We may not be very far away from a time when dentists offer to help people with damaged or missing teeth grow new ones, according to new research presented on Wednesday.
A series of presentations at a dental meeting demonstrate that techniques using stem cells and gene therapy to regenerate teeth are producing promising results, suggesting this technique may not be far off.
"I think it's looking like quite an exciting technology for the near future," said Dr. Tony Smith, editor of the Journal of Dental Research, who was not involved in any of the newest studies.
Smith explained that the presentations describe techniques that enable dentists to coax existing teeth into repairing and regenerating themselves, and techniques where dentists can "start from scratch."
Clearly, techniques that involve adding new tissue to already-existing teeth are "probably a bit closer on the horizon," perhaps within a "handful of years," Smith predicted. Techniques that grow teeth from scratch will likely take at least another 10 years to perfect, he added.
In some instances, researchers are trying to reprogram cells in the mouth to behave like tooth-growing cells, convincing them they have to produce new teeth, Smith explained.
Other techniques being explored involve using stem cells, which have the potential to become any type of cell or tissue. In one study being presented at the meeting, researchers successfully extracted stem cells from the pulp of adult teeth, Smith said. The next step is to examine whether it's possible to use these teeth to regenerate new dental tissue, he said.
Other research being unveiled describes tests of different approaches to select stem cells from pulp, and all shows "different degrees of success," Smith said.
These techniques may one day help people whose teeth have decayed from very bad cavities, who have lost teeth in an accident, or whose teeth have worn down from acid or hard brushing, among other conditions, he predicted.
The findings are being presented Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday during the 83rd General Session of the International Association for Dental Research in Baltimore, Maryland.
#3
It's an old joke attributed to various Southern States. Here in Tennessee it could be in reference to West Virginia or Arkansas. "How do we know the tooth brush was invented in West Virginia/Arkansas? If it had been invented anywhere else it would have been called a Teeth Brush.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/09/2005 21:53 Comments ||
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#4
typical ozarks-type reference: like "what has 44 legs and 62 teeth? the front row at a willy nelson concert"
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/09/2005 22:00 Comments ||
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#5
I remember a Three Mile Island cartoon - "Oh, I see little Johnny has grown another foot", says the admiring neighbor, but he's not taller, he's got a THIRD foot sticking out of the top of his head! So now, maybe you coould grow a new tooth out of the top of your head?
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/09/2005 22:29 Comments ||
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#6
Another was from the Far Side. A scene in a nuclear poer plant. A canary with 3 eyes is in a cage. One of the operators is yelling, "Everybody get out of here! The Canary has mutated!"
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/09/2005 22:42 Comments ||
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#7
no doubt Homer Simpson was in charge
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/09/2005 22:45 Comments ||
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#8
Off topic. Frank G, i tried to send you a picture of Gus the Goose and Buddy the Dog sleeping together but the e-mail was undeliverable.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/09/2005 22:50 Comments ||
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#9
remove the Nospam..... it's just Fsmokey@cox.net
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/09/2005 22:52 Comments ||
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BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) -- Prosecutors routinely subpoena a defendant's co-workers, friends and even family members, but this time they were barking up the wrong tree. In an Arkansas murder trial, prosecutors ordered 5-year-old Murphy Smith to court for pre-trial testimony. But a deputy wouldn't let Murphy into the courthouse: no dogs allowed. Officials had sent out subpoenas to anyone who had contact with Albert Smith while he was in jail awaiting trial. The murder suspect had written his dog a letter from his prison cell.
Understandable mistake, our cats get mail all the time.
That landed the pooch on the witness list.
Humm, Arkansas court's subpoena dogs to testify against their owners, huh? Maybe that explains what happened to Buddy.
A prosecutor says Murphy "was friendly enough" and likely "would have been a very cooperative witness." But she says the appearance wasn't necessary.
A dog won't normally rat on their owner, they're too loyal. Cats on the other hand....
Smith is charged with killing a man who had a relationship with his former wife.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/09/2005 2:50:46 PM ||
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#1
Truth is the procecutor was going to try to sneak this one through, and backed off when it was found he'd been watching too many talking dog movies...
#5
Aah poodles. Like "Bob" a miniature poodle (1994-2002), who chased a mouse behind the clothes dryer, and returned a couple minutes later, no mouse, face covered with lint, looking at us sadly, then came the sneeze (which he tried to cover with a bark) Great Hunters? doubtful. Crazy Smart (To try to cover the sneeze with a bark-subtrefuge) Yes, Crazy Smart...
LAS VEGAS, March 8 (UPI) -- Police, even in Las Vegas, say it's unusual to return home and find a stranger's body in one's bathroom.
I just hate it when that happens. It leaves a mess and the cops rarely believe you didn't put it there.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal said that's what happened with an unidentified homeowner returned hom and discovered the body Monday morning. The victim had been shot in his head.
Sure this is Vegas and not Bangladesh? Sounds like a "crossfire" victim to me.
Of course he was shot in "his" head. Whose head would it have been otherwise?
Sgt. Rocky Alby told the newspaper the dead man was 31 and was known to police because of brushes with the law. Police were withholding his identity. "It's rare for someone to come home and find an unknown dead person in their home," Alby said. "This is a very unusual call. We just have to see if we can piece it together."
Gil Grissom of the crime lab could not be reached for comment
Alby said there were some signs the dead man had been burglarizing the house.
Accidently shot himself in the head and got rid of the gun?
Posted by: Steve ||
03/09/2005 9:14:14 AM ||
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#1
Only in Vegas, baby, only in Vegas...
Local news here reported that the homeowner did not recognize the stiff and cops think it was 2 guys perping a burglary and they either had a sudden falling out, or the killer thought this would be an excellent opportunity to settle up on a grievance with his partner in crime. CSI did have an episode much like the latter scenarios that occurred at a pottery shop. Turned out to be a woman who had been abducted as a baby some 20 yrs before and thought dead... yadda3.
#7
I guess the map to the desert burial grounds the mafia hitman gave his apprentice was old, and didn't account for the rapid growth and home building that has occured...
The apprentice put him in the EXACT SPOT he was told to.
Plans to introduce sturdy plastic beer mugs at this year's Oktoberfest have triggered outrage in Munich, with a spokesman for city breweries saying the clink of glass against glass was the essence of the world's biggest beer festival. Ludwig Hagn, operator of the Loewenbraeu tent, said earlier he had been so impressed at the plastic mugs used in the Moscow version of Oktoberfest that he would be trying out the same in Munich. They not only meant less broken glass, but were also lighter to carry for the serving staff who often heft 10 or more of the 1-litre glass steins at a time. Calling it an "absurd idea", Toni Roiderer said all the brewers had warned Hagn he would have to go it alone. "Here in Bavaria, beer is a cultural treasure. When we sit together and chink glasses, the sound is like our church bells, a symbol of harmony and good cheer," said Roiderer. "If you can't stand broken glass, then you should serve it in cartons with a straw!" he added sarcastically.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
03/09/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
I guess there just aren't enough really talented folks to go around...
#4
I would hope that her customers would prefer good beer to good head. I know on the continent they like a lot of froth, but - that much? Let's hope for her sake that it's not a British stag party she's serving.
#6
Bulldog, see the indents, where they end? There is a line right above them. That line designates a 1l of liquid. When the froth settles down in few minutes, the liquid should reach the line, while there still will be some froth (about 1 cm) above.
She could have take a minute to let that settle a tad, but there are probably thirsty customers. There are 2 glasses that I see that will make it so-so, though.
#11
My advice if any rantburgers go to Oktoberfest:
(1) Order two mugs at a time. The beer ladies can be busy.
(2) Visit the Hauffbrau House tent.
(3) Avoid the rides, you will only get sick.
#12
Go during the week, it's less crowded. And, at all cost, don't take the last train out of Munich on the last night of Oktoberfest, I've done it twice.
Imagine a refugee train pulling out just ahead of a invading army. Packed floor to ceiling, including the fold-down seats in the corridors, with people who have been drinking beer and eating sausages for days. You can see the smell vapors in the air. MOP Level III conditions.
Throw in the fact that this is the night the Germans set their clocks back one hour. So as to not throw off the train schedules, they just stop the train and sit for that hour. I still have nightmares.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/09/2005 10:43 Comments ||
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#16
I've heard there are some barbaric people that use some sort of heating device to make a beer into a piss!
