No charges have been filed so far in a fatal shooting earlier this week on Interstate 45.
Houston police said a man killed one man and wounded two others after they fired at him while driving in the 9400 block of North Freeway about 12:20 a.m. Wednesday.
Officers were called to a gas station in the 7400 block of North Shepherd because three males had been shot. Investigators determined that the men had been shot at the freeway and drove to the Shell station.
According to police, they were driving a white Pontiac Grand Prix when they fired gunshots at the driver of a truck. Then they exited the freeway at West Gulf Bank.
The truck driver stopped on the West Gulf Bank overpass and got a rifle from his back seat for protection, police said. As he looked over the side of the freeway to see the license plate of the Pontiac, he saw the car's driver's side window open and feared the suspects would shoot at him again.
He fired several shots at the Pontiac, hitting the passenger who was sitting in the front seat and another man who was in the back seat.
The front-seat passenger, 17, was taken to Memorial Hermann Northwest Hospital, where he later was pronounced dead.
The Ponitac's driver, who was cut in the face by flying glass and shrapnel, and rear seat passenger were treated at the hospital. Their conditions are not immediately known.
A 19-year-old man who was passenger in the car ran away, but was later found and questioned.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/10/2009 11:26 Comments ||
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[hysteria]
you see! if we stopped importing buying and making those tewwible guns, those poor young men wouldn't be harmed now. they would've had a decent chance to monitor the next election for O'Bambi! think of the children! blah blah blah blah etc etc
[/hysteria]
muahahahaha! Me likey! I'm surprised the media didn't go nuclear about whether the trucker used a semiautomatic rifle (oh, the horrors)
Australian astronomers have been studying an intergalactic assassin poised to wipe out life on Earth. Maybe. Observations indicate that cosmological curiosity WR104 may be a killer - and we might be the victim.
The pretty pinwheel that makes the system so distinctive is now know to be a combination of two stars - a blue star orbiting the Wolf-Rayet 104. Note that the "Wolf-Rayet" name is the astronomical equivalent of a beeping red LCD countdown reading "0:01" - it's a swollen star getting ready for final supernova detonation. At the moment its fusion reactions are blasting its own photosphere off into space, where the blue companion orbits and illuminates the material, creating a seriously impressive spiral over twice the size of our solar system.
We have a perfect view of this pinwheel pattern, since the spiral is at right angles to us, in the same way a man being held at gunpoint has a perfect view of the little hole the bullets come out of. And the gun is over twenty-five times the size of the sun. When a binary system collapses into a black hole, which astronomers call 'coalescence' (a euphemism which makes 'heated debate' a valid description of World War II), it can release a gigantic burst of gamma rays. Gamma rays are the ultimate high energy electromagnetic radiation, and while the burst lasts less than two minutes it can contain more energy than the entire mass of the sun converted into energy by E = m c^2. You'll notice that the mass of the sun and the speed of light, c, are extremely large numbers.
On the upside we'll never see it coming. The EM-burst travels the speed of light so the only warning we'd have is dying - which most people will accept is a little too late....Even better, this Earthicidal explosion may have already happened with the lethal radiation already speeding its way right at us. Okay, Gloomy Gus, is there any good news.
On the other hand, the big boom might not happen for hundreds of thousands of years - and might do so without a peep of gamma radiation. I feel better already.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/10/2009 13:52 ||
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#7
"On the upside we'll never see it coming. The EM-burst travels the speed of light so the only warning we'd have is dying - which most people will accept is a little too late"
But Bursts may be drawn to previously landed meteors. The Superman/Kryptonite thoery...
So, it could be drawn to a certain mystic rock in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia. The effects of that energy could be unpredictable. 72 Virgins for everybody! Irrespective of race color or creed....
Posted by: Voice in the Wilderness ||
04/10/2009 19:28 Comments ||
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#8
YAWN. They try to say the same thing about Eta Carinae every now and then. Both EC and WR104 are about 8000 light years away. It would take a REALLY lucky hit for the gamma burst to even fry a satellite, much less us.
The Crab Nebula 'event' (1054AD) was much closer (6500 light years.) An we still haz provurbyal cheezburger.
1815: Tambora volcano in the East Indies erupts with a mighty roar. It sends enough pulverized rock into the atmosphere to disrupt weather around the globe for more than a year.
Tambora sits on Sumbawa Island, east of Java in what is today Indonesia. Geological evidence shows it probably hadn't erupted in 5,000 years....The big show began April 10. Three columns of fire were seen towering into the sky. By the next day Tambora had ejected about 12 cubic miles of magma into the air.
But the mountain's solid towering peak was also gone. The eruption left a deep summit crater, with a rim 4,100 feet lower than the peak had once been. People in Surabaya, 300 miles away on Java, felt the earth move possibly the result of the caldera collapse. Between the magma ejected from below and the pulverized mountaintop above, Tambora sent more than 36 cubic miles of pulverized rock into the atmosphere. The ash falling on islands nearby immediately suffocated crops. That alone probably killed 92,000 people.
