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Eight Paleos killed, 30 wounded in Gaza raid
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-Short Attention Span Theater-
Whee religion in any form sucks (protect me from people's insecurities)
Posted by: MacNails || 12/18/2004 19:32 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Somehow I think she asked for it... If you screw around with a bull, you'll eventually get the horn.

Picking on people or intentionally pissing them off, however it comes about, and then expecting them to just take it - cuz "violence" is so un-PC - is just stupid. Only a LLL moonbat believes he can get in someone's face, tweak his nose, and expect him to contain his response. Why should he? The tweaker didn't.

"Go ahead, make my day" comes to mind...

Just my $0.02.
Posted by: .com || 12/18/2004 20:04 Comments || Top||

#2  About the only religion you can get away with to some extent mocking or putting down is Modern Christianity. That is likely coming to an end. The Islamo-homosexuals can be thanked for that. Society would be way ahead if we just shot all rabid zealots and those who bait them.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 12/18/2004 20:14 Comments || Top||

#3  Society would be way ahead if we just shot all rabid zealots and those who bait them.

Except that the baiters exercise free speech while the rabid zealots are murderous vandalistic hooligans.

On my part I think that those who "bait rabid zealots" are performing a sacred duty of testing and trying to expand the limits of religious tolerance. They should be given a medal.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 12/18/2004 21:39 Comments || Top||

#4  where's my medal, Aris?
Posted by: Frank G || 12/18/2004 21:57 Comments || Top||

#5  "baiters exercise free speech"

No, they ask for it and then they get it. You would not last 5 minutes in a US High School, sonny.
Posted by: .com || 12/18/2004 22:05 Comments || Top||

#6  Frank,

I think he is handing out "hush" medals. But, RB is not the place for that medal.

Aris,
There is no need to test the Sikhs. They don't make fun of other religions. They are VERY tolerant of other religions. If you leave them alone, they will leave you alone.

The Mooselimbs on the otherhand......
Posted by: Poison Reverse || 12/18/2004 22:08 Comments || Top||

#7  Yeah, you've *so much* helped expand freedom, Frank. Baiting me is *definitely* the equivalent of protesting against a tyrant, a tyrannical regime, or an oppressive religion in your society.
Who could ever doubt it. You've got the millions of people I've been oppressing every day to testify on your behalf.

And right now you are bravely taking the risk of rabid mobs going out at my name to torch your house. Kudos.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 12/18/2004 22:10 Comments || Top||

#8  They are VERY tolerant of other religions. If you leave them alone, they will leave you alone.

Sorry, but that's just not good enough. My right to mock or insult anybody's religion is unassailable. In return they have the right to mock or insult my own beliefs. They don't have the right to respond with violence instead.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 12/18/2004 22:12 Comments || Top||

#9  A risk I'll gladly assume, ya little EU Nazi. Truth tells, doesn't it, ya little NannyStatist. Tell your rabid mobs to stay low, I don't take prisoners. Puss - give me my medal
Posted by: Frank G || 12/18/2004 22:13 Comments || Top||

#10  and Merry Christmas to you and your family
Posted by: Frank G || 12/18/2004 22:15 Comments || Top||

#11  Aris,

I am not condoning violence. Remember, the tongue can kill like the sword. You have to right to make fun of other religions. But, you also, have the right to get your ass kicked.
Posted by: Poison Reverse || 12/18/2004 22:17 Comments || Top||

#12  "My right to mock or insult anybody's religion is unassailable."

Shopping for a headstone epitaph, I see. That one will do.
Posted by: .com || 12/18/2004 22:18 Comments || Top||

#13  Ari, perhaps you are unaware of the legal doctrine of "Fighting Words".

Come visit me and go after my religion, especially in a loud bellicose and profane way. After you get back from the hospital, you can *TRY* to file charges. Bwahaha!
Posted by: OldSpook || 12/18/2004 22:18 Comments || Top||

#14  LOL Aris - you punked with the wrong crowd
Posted by: Frank G || 12/18/2004 22:20 Comments || Top||

#15  Lol, OlSpook, you've now unloaded him onto Google to find out WTF you're talking about! They don't even mention such things in Greek schools, I'd wager.
Posted by: .com || 12/18/2004 22:27 Comments || Top||

#16  Perhaps you are unaware of the legal doctrine of "Fighting Words".

I've heard of it. I simply completely disagree with it.

If you've been insulted enough that you think a person deserves to be clobberred then you should also be a man enough to accept the responsibility of that clobbering and pay the fine/jailtime due to you. Not hide behind so-called "legal concepts" that undermine the very essense of freedom of speech.

Shopping for a headstone epitaph, I see

When haven't I been?

Frank G> you punked with the wrong crowd

The right crowd you mean. The crowd who are themselves eager to physically attack people that insult their superstitiously-believed mass murdering deities -- the adult equivalent of the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus.

Which crowd should I have spoken to? One that agreed with me? How useless.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 12/18/2004 22:30 Comments || Top||

#17  Sorry, .com, but the concept of "Fighting words" was one I'd heard a while ago.

Still not sure how you can reconcile it with the First Amendment, ofcourse. Anyone care to explain *that*?
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 12/18/2004 22:31 Comments || Top||

#18  you'd understand if you came here, boy
Posted by: Frank G || 12/18/2004 22:32 Comments || Top||

#19  Don't mess with the Easter Bunny. Them's fightin' words.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 12/18/2004 22:33 Comments || Top||

#20  Simple: The First Amendment is not absolute. Period. Full Stop.

You can argue fine concepts, but there is one that you cannot argue: what response someone else will deem appropriate.

And you would be hard-pressed to find a single real-world pragmatist who would agree with you - especially a police officer who exercises discretion every day deciding when to pursue an arrest, and when not to. They will not help you if you follow your foolish line of reasoning. Bank it.
Posted by: .com || 12/18/2004 22:36 Comments || Top||

#21  So Aris is from Greece, heh! I believe Greece is part of the EU, which means, the freedoms that you enjoy now (due to the precious American blood) are going away. Aris, are you realizing that your freedoms are slowly being taken away by the chocolate making countries? Pretty soon you won't be able to make fun of ANYONE. I am NOT kidding when I say this, soon, there will be a law in the EU that states you will not be able to jeer anyone. If you do, you WILL go jail.
Posted by: Poison Reverse || 12/18/2004 22:36 Comments || Top||

#22  are you kidding? Aris would be the stiff little EUcrat that shows up in a tight little suit to arrest you.
Posted by: Frank G || 12/18/2004 22:38 Comments || Top||

#23  Frank> you'd understand if you came here, boy

Ah! Another of those things whose explanation I conveniently don't deserve to be given me.

The bitterly-amusing thing is that the defenders of the "fighting words" concept are the ones who've been calling me a statist or even a Nazi. Told you I'm much more liberal than you -- I think that nobody should be hurt for the opinions he expresses. You obviously have the qualification "as long as we are not bothered by those opinions" attached to that.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 12/18/2004 22:38 Comments || Top||

#24  Aris,

Is that Shakespeare?
Posted by: Poison Reverse || 12/18/2004 22:40 Comments || Top||

#25  No, it's not black/white on/off - it's common sense. If you deliberately insult someone without cause, you have stepped over the real line of civility. Civilizations laws are fine ideas, but they do not determine behavior, as you seem to think. Debate is one thing, that is entirely another.
Posted by: .com || 12/18/2004 22:41 Comments || Top||

#26  Poison Reverse> So Aris is from Greece, heh! I believe Greece is part of the EU, which means, the freedoms that you enjoy now (due to the precious American blood) are going away.

