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Putin rejects talks with child killers
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Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
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-Short Attention Span Theater-
14 Deaths Blamed on Hurricane Frances
Posted by: Mark Espinola || 09/07/2004 11:07 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Jerks blocked it. Here is the news:

VICKIE CHACHERE

Associated Press


TAMPA, Fla. - Frances wound up a two-prong assault on Florida that pounded both the central part of the state and the Panhandle, leaving storm-weary residents Tuesday with flooding, frayed nerves and shortages of everyday items such as gas, ice and water. At least 14 deaths were blamed on the storm in Florida and Georgia.

About 3 million people were without electricity in Florida, and officials said Tuesday that power wouldn't be fully restored for a week. In Georgia, more than 500,000 homes and businesses were without electricity Tuesday morning and even the Georgia Emergency Management Agency was running on generators.

The one-time hurricane had weakened to a tropical depression early Tuesday as it moved northward across Georgia at about 10 mph, weather forecasters said.

By midmorning, rain was falling across Georgia and South Carolina, and parts of North Carolina, Alabama, northern Florida, eastern Tennessee and southeastern Kentucky. Up to a foot of rain fell on parts of Georgia, the National Weather Service said.

In Tampa, police closed about a mile of a busy thoroughfare because of flooding. More than 100 residents of a retirement home were evacuated in wheelchairs as water sloshed against their feet.

"I'm not scared," said Heather Downs, who moved into the home two weeks ago after her apartment was badly damaged by Hurricane Charley. "I've been through a lot."

Pandhandle residents withstood the tropical storm's heavy rain and wind of 65 mph that ruined Labor Day weekend.

Along the Atlantic coast, motorists waited for gasoline in lines stretching for miles, and there was heavy demand for water, ice and basic supplies. About 1,500 people gathered at a Wal-Mart in Palm Beach County, while up the coast in Fort Pierce hundreds of people stood in a line with buckets and ice chests on a sunny, steamy afternoon.

"This has been a long haul," said 64-year-old Judy Duffy of Fort Pierce, who searched with her husband for ice and water but drove away from a distribution line with an empty cooler. "It's tested my patience. I'm not a nice person today - I haven't had my coffee."

At a Florida Turnpike rest stop in West Palm Beach, a five-mile line of vehicles waited for fuel. "It took a little while, but I'm glad to be here," said Greg McCourt, who waited an hour to get gas for a trip to Georgia.

Frances charged into Florida's east coast early Sunday with 115 mph wind and more than 13 inches of rain, ripping off roofs, smashing boats and flooding West Palm Beach streets up to 4 feet deep.

The hurricane did more damage to the Kennedy Space Center than any other storm in history, ripping an estimated 1,000 exterior panels off the building where spaceships are assembled. No space shuttles were inside the building, but center director James Kennedy said he feared the damage could set back NASA's effort to resume shuttle launches next spring.

Nine deaths in Florida were blamed on Frances, including Florida State University football coach Bobby Bowden's former son-in-law and a grandson in a collision on a wet highway.

In Georgia, officials said five people died in storm-related traffic accidents, including three killed in one wreck. There were two earlier deaths in the Bahamas, where Frances forced thousands from their homes.

The storm pushed across Florida to enter the Gulf of Mexico north of Tampa, its path crossing some of the area hit by Charley, which killed 27 people in Florida last month and caused an estimated $6.8 billion in damage, reduced from $7.4 billion.

Florida Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher estimated Frances' insured damage Tuesday at about $2 billion to $4 billion. The Insurance Information Institute, a trade group, also expected Frances' damage to be less than Charley's. Total damage is typically estimated at double the insured losses.

President Bush was expected to survey damage in Florida on Wednesday, and was asking Congress to approve $2 billion for "urgent needs" stemming from Charley and Frances. Congressional aides said action on his request could come as soon as late Tuesday.

Some schools were planning for classes to resume after serving as shelters during the weekend. The Federal Emergency Management Agency was ready to distribute 1.5 million gallons of water and 1 million meals.

While Frances headed out of Florida, residents kept a wary eye on another powerful storm. Ivan, the fifth hurricane of the season, had sustained wind of near 115 mph and was centered 110 miles south-southeast of Barbados. It was still about 1,670 miles away from Miami.

Forecasters were not certain whether it would strike the United States, but after a month of damage from Hurricanes Frances and Charley, many Floridians loathed another impending storm.

"We need it like we need a hole in the head," said 93-year-old Harold Samsel of Hutchinson Island, who was waiting to go back to his apartment. "I don't even know if I've got anything to go back to."

---

Associated Press writers Allen G. Breed in Fort Pierce, Jill Barton in West Palm Beach, David Royse in St. Marks, and Coralie Carlson in Miami Beach contributed to this report.
Posted by: Mark Espinola || 09/07/2004 11:09 Comments || Top||

#2  Not so bad in TLH, it passed somewhat unexpectedly to the east.
Posted by: Shipman || 09/07/2004 11:19 Comments || Top||

#3  Hurricane Ivan projected path here. Looks like another visit to Florida.
Posted by: Steve || 09/07/2004 11:34 Comments || Top||

#4  Steve, if this Ivan slams into Florida as many projections indicate, it will be the 1,2,3 devastating punch to a state in which there is a very serious flooding transpiring in many portions of what is a really huge 'swamp'.

Other then hurricane Andrew roaring through an area south of Miami, many people living in Florida, up until these last two deadly hurricanes, had not experienced the type of alarming tropical weather patterns which were common place in the 1940's, 50's and 60's. We have returned to that cycle of extremely large and plentiful hurricanes.

The Sunshine State is a 'tropical paradise' to many, as is Puerto Rico, the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas, etc, then reality comes swiftly forth and without the A/C functioning, nor gas at the gas station it's not post card perfect, but reverts to it's original stiflingly hot, humid, insect infested swamp, it really is.

A trip to Florida is nice in the middle of a cold, harsh N.Y.-N.E. winter.... and then return go home.
Posted by: Mark Espinola || 09/07/2004 16:20 Comments || Top||

#5  I agree with Mark. Go home.
Posted by: Shipman || 09/07/2004 18:13 Comments || Top||


Bears Could Delay Start of School Year
Some 30 brown bears have been terrorizing a Transylvanian mountain village and could delay the start of the school year, local authorities said Thursday.
That's unusual, normally they only have problems with vampires.
Villagers are afraid to let their children go outside, with the bold bears are making off with domestic animals in broad daylight, mayor Nicolae Codreanu told state radio from Poiana Marului, 106 miles north of Bucharest.
"Fluffy, he ate Fluffy!"
Animal experts were seeking a solution before the start of the school year on September 15.
I"ll go first; Bears, why do they hate us?
Posted by: Steve || 09/07/2004 8:58:28 AM || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Cows With Guns (thanks to Mucky)
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/07/2004 9:35 Comments || Top||

#2  I saw the headline and I thought, "My God, just how good is the Chicago's defense this year?" ;oD
Posted by: badanov || 09/07/2004 9:41 Comments || Top||

#3  Damned werebears.
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 09/07/2004 9:44 Comments || Top||

#4  Bears: why do they love the way we taste?
Posted by: BH || 09/07/2004 10:29 Comments || Top||

#5  Because we're crunchy and especially tasty with ketchup.
Posted by: Sgt. Mom || 09/07/2004 10:59 Comments || Top||

#6  Islamic Bears?
Posted by: BigEd || 09/07/2004 11:15 Comments || Top||

#7  Bears, in general, are an "umbrella species" and are a kind of barometer for the health of an entire ecosystem.

Pardon my rolled eyes. Every damned critter from bears to fairy shrimp are supposed to be "barometers for the health of an entire ecosystem".
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 09/07/2004 11:18 Comments || Top||

#8  "Nobody but idiots and fools shit in their own ponds."

Fish and their aquatic pals crap in the water all the time.

Bears are attracted to any food source. A nice berry crop, the annual salmon run, the local dump, it's all the same to them. They come from miles around. Doesn't necessarily mean their habitat is getting sqeezed. More likely, they are just getting used to being around people.
Posted by: SteveS || 09/07/2004 11:49 Comments || Top||

#9  gee, how nice and condescending of you ex-lib!
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2004 12:54 Comments || Top||

#10  Pardon me for making a comment on how every damned creature that someone wants to shelter becomes a "barometer species". Especially when that creature is either annoying/dangerous or utterly inconsequential (fairy shrimp, for example). It's a political term, as far as I can tell, or has become one.

