration attempts. The flights are a voluntary alternative for illegal immigrants to the usual practice of being driven back only to the border, far from their hometowns. The first commercial airliner carrying immigrants in the test program left Tucson for Mexico City on Monday afternoon. Under the Department of Homeland Security's Interior Repatriation Program, immigrants can return on future flights to either Mexico City or Guadalajara. From there, they are bused to their hometowns. "This is a well-coordinated, crucial step that is necessary for both humanitarian and law enforcement reasons," said Asa Hutchinson, the undersecretary for border and transportation security, in a written statement. "The deaths of so many in the desert are a tragedy that must end," he said.
Andy Adame, a spokesman with the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector, said about 30 of Monday's passengers were considered at high-risk of dying in the desert if they attempted a second crossing. They included single women with children and the elderly. The department is funding the program, which is estimated to cost $12 million to $13 million at two flights per day, each carrying up to 150 illegal immigrants, Adame said. The pilot program is to end by Sept. 30. Then the department and the Mexican government will evaluate it and determine future plans.
The new program follows a more controversial one in which border officials involuntarily returned 5,600 migrants caught in Arizona to Mexico through border ports in Texas. The so-called lateral repatriation program, which lasted about three weeks in September, was designed to move the immigrants far from their smugglers and reduce their chances of re-crossing the border. Immigrants rights groups said the program was expensive, ineffective and simply delayed migrants. Robin Hoover, president of Humane Borders, a group that puts water in the desert for illegal crossers, said he has concerns about the new program. "Overall, I would say this is a ridiculous way to approach this problem. It uses a phenomenal amount of resources and achieves little results," he said. He conceded the program could benefit some immigrants. "It may actually save a few lives, and we have to give them credit for that," he said.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/12/2004 9:19:28 PM ||
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a 2000 mile fence would save more lives. American lives
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/12/2004 21:25 Comments ||
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Gosh, I hope my tax $ provided more than stale peanuts.
#4
I dunno about this solution. The Department of Fish and Game up here traps the bears and moves them hell and gone far away. Only trouble is that the bears often beat the F & G people back, so to speak......
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/12/2004 21:35 Comments ||
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#5
Put the illegals to work building the border fence. Minefield for extra credit..
Posted by: ed ||
07/12/2004 21:35 Comments ||
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#6
So any illegals who want a trip home can turn themselves in and get free air travel. If I cross illegally into Mexico, can I get a free flight to Washington, DC? Why isn't Mexico paying half -- it's their border too! Why isn't Mexico responsible for the "humanitarian crisis" if we shove the illegals back over the border at pre-determined spots and no one there looks after them?
Posted by: Tom ||
07/12/2004 22:15 Comments ||
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#7
Actually, I like this idea. The one thing I don't like is the "voluntary" aspect of the program.
And that they could use busses.
But relocating people caught trying to cross into the border very far on the other side of the border, rather than just bussing them over to Nuevo Laredo, would IMHO hinder the flow of immigrants more.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
07/12/2004 23:18 Comments ||
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#8
But relocating people caught trying to cross into the border very far on the other side of the border, rather than just bussing them over to Nuevo Laredo, would IMHO hinder the flow of immigrants more.
I got an idea - send them all to the Guatemala border. If distance is the plan, then make it a LARGE distance.
A Hong Kong couple tied to trees by robbers in a remote country park were saved when the quick-witted woman dialed police with her toes, reports said on Monday. The pair, surnamed Lau, were hiking through Lion Rock Country Park when three knifemen took their wallets, HK$660 (US$84.6) cash and bank card PIN numbers, then bound them to separate trees. But Mrs Lau hid her mobile phone in her bra when the robbers let her go to the toilet, then "jumped up and down until the phone popped out of her clothes," after they had gone, police told the South China Morning Post. "She then dialed the emergency number with her foot." Officers searched the area and found the couple within an hour, ending their seven-hour ordeal. The robbery is the latest in a string of similar attacks on hikers in lush green country parks that dot the former British colony.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/12/2004 9:38:04 PM ||
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Posted by: Howard UK ||
07/12/2004 04:38 ||
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'bout time. (link doesn't work, btw)
Posted by: Rafael ||
07/12/2004 6:31 Comments ||
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Maybe the Chinese don't want to pay intellectual property and merchandising fees.
Comming this fall to a PRC theater near you: Hallee Pattla and the Prisoner of PLA Forced Labor Camps.
Posted by: ed ||
07/12/2004 6:43 Comments ||
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#3
The Chinese actually did something right for a change.
Posted by: Charles ||
07/12/2004 8:31 Comments ||
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#4
In the latest book, Harry Potter & friends were not only opposed to Voldemort&co, but also to his own people's increasingly tyrannical and censoring government.
How could a tyrannical and censoring government react to that, other than tyrannically censor the books?
#5
Right. DVDs are like Opium for the Chinese authorities. Either they can demonstrate they can in fact control production and therefore end piracy, or the can but are in fact part of the theft conspiracy overtly or covertly [re: corruption]. The other nice alternative, is that the authorities can not shut it down now and information and culture will be spread among the masses uncontrolled.
Posted by: Don ||
07/12/2004 8:50 Comments ||
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#6
Aris is right. I was tyranically forced to read Rowling's last Potter book, and it does contain an excellent subplot in which unquestioned faith in the media (specifically a monopolised media) is dealt a heavy blow. That message would be anathema to the Chinese authorities. I applaud Rowling for that.
#7
Order of the Phoenix has not only media, but a rigged trial as well. And a govt "commisar" sent in to first spy on and then run, a traditionally independent school. Really, its very "good" politically. Read HP and the OOTP, and you'll quickly see why a govt like China couldnt allow such a book.
See article: The Chinese govt is also against hair cuts/dyes, video games, music, free speech and . . . Spiderman 2! They are starting big "crackdowns" against all that stuff.
The Harry Potter books feature a creative, self-reliant counter-culture engaged in a quiet revolution of sorts, in opposition to the oppressive main culture--probably a theme the Chinese authorities don't like one bit.
Hey--Laura Bush read all the books and liked them just fine. And she should know.
Thousands of refugees on temporary protection visas will be allowed to stay permanently in Australia, after federal cabinet agreed to a radical overhaul of the Government's asylum seeker rules yesterday. It is understood the Government will announce as early as today that most of the 9000 temporary protection visa holders, many of whom have been living in the community for more than three years, will be able to apply for permanent residency. The dramatic softening of the temporary protection rules comes after intense lobbying from the backbench and from within cabinet. At least one frontbencher, the Employment and Workplace Relations Minister, Kevin Andrews, has lobbied for a more compassionate approach to refugees on temporary visas, according to Government sources.
The temporary protection scheme has been widely criticised since it was introduced in 1999, and tightened after the Tampa controversy in 2001 when 433 asylum seekers rescued by a Norwegian ship during the last election campaign were refused permission to enter Australia. Refugee and opposition groups argued that the visa system was draconian and left refugees with no certainty about their future. Temporary visa holders are not allowed to bring their families into Australia, may not return if they leave the country, do not receive the same settlement services as other refugees and have limited social security rights.
Late last year, pressure began mounting on the Government from within its own ranks, beginning with the National Party MP John Forrest, whose Victorian electorate of Mallee has thousands of temporary refugees employed in local industries. A number of other backbenchers have followed, particularly those in electorates where temporary protection visa holders are employed in jobs where workers are scarce, such as fruit pickers or meat workers, and where they have assimilated into the community.
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07/12/2004 10:15:46 PM ||
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Thousands of refugees on temporary protection visas will be allowed to stay permanently in Australia, after federal cabinet agreed to a radical overhaul of the Governmentâs asylum seeker rules yesterday.
Welcome to GWB's amnesty, Australia-style. Will there be a sudden increase in people trying to get to Australia via the "refugee" route? Stay tuned.
Croatia is being swamped by a wave of Euroscepticism generated by a threat to the country's national dish. Just a year ago opinion polls showed that nearly 90 per cent of Croats favoured joining the European Union. Now almost half the country says Croatia is better off outside the EU, and when asked to explain their change of heart, many point to their stomachs.
Croatia will begin EU accession talks next year, and could quickly join the union because it is already considered to have an economy as advanced as some existing members. The problem is visible at a market near the port of Split, where women in brightly coloured dresses clamour for custom. On the barrows in front of them lie small milky white cheeses the size of an old 45rpm record. This is homemade sir, considered the national dish of Croatia, eaten by millions at breakfast and delivered fresh from the farm straight to the market. The difficulty arises in the means of delivery to market. Ljubica Orsulic, who runs a smallholding of 20 cows and two goats, is typical in bringing the cheese to Split in the boot of her battered car. The EU takes a dim view of unrefrigerated cheese being delivered to market, particularly when summer temperatures can reach 35C (95F). And in return Mrs Orsulic, who runs her farm with her three children and used to be a Europhile, now takes a dim view of the EU. "I know that in a few years Croatia will have to enter the EU," she said. "But most of the market people here are terribly worried. We will have to buy new equipment, and that will make everything more expensive and then nobody will want my cheese any more," she added.