Actually throughout my life the freedoms I'm enjoying have been increasing, *because* of the EU, and despite often vehement opposition by anti-EU forces in Greece (namely the far-left and the far-right, Communists, Neonazis and religious fundies).

So check your facts, clueless boy. Your stereotypical and utterly ignorant views of the EU are the product of tabloids.

I am NOT kidding when I say this,

I believe you when you say you are kidding. I also believe you are a clueless idiot who's read too many tabloid propaganda.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 12/18/2004 22:43 Comments || Top||

#27  .com> Even with your argument, if I insult a religion that should mean that the *deity* should have the right to clobber me. Not people "insulted" on its behalf.

So any thunderbolts coming my way? Didn't think so.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 12/18/2004 22:45 Comments || Top||

#28  LOL - Aris - Merry Christmas and I hope Santa brings you the EU pony you want. I'm sorry about all the unresolved issues between you and Dad. Wished he'd loved you, too.
Posted by: Frank G || 12/18/2004 22:46 Comments || Top||

#29  Sure, Aris. I'll try and explain. The U.S. Constitution exists to tell our goverment what we will permit it to do. The Bill of Rights was insisted on to further tell the goverment what they were not permitted to do. That has nothing to do with whether or not someone decides to take a poke at you (as long as he's not a cop acting in his official capacity, that is).
Posted by: Darth VAda || 12/18/2004 22:47 Comments || Top||

#30  What the hell are you talking about, Frank?
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 12/18/2004 22:47 Comments || Top||

#31  Just try to order a "Turkish" coffee in a Greek worker's bar in Piraeus...

So much for free speech...
Posted by: True German Ally || 12/18/2004 22:47 Comments || Top||

#32  Furthermore, the EU "constitution" has this relationship exactly backwards. Not only will it not work, the failure mode is likely to be spectacular.
Posted by: Darth VAda || 12/18/2004 22:47 Comments || Top||

#33  LOL, TGA - the adult shows up to kill our fun....
Posted by: Frank G || 12/18/2004 22:49 Comments || Top||

#34  Without reverting to cursing you out, all I have to say is that, you better pay more attention to the EU Constitution. Pay close attention to the word "intolerence" in the document. It's your ass, not mine, I am a proud U.S. Citizen.
Posted by: Poison Reverse || 12/18/2004 22:49 Comments || Top||

#35  Nope, it's weekend, carry on :-)
Posted by: True German Ally || 12/18/2004 22:50 Comments || Top||

#36  Sigh. As always, this thread has become an utter waste of BW as Aris can never be mistaken, much less wrong. Toodles, all.
Posted by: .com || 12/18/2004 22:50 Comments || Top||

#37  me too - Aris, another day, another time!
Zorro
Posted by: Frank G || 12/18/2004 22:52 Comments || Top||

#38  It's one thing to attack religious concepts and doctrines. It's another to lampoon and burlesque figures of religious veneration, whether they be saints or deities or human authorities. In the former case, the attacker is showing a kind of respect for the seriousness of the other side's faith, and any strong faith will welcome vigorous debate with these attackers. In the latter case, the attacker is really engaging in a form of intellectual pornography, the substitution of potty talk and raspberries for any kind of serious intellectual engagement.

Most contemporary "art" exhibits like the Serrano "piss Christ" or the madonna with elephant shit smeared all over her definitely fall into the intello-porn category. The objects of this kind of lumpen stupidity have every right to be offended and demand that it stop masquerading as principled debate. It's nothing more than the untalented hack's bid for cheap publicity.
Posted by: lex || 12/18/2004 22:54 Comments || Top||

#39  "The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, liberty, democracy, equality, the
rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities.
These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination,
tolerance, justice, solidarity and and equality between women and men prevail."

What's wrong here, Poison Reverse?
Posted by: True German Ally || 12/18/2004 22:59 Comments || Top||

#40  TGA> Just one question -- how do you feel about Frank's repeatedly and continuously calling me a Nazi in several threads?

I'm asking you this as probably the only one old enough here to have actually suffered from the Nazis. Am I right to have been thoroughly pissed off at Frank in the other large thread today? Check it out, please.

Also would these be "fighting words" he uttered? And if so, btw, give me your legal advice on how far I can extend my retribution. Is it just crippling or can I proceed to killing him as a result of the "fighting words" he uttered? How far does the concept extend?

Eagerly waiting your advice.

Btw, no need to comparisons with Greece. We have "religious blasphemy" laws enshrined in our constitution, after all. Nice book-burnings every couple years, nice dragging authors to court over insulting poor schizophrenic-sexually involved with Mary-Magdalene Jesus, calls to even ban parodies against the Archbishop.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 12/18/2004 22:59 Comments || Top||

#41  Aris is correct to be annoyed at being called a Nazi. I myself would take those as fighting words.

OTOH Aris makes my point well in his defense of that idiotic Kazantzis novel. As I say, it's an untalented hack's bid for cheap publicity and it deserves public ridicule and scorn, if not lawsuits
Posted by: lex || 12/18/2004 23:04 Comments || Top||

#42  Poison Reverse> Searched throughout the Constitution and the only place either "tolerance" or "intolerance" is mentioned, is the passage which TGA quoted. So, yeah, please do let us know what is so dangerously wrong with the passage.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 12/18/2004 23:05 Comments || Top||

#43  lex> Actually I was referring to Mn a much more recent novel by Mimis Androulakis, but Kazantzakis will do as well.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 12/18/2004 23:07 Comments || Top||

#44  Aris - dinner's not yet done, so I have a chance to fisk your whine for support from TGA (BTW - what are you doing up at oughtAM in Greece?) I called you a statist EU-nik, who who I'd have imagined would've liked the "social order" the Nazis promised. I stand by that. As for your fighting words, "torture and death" was uttered by you. I'm tiring of reading your pitiful mewlings - should you need my address, you can get it, asshole. I suspect, when Greece comes calling for your ass for compulsory military service, you'll either bail like the "morally superior" coward you are, or become the REMF that gets killed by his own troops. Adieu!
Posted by: Frank G || 12/18/2004 23:09 Comments || Top||

#45  Aris, I usually simply ignore being called a Nazi because the insult always falls back to the insulter.

But I absolutely agree that this is completely uncalled for.

The grown up man always apologizes when he makes a mistake. Sorry Frank, the adult is in now.
Posted by: True German Ally || 12/18/2004 23:11 Comments || Top||

#46  I stand by my characterization - see the thread before you decide:

#24 actually Aris, I would expect a statist EUnik like you to appreciate the rigid social order brought by the Nazis. No dissent, no exceptions....sounds positively EUnish
Posted by: Frank G 2004-12-18 2:07:02 PM Comment Top Rantburg
Posted by: Frank G || 12/18/2004 23:13 Comments || Top||

#47  "When I call you an enemy, Frank, that's exactly the kind of moral depravity in you I'm referring to. If you'd met me and slashed me with a knife I don't think I could be much more angry with you than I am right now.