The cloud of ash that was fine and light enough to stay in the atmosphere circled the globe. Average temperatures dropped as much as 5 degrees Fahrenheit over the next year ... and beyond. Many Europeans and North Americans called 1816 the "year without a summer." In elementary school, we had a story on it in our reading books. IIRC the title was "Eighteen-Hundred and Froze-to-Death."
Snow fell in New England and Eastern Canada in June. (Quebec City got a foot of the stuff.) Frost was recorded in each of the summer months. Drought struck in July and August, and the sunlight was weak. Crops were stunted or failed entirely. Much of what survived and looked near to harvest was killed off by a September frost.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/10/2009 13:43 ||
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Battered residents of this western Arkansas city waited for daylight Friday to dig out from a "direct hit" by a tornado that killed three people, injured at least 30, and flattened homes and businesses.
The twister sliced through the Ouachita Mountains community shortly after 8 p.m. Thursday. The county sheriff described the sky turning green, while the airport manager said darkness fell quickly as the twister crossed the Oklahoma line 10 miles away.
"Me and the dog ran to the bathroom when we saw it on the TV," said Rick Lanman, the manager of the Mena Airport. "It was here in less than a minute."
Sirens warned the community for earlier storms north and south of town. When they sounded a fourth time, "experience was telling me that we were in trouble," said Lanman, who said he been through tornadoes before in Oklahoma and Illinois.
Before first light Friday, a convoy of trucks from electric utilities streamed into Mena. Their flashing yellow lights illuminated downed trees and buildings whose roofs and sides had been ripped away. Blue lights from police cruisers lit up debris downtown.
"It just looks like a war zone," Mayor George McKee said.
Prosecutor Tim Williamson said the storm uprooted 100-year-old trees and damaged Civil War-era homes that had been restored. He said the town once looked "pastoral" but added, "It's not anymore."
Emergency workers planned to go door-to-door Friday morning to account for the city's 5,700 residents. Firefighters would likely be needed to slice away fallen trees to clear a path.
"They'll have to cut in for us. It's going to be a long day," Polk County Sheriff Mike Oglesby told Little Rock television station KTHV.
Williamson said dispatchers at the county courthouse had been trapped inside immediately after the storm. He said the county jail was "uninhabitable" and efforts were being made to transfer inmates to nearby counties.
The twister tore the roof off a local community college building destroyed two businesses at the city's industrial park, Williamson said.
The violent weather was part of a system that caused damage throughout the South and parts of the Midwest. The National Weather Service said a woman was injured at Shreveport, La., when a tree fell onto her car during a tornado. Twisters also damaged homes east of Vinita and near Muse in Oklahoma and at Crossett in far southern Arkansas, near the Louisiana line.
As the storms moved east, hail and high winds were reported in Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee. Power was out in many parts of the region.
Seven more people have joined the growing list of Zimbabwean commercial farmers facing prosecution for being on their land, as part of the ongoing offensive against farmers that has violently intensified in the last week. The growing list of farmers facing prosecution has now reached 100 and includes the wife of Chiredzi farmer, Gary Warth, who has been in hiding for more than six weeks. His wife Teresa was arrested on Monday in a move that Chiredzi police blatantly admitted was to bait her husband out of hiding to face arrest and prosecution. She was later released and is expected in court this week.
Meanwhile the violent offensive in Chegutu has not yet eased, with Mount Carmel farm manager Martin Joubert also being hauled behind bars this week. Joubert joins seven other Mount Carmel farm workers who were arrested over the weekend while trying to defend the land from a gang of lawless thugs. These workers have all been tortured behind bars and on Wednesday were remanded in custody until a later date. The rest of Mount Carmels staff meanwhile is in hiding.
There is no question that the farm attacks, which have been ongoing since February, are the biggest obstacle standing in the way of crucial foreign investment in the country. Despite this, the unity government has done nothing to prevent the attacks. Prime Minister Morgan Tvsangirai has warned that the perpetrators of the attacks will be arrested and last week tasked the Joint Operations and Implementation Committee (JOMIC) to deal with the land issue. JOMIC in turn has since argued that farmland under legal protections such as Bilateral Investment Protection Agreements (BIPAs), are not immune to fresh invasions, effectively condoning the new attacks.
The attacks have also continued despite last years SADC Tribunal ruling that tasked Zimbabwes government with protecting land owners from future attacks. The ruling has been blatantly ignored under direct instruction by Zimbabwes Attorney General, and in one case the ruling was effectively nullified by a High Court judge. SADC itself meanwhile has remained completely silent on the farm attacks.
Leaders of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on Thursday warned at a protest rally that the government will be responsible for any untoward situation in the country if it does not cancel the decision of cabinet meeting.
It may be mentioned here that the government has decided on Wednesday at a cabinet meeting that it will request the cantonment board to cancel Khaleda Zia's cantonment residence.
She finally has a reason to cry ...
BNP Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain said, "We do hope that the government will rethink the cabinet decision otherwise it will be responsible for any untoward situation in the country. Do not try to harass Begum Zia mentally or any other way. The people of the country will not accept it," he was speaking at a protest rally organized by BNP in front of Nayapaltan Party office yesterday.