At about 35 Croatian kuna, or about £3 per kilo, many shoppers clearly considered Mrs Orsulic's cheese a bargain worth taking a risk for, and by mid-morning she had sold out of her stock. Across the market though, Zvonimir Cicin-Sain was having less luck with the homebrewed raki his brother makes on the island on Korcula. A few punters showed some interest in his olive oil, but no one cared much for the artisan-produced spirit, corked up in old water bottles. "There are two ways to make raki," he said. "There is the 'industrial' way, and then there is the 'peasant' way. This stuff is made the 'peasant' way, which accounts for its potency, but which will certainly be illegal under EU rules."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/12/2004 10:13:29 PM ||
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Mrs Orsulic, who runs her farm with her three children and used to be a Europhile, now takes a dim view of the EU.
Welcome to the real world, Mrs. Orsulic. If you want to "take a dim view of the EU," take a number and get in line. And it's a looooong line.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/12/2004 22:17 Comments ||
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#2
Does anyone else remember the reports about how it took international committees over a year to hammer out who in the EU would produce what flavor crisps (chips to Americans)? Supposedly the costs of cobbling the pact together ran into the tens of millions.
Another superb example is Denmark and their domestic market for black licorice. Danes routinely consume more licorice than chocolate. Only Holland and Germany come remotely close to Danish production levels. Yet Denmark was supposedly told it will need to cut back its over-production of licorice to levels found elsewhere in the EU.
I seem to remember hearing something like this pertaining to both Danish Akavit and Scotland's production of Whisky as well. All of it is quite reminiscent of the UN's overall efficacy.
#3
What I don't get is why so many European countries feel that it is necessary to join the EU. East Asian countries have gone from strength to strength without giving up any of their national sovereignty. This is just a really weird complex.
#4
Zhang> It's our evil mind rays. We have brainwashed them.
But my guess is that most European countries have realized that only the powerful can speak of "national sovereignty" and actually mean it as applied to themselves.
De jure sovereignty is nothing without *de facto* sovereignty. De facto sovereignty doesn't exist for the weak and isolated, to be played by one power against the other. Cyprus is a fine example of what "sovereignty" meant for a little nation. To be pushed around by the bullies of the neighbourhood.
The weak countries want the institutional framework that law rather than the sheer application of might provides.
It's the question of the rule of law versus anarchy. When the rule of law applies, the weak countries may still be overpowered, but they can't be *intimidated*.
#5
You mean like Singapore? But they actually have gonads.
Cyprus seems like a good example of the need to stay out of European entanglements. Cyprus would not have been invaded by the Turks if the Greeks had not instigated a coup d'etat. The moral of Cyprus? Beware of Greeks bearing coups.
Posted by: ed ||
07/13/2004 12:21 Comments ||
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#6
You mean like Singapore? But they actually have gonads.
Singapore which was part of the Malaysian federation? They left it not because they would be more "sovereign" but because of the tension between the Chinese and the Malay. I believe, Malaysia was afraid that (predominantly Chinese) Singarope would end up politically dominating the union.
So was that a sign of a Singaporian wish for "sovereignty" or Malaysian wish for the same? I'm not that well informed in that region of the world to know all the aspects of the situation.
Cyprus would not have been invaded by the Turks if the Greeks had not instigated a coup d'etat.
Ofcourse. Did I say otherwise? Why did you think that I used the word "bullies" plural?
In more recent times, were it not for the EU, Greece's own bullying embargo towards FYRO Macedonia in the mid 90s could have continued for far longer.
A magnitude-4.9 earthquake jolted western Slovenia on Monday, sending tremors through neighboring Italy, Austria and Croatia. At least one person was killed. Slovene state radio reported minor damage to homes and buildings in the sparsely populated mountainous region of Kobarid, the epicenter of the quake. Authorities said an Italian mountaineer died in a mudslide and four others were slightly injured in separate incidents. The quake hit at 3:05 p.m. about 50 miles west of the capital, Ljubljana, near the alpine country's border with Italy, the National Seismological Institute said. "We felt the ground shake and tiny fragments from the ceiling fall on our heads," said Joze Serbec, curator of a World War I museum in Kobarid. "But there was no serious damage." The quake sent tremors as far as the Croat capital of Zagreb, 125 miles away, and was felt in parts of Austria and Italy.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/12/2004 9:21:57 PM ||
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The launch of an Ariane rocket that was to lob a Canadian telecommunications satellite into orbit was postponed because of a problem with the European launcher, officials said Monday, hours before blastoff. A problem was detected in the Ariane-5 launcher being prepared at its base in Kourou, French Guyana. The launcher had to be returned to the assembly building, according to Arianespace, the rocket's commercial arm. There was no immediate information about the "anomaly" in the launcher, and no new launch date was set. The rocket was to put into geostationary orbit the Anik F2 telecommunications satellite, at nearly six tonnes the largest such satellite in the world. It is own by Telesat. In a brief statement, Telesat said Anik F2 was "in excellent condition and remains ready for launch." It did not immediately provide further details. It would have been Ariane's second launch of the year. Five are planned.
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07/12/2004 8:38:29 PM ||
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If the French are having problems getting their rocket up,good friend swears by Viagra.(Admit it,you thought of same bad joke.)
Posted by: Stephen ||
07/12/2004 22:02 Comments ||
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Hungarian police are investigating the organizers of a concert billed as starring Liza Minnelli after the U.S. actress and singer was replaced at short notice by Bonnie Tyler. "The Budapest police ... launched an investigation today to see whether the suspicion of fraud is founded," police spokeswoman Szilvia Nagy told Reuters. "If (the organizers) knew there would be no (Liza Minnelli) concert and still sold tickets, there may have been fraud." Media reports said Minnelli, who is not affected by the investigation, did not appear at Saturdayâs concert because only a few hundred tickets were sold in advance. The investigation was launched after complaints by more than 70 ticket holders who said the price of their ticket was not refunded by the organizers. The tickets cost 10,000 forints ($49) to 35,000 forints, a relatively high price for a cultural event by local standards.
(I want my 10,000 forints back!)
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/12/2004 8:31:39 PM ||
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a huge blow to the Budapest gay crowd
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/12/2004 20:39 Comments ||
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A widespread power outage hit Athens and southern Greece on Monday, cutting off air conditioning as temperatures pushed past 104 degrees and causing traffic chaos in the capital a month before the start of the Olympics. The midday blackout, blamed by the government on "mismanagement" of the electrical grid, raised serious concerns about Athens' ability to handle increased power demands during the Olympics, but officials promised the network was ready to handle the Aug. 13-29 games.
More at the link. Sure they're ready, uh-huh.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/12/2004 12:10:39 PM ||
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Posted by: Frank G ||
07/12/2004 12:48 Comments ||
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#4
it seems aris overheated bullshit has finally done in the power grid in greece...
Posted by: Dan ||
07/12/2004 12:48 Comments ||
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I'll bet that now is the last minute down-for-maintenance period prior to the Olympics. Sounds like they gambled and came up craps. But it may still have been necessary to avoid the same problem later in the summer.
#6
When I was in Greece they used to take the power grid down twice a year for preventive maintenance (usually for six hours). Even with that we still lost power at least four other times during the year (on average). Not too bad in the summer but the cold winter nights were not very nice. Sounds like things havenât improved much sine I was there. What say you Aris? Lights on all the time now?
Activists launched a campaign on Monday to protect the right of Muslim women in Europe to wear Islamic headscarves. The issue of the hijab -- the traditional headscarf worn round the head and shoulders -- has sparked controversy across the continent and underlined sharp divisions over integrating Muslims. Some 250 delegates from 14 countries congregated at Londonâs City Hall under the banner of a pro-hijab pressure group to campaign over what they see as human rights violations. Among their most vociferous supporters was leading Muslim theologian Yusuf al-Qaradi who called on France to overturn a ban on headscarves in schools, due to begin in September. "The ban evokes a ghetto mentality," he told the conference. "You are antagonizing Muslims." and we all know what happens when muslims are antagonized.
"Can this be comparable with civilization? This is certainly a step backwards. It is against religious and individual freedom," he said. spoken by an expert on progressive civilizations hisself
The Egyptian-born cleric, who has been banned from entering the United States since 1999, has been dogged by controversy on a week-long speaking tour of Britain. British Jews formally complained to the police, accusing the theologian, who has condoned some suicide bombings, of inciting racial hatred. State prosecutors decided not to pursue the case. tap tap
The conference was picketed by gay rights activists who accuse the cleric of being homophobe and say he tramples on the rights of women. anti gay?! anti women!? quel suprise!