Oh come on, Sobiesky! British bitter is usually good enough to drink at slightly less than room temperature (draught beer is most often stored underground in pubs), Lager, which tastes like pish at rt, is always cooled. Guinness and some other beers you can often buy at cellar temp, or cooled. I've endured room temperature beer before, and often that's the stuff that's gone off (because the landlord doesn't know how to store his beer and/or doesn't care - we've got a Canadian landlord down the road whose commiting such a crime at the moment), which isn't a pleasant experience, but I've never had or seen warmed beer. Eugh!
#19
Steve - you make me grateful I was with my parents and a rental car the day/night we went to Oktoberfest.
(To be honest, I wouldn't have gone at all, as I don't drink beer and don't like Munich, but my parents were over visiting and that's one of the touristy things they wanted to do.)
But I fondly remember the lion above the tent, nodding his head and rubbing his stomach and growling "Löwenbräu"! :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/09/2005 13:50 Comments ||
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#2
The Noreast is getting ice and snow and wind, Washed Up state is getting a belching from Mt. Saint Helens, wo, I'm not superstitious or anything, but these states are getting some pretty fearsome feedback from Mutha Naitchuh concerning how the majorities in those states voted back in November. Next time, don't ya''ll want to rethink that there votin' statiegery in the next cuppola lections?
Posted by: an dalusian dog ||
03/09/2005 5:57 Comments ||
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#3
Well, the majority of citizens in Ashington, especially within a 100 mile radius of M.S.H., voted for Rossi for Governor. Now, if there were an ice storm in Seattle, that would be a portent.
Of course, here in Arizona we're reaping the rewards of voting how Haliburton told us to. Sunny and 80 today, and 84 tomorrow.
ABU DHABI — The UAE and US officials began here yesterday the first round of negotiations of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), with assurances from the US side that the move would not affect the integrity of the GCC bloc. Assistant US Trade Representative Catherine A. Novelli, head of the US delegation, told newsmen after the inaugural session of the negotiations that FTAs with Bahrain and now UAE was a precursor for a broader GCC-based agreement and also with countries in the Middle East as a whole.
"The US is a strong supporter of the GCC in its initiatives to promote the collective interests of the grouping. These agreements will serve to stick it to the Saudis complement the goals and visions envisaged by the member-states of the GCC and will not threaten the common interests they share," she said, adding that the format of the FTA does not violate the principles of the GCC "as our visions are matching."
With the UAE, she said the agreement, once implemented, would ensure reciprocal benefits by sticking it to the Saudis ushering in open markets and removing barriers across a broad array of goods, services and products.
On whether there was a hidden agenda, Mrs Novelli replied: "No, no! Certainly not! There are no political conditions. This agreement builds on the overall excellent strong and vibrant political and military relations we have with the UAE. This agreement complements these relations." She said this is an excellent opportunity for both countries to expand trade and stick it to the Saudis investment links with each other's market. "The UAE is a regional economic leader, and the FTA, through expanded trade and investment with the US, will help solidify and stick it to the Saudis enhance this leadership role," she added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/09/2005 12:01:25 AM ||
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#1
Love the repeated stick it to the Saudis, Doc! And I have nooo doubt the Royal knickers are, indeed, in knots over this, given their unhappiness over our arrangements with Kuwait and the recent row when we sealed the bargain with Bahrain. Just need to make arrangements with Qatar to sew up the GCC.
To be honest, I'm not sure if there's anything more to this than just Saudi hubris, but it is a nice bit of spectator sport for those who know the amazing over the top arrogance of the Saudis first-hand.
CHINA increased regional tensions yesterday when the annual parliament in Beijing tabled an anti-secessionist Bill that explicitly threatens the invasion of Taiwan if the island declares independence.
Any such move by Taiwan will trigger "non-peaceful means and other necessary measures to protect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity", Wang Zhaoguo, a senior legislator, told the National People's Congress. Snip
In another move, Beijing suggested that Australia review its Anzus alliance with the US, under which it could agree to support American action in defence of Taiwan. Alexander Downer, the Australian Foreign Minister, said that there were no plans to modify the alliance. add Japan to that new alliance a$$holes Rest at link.
#5
the "million hydrofoil and amphib LST vehicle" lie debacle
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/09/2005 22:42 Comments ||
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#6
Like someone said the other day, the Chicoms are doing the Sun Tzu thing. The thing that is screwy is that with lots of trade ties between the mainland and Taiwan, the Chicoms could have Taiwan by the balls in, say, 20 years without a shot fired.
So it must be that the Chicoms are schitzo. The newer leaders are doing their thing to modernize and take over by non violent means and the PLA brass are doing the ranting Mao thing, which has to do with disasters, Sea of Fire, dogs and cats living together, etc etc. Also, they like the intimidation thing, like they were trying with the Anzus treaty members the other day.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/09/2005 22:43 Comments ||
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Japanese police questioned three siblings yesterday after it was discovered they had been living with the decomposed corpse of their father for nearly a decade. Police found the body of Kyujiro Kanaoka lying on a futon bed at the family's home in Itami, western Japan. Kanaoka's three children, all in their 70s or older, told police they thought their father was still alive, but that one of them had recently consulted a relative about the possibility that he might be dead, a police spokesman said. Police were investigating the cause of Kanaoka's death. Judging from the condition of his body, he may have died as long as 10 years ago, the spokesman added. Had he been alive, the man would be 107 years old. Hyogo prefecture had registered Kanaoka as its oldest living resident, 1. Didn't move for ten years
2. Never spoke.
3. Never ate.
4. Rotting corpse
Yep, I'd say he's dead.
#6
As to my remarks about Lenin's Tomb...
A little background to be honest here...
On one day when I was courting my Russian wife in Moscow in 1994, we went to Red Square.
She snickered at Lenin's tomb, but was still guarded about what she said. She took me into an Orthodox church on Red Square lit a candle, said a prayer, and we then had our picture taken sitting at a fountain in front of St. Basils. We did take a public tour of the Kremlin.
We then went to lunch at the TV tower, which sadly, later, (1998) had a fire.
After my wife came here, she started started a small business, and has voted 2 times for "W" since becoming a citizen...
Now...
She doesn't trust Putin, and refers to Stalin as, "That foreign cockroach", and wonders about the "fools" in the 1920s who he hoodwinked to take over...And openly wonders about the "state" of Lenin's corpse...
March 9, 2005: South Korea says it is willing to sacrifice good relations with Japan over the issue of who owns the uninhabited Dokdo (Takeshima to the Japanese) islands in the Sea of Hapan (East Sea in Korean). What is really going on here is continued Korean resentment of Japanese colonial occupation from 1910-45, and centuries of Japanese aggression towards Korea.ÃÂ
March 8, 2005: South Korea sent four F-5 fighters to intercept a Japanese plane attempting to fly over the Dokdo (Takeshima to the Japanese) islands both South Korea and Japan claim. The Japanese, a Cessna C-560 CitationÃÂ plane turned back.ÃÂ ÃÂ A major Japanese newspaper, the Asahi Shimbun. sent the aircraft to photograph the uninhabited islands. The Japanese aircraft turned around when it received order, via radio, to do so.ÃÂ ÃÂ
Are the Koreans really choosing to go with China?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/09/2005 8:56:05 AM ||
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#1
There is a lot of cultural deep down resentment, sort of on the level you saw in the Balkans. Korea has been the Belgium of NE Asia stuck between China and Japan for centuries with repeated invasions from the island kingdom. Old say goes something like, When whales fight, shrimps' backs are broken. The treatment of the Koreans during the last occupation was pretty much a cultural genocide intended to Nipponize the land and the people. Those who resisted were killed or driven to exile.
The young generation of S.Korea, like the mind dead university crowds in the US who eat up anti-US indoctrination, keep blaming the US for the division of Korea, failing to acknowledge that by Nov 1951, the US and the UN had pretty much reunited the country only to have about a quarter of a million Chinese intervene. So what else is new?
#4
The Japanese haven't really made any friends on the mainland over the last few centuries. I seem to recall the common chinese reference to the Japanese meaning something like "offshore pirates"...
China now has 46 million government bureaucrats, new statistics revealed yesterday, a number almost as great as the entire population of England. While the country is used to outdoing the rest of the world for sheer numbers, the explosion in officialdom is alarming its ruling Communist Party.