He said the government has started politics with a settled issue avoiding national issues. "The government has failed to run the country within three months. People are vexed with oppressions of AL leaders and activists. We are requesting the government not to interfere with law," he said, adding "that the decision is the outcome of vindictive politics and I feel shame when I thing of that narrow minded decision.
Standing committee member Dr Khandaker Mosharref Hossain said, "The cantonment board handed over the residence to Begum Khaleda Zia in a legal process. The cantonment board can cancel the lease of Khaleda's residence not the government."
He urged the government for withdrawing the illegal decision otherwise the opposition would go for tougher movement.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/10/2009 00:00 ||
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Much 'analysis' removed.
Venezuela gave the US Coast Guard credit on Thursday for cooperation in a large drug seizure. Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami said in a statement the US Coast Guard discovered 2,030 pounds of cocaine on a fishing boat off Venezuela's Caribbean coast after Venezuelan officials gave them permission to board. He said five Venezuelans were arrested, but did not say when the seizure occurred.
El Aissami said the search for drugs on the fishing boat some 1,200 miles from the coastal town of Guiria was carried out "jointly with Venezuelan authorities" and he said it proves that the argument Venezuela "does not cooperate in this fight" is false. US Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Matt Moorlag said the Coast Guard located the Venezuela-flagged fishing boat 500 miles east of Brazil, boarded the vessel Wednesday and discovered approximately 2,500 pounds of cocaine. It was not immediately clear what accounted for the discrepancy in the reported size of the seizure. Moorlag said Venezuela has jurisdiction over the case, but Coast Guard officers conducted the search on their own.
Chavez suspended cooperation with the US Drug Enforcement Administration in 2005, accusing its agents of espionage -- an accusation the DEA denies. Venezuelan officials have repeatedly expressed anger at US declarations that corruption has helped make their country a growing shipment route for South American cocaine. Two DEA agents still work in Venezuela, but US Embassy officials say their efforts have been severely restricted.
His father Carlos el-Aissami headed the Venezuelan branch of the Baath Party, while his great-uncle Shibli el-Aissami was a close Saddam ally and served as assistant to the Secretary General of the Baath Party.
SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korean strongman Kim Jong Il is officially back on center stage following a reported stroke, but has promoted a trusted in-law to the spotlight in the clearest sign yet he is making preparations for an eventual successor, analysts said Friday. Yeah, you don't look so good, Kimmie...
Though looking thinner and grayer, and limping slightly, Kim's appearance at the closely watched first session of the North's new parliament Thursday was more than enough to lay to rest any lingering doubts about his health, and prove he is in charge. "Was more than enough to lay to rest any lingering doubts about his health".
Oh, really? I don't have any lingering doubts. He'll be jibbering and soiling himself real soon. Continued on Page 49
BOSTON (Reuters) - Textron Inc (TXT.N) shares were up 47 percent after a Kuwaiti newspaper reported that a consortium of Middle Eastern companies was closing in on a deal to buy the diversified U.S. manufacturer.
Al-Watan newspaper said in an unsourced report that a United Arab Emirates-Kuwait consortium was close to securing a deal to buy the world's largest maker of business jets, offering $21 a share. It did not identify the companies.
The New York Stock Exchange said in a statement it had asked Textron to "issue a public statement indicating whether there are any corporate developments which may explain the unusual activity" but that the company said its policy is not to comment on market rumors.
A Textron spokeswoman also declined to comment to Reuters.
The report comes in a week when Textron's beaten-down shares have climbed roughly 80 percent, a rally that started on Monday amid speculation that Lockheed Martin Co (LMT.N), the world's No. 1 defense contractor, or its smaller rival Raytheon Co (RTN.N) were possible buyers for the company.
Lockheed and Raytheon officials on Monday declined to comment on those reports.
"Compared with earlier press speculation that has focused on large defense contractors as potential acquirers of Textron, the interest from a Middle East consortium would appear to make more sense," Macquarie Capital analyst Robert Stallard wrote in a note to clients.
The Middle East is an important growth market for business jets where Textron's Cessna brand is well known, he said.
Textron shares were up $4.31 to $13.42 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Over the past year, they have fallen 84 percent, a steeper drop than the 55 percent decline in the Standard & Poor's capital goods industry index .GSPIC.
Given the pounding of the shares, management might have a hard time resisting serious takeover bids, an analyst wrote.
"Given the legacy of execution issues at Textron, high investor dissatisfaction with recent company performance and continued liquidity uncertainty, a legitimate takeover attempt will be hard to resist," wrote Citigroup analyst Jeffrey Sprague, in a note to clients.
According to the newspaper report, the consortium of buyers would plan to sell off Textron's military businesses -- Bell helicopter and Textron Systems, which makes armored vehicles. That could help to alleviate the national security concerns that could be triggered if a foreign buyer tried to buy a U.S. defense contractor.
Another question facing any potential bidder for all of Textron would be what to do with its troubled finance arm, which lost money last year. The Providence, Rhode Island-based company is dramatically scaling back that operation to focus on financing products it manufactures.
"A more obvious reason we do not believe any company would be interested in acquiring Textron is Textron Financial, which over the last year or so has been the primary cause of value destruction at the company, in our view, and remains a significant question mark for investors," Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Stephen Velgot wrote in a note to clients.