At the conference, the French headscarf move was also condemned by London Mayor Ken Livingstone who said: "The French ban is the most reactionary proposal to be considered by any parliament in Europe since the Second World War. It marks a move toward religious intolerance which we in Europe swore never to repeat, having witnessed the devastating effects of the Holocaust." Ken Livingstone is the standard bearer for the Left, btw.
But the issue has not just been confined to France. Several German states are to ban teachers from wearing headscarves. Last month, the European Court of Human Rights rejected appeals by a Turkish student barred from attending Istanbul University medical school in 1998 because her headscarf violated the official dress code. Abeer Pharaon, coordinator of the pro-hijab movement, said there was a worrying trend developing across Europe from France and Germany to Belgium. worrying only because of the expected backlash by muslims.
"The governments of some of these countries have claimed that they are protecting Muslim women from being âforcedâ into wearing the hijab," she said. "They think we are weak and controlled by our husbands and fathers. I assure you we are not. Muslim women are liberated, highly educated." Muslim women are liberated. whew. nuff said.
Her words were echoed by British Muslim convert Sarah Joseph who insisted the hijab was a symbol of choice. "The scarf is just a scarf," she said, "not a ball and chain." yes, and a swastika is just an interesting graphic design.
Posted by: PlanetDan ||
07/12/2004 10:58:38 AM ||
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"British Muslim convert Sarah Joseph insisted the hijab was a symbol of choice." That's what they always say, as they always "choose" it.
The most important thing on the Muslim agenda (besides blowing up infidel stuff) is getting the women to wear headscarves ("the pro-hajib movement"), and getting everyone else to accept and support it.
What important and noble goals.
BTW the hajib is a sexual symbol. Doubt they'd admit that.
#2
It symbolizes a woman's choice not to have her teeth kicked in by her male relatives.
Posted by: Matt ||
07/12/2004 13:21 Comments ||
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#3
Time to invest in riot gear manufacturers.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
07/12/2004 14:32 Comments ||
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It's a wedge issue being forced by the Islamisists. They know by pressureing muslim women in the west to wear this optional apparel they can create division, which is their true goal. Force Islam and it's "law" (something they pull out of their asses with fatwas) on the west by any means.
No one is going to force any religion on me. Ill tend to my own ignorant superstitions thank you. I'll protect that right with the ballot box and my Jedi lightsaber if necessary. :p
#6
These mass protests are a perfect opportunity to photograph and begin profiling every single adult male participant. If they want to cluster together to promote hatred and repression, so be it. We just need to make sure and collect the evidence. One full canvass of such a gathering would probably generate dozens of terror leads.
Let 'em gather and document each assembly to the nines.
This Ronald McDonald was in no mood to clown around. Diners at a crowded McDonaldâs in southern Norway were stunned when a man dressed as Ronald came in Thursday and launched into a tirade criticizing the Oak Brook, Ill.-based chainâs policies, the outletâs owner said. The impostor -- a performance artist -- refused to leave and had to be taken away in handcuffs as the restaurantâs patrons, including several children, looked on. The incident made national news in Norway on Friday. "He was screaming and yelling. It was very unpleasant," said Alf Floernes, owner of the restaurant in the southern town of Kristiansand. "It was supposedly some sort of art. If that is art, Iâm a truck."
The stunt was organized by a troupe of artists as "sort of a demonstration against McDonaldâs," Norwegian media reported. "It was very organized," Floernes said. "A big gang came in with him and was laughing and shouting in the back." Norwegian news agency NTB identified the Ronald impersonator as Ole Bernt. It said he was likely to be fined for being a rectum causing a disturbance.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/12/2004 12:52:59 AM ||
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Introduce this guy to Prince Charles and give both these clowns a HOT McD's coffee enema.
Posted by: ed ||
07/12/2004 7:28 Comments ||
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I see our friend Mucki stealing the San Deiago chicken costume when he finally snaps and running amucki at a KFC somewhere. Difference is the patrons will throw money and join in the protest.
#13
If I was a parent who's child was upset by the artist,I would file charges of child abuse against "artist".Make the story how poor child was traumatized by the insensitive man,child can't sleep,has trouble eating,cries all the time,etc..Worth a try,may even get lucky and get compensation.Then see who laughs.
Posted by: Stephen ||
07/12/2004 14:45 Comments ||
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Get Lucky ya say. Well I'm on my guard, I agree with TU, "Back off Man!"
Via Radley Balko. Fits a familiar pattern of self-aggrandizement Moore saying X about someone and someone saying Y, albeit with a glimmer of âtruthâ in it.
Rock legend Pete Townshend has launched a scathing attack at film-maker Michael Moore, saying he has been "bullied and slurred" by the director. âSlurredâ - defamation of character? New film, "Get Mikey"!
Last year, the Stupid White Men author Moore approached the The Who guitarist to ask the star permission to use his song Wonât Get Fooed Again in his controversial documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, which criticises George Bushâs administration. Townshend refused to let the Oscar-winning director use the song, because the rocker didnât enjoy Mooreâs previous films Bowling for Columbine and Roger and Me. "Take a hike, Mike."
Townshend fumes: "Michael Moore has been making some claims, using my name, which distort the truth. Which Moore does like you and I breathe.
"I greatly resent being bullied and slurred by him just because he didnât get what we wanted from me. It seems to me that this aspect of his nature is not unlike that of the powerful and willful man at the centre of his documentary. He says that I refused to allow him to use my song Wonât Get Fooled Again in his latest film because I support the war. I have never hidden the fact that at the beginning of the war in Iraq, I was a supporter. But now I am less sure we did the right thing. I had not really been convinced by Bowling For Columbine and had been worried about its accuracy. To me, it felt like a bullying film. Once I had an idea what Fahrenheit 9/11 was about, I was 90 per cent certain my song was not right for them and pointed out that Wonât Get Fooled Again is not an unconditionally anti-war song."
#1
That song always sounded to me like "you bet we'll get fooled again, it's human nature, like selling soap. Thats prolly why mikey morph wanted it so badly. He knows he'll fool a bunch of people. Cynical slut.
EFL
Ditka, 65, is being mentioned as a potential replacement for Senate nominee Jack Ryan, who bowed out of the race when information about going to sex clubs, which was included in his divorce documents, became public. Schnip...
"I'm getting excited about it," Ditka told WGN-TV in Chicago. "I'm just thinking about it." Ditka says while he lacks political experience, he thinks he'd do a good job as a lawmaker. "If you're going to tell me I couldn't be a better senator than Ted Kennedy, D-Mass. â I could be," Ditka said. Ah, Mr. Ditka I am going to have to ask that you set the bar higher than doing a better job the Mr. Kennedy. A turd floating in pool, by its very nature, is exceeding the performance of Mr. Kennedy.
Posted by: Chris W. ||
07/12/2004 19:47 Comments ||
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A turd floating in pool, by its very nature, is exceeding the performance of Mr. Kennedy.
By a country mile, Dragon Fly! My cat could do a better job than der Schwimmer, and Mike can surely do a better job than my cat. (For one thing, he's not as lazy.)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/12/2004 20:30 Comments ||
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And another fun Flash - if you can get through - the site's as busy as hell because this one was shown on Fox TV...
It is the featured flash as of this posting, but if you get there late and it has changed, the Flash is in the Political section and called This Land. Pretty even-handed and funny as hell.
BY ROBERT NOVAK SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
Amid the spontaneous outpouring of respect and affection for Ronald Reagan after his death, a discordant note was sounded by his son. In a succession of television and newspaper interviews, Ron Reagan Jr. used the occasion to trash George W. Bush by drawing invidious comparisons between his father and the current president. Nobody knew how to respond in a time of national mourning. Nobody, that is, except William F. Buckley Jr. The elder statesman of the conservative movement considered Ron Jr.âs remarks a public challenge that ought to be challenged publicly. Buckley wrote Reagan a letter that specifically addressed his claim in an interview with the New York Times that he, as a self-professed atheist, admired the Buddhist teachings of ââmindfulness and loving kindness and compassion.ââ Buckley told him: ââYou proceed in a single interview to profane/deride the faith of your parents, which is not very mindful.ââ
There was more than one interview. In his graveside eulogy, the son threw a dart at President Bush by saying his father never wore ââhis faith on his sleeve.ââ That was just the beginning of attempts to dispel any notion that Bush was another Reagan. ââMy father did not know George W. Bush from Adam,ââ he said on CNN, adding: ââMy father was a man -- thatâs the difference between him and Bush.ââ As far as Republicans using the Reagan heritage, he said on MSNBC, ââThis is their war. If they canât stand on their own two feet, theyâre no Ronald Reagans.ââ
This fit the desperate effort by Bush-bashers to keep the president from politically benefitting as a result of national grief over Reaganâs passing. With publication in the New York Times Magazine of Ron Jr.âs interview with Deborah Solomon, Buckley wrote the son with a point-by-point response.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/12/2004 1:05:32 PM ||
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Now he's going to speak at the Democratic convention in Boston. What a putz.