"Statist"? I'm afraid that I'm probably much more liberal than you. And by liberal I mean the actual meaning of the word.

But keep on calling me a Nazi when you've been defeated in any argument of wits or logic or factual information. *That* will shut down discussion in a hurry, you coward and moral midget."


Change your mind, TGA?
Posted by: Frank G || 12/18/2004 23:16 Comments || Top||

#48  Can't we all just git along?
Posted by: Rodney King of Peace || 12/18/2004 23:21 Comments || Top||

#49  OK - it's Christmas time...I'm agreeable, if you are, Aris?
Posted by: Frank G || 12/18/2004 23:26 Comments || Top||

#50  I didn't follow the other thread yet. But you two should agree on not liking each other and simply ignore each other.

Nazi insults are completely unnecessary. It also spares me the pain to read all those winding complicated sentences to find out what Aris said to provoke your insult.
Posted by: True German Ally || 12/18/2004 23:28 Comments || Top||

#51  Frank, I recommend Talisker 10 year single malt. Exchange rate's brutal but it's worth it.

Merry Christmas
Posted by: lex || 12/18/2004 23:29 Comments || Top||

#52  TGA,

"The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, liberty, democracy, equality, the
rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities.
These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination,
tolerance, justice, solidarity and and equality between women and men prevail."
What's wrong here, Poison Reverse?"


The problem is with the words, non-discrimination & tolerance. These two words in the EU Const. are not as innocent as you think they are. These two words will be used to put people like Aris, who want the freedom to make fun of other religions, in jail. Mark my words, the day is coming, when the words "non-discrimination & tolerance" in the EU Constitution, will be used to put plenty to people in prison. Including parents who want to discipline their children for e.g. watching porn.
Posted by: Poison Reverse || 12/18/2004 23:29 Comments || Top||

#53  TGA - let me make this clear, since I respect you and your personal history - I don't throw the Nazi tag around willy-nilly, and I don't believe I used it (as I noted) on Aris.
Posted by: Frank G || 12/18/2004 23:31 Comments || Top||

#54  I'll second that. "Tolerance" is pretty much meaningless. The only intolerance that has or should have meaning in the eyes of the law is that what violates my person. Also known as my flesh. "Feelings" don't count.
Posted by: lex || 12/18/2004 23:32 Comments || Top||

#55  Only with an apology and a promise neither to compare nor even imply a comparison between me and the Nazis ever again.

Those are "fighting words" for me, and even if I believe it should be illegal to respond with physical violence, that does NOT mean I have to bend over and take your abuse smiling, NOR does it mean I have to be your friend.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 12/18/2004 23:32 Comments || Top||

#56  Aris wrote about fighting words: I've heard of it. I simply completely disagree with it.

A serious reply: "fighting words" are well recognized by our constitutional law as not being protected by our First Amendment. Just as you can't yell "fire" in a crowded theater, and can't libel a person, you can't use words that are designed to provoke a fight, there and then. The US Supreme Court has a set of tests that it has instructed our courts to use in the application of this principle.

I won't speak as to how things are (or should be) in the EU, but here in the US most of us are pretty comfortable with this: we all recognize that the First Amendment is not absolute, but is designed to protect ordinary and political speech, not fighting words. It works well for us. YMMV.

If you want a scholarly review, go here.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/18/2004 23:33 Comments || Top||

#57  not worth the reply. Bring it on, punk
Posted by: Frank G || 12/18/2004 23:34 Comments || Top||

#58  Frank, there's more than one N-word. The Greeks suffered mightily at the hands of the N's. Maybe it's too early for new year's resolutions but a little humility is never a bad thing.

/soapbox

I still recommend Talisker. Or Lagavulin in a pinch.
Posted by: lex || 12/18/2004 23:34 Comments || Top||

#59  Last post of mine was a reply to #49.

Frank> I don't throw the Nazi tag around willy-nilly, and I don't believe I used it (as I noted) on Aris.

Just check this thread's post #9, you amnesiac. You called me a "little EU Nazi", right there.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 12/18/2004 23:35 Comments || Top||

#60  Yep. My bad, and I apologize
Posted by: Frank G || 12/18/2004 23:36 Comments || Top||

#61  and for once, I actually mean it
Posted by: Frank G || 12/18/2004 23:37 Comments || Top||

#62  Frank... calling him "ya little EU Nazi" doesn't make it any better.

And I mostly agree with Steve. If you walk into a truck stop yelling "all truckers are assholes" you may still exercise your "right of free speech" but without teeth after the incident.

But the line between "legit" free speech and "fighting words" is never a clear one. Just remember what happened to the Dutch filmmaker. I don't think anyone said here "he had it coming".
Posted by: True German Ally || 12/18/2004 23:39 Comments || Top||

#63  non-silent night
non-holy night
Rantburg's cool,
Rantburg's bright

Round on yer neighborz
No need to be coy
Insults wreak havoc
If words thee annoy

Sleep in heavenly spite,
Slee-eep in heaavenly spite
Posted by: lex || 12/18/2004 23:40 Comments || Top||

#64  lex, wise man... I throw in a round of vintage Glenmorangie! Deal and shake hands, y'all?
Posted by: True German Ally || 12/18/2004 23:40 Comments || Top||

#65  No Talisker here but I raise my third bottle o Bass to Frank G

Merry Xmas Christmas Whatever
Posted by: lex || 12/18/2004 23:42 Comments || Top||

#66  There is no problem some good glasses of Scotch can't solve... if you are drinking, that is.
Posted by: True German Ally || 12/18/2004 23:43 Comments || Top||

#67  I'll ignore Frank if he'll ignore me. Anything more than that is probably too much to expect.

And now I need to sleep since it's after 6 AM. G'dnight y'all. And yeah, Merry Christmas.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 12/18/2004 23:44 Comments || Top||

#68  mmm, Glenmorangie. In the next life-- or if Bloggerama takes off and IPO's-- I'll buy an Isle o Skye distiller for me own benefit

hand shake and clap on the back

When a man's tired o' Rantburg, he's tired o' life
Posted by: lex || 12/18/2004 23:44 Comments || Top||

#69  drinking? Moi? Merry Christmas. To all
Posted by: Frank G || 12/18/2004 23:45 Comments || Top||

#70  Ching! Ching!, except you Aris.

Posted by: Poison Reverse || 12/18/2004 23:56 Comments || Top||

#71  Ari, perhaps you are unaware of the legal doctrine of "Fighting Words".

Come visit me and go after my religion, especially in a loud bellicose and profane way. After you get back from the hospital, you can *TRY* to file charges. Bwahaha!
Posted by: OldSpook || 12/18/2004 22:18 Comments || Top||

#72  Ari, perhaps you are unaware of the legal doctrine of "Fighting Words".

