Several shots were fired at a Department of Public Safety photo enforcement vehicle, hitting the worker several times, according to Harold Sanders, a DPS spokesman. The operator was taken to an area hospital, where he later died, according to 12 News.
Phoenix police and the Arizona Department of Public Safety were trying to identify the suspect vehicle late Sunday night. Just before 11 p.m., eastbound lanes of traffic on the Loop 101 were being rerouted at 7th Avenue.
Authorities expected the freeway to be closed until the morning rush hour, said Sanders.
#8
Some more details. The alleged shooter has been arrested. He is a 68 year old man who lives two miles from where the shooting happened, and was recognized by a police officer. His picture:
http://www.kpho.com/image/19234751/detail.html
He told a local news station that he had been gold panning with his wife and niece yesterday. Importantly, he has no arrest record, and no speeding ticket either.
He is an old cowboy type. He let nothing incriminating slip when on the phone, and says he does not even know why he has been arrested.
Pro tip: apparently photo radar vehicles have a continuous feed video camera in a 360 around them, just to spot anyone who attacks the vehicle.
This little website lets you pick any point on earth and see what the zone of destruction would look like if you dropped a nuke or an asteroid there. Doesn't account for terrain effects, but it's still fun in a slightly disturbing way.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/20/2009 10:55 ||
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#4
Since you guys picked the SA target, I went with San Francisco.
That is a "damn big asteroid".
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
04/20/2009 15:27 Comments ||
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#5
I dropped a Little Boy on the UN- my apartment is just outside the outer blast radius. It would prolly still suck though. Can't we get a 2kt 'pocket nuke?'
#6
The "asteroid impact" is the Chixulub impact, an approximately 10km diameter object that is suspected as the killer of the dinosaurs. There are smaller asteroids/meteoroids. I like to play around with the effects of a 250m3 object, either solid nickel-iron, or a very tightly packed methane-water-ice mix. The effects range from about twice the impact of the "Tsar Bomba" 50mt weapon, to up to ten times the impact. Surprisingly, the methane-water-ice mix is more explosive than the nickel-iron, producing a plasma cloud about 25km in diameter.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/20/2009 17:23 Comments ||
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#7
Come 2029-2036, iff scientific calcs are wrong and APOPHIS strikes the earth [MOON PEOPLE > YEAH, EARTH!], PERTS > ITS THE PACIFIC = NORTH ASIA-PACIFIC that will be ground zero.
#8
The asteroid-on-Mecca scenario is definitely excessive, that would take out my friends house on Koh Samui in Thailand, and I hope to go there one day. If Mecca delenda est, the B61 is my boom-of-choice.
#9
Free radical comment #5. Ask and it shall be given. Here is calculator for your 2 KT unit. Would you want it delivered by air or by car? It's your choice.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/20/2009 21:32 Comments ||
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#10
The Paks better hope they get hit by a bomb - an asteroid would wipe out them and all their neighbors - and half of Africa.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/20/2009 22:33 Comments ||
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Today was a landmark day for the team as they reached their 50th day on the Arctic Ocean. Any cause for celebration was naturally short-lived, however, since it looks as if the trend of open water may now become a regular feature of the team's daily travel. in the first 50 days of their mission they covered about 35% of the distance to the pole, beginning at about 81N - they have been taking ice core measurements on the way which is of some, though not that much, scientific value; their meta-mission is to propagandize
#1
There's some question as to whether they're actually out on the ice at all. Faked data feeds, for one thing, and strange video anomalies - no breath visible at -60, etc...
Posted by: ed ||
04/20/2009 10:36 Comments ||
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#3
ed
the scale of the maps to which you linked is obviously incapable of showing the open water
ice is rigid, very rigid and wind and below ice current gives differential force to areas of ice, this creates cracks and sometimes the cracks expand and become open water (at least until it refreezes which happens pretty quickly at -25C)
#4
Well, this cloud be a good thing. Maybe this will give us a way around the pirates.
Posted by: Kelly ||
04/20/2009 12:59 Comments ||
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#5
I've been following this bunch of political "scientists" on Watts up with That?, a very useful site for anyone that's watching the home front in the war on human existence. Check it out - daily.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/20/2009 17:28 Comments ||
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#6
I second that emotion, OP. Watt's Up With That is an outstanding resource. He's got some smart cookies in his commentariat as well.