Posted by: Scott R ||
07/12/2004 13:27 Comments ||
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Ditto to what Scott said. Seems Junior wants to rewrite history into something palatable to his liberal stomach. Ronny, your Dad was a VERY Conservative, religious, Anti-abortion, and straight talking man. He would in NO WAY embrace modern liberalism and like the other NON Liberal ex-Presidents he retired to the background of politics. You can make your own way in politics, but donât hold your Dadâs banner while carrying water for the other side. It dishonors you and it dishonors him. But I bet you know nothing of honor.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/12/2004 12:02 ||
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#1
The link Drudge provides now gives a '404' error.
I saved the ad a long time ago. I thought it was as low as moveon.org could go, but they've since proved me wrong,
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/12/2004 12:12 Comments ||
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think it was due to traffic from Drudge? Or a little late spring-cleaning?
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/12/2004 12:15 Comments ||
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Steve, if you ever listened to the director/commissar of moveon you would know that they havenât begun to sink yet. This clown (and his followers) drinks the hate koolaid with a passion. I am paraphrasing but he claimed there were no rules with respect to replacing President Bush. I saw him on Fox and I swear he was using the Mein Kampf rulebook for politics. I think that they should give them MORE airtime. The more normal people hear this message of hate, the more people will turn off the liberal message.
(Proof that the Seattle Area isnât totally LLL)
PIERCE COUNTY [Washington] - Thousands of patriotic hogs were spotted zooming down the I-5 corridor in western Washington Sunday. It wasnât just a joyride, it was a rally for our troops overseas. The 40-mile fundraising ride benefited Fort Lewisâ family support group. The event was organized by Tacomaâs Destination Harley Davidson, but even the organizers had no clue so many bikers would turn out. "All walks of life, itâs incredible what they come together to do!" said Paul Sorenson. "We got every single make and motorcycle itâs amazing!"
"A lot of guys are Vietnam vets," explained rider Steve Hendrickson. "My son just got out of the Marines, he likes to ride. Itâs just one of those things, itâs fun to do and it makes you feel good." More than 2,500 bikers participated. The ride raised $21,000 for families with soldiers deployed out of Fort Lewis. Here is a video link (Requires Quicktime player).
An Iranian man who struck a suicide pact with his new bride over their guilt for having pre-marital sex is being held by police after he backed out on his side of the bargain, judiciary officials said on Sunday. The couple, who were not named, had been married for just two days when, "due to their guilty consciences for having illicit sexual relations, they decided to kill each other at the same time," the official said. how romantic!
The man helped to hang his wife but then changed his mind about killing himself and handed himself in to police in the northeastern Khorasan province, the official told the ISNA student news agency. Pre-marital sex is taboo in the Islamic state where some girls have to go through a virginity test before tying knot. ima wonder what they are do with those that arent pass? anyone know?
#1
Article: An Iranian man who struck a suicide pact with his new bride over their guilt for having pre-marital sex is being held by police after he backed out on his side of the bargain, judiciary officials said on Sunday.
The sex was so bad he decided to kill himself? That's a first...
Iranian security forces have stepped up what appears to be a major crackdown on insufficiently veiled women by launching raids, witnesses said Monday. According to one witness, scores of policemen - and policewomen in chadors - raided the Milad commercial centre in the west of Tehran on Sunday, and detained dozens of young women deemed not to be respecting the Islamic dress code. They also confiscated coats they considered to be too transparent or figure-hugging. Another resident reported a similar raid in the Sorkheh Bazar shopping centre in the central district of Vanak, with dozens more young girls also arrested. One man said he had to go to release his cousin from police custody, but added that the woman was only freed on condition that she return for a course in Islamic morals.
Your normal "islamic reducation" class for wayward girls.
In recent weeks a string of similar raids have been reported, mainly in the more upmarket north of the capital. Scores of young girls have been seen being taken away from commercial centres in minibuses operated by the police.
How many are seen again?
Police and Islamic militiamen have also reportedly stepped up their raids on private parties where they suspect the presence of alcohol or mixed-sex dancing.
The horrors, young people are having fun! It must be stopped!
But it remains unclear if the current clampdown is the usual pre-summer anti-vice operation, or a sign of stricter rules following the shift to the right of the regime following February's parliament election of conservatives.
I'll take "Consolidation of Power" for $200, Alex.
Since the 1979 Islamic revolution, all post-pubescent females are required to wear the veil and a long coat that conceals their bodily form. Violators risk fines or imprisonment. However in large cities in recent years, many women have progressively flouted the rules by wearing flimsy headscarfs and brightly-coloured, short and skimpy coats.
Just how long are their boyfriends going to put up with this?
Posted by: Steve ||
07/12/2004 9:32:46 AM ||
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Awwwww, poor little Islamists are getting erections and are embarrassed...awww...
#2
little erections...which explains a LOT of the cultural issues they have with women
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/12/2004 10:08 Comments ||
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Just in terms of healthy sexual expression alone the men in that world should be standing up for our side. What is the Islamic punishment for masturbation, anyway?
#6
Unfortunately, I saw this coming. Despite the elections being rigged, election boycotts almost always backfire. Had they voted in force for whatever reformers they could have gotten, it would have a least put a few stumbling blocks in front of the fanatics, who now have a free hand.
Call it a modified version of the Aesop Fable of the frogs and King Log. Except in this case, the unhappy frogs have King Log replaced with King Dork.
#7
I'd like to see even more intrusive mullah-inspired crackdowns. These have the potential to hasten the demise of Iran's cleric rule that much quicker. (Note to GWB: Are you watching these developments? Do you have a plan?)
#13
Under the Taliban, the women demonstrated that just about anything can be hidden under the burka. The mullahs are heading deep into "be careful what you wish for" territory, methinks.
#17
Note to GWB: Are you watching these developments? Do you have a plan?
The other day, I spoke to a recent immigrant from Iran. He was a student, 19 years old. The conversation was pleasant and normal. He agreed with me that the mad mullahs were taking the country and its people back to the middle ages. He said the people are not afraid anymore of them, even though arrests are common and torture is used extensively. He even described how some youths regularly ambush those Islamic miliatiamen on motorcycles, and beat them to a pulp.
He then said something that utterly floored me. He claimed the current Iranian theocracy is backed by the US. And he wasn't joking. He believed it. I asked him if he meant the Iranian Shah, of the 1970s. Nope. He said the mad mullahs were puppets of the US.
I then understood what had happened. Temporarily I had entered a parallel universe where one could have a normal discussion with Middle Eastern (Persian to be precise) muslims. It lasted a brief moment, because as quickly as I could blink, I was pulled back into the regular universe that I was familiar with: the US, a.k.a The Great Satan, must be hated no matter what the common interests you share.
So, no matter how many plans GWB (or Kerry) may have, they will never find any friends in that part of the world. IMHO.
Posted by: Rafael ||
07/12/2004 21:45 Comments ||
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A man accused of hacking into search engine company AltaVistaâs computer systems about two years ago now works at Microsoft Corp., the company said Friday. Laurent Chavet, 29, was arrested by FBI agents a week ago in Redmond, Washington, acting on a warrant issued in San Francisco. The U.S. attorneyâs office for the Northern District of California alleges that Chavet hacked into AltaVistaâs computer system to obtain software blueprints called source code and recklessly caused damage to AltaVistaâs computers.
Microsoft spokeswoman Tami Begasse said Friday that Chavet, who lives in suburban Kirkland, is an employee of Microsoft. She declined to comment further on Chavet, citing a company policy not to discuss personnel matters. But in general, she said: "Weâre confident in our policies and procedures we have in place to protect our code and to ensure that employees do not bring third party code into the work place."
A woman who answered the phone at Chavetâs house Friday said he would have no comment. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, citing anonymous sources, reported for Friday editions that Chavet had been working on Microsoftâs MSN Search effort. In a research paper on search technology published in IBM Systems Journal, Chavet is listed as a search expert who works at Microsoft and was previously with AltaVista. In 2003, AltaVista was acquired by search company Overture Services, Inc., which in turn was acquired by Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo Inc. later that year. Microsoftâs MSN Web site currently uses both Overtureâs and Yahooâs search technology. But the Redmond company has begun an aggressive effort to develop its own search technology as it tries to compete with search engine leaders Google Inc. and Yahoo. Microsoft, which has acknowledged it lags in search, hopes to play catch-up with a broad-based search tool that allows users to also scour through e-mails, documents and even big databases.
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Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/12/2004 9:23:58 PM ||
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(Incredible!)
The killing of professor of ethnology Nikolay Girenko stirred up the Russian society. On July 9th the State Duma did not pass the draft law about the criminal responsibility for the use of Nazi symbolism in Russia in any form. The Moscow City Duma submitted the draft law to the State Duma. One hundred and three deputies voted for the document (although the needed number of votes was 226), 23 deputies voted against it, RIA Novosti news agency reports. The authors of the bill suggested the introduction of financial penalties or correctional works for the public use of Nazi symbolism and salutatory gestures - images of swastika, Nazi flags, uniforms, etc. The same actions committed with the use of mass media, with the production and distribution of printed, audio, photo and video materials would be punished with the restriction of freedom up to two years or with imprisonment of up to one year.
