CHICAGO, July 15 (UPI) -- Determined that what the world really needs is a three-second beer, innovative Matthew Younkle made his dream come true with TurboTap. Ten years after the inspiration struck as a college senior, Younkle, 31, is president and chief technology officer of TurboTap, a company marketing a finger-sized nozzle that attaches to standard beer faucets and pours draft beer at least twice as fast as traditional systems do, and with less spillage.
I'm thinking this is Nobel Prize material
The Chicago company has installed about 1,000 TurboTaps at bars, restaurants and ballparks -- including Chicago's two major-league baseball stadiums.
As an engineering student in college, Younkle concluded that gravity, not bartender incompetence, was to blame for long beer lines, the Chicago Sun-Times said Friday. Beer, like any liquid, accelerates as it leaves the tap.
See, those drunken frat parties did pay off
After several years of R&D -- ''research and drinking'' -- Younkle decided to create a nozzle that slowed the descent of the beer and reduced the force of its impact.
This one's for you, Matt!
Posted by: Steve ||
07/15/2005 13:30 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I'v e always figured lacka surface area was the problem. With an open barrell you could just scoop. Obviously you gotta move quickly else Boils law takes over. (Watts pot never boils)
#2
He won't get a nobel prize because a lot of nations prefer the head on the beer as the beer goes down much smoother and without the burps if the carbon dioxide is released first.
Watch a bartender properly fill a glass of guiness. Fill and wait, fill and wait. Germans I met did the same thing.
There must be an American prize that we can give him though. Perhaps just making him wealthy beyond what even he can imagine will be enough.
#3
Uz Germans will take your technological device and triple it to three times the original speed, never spill a drop, and be drunk while we design it.
Posted by: Some Dude ||
07/15/2005 16:05 Comments ||
Top||
In addition to the parrot who understands the concept of zero... Includes dirty talk, bird-style.
Humans invented the names Big Bird and Tweety Bird, but new evidence suggests at least one species of parrot creates its own names for friends and family members. Since vocal labeling indicates that the namer must first be able to imagine the individual or object in its mind, the discovery likely means bird thoughts and communication are far more complex and closer to human levels than previously realized.
The namers in this case are spectacled parrotlets, Forpus conspicillatus, which are small bright green or blue South American parrots. "We have shown that they use specific calls that only refer to the individual in question," said Ralf Wanker, lead author of the study. "To my knowledge it is the first time that labeling or naming is described for animals in this way."
He added that other studies suggest bottlenose dolphins and another bird, budgerigars, match their calls to others, similar to how humans often copy the tone or volume of the person they are speaking with, as for baby talk.
Wanker and his team housed two groups of the birds in a simulated natural environment. The researchers noted social ranks within identified bird families. They then made audio recordings of 17 individuals from five different families. The recordings captured birds vocalizing with other specific birds. Computer analysis of the sounds revealed that initial contact calls were unique for each parrotlet and indicative of the individual's social standing.
For example, when one bird, Eddi, communicated with his mate, Renee, he used a specific call. Eddi also used specific, yet similar, calls when addressing each of his offspring, Uvo and Ustinov. The researchers also found that when the sounds were played back to the birds, the parrotlets paid greater attention when their apparent name was called out, similar to how a human might turn around if someone in the room called out his or her name.
The findings are published in this month's Animal Behavior.
Wanker, a Hamburg University ornithologist, told Discovery News that no one can yet fully decipher the birdcalls or determine what the parrotlets are pondering, but the findings provide some clues. "I think they have a mental representation of at least their family members because they use only one call type for one specific individual," he explained. "They do not use this call type for other individuals, thus they must be able to make a mental connection between the individual and the certain call."
#5
They say Ward Churchill parrot is going to testify. He's still alive you know.
And yes PD that was cheap indeed, ha! LOL! ROFLMAO! Don't you know he had a hell of a time in the school yard? With names like that it's fight or die. (trust me on this one)
#7
I had a mynah bird when I was a kid - funniest thing I can recall from my childhood. He picked up on the little stuff - the stuff that really bugs people. For example, my mother had this phoney baloney little throat clearing sound she would make just before she said something she thought "important" - usually a scolding or something pretentious. The bird picked up on it and would torture her with the sound regularly - and we kids could not help but laugh, which really pissed her off, heh.
#8
.com we used to have several Mocking boids that used to immitate a local asthma victim. (really) I think they have an affinity for that throat sound.
#10
I used to count the number of different calls the Mocks around our house would make... too long ago to remember the record number. I DO remember them strafing this cat we had when he walked throught the yard. Eventually the cat decided to get smart and laid on his back - very still. The Mocks went apeshit, and started their strafing runs. The cat would try to grab 'em as they zoomed him. Great sport, I guess. Then, one day, he succeeded in intercepting one. I found the pile of feathers. No more strafing runs at the cat, lol! Nobody can say Mocks are stupid, just loud and gutsy.