ICE is expanding in much of Antarctica, contrary to the widespread public belief that global warming is melting the continental ice cap.
The results of ice-core drilling and sea ice monitoring indicate there is no large-scale melting of ice over most of Antarctica, although experts are concerned at ice losses on the continent's western coast.
Antarctica has 90 per cent of the Earth's ice and 80 per cent of its fresh water, The Australian reports. Extensive melting of Antarctic ice sheets would be required to raise sea levels substantially, and ice is melting in parts of west Antarctica. The destabilisation of the Wilkins ice shelf generated international headlines this month.
However, the picture is very different in east Antarctica, which includes the territory claimed by Australia.
East Antarctica is four times the size of west Antarctica and parts of it are cooling. The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research report prepared for last week's meeting of Antarctic Treaty nations in Washington noted the South Pole had shown "significant cooling in recent decades".
Australian Antarctic Division glaciology program head Ian Allison said sea ice losses in west Antarctica over the past 30 years had been more than offset by increases in the Ross Sea region, just one sector of east Antarctica.
"Sea ice conditions have remained stable in Antarctica generally," Dr Allison said.
The melting of sea ice - fast ice and pack ice - does not cause sea levels to rise because the ice is in the water. Sea levels may rise with losses from freshwater ice sheets on the polar caps. In Antarctica, these losses are in the form of icebergs calved from ice shelves formed by glacial movements on the mainland.
Last week, federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett said experts predicted sea level rises of up to 6m from Antarctic melting by 2100, but the worst case scenario foreshadowed by the SCAR report was a 1.25m rise.
Mr Garrett insisted global warming was causing ice losses throughout Antarctica. "I don't think there's any doubt it is contributing to what we've seen both on the Wilkins shelf and more generally in Antarctica," he said.
Dr Allison said there was not any evidence of significant change in the mass of ice shelves in east Antarctica nor any indication that its ice cap was melting. "The only significant calvings in Antarctica have been in the west," he said. And he cautioned that calvings of the magnitude seen recently in west Antarctica might not be unusual.
"Ice shelves in general have episodic carvings and there can be large icebergs breaking off - I'm talking 100km or 200km long - every 10 or 20 or 50 years."
Ice core drilling in the fast ice off Australia's Davis Station in East Antarctica by the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Co-Operative Research Centre shows that last year, the ice had a maximum thickness of 1.89m, its densest in 10 years. The average thickness of the ice at Davis since the 1950s is 1.67m.
A paper to be published soon by the British Antarctic Survey in the journal Geophysical Research Letters is expected to confirm that over the past 30 years, the area of sea ice around the continent has expanded.
#7
Nope, nope, nope! To the true believers, this just gives them more proof that the earth really is warming. (Don't ask me to 'splain it, it doesn't make sense to me either....)
NOUAKCHOTT - The Mauritanian coast guard rescued 109 illegal African immigrants whose boat had broken down in Mauritanian waters en route to Spain's Canary Islands, a security source told AFP Sunday.
'There were 110, one of them had died, and the coast guards were able to rescue the others. Two of them were admitted on the hospital in (the northern city of) Nouadhibou where they are now in stable condition,' the source said.
The illegal immigrants left neighbouring Senegal over ten days ago hoping to reach the Canary Islands, which are part of the European Union, but their boat had engine troubles, the source said. With food and water running out, the immigrants had begun drinking sea water. Fatigue, hunger and the cold left them weakened, he added.
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Posted by: Steve White ||
04/20/2009 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Local Awami League (AL) lawmaker's men in Bagmara have returned all the cheques they took away from the victims of atrocities committed by Bangla Bhai-led gangs.
Additional Deputy Commissioner (Education and Development) Satyendra Kumar Sarker told reporters yesterday that the victims had all the cheques with them.
Following government directives, the Rajshahi administration yesterday launched an investigation into the allegations against Enamul's men who reportedly took away cheques worth Tk 19 lakh granted by the prime minister for the victims.