Moscow City Duma member Vladimir Platonov said the draft law had been prepared and submitted to the State Duma in 1997. The document was rejected because of its age and due to the renovated legislation. Furthermore, the law about counteracting extremist activities came into effect too. Russian governmentâs envoy in the State Duma Andrey Loginov stated that the law contained the double formulation of several norms. The image of swastika is an ornamental element of many Iranian nations, it is an ancient Roman symbol too. The envoy believes such symbolism in the active form is used to consolidate the forces, which practice the fascist ideology - "the ideology of violence and brutality that makes people solve any social problems by means of ousting or suppressing other groups of the society." "This ideology is absolutely unacceptable in our Russian democratic society, and Nazi symbolism may play a consolidating role in the actions of those forces," Loginov said in a statement. Loginov expressed his regret that the authors of the draft law did not develop the document completely before submitting it to the first reading at the Duma. However, he emphasized one should return to the issue again soon.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/12/2004 9:10:40 PM ||
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Actress Isabel Sanford, best known as "Weezie," Louise Jefferson on the television sitcom "The Jeffersons," died of natural causes, her publicist said Monday. She was 86. Sanford died Friday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she had been hospitalized since July 4, said Brad Lemack. Her daughter, Pamela Ruff, was at her side, he said. Her health had waned after undergoing preventive surgery on a neck artery 10 months ago, Lemack said. He did not give a cause of death.
Sanford co-starred with Sherman Hemsley from 1975 to 1985 on CBSâ "The Jeffersons," a spin-off of the popular series "All in the Family," in which she also appeared. In 1981, Sanford became the first black woman to receive an Emmy for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for her work on "The Jeffersons." "Isabel was our queen and thatâs what we called her on the show," said Marla Gibbs, who played the Jeffersonsâ maid Florence Johnston. Gibbs said that even before the hit sitcom, Sanfordâs comedic talents were evident during acting auditions. "Isabel would come in and just light up the room and start telling stories and having everybody in stitches," Gibbs said.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/12/2004 9:01:15 PM ||
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#1
I guess this means she's "movin' on up."
Posted by: Tibor ||
07/12/2004 22:12 Comments ||
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#2
Weezie is on the Upper East Side of Heaven now. Waiting for George, to bat him around a little more :)
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/12/2004 22:32 Comments ||
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The Cassini spacecraft was hit by storms of dust as it passed through Saturnâs rings twice just before going into orbit June 30. Cassini sliced through known gaps in the rings so that it wouldnât be destroyed by huge icy boulders. But the gaps are not entirely empty, it turns out. Cassini was peppered by microscopic bits of dust that slammed into it at about 45,000 mph (20 kilometers per second). At the peak of activity, 680 bits per second pummeled the probe, according to the website Science.NASA (news - web sites).gov.
The impacts were recorded and converted to a sound file that is available on the Internet. "When we crossed the ring plane, we had roughly 100,000 total dust hits in less than five minutes," said Cassini science team member Don Gurnett, of the University of Iowa. Gurnett said the bits were about the size of particles in cigarette smoke. Most of the dust hit the spacecraftâs high-gain antenna, which was designed to handle such impacts. No apparent damage was done. Each impacting particle generated a puff of superheated, ionized gas called plasma. Cassiniâs Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) instrument recorded the puffs. "We converted these into audible sounds that resemble hail hitting a tin roof," said Gurnett, who is the instrumentâs principal investigator. In other observations, the probe gained new insight into the composition of the icy, dirty rings. Cassini has begun a four-year tour of Saturn, with plans to study its rings and moons in several close flybys.
#12
One day I was walking along, not bothering anyone, a bleeding-heart tool-fool, giving to the United Way, humming "People Who Need People", and voting for Carter, an upright guy with an ever so slight tilt to the left...
#14
What did George Bush know and when?!! Halliburton is behind this!! If only Bush had signed the Kyoto treaty!! Yeeee-arrrggghhh!!!! :-)
Posted by: A Jackson ||
07/12/2004 19:39 Comments ||
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#15
Anybody know a little physics? If we built nuclear reactors on the poles, could they generate enough magnetic field to enhance or replace the Earth's? I've long heard that we can generate a field "stronger than the Earth's", but can we take over the whole deal?
Even if we don't do this on Earth, eventually we might do it on Mars. I gather its lack of a magnetic field is what has allowed the solar wind to very slowly rip away its atmosphere.
#16
We will get the best ME minds on the problem. Masood, hand me a copy of the Koran, yeah, the one with the index.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/12/2004 19:46 Comments ||
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#17
"But can we do it? Is it possible?"
Hmmm... as an engineer, I'd estimate that with a couple of VERY large nuclear power plants at the poles and some VERY large coils of wire, we could probably generate a few millionths of the earth's magnetic field over the entire planet.
The earth doesn't have a particularly strong magnetic field, but it encompasses a huge volume. The field inside an MRI machine at your local hospital is thousands-- maybe even millions-- of times stronger than the earth's, but it only exists within a cubic foot or so.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
07/12/2004 20:20 Comments ||
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#18
Dave / AP - Where's Nicola when you really need him, eh?
Will any of this cause adverse conflict with the 'I love NY' magnet and one below it stuck on my ice box door? :)
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/12/2004 20:26 Comments ||
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#20
goddam!!! i am just read about this in the david icke book last nite! he is talk about magnetic field will disappear and time accelerate very soon. he in right!!! he also say the earth is stop rotate on december 12,2012. then the full illuminati agenda is take place! omfg!!! ima run to the hills!!! i am thought that guy full of shit but he in right!
Uh, Mucky - the magnetic field will switch in the hills, too.....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/12/2004 20:33 Comments ||
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#22
NYT: COLLAPSE OF THE EARTH'S MAGNETIC FIELD ACCELERATES!
Few, if any, of nature's major physical events exibit completely linear characteristics. The headline might as well read:
"PLANETS' ORBITS ARE NOT PERFECTLY CIRCULAR!"
Let's disregard the fact that a polarity flip takes ONE MILLION YEARS. Giving headline space to something that happens on a gelogical timescale is a waste of the investor's money. More important and truly informative issues merit such treatment.
Unless, of course, you're not at all worried about appearing sensationalistic or losing any journalistic credibility.
#23
when Drudge mocks your journo credibility, it's only a matter of time before Weekly World NEws starts running: "Pinch and Gail Collins Taking Editorial Decisions from Space Aliens! MoDo actually a Quarkian!"
which actually would explain a lot
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/12/2004 20:42 Comments ||
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#25
ima usualy post short but this in kinds long. if it to long please eraser fred:
A series of events, described by Gregg Braden in Awakening To Zero Point, have confirmed that the times they are a changing. In 1991 a new frequency was identified resonating from the center of the spiral of our Milky Way Galaxy and in 1994 the Ulysses Probe was sent to investigate changes on the Sun. From the mid-1980s there was a terrific increase in solar flares and X-ray bursts, and Ulysses discovered that the Sun's magnetic field was rapidly decreasing. The readings at the north and south poles and at the equator were much lower than expected. Also, while the Sun is cooling, the planets of the solar system, especially the outer ones, are heating up. This suggests that the source of planetary heat comes from within, although this may be stimulated by magnetic and electrical changes in the Sun. At the same time these changes were happening on the Sun, a storm on Jupiter, first documented by the Chinese 3,000 years ago, showed sudden changes also. A vast spiral within this Jupiter storm began to spin in the other direction. The shock waves and other phenomena caused by the collision of the comet Shoemaker-Levy into Jupiter in 1994 have also affected the wider solar system, including the Earth. What is clear is that the changes in the Sun's magnetic field have been mirrored here.
The Earth is a giant magnet with different levels rotating to create a magnetic field. The faster the Earth rotates, the more powerful and dense the magnetic field. Two thousand years ago this magnetic field reached the peak of its intensity in the current cycle and it has been falling ever since as the planet has rotated slower and slower, Braden says. The field is now 50% less powerful than it was 1,500 years ago and the speed of this fall is increasing very quickly. There is no need to panic because this is all part of a natural cycle, a longer and infinitely more powerful version of the annual seasons. Alongside this comes the news that the Earth's resonant frequency, it's heartbeat if you like, is increasing rapidly. This frequency, called the Base Resonant Frequency or Schumann Cavity Resonance, was identified in 1899. Between then and the mid-1980s, it maintained a constant pulse of around 7.8 Hertz or 7 cycles per second. But from 1986-87 it apparently began to quicken. By the end of 1995 it had readied 8,6 according to some estimates and the last I heard it was said to be above ten and sun rising. Gregg Braden believes that by the Maya transformation year of 2012, the Earth's resonance could be 13 cycles per second while her magnetic field could be at or near zero. He calls this Zero Point when the Earth's magnetic field will all but disappear because the planet's rotation will have stopped. This doesn't mean there will be no gravity because that is created by other phenomena, not the spin of the planet. Something like this seems to have happened at least 14 times in the last 4.5 million years. The last is estimated to have been about 11-13,000 years ago, a window of time, which corresponds, with many estimates of the end of Atlantis and the beginning of the recovery from that great cataclysm after about 10,500 BC. 13,000 years ago would have been the halfway point in the Great Cycle of 26,000 years, which is ending now, another time of great change. I am not saying the Earth is going to stop rotating, but I certainly would not dismiss the possibility.