SAINT GEORGE'S, Grenada, July 15 (UPI) -- Hurricane Emily, upgraded to Category 4, moved away from the Windward Islands and strengthened as it heads west towards Jamaica and the Gulf of Mexico. Emily battered the eastern Caribbean island of Grenada Thursday, ripping off roofs, flooding streets and sending many fleeing their homes. One death was reported. The BBC says nearly 2,500 people fled to shelters while others stayed at home with stockpiles of canned food and water. Grenada is still recovering from the more powerful Hurricane Ivan last year, which destroyed 90 percent of the island's homes.
At 5 a.m. EDT, the hurricane was about 385 miles southeast of the Dominican Republic with maximum sustained winds of 135 mph, forecasters said. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said if the storm follows its current course, it is expected to pass south of Jamaica Saturday, cross Mexico's Yucatan peninsula early Monday and enter the Gulf of Mexico early Tuesday.
She's fast, too -- ever see her on her roller blades? Youse guys in Jamaica are in for it.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/15/2005 09:27 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#2
The folks at NHC are slightly annoyed that Emily is staying consistently to the left of their models. They've given up and accepted that she going to steer 270-290. I'd be looking for a hard right turn when least expected.
A male Zimbabwean athlete who won several awards in women's competitions in southern Africa has been sentenced to four years in jail for offensive behaviour, the prosecutor said. Samukeliso Sithole, 18, was arrested in February after a female friend lodged a complaint to police, saying that she had undressed in full view of the athlete, thinking that he was a woman. "He has been convicted of six counts of impairing the dignity of female athletes who undressed in his presence after he made them believe he was a woman," prosecutor Tapfumanei Nkonde told AFP.
Mr Nkonde said Sithole, who wore stuffed bras, befriended women but was later exposed as a man by an uncle who alerted the athlete's female friends. "The uncle was also one of the prosecution witnesses and he said that Samukeliso used a false name when he took part in athletics competitions," the prosecutor said.
Sithole who insisted that he was a woman even after a doctor confirmed his sex, apologised to magistrate Oliver Mudzongachiso at the trial held in the central Zimbabwean town of Kwe Kwe.
He said he was desperate to earn a living as an athlete and decided to pose as a woman, the prosecutor said. Sithole claimed at the beginning of his trial that he was born female and developed male sex organs after a traditional healer cast a spell on him when he did not pay for treatment.
In recent years, Sithole has taken part in international youth athletic events such as hurdles, javelin, shot putt and triple jumping. In June last year, he won a gold medal for Zimbabwe at a regional athletics tournament in Botswana where he competed as a woman. He also bought two houses with money won at sports competitions.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - A well-known Haitian journalist was found shot to death Thursday, five days after he was seized while driving in the capital, according to colleagues. The body of Jacques Roche, which had signs of torture, was left in the central Port-au-Prince neighborhood of Delmas, said Gerin Alexandre, head of information at Radio Caraibes.
Roche was in charge of the cultural section of Le Matin newspaper and moderated a talk show on a local TV station. He was seized Sunday morning while in his car in the Port-au-Prince neighborhood of Nazon. Le Matin's editors confirmed the death, but declined further comment.
Interim Culture Minister Magalie Comeau-Denis accused supporters of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide of being behind Roche's killing, though she did not offer proof. Several editorials in Le Matin newspaper have accused pro-Aristide militants of being behind a wave of violence that have gripped Haiti's capital of Port-au-Prince.
Aristide, who was ousted in an armed February 2004 rebellion and is in exile in South Africa, has denied the interim government's allegations that he is orchestrating violence in Haiti.
"Lies! All lies!"
A wave of kidnappings in Port-au-Prince have targeted even people of modest means who have not typically been seized for ransom.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/15/2005 00:54 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
BEIJING, July 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese beer is safe to drink as its formaldehyde content is much lower than the ceiling set by the World Heath Organization (WHO), China's quality watchdog reported Friday.
Whew!
The State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (SAQSIQ) spot-checked 157 products from 136 domestic beer enterprises and 64 beer products imported from more than 10 countries -- in response to recent media reports alleging that Chinese beer contains too much formaldehyde.
The SAQSIQ found all the domestic beer products under sample investigation contained formaldehyde of less than 0.9 milligrams aliter, the danger line set by the WHO, while one liter of the imported beer contained 0.10 to 0.61 milligrams of formaldehyde on average.
Good thing inspectors are invulnerable to bribery in China.
He slammed some newspaper reports alleging that it can lead to blindness to drink Chinese beer for a long time. "The reports are irresponsible, untrue," the official said.
You're growing dim...what was that again?
A senior official surnamed He from the China Brewing Industry Association told Xinhua that he believes the formaldehyde storm will soon blow over.
The association, however, will continue to encourage domestic breweries to gradually reduce or even stop the use of formaldehyde and help them adopt state-of-the-art technology, he said.
As long as the levels are safe, who needs new technology? Why would formaldehyde need to be stopped, if there's no problem?
Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) have called back beer products imported from China.
#1
What wuzzit I read the other day ... certain artifical sweetners break down into formaldehyde and something else toxic, but you'd have to drink 500 cans of diet soda to get the equivalent formaldehyde of ... are you ready ....
one orange. Don't make me find the article!
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/15/2005 12:31 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Haven't tried a "chinese" brew that suited my discriminating tastes yet. I remain hopeful though, especially with this report.