Come visit me and go after my religion, especially in a loud bellicose and profane way. After you get back from the hospital, you can *TRY* to file charges. Bwahaha!
Posted by: OldSpook || 12/18/2004 22:18 Comments || Top||


want to meet male persons as a male to get a sexual enjoyment.
want toget a sextual enjoyment as a male with male persons.
Enjoy your chew toy...
Posted by: partha mitra || 12/18/2004 12:34 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Mods, delete - we have a troll infestation again. the loony left must have escaped their padded cell on DU today, and are spraying their procilivities here. Note the troll even tried to link ciruclarly. WOtta putz.

Son, you gotta do better than that - at least go visit Boris - he'll teach you a few tricks, and maybe even fulfill the request you made in your post.
Posted by: OldSpook || 12/18/2004 13:26 Comments || Top||

#2  Links??? Where's the links to dirty pictures or the Viagrow ads? Just another c*ck tease.
Posted by: ed || 12/18/2004 14:18 Comments || Top||

#3  is sextual like contextual?
Posted by: Frank G || 12/18/2004 14:21 Comments || Top||

#4  Mods, delete - we have a troll infestation again. the loony left must have escaped their padded cell on DU today, and are spraying their procilivities here. Note the troll even tried to link ciruclarly. WOtta putz.

Son, you gotta do better than that - at least go visit Boris - he'll teach you a few tricks, and maybe even fulfill the request you made in your post.
Posted by: OldSpook || 12/18/2004 13:26 Comments || Top||

#5  Mods, delete - we have a troll infestation again. the loony left must have escaped their padded cell on DU today, and are spraying their procilivities here. Note the troll even tried to link ciruclarly. WOtta putz.

Son, you gotta do better than that - at least go visit Boris - he'll teach you a few tricks, and maybe even fulfill the request you made in your post.
Posted by: OldSpook || 12/18/2004 13:26 Comments || Top||


Thai elephants stage truck heists
These pachyderms aren't just going after peanuts. Elephants in a wildlife sanctuary in eastern Thailand are using their oversize bodies as road blocks, ambushing vehicles transporting sugar cane, tapioca and fruit, the sanctuary's chief says. The estimated 200 elephants in the Khao-Ang Rue-Ni sanctuary turn desperate — and wily — in the dry season, when water and food supplies shrink. It's then that the animals stage their heists, Yuo Senatham said. Conveniently enough for the elephants, the dry season is also when hundreds of trucks travel through their lands, laden with newly harvested tapioca and sugar cane. According to Yuo, a herd leader usually emerges from the jungle at dusk to block the road. When a vehicle stops, other elephants move in for the feast. Signs urging motorists not to feed the elephants don't seem to be doing the trick. "It's like the drivers are bribing the elephants — otherwise the elephants won't allow trucks to pass through," Yuo said. The elephants, who have never hurt a motorist, sound a general retreat when wildlife officials arrive to scare them away with spotlights. The sanctuary chief says he can't prevent the elephants from roaming near the road because the area used to belong to them. "What we can do is prevent them from getting hurt and hurting people," Yuo said. The Thai army cut the road through the 270,000-acre sanctuary in the 1980s to help ferry supplies to insurgents fighting the Cambodian government, Yuo said. There are some 3,000 wild elephants in Thailand, according to the Forestry Department.
Posted by: Dar || 12/18/2004 10:56:43 AM || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Okay, Elephants--why do they rob us?

Actualy, I do worry. Its only a matter oftime untill a human gets hurt, then tragedy ensues.

And havent these people heard of fences?
Posted by: N guard || 12/18/2004 12:31 Comments || Top||

#2  Yeah, well I didn't think they were sneaking up on the trucks in the middle of the night and picking the locks...
Posted by: tu3031 || 12/18/2004 12:36 Comments || Top||

#3  Tusk-an Raiders again eh, Luke? You should know to steer clear of the trunk roads.
Posted by: O Kenobi || 12/18/2004 12:46 Comments || Top||

#4  Force 'em into a chess match, even with their vaunted memeory they always forget the Casablanca Opening.
Posted by: Shipman || 12/18/2004 14:01 Comments || Top||


Mountain Lions: Why do they love us? (They're Back - In Iowa...)
Posted by: .com || 12/18/2004 03:40 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  `cause were crunchy and tase good with catsup?
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 12/18/2004 3:51 Comments || Top||

#2  I have seen 2 Mt. Lions in the last 20 years. One in Oak Mt. State Park just south of Birmingham, Alabama in 1984 and one here on my farm in East Tennessee last fall that killed one of my ducks and almost killed one of my cats. They are beautiful animals but one should beware.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 12/18/2004 8:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Before the Cedar fire in San Diego,we had several attacks from mountain lions resulting in at least two deaths in Cuyamacha State Park.
Posted by: crazyhorse || 12/18/2004 9:15 Comments || Top||

#4  Yes, they are continuing to head east. We had a dead cougar in New Boston Il just last month. They have crossed the Mississipi. Catamounts, why do they hate us?
Posted by: Anonymous7001 || 12/18/2004 9:27 Comments || Top||

#5  They've been in the East forever. I've seen big cat tracks 5 miles from Perry FL. in Taylor County.
Posted by: Shipman || 12/18/2004 9:44 Comments || Top||

#6  panthers down there, Ship
Posted by: Frank G || 12/18/2004 9:54 Comments || Top||

#7  There are also rumors across the Midwest that state game agencies -- sometimes using black helicopters -- are secretly planting mountain lions in farm country.

Damn, those black helicopters are everywhere!
Posted by: tu3031 || 12/18/2004 10:12 Comments || Top||

#8  That's not what they say Frank, they pine for the heighlands.
Posted by: Shipman || 12/18/2004 14:02 Comments || Top||

#9  What about the El Chupa Gabra!? Those things are everywhere. Hide your goats lads.
Posted by: Jarhead || 12/18/2004 22:43 Comments || Top||

#10  Unless you are Aris then hide your girl friendsheep.
Posted by: trolling for allen || 12/18/2004 23:38 Comments || Top||

#11  What is this reporter's problem? This article just oozes with contempt for the rubes down on the farm. About the only thing he missed was a peasant tugging his forelock respectfully to the wildlife guy to plead "Please 'elp us, gov'ner".
Posted by: SC88 || 12/18/2004 23:59 Comments || Top||


Michael - Still Being Michael
So. You're on trial for Child Molestation. What do you do? Bus kids to your place and party, of course! F**kin Duh! And you gotta see the pic - look into his eyes...
An ebullient Michael Jackson greeted about 200 children who were brought Friday to the fairy-tale theme park at his countryside ranch — and looked at one point like he might even stay to play.
I can just imagine the PR and Security people scrambling to drag him back if he had taken just one tiny step in that direction...
"I hope you have a wonderful day. Merry Christmas. I love you," the pop singer called out from the driveway of his estate. When one of the youngsters shouted, "We love you!" Jackson replied "I love you more" before putting an umbrella over his head and walking back toward his house.
Nummy-nummy-numms! We Wuv You!
In his brief appearance, Jackson smiled, waved and at one point looked as if he would come back and play with the children, but instead got into a vehicle that took him off the property.
...
This says it all, IMHO.
Posted by: .com || 12/18/2004 3:20:55 AM || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Mommy, mommy, can I go to Mikey's house?"
"Of course, dear, have a nice time!"

morons
Posted by: john || 12/18/2004 6:29 Comments || Top||

#2  I am repulsed by this 'man' . And it takes ALOT to make me feel that way . Sicker people in the world ? no hell no .. Cant he be reversed engineered ? :)
Posted by: MacNails || 12/18/2004 8:51 Comments || Top||

#3  ...and looked at one point like he might even stay to play.