BTW, aquatic/sea environments have different ecosystems than do land-based ecosystems that support large mammals/predators.

And this addresses, what, exactly? I mean, would you care to point out where I said otherwise? Or is this just something you spewed to try to make yourself look more educated?
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 09/07/2004 13:20 Comments || Top||

#11  Had a damn Poodle that was an umbrella species. Good dawg, just hated the mist.

Posted by: Shipman || 09/07/2004 14:01 Comments || Top||

#12  "Poodles in the Mist"
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 09/07/2004 14:05 Comments || Top||

#13  Poodle with a Mowhawk!

"They'll never call him Fifi again!"
Posted by: mojo || 09/07/2004 14:29 Comments || Top||

#14  Poodles - a fetishist's dream...
Posted by: .com || 09/07/2004 14:37 Comments || Top||

#15  Da Bears!
Posted by: Chris W. || 09/07/2004 15:41 Comments || Top||

#16  After reading SteveS, Frank G., and Robert Crawfords posts, I was going to apologize for possibly coming across as a grumpy bear earlier, but I've changed my mind.

My roots regarding environmental issues go back to childhood--first and foremost growing up in Colorado instilled in me an appreciation for the beauty and necessity of wild lands and natural places--and to my teen years when I did a fair amount of climbing and backpacking with the Colorado Mountain Club. Also, my stepfather--a renowned wildlife biologist--was instrumental in saving the American Bald Eagle from extinction--by convincing the government to ban the use of a very harmful pesticide, DDT. I appreciate what he did and I hope everyone else here does too. (I mean, think about it--wouldn't it be weird if our national symbol was extinct except, perhaps, for some few and far between specimens in zoos? What a disgrace and proof of lack of good stewardship of the environment that would've been--and we would have been a laughing stock to the rest of the world: "Americans can't even take care of their own national symbol!")

Next, the issue of the ENVIRONMENT should never be allowed to be in the domain of the LLL's. They'll just mess it up like they do everything else. (Example: calling every species under the sun "umbrella species" or "barometer species" is bogus and misleading, despite the interconnectedness of species within ecosystems. Such misinformation causes others to turn away from a legitimate and pertinent scientific issues regarding wildlife management and conservation.)

Thirdly, the political fact is that, for more than 30 years, environmental concerns have been shown to be the ONE strongest area of common concern across party lines in the United States. It's a sleeper issue, but because so many people (rightly) care about clean water and air, and the preservation of natural spaces/species, it's an issue that shouldn't be ignored. The candidate who seems to threaten the environment will lose credibility with all voters.

The winning ticket for the Republican party should be:

adherence to the Constitution
strong national defense
lower taxes
education / legitimate education reform
environmental protection
family-strengthening legislation

By allowing the looney Dems to take environmental issues into their turf, the Republicans weaken their own platform. Rather, they should continue in the tradition of that great Republican conservationist, Teddy Rosevelt (link) :

" . . . Theodore Roosevelt, not quite 43, became the youngest President in the Nation's history. He brought new excitement and power to the Presidency, as he vigorously led Congress and the American public toward progressive reforms and a strong foreign policy. . . . He took the view that the President as a "steward of the people" should take whatever action necessary for the public good unless expressly forbidden by law or the Constitution." . . . Some of Theodore Roosevelt's most effective achievements were in conservation. He added enormously to the national forests in the West, reserved lands for public use, and fostered great irrigation projects. "

So, that's that.

On to the personals:

Frank G #12: I was only returning the "nice and condescending" phony and flip "rebuff" I got from SteveS in #10, for absolutely no cause whatsoever, and was giving him something to think about. Reread my #6, then his. I found his comparison to my common metaphor ridiculous and misleading, and his attitude unpleasant and uncalled for--aside from showing his ignorance regarding European Brown Bears in particular, and the problems which surround the destruction of the very environment one depends on.

From Robert Crawford #13 post: "BTW, aquatic/sea environments have different ecosystems than do land-based ecosystems that support large mammals/predators. And this addresses, what, exactly? I mean, would you care to point out where I said otherwise? Or is this just something you spewed to try to make yourself look more educated?"

Something I spewed? My point about bears being "barometers" of the ecosystem is ACCURATE, for a number of reasons, which you are free to educate yourself about--but the fact that you apparently don't know anything about wildlife biology as it pertains to either bears or fairy shrimp, and are actually making uneducated comments toward me and then insulting me by insinuating that I'm "spewing" to "make myself look more educated" was incredibly insulting. My (obvious) point in saying that"BTW, aquatic/sea environments have different ecosystems than do land-based ecosystems that support large mammals/predators.was in response to your comparison of bears to fairy shrimp--as a strategy to discount the fact that bears actually are "barometer species," which was the point I was making. I found that comparison of yours to be useless "spew." That's why I was trying to point out to you that aquatic ecosystems are different, and that you can't cross-compare or equate bears with fairy shrimp in that specific ecological context as you were doing in your post, with your "rolled eyes."

Regarding fairy shrimp: this link and this link are good starters for those who do want to become educated. Fairy shrimp have an ability to survive extreme environmental changes, which is one reason they are important to study.

About the bears in Transylvania: it's likely they will kill the bears and line up the carcasses--teaching another generation the "splendors" of "appropriate wildlife mangement" and the importance of "protecting" vanishing species.For all those who still want to disagree with me for what I can only suppose are emotional reasons, here you go:

"Yee-haw! They've killed the bears."

There. Even if they don't kill the bears, those who don't care about this "environmental stuff" can now feel "better." Yes, you're welcome.

America leads the world in environmental protection. Unfortunately, Republican representatives, in general, have the worst track record on the environment, and typically respond to business interests far too often--to the detriment of all Americans. Let's change that.


Posted by: ex-lib || 09/07/2004 18:43 Comments || Top||

#17  Boy, I'll bet your finger is really tired.
Posted by: .com || 09/07/2004 20:04 Comments || Top||

#18  Ex-lib: Unfortunately, Republican representatives, in general, have the worst track record on the environment, and typically respond to business interests far too often--to the detriment of all Americans. Let's change that.

Ironic, considering the new federal funding and protection measures Bush has enacted. More Ironic is the fact that Teddy Roosevelt, a "Neo-conservative", was a voacl enviromentalist and Republican. You can read a timeline about him here
Posted by: Charles || 09/07/2004 20:47 Comments || Top||

#19  Right, Charles, as I said, Teddy Roosevelt was a great conservationist and a Republican--an example to all Republican statesmen. Next: George Bush's commitment to the environment is really blowing people's minds on the left--and only the more decent ones give him any credit at all (twerps). However most Republican reps vote against environmental legislation. I think they oughta get on board and follow the President's lead.
Posted by: ex-lib || 09/07/2004 23:20 Comments || Top||


Britain
Five relatives arrested over UK honour killing
Police investigating the murder of Warrington teenager Shafilea Ahmed have arrested five of her relatives. The men and women of various ages were arrested in Bradford, West Yorkshire, on Tuesday morning on suspicion of perverting the course of justice. The 17-year-old's body was found in the Lake District in February. Detectives believe she may have been the victim of a so-called "honour killing" after she refused an arranged marriage. Her parents, Iftikhar and Farzana Ahmed, were arrested in December on suspicion of kidnap before being eliminated from inquiries in June.
...and were threatening to sue the police for wrongful arrest. I had a spat with Gentle over this case as I had the pleasure of assisting the police with their investigation. Gentle has been quiet post-Beslan hasn't he/she...
Posted by: Howard UK || 09/07/2004 5:31:59 AM || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ahh...the RoP, those animals are consistant in their brutality, conceit and bigotry. Never have to figure out where they're coming from - straight from the 7th century.
Posted by: JerseyMike || 09/07/2004 7:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Solution: incarceration for the perpetrators and deportation for all others who closely match the DNA profile of the perpetrators. Collective guilt is the essence of an "honor killing."
Posted by: Super Hose || 09/07/2004 7:43 Comments || Top||

#3  Poor Gentle, she ventured out into the internet to practice her English and enlighten the ignorant. Instead she found Rantburg and the real world. Truly a rude and painful awakening1
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/07/2004 14:58 Comments || Top||

#4  Reinstitution of the death penalty might help in the UK.