Japan on Thursday approved a request by Teikoku Oil Co. to drill for natural gas in the East China Sea along a disputed sea border with China, prompting Beijing to warn about the possibility of worsening ties.
Teikoku Oil's Masaaki Akasaka told The Associated Press that officials would spend about a month discussing with the ministry how to ensure the safety of the company's workers in any possible standoff with Chinese vessels. He declined to elaborate.
Tokyo and Beijing have been feuding over claims to the undersea gas deposits, amid a broader diplomatic row that has soured bilateral relations in recent months. Though decades-old surveys have suggested that the East China Sea has potentially rich gas reserves, it's unclear how much actually lies beneath the sea floor. The gas is vital to Asia's two largest economies as they try to secure resources to fuel future growth.
Nakagawa, the trade minister, denied that Tokyo was trying to "provoke China," adding: "This is just a domestic procedure." He said it was Tokyo's "unavoidable responsibility to protect the activities of Japan's private sector." Asked whether that meant Tokyo would consider dispatching Japan's navy to protect Teikoku Oil workers, Nakagawa simply said: "We have various options."
THE founder of a Japanese cult that offered to read people's feet was jailed for 12 years today for cheating believers out of cash by convincing them they suffered diseases.
The Tokyo District Court ruled that Ho-no-Hana Sanpogyo sect guru Hogen Fukunaga - real name Teruyoshi Fukunaga - had defrauded 31 believers of a combined 149 million yen ($A1.7 million) between 1994 and 1997.
He conspired with senior disciples to "diagnose" problems of new followers, mostly middle-aged housewives, by reading the soles of their feet.
He then urged them to attend costly seminars to cure supposed ailments such as cancer, the ruling said. The now-bankrupt cult once had thousands of followers.
"He satisfied his desire for money in the name of religion," chief judge Tsutomu Aoyagi said, noting Fukunaga had made a fortune and lived in a luxury condominium.
Fukunaga, who founded the cult in 1980 and was arrested in 2000, "wielded absolute power at the top of the sect and was the ringleader who actively promoted organised fraud," the Jiji Press news agency quoted the judge as saying.
The judge said Fukunaga, now 60, claimed to hear "voices from heaven".
"It is obvious that seminars at the sect cannot heal illness or solve problems," Aoyagi said.
"Ho-no-Hana" roughly translates as the flower of the law. "Sanpogyo" means the practice of three laws.
Japan has seen a succession of cults with sometimes eccentric rituals gain popular followings. The most notorious is the Aum doomsday cult which spread nerve gas in the Tokyo Metro in 1995, killing 12 people and injuring 5,500.
BEIJING - A senior Chinese general has warned that China was ready to use nuclear weapons against the United States if Washington attacked his country over Taiwan, the Financial Times newspaper reported on Friday.
Zhu Chenghu, a major general in the Peopleâs Liberation Army who said he was expressing his own views and did not anticipate a conflict with Washington, nevertheless said China would have no option but to go nuclear in the event of an attack. âIf the Americans draw their missiles and position-guided ammunition onto the target zone on Chinaâs territory, I think we will have to respond with nuclear weapons,â he told an official briefing for foreign journalists.
You might recall, General Zhu, that we don't respond well to threats. Ask Saddam for details.
A spokeswoman for Chinaâs Foreign Ministry noted that the general had said in the article he was not speaking on behalf of the government. A spokesman later said the ministry was looking into the matter. The Defence Ministry declined to comment, saying the Foreign Ministry had organised the event at which the general spoke.
Zhu said the threat to escalate a conflict might be the only way to stop one because China did not have the capability to fight a conventional war with the United States. âIf the Americans are determined to interfere ... we will be determined to respond,â he said. âWe Chinese will prepare ourselves for the destruction of all of the cities east of Xian. Of course the Americans will have to be prepared that hundreds ... of cities will be destroyed by the Chinese,â he added.
Add to the Ballistic Missile Defense. Start building more stations, launchers and radars. Today.
China has declared a policy of not using such weapons unless it has already suffered nuclear attack.
The newspaper observed that it was unclear what prompted the remarks, but noted that they were the most specific by a senior Chinese official in nearly a decade.
During a visit to Beijing earlier this month US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said there should be no unilateral change in the status quo over the disputed island of Taiwan. âThat means that we donât support unilateral moves toward independence by Taiwan. It also means that we are concerned about the military balance, and weâll say to China that they should do nothing militarily to provoke Taiwan,â she added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/15/2005 00:03 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"Hundreds of [American?] cities" - unless US-Allied INTEL estimates are way way off, the Chicoms only have a comparative handful of ICBMS in relation to the US, MIRVed or not. Methinks Da General, iff serieuse', is actually referring to BATTLEFIELD/TACTICAL devices or weapons, in support of the "Active Defense" of its conventional forces and "Local War/Battle Zone/War Zone", etc strategems which emphasize POLITICAL VICTORY [read - the Clintons and anti-USA]in collusion with local forces'NUCLEARIZED SELF/AREA DEFENSE - IOW, region-specific, asymmetric-limited linear conventional warfare with limited nuclear escalation, or at worst local-global limited nuke war!? Both Communist-controlled Fascist Russia and Commies-for-Fascism/Rightism China have notsomuch demobilized their once massive Ground-Tactical Forces, although some demobilz has ocurred, as rendered them "Militarily Inactive". In any case, I believe the Commies at this point in time still prefer conventional conflict while their State economies are in the throes of modernization. North Korea, Iran, Syria, Taiwan, Chechyna, Cuba, Africa, etc. - these can be considered as PC HOLDING FRONTS/ACTIONS to contain and keep America's volunteer Milfors engaged overseas while Russia-China preserve their warfighting manpower and assets.