Yikes!
Posted by: tu3031 || 12/18/2004 10:16 Comments || Top||

#4  What's sicker than MJ himself are those pathetic excuses for parents that expose their children to him so they can pretend they're friends of a world-famous pop star for a few minutes.

"We're sorry, Johnny, but Mommy and Daddy had a great weekend and can't wait to tell our friends! You'll be able to walk normally again in a few days anyway."
Posted by: Dar || 12/18/2004 10:45 Comments || Top||

#5  Pedophiles regularly find the weak links in families. Many of these parents are stupid and others are evil. I once represented a juvenile who had assualted another kid in Juvenile Hall. My client had ben regularly sodomized by his birth father who went to State Prison for his sick brutality. A couple of years later one of dad's friends from the joint got out of prison and married my clients mother and began to molest my client just like dear old dad. Dad and prison buddy talked about what a treat was waiting on the outside. These scum leave scars that fester and destroy the victims lives and often the lives of those who come in contact with them. These bastards who support him and his thugs who intimidate the victims and their families deserve whatever Michael gets. I don't have much faith in juries as long as they are made up of peopole who think that MTV is great.
Posted by: Sgt. D.T. || 12/18/2004 20:38 Comments || Top||

#6  Bussing 200 kids to neverland is akin to bussing 200 interns to a certain ex-Arkansas governor's home of residence.
Posted by: Jarhead || 12/18/2004 22:34 Comments || Top||

#7  I'm thinking of a reality show in which four Michaels compete to see which one can cause the greatest number of his neighbors to hate him in 24 hours:
--Michael Jackson
--Michael Moore
--Michael Milken
--Mikhail Gorbachev

PS don't ever tell a Russian how much you admire Gorbachev. You'll be lucky to escape with your teeth
Posted by: lex || 12/18/2004 23:53 Comments || Top||


Arabia
3 Pakistanis beheaded in Saudi Arabia
Three Pakistani men were beheaded on Friday in Saudi Arabia for drug trafficking, the Interior Ministry said. Elias Ahmed Bashir was convicted of trying to smuggle an undisclosed quantity of heroin into the kingdom, and Dawai Khan Azeem and Mohammed Zaher Khan were found guilty of receiving the drugs, the ministry said in a statement reported by the Saudi Press Agency. They were beheaded in the western city of Jeddah. Their executions bring to 28 the number of people beheaded in the kingdom this year. Last year, at least 52 people, mostly drug smugglers, were beheaded.
Posted by: Fred || 12/18/2004 12:09:21 AM || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Wow, what a change a coupla years makes: a Saudi Press Agency in Saudi, not a PR firm in DC, "real" news on the TV... never woulda thunk it possible in The Magik Kingdom.

So the 28 - that's the official Saudi Press Agency count and doesn't include the "off the books" and infidel beheadings, I presume... Bloodiest year for expats since waay back when the Bedu were free to pick off travelers dropping by the oasis...
Posted by: .com || 12/18/2004 0:20 Comments || Top||

#2  With all the hotheads on both sides of their border, one can only hope this will throw a wrench in the gears of any subtext regarding nuclear cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

As if.

Iran is the exact worst example of illegitimate nuclear prolifieration. Tehran's mullahs even surpass the hermit kingdom of North Korea. Kim has no stated intention of assaulting his neighbors with nuclear weapons, as does Iran regarding Israel.

The glaring lack of speedy and forceful interdiction with respect to Iran's nuclear aspirations has only encouraged, and in some ways even facilitated, continuing proliferation among the absolute worst candidate nations for atomic military capability. These are typically countries most prone to Islamist doctrine.

Acquisition of production level nuclear capability, even just electrical power generation, still yields a supply of enriched material that is best suited to both setting up fast-breeder reactors and fabricating weapons themselves.

Until these very worst of such hostile nation candidates all sign onto the concept of Global Cultural Cooperation™ and a total prohibition against initiating any sort of attack with weapons of mass destruction, they are suspect in terms of assisting Islamist ends.

I now believe that a true test of Islam's viability will be the concept of co-religion. If Muslims overall are unable to accept the simultaneous existence of many faiths, then they instantly become the enemy of all other religions combined.

Freedom of religious worship is a fundamental human right on par with elected representation, right to sexual orientation and the bearing of arms. Private choices made without intent of harming anyone else rate among the most basic forms of human privilege.

Posted by: Zenster || 12/18/2004 4:22 Comments || Top||

#3  Please strike the "their border" part in the first paragraph. It's been a very long day.
Posted by: Zenster || 12/18/2004 4:27 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Pinochet pops a vein
Gen. Augusto Pinochet was hospitalized after suffering a stroke Saturday, one day after an appeals court delayed a decision on whether to uphold the former dictator's indictment and house arrest on human rights charges. Doctors say Pinochet has suffered several minor strokes since 1998. The 89-year-old former ruler also has mild dementia, diabetes and arthritis, and uses a pacemaker. On Friday, the Santiago Court of Appeals postponed until next week a decision on whether to uphold his indictment and house arrest for the alleged kidnapping of nine dissidents and the killing of one of them during his 1973-90 military regime.
Posted by: Fred || 12/18/2004 2:37:36 PM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Bah. I don't feel much sympathy for him. He did authorize alot of dirty actions. He was a bastard in the humanrights/cold war sense. I think he used excessive force in breaking the back of the University and international leftist movement in Chile.

OTOH, he was "our bastard", and did off that Castro wannabe Allende, and prevent the enslavement of Chile by the Commies. Which counts for even more. Compare/contrast Chile with Vietnam, cuba or Norkland.

The fact that he beat the Internationalist commies at their own game, and made it stick is just gravy.

On the whole, a "good" guy, but one of the ones that dosen't sit well with me. A pity that the left cannot admit they were beaten, and have to hound him to death.
Posted by: N Guard || 12/18/2004 19:07 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Russkies Get Pissy About Poisoning & Ukraine in NATO
Posted by: .com || 12/18/2004 02:50 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I can see how they'd get pissy about Ukraine joining NATO.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 12/18/2004 9:11 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Booby Fischer's fate in hands of Japanese official
Posted by: .com || 12/18/2004 02:46 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And no, that's not a typo.
Posted by: .com || 12/18/2004 2:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Can some one explain why we want this mental basket case back? It's going to cost us money for gods sakesto put him up someplace and treat him.
He is a great chess player but has turds for brains.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 12/18/2004 3:17 Comments || Top||

#3  Yank his passport,and strip his citezenship.Let him float around in limbo.
Posted by: raptor || 12/18/2004 9:29 Comments || Top||

#4  I agree, Raptor. He will get some lawyahs and make a mockery of our system on our nickel. Let him be a Man Without a Country on his own nickel.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 12/18/2004 12:35 Comments || Top||