Its excessive and corrupt bureaucracy was regarded as one of the principal causes of the decline of imperial rule. Yet there are now 35 times as many people on the government payroll, even as a proportion of the population, than at the time of the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911. Corruption aside, today's civil servants are also expensive, requiring official cars, holidays masquerading as training sessions and receptions.
All in all, the cost to the nation, before salaries, amounted to £50 billion, according to state media.
The figures were disclosed by Ren Yuling, a delegate to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a parliamentary advisory body. "The contingent of bureaucrats in China is expanding at an unprecedented speed," he said. A separate study showed that the average cost of an official car was eight times that of using taxis. Only a third of all journeys were on government business — the rest were for personal use by the official or his driver.
Yesterday's disclosures were not the great step forward in parliamentary accountability they might appear. They fit squarely with a drive by the new party leadership to assert greater control over local government, where most of the bloated ranks of officials are to be found.
The prime minister, Wen Jiabao, believes that exploitation and extortion in rural areas are damaging his attempts to portray himself as a "man of the people". They also explain an upsurge in popular protests on issues ranging from illegal land development to taxation.
Hu Jintao, the president, has his own reasons to take on local officials. He is trying to make his mark by distinguishing himself from his predecessor, Jiang Zemin, a number of whose supporters in the provinces were tarnished by corruption scandals in the 1990s. The move comes as some overseas economists and analysts are re-evaluating China's notorious corruption, suggesting that it may have played a positive role in the country's economic growth.
Officials who profit on business deals are more likely to encourage investment, according to the argument, with the practice of bribing customs officials to overlook import tariffs reducing the costs of trade by up to half. Ok, but then there are the losses due to stolen product, the bookkeeping "errors", the new taxes, the rivals financed by the bribed officials using stolen formulas and processes, the excess costs on raw materials... what was that total cost again?
#1
Communism by defin is an -ism of the weak and wannabe - true or pure Leftism is akin to ANARCHISM, NOT UTOPIANISM OR EVEN SOCIALISM. Leftists-Socialists and ultar-Left Commies are self-alleged "RIGHTISTS" [see DAN RATHER] because perennial prioritized Socialist-Big Govt. deficit spending and deficit maintenance won't allow them to afford otherwise. Russia is Communism-centric, and China still per se Communist, cuz they know the Clintons are for them - they like the anti-US agendists are waiting for America to be discredited and ult suborned to their -ism, MOSTLY FROM WITHIN, ala "America is making too many 'mistakes' or 'errors' to risk it NOT being over-regulated" with Big-g-g-er Govt and Betty Crockercrat-ism or PC "Protectionism"!? Commies are REGULATORS, GOVERNMENTISTS, and BUREAUCRATIST now, boyz, NOT "SOCIALISTS", "UTOPIANISTS", or even "LEFTISTS" for the time being!?
#2
Lefties-Socies-Commies then, can be summed up, amongst other labels, as Regulated anti-Anarchy Anarchists. Can Anarchists = Government/Regulation, ...etc. - Now you know why LISA SIMPSON keeps losing and going to therapy!?
#3
Bring in the emergency kit of Nested Parentheses and we will eliminate this (an)archy.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/09/2005 8:25 Comments ||
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#4
The irony here is that it's the central government that is bloated and corrupt, not the locals, who try to attract new investment by competing with each other via tax incentives and infrastructure improvements. The central government leeches off the developed provinces and directs tens of billions of dollars a year towards Shanghai and Beijing, where China's mandarins have their power base.
#5
The central government also keeps on coming up with new ways to screw up domestic electronics producers, by coming up with stupid indigenous standards that nobody wants and that add to production costs. First they need to fire the morons with puffed-up titles who work in these ministries.
#6
If China is anything like my experience in India, then most of these bureacrats are more interested in their title than in their salary. Getting them into more productive roles, even with more money, will be difficult if they perceive a "step down" in any fashion.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
03/09/2005 9:21 Comments ||
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#7
Clean-up on isle 5 ...
Uh, Zhang Fei, doesn't "it's the central government that is bloated and corrupt, not the locals" directly contradict the article stating that the corruption is local? And really, Zhang Fei, you shouldn't be giving THEM hints on how to improve. :P
Wait, isn't the central government diverting to Guangdong as well? Or did something happen (read: Hong Kong) to make Shanghai more "pliable"? (Methinks that the Cantonese-Mandarin divide had something to do with this, is that true?)
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
03/09/2005 9:22 Comments ||
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#8
Old cycle in play. Empire, corruption, revolt, consolidation, empire, corruption, revolt, consolidation; repeat over numerous centuries. The problem for those in power is that with modern technology, everything is just sped up.
#10
I was chatting with one of my foreigner friends at the bar, and he said, "can you imagine what the Chinese would be like if they were efficient?" We both shuddered at the idea and took another sip of the crappy local KK beer.
BERLIN - The highest unemployment rate since 1933 and a slowing economy are battering German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democrats with a poll Wednesday showing the opposition conservatives would currently win a clear majority. The weekly Stern/RTL TV poll gave Schroeder's Social Democrats (SPD) just 31 percent and their Greens coalition ally 8 percent.
For the first time this year the poll gave the opposition conservatives 50 percent. The Christian Democratic alliance (CDU/CSU) would currently win 43 percent and the Free Democrats (FDP) are at 7 percent. Polls had shown Schroeder's SPD to be on a political rebound since early 2004, but the trend now appears to have been reversed. This is grim news for Chancellor Schroeder as his SPD battles to win re-election in the key state of North Rhine-Westphalia on 22 May. North Rhine-Westphalia - Germany's most populous state - has for decades been ruled by the SPD and defeat of the party would be a political earthquake. The state's current coalition between the SPD and Greens is under intense strain with SPD demands for job creation measures colliding with support by the Greens for a tough new anti-discrimination law and environmental protection. German unemployment has soared to 12.6 percent with 5.2 million jobless - the highest level since Adolf Hitler took power in 1933. In some parts of economically hard-hit eastern Germany the rate is close to 30 percent. The German economy, which grew by 1.6 percent last year, is slowing with analysts projecting between 0.8 and 1 per cent growth in 2005. Economists say sustained growth of at least 2 percent is needed in order to make a dent into unemployment.
Germany's next general election is in autumn 2006 and Schroeder has been banking on his social welfare and tax reforms boosting growth to help him win a third term.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/09/2005 11:30:28 AM ||
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#1
German unemployment has soared to 12.6 percent with 5.2 million jobless - the highest level since Adolf Hitler took power in 1933
That should make the French and Poles nervous. The Poles have someone who is grateful for their willingness to be a member of the Coalition of the Willing. The French are screwed.
#3
That should make the French and Poles nervous. The Poles have someone who is grateful for their willingness to be a member of the Coalition of the Willing. The French are screwed.
No way. The Germans are no longer the young and aggressive population they were. They are old, they have no margins to grow their military (Staee and welfare spend over 50% of their GNP) but more importantly their civilisation has become infested with political correctness and abject cowardice.
Remember those massive demonstrations: "Better Red than dead". Remember that their authorities are telling them to avoid resisting thieves and thugs. After a time the fact of being unarmed, the fact of being impotent in front of armed threat and having to cow ends making cowards from people. They could as courageous as any for say saving someone from a fire but not for the kind of courage you need in war.
And if their school system is any way like in France it is hard at work in brainwashing their kids into not resisting agressions, into telling the violent "oh, it is very bad to be violent", into having the kids go to the teacher when someone is bullying them. Bulls..t. When I was three years old I picked a fight with an bigger boy because he was bullying younger kids. I lasted three seconds but THAT was the proper thing to do, that was our spirit. But today? It is not with whinners who went to the teacher to tell about bullies that you could build a military, even a defence-oriented military.
#4
The highest unemployment rate since 1933 and a slowing economy are battering German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democrats with a poll Wednesday showing the opposition conservatives would currently win a clear majority.
#6
For those of us American rantburgers that know little about what German conservatism is, what could the world expect if that party defeated Chancellor Schroeder's party?
#7
For those of us American rantburgers that know little about what German conservatism is, what could the world expect if that party defeated Chancellor Schroeder's party?
#9
BigEd - what that article doesn't mention is that Labour have created nearly one million new public sector jobs since 1997 (an inflation of ca. 15%). Making a million more people dependent on the taxpayer for their salaries is not healthy, but does, conveniently, expand Labour's likely voting base.