#2
a major general in the PLA who said he was expressing his own views
Yeah, right. His own unoffical views and not the offical Party line. What a masterpiece of diplomatic misdirection! Someone must be copying plays from Boy Assad's Big Book of International Sneakiness.
#3
It's been 1,000 years since I was neck-deep in this topic, but I would think that the US would have a very credible counter-force capability against Chinese strategic delivery systems, given the limited number of same and the accuracy of our current arsenal. The ability of China to even think of "going there" with nukes to try and intimidate the US would seem nil -- assuming a moderately competent US leadership team. We can hope that events offer up an event to humiliate the Chinese fascists and remind them that they're not even a medium power, and shouldn't talk trash with adults.
#4
I'm not sure this statement is entirely wise. It's an obvious bluff, and could certainly make the Euros less willing to sell conventional arms to China. I think it's pitched at American public opinion, the idea being to scare ordinary Americans into abandoning Taiwan (which may not necessarily be all that tough, since most Americans probably have no idea what Taiwan is, let alone where it is).
#5
If he's trying to scare Americans, he should have waited till they find the body of that girl in Aruba and they put Rove in prison. Nobody is paying attention to this wind bag and so far all he's done is kill the CNOOC deal. Not only is it not wise. it's dumb.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
07/15/2005 8:17 Comments ||
Top||
#6
According to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (if anything, you'd think them prone to exaggeration) the Chinese only have about 30 liquid fueled ICBMs capable of hitting the US. These are the kind that are most vulnerable to a US first strike. I'm no expert in this field, but it sounds like the general is blowing smoke out his fourth point of contact.
#10
Like the early Russian SSBNs, I would imagine that these two subs never leave home without a US sub tailing them.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
07/15/2005 9:42 Comments ||
Top||
#11
Maybe one of those SSBNs should have a little "accident".
Posted by: Dar ||
07/15/2005 10:17 Comments ||
Top||
#12
An 'accident' would raise the stakes too high right now. But a good active sonar lashing would remind the PLA-Navy where they are in the pecking order ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/15/2005 10:34 Comments ||
Top||
#13
When the invasion of Taiwan begins, those two Chinese subs will be scrap metal within minutes.
Posted by: Neutron Tom ||
07/15/2005 10:41 Comments ||
Top||
#14
Are those the same subs that had "accidents" a few months ago? Seems like it was their "high-tech, brand new" subs that were having issues. Like I asked last night (not asserting, just asking, as there are Rantburgers far more knowledgable on China than I), ARE we beginning to see the downfall of commies in China. Several sub accidents, yesterday's news that their energy consumption is down a lot and now this threat. Anyone for deflection of problems at home to keep the locals busy?
Posted by: BA ||
07/15/2005 10:42 Comments ||
Top||
#15
"We Chinese will prepare ourselves for the destruction of all of the cities east of Xian."
Yeah...the cities east if Xian. In other words, the entire productive part of China. The rest is desert and mountains and huge numbers of poor people. Great war plan you have there, General.
#16
gromky: Yeah...the cities east if Xian. In other words, the entire productive part of China. The rest is desert and mountains and huge numbers of poor people. Great war plan you have there, General.
That's exactly why this threat can't be taken seriously. It's like threatening to kill an entire town because someone from there scratched your car. Back in the early days of nukes, American planners used to think that nukes would deter proxy wars like Korea and Vietnam. Not exactly. The Chinese will learn that nukes are of much more limited utility than many aspiring nuclear powers realize.
#17
but I would think that the US would have a very credible counter-force capability against Chinese strategic delivery systems, given the limited number of same and the accuracy of our current arsenal. The ability of China to even think of "going there" with nukes to try and intimidate the US would seem nil -- assuming a moderately competent US leadership team. We can hope that events offer up an event to humiliate the Chinese fascists and remind them that they're not even a medium power, and shouldn't talk trash with adults.
Bottom line, don't frighten an opponent with first strike capabilities.
#18
"They are also building 8 SSBNs with 16 SLBMs each." So you have to wonder about the BRAC commssion wanting to lower the number of US subs to 30 - 40, when the Pentagon is complaining tht it can't adequately do it's job with the 55 - 60 it has now. Each one of those little gems will need to have an escort riding a couple thousand yards behind it each time it leaves chicom waters.
Posted by: Weird Al ||
07/15/2005 14:27 Comments ||
Top||
#19
You guys are all missing the point and thinking that China would be stupid enough to attack US cities.