#5  He's getting deported back to America. Ain't no way he's getting to Iceland, not after Jenkins.
Posted by: gromky || 12/18/2004 15:23 Comments || Top||


Taiwan says China setting out legal basis to attack
TAIPEI - Taiwan condemned China's proposed anti-secession law on Saturday, calling it a move to establish a legal basis to attack the island. Chinese state media said on Friday that Beijing planned to send the draft law for deliberation during a parliament session on Dec. 25-29. It was seen as a move to head off a formal declaration of Taiwan independence from the mainland. "They are looking for a legal basis to invade Taiwan," said Chiu Tai-san, vice chairman and spokesman for the Mainland Affairs Council, which sets policy towards Taiwan's arch-rival. "If they want to punish or invade Taiwan they must have some legal basis to make it okay to attack," Chiu said.
Dictators and thugs always take care to make sure things look nice and legal. Just wait til "Taiwanese terrorists" "attack a radio station".
The official Xinhua news agency did not say why China was enacting an anti-secession law instead of the tougher reunification law it had floated earlier. That law would have bound a Chinese leader to order an attack on Taiwan if the island formally declared nationhood. 
Posted by: Steve White || 12/18/2004 12:12:26 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I would keep an eye on your Three Gorges Dam and new powerhouse, if I were you, Chicoms. The Taiwanese may not lay down and play dead if you invade. Action==>consequences.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 12/18/2004 1:09 Comments || Top||

#2  Lol. Just pull out your basic Granfather Clause and wave it at the ChiComs. I bet it'll stop 'em dead in their invasion tracks. They'll rush back to their Boris and Natasha Secret Laboratory (I really need to update the name with proper Sino-names, heh - suggestions ZF?) to study this devastating new development... Then they'll send a buncha spies over to the US and Europe to learn our secrets for defeating such a diabolical scheme. Then Taiwan will hire Johnny Cochran and...
Posted by: .com || 12/18/2004 2:08 Comments || Top||


Europe
Follow-up: Yushchenko Poisoned With TCDD (The WORST Dioxin)
Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko was poisoned by TCDD, the most harmful known form of dioxin and a key ingredient of the Vietnam-era herbicide Agent Orange, the scientist who conducted tests on the presidential candidate's blood said Friday. Abraham Brouwer, professor of environmental toxicology at the Free University in Amsterdam, told The Associated Press that the dioxin was TCDD, chemically known as tetrachlorodibenzoparadioxin. Brouwer carried out tests on blood samples sent by Yushchenko's doctors in Vienna. TCDD was a key ingredient of Agent Orange, a herbicide blamed for myriad health problems in U.S. veterans of the Vietnam War and local villagers. It is produced inadvertently during manufacturing processes that use chlorine, such as paper and pulp bleaching. It is also given off by incinerator fumes. There is no commercial production of TCDD.
Posted by: .com || 12/18/2004 03:26 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  There's a somewhat plausible rumor that Yushchenko was poisoned by someone in his own party. The nonlethality, the visible signs...someone from the KGB could have done the job with far more effective, and far less tracable poisons.
Posted by: gromky || 12/18/2004 15:25 Comments || Top||

#2  What a great idea. I bet Kerry is kicking himself right now.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 12/18/2004 15:28 Comments || Top||

#3  What a great idea. I bet Kerry Theresa is kicking himherself right now.

I apologize, Mrs. D.
Posted by: Poison Reverse || 12/18/2004 20:35 Comments || Top||

#4  Focus on the Billion Dollar Woman, Yushchenko's kleptocratic sidekick from Dnepropetrovsk (eastern mafia-central Ukraine, Yulia Timoshenko.
Posted by: lex || 12/18/2004 21:44 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
No lumps of coal for Barack Obama's kids this Christmas.
The new senator from Illinois was worried his $158,100 salary in Washington wouldn't be enough to support his family. Those fears of grinding poverty have been put to rest with a book deal worth as much $1 million.
Posted by: chip || 12/18/2004 8:04:13 PM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Popcorn Anyone? So Many Flavors Of Hemlock Kool-Aid
Posted by: .com || 12/18/2004 03:34 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I think the biggest dilemma the Dummycrats are facing, which the MSM won't report is to be pro-American or pro-Hollywood. If the Dummycrats choose Hollywood, then they will get massive donations but will never win a public office. Hence, the reasoining behind using judges to promote their agenda. If the Dummycrats choose to be pro-American, then they lose massive donations from Hollywood, but gain votes in red states. Since the Dummycrats rather persue their love of money and make love with their faces, their influences will be ever more shrinking.

They have lost quite a bit of hispanic and black vote. The only hispanic and black votes that they are getting, is from the brainwashed old timers that didn't save for the future and are looking for handouts. The working professional hispanics and blacks vote Republican.
Posted by: Poison Reverse || 12/18/2004 9:06 Comments || Top||

#2  “We have to come to grips with the real reason we lost this election: Whether we like it or not, too many Americans doubt whether we will be tough enough in the war on terror,” said Al From, founder and chief executive officer of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council.

No, I think your problem is that a lot of Americans correctly concluded that many of you-- Michael Moore, for example-- are actually on the side of the enemy.

Up until early last year, I'd been a Democrat for more than three decades. But after what I've seen in the last three elections, I will **NEVER** again vote for another Democrat for any public office, not even Dog Catcher. America simply cannot risk putting these people in charge of anything.
Posted by: Dave D. || 12/18/2004 9:15 Comments || Top||

#3  He added, “liberals have something absolutely central to contribute to winning this war against totalitarian Islam. If they make it their own identity, they can do it better than conservatives have.”

"All we are sayyyyiinngg is give peace appeasement a chance"
Posted by: Frank G || 12/18/2004 9:29 Comments || Top||


International-UN-NGOs
Kyoto Junk Science Meet Fails To Scam US
Put on your waders...
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) - A U.N. conference ended early Saturday with a vague plan for informal new talks on how to slow global warming but without a U.S. commitment to multilateral negotiations on next steps, including emissions controls.
How vague, you ask?
Between fits of laughter, we agreed to come to another LaughFest meeting. It was the only way to get them to adjourn, I guess. I'm sure their arms were getting tired...

"The Americans reached a good agreement with the Europeans," Argentine diplomat Raul Estrada Oyuela said of the plan, which he helped broker in long hours of late-night talks.
See? The pig, she has lipstick!
Others described it as at best a small step to keep the multilateral process moving on climate change. "It's a finger-hold, like hanging on by your nails," said Michael Zammit Cutajar of Malta, a veteran climate negotiator.
...
Too bad, so sad, damnit, er Zammit. When will the PoopScience wankers buzz off? Never! This is all they have. They can't cut it in real universities doing real science so, sans peddling this tripe to Gov'ts, no one would employ them. We really should apply some sense here and quit sending representatives on these fool's errands. Utter waste just to humor some moonbats.
Posted by: .com || 12/18/2004 3:06:54 AM || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Keep your enemies close.
Posted by: john || 12/18/2004 6:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Americans hate to be made for suckers worse than anything.