It's also worth pointing out that those jobs are almost all non-frontline positions. They're pen-pushers, and the new positions alone outnumber the Army's total strength by about ten to one.
That's a problem with the Dems here too. Create a reliance and create voters mentality.
But you have the unfortunate problem of the Conservatives being, for what I read softer on the terrorism than Blair is - it seems on odd juxtuposition of views. I don't think Margaret Thatcher would oppose Iraq and other policies just for the sake of opposing as Howard seems to be doing...
#12
The link I gave in #10 is out of date - there will be even fewer Army personnel now after Blair's cuts to the armed forces last year.
Howard's made some fairly low-blow attacks on Blair re. Iraq, for purely partisan reasons (he and most of the Tory party - in fact a higher proportion of the Tory party than Labour - was in favour of the war) but they're not 'soft on terror'. Right now they're embroiled in a fight, alongside the Lib Dems and the vast majority of the House of Lords, against Blair's latest anti-terror legislation which is widely seen as an cynical attempt by Labour to paint the opposition as 'soft on terror'. In fact, Labour's bill is a real travesty - it rides roughshod over the most fundamental aspects of English law (habeas corpus, political influence in detentions, etc.) and is unnecessarily draconian. They're right to oppose such measures even though the public are largely in support of the Government.
Look at how the Tories and Labour have treated terrorism in Northern Ireland - Blair's strategy has been one of comprehensive appeasement of the violent factions (at least, the IRA). The Tories' line has always been much more uncompromising, which hasn't necessarily always been the wiser route but which has been the 'harder on terror'.
#13
yah, well the Tories have been the hawks on Ireland for the last 125 years. Actually more like almost 200 years, if you count opposition to Catholic empancipation. Thats not really about them being "harder on terror" just tougher on Ireland.
So is the Blair law anymore draconian than the Patriot Act, or then the proposed Patriot Act 2? Fact is if Ted Kennedy were making the same objections to said acts that Howard is to Blairs act, everyone here would rip him apart. As for allying with the Lib Dems, thats hardly a reassuring thought.
#15
You don't think Tory attitudes have changed since the Nineteenth Century, Lh? I'm surprised at you; you're not usually so out of touch. Under Blair we're now at a position where the IRA think they can openly declare themselves as judge, jury and - literally - executioner of individuals in Norther Irish commnunities, and presumably expect to be thanked for it. Who can blame them, given the carte blanche they now have? They think they're the law, because they have been allowed to behave like the law. That's what New Labour have given to the Catholic communities of Northern Ireland.
The most controversial element initially was that the new orders would allow an elected politician, rather than a judge, to effectively deprive a British citizen of their liberty - something which critics say is the biggest threat to civil freedoms in the UK for more than 300 years. Although the home secretary has given ground and said that a judge should impose the orders, there is still concern about Britons being subject to restrictions without trial, or even knowing what the case or evidence against them is.
Maybe you're happy to throw away liberties that no Gevernment has seen fit to remove from the population for three centuries - and all that happened during that time - but I see this as yet more flippancy and contempt for time-honoured British traditions and constitutional legacies from our current Government. For heaven's sake, the formal removal of the necessity of habeas corpus wasn't needed during two world wars and all throughout the Northern Ireland troubles.
#16
The BBC has said the same or worse about US security measures. How come theyre biased lefties when they do that, but protectors of British liberties when the attack Blair?
Im certainly not saying the Tories take the same stands as in the 19th century - Im simply pointing out that the Tories have always taken a more hardline view of Ireland, long before terror was an issue, and that this hardly shows them to be tougher on terrorism in general, which is the issue that came up. Pardon me - i have no truck with the IRA, and I despise Americans who supported it, but right now the peace and security of the world is threatened not by the IRA, but by Jihadi/Salafi terrorists, and Blair has been a leader in the struggle against them, while Torys AND Lib Dems snip at his heels, and I dont see that historic differnces between Tories and Labour on Ireland trump that.
#17
It's no coincidence that abolishing habeas corpus conveniently makes British law much more in line with continental European law. If Blair gets his way now: that's one EU-integrational hurdle out of the way. If you think that sounds paranoid: why has Blair refused to even put a time-limit on the measures, when all that's been asked for by the opposition is an annual review? If it's an emergency measure, why on earth insist on making it permanent?
...this hardly shows them to be tougher on terrorism in general...
The issue wasn't whether the Tories were tougher on terrorism than Labour - I was responding to BigEd's thoughts that the Tories were 'softer'. I don't doubt that either party takes Islamic terrorism very, very seriously - they're going about how to deal with the problem in characteristically different ways - the Conservatives conservatively wishing to protect the venerable British legal system whilst Labour is trying to progressively break that down and try something else - something unnecessary, dangerous in terms of individual rights, and inferior, IMO.
#18
Well from where I sit Schroeder seems to be able to overcome problems like this, He will maintain a collation government by bring in smaller liberal parties that can manage the required 5% of the vote and win parliament seats and cling to power. Joska Fischer is the most popular politician in Germany. I am not going to hold my breath.
I expect US relations with Germany to get worse not better by the way. Reading comments on weblogs from Germans is the reason for this. The stupidity and hate of many Germans in relation the US despite the very bad condition and, severe employment of their own county is mind boggling.
"Fischer's traditional supporters - the liberal media - are deserting him. Der Spiegel recently devoted two cover stories to the visa debacle and the liberal Die Zeit last week accused the 56-year-old of 'naivety', 'arrogance' and 'narcissism'. Last week, for the first time in years, he failed to top a poll by the broadcaster ZDF to find Germany's most popular politician."
The stupidity and hate of many Germans in relation the US despite the very bad condition
That's really the trend though, isn't it? Everywhere from the Muslim world to South America, the US is blamed for domestic failures. It's ever the way. But it's particularly depressing to read of Germans looking to scapegoats once again to blame, given the ample lessons from history that they have to show where that insane attitude can lead.
#20
...it's particularly depressing to read of Germans looking to scapegoats once again to blame, given the ample lessons from history that they have to show where that insane attitude can lead.
#21
"It's no coincidence that abolishing habeas corpus conveniently makes British law much more in line with continental European law."
Evidence please. Not all European nations may *name* it "habeas corpus", but AFAIK pretty much all of them have a version of it. Certainly the European Conventions of Human Rights incorporate it.
This smells like another attempt to demonize the EU, even on issues that have nothing at all to do with it.
#22
It's no coincidence that abolishing habeas corpus conveniently makes British law much more in line with continental European law.
You have no tradition of suspending habeus corpus in an emergency, as this other Common Law democracy has, explicitly written into the Constitution? Im surprised.
As you're too lazy and/or incompetent to do your own Googling, here's something Melanie Philips wrote in 2001 in reference to the pan-EU arrest warrant, just as a taster:
"The British courts will have no option but to approve the request by a Greek or Spanish judge to lock up someone in a foreign jail. Once abroad, the suspect could find himself facing trial for a different crime altogether; or he may even be extradited merely for questioning. Cheerio habeas corpus. Far from being the bedrock of our protection against the use of arbitrary and oppressive authority, our courts will be turned into rubber stamps for judicial kidnapping by foreign powers."
"The EU Constitution will ... allow movement towards an EU criminal justice system on the continental model, which doesn't have juries or habeas corpus (the right to be brought before a judge to have your detention legally and publicly justified), through harmonisation of national laws and mutual recognition of judicial and extra-judicial decisions
...
Historically, English law has been a shield of the people, standing in stark contrast to Europe's Napoleonic criminal law, which does not safeguard law against its use by government as a weapon. English law does not permit police to arrest citizens without evidence or to hold them more than 48 hours without presenting charges in open court. The European system permits police to arrest citizens on suspicion and to detain them indefinitely while preparing a case against them. Moreover, the accused European has no right to see the evidence against him, no right to a jury trial and no right to an open court. His case is decided by a professional judge, whose career and advancement are dependent on the state that brings the case. The new "Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Bill" contains a provision (109) that removes Parliament from the decision to replace English law with Europe's Corpus Juris. Unless Parliament rejects this provision, the EU Council of Ministers in Brussels, with the concurrence of the British Home Secretary, can vote away English legal protections and replace habeas corpus with Napoleon's code."