In February, Textron Chief Executive Lewis Campbell said the company would consider selling one of its core units if it needed to do so to protect cash flow, though he argued it would be unlikely that it would need to make such a drastic move.
In March, the president of United Technologies Corp's (UTX.N) Sikorsky helicopter unit said it would be "an interesting hypothesis" for his business to take over Textron's helicopter arm.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/10/2009 16:01 ||
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So when does it become cheaper to just start giving your crews guns?
CHICAGO, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Shipowners navigating the Gulf of Aden are seeing insurance premiums for kidnap and ransom increase tenfold as piracy escalates, said Chicago-based global insurance broker Aon Risk Services on Thursday, one day after Somali pirates hijacked a U.S. cargo ship.
This means shipowners could be paying 30,000 U.S. dollars premium for 3 million dollars of coverage for one journey through this piracy hotspot. However, more are opting for coverage to protect their employees as well as avoiding lengthy detours that threaten supply chains and increase petrol costs.Specialist piracy policies for kidnap and ransom insurance can include cover for consultant and negotiator costs, ransom demands and medical care. These can be bought for individual transits or on an annual basis to bring down the cost. One stop shopping for all your pirate ransom needs...
"The cost of insurance is simply rising in correlation with the risk of kidnap in piracy hotspots. Despite the presence of naval ships, the spate of piracy attacks over the last six months does not seem to be abating with increased civil unrest and pirates' easy access to rocket launchers and AK47s. As such we've seen enquiries for cover escalate as shipowners seek to protect their employees and businesses," said Ashley Leszczuk, an analyst from Aon's crisis management team.
Aon indicated that some 70 percent of shipowners are opting for localized policies for the Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Guinea stretching down to Somalia and the Straits of Malacca while a third of policies placed by Aon cover all locations worldwide.
Arizona this week became eligible for more than $100 million in additional aid to needy families, but those families likely won't see any of it.
In fact, the state could lose more than $400 million in federal funds it already receives if a plan by the Legislature's Republican majority to fix the state's budget deficit is enacted. The plan is circulating among lawmakers and agency directors.
Losing the federal funds is "very likely," a Department of Economic Security spokeswoman said, assuming the state agency's budget is cut by at least 10 percent. As a result, when the new fiscal year starts July 1, Arizona may have walked away from more than half a billion dollars in annual federal aid to the working poor. The cuts would make Arizona the first state in the nation to lose its federal welfare program and the assistance it provides to tens of thousands of people.
The Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program, known as TANF, provided $264.5 million this year to assist low-income families with rent payments, utilities, job training and other services. The money is distributed directly by the DES and through local agencies, which use it to provide shelter to the homeless and aid domestic-violence victims.
Congress created TANF in 1996 as part of welfare reform, replacing Aid to Families with Dependent Children.
In order to accept the $100 million, Arizona would have to spend $125 million more on social services. Given the state's nearly $3 billion deficit for fiscal year 2010, additional spending is unlikely. Instead, DES officials are wondering whether they'll be able to hold on to all the funding they now receive - $717 million from the state's general fund for 2009.
"What we've turned into is folks continuing to think that everyone has the right to live off the backs of those who work for a living," said Pearce, R-Mesa, the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. "Most taxpayers have had enough." The State legislature is known for very quickly and decisively addressing problems. What they are doing will be seen in other States, and soon
#1
Importantly, this has a cascading effect, because for years, the federals always made money to States conditional on unrelated things and unfunded mandates.
But when this starts to unwind, the less federal money you take means the less of your money you have to spend, *and* the less federal control over you.
The big two federal control monies are free school lunches and transportation. Once they are gone, the federal power over States is slashed, because so many onerous demands are piggybacked on them.
#2
Just as the administration is refusing payback from the banks in order to maintain control over them, you can expect the feds (the Donks) to find a way to order the states to do what they want anyway. All they need to do is pack the court, which itself is very good at assuming more and more power 'for the common good'.
#3
Bonus: this sends the welfare mooches back to where they came from: Mexico and CA.
Posted by: regular joe ||
04/10/2009 11:07 Comments ||
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#4
The State legislature is known for very quickly and decisively addressing problems. What they are doing will be seen in other States, and soon.
Plus someone forgot to tell B-O that by putting Napolitano in as Homeland Security Secy, Arizona gained a genuine REPUBLICAN governor*, Jan Brewer, and she may me more helpful to the AZ state legislature in doing what they want to do.
US Senator John McCain Friday backed a call by President Barack Obama, his former rival for the White House, for a planet free of nuclear weapons and this should start with North Korea and Iran. The Republican senator from Arizona was speaking in Japan on the last leg of an Asia tour, after Tokyo was angered by Pyongyang firing a rocket over its territory Sunday.
"Concerning President Obama's commitment to the removal of nuclear weapons from the Earth, I certainly support that ambitious goal," McCain told a Tokyo press conference. "We have two countries in the world that could destabilise both parts of the world -- the Iranians and the North Koreans. They both are on the path to acquiring nuclear weapons and the missiles to deliver them."
McCain reiterated a view held by Washington, Seoul and Tokyo, saying the North Korean launch was "a direct violation of the UN Security Council resolutions and against the norms of decent behaviour as a citizen of the world."