This way to see the Egress gents.
/ptb
Posted by: Shipman || 12/18/2004 9:52 Comments || Top||

#3  a "veteran climate negotiator"? Just how many climates has he changed? Jeez, what a bunch of tools.....
Posted by: Frank G || 12/18/2004 9:58 Comments || Top||

#4  A U.N. conference ended early Saturday with a vague plan for informal new talks...

Is it just me, or shouldn't every story I read about the UN begin with those words?
Posted by: tu3031 || 12/18/2004 10:31 Comments || Top||

#5  LOL, tu3031.

You just summed up the UN perfectly.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 12/18/2004 10:58 Comments || Top||

#6  tu3031, I'm sure all the reporters have that on a 'hotkey' on their computers by now....
Posted by: CrazyFool || 12/18/2004 11:17 Comments || Top||

#7  Frank---you stole my thunder:

Michael Zammit Cutajar of Malta, a veteran climate negotiator.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Dammit, Zammit! Haven't you finished those climate negotiations yet? We are almost out of funds earmarked for your project, and going back to the trough is so embarassing for me.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 12/18/2004 12:48 Comments || Top||

#8  AP spin. Read on another blog couple days ago quotes from several people at conference saying Kyoto was dead and when it expires in 2012,no country will try to sign new version. That most agreed,reluctantly or not,that Kyoto-type emission quotas was failure w/only Europe trying it.
Posted by: Stephen || 12/18/2004 14:34 Comments || Top||

#9  several people at conference saying Kyoto was dead - Hallelujah! I've been railing against this nonsense for years. It's gratifying to see the tide turning and even the MSM turning sceptical. Otherwise .com nailed it. A veteran climate negotiator said "My well-paid and undemanding job is on the line here."
Posted by: phil_b || 12/18/2004 16:50 Comments || Top||

#10  The NYT report had this gem - But the issue was complicated by Saudi Arabia's insistence that the aid include compensation to oil-producing countries for any fall in revenues that may result from the reduction in the use of carbon fuels.
Posted by: phil_b || 12/18/2004 17:18 Comments || Top||

#11  phil_b - ROFL!!! How very Arab of them, lol!

That's just phriggin' priceless.
Posted by: .com || 12/18/2004 17:39 Comments || Top||

#12  I'm wondering if, when there's no more oil, if we could harness and channel the energy the Arab world generates in seething? Think about it! The more we take, the more they'd seethe. It could violate the laws of thermodynamics and physics, possibly an unlimited source!
Posted by: Frank G || 12/18/2004 17:56 Comments || Top||

#13  Yup, they'll be back to camel racing. Then they'll be really pissed we invaded Iraq instead of them.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 12/18/2004 18:11 Comments || Top||

#14  What are the going odds on camel racing? Anything like the dogs or horses? :)
Posted by: Mark Espinola || 12/18/2004 18:21 Comments || Top||

#15  The BBC is claiming a deal was made now.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 12/18/2004 20:31 Comments || Top||

#16  Lol! It's lipstick on the pig, alright: Yeah, we'll come to another of your "meetings". That's it. Beeb is trying to make it look like the US gave in or compromised, but there's no "there" there, heh.
Posted by: .com || 12/18/2004 20:41 Comments || Top||

#17  sounds like a general consensus on the shape of the entry rug to the room where discussions may take place
Posted by: Frank G || 12/18/2004 20:42 Comments || Top||

#18  Roger Simon takes the air out of the GHG mtg
Posted by: Frank G || 12/18/2004 20:53 Comments || Top||

#19  Kyoto, we hardly knew ye. RIP
Posted by: lex || 12/18/2004 21:42 Comments || Top||

#20  ROTFLMAO Frank G
Where they may take place over several various days in a given month, maybe, if we kinda feel like it, maybe.

What it is .com is that Beeb has to keep up the Green/World Socialist world view no matter how plainly full of pure crap they are. The victorious forces of world socialism/green powern win again because we the Beeb say so.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 12/18/2004 22:12 Comments || Top||


New sex misconduct claims hit UN
The UN has suspended two peacekeepers serving in Burundi following allegations of sexual misconduct. An official UN investigation is under way into the incident, which allegedly took place last weekend in Muyinga in the country's north-east.
Darned near warp-speed for the UN.
The latest allegations come on top of a probe into charges of rape, paedophilia and prostitution involving UN troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo. There are currently more than 5,000 UN peacekeepers in Burundi. The UN has not released further information on the Burundi allegations, but a spokesperson said the organisation would not waiver from its responsibility to ensure zero tolerance of sexual exploitation and abuse by its personnel.

The latest allegations come a month after UN Secretary General Kofi Annan acknowledged UN peacekeeping personnel in DR Congo had been involved in sexual exploitation. Mr Annan vowed to root out such practices of gross misconduct throughout the UN. Earlier this week, the Washington Post reported that, according to a draft UN report, investigators looking into the allegations in the DR Congo were being obstructed by peacekeepers. UN officials say they are investigating some 150 allegations in total and that there is photographic and video evidence for some of them. In contrast to previous incidents, the UN has been given credit for attempting to confront the charges about the UN peacekeepers in DR Congo in public.
Kofi getting ready to jettison the small fry?
Posted by: Steve White || 12/18/2004 1:07:24 AM || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  In contrast to previous incidents, the UN has been given credit for attempting to confront the charges about the UN peacekeepers in DR Congo in public.

Interesting concept, that. Who is giving out the credits? Can you apply at a goodwill bank? So who gave this reporter the right to hand out a free pass?
Posted by: john || 12/18/2004 6:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Simple formula:
No "photographic and video evidence"=no investigation. Get pics,get an investigation.
Posted by: Stephen || 12/18/2004 18:02 Comments || Top||


UN calls global summit for September
The United Nations has convened a summit for September 14-16 next year as the world body looks at a sweeping overhaul of the organisation, it was announced on Friday. The UN general assembly, which groups all 191 member states, adopted a resolution calling on every nation to send heads of state and government to the summit, which comes just ahead of the assembly's annual general debate.
I'm typing up my suggestions, even as we speak blog.
Posted by: Fred || 12/18/2004 12:28:36 AM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Saver First class airfares or charters and perdiem checks are being procured as we speak. 9 months advance warning ought to give them enough time for the logistics, concubines, and caterers to mobilize for the mission.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 12/18/2004 1:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Don't forget the XO Cognac...
Posted by: True German Ally || 12/18/2004 1:20 Comments || Top||

#3  And lots of limos and limo, uh, um, helpers like. Nothing like dark-tinted windows, the smell of leather and, heh, some spiffy limo helpers to get a UN funtionary, er, functioning. Top it off with XO, yummm. Yeah, that's the ticket. And did you know you can drink it, too? Multi-functional. Perfect for the UN crowd.
Posted by: .com || 12/18/2004 2:24 Comments || Top||

#4  Hey, dad? Can I have the catering contract?
Posted by: Kojo Annan || 12/18/2004 9:55 Comments || Top||

#5  No, Kojo. Your sister's husband has it. You have been given much, my son. You must learn to be humble and thankful for the bounty you have been blessed with (ya greedy little punk).
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 12/18/2004 12:21 Comments || Top||

#6  Will this be televised live? It could be funnier than NBC's fall line up. That would be embarassing if Fox News beat them in sweeps week.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 12/18/2004 12:40 Comments || Top||

#7  give them enough time for the logistics, concubines, and caterers to mobilize for the mission.