Sarker, also the investigation officer, quizzed 20 people, including 18 victims whom the local lawmaker's men took to the Bagmara UNO's office. He told journalists that no 'strong evidence' had been found to prove the allegations. "We shall fax the investigation report to the authorities concerned in Dhaka by tonight," Hafizur Rahman Bhuiyan, divisional commissioner in Rajshahi, told The Daily Star in the evening.
Sources said, following the reports published in The Daily Star, the Prime Minister's Office directed Bhuiyan to report within 12 hours about the fate of the cheques granted by the premier for the victims in Bagmara.
When the victims following instructions of the MP's men gathered at Bhawaniganj, upazila AL Organising Secretary Mahabubur Rahman and Mougachhi UP AL General Secretary Abdur Razzak Mollah returned cheques, each worth Tk 1 lakh, to 16 victims at around 11:00am.
Victims Asir Uddin and Manik Pramanik got back their cheques on Saturday. Three of the victims -- Ataur Rahman, Rafikul Islam and Amjad Hossain Dugu -- earlier refused to hand over their cheques to the local lawmaker's men.
The MP's men took all 18 victims to the local Sonali Bank branch to deposit the grant money with their accounts at the bank. "We helped them in bank affairs as most of them don't know anything about it," said upazila Jubo League president Abdus Salam.
When contacted, victims Asir Uddin and Abdul Gafur said they had no other option but to tell the investigation officer what the MP's men had asked them to say. The two said they told the investigation officer that the cheques had never been taken away from them.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/20/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
"We helped them in bank affairs as most of them don't know anything about it,"
And we got all those account numbers (Just to help them, of course.)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/20/2009 1:18 Comments ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] At least six activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) Chittagong University (CU) unit were injured during a clash between two groups yesterday morning.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/20/2009 00:00 ||
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A housewife who sustained serious burn injuries in an acid attack at her father's house at village Naikati in Shyamnaagr upazila on Saturday is now fighting for life at Satkhira Sadar Hospital. The victim, Shahina Khatun, 25, yesterday demanded immediate arrest and punishment to the culprits.
Wife of Kabir Uddin of the said village, Shahina received severe burn injuries on head, hand, back and lower portion of body, hospital sources said.
She said that she had a long-standing dispute with her neighbours over a shrimp enclosure. As a sequel to the dispute, culprits threw acid on her through the window when she was asleep at about 11pm. Seriously burnt Shahina was immediately sent to Shyamnagar Upazila Health Complex from where she was shifted to Satkhira Sadar Hospital as her condition deteriorated.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/20/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Acid attacks are Islamic? seems that way.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
04/20/2009 11:19 Comments ||
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A leading opponent of President Hugo Chavez has decided to seek political asylum abroad instead of facing a corruption charge that he calls a setup aimed at ruining him politically, an ally said Monday. Don't go claiming asylum in America and embarrass Hugo's Bestest Boyfriend.
Opposition leader Manuel Rosales, who went into hiding three weeks ago, decided not to appear in court Monday because the case against him is being used for "political persecution," said Omar Barboza, who heads Rosales' party. "He won't appear before a court that's been turned into a political tool," Barboza told reporters.
Prosecutors want to try Rosales -- who ran unsuccessfully against Chavez in the 2006 presidential election -- for alleged illegal enrichment between 2000 and 2004 when he was governor of western Zulia state. They have called for his arrest, but a court has yet to rule on whether he should be detained while awaiting trial.
Rosales has denied the charges, calling them a "political lynching." He went into hiding at the end of March, and his whereabouts are unknown.
Barboza said Rosales plans to address the country in two days. He did not say what sort of a message it would be. Barboza said the opposition leader should not become a "trophy" for Chavez to use to try to intimidate his opponents. He said Rosales will seek asylum in a "friendly country."
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) Opponents of Hugo Chavez on Sunday urged President Barack Obama not to warm up to their president without also addressing their concerns about democracy and human rights in Venezuela.
"The president's authoritarianism, which grows everyday, must be discussed," said Milos Alcalay, who was Venezuela's ambassador to the United Nations until he resigned in 2004 over differences with Chavez.