The main forseeable Chinese nuclear option is to detonate a nuke in the middle of a US carrier group sent to protect Taiwan (a tactical nuclear attack on military targets). Hence the current willingness of the Chinese government to abandon the "no first strike" policy. This general's comments certainly reflects the general trend of thought in the PLA and the Chinese government (he is not alone and is serving as a mouthpiece), his comments were held in a foreign press session hosted by the Foreign Ministry. A sea level detonation of an A-bomb near US carrier groups can easily (cheaply and instantly) cripple the US navy in the Pacific without afflicting civilian casualties.
The problem is, it wouldn't solve their problem. Sure, the US navy's intervention on Taiwan's behalf would be neutralized, but the US military would retaliate in kind - which has been their hinted-at nuclear policy for years. For example, they would simply wait until PLA invasionoccupation forces attempted a crossing of the straits, then nuke their troop transports. Or, if an invasion never put to sea, they would probably choose something like a port with a naval base as the target.
Once the nuclear genie is out of the bottle it is hard to control, but most experts agree that if a conflict begins with tactical strikes, US retaliation will also be tactical - in order to give the diplomates some time to strive for a political solution before a major escalation can develop.
#20
naus: You guys are all missing the point and thinking that China would be stupid enough to attack US cities.
We're not thinking it - he explicitly said that China would attack American cities. And there are practical reasons for this. US carrier fleets would shoot down anything the Chinese sent their way. Theater ballistic missile defenses work and they work well. It's the national missile defense that needs work, because of coverage issues.
#21
In order to detonate a nuclear device in the middle of a carrier group, first you have to get it there. Not terribly easy when surrounded by Aegis cruisers and american hunter-killer subs ready to shoot down &/or sink anything that gets within troublesome range. Not to mention that the attempt alone would be enough to bring about fairly unpleasant results for the people doing the firing.
Posted by: Weird Al ||
07/15/2005 15:24 Comments ||
Top||
#22
Beijing Peking (fuck 'em) Weather Forecast: 32,000 F and Partly Cloudy.
#24
if a conflict begins with tactical strikes, US retaliation will also be tactical - in order to give the diplomates some time to strive for a political solution before a major escalation can develop.
naus, please describe what constitutes a major escalation.
I hope we have indicated to the ChiComs that a strike of that nature would not result in a direct strike against any Chinese civilian population; but that's all that wouldn't be struck.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
07/15/2005 15:35 Comments ||
Top||
#25
naus, please describe what constitutes a major escalation.
I was thinking indiscriminate civilian attacks involving nuclear weapons, not localized within the Taiwan conflict, instead more of an existential conflict.
#26
Bottom line, don't frighten an opponent with first strike capabilities.
And the Chinese are frightened by the US. The US has never promised no first strike and are the only nation to have used nuclear weapons in war. Let's get our context straight.
#29
The grand result of this posturing is to make it more likely that the US pushes Japan into becoming a nuclear power.
So the question is why? I'd love to think the Commies were in trouble but there are far better ways to rally the populace than committing suicide.
The Chinese government is more dynamic than most people think. There are several factions, most notably: 1. the more free market oriented right-wing "Shanghai Faction", 2. the ruling left-wing "Hu-Wen Faction", 3. the old school "Prince" faction.
This general is speaking for the more hawkish Prince faction (named so because of their family and relationship ties with the original Chinese Communist revolution).
The left and right factions are both anti-war and highly pragmatic in their goals. The left wing sees European socialist policies as its model of government and the right wing sees American and British laissez-faire economics as its model. Both groups follow a policy of open doors.
In the US, politicians and generals often make all kinds of non-policy comments that are often offensive, ignorant and arrogant. We have learned to respect their opinions as just that. The problem is that there is always a tendency to squeeze a highly complex situation into one viewpoint and label that as "China's stance". This is something people should avoid and instead look more for a dynamic.
#30
naus: Once the nuclear genie is out of the bottle it is hard to control, but most experts agree that if a conflict begins with tactical strikes, US retaliation will also be tactical - in order to give the diplomates some time to strive for a political solution before a major escalation can develop.
That's the Chinese hope. The traditional American posture has been that any nuclear attack on American forces will be met with the nuclear annihilation of the attacker.
#31
naus: In the US, politicians and generals often make all kinds of non-policy comments that are often offensive, ignorant and arrogant.
The Chinese have a pretty broad definition of what is offensive, ignorant and arrogant. It pretty much includes anything that challenges China's view of itself as the center of the world.
#32
The Chinese have a pretty broad definition of what is offensive, ignorant and arrogant. It pretty much includes anything that challenges China's view of itself as the center of the world.
Your comment is ridiculous. The Chinese have long relinquished its view as the center of the world. People in China either look up to the US, Western Europe or Japan. No sane Chinese today admires North Korea or Vietnam.
#33
The Chinese have a pretty broad definition of what is offensive, ignorant and arrogant. It pretty much includes anything that challenges China's view of itself as the center of the world.
Anyone who has been to both China and Japan will realize that the Chinese are far more open and tolerant of foreigners than the Japanese.
#34
naus: No sane Chinese today admires North Korea or Vietnam.
China's view of itself today has nothing to do with communism and everything to do with the traditional sense of China's special place in the world. In that worldview, North Korea and Vietnam are not China's communist brethren, but Chinese provinces that were wrested from Chinese rule by Japanese and French imperialists. No self-respecting communist state would allow the production and broadcast of TV programs venerating its imperial past, as China's government currently does. The security threat from China has nothing to do with communism and everything to do with a Chinese state that has never failed expand its territory in times of strength. China's time of strength is drawing near.