He added that "Iranians risk a destabilisation of the entire Middle East as they continue on their path to acquire nuclear weapons."
While speaking out against regimes holding nuclear weapons, McCain voiced support for peaceful countries using nuclear power to shift away from carbon-based energy sources and to slow down climate change. "As the United States increases and accelerates our efforts for energy independence as well as reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, I believe that nuclear power must play a major role," the senator said.
McCain, who serves on the Senate committees on armed services and energy, was travelling with fellow senators Lindsey Graham and Amy Klobuchar on an Asian tour that earlier took him to Hong Kong, Hanoi and Beijing.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/10/2009 08:41 ||
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NEW DELHI: Striking a fine balance, Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta and two Indian warships will be visiting China to take part in its International Fleet Review (IFR) this month, even as India gears up for the trilateral Malabar naval wargames with US and Japan soon after.
The deft counter-balancing is to ensure China is not miffed, especially since Beijing is always quick to view any multi-lateral naval grouping in its neighbourhood as part of a grand strategy to build a security cooperation axis in the Asia-Pacific region to "contain'' it.
I think it would be appropriate if the Indians did 'miff' the Chinese. The Chinese just recently reasserted their claim to parts of India. Be a good idea to push back a little.
The 13th Indo-US Malabar wargames held in Bay of Bengal in September 2007 had led to a formal protest by China, especially as they were expanded to include the Australian, Japanese and Singaporean navies.
CPM and CPI, who were then supporting the UPA government, too, had jumped into the fray, claiming the US was using India as a tool against China. Scarred by the protest, the government had restricted the Malabar exercise in 2008 to just India and US.
Things, however, are different now. With the Left albatross no longer hanging around its neck, the government has given the go-ahead to include Japan in this year's Malabar exercise to be held in the "general area of Okinawa''.
Admiral Mehta, however, will first be leaving for China on April 19, with two guided-missile destroyers, the 6,900-tonne INS Mumbai and 5,000-tonne INS Ranvir, already on their way to the northern Chinese naval port of Qingdao for the IFR scheduled from April 20 to 24.
"Admiral Mehta will be delivering a speech on `maritime cooperation, diplomacy and constructive engagement' during the symposium to be held with the IFR. It's part of our broader engagement with Beijing. Chinese Navy chief Admiral Wu Shengli had visited India last year,'' said an official.
After the IFR, INS Mumbai and INS Ranvir will be joined by missile corvette INS Khanjar and tanker INS Jyoti to undertake combat manoeuvres with American and Japanese warships in the Malabar wargames. "Since our warships were already on an overseas deployment, usually undertaken to show our presence and ability in our primary area of interest, and headed for the Chinese IFR, we have utilised the opportunity to hold Malabar off Japan this time,'' he added.
India may want to be seen as "a neutral player'' in the entire power-play but the fact is that it remains extremely wary of China's swift modernisation of its armed forces, the military infrastructure build-up in the Tibet Autonomous Region and, of course, its deep strategic nexus with Pakistan.
Moreover, Beijing has been increasingly making strategic moves in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), which India views as its own backyard, to secure its expanding energy needs. Experts reckon China will soon start making regular naval forays in the IOR.
China, of course, is leagues ahead of India in military capabilities. If India has just 16 conventional diesel-electric submarines, for instance, China has 62, 10 of them nuclear-powered and at least three armed with long-range strategic ballistic missiles (SSBNs).
China's underwater prowess was rudely brought home by the discovery of the sheer extent of its underground nuclear submarine base on the southern tip of Hainan Island, which will also house its new Shang-class (Type-093) nuclear-powered attack submarines and the Jin-class (Type-094) SSBNs.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/10/2009 08:57 ||
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#1
US, India, and Japan...
Lots to agree on about the region there
Don't trust China, and dont't trust Pakistan...
And Okinawa is only 900 miles from Pyongyang, Kingdom of Kimmy.
#3
ION WORLD MIL FORUM > IIUC NORTH KOREA-JAPAN WAR SCENARIO: JAPAN DOES NOT HAVE ANY LR BALLISTIC MIISLES NOR SIZABLE CAPACITY FOR SPECIAL FORCES-TYPE WARFARE. NUCLEARIZING NORTH KOREA DOES, AND CAN USE THESE TO LAUNCH COVERT COMMANDO ATTACKS AND BALLISTIC MISSLE ATTACKS [Nuclear-WMD] AGZ JAPAN AND DEFEAT HER.
#4
Also on WMF > LARGE NIMITZ-STYLE AIRCRAFT CARRIERS ARE OBSOLETE. CHINA IS DEVELOPING THE ABILITY TO SINK CARRIERS WITH LR MISSLES. CHINA HAS NO REASON TO DEV AIRCARFT CARRIERS EXCEPT TO MILITARILY PROVE THEIR OBSOLESCENCE, AND TO FORCE ITS GEOPOL SUPERIORITY AND RIGHTS IN THE TAIWAN AND TIBET ISSUES, I.E. TO DEFEAT TAIWANESE INDEPENDENCE [[next year in TWN electoral referendum] AND TO KEEP/FORCE TIBET BACK INTO CHINA'S SOVEREIGN CONTROL.