Also,
There might be a use for a publicized "safe house" for cases like this. Because of the orwellian gun laws of Britain, it would have to be guarded by cops or military. Any attempt to get to the subject of the "honor killing" could be diffucult. Probably dying in an attempt to retrieve a troublesome baby sister probably does not qualify for a virgin stipend.
Posted by: BigEd || 09/07/2004 15:00 Comments || Top||

#5  And practioners of the allan-worship cult want us to believe that the lunacy in islam is not widespread.
Posted by: anymouse || 09/07/2004 17:43 Comments || Top||


Britons sniff at French wines
Mon dieu! No more weasel juice for dear old Blighty...
The British are losing their taste for French wines, turning instead toward New World offerings from Australia, South Africa or California, according to a marketing survey cited Friday by the Independent. Indeed, not a single French wine ranked among the ten best-selling labels in Britain in the first part of this year. Just 15 years ago, all ten wines on the list were from France and other countries in continental Europe. Australia unseated France in 2002 as the single largest source of imported wine to Britain.
Posted by: Seafarious || 09/07/2004 10:54:29 PM || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  There was no love lost between Britain and France long, long before they stabbed Bush and Blair in the back over Iraq in the UN.
But, having lived there twice, I know that the Brits know their wine (even better than the French know their own stuff, where I've also spent some time).
If the British are choosing ABF=Anything but French, we should follow their lead.
Posted by: GreatestJeneration || 09/07/2004 1:54 Comments || Top||

#2  I always thought the French spelled it "whine"
Posted by: Anonymous6339 || 09/07/2004 3:09 Comments || Top||

#3  A very small portion of French wine is worth buying. Most real wine drinkers know that.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 09/07/2004 3:53 Comments || Top||

#4  my impression has always been that low end French wines were way over priced, middle range ($12US to $30) were slightly overpriced but bargains could be found, and that France was really only still dominant in the high end. Sounds like France is losing market share in the UK in the middle range, where theyd long since lost share in the US.

Note also, I think this is about wine and economics, not politics. RSA is NOT part of the coalition of the willing, but their wine industry is definitely on the upswing (of course I doubt many of the West Cape grape farmers are ANC voters :) )
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 09/07/2004 11:20 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
China's Three Gorges on Alert After Floods Kill 76

Sep 6, 9:44 PM (ET)
China has put the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydro-electric project, on flood alert, Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday after rain and mudslides killed 76 in areas to the west. Water levels at hydrological stations were above "warning levels" and rising and navigation on the giant reservoir above the dam had been halted for the first ever, it said. Southwestern Chongqing municipality and central Hubei province, on the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River, had put all departments on flood alert, increased patrols along dams of the river and reinforced reservoirs.

Engineers blocked the Yangtze at the Three Gorges Dam in June last year, filling the reservoir for a $25 billion project that is a point of national pride in a country desperate for power but which critics fear will become an environmental nightmare. Hundreds of thousands of people have been relocated from the area around the reservoir, which has swallowed villages, cities, factories and hospitals as well as some archaeological treasures. The dam is in Hubei province, to the east of Sichuan province and Chongqing. It was the first time since the reservoir opened to tourist and cargo traffic last July that it has been closed.

The central government has allocated 40 million yuan ($4.82 million) for emergency funds to flood-stricken areas in Sichuan and Chongqing after the most destructive rain storm this year. According to the latest figures released by local flood control offices, the death toll from floods in Sichuan and Chongqing is at least 76 with 27 missing. More than 130,000 people had been evacuated from their homes. The storm hit northeastern parts of Sichuan and Chongqing on Thursday and rain is predicted to continue through Tuesday.
Good - the secret weather ray is working fine. You can turn it off, now. Save it for that other rainy day, heh.
Posted by: .com || 09/07/2004 2:19:17 AM || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Shuckey darn! You mean those cracks in the dam face will do what Taiwan has been planning on anyway?!?

"China says that 80 cracks have appeared in the Three Gorges dam, only days after the huge reservoir behind it was filled for the first time ... "If water enters these cracks, there could be negative effects, so we are fixing them very carefully," Pan Jiazhong, head of the dam's inspection group, said yesterday."
Posted by: Zenster || 09/07/2004 2:38 Comments || Top||

#2  I pray to God that the Chinese are better engineers than I think they are. If the dam goes, the SARs cover-up will look like a misdemeanor in comparison.
Posted by: Super Hose || 09/07/2004 3:16 Comments || Top||

#3  The dam is typical Commie crap--it's the "biggest" and the shittiest.
Hope the poor slobs downriver from it know how to swim.
Posted by: GreatestJeneration || 09/07/2004 3:32 Comments || Top||

#4  SH: I pray to God that the Chinese are better engineers than I think they are.

I don't think the problem is the quality of the engineers. It's the quality of the construction. Most of these Chinese billionaires you hear about made their money from government contracts. And the primary method for making that much money from government contracts is to cut corners and to make things below specs - using shoddy (and cheaper) construction materials and methods to save money, which directly lines the contractors' pockets.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 09/07/2004 9:59 Comments || Top||

#5  Hey, what's a little fly-ash between friends 'eh?
Posted by: Shipman || 09/07/2004 10:20 Comments || Top||

#6  Cracks in the face already? Just how many millions of people will get washed away when this sucker lets loose? Take the Johnstown PA dam disaster and multiply by say 1,000 or 10,000.
Posted by: Craig || 09/07/2004 11:36 Comments || Top||

#7  Hey, what's a little fly-ash between friends 'eh?

heh heh - good memory, Ship. Alaska Paul and I have been going back and forth on when, not if, this piece of shit will bust. The flyash content was many times higher than we permit in structural concrete, but did keep the costs down....typical commie crap©
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2004 11:51 Comments || Top||

#8  Yeah... Frank, I remembered reading that bit about the fly ash.... but didn't even the Soviet Union over-engineer dams and bridges? Just to cover this sort of endemic sponging at the margins?
Posted by: Shipman || 09/07/2004 18:25 Comments || Top||

#9  Here is the website of Three gorges Dam probe. I get a newsletter from them once a week. It is definitely the ultimate Communist Megaproject. Lots of issues raised, and many people have been severely impacted by the construction of the dam, and critics have not fared so well, either.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 09/07/2004 22:07 Comments || Top||


Europe
Iran anger at Belgian royal godfather
Cue teething seething...
Iran has reacted angrily to the Belgian royal family's decision to choose the son of the country's former Shah to be the godfather of one of its youngest members.
Snicker.
Reza Pahlavi, eldest son of the ousted Shah of Iran, will be godfather to Princess Louise, born earlier this year to Belgium's Prince Laurent and his wife Princess Claire.
A new Princess! Mazel tov, Belgium!
Tehran conceded through clenched teeth that the decision to appoint godparents was a decision for the royal couple alone. But foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters on Sunday that his government found it, "surprising that the Belgians of all people have chosen an incompetent person for this job."
Job? Being a godparent?
Pahlavi, who lives in New York, is an outspoken critic of the current Islamic fundamentalist regime in Iran, which was founded in 1979 after the pro-western Shah was forced to flee the country.
Belgians making me proud today. It's hard to give an Ayatollah a wedgie.
Posted by: Seafarious || 09/07/2004 11:25:28 PM || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  LOL! What a treasure, sigh. Is there nothing beneath their propensity, their dire need, for seething?

The Mad Mullahs have earned their moniker, lol!
Posted by: .com || 09/07/2004 0:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Omar, order up a few thousand more of dem dare su-e-side bombers for de Belgain infidels.
Posted by: Anonymous6339 || 09/07/2004 3:12 Comments || Top||

#3  Isn't godparent a Christian thing? That alone should be grounds for condemnation.
Posted by: gromky || 09/07/2004 4:54 Comments || Top||

#4  Isn't godparent a Christian thing? That alone should be grounds for condemnation.