Venezuelan opponents to Chavez welcome improved diplomatic ties between Caracas and Washington and support Brazilian President Inacio Lula de Silva's call for a future meeting between Chavez and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Alcalay said. But the former diplomat urged Clinton to also meet with Chavez adversaries who accuse him of stifling dissent including with recently elected Maracaibo Mayor Manuel Rosales, who went into hiding this month after a corruption case against him was resurrected.
"She must talk with the opposition, church representatives and others worried about democracy in Venezuela," Alcalay said.
Good luck with that. Chavez' scolding of Bambi will induce the latter to be contrite and offer up more concessions.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/20/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
But the former diplomat urged Clinton to also meet with Chavez adversaries who accuse him of stifling dissent...
Stifling dissent like the MSM in America for their 'Man'. Common thread of autocrats isn't it.
#2
Sorry Milos, but you have been obamaed. His Coolness is far more important than your(or our)democracy.
o-ba-maed, [o-bam-aed],
-verb past tense
1. to place One's Coolness ahead of all other considerations: despite their continued support as a strategic ally, the US obamad Israel at the peace talks.
2. ignore the concerns of the opposition: I won.
Strong banks will be allowed to repay bail-out funds they received from the US government but only if such a move passes a test to determine whether it is in the national economic interest, a senior administration official has told the Financial Times. Our general objective is going to be what is good for the system, the senior official said. We want the system to have enough capital.
This isn't about the 'good of the system'. Banks that repay the TARP money are no longer controlled by the Bambi administration. That won't do.
His comments come as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and other relatively strong banks are pressing to be allowed to repay their bail-out funds. On Sunday, Lawrence Summers, President Barack Obamas top economic adviser, told NBCs Meet the Press that repayments could eventually help the government provide further resources to help the sector. Such a move could also allow healthier institutions to differentiate themselves from weaker banks and free them from constraints on executive pay, and other activities, that come with bail-out money.
Some banks were pressured to take TARP money for the 'good of the system' even though they were healthy. Now they facing delays in giving the money back. And the Feds want to convert at least some of the loans into equity. There's a word this: 'nationalization'. And the healthy banks are the target, because they have something that makes taking them over worth it.
Not surprisingly different banks are in different situations; they are going need different levels of assistance of taxpayers, Mr Obama told a press conference at a summit in Trinidad on Sunday, while promising: Im not going to simply put taxpayer money into a black hole.
Yet there was all that stimulus spending ...
The official, meanwhile, said banks that had plenty of capital and had demonstrated an ability to raise fresh capital from the market should in principle be able to repay government funds. But the judgment would be made in the context of the wider economic interest. He said the government had three basic tests. It needed first to make sure the system is stable. Second, to not create incentives for more deleveraging which would deepen the recession. Third, to make sure the system had enough capital to provide credit to support the recovery.
The official said former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson was right to treat all the banks the same way in late 2008 at the peak of the crisis but it was now necessary to differentiate more between institutions. Stronger ones should be encouraged to raise more capital, while the government would target its interventions to support weaker ones.
What we want is for the differentiation to be more based on knowledge rather than some big uncertainty. He said the bank stress tests reaching completion would provide that basic information.
The debate over the respective funding needs of stronger and weaker banks comes as the Obama administration confronts deep political resistance to any further authorisation of federal funds to bail out the sector. On Sunday, Rahm Emanuel, Mr Obamas chief of staff, told ABC that while some of the countrys biggest banks are going to need resources, the administration would not need to obtain more funding from Congress.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/20/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Strong banks will be allowed to repay bail-out funds they received from the US government but only if such a move passes a test to determine whether it is in the national economic interest.
The hairs on the back of my neck just stood up. That is the most chilling phrase I have read...ever.
#4
Im not going to simply put taxpayer money into a black hole.
Lying bastard.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/20/2009 1:22 Comments ||
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#5
I agree with Sea. This is odious and beyond dangerous to the Republic.
All U.S. currency carries the phrase "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private." Any bank so threatened and capable of repaying now should bale up the cash, publicly dump it on the Treasury steps, and make sure there's lots of witnesses and publicity. If Zero squawks, take him all the way to the USSC if necessary. An unfavorable ruling there would be an open invitation to revolution.
#6
I recommend that each bank wishing to return its TARP money open a 3-month CD for the full amount of the refund at 2% interest, in trust for the US Treasury, and inform TurboTimmy he may redeem the CD in late July.