Tough call. "Lurid Crime Tales" or "Olde Tyme Religon"...
The police booking photo of alleged child killer Nour Hadid released Tuesday is an "insult against our religion," says Hadid's husband, Alaeddin. What isn't?
Orland Park police detectives say the 26-year-old Muslim woman was treated as any other suspect in a murder probe would be, and they did not intend to humiliate her when they photographed her Sunday without her headscarf and wearing only a skimpy top. And she alledgedly beat a two year old to death so we really didn't give a shit...
Nour Hadid is accused of beating her 2-year-old niece Bhia Hadid to death over four days at her home on the 9000 block of West 140th Street. The child had 55 separate bruises and was beaten "from head to toe," according to prosecutors, who say Hadid confessed. Nice. Is that an insult to hubby's religion too, or did the little slut deserve it?
But Alaeddin Hadid - who insists his wife is innocent - said Orland Park police are "really going to be in big trouble" for releasing the woman's booking photo to the news media after she was charged with first-degree murder. What're ya gonna do, cut the chiefs head off?
The Hadids are Muslims and Nour "never leaves the home without covering up," said Alaeddin, who's vowed to sue. Oh. Just sue. Must be a Moderate Muslim...
By custom, some practicing Muslim women wear the hijab, or headscarf, and cover their arms and legs when in public. In the mug shot, a bare-headed and obviously emotional Nour appears to be protecting her modesty with her hands. The same hands she beat the kid to death with?
"It is against our religion; we do not do this in our culture," Alaeddin said. "People have been calling me about this all day." All day, I tells ya! Whadda pain in the ass!
Bhia Hadid's funeral took place Thursday.
Orland Park police Cmdr. Chuck Doll said the mug shot was taken "for identification purposes" before Hadid made her confession. Her headscarf was handed back to her after the photo was taken, Doll said. "A matron was with her at all times while she was in our custody," Doll said. A matron is a law enforcement official who works with women held in custody. "She was wearing a tank top, and she had the headscarf when she was interviewed." I can't believe I've gotta justify this shit...
The headscarf later was taken from her after she made suicide threats, he said. Give it back to her. Maybe some shoelaces and a belt too Need a razor to shave your legs, honey?
A sobbing Hadid appeared without the headscarf at the Bridgeview courthouse Tuesday and is being held without bail at the Cermak Medical Center at the Cook County Jail, where she remains on suicide watch. Think she'll do it, Muldoon?
Why? Is there a pool?
Police have said her husband's possible involvement in Bhia's death still is under investigation. A Muslim guy involved in something like this? Why that's...unthinkable.
Nour Hadid's attorney, Frank Celani, said he hopes to speak with her today about the mug shot. Yeah, you can get around to beaten to death kid part later...
Islamic advocacy groups seem wary of taking up Hadid's cause. Spokesmen for the Council on Islamic American Relations, the Islamic Society of North America and the Bridgeview Mosque Foundation all declined to comment Thursday. Woah! Watch out! Hot potato!!
But Dr. Mohammed Sahloul, chairman of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Chicago, said that while police should follow the usual procedures with all defendants, "they should respect the modesty of the accused." So police "should should follow the usual procedures with all defendants". Except Muslims, right, doc? Cuz they're special, right, doc?
Sahloul, who made it clear he was not aware of the Hadid case and was speaking in general terms about the hijab, pointed out that Muslim women are allowed to wear hijabs in photos for their state IDs. "If it's for the purposes of identification and they cover in public, then that's going to be more effective in identifying them anyway," he said. Stupid infidels! Why do I have to expalin it to you?
Former chairman Kareem Irfan said, "It's particularly humiliating because she appears to be in her underwear. I don't condone what she's alleged to have done. But if it was a nun accused of these crimes, would they treat her the same way?" Why, yes. Yes they would. The offensive mugshot and Nour in her pious days:
Bhia was pronounced dead at Palos Community Hospital in Palos Heights at 6:27 p.m. Sunday, according to the Cook County Medical Examiners office. An autopsy Monday found she died of blunt force trauma, which caused hemorrhaging to the brain, kidneys and intestines. Her death was ruled a homicide, the medical examiners office said.
Hadid admitted to repeatedly beating the child's body using wooden spoon, a stick and shoes, prosecutors said. She also bit and pinched the child on the chest.
Hadid allegedly said she beat the child because her husband accused her of stealing money and called her names. In a videotaped confession, she said she took it out on the child, according to court records.
#3
Jordanian, to answer your questions and...there's more...
Alaeddin Hadid also protested his wife's innocence. "This is a misunderstanding," he told reporters. He claimed Bhia had fallen down a staircase at the family home.
"I always told my wife to close the door or one of the children would fall down and she'd end up in jail," he said. He claimed his wife had "stupidly" not told police about the accident when she was arrested and that, as recently as Friday evening, when the family ate a meal at KFC and took a trip to the mall, Bhia was unhurt.
It's not the first time one of Alaeddin Hadid's spouses has been accused of hurting children. His first wife, Samer, was disfigured and three of the couple's children burned in 2003 when she told police she "accidentally" poured gasoline on a fire at their home in Hickory Hills.