Jews have something analogous thats translated as G-dparent. We also have princesses ;)
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 09/07/2004 11:14 Comments || Top||


Buy a WWII British bomber, get German lake for free
Plane sold "as is."
A lake near the former Nazi V2 rocket facility with a crashed British World War II Lancaster bomber resting at its bottom has been put up for sale by the German government, an auction house announced. The 43 hectare lake at the Third Reich's Peenemuende rocket plant on the Baltic Sea island of Usedom will be auctioned off on 23 September. Peenemuende was where the Nazi scientists developed the V1 and later the V2 rockets which were fired at targets in Britain and Belgium at the end of the war. The "V" in the rocket's name stood for "Vergeltungswaffe" or vengeance weapon.
I never even thought to ask about the "V" in V2. Huh. Learn something every day.
The Peenemuende facility was destroyed by British bombing raids in 1943 and it is assumed the Lancaster at the bottom of Koelpinsee lake was shot down during those raids. According to the auction house, Norddeutsche Grundstuecksauktionen AG, the bomber is classified as a historically protected site and removing it from the lake would probably not be allowed. The starting price is EUR 29,000. More information on the sale is available at the websites: www.ndga.de and www.ostsee-auktionen.de.
Posted by: Seafarious || 09/07/2004 11:17:32 PM || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ...the bomber is classified as a historically protected site and removing it from the lake would probably not be allowed.

It's probably just as well; it would be hard to restore to flight status, it's obsolete, and it would require further modification to handle JDAM's.
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 09/07/2004 0:22 Comments || Top||

#2  Yeah, you'd want something a little more modern.
Posted by: Shipman || 09/07/2004 6:26 Comments || Top||

#3  Mmmmmmmmm...Victors.
Ship, the B-52 is the Other Woman in my life and has been since 1978 - but for sheer grace and poetry of line, nothing has ever beaten the last and greatest product of the Handley-Page bomber works. Little known but true fact - every one of those beautiful curves was done with a slide rule and mechanical calculator - no computers as they didn't exist for that purpose yet.
Now - re the Lanc - several bombers have been salavged from lakes and rivers throughout Europe, most notably in the Netherlands. Not entirely sure why this one is specially protected, unless of course its a war grave in which case it stays right where its at.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 09/07/2004 10:28 Comments || Top||

#4  Not just curves.... compound curves that us barely passers of Geometry II can truly appreciate.

Or, they damn sure built 'em pretty.
Posted by: Shipman || 09/07/2004 18:29 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Bush Will Bury Kerry
We're still a long ways to November. I'm not putting on my dancing shoes just yet.

The Democrat will be lucky to exceed Michael Dukakis's share of the popular vote.
BY BRENDAN MINITER
For nearly four years now, we've been told this is a 50-50 nation, that red and blue America are so evenly divided that even a small misstep could swing this presidential election either way. The media may have their own reasons for sticking to the story line--drama is good for ratings, after all--but there's mounting evidence that the electorate is not nearly as evenly divided as it was in 2000; that come Nov. 2, newscasters are going to be putting a lot more red than blue on their electoral maps. I will make a prediction here: Mr. Kerry will be lucky to top the 45.7% of the popular vote Michael Dukakis got in 1988.

Perhaps my prediction is buoyed by the euphoric Republicans who flooded this city last week. Indeed, from the convention floor to lavish after-parties, the Republicans I met carried with them the presumption that of course there will be a second Bush administration--although I must point out that in floating my theory, I couldn't find anyone who agreed with the spread, and that one reason for the confidence among conventioneers is the feeling that there has to be a second term. That if the party loses this election, the nation will lose the war on terror. That sense of urgency is only heightened by the fact that Mr. Kerry will have a few more opportunities to turn things around on Mr. Bush--at the debates, for example. And there's always a chance that bad news out of Iraq or a terrorist attack in America could knock the legs out from under the president's campaign. But of course, it is this sense of urgency that is helping put the Republicans over the top.

The media may finally be catching up to the idea that the nation may have turned decidedly in Mr. Bush's favor. Coming out of the convention Time and Newsweek conducted separate polls, each of which found that the president had opened up an 11-point lead over Mr. Kerry. These surveys seem to have oversampled Republicans, but a new Gallup Poll puts Mr. Bush up by a still impressive seven points, 52% to 45%.
Even as convention euphoria fades, there are plenty of reasons to disbelieve the "50-50 nation" story line:
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mark Espinola || 09/07/2004 3:54:49 PM || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Please repeat after me: It ain't over 'til it's over. It ain't over 'til it's over. It ain't over 'til it's over. It ain't over 'til it's over....
Posted by: Jonathan || 09/07/2004 16:19 Comments || Top||

#2  AMEN! It aint over until we vote, then the Dims get their recount, and finally they concede (grudgingly).
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 09/07/2004 18:27 Comments || Top||

#3  Just win baby.
Posted by: Deion Shipman || 09/07/2004 18:32 Comments || Top||

#4  Cyber Sarge,

Old Democrats don't concede,they just froth away.(Apologies to Gen.MacArthur.)

Posted by: Stephen || 09/07/2004 19:31 Comments || Top||

#5  No "Bury" verbiage please - that sounds like Khruzchev. And we know what happened to him.

We need to dig in and work our butts off.

Volunteer at your local precinct, join the team at georrgewbush.com

And right NOW - immediately - dontate to the crucail senate campaigns: Republicans in N. Carolina, Florida. Colorado. California need your donations.

Do you trust Barbara Boxer (California) to be making policy to keep us from threats like what happened in Beslan?

Do you trust Ken Salazar (Colorado), who lost money on a Dairy Queen (!) to run the defense of the nation?

Do you trust Clintonite Eskine Bowles (N Caroina) to have his hands in the spending and mechanics of our defense department and Dept Of Homeland Security?

If you don't trust these people, then give money NOW to their Republican opponents - they need the money NOW to line up their ads - $25 each is enough, get your firends and others to donate online with a your credit card. For just $100 you can support these candidates.

Giving up a good steak dinner and contributing to the future of the nation instead is a good tradeoff in my opinion.
Posted by: OldSpook || 09/07/2004 22:19 Comments || Top||

#6  Help Nader. Spread the word among the lefties that Kerry is Bush Lite.

Nader's now on the ballot in Michigan and (I believe) Ohio and FL as well. It only takes a few thousand crunchy-lefty Nader votes in Ann Arbor, Columbus, Cleveland and Miami-Ft.L to put Bush over the top in all three states.
Posted by: lex || 09/08/2004 10:13 Comments || Top||


Even NYT is Catching on to Senator Flip-flop
Hat tip to Instapundit...
Mutually Assured Deconstruction
Mr. Kerry stepped boldly into the verbal minefield early, arriving at a front-porch session with supporters in Canonsburg, Pa., near Pittsburgh. As he likes to do, he brandished a bit of local color to show he wasn't just any interloping politician blowing through town. But in so doing he seemed to forget that Republicans have been tearing him down for months as a vacillating, indecisive, finger-in-the-wind politician of the worst order. "Everybody told me, 'God, if you're coming to Canonsburg, you've got to find time to go to Toy's, and he'll take care of you,'" Mr. Kerry said, dropping the name of a restaurant his motorcade had passed on the way in. "I understand it's my kind of place, because you don't have to - you know, when they give you the menu, I'm always struggling: Ah, what do you want?

"He just gives you what he's got, right?" Mr. Kerry added, continuing steadily off a gangplank of his own making: "And you don't have to worry, it's whatever he's cooked up that day. And I think that's the way it ought to work, for confused people like me who can't make up our minds."