#7
I'd do it a little differently but much in the same spirit as PBMcL and Sea: not on the front steps, but very publicly with a segregated account specifically marked for TARP repayment. Then I'd inform the Federal Reserve and the Treasury that since the money is there for them to take in repayment, I'm no longer bound by the TARP rules. At some point they'd either have to accept the money or decide to use their TARP powers against me, at which point I'd sue.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/20/2009 8:03 Comments ||
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#8
At some point they'd either have to accept the money or decide to use their TARP powers against me, at which point I'd sue.
At that points DHS receives info about you that it just must investigate.
#10
But Cornsilk Blonde.... Just what sort of conditions are now on that Warranty on your brother's truck? Will he have to turn in a relative to DHS (as a right wing extreamist) in order to get a problem fixed?
#11
Strong banks will be allowed to repay bail-out funds they received from the US government but only if such a move passes a test to determine whether it is in the national economic interest,..
That's what happens when you borrow from the [Chicago] mob. The loan payment never ends. I see no victim here. The bank operators play loose with other peoples money and thought they got a 'deal'. Now they've found out they've sold their souls. Their only hope is millions upon millions of prepaid under $200 debt cards they can flood the Trunks with in a year otherwise they're owned.
Turkish Cypriot nationalists have won legislative elections, a result that analysts say could complicate efforts to settle the decades-long division of the Mediterranean island. With all the votes counted from Sunday's elections, the opposition National Unity Party won 44 percent of the vote. It beat the ruling Republican Turkish Party by nearly 15 percent.
The opposition is calling for a full two-state model for Cyprus that has been rejected by Greek Cypriots.
Some human rights are more important than others. The Turks don't want to be ruled by the Greeks and vice versa. The Euros seem committed to giving full control to the Greek Cypriots. Apparently a 'two-state' solution is mandated for Israel but not for Cyprus.
The ruling party, led by Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, wants a federation of two ethnic regions for Cyprus. Mr. Talat began reunification talks with Greek Cypriots last year.
Mr. Talat will retain his leadership post despite his party's loss in Sunday's polls. But many of his allies, who now control the Turkish legislature, will be replaced.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish forces invaded in response to a coup by Greek Cypriots trying to unite the island with Greece.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/20/2009 00:00 ||
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The French Rafale twin-engine multi-role fighter has been knocked off a $10-billion contract for 126 combat aircraft for the Indian Air Force. One of six contenders, Rafale was officially rejected by the Ministry of Defence for what an official called the failure to meet qualitative requirements of the contract.
The IAF has been maintaining that all six contenders American F-18 and F-16, Eurofighter Typhoon, Russian MiG-35, Swedish Gripen NG and the Rafale for the Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) contract have met technical requirements.
But a senior official of the Ministry of Defence today said that Dassault Aviation's Rafale was rejected at the technical evaluation stage for failing to meet minimum performance requirements detailed in the tender document. Flight trials for the remaining five fighters are expected to commence within three months, the official said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/20/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I can see it coming down to the F-16 and the MIG-35. The other aircraft either have short legs, or not enough bang for the buck (or are hanger queens). It is a decision between reliable and proven, vs. new and Russian. If the MIG-35 performs like the MIG-29 for performance and reliability, it will be a good fit for the IAF. However, it is a new aircraft and very prone to gremlins. The F-16 had those worked out years ago.
Posted by: ed ||
04/20/2009 11:54 Comments ||
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#7
Eurofighter Typhoon is the best plane in the lot.
Looks like AESA radar is going to be a requirement. Typhoon is missing that and is twice the price of the competition.
Posted by: ed ||
04/20/2009 11:59 Comments ||
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#8
It's fortunate for us that the rest of the world pretty much sucks at building fighters. excepting Russia. That the US is still able to use 30 year old friggin fighters to compete, is astounding.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
04/20/2009 23:00 Comments ||
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Walkout at UN conference after Iran president calls Israel 'racist'
British delegates joined a dramatic diplomatic walkout today when President Ahmadinejad of Iran told a major UN conference against racism that the state of Israel had been founded "on the pretext of Jewish suffering" during the Second World War.