It could be, however, that there was a magnetic pole shift more recently, about 3,500-600 years ago from examination of the ice in Greenland and the polar regions Every time the Earth has experienced the rapid fall in the magnetic field that we are seeing now, it has led to a pole shift when magnetic north and south change places. People like Braden estimate that the Earth will stop rotating for some days before it begins to spin in the opposite direction. As you can see when the flow of electricity through an iron bar is reversed, the poles reverse. As the planet spins in the other direction, the flow of electricity will reverse and so, therefore, must the poles. If the planet stopped rotating, one side of the Earth would be in constant sunshine and the other in darkness in this period and that is what the ancients said happened thousands of years ago. The Peruvians talked about the long night' of three days and in the Bible there is reference to daytime lasting 20 hours, the longest day. The Hopi Tribe record how the Sun rose twice in one day. First it rose in the west and se in the east and then later it rose in the east and set in the west - the cycle ever since. Other ancient accounts say the Sun used to rise in the west and set in the east, another indication that the Earth used to spin the other way. Back in the early 1990s when I was just waking up to these things, I was given some channeled information by a psychic which said: "The world is changing and the north will become south and the east, west. So it has been commanded since the beginning of lime."3 Spot on, it would seem. Brian Westborough, the scientist-researcher in California, also told me that some major geophysical events are happening that is subject to a media blackout. He confirms that the Earth's geomagnetic field is dropping at an exponential rate and will soon reach zero. He believes, as I do, that we are, to say the least, in for a very bumpy ride geologically. The US Geological Service says that the Earth's magnetic field drops to zero every 500,000 years, then slowly rebuilds, and that these are periods of cataclysmic Earth changes, earthquakes and volcanoes, because of the temporary halt in the planet's rotation. I think it happens more often than that. According to Brian's contacts, the Sun's magnetic field has already dropped to zero and it appears to have reached a higher level of conversion of hydrogen to helium. He says that solar flares are being emitted above and below the Sun's equator at latitude of 19.5 degrees. This is the point where energy is exchanged between rotating spheres and it is at this latitude on the Earth that the pyramids are located. The energy being received from the Sun at these latitudes must now be phenomenal.
#26
Come on over to the hills of East Tennessee, Mucky. I will have just turned 60 so we'll open some homebrew and watch the fireworks.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
07/12/2004 21:35 Comments ||
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#27
Oh, yeah. Every time we launch a space vehicle the Earth's rotation slows down. In a couple of billion years this effect will have slowed the Earth's rotation by a few minutes.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
07/12/2004 21:38 Comments ||
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#28
Naughty, naughty, muck4doo. You left out a choice nugget from Braden's pseudoscientific extravaganza. To wit:
"The opportunity to more easily change the patterns that can determine how and why we love, fear, judge, feel, need, and hurt." says Braden. "Dense magnetics lock in emotional and mental patterns from generation to generation in the morphogenetic field. With lesser magnetic fields, this seems to ease up, allowing easier access to higher states, as the cells of our body tune to,and try to match, Earth's rising base frequency like tuning forks, thereby raising our own."
Treating that little gem as a fact requires far greater amounts of induction than generating the earth's own magnetic field.
#29
A tin foil hat powered by plutonium oxide batteries has been shown to completely counteract this phenomenon.
Posted by: ed ||
07/12/2004 22:14 Comments ||
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#30
"In a couple of billion years this effect will have slowed the Earth's rotation by a few minutes."
That's easy to fix, Deacon; start launching them the other way.
Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
07/12/2004 22:16 Comments ||
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#31
Not to worry, people, the earth is just going in for its regular degaussing. Like ships. No worries....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/12/2004 22:17 Comments ||
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#32
If this makes NYT page 1, I'm not even going to drop in for a glance at their headlines anymore to see how they're slanting things.
Posted by: Tom ||
07/12/2004 22:29 Comments ||
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#33
Muck, a lot of the physics in the material you're relaying is nothing but a bunch of poleshit.
"Earth Changes" beliefs are the new-age movement's equivalent to the rapture, and seems to me to combine facts and half-truths like the variation in the Earth's magnetic field with the idea that the Earth's axis of rotation shifts (in a matter different from normal precession) over very short periods of time. Leaving aside the fact that this involves enough energy flying around to melt the lithosphere, leaving the Earth's surface a sea of molten lava.
Anyway, if you want to read some criticism of the sorts of catastrophism peddled by the likes of Icke and other so-called anxiety pimps, I would suggest the following link (which is a smorgasborg of information and other links):
This isn't to mean there aren't unknown objects out there in the solar system. It's just that there's better places to learn about them than the pseudoscientific catastrophe/conspiracy mongers.
Drop me a line if you want to know more.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
07/12/2004 23:35 Comments ||
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#34
While I'm at it, I'd also like to suggest the website Bad Astronomy.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
07/12/2004 23:38 Comments ||
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#35
Any chance that muck4doo listed to Art Bell's radio show at some point in time before 2000? :)
#36
Well, if he did, the longer he listened to it, the more skeptical he might become; they or their guests have made so many bad predictions over the years...
(Plus, they spend too much time slandering the lizardoids... kinda makes me wonder what Charles Johnson ever did to them).
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
07/13/2004 0:31 Comments ||
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#37
Mucky,
And Antiwar believes that you are her friend, too! You've got that deadpan delivery down pat. Well done, sir, well done.
#38
thanks for links phil. i am find them intrasting indeedy. ima almost done that icke book and i am thinking i am throw it away when done. he in poluting my thinking. :(
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/12/2004 18:20 Comments ||
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#4
Thanks for the link. And the headline is misleading.... It should be 'Anti-ILLEGAL-immigration...' Don't you just love the LA Times?
Enter the backers of the PAN initiative. They have ample outside support â the Washington-based Federation for American Immigration Reform spent nearly $450,000 in recent weeks to gather signatures for the measure. And they've done some savvy strategizing, wrapping the provision on state services in a second, far more reasonable clause requiring that people registering to vote in Arizona prove they are U.S. citizens. Meanwhile, the initiative's most objectionable article â making it a misdemeanor, punishable by jail time, for any state employee in any agency or institution to fail to report illegal immigrants applying for services â is buried in the fine print.
#5
The Manhattan Institute is a very solid right-of-center think tank and Tamar Jacoby is no PC fool.
Whatever you think of prop 187 as public policy-- I thought it was dumb, and voted against it-- there is no denying that Wilson's support of the measure did serious damage to the Reublican Party in California.
#6
Whatever you think of prop 187 as public policy-- I thought it was dumb,..
Why should it have been? Nobody in the government was going to do anything about it, so what next? Sit on our hands? Seems to me the situation was somewhat similar to Prop 13 many long years ago.
..and voted against it-- there is no denying that Wilson's support of the measure did serious damage to the Reublican Party in California.
Only because the Repubs LET the PC crowd, Latino immigration advocates, and other sundry illegal alien supporters paint the measure and its supporters as "anti-immigrant", just like the LA Times is doing in this article, instead of anti-ILLEGAL immigrant, which is what it was. And furthermore, despite these same groups' efforts, Prop 187 actually PASSED. The only success they enjoyed was through a lawsuit, the hallmark of a sore loser.
Since we've moved on to a new Rantburg day, you probably won't see this. But just in case-- and because I generaly agree with you....
What you say about the distortion of the Repub position as "anti-immigrant" is quite true. And I remember being so disgusted by the anti-187 ads that I nearly voted for it just for spite. But that, alas, is the way things go in modern Ami politics. And so-- yeah-- Repubs are forced to walk on eggshells on any number of "sensitive" issues, or find themselves out of power. Sadly, that's just life.
As for the up-ending of 187 by the 9th circuit, that was a travesty of judicial activism. And my opinion was and is that (although I didn't like the law)it should have stood 'cuz the people had plainly spoken.
But that said, 187 was lousey public policy-- in my opinion-- and it doesn't show that it's good public policy to point out that public officials weren't doing anything about the problem of illegal immigration. Unless you think that a bad law is preferable to no law at all-- which I don't.