#35
Japan, a first world nation with half the population of the US, receives about as many tourists in a year as Malta or Poland. There is a reason for that, and it isn't because of cost and language.
#36
Thailand, a country with a tiny fraction of China's territory, receives several times more tourists than all of China, despite the fact that costs in China are far lower. Japan gets few tourists for the same reason that Korea doesn't get all that many tourists - it is (horrendously) expensive and remote from the major places from which tourists come - the US and Europe.
#37
China's view of itself today has nothing to do with communism and everything to do with the traditional sense of China's special place in the world.
China wasn't even united traditionally. Most of China's history involved invasions, splitting apart, civil war, religious and popular rebellions, uniting. The Chinese state today is the most united it has ever been for 2 millennia. If anything, the future we will see greater Chinese regionalism leading to perhaps a federation of Chinese states modeled closely after the United States or the EU.
The security threat from China has nothing to do with communism and everything to do with a Chinese state that has never failed expand its territory in times of strength. China's time of strength is drawing near.
Chinese expansionism will not come when the majority of its population are more interested in getting a cell phone, an apartment and a moped. The only country that China still has a beef with is Japan (which over time will naturally be resolved as China becomes richer itself, just as South Korea did).
#38
Thailand, a country with a tiny fraction of China's territory, receives several times more tourists than all of China, despite the fact that costs in China are far lower. Japan gets few tourists for the same reason that Korea doesn't get all that many tourists - it is (horrendously) expensive and remote from the major places from which tourists come - the US and Europe.
Economic deflation in Japan has made it no more expensive than Europe and the US today. Gone are the days of the 4 dollar cup of orange juice in Narita airport. In fact travelling to Japan is a lot more cheaper than Europe for an American.
And you are wrong, the bulk of Japan's already non-existent tourism comes from Asian countries (mainly South Korea and Taiwan).
Japan doesn't get tourists because it is notoriously hostile to tourists and foreigners, the discrimination is incredibly blatant. This does not just extend to tourism, it is very difficult for foreigners (and I mean Americans or Europeans) in Japan to find a good apartment, and even harder to find a job that would accept foreigners even if they have excellent credentials and speak impeccable Japanese. Consequently, Western expats in Japan are flocking to China en masse.
naus seems to be talking about the average Chinese and ZF about the ChiCom Central Committee.
No one on the planet compares to the ChiComs when it comes to petty insecurities. No slight is too small for a major hissy fit. In fact, here's what I think of China and her grand history, naus, since you're new 'round here:
"...Not Chi-Comm-style, which has evolved from pure Imperial dictatorship into communist centralized command economy dictatorship-by-committee into a bastard communist centralized dictatorship-by-committee with some free-trade zones, totally controlled by the cabal's pet kleptocrats. If the Chinese had any trace of honor or justice or guts or gumption or even masculinity left in their genes - after millenia of being yes-men, patsies, servants, suckers, tools, and fools - they'd toss this cabal, this tiny group of a few dozen wankers, into the dog-pits for a snack and get their asses into freedom and capitalism - in a big way. What potential. What waste. Wotta buncha fools. A few dozen wannabee ChiCom dictators holding hostage a billion people. But it's been this way since the dawn of China. And endless stream of kow-tows. This example, China's thousands upon thousands of years of history, is the height of cowardice, the pinnacle of stupidity, the peak of weakness, the pluperfect example of the failure of man's will and sense. China is the ultimate example of the failure of man, thus far. No wonder they're so fucking sensitive. The shame of their perpetual failures is mind boggling. History's perfect losers."
I'm no China expert, but I don't have to be to see them for what they are.
#40
.com, the problem is that this doesn't reflect the reality of China's history, which is actually very violent and wartorn. For example, the Christian Taiping Rebellion (Taiping Kingdom of Heaven) during the mid-1800s left 40 million dead and wiped out nearly 15% of China's population. The stereotype of China being "yes-men, patsies, servants, suckers, tools, and fools" is really an image conjured partly by the Communists themselves to contrast the brutality and aggression of "foreign colonialists and imperialists."
There are 7 major "dialect" groups in China as different to each other as the Romance languages are. And they didn't become 7 different groups by accident, but they correspond directly to historical political lines that have continuously been repainted throughout China's history.
#41
naus: Economic deflation in Japan has made it no more expensive than Europe and the US today. Gone are the days of the 4 dollar cup of orange juice in Narita airport. In fact travelling to Japan is a lot more cheaper than Europe for an American.
No way. I can get a plane ticket to the UK for $350. A ticket to Japan is $800 easy. And the UK is 6 time zones away whereas Japan is almost 12 time zones. Not to mention that a flight to Japan is 14 hours minimum, where a flight to the UK is 6 hours.
naus: And you are wrong, the bulk of Japan's already non-existent tourism comes from Asian countries (mainly South Korea and Taiwan).