Mr. Kerry's lapse, however, was matched by Mr. Bush's seemingly severed synapse of Monday night. At a rally in Poplar Bluff, Mo., he was breezing through his domestic agenda when he came to a favorite: what he calls medical liability reform. "We got an issue in America," he began, in a folksy diction aimed at his small-town crowd. "Too many good docs are getting out of the business." Mr. Bush then turned to another point he has been making lately to appeal to women - that among those doctors being driven from the business are many obstetricians and gynecologists. But Mr. Bush seemed to get derailed on the way to his point. "Too many good OB/GYN's aren't able to practice their" - he paused a split second, as if searching for a word, then continued - "their love, with women all across this country," he said. Women all across the country might actually be relieved by such a shortage.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 09/07/2004 3:38:39 PM || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Thanks for the fix.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 09/07/2004 16:14 Comments || Top||

#2  By the way, how's that great local sports team of yours doing? That's just great! And their big star, whathisname? Marvelous, marvelous! See, I'm not one of them phony bastards! I really care! So where do you do your windsurfing around here?
As for Bush, I think he's channelling Barry White...
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/07/2004 16:22 Comments || Top||

#3  Vidclip of event.

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/Nomad667/obgyn.wmv
Posted by: Anonymous4021 || 09/07/2004 16:45 Comments || Top||

#4  "Too many good OB/GYN’s aren’t able to practice their" - he paused a split second, as if searching for a word, then continued - "their love, with women all across this country," he said. Women all across the country might actually be relieved by such a shortage.

Hell, I'm voting for him 4 times this time.
Posted by: Deion Shipman || 09/07/2004 18:35 Comments || Top||


Dean slams GOP at San Diego rally (descends into Schizophrenia?)
By Daniel J. Chacón
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
September 7, 2004


NANCEE E. LEWIS / Union-Tribune
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean held up a pen, attempting to find its owner, at the Labor Day rally held yesterday by Democrats at Mount Acadia Park in Clairemont. The onetime candidate for president was mobbed by autograph seekers near the end of the benefit for local candidates.

Former presidential candidate Howard Dean energized a crowd of supporters yesterday when he stopped in San Diego to campaign for a slew of Democrats while taking shots at prominent Republicans.

. . . . .

Dean, who showed up at the rally about an hour late because of a flight delay, used his platform to slam Republicans. He said Vice President Dick Cheney "needs a brain transplant" and that Georgia Sen. Zell Miller, a Democrat who blasted presidential nominee John Kerry at the Republican National Convention, may be in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease.

Aaaaaah Howie! Now we know what we missed if you had gotten the nomination. . .

Posted by: BigEd || 09/07/2004 3:16:29 PM || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Is Howie off the medication again?
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/07/2004 15:38 Comments || Top||

#2  We really missed out..
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2004 15:41 Comments || Top||

#3  Howard Dean, with Alzheimers:

"We're going to California and Texas and New York! And we're going to South Dakota and Oregon and Washington and Michigan! And we're going to California and New York! And Oregon! And we're going to Michigan and Texas and South Dakota!"

"Um, Howard? You already said South Dakota."

"YEARGH!!"
Posted by: BH || 09/07/2004 15:52 Comments || Top||

#4  Can't believe this loon would even *think* about coming to Texas!
(Heard Mikey Moore's crew practically got tarred and feathered when they tried to show F911 down at Crawford! LOL)
Posted by: GreatestJeneration || 09/07/2004 16:03 Comments || Top||

#5  Mount Acadia Park in Clairemont

I've lived in San Diego all my life and I don't know where Mt. Acadia park is...must've been a huge crowd, huh? I know Clairemont, but...
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2004 16:26 Comments || Top||

#6  LOL BH now that was funny.... yet nuanced.
Posted by: Deion Shipman || 09/07/2004 18:36 Comments || Top||


LLLs get a Clue on Electoral Impact of Abortion
Political Victory: From Here to Maternity

Over the past decade, fertility rates among all major American ethnic groups have either remained low or fallen dramatically. Between 1990 and 2002 fertility declined 14 percent among Mexican Americans and 24 percent among Puerto Ricans. African Americans, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, now have a lower average fertility rate than whites, and they are no longer producing enough children to replace their population. But one big difference in fertility rates remains: Conservative, religiously minded Americans are putting far more of their genes into the future than their liberal, secular counterparts.

In Utah, for example, where 69 percent of all residents are registered members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, fertility rates are the highest in the nation. Utah annually produces 90 children for every 1,000 women of child-bearing age. By comparison, Vermont -- the only state to send a socialist to Congress and the first to embrace gay unions -- produces only 49.

Fertility correlates strongly with religious conviction. In the United States, fully 47 percent of people who attend church weekly say that their ideal family size is three or more children. By contrast, only 27 percent of those who seldom attend church want that many kids.

High fertility also correlates strongly with support for George W. Bush. Of the top 10 most fertile states, all but one voted for Bush in 2000. Among the 17 states that still produce enough children to replace their populations, all but two -- Iowa and Minnesota -- voted for Bush in the last election. Conversely, the least fertile states -- a list that includes Maine, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Connecticut -- went overwhelmingly for Al Gore. Women living in Gore states on average have 12 percent fewer babies than women living in Bush states.

In most coastal cities and states, maternity wards have more and more empty cradles. Between 1990 and 2002, for example, the number of babies born in Los Angeles County dropped by 30 percent, while there was a 14 percent decline in infants in California as a whole. In the mid-Atlantic region and New England, the decline in the number of newborns ranged from 13 percent in Massachusetts to 37 percent in the District of Columbia. But there are 14 states, led by Nevada, Colorado and Idaho, in which the number of births increased substantially over this period. Of these 14 states, all but one voted for Bush in 2000.

In states where Bush won a popular majority in 2000, the average woman bears 2.11 children in her lifetime -- which is enough to replace the population. In states where Gore won a majority of votes in 2000, the average woman bears 1.89 children, which is not enough to avoid population decline. Indeed, if the Gore states seceded from the Bush states and formed a new nation, it would have the same fertility rate, and the same rapidly aging population, as France -- that bastion of "old Europe."

If Gore's America (and presumably John Kerry's) is reproducing at a slower pace than Bush's America, what does this imply for the future? Well, as the comedian Dick Cavett remarked, "If your parents never had children, chances are you won't either." When secular-minded Americans decide to have few if any children, they unwittingly give a strong evolutionary advantage to the other side of the culture divide. Sure, some children who grow up in fundamentalist families will become secularists, and vice versa. But most people, particularly if they have children, wind up with pretty much the same religious and political orientations as their parents. If "Metros" don't start having more children, America's future is "Retro."



The writer, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation, is the author of "The Empty Cradle: How Falling Birthrates Threaten World Prosperity and What to Do About It."
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 09/07/2004 1:48:55 PM || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Taranto calls this the "Roe Effect".
Posted by: BH || 09/07/2004 14:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Reason 54,382 why Bush must win.
Posted by: badanov || 09/07/2004 15:00 Comments || Top||

#3  Actually, if Bush manages to nominate justices who overturn Roe this will be bad for Republicans down the road. I say let them keep abo0rting future Democrats but don't let abortionists be allowed to practice medicine or be called Dr.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 09/07/2004 15:06 Comments || Top||

#4  But partial birth abortion's gotta go!
Posted by: GreatestJeneration || 09/07/2004 17:26 Comments || Top||

#5  No ten foot pole here.
Nope.
Talk to you later.
Posted by: Deion Shipman || 09/07/2004 18:38 Comments || Top||

#6  Nice points in this article.

Jen: I totally agree--but you might be interested that the procedure, per se, can also be done (and was done fo years, prior to the "advent" of "partial birth abortion) inside the birth canal. The reason abortionists liked "partial birth abortion" so much better, was that they could actually see what they were doing, and because they were not as likely to be sued after their "botched" abortions.
Posted by: ex-lib || 09/07/2004 18:56 Comments || Top||

#7  No Abortions, unless the physical life of the mother is directly and severely under threat from the pregnancy (ectopian preganacy for instance).

Any other position is simply an excuse to murder the fetus for the convenience of the mother or of society.
Posted by: OldSpook || 09/07/2004 21:46 Comments || Top||

#8  Agree, OldSpook. On the other side of the coin, many women are abandoned and ostracized for unplanned pregnancies. The community should step in with support if she is deserted by family and friends.
Posted by: ex-lib || 09/07/2004 23:28 Comments || Top||


More d/l anti-Kerry 527 Political Ads
The 527 organization is called "Move On For America", and the movies are in quicktime format.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 09/07/2004 11:26:18 AM || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Kerry Denies Campaign Shake-Up
By Charles Hurt
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

CANONSBURG, Pa. — Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry's campaign spokesmen yesterday denied that there's a "shake-up" of the campaign, despite the infusion of new Democratic blood into the staff and an overhaul of the candidate's stump speech.