Lh - I'm by no means a legal expert. I'm sure that habeas corpus has been suspended before, in fact I think it has been during warime - but Blair wants to remove such protections from individuals under chosen circumstances permanently.
#25
All below are excerpts from:
http://www.poptel.org.uk/against-eurofederalism/cj44.htm
"Corpus Juris would ostensibly empower the European Public Prosecutor to imprison anyone for up to six months, renewable for a further three months, pending investigation, if they are alleged to be guilty of fraud which could damage the EU. The decision to prosecute is made by the EPP following which investigations are carried out to ascertain if there is enough evidence to prosecute. The reverse of UK law."
"Mainland European courts consist of professional judges, not jurors or lay magistrates thus doing away with Habeas Corpus and Jury trials."
"Objection to any trial publicity, whether in the public interest or not, by either side would result in proceedings in secret."
Posted by: Tom ||
03/09/2005 19:03 Comments ||
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#26
France has trial by jury. But only for murders and similar offences. And the composition of the jury is three professional judges and six citizens. In theory those judges cannot be removed by the governemnt (in fact they were during late XIXth century persecution of the Church by the Third Republic).
But trial by jury is not only about pressures on the judges. It is about crimes being judged by the people. The people as in "We, the people of the United States". Being judged according to conscience and ethics by a jury represnting the nation instead of by mere civil servants (and in the case of France judges are unelected).
In the case of France we also have the "juge d'instruction" a magistrate who supervises the investigation. But in France he is actively involved in the search of the truth. Meaning that at times they get carried on and try to nab the suspect instead of acting imparcially.
And AFAIK, but IANAL, there is no provision for double jeopardy
#27
The right to be judged by your peers goes back to the Magna Carta - No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgement of his equals .....
PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) - Kosovo's prime minister resigned Tuesday with plans to surrender to a U.N. court which he said has indicted him for alleged war crimes. But he insisted he was innocent of the charges.
Isn't it great how the UN and NATO have solved the Kosovo problem?
Ramush Haradinaj, who was in office for three months, said he would leave Wednesday for The Hague, Netherlands, where the tribunal is based. "Today I have been called upon to make a sacrifice, something I never believed would happen," he said in a statement. "This means also cooperation with international justice, however unjust it is."
Haradinaj said his actions as an ethnic Albanian rebel commander during the 1998-99 war against Serb forces were consistent with international law. "I have behaved like an honorable man," he said.
Haradinaj suggested others were also named in the indictment. But neither he nor tribunal officials gave any details on the charges or on what crimes he allegedly committed. Serbian officials accuse him of command responsibility in the alleged killing of several Serb civilians by forces of the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army in 1998, close to his home village of Glodjanje. They also mention the rapes of several Gypsy women and the killing of some Gypsy men - all part of a wedding party - by his forces shortly after the war near the town of Djakovica.
International officials appeared relieved that Haradinaj - a seasoned battlefield commander with a fiery temper and a loyal following - had decided to cooperate.
Lord knows the UN couldn't have handled him otherwise.
The ethnic Albanian majority in Kosovo considers Haradinaj a hero in the struggle for independence from Serb rule. But most of the Serb minority hate him and other past leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army that fought former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's Serb forces.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/09/2005 12:30:05 AM ||
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A criminal investigation was underway in France Tuesday after the disappearance of tax returns filed by prominent public figures including the daughter of President Jacques Chirac and two former prime ministers. The former finance minister Herve Gaymard, who resigned ten days ago in a row over his official residence, was also among the five whose income declarations for the year 2003 went missing from a Paris tax office some time before early February, according to justice officials. The others affected were Claude Chirac, who acts as an adviser to her father, former socialist prime ministers Laurent Fabius and Lionel Jospin, and the current European Affairs Minister in the centre-right government Claudie Haignere. After conflicting reports about the number of missing documents, Budget Minister Jean-Francois Cope said at a press conference Tuesday that from a box containing seven forms, five had been completely removed and a sixth was missing an appended sheet.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
03/09/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
I'm sure they all kept copies of their originals, right?
#4
The former finance minister Herve Gaymard, who resigned ten days ago in a row over his official residence, was also among the five whose income declarations for the year 2003 went missing from a Paris tax office some time before early February, according to justice officials. The others affected were Claude Chirac, who acts as an adviser to her father, former socialist prime ministers Laurent Fabius and Lionel Jospin, and the current European Affairs Minister in the centre-right government Claudie Haignere.
#5
Calling the IRS forensic accountants! I wonder how much of the missing support documentation will be found by the various Oil for Food teams, or in old Iraqi files? In the end these persons may well have to re-file to pay their extra taxes on additional undeclared income. ;-)
WASHINGTON - It was an intimate political gathering: Sen. John F. Kerry [related, bio] playing host to about 100 of his richest friends.
Kerry huddled with his top fund-raisers Monday night in his Georgetown mansion, preparing a massive money push aimed at keeping the defeated presidential nominee's ambitions alive.
``He wants to keep his team together,'' said one member of Kerry's national finance team. ``He's looking ahead. He will be a strong voice in the party.''
Strategists say Kerry will use his new political action committee, Keeping America's Promise, to promote his agenda, help party causes and keep his army of 2.7 million supporters together.
``It's something that has never been done before - in terms of a nominee coming back,'' said a Kerry source. ``We're trying to stay relevant.''
Unlike most defeated nominees, Kerry has barely broken stride since the November election.
He's been busy pushing legislation on kid's health care, traveling overseas, raising money and expanding his political network.
Kerry's PAC will raise money for other candidates, parties and issues - helping Kerry build political chits.
He will also use his PAC for staff, travel and more fund-raising.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/09/2005 6:25:34 PM ||
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#1
He's been busy pushing legislation
Congrats, Senator Serotta! That'll be what, the third bill you've introduced during your vast, distinguished 20 year career?
#9
My biggest satisfaction is that we will have hoots and snorts delivered on a regular basis by the insane THK. Shows, at least in this case, money doesn't buy sanity, beauty, or class
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/09/2005 20:42 Comments ||
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#10
Doh! I forgot to close the italics... bah.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
03/09/2005 20:45 Comments ||
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#11
Another Kerry run in 2008? Oh, yes, please, please, please! Do it again!
Posted by: Tom ||
03/09/2005 20:50 Comments ||
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#12
I haven't seen anything on THK's view that Hanoi John lost the election because 2 brothers own 90% of the voting machines in the US and they were fixed to elect Chimpy McHitler. There was a little bit on Fox but not much else. I haven't been able to Google anything, either. Talk about a Moonbat!
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/09/2005 21:08 Comments ||
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#13
Drudge had it from a Seattle appearance by "Lovie"
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/09/2005 21:31 Comments ||
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Going Nowhere
The DLC Sputters to a Halt
by Ari Berman
...The ideological independence of the DLC, which pushed the [democratic] party to the right, has come to be viewed as a threat rather than a virtue, forcing the DLC to adapt accordingly. Corporate fundraisers and DC connections--the lifeblood of the DLC--matter less and less: Witness the ascent of MoveOn.org and Howard Dean's election as chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). "It's not that the DLC changed," says Kenneth Baer, who wrote a history of the organization. "It's that the world changed around the DLC."
Today's DLC is a far cry from the anti-establishment organization created by New Democrats who captured power within the party in the Clinton era by distancing themselves from the party's traditional base and liberal candidates....The progressive infrastructure that helped keep Kerry alive and began crafting a sharper Democratic message--America Votes, Progressive Majority, Camp Wellstone, Democracy for America, Center for American Progress, Air America Radio, Media Matters, the blogosphere--now exerts a greater degree of influence, bankrolled by new, wealthy outsiders and small donors who share similar goals. George Soros and Peter Lewis have pledged $100 million over the next fifteen years to support a permanent idea factory rivaling right-wing think tanks like the Heritage Foundation and the mushy centrism of the DLC's Progressive Policy Institute. "We've come to represent a way of doing politics that is dangerous to people in DC who have a nice little niche," says MoveOn.org executive director Eli Pariser. "Bringing in the grassroots will mean a loss of influence for some of the establishment folks."
[which movie would be more fun to watch.. The PA vs. Hamas or the DLC vs. Deaniacs]
#1
Deutsche Demokratische Republik--they were "Democrats", too. Coincidentally, the highest proportion of Neo-nazis comes from its former territory. That is: Neo-NDSAP (National Deutsche Sozialist Arbeit Partei), still called, for some obscure reason, "right-wing".