Neither she nor Alaeddin Hadid was charged in connection with that case, which has not been reopened, investigators from the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force probing Bhia's death said Tuesday.
#4
Police not only have the right but have a duty to release photos of accused individuals. Otherwise you'd have a police state in which we would never know the identity of who's been arrested. Alaeddin might be more comfortable with that.
In turn, newspapers have an absolute right to print booking photos.
So Alaeddin doesn't have much to complain about, which is why he's harping on the photo and not on his dead niece.
Full disclosure: I live a few miles away and had heard about this earlier, but didn't have a news account that I could point to on the web until the Southtown came to press.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/10/2009 13:22 Comments ||
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#5
If anyone is wondering if the average American understands the issues, take a look at the comments to the news article.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/10/2009 13:23 Comments ||
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#6
According to another report I read, Alladin liked to stash his money under his mattress and that's what he accused her of stealing.
Perhaps the IRS might like to pay him a visit?
#8
Can't help wondering if Alladin is the killer and the woman is taking the rap for him for fear that he'll kill her too. It'd just kinda fit into a pattern, now, wouldn't it?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/10/2009 13:55 Comments ||
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#9
But Alaeddin Hadid - who insists his wife is innocent - said Orland Park police are "really going to be in big trouble" for releasing the woman's booking photo to the news media after she was charged with first-degree murder.
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Police have said her husband's possible involvement in Bhia's death still is under investigation.
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Who might be in BIG TROUBLE -- methinks is a matter of debate
Until B.O., Harry Quisling, and Nimrod Nancy put out a decree changibg it, one plus one still equals two.
#12
BigEd, strictly speaking this is a local law enforcement issue. The federal government should have nothing to do with it.
Of course, I said "should", rather than "will". These days, all government is federal.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
04/10/2009 20:49 Comments ||
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#13
Big fat hairy deal.
What doesn't insult I-slam?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/10/2009 21:20 Comments ||
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JAKARTA - Indonesias president said he would seek coalition partners after early results from elections on Thursday showed his party ahead but not by as much as expected, jeopardising the chance of sweeping reform.
A quick count of votes gave the Democrat Party of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a reform-minded former general who has won praise for his solid leadership of Indonesia, about one fifth of the parliamentary vote. That means his party will have to rely on coalition partners in parliament, reducing the prospects for major economic reforms in Southeast Asias biggest economy, analysts said.
We offer a partnership in the next government and of course a healthy, more healthy, relationship between the government and parliament, Yudhoyono told a news conference at his home in Bogor, near the capital Jakarta. A lot more can be achieved in the next five years.
The Democrats, which have led in most opinion polls, were ahead of PDI-P with about 15 percent and Golkar with 14 percent, based on about 90 percent of the quick count vote sample by the widely followed polling agency LSI. Official results are not expected for days, but they are not likely to differ much.
Yudhoyono, 59, is expected to win a second term in the more important presidential election on July 8.
But political parties will now start talking to possible coalition partners for parliamentwhere reforms can be stifledand Yudhoyonos choice of ally or allies will determine the extent to which he can improve the judiciary and the civil service as well as clamp down on endemic corruption. Yudhoyono could either continue with his current coalition partner Golkar, the long-time political vehicle for Suharto, the countrys late autocratic ruler, or turn to one or two of the small Islamic parties instead.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/10/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
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#2
There are a lot of implied falsehoods here. The government has never denied the existence of a facility there. How could they restrict it without admitting that it exists? They have denied that it is called Area 51, which is the truth, it isn't.
"Project Oxcart" is not some new revelation, it was the original codename for the project that led to the SR-71 via the single-seat A12. Collins's crash in a prototype A-12 has been publicly documented for many years.
The mysterious ultra-wide truck load in the picture is the mirror for the 200 inch Hale telescope, shown being moved to Mount Palomar in 1947. The same photo appears in the Glass Giant of Palomar by David Oakes Woodbury and (of course) it has nothing to do with the Groom Lake test site, aka Area 51.
#5
The best UFO Story has nothing to do with Area 51.
That there are Alien Bodies in cold storage in Florida.
Then President Richard Nixon supposedly showed them to golfing buddy, TV personality and movie actor Jackie Gleason (Sheriff Buford Justice - Smokey & The Bandit) in 1971...
Only 53% of American adults believe capitalism is better than socialism.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 20% disagree and say socialism is better. Twenty-seven percent (27%) are not sure which is better.
Adults under 30 are essentially evenly divided: 37% prefer capitalism, 33% socialism, and 30% are undecided. Thirty-somethings are a bit more supportive of the free-enterprise approach with 49% for capitalism and 26% for socialism. Adults over 40 strongly favor capitalism, and just 13% of those older Americans believe socialism is better.
Investors by a 5-to-1 margin choose capitalism. As for those who do not invest, 40% say capitalism is better while 25% prefer socialism.
There is a partisan gap as well. Republicans - by an 11-to-1 margin - favor capitalism. Democrats are much more closely divided: Just 39% say capitalism is better while 30% prefer socialism. As for those not affiliated with either major political party, 48% say capitalism is best, and 21% opt for socialism.