After a 90 minute call from Bill Clinton from his hospital bed, Begala, Carville, and Lockhart descended on the campaign like a swarm of killer bees.

Under new directions from former President Bill Clinton — the only Democrat to win the White House in a quarter of a century — Mr. Kerry is shedding talk of his own Vietnam War record. He spent Labor Day blaming President Bush for current economic conditions, which he invokes the Great Depression to describe.

"No more reference to Vietnam!"?????????
In West Virginia Monday. the Mafia-reject head of the coal miners union decried the "draft-dodging" Bush and Cheney. Someone didn't get a copy of the new talking points. Someone needs to be taken to the wood shed!


"The problem is very clear, isn't it?" Mr. Kerry said. "Wages going down, cost of living going up, jobs that replace them pay less, standard of living goes down. John Edwards and I believe we can raise the standard of living in America again."

Increase the wages of ambulance chasing lawyers like Edwards. Lawsuits without end!

Despite the signs that Mr. Kerry is revamping his campaign team as Mr. Bush reaches a double-digit lead over him in the polls, the campaign adamantly says it isn't so.
"There is no shake-up," spokesman David Wade said. "In the last 60 days of the election, we've been lucky enough to add some tested, talented people to the campaign."

"Time" and "Newsweek" magazines are no longer our friends.
Posted by: BigEd || 09/07/2004 12:38:16 PM || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He spent Labor Day blaming President Bush for current economic conditions, which he invokes the Great Depression to describe.

Unemployment during the Great Depression: 24.9%

Current rate: 5.4%

The Great Depression saw 30% deflation between 1929 and 1933.

Current inflation, according to the "core personal consumption expenditure index": 1.5%
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 09/07/2004 13:03 Comments || Top||

#2  I was in Cambodia during the worst of the great depression! I know the dust of the Okies heading west in their Subarus! I had a tard friend on my Swift boat who killed his mouse! Tar Paper Shacks! Tar Baby War! It's all the same! But through it all I kept the faith of our fathers in that little red bottle of love. Approved by the Pennsylvnia Dept. of Agricultrue.
Posted by: J Fn Kerry || 09/07/2004 14:07 Comments || Top||

#3  He's taking advice from the Clintons?

Schmuck.
Posted by: mojo || 09/07/2004 14:27 Comments || Top||

#4  He's taking advice from the Clintons?

No, he's taking advice from the former Iraqi Information Minister.
Posted by: A Jackson || 09/07/2004 18:48 Comments || Top||

#5  Why have the Democrats campaigned like it's 1999?They are running a great campaign-if it was the 2000 election!Wrong campaign,wrong nominee,wrong election.
Posted by: Stephen || 09/07/2004 19:39 Comments || Top||


Vietnam Veterans To Rally Against Kerry
John Kerry told the world we were war-criminals who raped, tortured and murdered in Vietnam. Now, thirty-three years later, we will tell America the truth. Join us at the rally we call:
KERRY LIED . . . while good men died
A gathering of Vietnam veterans from across America
Where: Upper Senate Park, Washington, D.C. It is easy to get to, shady and pretty, with a great view of the Capitol dome in back of the speaker's platform. THIS IS A NEW LOCATION AS OF 7/17/04

When: Sunday, Sept 12, 2004 2:00-4:00 PM (EDT)

Why: To tell the truth about Vietnam veterans.
To counter the lies told about Vietnam veterans by John Kerry

All Vietnam veterans and their families and supporters are asked to attend. Other veterans are invited as honored guests. This will be a peaceful event--no shouting or contact with others with different opinions. We fought for their rights then, and we respect their rights now. This is NOT a Republican or a pro-Bush rally. Democrats, Republicans and independents alike are warmly invited. Our gathering is to remember those with whom we served, thereby giving the lie to John Kerry's smear against a generation of fine young men.

B.G. "Jug" Burkett, author of "Stolen Valor," will be one of our speakers. Jug has debunked countless impostors who falsely claimed to be Vietnam veterans or who falsely claimed awards for heroism. Jug recommends that we refrain from dragging fatigues out of mothballs. Dress like America, like you do every day. Dress code: business casual, nice slacks, and shirt and shoes. No uniform remnants, please. Unit hats OK.

Selected members will wear badges identifying them as authorized to speak to the media about our event. Others who speak to the media will speak only for themselves. The program will be controlled in an attempt to stay on-message. Speakers are encouraged not to engage in speculative criticism of John Kerry but (1) to stick to known and undisputed facts about John Kerrys lies while (2) reminding America of the true honor and courage of our brothers in battle in Vietnam.

Send this announcement to 10 or more of your brothers! Bring them by car, bus, train or plane! Make this event one of pride in America, an event you would be proud to have your mother or your children attend. Money, it takes a lot of money to do this. If you can, please donate.
Make checks payable to Vietnam Vets for the Truth and send to PO Box 49, Mt. Vernon, VA 22121. Or use the PayPal "Make a Donation" button on the web site. If you can't donate, don't let that stop you from joining your brothers and sisters at the rally. We need you now!
Posted by: Steve || 09/07/2004 10:07:16 AM || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It is easy to get to, shady and pretty

...but enough about Kerry and Edwards! ;)
Posted by: BH || 09/07/2004 10:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Upper Senate Park is just north of the Capitol, near the Russell Senate Office Building (which does indeed make a nice acyronym).

It isn't as easy to get to, shady and pretty as it was a few years ago because there has been a lot of construction in the vicinity on the south side of Constitution Ave.
Posted by: mhw || 09/07/2004 11:17 Comments || Top||

#3  I wonder if CSPAN will cover this?
Posted by: Bill Nelson || 09/07/2004 11:23 Comments || Top||

#4  FLUSH THE JOHNS.
Posted by: Craig || 09/07/2004 11:39 Comments || Top||

#5  CSPAN could cover it by looking out their window - but I would still wonder if they will.

Back when there was only one Senate Office Building, Will Rogers liked to remind people that addressing a letter to your Senator, SOB, Washington DC would get it there with no problem.
Posted by: VAMark || 09/07/2004 14:48 Comments || Top||

#6  Some of us can still send it to "Old SOB" and get it through...
Posted by: mojo || 09/08/2004 0:18 Comments || Top||


Newmax: Profile of Kerry aide/friend, Joe Bangert.
Posted by: Super Hose || 09/07/2004 02:41 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I don't underestand why Kerry allows Bamgert and Exley to be seen publically as part of his team. I would be interested in seeing Gillespi or Zell Miller give a speech that profiled some of the more far-left members of Kerry's team. After that it would be intersting to have several journalists ask these members of team Kerry for interviews.
Posted by: Super Hose || 09/07/2004 2:54 Comments || Top||

#2  Sorry the story was on World Net Daily not Newsmax.
Posted by: Super Hose || 09/07/2004 2:57 Comments || Top||

#3  LOL Bangert roughly translates as: "scardy-cat" in dutch.
Posted by: Heysenbergmayhavebeenhere || 09/07/2004 7:28 Comments || Top||

#4  A John Kerry veterans' organizer lived in Hanoi for five years in the 1990s, testified that American troops skinned and crucified Vietnamese in the 1960s and joined the presidential candidate at an infamous 1971 meeting of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War executive committee in which the assassination of U.S. senators was debated.

This kind of stuff needs to be publicised.
Posted by: OldSpook || 09/07/2004 9:04 Comments || Top||

#5  HMHBH - Scaredy Cat?
Posted by: .com || 09/07/2004 9:08 Comments || Top||

#6  That story about Bangert being at the meeting where assassination was determined not to be an option is false, and has been disproved.
Posted by: Angash Elminelet3775 || 10/16/2004 0:01 Comments || Top||


Clinton Has Successful Quadruple Bypass
NEW YORK (AP) - Bill Clinton had a successful quadruple heart bypass operation Monday to relieve severely clogged arteries that doctors said had put the former president in grave danger of a major heart attack sometime soon. Clinton is expected to make a full recovery, but doctors said he was fortunate to have checked himself into the hospital when he did. The heart disease they repaired was extensive, and blockage in several of Clinton's arteries was "well over 90 percent," said Dr. Craig R. Smith, the surgeon who led the operation. "There was a substantial likelihood that he would have had a substantial heart attack," said Dr. Allan Schwartz, chief of cardiology at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia. The four-hour surgery came three days after Clinton arrived at the hospital complaining of chest pain and shortness of breath. But doctors said Clinton's problems were not as sudden as had been portrayed. He had suffered shortness of breath and tightness in his chest for several months, blaming them on off-and-on exercising and acid reflux, his doctors said.