Algiers: A cheeky tabloid for romance-thirsty young Algerians hit news stands this weekend, another sign life is returning to normal for a Muslim country isolated by more than a decade of a bloody holy war. The twice-monthly publication breaks with tradition by explicitly writing about sex, pre-marital relationships and other social issues which are publicly taboo in Algeria. "It's very frustrating to be young here. We have to hide a lot of what we do privately so these tabloids relate to us," said Nacera Brahim, a 19-year-old student.
Love Mag comes hot on the heels of several publications to emerge in recent years for Algeria's restless youth, which now make up three-quarters of a population of 32 million. Algeria has one of the most liberal print medias in the Arab world with more than 40 newspapers but it has no private television or radio networks and publishes few magazines. Militants launched a holy war or "jihad" after the army cancelled elections an Islamic party was set to win in 1992. Since then more than 150,000 people have been killed, according to human rights groups, and much of social and cultural life was put aside as Algerians focused on daily survival. "It's a new channel for expression. There's a huge desire for information and debate, particularly on issues that are taboo but a reality for many young Algerians," said Daho Djerbal, historian and director of the social review Naqd. In its first issue, Love Mag has a cartoon depicting a father in conservative dress asking his crying daughter to show her suitors a certificate proving she is still a virgin.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/12/2004 12:53:07 PM ||
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What was your immediate reaction to the idea of this cartoon? Now think about it again a moment longer. Is it a "break-from-tradition" cartoon or a tradition-reinforcing cartoon?
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/12/2004 12:46 ||
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The nation worshipped the sacrifices of the heroes and if the land remains in the hands of the whites, then the heroes died for nothing, Cde Mugabe said.
"Thank you war veterans for starting the Third Chimurenga. Thank you all war veterans and all who supported them," he said.
He dismissed as unsubstantiated claims that the land repossession exercise was lawless, did not uphold the rule of law and does not observe property rights.
The President blamed the British government of Mr Tony Blair for what happened because it reneged on the promises of the 1979 Lancaster House Conference. The conference agreed that Britain would provide funding for land reforms but when Mr Blair came into power he breached the contract.
Read the whole thing and tell me that this guy is not a racist piece of shit.
Damn! - this country is going to have people starving and it used to be the breadbasket of Africa!
#2
The good Rabbi suggested a 45 to me when I was shopping for a hand gun. He is a sharp guy and a realist. This gentile is glad he lives here in the US and considers it his home.
#3
The good Rabbi suggested a 45 to me when I was shopping for a hand gun. He is a sharp guy and a realist. This gentile is glad he lives here in the US and considers it his home.
Too long to produce here (even on page 71!), but worth a read. No country with a decreasing population can sustain itself.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/12/2004 1:08:54 AM ||
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#1
Here's a non-registration link to a portion of the article.
Armenia is a long-running tragedy. The Turkish genocide set the stage for economic genocide in the form of later Soviet occupation. Gangsterism still thrives and Cocharian's government increasingly resembles the previous communist regimes. There is also an amazing lack of social cohesion.
Imagine sitting at a red traffic signal for over 15 seconds only to have a vehicle blow by you in the next-door lane and barrel through the intersection at +40MPH against the light.
The murder of Pogos Pogosian, imprisonment of conscientious objectors and brutal suppression of journalists covering recent protests all points towards a resurgence of Soviet-style government.
None of it bodes well for Armenia's future. I cannot possibly relate to you the pleading looks of silent desperation in the eyes of women selling hand embroidered napkins and tablecloths at Yerevan's Vernisage flea market. It was below freezing outside as I strolled through the booths and I could only wonder if the dwellings these poor souls would return to were any warmer.
You take your shower at midnight when there is water pressure. The skyline is filled with crappy, crumbling concrete Soviet era apartment blocks, major public works lay weathering in the elements - incomplete due to lack of funds, the corroded and cracked structural elements at Zvartnots International Airport, the "thump-down" landing (the hardest I've ever experienced) in the shabbiest airliner I've ever flown in. Not to mention the jerkoff Armenian businessmen in front of me who cheerfully chatted on their cell phones during the flight's roll-out from Schipol (despite the captain's express prohibition on operating such devices at that time).
Armenia may well implode from simple neglect. There is little to do about it either. Reform must come from within or it will not take root. I can still remember watching one of Yerevan's only winter-time construction projects going on full steam across the street from my lodgings.
#2
Although the Wash Post says the Armenians were the victim of Turkish genocide, Turkey has never admitted that. In fact I don't think Turkey has ever offerred significant reparations of any kind for their actions.
#3
Fred - I have an old anonymous account at the WAPO that I'd like to make available to the Rantburgians - the login email is franmacleod@hotmail.com and the p/w is bitsycat. I am so totally against this registration bullshit that I routinely create such accounts and hand 'em out.
For anyone interested in the roots of the Turkish Genocide and a soul-stirring glimpse at some of those who fought it with their very lives, read Franz Werfel's book:
"The Forty Days of Musa Dagh"
It details a trained Armenian officer's skillful defeat of thousands of Turkish regulars as he desperately tries to keep the 4,000 people of Yoghonoluk and it's surrounding villages alive on the mountain-top of Musa Dagh. Although in Syria, which was part of the Ottoman Empire, it is still a vivid look into the heart of Turkish barbarity.
"The topic of the Genocide of Armenians of 1915 remains alive in the hearts of all Armenians worldwide and we will not rest until Turkey recognizes that fact of what their ancestors did to our people. The world association didn't condemn the first genocide, thus, it became an example of impunity, for the fascists who carried out the genocide of the Jews. "Who now remembers the massacre of Armenians?" said Hitler on August 22, 1939 in Oberzaltsburg in front of the commanders of the army of Wehrmacht in connection with the attack on Poland."
EMPHASIS ADDED
Here's a link to the event. And here is a link to a Turkish denial webpage.
America's government, even now, has constantly betrayed its promises to the Armenian people, both here and abroad, that the genocide should be recognized. This smaller Holocaust denial represents one more solid reason that Turkey should be side-lined until they bring their country out of the dark ages.
#10
Sounds like he was philanthropic with other people's money and land.
I think it stands as ample proof that the gods hate us, in that the only people they let have tons of money are proportionally unable to use it properly *and* have screwed-up priorities.
When was the last time you heard of a billionaire who personally pays to re-forest 10M acres of public land, not horrifically expensive; or creates an enormous aquafarm so that the Japanese no longer deplete all aquatic life; or pay for the creation of a realistic humanoid robot?
Not a damn one. But they will pay $20M to get special legislation so that they personally can go to a convenience store and buy Thunderbird, their favorite beverage, at half price.
Part I
Chris Wattie
National Post, with files from news services Ruling on Israeli fence rejected
Canada, the United States and other Western nations yesterday rejected a world court ruling that declared Israel's 700-kilometre-long security fence in the West Bank illegal. The "advisory opinion" from the International Court of Justice at The Hague, which carries no legal weight, drew praise from Palestinian and Arab spokesmen and condemnation from other countries that said the United Nations' highest court had no mandate to rule on the issue. Shimon Fogel, head of the Canada-Israel Committee, said the court allowed itself to be used by anti-Israeli groups and its ruling focused only on Palestinian grievances over the barrier. "The world court was hijacked by the anti-Israel forces, who were using the court for their own narrow, partisan purposes," he said. "They're abusing the institution and undermining the credibility of the court." Mr. Fogel said the real goal of the legal effort was to further isolate Israel. "It's of no practical value in advancing peace whatsoever ... it's going to be one more futile, meaningless gesture in a long line of futile, meaningless gestures."
The International Court of Justice ruled 14-1 that the barrier, a network of electric fencing, barbed wire and concrete walls that is still under construction, violates international law and that parts of it should be torn down. "The construction of such a wall accordingly constitutes breaches by Israel of various of its obligations under the applicable international humanitarian law and human rights instruments," said presiding judge Shi Jiuyong, of China.
The court said the security fence "gravely infringes a number of rights of Palestinians residing in the occupied area" and called for Israel to pay compensation for damage caused by its construction, parts of which cut deep into Palestinian areas of the West Bank. The only dissenting vote was cast by U.S. Judge Thomas Buergenthal, who wrote the court should have taken more note of Israel's security concerns. "The nature of these ... [terrorist] attacks and their impact on Israel and its population are never really seriously examined by the court," he wrote. "Without this examination the findings made are not legally well founded." Israel boycotted the world court's hearings when they began last February and dismissed the final decision as "one-sided."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/12/2004 12:31:45 AM ||
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"UN court âwas hijackedâ by foes of Jewish state"
And that would be precisely the same set of foes that gave us the so-called "World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance" which was held in Durban, South Africa from August 31st to September 7th, 2001.
Remember that? The endless stream of anti-Israel and anti-American propaganda that spewed forth? The Der Stürmer-style political cartoons about Jews that were passed around by the Arab delegates?
A few days after the conference ended, came 9/11. As I watched the towers fall, it occurred to me: this is "Durban by other means."