Actually, I am right. The bulk of the world's tourism dollars come from the developed markets of Europe and the US. The fact that Japan gets many of its tourists from South Korea and Taiwan has to do with their proximity to Japan, not the relative ranking of South Korean and Taiwanese tourists in total dollar terms. And what you stated is in itself telling, if most visitors to Japan are from South Korea and Japan. Why are these people traveling to Japan if they are the very foreigners that the Japanese look down upon? (The Japanese I know tend to be pretty deferential to Americans and Europeans).
#42
Sure, I'm aware of their clan-based society and history. Bloody, indeed - fighting for the power of the few, every time, never the freedom of the many. What I say is true. I am a free man, they are not. They could be. They should be. They lack that man who stopped the tanks in Tiananmen Square. That was a Man. Anywhere but there, he would've been lionized, and rightly so. There? Probably shot in the back of the head after he left the square.
#43
naus: There are 7 major "dialect" groups in China as different to each other as the Romance languages are. And they didn't become 7 different groups by accident, but they correspond directly to historical political lines that have continuously been repainted throughout China's history.
We know all that. In Europe, each of the Roman provinces overthrew their oppressors. None would live under the Roman yoke. If the people on the Chinese mainland are so brave, why have they submitted to imperial rule for thousands of years? Shouldn't each language group have its own state, as in Europe? Whatever happened to nationalism? Even during the days of the Roman empire, Roman citizens killed their emperors every dozen years or so. Rare was the emperor who died in bed. No Roman emperor could have gotten away with the kind of BS that Chinese emperors got away with, in terms of Oriental luxury (financed with punitive taxation), because Europeans were *men*, not sheep - they took crap from no one, not even kings.
#44
No way. I can get a plane ticket to the UK for $350. A ticket to Japan is $800 easy. And the UK is 6 time zones away whereas Japan is almost 12 time zones. Not to mention that a flight to Japan is 14 hours minimum, where a flight to the UK is 6 hours.
Dude, China and Thailand have longer flights than Japan.
#45
Actually, I am right. The bulk of the world's tourism dollars come from the developed markets of Europe and the US. The fact that Japan gets many of its tourists from South Korea and Taiwan has to do with their proximity to Japan, not the relative ranking of South Korean and Taiwanese tourists in total dollar terms. And what you stated is in itself telling, if most visitors to Japan are from South Korea and Japan. Why are these people traveling to Japan if they are the very foreigners that the Japanese look down upon? (The Japanese I know tend to be pretty deferential to Americans and Europeans).
You don't know what you are talking about at all, and just making up bull based on your biased preconceived notions of the Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Americans and Europeans. Your bias is pretty disgusting actually. The most high spending tourists in Japan are the Asian tourists, who spend incredible amounts on electronics, cosmetics and designer clothes while in Japan. The North American visitors are the most stingy whose sole purpose of going to Japan is either 1. business trip, 2. to get lucky, 3. see Mount Fuji. There is a public report done by the Japanese tourism sector that is available online, do a Google search.
And the entire comparison was with China and Japan. China (Shanghai) is 300 miles west of Japan; for an American, China would be a longer flight (often connecting in Japan).
[mini-travelogue, lol!]
Heh, hey I don't care how long it takes to get to Thailand - it's worth it. Japan's pricey, but very interesting and very different from all of the other Asian destinations. I've set up week layovers there - while enroute to Thailand - same for Singapore. India was pretty boring, except for the gunfire on the beach during the Festival of Colours. Cambodia and Laos were fun, but pretty thin in the amenities dept - more a backpacker's paradise - they roll up the sidewalks at 9:00 PM in Laos, no nightlife, no shit. Myanmar's too stark, thin, rank, and corrupt. Wouldn't go to China for any amount of money, just as I won't buy shit made there. No interest in doing anything that supports the ChiComs. Fuck 'em.
[/mini-travelogue, lol!]
#48
GE: Dude, China and Thailand have longer flights than Japan.
As tourist destinations, China and Thailand are also way cheaper than Japan. Naus was saying that it was cheaper to go to Japan from the US than it was to go to Europe. No way.
#49
Naus: You don't know what you are talking about at all, and just making up bull based on your biased preconceived notions of the Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Americans and Europeans. Your bias is pretty disgusting actually. The most high spending tourists in Japan are the Asian tourists, who spend incredible amounts on electronics, cosmetics and designer clothes while in Japan. The North American visitors are the most stingy whose sole purpose of going to Japan is either 1. business trip, 2. to get lucky, 3. see Mount Fuji. There is a public report done by the Japanese tourism sector that is available online, do a Google search.
As usual, naus is the guy who doesn't know what he's talking about. Marrying a gaijin (white foreigner) is fine, but marrying a Taiwanese or South Korean? Gimme a break. Japanese bias is against Asians, not Westerners.
Asians do a lot of shopping in Japan because their economies are extremely protectionist. Westerners have no reason to buy electronics in Japan - I can get electronics 25% cheaper in New York than in Hong Kong, let alone Japan. With the exception of Singapore and Hong Kong, every other major Asian exporter is protectionist to the hilt, which is why *some* find it worthwhile to buy electronics in Japan, despite the inflated prices prevailing there (which gives you an idea as to how protectionist most Asian countries are).