Around 20 delegates, including envoys from the UK, France, Canada and Finland stood up and left the room at what was considered an anti-Semitic remark by the Iranian leader, who has repeatedly called for Israel to be wiped off the map.
Nine Western countries including Israel and the United States had already decided to boycott the conference entirely because its draft declaration endorsed the conclusions of an anti-racism conference in South Africa eight years ago in which Islamic nations pushed through a text equating Zionism with racism.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Italy and Germany were the last to confirm Sunday they will not participate in a major United Nations conference on racism that opens Monday in Geneva, which is being boycotted by the United States and Israel, as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad described Israel as the "flag bearer of racism."
The growing western boycott of the Durban Review Conference comes amid fears that it will be the forum for a lambasting of Israel. Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and Sweden earlier said they were boycotting the event.
The U.S. and Israel boycotted the original Durban conference in 2001 over an attempt to equate Zionism with racism.
Belgium's foreign ministry said earlier Sunday that consultations were continuing with a view to getting as many EU member states as possible to participate.
The Czech Republic, which holds the rotating EU presidency, called a meeting for Sunday evening to evaluate the bloc's stance on attending.
France announced that it will attend. Britain, however, will send a delegation to the conference, albeit without a high-level official.
The Vatican, which has observer status at the United Nations, confirmed Sunday that it would attend.
Flag bearer of racism
In the meantime President Ahmadinejad slammed arch-foe Israel as the "flag bearer of racism" before leaving for the U.N. conference on racism in Geneva, the state broadcaster reported. "The Zionist ideology and regime are the flag bearers of racism," he was quoted as saying.
"They (the Zionists) plunder nations' wealth by dominating the world power centers and have created a condition that nothing can be said about this evil phenomenon whose effects loom over nations' lives," Ahmadinejad said.
He said the Geneva conference was being held while "global Zionism employs all in its power to stifle innocent voices and cries against tyranny."
Israel has branded the U.N. gathering a "tragic farce."
Ahmadinejad's presence at the five-day meeting has sparked fears that it could end in acrimony, as did the previous racism conference eight years ago in Durban, South Africa.
The Iranian president, who is so far the only prominent head of state due to attend the Durban Review Conference, has caused outrage by calling the Holocaust a "myth" and repeatedly saying Israel is doomed to disappear.
Ahmadinejad is due to address the conference on Monday April 20, the anniversary of Hitler's birth. Israel marks Holocaust Remembrance Day on April 21.
Lacking diplomatic gravitas
Human Rights Watch said the meeting in Geneva would lack needed diplomatic gravity without Washington's presence.
A draft declaration prepared for the conference removed all references to Israel, the Middle East conflict and a call to bar "defamation of religion" -- an Arab-backed response to a 2006 controversy over Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that Western states see as a way to quash free expression.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/20/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
"Risks"? Sort of like saying "boycotting hookers risks not catching a STD."
#2
Add New Zealand as well. This means that Britain is the ONLY English-speaking country sending ANY official delegation. Which doesn't make my mother-country look too good, but I figure that British Rantburg participants are well aware of this.
#4
Ahmadinejad's presence at the five-day meeting has sparked fears that it could end in acrimony, as did the previous racism conference eight years ago in Durban, South Africa.
Posted by: ed ||
04/20/2009 10:28 Comments ||
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#7
Since the British government in no way represents the British people, their presence at the conference doesn't bother me; and they've left now anyway, thanks to Armageddonjihad's comments.
Miss North Carolina Kristen Dalton was crowned Miss USA on Sunday, but the big story to come out of the normally politics-free telecast was Miss California's comments regarding gay marriage.
When asked by judge Perez Hilton, an openly gay gossip blogger, whether she believed in gay marriage, Miss California, Carrie Prejean, said "We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite. And you know what, I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised."
Keith Lewis, who runs the Miss California competition, tells FOXNews.com that he was "saddened" by Prejean's statement.
"As co-director of the Miss California USA, I am personally saddened and hurt that Miss California believes marriage rights belong only to a man and a woman," said Lewis in a statement. "I believe all religions should be able to ordain what unions they see fit. I do not believe our government should be able to discriminate against anyone and religious beliefs have no politics in the Miss California family."