The International Court of Justice can take its ruling and shove it.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
07/12/2004 1:20 Comments ||
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#2
Shove it twice
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/12/2004 1:30 Comments ||
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#3
And thrice.
UN court âwas hijackedâ by foes of Jewish state
There didn't seem to be much of a struggle with the "hijackers."
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/12/2004 3:22 Comments ||
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#6
"UN court âwas hijackedâ by foes of Jewish state"
A question about the Jewish state? Can a Christian or a Muslim become a citizen there? Is Israel the only country in the world where your religion determines your citizenship?
#7
Yes they can. There are over a million Israeli Arab, Druse and Beduin citizens. They vote and run for government.
Try to get Saudi citizenship if you are anything but a Muslim (and probably only Sunni at that). Try to get naturalized citizenship in any Muslim country if you are a Jew. Heck, it would be interesting to try to get naturalized citizenship in any Muslim country if you are any religion but Muslim.
Posted by: ed ||
07/12/2004 7:25 Comments ||
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#8
How many churches have been built in Saudi Arabia, Observer? How many synagogues? And how many mosques are there in Israel; how many churches? You're a hypocrite, aren't you?
#10
Observer, yes they do, and Iraq even has a few hundred Jews, who keep very quiet for fear of pogroms. But I doubt a Jew, Christian, Hindi, Buddhist, etc, can go to Muslim countries and get citizenship as millions of Muslims have done in non-Muslim countries.
Posted by: ed ||
07/12/2004 7:44 Comments ||
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#11
Bulldog,
A hypocrite is a person who preaches something and does the opposite.
Can a black, a Jew, a Muslim, a Woman be a president of the United States?
#12
Observer yes they can, but like everyone else who becomes a leader of true democratic nation, they must prove themselves (excluding russia, don't know much about the russians)
you must be new here, plenty of people here, myself included think Condi Rice would make an excellent US president (FYI black & female & religion=noidea)
where did the jew comment come from anyway? antisemite is a european problem...
Observer - what the hell are you talking about? Are you having a joke, or what? Don't come here if you've only got nonsense to contribute. Our current PM is protestant, you ignorant fool!
#18
Our friend observer comes from another universe.
In this universe, anti Israel, anti America, Jew hatred, Islamic supremacy propaganda plays over the intercom 24 hours a day. In this universe, Moslem are never guilty of anything, they are always victims. In this universe, Israel bombs itself to blame it on the Palestinians.
#20
Disraeli: He was Britain's first, and thus far only, Jewish Prime Minister. He was born to a Jewish family and baptized a Christian, but nevertheless continued to think of himself a Jew.
http://www.brainyencyclopedia.com/encyclopedia/b/be/benjamin_disraeli.html
Posted by: ed ||
07/12/2004 10:23 Comments ||
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#21
Yet more anti-Israeli diatribe from an inconsequential kangaroo court. I stopped believing in 'internationalism' a while ago - due to obscene circuses such as the Durban 'conference'. The way the UN behaved after 9/11 didn't help either, nor did the revelations over the Oil-for-Food scandal.
LH, I don't know about Roman Catholic PMs, but the most famous Jewish PM was Disraeli. As for Blair 'a pox upon him' - I'm sure I don't care what religion that man practices.
That last comment may seem a bit harsh to our American cousins who appreciate us standing by you, but you *must* remember that Blair is a reconstructed (one could say crypto) socialist, who is giving our country away to Brussels piecemeal. His government is also rushing through legislation to make criticising Islam a hate-crime - hundreds of years of free speech being obliterated without as much as a bye-your-leave.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
07/12/2004 10:30 Comments ||
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#23
LH - we've had Jewish (and may have another coming up) and female PMs. What more do you want?!! Zoroastrian? Gay TV Patagonian? We've got a blind Home Secretary (Blunkett)... But I don't think we've ever had a Catholic PM. Nothing constitutilnal to prevent it though. I happen to know a Catholic who's hoping to run for a Parliamentary seat at the next election. He could go far - I'll let you know if he ever makes it to the top!
Cherie is Catholic, and Blair's kids are being raised Catholic, apparenlty. There have been rumours that Blair may convert. I suspect he might have done that if he hadn't been PM, and hasn't done so, so as not to raise unwanted publicity about his fairly intense religious beliefs.
#24
Tony - I don't think that law'll ever make it to the books, do you? It wouldn't last a week if if did - totally unworkable. The popular backlash would rock the British Isles the moment someone was taken to court by an intolerant Muslim... It wouldn't be good news for majority of Muslims, at all.
#26
Salman Rushdie would've been in the shit if this law existed 15 years ago. Ref: Rowan Atkinson's (?)comments on 'The Life of Brian.' Totally unworkable - another proposed tool to aid the fundies and bash the majority.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
07/12/2004 10:51 Comments ||
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Posted by: Howard UK ||
07/12/2004 10:54 Comments ||
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#28
Howard - not really, methinks. Assault and robbery are already criminal acts, so why elevate such attacks to something the little thugs would be proud of? No need to give them opportunity to see themselves as 'martyrs'.
#29
Could it have taken Abu Hamza off the streets sooner?
Posted by: Howard UK ||
07/12/2004 10:59 Comments ||
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#30
Hamza was patently guilty of inciting racial hatred long before the government moved on him. I think the problem there wasn't that the laws weren't there to deal with him, but that the authorities took too long finding the cojones to act.
#31
Well, I'm not having it then. If I can't call a druid a hippy in my own country then it's a sad day. My Grandfather fought in Two World Wars etc etc etc [to fade...]
Posted by: Howard UK ||
07/12/2004 11:11 Comments ||
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#32
bulldog and others - I wasnt being critical - Given history, the population mix of the UK, and the role of the PM (as advisor to the monarch) in the CoE, its not really surprising to me that UK would have had only Protestant PM's (in modern times) Just curious, thats all.
Woman PM??? Who, when?
Disraeli - i thought someone would mention him. While that was an admirable example of Britain's freedom from racism and ethnic bigotry, and he certainly had pride in his Jewish origin, he was DEFINITELY CoE, and whatever beliefs were in his heart, being CoE was certainly part of his political persona. Which is what I was getting at.
I presume you HAVE had "dissenter" (non CoE Protestant) PM's. Ramsey McDonald?? How did that play out wrt to the constitutional relationship of PM, throne, and CoE?
Of course if you elect Michael Howard, (who IIUC is Jewish by faith, as well as origin) THAT will be an historic moment.
#37
oy vey - a mental block maybe? Or just the after effects of caving this weekend?
I HUMBLY confess to having overlooked the Iron Lady, the milk snatcher, the conquerer of the Malvinas, HERSELF, Margaret Thatcher, Baronness of Whatever.
Hits self on head repeatedly.
Of what does it avail thee to know about mid 19thc Brit politics, if you cant even rember Thatcher?
#40
I thought it was just that a Catholic cant be the monarch. Im pretty sure that "Catholic emancipation" which opened up offices to Catholics in the 19thc didnt exclude the PM.
#41
And everyone kept quiet when Tony Blair pondered conversion... I wonder why?
Is that true? Where's it say so? We can have a jew but not a catholic? How come I not know this? Is someone pulling my leg?
Posted by: Howard UK ||
07/12/2004 14:04 Comments ||
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#42
Yup, no catholic monarchs.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
07/12/2004 14:05 Comments ||
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#43
LOL LH! I could hear the gears a slipping! :)
I expect they still don't allow Papist dogs to be the Monarch tho... is that still in force?
#45
Yeah, when will the Royals apologize for their over-reaction? Sheesh, one little Scottish Queen-pretender and the poor Followers of Cathol get axed from the list. Compensation!
#48
Or just the after effects of caving this weekend?
Well, you certainly do not come across as the usual troglodyte, Liberalhawk. Morlock, maybe, but not a trog. How someone here at Rantburg possibly could overlook Reagan's political paramour is beyond me.
#38 - As to the PM not being allowed to be a Roman Catholic - I did not know that. In my humble opinion, I don't think it makes a tinkers toss difference. We did have a little 'altercation' with the Church of Rome around the time of Henry the Eight, but in general, religion is not seen as an issue in this country. If you're in the CofE over here. you're seen as someone who thinks there probably is a God, but isn't too bothered about going to church on a Sunday. Is this bad? Maybe to some, but the point is, generally, we don't kill each other over it (witness Hair, Life of Brian, The Last Temptation of Christ and Mel Gibsons' last work - noone died)
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
07/12/2004 17:59 Comments ||
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#50
Now now Zenster, We all know LH here - sensible discussion is his trademark (under sometimes quite intense pressure). As to missing Mrs T - well, it's just about plausible, and his comment was quite open. Calling LH a Morlock is extreme IMHO.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
07/12/2004 18:09 Comments ||
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#51
"UN court âwas hijackedâ by foes of Jewish state"
Wouldn't it be more accurate to say it was organized and run by foes of Jewish state?
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.