In addition, the former president had high blood pressure and may not have been adequately treated for high cholesterol.
[mount medical soapbox]
This pisses me off. Here's a man with what should be the best healthcare in the world, and neither he nor his docs knew that he was within a few weeks of a big-time MI. Run the risk profile, people: middle-aged white male with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, poor diet, stress and bad genetics -- the risk of his ending up like this (using the algorithms one uses to calculate this) is over 70%. Where the hell were the docs? This man should have been diagnosed and had an intervention a good two years ago, at least. While president he should have had an exercise stress test every 2 - 3 years and concerted control of his risk factors.
[dismount soapbox]
"He is recovering normally at this point. Right now everything looks straightforward," Smith said. Still, Dr. W. Randolph Chitwood, chief cardiovascular surgeon at East Carolina University and a spokesman for the American College of Cardiology, agreed with Clinton's doctors that the president had been in a dangerous state leading up to the operation. "Within the next couple of weeks, something was going to happen," he said.
Posted by: Steve White || 09/07/2004 12:51:43 AM || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hell had no room left at the moment that is why this tub of racist anti American dough boy shit is still living!!

It's just a pitty that assholes like this get a second chance....
Posted by: Long Hair Republican || 09/07/2004 1:10 Comments || Top||

#2  LOL...Too funny, LHR!
And I felt bad because I wished he'd die on the table.
I should have known we'd have to put a stake through that "heart."
All we need now to get in President Bush's way, however, is a "mourning" Hillary and the Clintoon's attempt to have a bigger and better state funeral for Slick Willie than we did for Ronald Reagan, thus proving that Bubba was "better."
Although they could outdo their performance at the Wellstone Memorial...Hmmm.
Posted by: GreatestJeneration || 09/07/2004 1:16 Comments || Top||

#3  Now now. Have you checked your cholesterol level lately?
Posted by: CHCH || 09/07/2004 1:17 Comments || Top||

#4  One good thing is that he didn't need a transplant - and thus, due to his "importance", bumped some deserving regular citizen down.

I don't wish him an easy exit. It is my fervent desire that he live long enough to know that the history books will categorize his presidency with the likes of Harrison, Pierce, and Buchanan. Mt Rushmore will be safe from the visage of Clintoon - either one.
Posted by: .com || 09/07/2004 1:21 Comments || Top||

#5  Has the old reprobate pinched a nurse, yet?
Posted by: mojo || 09/07/2004 1:25 Comments || Top||

#6  Let's get one thing perfectly clear; He finally blew a seal. Any questions?
Posted by: Zenster || 09/07/2004 1:42 Comments || Top||

#7  The worst prez to be elected twice!!! You look at the man in office now, and compare to that fat tub of shit Clinton and you wonder how in the hell have we survied as long as we have as the greatest nation ever.
I need to puke.....
Posted by: Long Hair Republican || 09/07/2004 1:52 Comments || Top||

#8  And Oscar's been smug as hell ever since...
Posted by: .com || 09/07/2004 1:52 Comments || Top||

#9  Now now, boys, I was right unhappy with him as president, and VERY disappointed over the whole impeachment nonsense (honor = resign your office, Bill), but a) he's not racist b) he's not anti-American and c) I'd prefer him in office to a number of other Dems, including Kerry, Dean and the Hildebeast. And out of respect for the office, I'm not wishing him an early death or any complications.
Posted by: Steve White || 09/07/2004 1:58 Comments || Top||

#10  Ain't it the truth, LHR?
I blame myself because I voted for Perot and not Bush 41.
But the American public clearly lost their minds for 8 years and apparently some still belong to the Cult of Clintoon, if this flurry of reporting about Cigar Willie's every urine sample in the hospital is any indication.
Clintoon isn't worthy to lick GWB's shoes...
The best part about him croaking for me was that he would finally SHUT UP AND GO AWAY and Hitlery will be nowhere without him.
Posted by: GreatestJeneration || 09/07/2004 1:58 Comments || Top||

#11  Steve, I respectfully disagree--he's not the least bit "Pro-American" and has virtually campaigned for every "New World Order"/Socialist/Communist organization on this planet including the UN, the EU, the IMF, HRW, etc. etc, etc.
Arnold Schwarzenhegger is 9,000 times more pro-American than Clintoon.
He's also racist to the extent that he will volunteer to blame White Men first and give "people of color" the benefit of the doubt, except when it comes to Rwanda.
And I'd prefer to have NO Democrats in office, unless everyone of them is exactly like Zell Miller or Joe Lieberman on a good day.
Posted by: GreatestJeneration || 09/07/2004 2:03 Comments || Top||

#12  Does HILLARY have access yet?
Posted by: Lucky || 09/07/2004 2:05 Comments || Top||

#13  Anyone who uses "race" to get elected in the way dims do is a racist. Anyone who gives secrets to China to balance the playing field is Anti American. Anyone who BOMBS the people who risked their lives to protect our pilots in peril during WWII is anti American. The Serbs are only trying to keep their land free and pure of a villian they have been fight for 700 fucking years!!!!!. Anyone who thinks the UN can guide the world better than the US of A is not only anti American but dangerous!

If anyone can give me one little thing that Bill Clinton did that made the world better without me tearing your ass apart from every angle I will give you a long distance high five!!!

You had better bring a lunch, cause I have been waiting for this idiot for the last 12 years!!

I too am guilty of voting for Perot. There are only three Presidents I can think of in the last 100 years that have provedn to be carry a large sack of sand, Ronnie, Teddy, and GWB.
These people are Men!! FDR....ug...History tells me he was a PINKO!! JFK, to short. Truman, Big Brass ones, but wishy washy...
I take my three and not care cause I know no matter what they talk the talk and walk the walk and that is what I want in a prez
Posted by: Long Hair Republican || 09/07/2004 2:21 Comments || Top||

#14  Ellian Gonzalez LHR. He really was an incredible little boy.
Posted by: Lucky || 09/07/2004 2:27 Comments || Top||

#15  Relax, everyone knows that Kerry can give mouth-to-mouth to rodents if need be. Clinton knew he was in capable hands with Kerry all along.

And Clinton could always look at Janet Reno in case he didn't have the electric paddles to revive him.
Posted by: Anonymous6339 || 09/07/2004 3:19 Comments || Top||

#16  Could you imagine if Buddy Bill had bit the big one?

Reagan like funeral during a presidential election cycle? No, God wanted him to live for another cheeseburger or two.
Posted by: Anonymous6339 || 09/07/2004 3:21 Comments || Top||

#17  Dr. Steve, I'm sure efforts were made to control Colinton's risk factors. No one has a track-record for controlling any of his appetites. Hopefully, he will smarten up and fly right from here on out.
Posted by: Super Hose || 09/07/2004 3:41 Comments || Top||

#18  #12 Does HILLARY have access yet?

Bill won't let her near him without an armed guard. Something about crimping a hose or something.
Posted by: RN || 09/07/2004 8:39 Comments || Top||

#19  I really despise Bubba. Had to serve under him my whole time in the military. But I don't wish the big dingus ill. And I think I'd actually prefer him to sKerry. But, and I was thinking about this in regards to his "last minute diagnosis," do you think he just wants the attention? He's notorious for staying in the limelight for any reason. Maybe he was feeling ignored with all of the Kerry problems?
Posted by: nada || 09/07/2004 8:49 Comments || Top||

#20  All I can say is Good Luck Bubba, I didnt like your politics nor your ethics, but every man should live to know his grandkids. Get well.