#3
George Soros and Peter Lewis have pledged $100 million over the next fifteen years to support a permanent idea factory rivaling right-wing think tanks like the Heritage Foundation and the mushy centrism of the DLCâs Progressive Policy Institute.
It won't matter how many dollars they dump into the thing. The only number in the MSM's Rolodex is "Brookings".
#5
A critical flaw in their plan is that they can elect radicals all they want, but they will never have power. Moderates who cooperate with the republicans will rise to the top because they will be able to bring home the pork. Only incredibly stupid and stubborn democrats will continue to back losers forever.
Looking at their effectiveness, jackal, obviously not. On the other hand, each dollar spent to generate useless ideas is a dollar not interfering with democracy. And it is possible (in the sense that anything with a probability greater than zero is possible) they might come up with something useful to the country. ;-)
h/t to Dreadnought via Lucianne
Partisan politics in Washington this season are getting interesting, as a few Democrats are cautiously beginning to challenge their leadership's strategy of total opposition to major Bush initiatives. It is dawning on some Democrats that their all-defense strategy may not pair up well with President Bush's all offense strategy.
President Bush plays politics the way my friends and I used to play pick-up football when I was a kid. In the huddle, the quarterback would tell everyone else to go out long. On the snap the quarterback would dance around in the backfield until one of us five or six receivers got open, at which point he would complete the pass. With both sides going long all the time, we often ended up with basketball scores.
The Democrats, on the other hand, when on offense, merely receive the snap and fall on the ball. When on defense, they put all their men on the line, trying for a quick sack of the quarterback. If the quarterback is too agile for them, they are vulnerable to be scored upon, given their lack of a pass defense.
When two such teams meet, the best score the all-defense Democrats can hope for is a 0-0 tie. The best score the all-offense Republicans can expect is at least a 56-0 win. So far, since 2001 the score is about 42-0, the president having completed passes on tax cuts and the economy, the Afghan war, the Iraq war, the Middle East democracy project, prescription drugs and class-action lawsuits, among the major items.
In the next couple of months and years the president is going to throw long on Social Security, bankruptcy reform, asbestos litigation reform, judicial appointments, Medicaid reform, Medicare reform and tax simplification. If he completes all those passes the final score would be 91- 0, and "Daily Show" star Jon Stewart's self-admitted worst fear will be realized — his daughter will be going to George W. Bush High School in downtown Manhattan.
Of course, the analogy to football isn't perfect. In politics, some touchdowns are worth more points than others. If Mr. Bush can pass Social Security reform, that touchdown would be worth about 200 points all by itself. And, unlike football, in politics some wins later are re-scored as losses, such as the temporary win by slave-holders in the Dred Scott decision. They won the Supreme Court decision in 1857, but lost the war in 1865.
Currently the big fight is Social Security reform. The official congressional Democratic leadership position is that there is no problem that a modest soak-the-rich tax increase couldn't fix. Well, as the current unfunded liability of Social Security is $3.7 trillion, we know with precision the minimum level of tax increase needed to fill that void — $3.7 trillion. That would be the largest tax increase since ... well since tax increases were invented by the Pharaohs at the dawn of civilization. And we wouldn't even have a bunch of pointy buildings to show for it, because such a tax increase would slam the breaks on a growing economy, including the construction industry.
But because the Democratic leadership is intent on denying Mr. Bush a "victory" on Social Security, they are whipping their members to not negotiate with the president or congressional Republicans. Thus, a few weeks ago Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid announced that his fellow Democratic senators were completely united in refusing to deal on the issue.
Even when he said it, it wasn't true. Between a half-dozen and a dozen Democratic senators have been meeting and talking seriously about Social Security legislation in three more or less separate, but related, conversations with Republican Sens. Charles Grassley, Lindsey Graham and Chuck Hagel for several weeks. Keep in mind, Republicans only have to pick up five Democrats to pass Social Security over a filibuster effort in the Senate.
Finally, last weekend, Sen. Joe Lieberman, long reputed to be one of the Democratic participants in those discussions, put himself on the record on CNN : "So, at some point we've got to stop criticizing each other and sit at the table and work out this problem ... Every year we wait to come up with a solution to the Social Security problem [it] costs our children and grandchildren and great grandchildren $600 billion more." The next morning the New York Times, which on Social Security seems to be the house organ for Mr. Reid's maximum obstruction operation, ran a long article about Mr. Lieberman on the theme of "the difficulty of trying to be a centrist in an increasingly polarized political climate." After using most of the article as a poster board for named and unnamed left-wing cranks to say rude things about poor old Joe, the article did admit in one sentence that: "Polls show that more than two-thirds of Connecticut Democrats approve of his performance, and so do more than two-thirds of Connecticut Republicans." Apparently it is not that difficult to be a centrist Democrat.
I rather hope that not too many more Democratic senators come to their senses and work for genuine reform. No point in re-electing more Democrats than is necessary. So to the 36 obstructing Democrats: Keep it up, and have a nice post-Senate life. I was once on the right side of a 49-0 thrashing... in baseball. I think that before the dust settles, probably right after the 2006 mid-term election cycle, the Pubs will deliver a similar Ass Whooping to the Dhimmis. The President's agenda is chock-full of truly important initiatives, but the judicial cleanup is especially long overdue and essential.
Posted by: .com ||
03/09/2005 4:03:07 AM ||
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#1
This football analogy reminds me of an old football joke:
Two football teams play more than 3 and a half quarters of a game with one team just absolutely whupping the other 77-0. Suddenly from a distance a train whistle can be heard, and the winning team, thinking the game is over, walks off the field.
#3
As I've suggested before, once the Senate democrats have been whipped down so much that they are convinced they are the minority party, and start behaving like one, then the first step in their recovery will be "DINOs", or "moderate" democrats, who will vote with the republicans on condition that they get *something* they want added on. By dint of this power, they will ascend to the top of their party, while the radicals become marginalized.
#4
You ain't seen nothing yet - There is a scenario which though a longshot, is thouroughly possible, and will be a result of all the domestic wranglings over PC, sex, race and ethnicity...
2008 will be interesting. Loser goes first (Convention)... Dems nominate Hillary and then the fun starts with a scenario that has none of the major party tickets with a White European Male!!!!
Newly electied Congressman and near-miss Governor Jindal gets added for geographic balance...
I admit Jindal is the least likely of this scenario...but it makes one think of the most outlandish possibility...
#8
Good looking folks. Let's look at the Presidents from 1900.
McKinley
T Roosevelt
Taft
Wilson
Coolidge
F Roosevelt
Carter
Reagan
Clinton
GW Bush
Harding
Hoover
Truman
Eisenhower
Kennedy
Johnson
Nixon
Ford
GHW Bush
What's the first group got in common? They had served as governor of a state or commonwealth (Taft in the Philippines). The second had not. Being SACEUR does count for some level of organizational responsibility, to be sure. So which group is the better set of presidents? If Condi and Hilly want to be good Presidents, I'd suggest they go to Sacramento and Albany first and prove they're ready.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/09/2005 15:20 Comments ||
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#9
Does being Secretary of State count for some level of organizational responsibility, Mrs D.?
#10
I think not. It's not just the organizations, and State is a small one. It's going out and attacking the other guy and his party in the election and then sitting down with them and working out legislation while keeping an eye on the next election. If you can do all that well, you can probably be effective. No guarantee, see Carter. But the alternative of being in a debating society or any appointive position simply does not showcase as many skills. That is not to say that they are necessarily absent, see Eisenhower.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/09/2005 16:20 Comments ||
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CHICAGO (AP) - An attorney for jailed white supremacist Matthew Hale said he was asked to give an encoded message to one of Hale's supporters, according to a published report. Hale has been a focus of the investigation into the shooting deaths of a federal judge's husband and mother. Lawyer Glenn Greenwald said Hale's mother asked him a few months ago to pass the message to a Hale supporter.
"She said she didn't know what the message meant, but she was going to read it to me verbatim because Matt made her write it down when she visited him," Greenwald told The New York Times in Wednesday's editions. "It was two or three sentences that were very cryptic and impossible to understand in terms of what they were intended to convey."
"sooth my heart with a monotonous langour", "Tora, Tora, Tora,", "wack the judge".
Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow found her 64-year-old husband, Michael Lefkow, and 89-year-old mother, Donna Humphrey, shot to death in the basement of her Chicago home when she returned from work on Feb. 28.
Though authorities have said white supremacists are just one aspect of the investigation, Hale and other white supremacists immediately drew investigators' attention in the wake of the slayings.
Hale, 33, is to be sentenced next month for soliciting an FBI informant to kill Judge Lefkow after she ordered him to stop using the name World Church of the Creator for his group because of a trademark lawsuit. Matthew Hale has denied any involvement in the slayings, or of soliciting the judge's murder.
Greenwald, who has represented Hale and his organization in several civil cases, said he told federal agents last week about the conversation he had with Hale's mother, Evelyn Hutcheson, about the message. He said he declined to deliver it.
Hutcheson told the newspaper that the message was about someone her son thought should testify at Hale's April 6 sentencing. She said any coding was meant to keep federal agents from figuring out Hale's legal strategy. Hutcheson has said federal agents have asked her if Hale communicated with her in code.
Guess she passed it on herself.
Also, a source familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity that Chicago detectives and FBI agents also have gone to the law office of Michael Lefkow and have spent hours examining his files in search of leads.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/09/2005 9:30:44 AM ||
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#1
Looks like convicting Lynn what's-her-face for passing along terrorist messages from the blind sheik is have a nice ripple effect.
Or maybe he's just an honest attorney.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/09/2005 11:17 Comments ||
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#2
He's apparently an honest attorney.
As for the Hale family -- they're pond scum in the gene pool.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/09/2005 13:00 Comments ||
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#3
Captain Midnight told all us Secret Squadron members to get our decoder rings ready for the secret message. I stationed myself as close to the old Crosley TV as possible and the scrambled message was shown at the bottom of the screen. Using my secret decoder ring, I finally saw the secret message. It read, "Drink more Ovaltine".
EFL
SUMMARY: It's getting harder to decry consumerism as example of capitalistic excess.
Some of our more earnest environmentalist friends and zealous social-justice crusader pals are going to have to think up a new complaint. Their old lament about the United States' hogging all the world's resources is due for a little revision.
As it turns out, the United States isn't exactly the world's biggest consumer, according to the Earth Policy Institute, a think-tank in Washington, D.C. China consumes more steel, coal, meat and grain than America does. And the Chinese buy more televisions and refrigerators than Americans do. The United States consumes more oil, but China's oil consumption is increasing far more rapidly. The number of computers the Chinese buy doubles every 28 months.
China also produces tremendous amounts of pollution and, according to Inc. magazine, it also hogs more foreign capital than any other country, including the United States.
Another Washington think-tank, Worldwatch Institute, issued a report in 2004 that bemoaned the fact that growing prosperity in the developing world has created a rapidly growing "consumer class" throughout the world. Some 1.7 billion people worldwide now qualify as "consumers," according to the Institute, including 240 million in China alone. Nearly half of the world's "consumers" now live in developing countries.
Anyway, there's something almost humorous about having the country whose consumerism and resource consumption supposedly proves the evils of capitalism and greed out-consumed by a communist country. What's this world coming to? For what it's worth, the United States still consumes more than any other country on a per-person basis. For now, that is.
While University of Colorado officials defend controversial professor Ward Churchill in the name of free speech, an evangelical Christian professor at the school claims he's about to be dismissed for religious or political reasons.
Professor Phil Mitchell, who has a doctorate in American social history from the university, says he recently was informed his contract would not be renewed after this year because "his teaching was not up to the department standards," according to Denver Post columnist David Harsanyi.
Mitchell, winner in 1998 of the prestigious SOAR Award for teacher of the year, told the columnist he has wondered how long he would last.
"I've had enough. I am clearly being closed out for political or religious reasons," Mitchell says. "I am one of the top-rated professors in the history of the department."
A colleague, William Wei, described by Harsanyi as "hardly a conservative," said, "Phil is a great person, a good teacher and highly regarded by his students."
Harsanyi said Mitchell, who has taught at the Hallett Diversity Program for 24 straight semesters, upset the head of the department by presenting a diverse opinion.
After quoting respected black intellectual Thomas Sowell in a discussion about affirmative action, Mitchell was berated as a racist.
"That would have come as a surprise to my black children," said Mitchell, who has nine children, two of them adopted African-Americans.
Then, says Harsanyi, the professor used a book on liberal Protestantism in the late 19th century.
Harsanyi writes: "So repulsed by the word 'god' was one student, she complained, and the department chair fired him without a meeting."
The columnist points out that unlike Churchill's case, there was no protest by faculty and students.
Mitchell later was reinstated, Harsanyi said, but never was able to teach in the history department again.
"People say liberals run the university. I wish they did," Mitchell told the Denver columnist. "Most liberals understand the need for intellectual diversity. It's the radical left that kills you."
Mitchell said he has stuck it out this long "to create enthusiasm and love for history. And I am successful at that. I love the classroom, and I love my students."
Controversy erupted around Churchill last month, when one of his essays made it into the national spotlight.
Written shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, it describes the thousands of American victims who died in the World Trade Center inferno as "little Eichmanns" — a reference to notorious Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann — who were perpetuating America's "mighty engine of profit." They were destroyed, he added, thanks to the "gallant sacrifices" of "combat teams" that successfully targeted the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon.
Churchill resigned his position as head of the Colorado University ethnic studies program but kept his $96,000 per year teaching post. He steadfastly has refused to apologize for his comments.
He's also come under fire for claiming an American Indian heritage, training terrorists, and meeting with Libya's Moammar Gadhafi in the 1980s when the U.S. had banned travel there.
In addition, he's accused of writing essays with passages "almost identical" to those of other authors and of copying an original art piece and claiming it as his own.
The University of Colorado Regents is probing whether Churchill has violated tenure and expects to announce a decision this month. "Tenure? Bah! A scrap of paper!"
#2
This may be similar to my "Scarecrow Principle". The Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz didn't have a brain. At the end, the Wizard said to him, "You don't need an education. All you need is a Diploma". Or something very similar. I first heard this principle from BrerRabbit.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/09/2005 15:37 Comments ||
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#4
Colleges and universities that do this need to be hit in their pocketbook. THAT will get their attention. The culture wars are just as important as the WoT. Big stakes here.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/09/2005 22:48 Comments ||
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Whodda thunk it?
President Robert Mugabe confessed yesterday that millions of acres of prime land seized from Zimbabwe's white farmers are now lying empty and idle. After years spent trumpeting the "success" of the land grab, Mr Mugabe, 81, admitted that most of the farms transferred to black owners have never been used. You mean that stuff don't just grow itself?
All but a handful of Zimbabwe's 4,000 white farmers lost their homes and livelihoods when armed gangs of Mugabe supporters began invading their property in 2000. In the first 18 months of the campaign, eight white landowners and 39 of their black workers were murdered, court orders defied and Zimbabwe's economy plunged into crisis.
Mr Mugabe said this was the price that Zimbabwe would have to pay to redress the wrongs of the British colonial era, which left much of the best land in white hands. He claimed that the seizures would boost production and benefit millions of blacks.
Yet in his home province yesterday, Mr Mugabe chided the new landowners for growing crops on less than half of their land. You mean that stuff don't just grow itself?
"President Mugabe expressed disappointment with the land use, saying only 44 per cent of the land distributed is being fully utilised," state television reported. "He warned the farmers that the government will not hesitate to redistribute land that is not being utilised." We'll give it to some other "war veteran". I'm sure they'll get right on that farming... stuff. Not like these lazy bums we gave it to the first time.
Some 10.4 million acres were seized under a scheme designed to create a new class of black commercial farmer. By Mr Mugabe's figures, 5.8 million acres are lying fallow. Last year, Mr Mugabe boasted of a bumper harvest and said that Zimbabwe no longer needed help "foisted" on it from the United Nations World Food Programme. Well, we certainly shouldn't "foist" something on people that don't seem to need it. Right, Bob?
His land grab had made Zimbabwe "self sufficient", Mr Mugabe repeatedly claimed, and the national maize crop was a record 2.4 million tonnes. The Commercial Farmers' Union said that Zimbabwe grew only 850,000 tonnes of maize last year, not enough to meet domestic demand. In 1999, the last year before the land grab began, Zimbabwe grew 1.5 million tonnes. Then, Zimbabwe also earned about £263 million from tobacco exports. Last year, production had fallen by more than 70 per cent and earnings were down to £77 million. Yeah, but what's in a number, right, Bob?