Co-director Shanna Moakler told FOXNews.com that she fully supported Lewis' statement.
Miss California's answer sparked a shouting match in the lobby after the show. "It's ugly," said Scott Ihrig, a gay man, who attended the pageant with his partner. "I think it's ridiculous that she got first runner-up. That is not the value of 95 percent of the people in this audience. Look around this audience and tell me how many gay men there are."
Charmaine Koonce, the mother of Miss New Mexico USA Bianca Matamoros-Koonce, argued back.
"In the Bible it says marriage is between Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve!"
The pageant had enjoyed a scandal-free year until earlier this month, when Miss Universe 2008 Dayana Mendoza was skewered for a blog posting from a trip to Guantanamo Bay. The entry described having "aloooot of fun" at a base that houses the notorious military prison; it was later deleted from the pageant's Web site.
The winner, Miss North Carolina Kristen Dalton, a 22-year-old aspiring motivational speaker and entertainer from Wilmington, edged out first runner-up Miss California, and second runner-up Miss Arizona USA Alicia-Monique Blanco, of Phoenix.
"It feels really natural," Dalton said of her win. "I've worked so be here and this has been my lifelong dream and it's finally here. And whoever knew you could win in a turquoise gown?"
Contestants from all 50 states and the District of Columbia competed in the pageant, aired live on NBC. Contestants were judged by their performance in swimsuit and evening gown modeling contests and their responses to a question asked onstage; unlike the rival Miss America pageant, Miss USA contestants do not perform a talent.
The top 15 contestants worked the stage in white string bikinis designed by pop star Jessica Simpson's swimwear line. Rocker Kevin Rudolf performed his song "Let it Rock," followed by The Veronicas, who performed their single "Untouched" as the top 10 beauties showed off their choice of glittering evening gowns.
Dalton's was a flowing, blue Grecian number that stood out among a series of white gowns.
Her title comes with a year's use of a New York apartment, a public relations team, a two-year scholarship at the New York Film Academy and an undisclosed salary.
She also will go to the Bahamas in August to compete in the Miss Universe pageant, where American beauties haven't been lucky in recent years. Both Miss USA 2008 Crystle Stewart and her predecessor, Rachel Smith, wiped out on stage during the evening gown competition, becoming accidental YouTube stars.
#1
first off they Perez the gossiping bitch Hilton asked for her opinion on the subject, she gave it and not in an offensive way and yes I did watch it, but the best part of it was you could tell he was visibly pissed the F off
#5
"As co-director of the Miss California USA, I am personally saddened and hurt that Miss California believes marriage rights belong only to a man and a woman," said Lewis in a statement. "I believe all religions should be able to ordain what unions they see fit. I do not believe our government should be able to discriminate against anyone and religious beliefs have no politics in the Miss California family."
Huh? Unless I missed it, she said nothing about religion - only that she was raised to believe marriage is best between a man and a woman.
#6
the audience actually gave miss california a pretty good applause, both her and miss North Carolina where asked politically sensitive questions miss NC being asked whether US taxpayer money should be used too bail out private companies and the other 3 where tossed some softballs, believe someone was looking for some controversy
#8
I miss the old "Miss Flame" swimsuit contest hosted by the Dallas Fire Dept. The firemen knew what was hot, redheads in bikinis. No philosophy, no politics & no questions, it was straight to the important stuff - redheads in bikinis. Works for me. I say we put firemen on as judges in the next Miss America contest.
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.
ICE is expanding in much of Antarctica, contrary to the widespread public belief that global warming is melting the continental ice cap.
A housewife who sustained serious burn injuries in an acid attack at her father's house at village Naikati in Shyamnaagr upazila on Saturday is now fighting for life at Satkhira Sadar Hospital. The victim, Shahina Khatun, 25, yesterday demanded immediate arrest and punishment to the culprits. 
Strong banks will be allowed to repay bail-out funds they received from the US government but only if such a move passes a test to determine whether it is in the national economic interest, a senior administration official has told the Financial Times. Our general objective is going to be what is good for the system, the senior official said. We want the system to have enough capital.
Miss North Carolina Kristen Dalton was crowned Miss USA on Sunday, but the big story to come out of the normally politics-free telecast was Miss California's comments regarding gay marriage.