Stay away from the fast food.
Posted by: OldSpook || 09/07/2004 8:55 Comments || Top||

#21  Grandkids? Are you crazy OS? I'm starting a fund to offer Chelsea 500 million dollars to have her tubes tied.
Posted by: Shipman || 09/07/2004 10:23 Comments || Top||

#22  His clock starts now. The doc told my dad after his 7 artery bypass that on average, people live between 10-15 years after having bypass surgery. He died 12 years after having it.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam || 09/07/2004 10:33 Comments || Top||

#23  So lay off the buckets of chicken and the young broads, okay Bubba? Don't want to end up like Nelson Rockefeller, do you?
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/07/2004 13:44 Comments || Top||

#24  Hmmmm... you know tu if you gotta go....
Posted by: Shipman || 09/07/2004 14:08 Comments || Top||

#25  Have you checked your cholesterol level lately?

Mine seems to average somewhere between "lard" and "Cheezewhiz". Which is why I'm on meds and had a (gag) salad for lunch.
Posted by: Steve || 09/07/2004 14:10 Comments || Top||

#26  Ya got a point, Ship. Wonder what Megan's up to these days?
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/07/2004 14:26 Comments || Top||

#27  I think some people here need to let go of the '90s. Yea, I think he was a bad president, too. But sheesh, comments like LHR's are just waaay to vicious and angry.

Get well soon, bubba!
Posted by: Baltic Blog || 09/07/2004 15:12 Comments || Top||

#28  Gotta lighten up guys - Bill's been the biggest architect in building a Republican party in control of the Senate, the House, the Presidency, and the majority of Governorships.....we couldn't have done it without him
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2004 15:32 Comments || Top||

#29  The biggest reason Bill Clinton needs to continue living is so that justice may be done for all those people he and Hils harmed. I want Bubba and his Evita to live a long, long lives made horrible by lawyers and prosecuters.
Posted by: Davemac || 09/07/2004 21:47 Comments || Top||

#30  I find Bill despicable and revolting, but I do my best not to wish him ill. Bad, or at least not good Karma. What I have is a big problem with the MSM. My wife gave the best example. She was driving home the other day and heard the absolute horrible and devastating news about the children dying in the hostage crisis in Russia. Then, the announcer comes on the radio and says, "Again, our top news story: Former president Clinton will undergo heart bypass surgery." M'lady, who is calm as a cucumber, was boiling mad and indignant over that one.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 09/07/2004 22:23 Comments || Top||


Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry Video
In an interesting twist, this organization is airing their commercial near major east coast military installations. Unlike the Swift Boat Veterans, they are not a "527" organization and are "for profit", using the ad as a commercial to sell their newspaper. The commericial is in the .wmv format.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 09/07/2004 9:30:10 PM || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Not hard hitting enough for me. Sounds more like some used car salesman. The need to mention dates and times of meeting that talked about killing members of congress. Paint him as the extreme of the extreme. Something like: "John Kerry likes the extremists because he is was one before he wasn't."
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 09/07/2004 10:40 Comments || Top||


International-UN-NGOs
Greenpeas into piracy now? Boards trawlers in No. Sea
Hundreds (well, ok - three) ask: "Why weren't they shot?"

Louise Edge, a spokeswoman for Greenpeace on board the Esperanza, insisted that campaigners had only boarded one Scottish vessel at the weekend after receiving the consent of the skipper. The discussions, she said, had been "extremely amicable".

She denied that any threats had been made. She said: "We did say that we were out here to protect the area and that we would like them to consider leaving the area. "Obviously we are a direct action organisation and the chance of taking direct action is always there."


Sounds like a threat to me. Lock and load, boys...
Posted by: mojo || 09/07/2004 6:21:35 PM || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sounds like a first-rate way to get yer a$$ sunk by a second-rate country with a third-rate carrier. Again.
Posted by: BH || 09/07/2004 19:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Anybody have video of France sinking Greenpeace? I want to be able to feel the joy.
Posted by: Charles || 09/07/2004 20:57 Comments || Top||

#3  Honest reporters would, after quoting anyone saying "direct action", explain that "direct action" means violence and other crimes.
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 09/07/2004 21:50 Comments || Top||

#4  "Obviously we are a direct action organisation and the chance of taking direct action is always there."

That cuts two ways, sweetie. Remember that.
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/07/2004 21:58 Comments || Top||

#5  Any Captain on the High Sea would be well with in his rights to shoot anyone commiting acts of Piracy.
The Piracy laws have not been repealed.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 09/07/2004 22:20 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Man jailed for slashing wife over headscarf
A man who slashed his wife's forehead after she removed her headscarf and coloured her hair has been jailed for five months and will get one stroke of the cane. Magistrate Normazaida Ahmad Narihan imposed the sentence on Monday after Mohd Azhar Ngah, 34, who was separated from his wife, Madam Rafidah Ibrahim, admitted that he was guilty of the offence. The court heard that he went to his wife's house on March 28 on the pretext of visiting their children. He wanted to reconcile with his wife and got angry when she refused. He assaulted her with a chair and also used a knife to cut her forehead and hair. The prosecuting officer, Chief Inspector A. Vasu, also said Mohd Azhar was angry with Rafidah because she had coloured her hair and refused to wear a tudung, or Muslim headscarf. Mohd Azhar was arrested on March 29 and police found a handful of hair belonging to Rafidah and the knife that was used to injure her. Chief Inspector Vasu urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence. He said Mohd Azhar had not only injured Rafidah, the woman he was married to for 12 years, but had also violated her rights as an individual by assaulting her when she refused to wear a tudung. 'He should have referred the matter to the religious authorities instead of taking drastic action by slashing her forehead,' he said. Mohd Azhar, who was not represented by a lawyer, pleaded for a lenient sentence.
Posted by: TS(vice girl) || 09/07/2004 8:59:50 PM || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Given that a lot of Moslem women seem to have Internet access, I think it would be hilarious if someone started a site, supposedly by an abused woman, advocating that when men beat their wives, they should respond by castrating them in their sleep, keeping knives on their persons and slashing their husbands if they misbehave, and otherwise stab men who assail them. In Arabic, Farsi and English.
It's funny how ideas like this catch on.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 09/07/2004 22:00 Comments || Top||

#2  Sounds like Thailand per Spaulding Gray's Swimming to Cambodia (think: balloons carrying severed members aloft)
Posted by: lex || 09/07/2004 22:04 Comments || Top||

#3  On further reflection, you wouldn't actually need to create such a site. Just write up a bogus news story, and put it in a forum where some wire service clown would pick up on it. Supposedly a bad translation from the original site, but with a fatwa: "The Koran says that women are permitted, etc.", as decided by the Women's Fatwa Council, or something.
Then *say* that they *had* a website, but it was taken down.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 09/07/2004 22:22 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iranian paid $125,000 for Olympic no show
Posted by: muck4doo || 09/07/2004 17:16 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Pathetic. So afraid of losing to a Jew they pay off the guy to take a fall pretend to be an overweight fat-ass olympic athlete?!?!. Another shining example of Muslim honor and acheivement!
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 09/07/2004 22:48 Comments || Top||


iran says it beat the u.s. at olympics
Posted by: muck4doo || 09/07/2004 17:20 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:



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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2004-09-07
  Putin rejects talks with child killers
Mon 2004-09-06
  GSPC appoints new supremo
Sun 2004-09-05
  Izzat Ibrahim jugged? (Apparently not...)
Sat 2004-09-04
  Russia seals off North Ossetia
Fri 2004-09-03
  Hostage school stormed by Russian forces
Thu 2004-09-02
  16 dead so far in North Ossetia stand-off
Wed 2004-09-01
  200 kiddies hostage in Beslan
Tue 2004-08-31
  Booms in Moscow, Jerusalem
Mon 2004-08-30
  Chechen boom babes were roommates
Sun 2004-08-29
  Boom Kills 9 Children, 1 Adult in Afghan School
Sat 2004-08-28
  437 arrested in Islamabad crackdown
Fri 2004-08-27
  Former Yemeni interior minister helped Cole mastermind
Thu 2004-08-26
  Smell of Burned Flesh, Blood Smeared on Najaf Streets
Wed 2004-08-25
  Hamas op nabbed taping Maryland bridge
Tue 2004-08-24
  Two Russ planes boomed


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