The question posed by Rasmussen Reports did not define either capitalism or socialism
It is interesting to compare the new results to an earlier survey in which 70% of Americans prefer a free-market economy. The fact that a free-market economy attracts substantially more support than capitalism may suggest some skepticism about whether capitalism in the United States today relies on free markets.
Other survey data supports that notion. Rather than seeing large corporations as committed to free markets, two-out-of-three Americans believe that big government and big business often work together in ways that hurt consumers and investors.
Fifteen percent (15%) of Americans say they prefer a government-managed economy, similar to the 20% support for socialism. Just 14% believe the federal government would do a better job running auto companies, and even fewer believe government would do a better job running financial firms.
Most Americans today hold views that can generally be defined as populist while only seven percent (7%) share the elitist views of the Political Class.
#1
Since they haven't taught the true differences between Capitalism and Socialism since the late 60's in public schools, and Socialism is actively promoted in most University systems, this is no surprise.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
04/10/2009 8:05 Comments ||
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#2
I'm going to introduce a new term post-American
#6
Adults under 30 are essentially evenly divided: 37% prefer capitalism, 33% socialism, and 30% are undecided.
In other words, over 60% of those surveyed believe they dont or never will have a skin in the game. The good news is fear and self-interest has an ironic way of changing those beliefs
#9
Yet "70% of U.S. voters say a free market is better than one managed by the government." directly contradicting the premise of this article. All it says to many people get their news Entertainment Tonight. LOOK everyone! Britney is flashing her yaya!
Posted by: ed ||
04/10/2009 16:46 Comments ||
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#10
Lest we fergit, 1990's CLINTONISM/PCSpeak > "CAPITALISM" is merely De-REGULATED, LIMITED, ERROR-PRONE SOCIALISM-GOVTISM, NOW "GLOBALISM" [OWG-NWO].
Aides and family are on the list to attend the dinner, a follow-up to last year's Seder. But Jewish leaders in the Washington area wonder where their invitations are.
President Obama broke new ground Thursday by personally hosting a White House Seder dinner for the Jewish holiday of Passover. But by limiting invitees to an exclusive group of staffers and family, he apparently irritated some constituents.
When the White House announced the Seder, Jewish leaders from the Washington area began calling wondering where their invitations were, according to White House e-mails accidentally distributed to the press. "Apparently Jewish [residents] here and in neighboring states are now calling wondering why they have not been invited," one staffer wrote, asking to take the event off the public schedule. The White House, which kept the dinner on the schedule because it had been announced, would not say who had sought invitations.
First Lady Michelle Obama's Jewish cousin, Rabbi Capers Funnye of Chicago, thought that though Seders are traditionally held in the spirit of inclusiveness, it might be a bit much to host all those seeking to celebrate at the White House. "I would hope that there would be a sense of understanding that . . . also, Seder is about family," said Funnye, a convert to Judaism, who was not at the White House. "I think you would certainly have to limit it. . . . You want to be inclusive, but you also want to be prudent in being inclusive as well."
Most of those invited had also attended a Seder dinner last year on the campaign trail in Harrisburg, Pa. When campaign workers couldn't get home to celebrate the holiday with their families, they organized a celebration in the Sheraton Hotel's basement. Jewish tradition at a Seder is to say "next year, in Jerusalem," but according to Obama Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, the attendees set their sights instead on the White House. Both Seder dinners were planned by Eric Lesser, aide of senior advisor David Axelrod, Gibbs said. Two of the highest-profile Jewish members of the administration did not plan on attending this year's Seder: Axelrod and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
The event was lauded by at least one Jewish group, the National Jewish Democratic Council. "By hosting the first presidential Seder in America's history, President Barack Obama shows the personal and deep relationship he has with the Jewish community," Deputy Executive Director Alexis C. Rice told the Associated Press. "There is no question, Obama is a true friend of the Jewish community."
#1
Jewish tradition at a Seder is to say "next year, in Jerusalem," but according to Obama Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, the attendees set their sights instead on the White House.
If I was Jewish I would be insulted. This is a selfish perversion of their holiday.
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.
No charges have been filed so far in a fatal shooting earlier this week on Interstate 45.
Australian astronomers have been studying an intergalactic assassin poised to wipe out life on Earth. Maybe. Observations indicate that cosmological curiosity WR104 may be a killer - and we might be the victim.
Tambora sits on Sumbawa Island, east of Java in what is today Indonesia. Geological evidence shows it probably hadn't erupted in 5,000 years....The big show began April 10. Three columns of fire were seen towering into the sky. By the next day Tambora had ejected about 12 cubic miles of magma into the air.
Leaders of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on Thursday warned at a protest rally that the government will be responsible for any untoward situation in the country if it does not cancel the decision of cabinet meeting.
SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korean strongman Kim Jong Il is officially back on center stage following a reported stroke, but has promoted a trusted in-law to the spotlight in the clearest sign yet he is making preparations for an eventual successor, analysts said Friday.
Only 53% of American adults believe capitalism is better than socialism. 
Aides and family are on the list to attend the dinner, a follow-up to last year's Seder. But Jewish leaders in the Washington area wonder where their invitations are.