Special charters for Children's Crusade contingents from Congo, Kosovo... Two dozen suites at the Plaza should do it (assuming 24 x 7 booty calls)
Posted by: lex || 12/18/2004 22:05 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
DOJ - 2nd Amendment Secures an INDIVIDUAL Right to bear arms
Caught via Instapundit - another smackdown against the gun-grabbers. 2nd Amendment secures an individuals' right to keep and bear arms, not just "States" or a "State Militia". Brits might want to take notice the next time they have a hotprowl burglary, it's better when you can defend yourself
Posted by: Frank G || 12/18/2004 6:17:36 PM || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The argument that the "RIGHT to keep and bear arms" applies only to states is, and always has been, stupid. The "gun grabbers" hope that "We The People" don't have enough sense to think for ourselves. That we don't know what The Constitution actually says. Afterall, a great many of us have fallen for the "Seperation of Church and State" LIE for years. Those words appear NOWHERE in The Constitution of the United States. They do however, appear in the constitution of the former Soviet Union.

Anyway, the thought that a STATE would see the need to codify it's right to be an armed entity is ludicrous. OF COURSE THE 2ND AMENDMENT APPLIES TO THE INDIVIDUAL. Read The Federalist Papers..

According to our Founding Fathers, the STATE should NEVER, EVER have the upperhand over the people. The STATE should live in perpetual fear of The People. This is the only way a free society can function properly.

And face it folks.......the STATE does NOT fear an unarmed citizenry.
Posted by: Floting Granter5198 || 12/19/2004 0:15 Comments || Top||


A.C.L.U.'s Search for Data on Donors Stirs Privacy Fears
EFL.NY Times, so you'd have to register.
Do as we say, not as we do. How so typically liberal...

The American Civil Liberties Union is using sophisticated technology to collect a wide variety of information about its members and donors in a fund-raising effort that has ignited a bitter debate over its leaders' commitment to privacy rights. Some board members say the extensive data collection makes a mockery of the organization's frequent criticism of banks, corporations and government agencies for their practice of accumulating data on people for marketing and other purposes.
But we're the ACLU! We're the Good Guys! Not like Ashkkroft and BushHitler! You can trust us! You have our word on it! We're not like the others!
Daniel S. Lowman, vice president for analytical services at Grenzebach Glier & Associates, the data firm hired by the A.C.L.U., said the software the organization is using, Prospect Explorer, combs a broad range of publicly available data to compile a file with information like an individual's wealth, holdings in public corporations, other assets and philanthropic interests.
Oh, no problem! You want my credit card numbers, too? Or will you just steal them?
The issue has attracted the attention of the New York attorney general, who is looking into whether the group violated its promises to protect the privacy of its donors and members."It is part of the A.C.L.U.'s mandate, part of its mission, to protect consumer privacy," said Wendy Kaminer, a writer and A.C.L.U. board member. "It goes against A.C.L.U. values to engage in data-mining on people without informing them. It's not illegal, but it is a violation of our values. It is hypocrisy."
The ACLU associated with HYPOCRISY! Perish the thought!
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: tu3031 || 12/18/2004 11:55:09 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Who can I hire to sue their asses off?
Posted by: ed || 12/18/2004 14:28 Comments || Top||

#2  How much money did you give them?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 12/18/2004 14:33 Comments || Top||

#3  The money isn't important. It's the sense of complete trust, that I had in that fine organization, that's been violated. My worldview is shattered.
Posted by: ed || 12/18/2004 14:42 Comments || Top||

#4  ACLU: "Nothing to see here, move along, YOU ARE FREE TO DO AS WE TELL YOU, go back to sleep America, YOU ARE FREE TO DO AS WE TELL YOU!"
Posted by: Destro || 12/18/2004 14:47 Comments || Top||

#5  Ed, stop with the Mike impression, k? Of him I could believe it.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 12/18/2004 14:49 Comments || Top||

#6  I wonder if they would be offended if someone were to sell popcorn guns outside their corruption corporate office.
Posted by: Poison Reverse || 12/18/2004 19:00 Comments || Top||

#7  No different than the other NGOs: it's all about the Benjamins.
Posted by: Pappy || 12/18/2004 23:22 Comments || Top||

#8  Hilarious. This is like George "Campaign Finance Reform" Soros announcing he'll spend as many millions as it takes to get the electoral outcome he wants.

Enough hypocrisy already. Let's accept that anyone can gather data on anyone, and anyone can spend as much as he pleases in any election provided there's full disclosure. Transparency, good. Moralistic posturing, bad.
Posted by: lex || 12/18/2004 23:28 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Indian eBay Clips Chief Over VidClip Auction
Posted by: .com || 12/18/2004 02:54 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Tech
NASA Retires Historic B-52 'Mothership'
NASA on Friday retired the B-52B jet that served as the "mothership" for a half-century of flight research projects ranging from the X-15 rocket planes of the 1960s to the X-43A hypersonic jet that flew at nearly 10 times the speed of sound last month. The eight-engine bomber, which spent most of its career dropping airplanes and rockets instead of explosives, was praised by its pilots during a ceremony at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. "This airplane has played a pivotal role, yet largely unsung role, in many significant aeronautics and space flight programs," said Ed Schneider, a retired NASA research pilot who flew the big jet, which was usually referred to by the last three digits of its tail number - 008. The ceremony returned the plane to the Air Force, which will put it on display at Edwards, home to the Air Force Flight Test Center.

For decades the B-52 carried cutting-edge research vehicles aloft, attached to a pylon beneath a wing, for launch over the desert or ocean. Now, there is no specific program in sight that needs the capability. The jet first flew on June 11, 1955. It was used for the X-15 program from 1959-68, carried wingless "lifting bodies" aloft from 1966-75 in research that led to the space shuttle, and dropped remotely piloted aircraft in the 1970s and '80s. It also tested the parachute recovery system for space shuttle solid-rocket boosters and the drogue chute used to slow shuttles during landing. Former astronaut Gordon Fullerton, also an Air Force and NASA research pilot, flew the B-52's last research mission, launching the X-43A "scramjet" on its record-setting flight to Mach 9.6 in November. "To me, it's really a sad day, more like a funeral than a celebration, to realize that I'm not likely to crawl in 008 and go out for another flight," he said. "If you were to get in the cockpit now, and wanted to taxi away, you've got to start up 22 pieces of rotating machinery before you're ready to go - eight engines, 10 air-driven hydraulic packs, and four alternators. That's different than any airplane built before or since," he said. In all, the plane logged 1,051 flights and released 405 payloads.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/18/2004 12:48:08 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  52-00008 is one of the most significant individual aircraft ever built. I used to have a 1/72nd Revell model of it, complete with X-15 on its underwing pylon. I really regret losing that one.
I saw the actual aircraft many times at Edwards over the years. It was one of the rare RB-52Bs, with provision for a bomb-bay mounted recce pod, and the only survivor of that model.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy || 12/18/2004 1:05 Comments || Top||

#2  Was that pod borrowed from the B-58?
Posted by: Shipman || 12/18/2004 9:47 Comments || Top||



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