Critics said Mr Mugabe's admission exposed the land grab's "failure". "It has been a phenomenal and absolute failure on every level," said Tendai Biti, secretary for economic affairs of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. "It has failed both in terms of production of crops and in terms of the occupation of the land."
The new farmers are unable to raise bank loans because their properties are formally owned by the government and they have no individual title deeds. Without loans, they cannot buy seed, fertiliser or farming equipment and the regime has broken a pledge to supply them with tools. Some farmers have resorted to using horse-drawn ploughs. Many have given up trying to produce anything at all. Maybe Bob could sell one of his mansions and toss them a few bucks? Nah.
Zimbabwe will hold parliamentary elections on March 31 and, for the first time in 10 years, Mr Mugabe is no longer holding out the offer of white-owned land as a vote-winner. Instead, his speeches are dominated by attacks on Tony Blair, who he claims is plotting to recolonise Zimbabwe. Maybe he could give the farms to Tony Blair. And then take them back and redistribute them. Looks like you're running outta white folks to blame, Bob.
About 400 white farmers remain in Zimbabwe, with about one third of this year's tobacco crop of 89,000 tonnes coming from only 250 white landowners. Gotta be their fault. Right, Bob?
Posted by: tu3031 ||
03/09/2005 10:38:40 AM ||
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#1
Critics said Mr Mugabeâs admission exposed the land grabâs "failure".
Don't hold your breaths waiting for Mugabe to reverse his actions, however....
#4
Well if Whitey ever showed up to do my farming for me it would've gone a lot better.
Posted by: Farmin B. Hard, War Veteran ||
03/09/2005 14:30 Comments ||
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#5
One of the things this article fails to mention is that when a farm was confiscated it was immediately ransacked by bands of Mugabe supporters. The reason the farms were so successful is that they were intensively managed, and the looting included pulling irrigation pipes out of the ground and selling them for scrap.
Some of these farms are now worthless as a result. Other than that, yet another sterling achievement to add to the Marxist/Leninist/Stalinist Book of Human Happiness.
AMMAN — In a stunning turn of events, the president of the Jordanian Bar Association, Hussein Megaly, submitted his resignation. This rare incident was triggered by a new law for trade syndicates endorsed by the government.
The issuance of the law in absentia and without prior consultation with the bar association signifies an annulment of the syndicate and public works and even of citizenship rights. The resignation came two days after an election meeting in his favour was denied by the government authorities. He further abstained from running for a new BA presidency.
Megaly made stern and sharp protests in his resignation letter against the judicial system, which he dubbed as "useless and a waste of time", since rights are lost forever.
Living in a dictatorship sucks, doesn't it.
"Despotism and oppression can be tolerated no more," he cited to Al Quds Al Arabi newspaper adding that he cannot be a government-tailored BA president and that the majority of advocates suffer from unemployment. Therefore, they cannot uphold or defend what they are themselves deprived of.
Jordanian Prime Minister Faisal Al Fayez regarded the trade syndicate complex as "a platform for voicing government rebuke and stringent criticism, which will not be allowed under any circumstances," he strongly emphasised. Consequently, the Islamic Labour Front Party condemned the current government for suppression of freedom and spreading corrupt public values as well as fraudulent financial and administrative ethics. "Reform is, therefore, a far-fetched aspiration and, with the advent of the new law, has become out of the question," the party declared. "This law is drilling deep into the damaged social fabric. It is a crucial setback to democracy and a willful vengeance," the party asserted.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/09/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has conveyed a message to Kashmir Affairs Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat suggesting he resign in light of the Supreme Court cancelling his bail in the Shah Jewna Textile Case, sources told Daily Times on Monday.
"You can't be Kashmir Affairs Minister when you're in jug!"
However, sources close to Faisal Saleh said he would talk to President Pervez Musharraf, after which he would make his plans.
"Oh. Okay, then."
Government officials said Faisal Saleh had left for London a couple of weeks ago — a day before the Supreme Court heard the case — after being passed a hint by the government. "He may have suspected that the Supreme Court would cancel his bail," sources claimed.
"Are you really sure you can be Kashmir Affairs Minister when you're on the lam?"
Sources said Faisal was trying to contact President Musharraf, who is currently visiting Central Asia.
"Telephone, Mr. President-General Sahib!"
"Who is it?"
"Faisal Saleh Hayat!"
"Tell him I'm out."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/09/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) arrested Begum Salma Ahmed, a former member of the National Assembly from Karachi, on Monday in a misappropriation case of Rs 13.30 million. An NAB spokesman said that Ms Ahmed was arrested on the basis of a complaint submitted by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) against her regarding the allocation of Rs 13.30 million by the Export Development Fund (EDF) for setting up a "Fashion Design Technology Centre". As president of the Pakistan Association of Women Entrepreneurs, Ms Ahmed founded the Association of Entrepreneurs Limited Company, which was also registered to run the "Fashion Design Technology Centre". The spokesman said that Ms Ahmed did not set up the centre even after the release of the money by the EDF. She also did not return the money to the EPB even after the lapse of several years. The money was released during the government of former prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/09/2005 00:00:00 ||
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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.
LAS VEGAS, March 8 (UPI) -- Police, even in Las Vegas, say it's unusual to return home and find a stranger's body in one's bathroom. 
Plans to introduce sturdy plastic beer mugs at this year's Oktoberfest have triggered outrage in Munich, with a spokesman for city breweries saying the clink of glass against glass was the essence of the world's biggest beer festival. Ludwig Hagn, operator of the Loewenbraeu tent, said earlier he had been so impressed at the plastic mugs used in the Moscow version of Oktoberfest that he would be trying out the same in Munich. They not only meant less broken glass, but were also lighter to carry for the serving staff who often heft 10 or more of the 1-litre glass steins at a time. Calling it an "absurd idea", Toni Roiderer said all the brewers had warned Hagn he would have to go it alone. "Here in Bavaria, beer is a cultural treasure. When we sit together and chink glasses, the sound is like our church bells, a symbol of harmony and good cheer," said Roiderer. "If you can't stand broken glass, then you should serve it in cartons with a straw!" he added sarcastically.
Japanese police questioned three siblings yesterday after it was discovered they had been living with the decomposed corpse of their father for nearly a decade. Police found the body of Kyujiro Kanaoka lying on a futon bed at the family's home in Itami, western Japan. Kanaoka's three children, all in their 70s or older, told police they thought their father was still alive, but that one of them had recently consulted a relative about the possibility that he might be dead, a police spokesman said. Police were investigating the cause of Kanaoka's death. Judging from the condition of his body, he may have died as long as 10 years ago, the spokesman added. Had he been alive, the man would be 107 years old. Hyogo prefecture had registered Kanaoka as its oldest living resident,
A criminal investigation was underway in France Tuesday after the disappearance of tax returns filed by prominent public figures including the daughter of President Jacques Chirac and two former prime ministers. The former finance minister Herve Gaymard, who resigned ten days ago in a row over his official residence, was also among the five whose income declarations for the year 2003 went missing from a Paris tax office some time before early February, according to justice officials. The others affected were Claude Chirac, who acts as an adviser to her father, former socialist prime ministers Laurent Fabius and Lionel Jospin, and the current European Affairs Minister in the centre-right government Claudie Haignere. After conflicting reports about the number of missing documents, Budget Minister Jean-Francois Cope said at a press conference Tuesday that from a box containing seven forms, five had been completely removed and a sixth was missing an appended sheet.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) arrested Begum Salma Ahmed, a former member of the National Assembly from Karachi, on Monday in a misappropriation case of Rs 13.30 million. An NAB spokesman said that Ms Ahmed was arrested on the basis of a complaint submitted by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) against her regarding the allocation of Rs 13.30 million by the Export Development Fund (EDF) for setting up a "Fashion Design Technology Centre". As president of the Pakistan Association of Women Entrepreneurs, Ms Ahmed founded the Association of Entrepreneurs Limited Company, which was also registered to run the "Fashion Design Technology Centre". The spokesman said that Ms Ahmed did not set up the centre even after the release of the money by the EDF. She also did not return the money to the EPB even after the lapse of several years. The money was released during the government of former prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif.