#50
My little sister took a trip to Japan to celebrate her 30th birthday. But then, she'd played Judo and Karate (one black belt, one brown, I can never remember which), studied the language for two years, and stayed over there with the sister of her sensei. Everyone else I know who went to Japan or China for pleasure was out in that part of the world as either as an expat or the spouse had a series of business meetings in the region. Europe is comfortable territory for Americans (as the U.S. is for Europeans); we can read the signs, easily grasp the rules of the road, and know where to go and what to see. Japan does not meet any of those criteria for most Westerners, and the jet lag is much greater (precisely 12 hour time change for those of us on Eastern Time, vs. 5-8 hours for Europe). On the other hand, I have friends who loved living as expats in Japan for American companies -- they really had the best of both worlds. And they vacationed in all the places .com mentioned. ;-)
Posted by: Tom Dooley ||
07/15/2005 20:50 Comments ||
Top||
#52
As usual, naus is the guy who doesn't know what he's talking about. Marrying a gaijin (white foreigner) is fine, but marrying a Taiwanese or South Korean? Gimme a break. Japanese bias is against Asians, not Westerners.
Asians do a lot of shopping in Japan because their economies are extremely protectionist. Westerners have no reason to buy electronics in Japan - I can get electronics 25% cheaper in New York than in Hong Kong, let alone Japan. With the exception of Singapore and Hong Kong, every other major Asian exporter is protectionist to the hilt, which is why *some* find it worthwhile to buy electronics in Japan, despite the inflated prices prevailing there (which gives you an idea as to how protectionist most Asian countries are).
Hey, genius, you just turned a 360 on the Asian spending in Japan and you tell me I don't know what I'm talking about?
Japanese discrimination of S Koreans, Taiwanese is a economic and social status discrimination, not a racial or civilizational one. It is equivalent to Shanghainese people swearing never to marry non-Shanghainese Chinese (most Shanghainese girls have this priority: 1. white man, 2. Shanghainese man, 3. Japanese/Korean man, 4. Other Chinese). A socioeconomic issue. Other East Asians are Japan's number one source of tourism revenue, most Americans when they go to Japan don't spend any more than they would in the States.
Also the number of Japanese national tourists TO China is nearly 2/3 of Japan's entire annual foreign tourism TO Japan.
All you can do, Zhangfei, is just think in national stereotypes, and it's pathetic.
China's ambassador to Australia says China wants to buy the Northern Territory's uranium, but only if the Territory is willing to sell it. Madame Fu Ying was in Darwin for a major minerals conference. China is experiencing a huge increase in demand for energy and Madame Fu says nuclear power is one way to help meet that demand. But she is aware of the contention surrounding uranium mining. "We respect the problems if the countries have and we hope that it's going to be a comfortable relationship," she said. "So if, if the Northern Territory has the resources and is willing to export, China will be certainly interested."
#1
I'll just bet they are. If there's no immediate positive reply, then the veiled threats begin... Since the ChiComs are about as subtle as a freight train, well, "veiled" will be seen differently than intended. This may be timed to coincide with the "veiled" threats they're currently giving to Howard about the Spy Guy they gave shelter to.
"Of course, you running dog capitalists, there is something you can offer us to make amends for not allowing us to kill the traitorous spy interfering in our private affairs... we hear you have untapped uranium resources..."
#3
There is plenty of Uranium around and it can be obtained from places where its a far less emotional (read Greenie irrational) issue than Australia. This has nothing to do with Uranium and everything to do with coal, iron ore and potentially natural gas. Already Australia can bring China's economy to a grinding halt by shutting off shipments and this will only get worse (for China). Welcome to globalization.
EFL
Cocaine traces have been found at the European Parliament in an inquiry by one of Germany's main broadcasters. Explains a lot about the EU, doesn't it?
The Sat-1 channel sent reporters to take 46 swabs from toilets and other public areas of the Brussels buildings. Nearly all tested positive for cocaine. Busy bees....
But did they find semen?
A European Parliament spokeswoman said cocaine abuse was not a problem among staff working at the buildings. We all have some, it isn't a problem!
A professor who analysed the samples said the amounts found were too great to have been carried in on clothing.
"It simply reflects the fact that cocaine was brought in there," Professor Fritz Sorgel of the Institute for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Research in Nuremberg (IBMP) told the BBC News website.
"The amount was too high and found in too many spots. It shows it was brought in deliberately."
However, he said the results were not so surprising given the widespread use of cocaine in society at large.
As the buildings are cleaned regularly, it appeared that cocaine had been used recently in the places where the traces were found, Mr Sorgel said. Rest at link
The Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission yesterday unanimously granted a request yesterday by a socialist candidate for mayor to conceal the names of his campaign donors from public disclosure.
Chris Hoeppner, a member of the Socialist Workers Party, had sought the exemption, citing a U.S. Supreme Court ruling which found exemptions appropriate if donors to candidates with unpopular political views could reasonably fear harassment if their names were made public.
Though the office of Seattle mayor is nonpartisan, Jim Lobsenz, Hoeppner's attorney, presented evidence that supporters of candidates identifying themselves as socialists have been threatened and harassed in Seattle and across the country.
Though some commissioners expressed discomfort with the notion of hiding donors' identities, they noted the city had already lost a federal court case after the commission denied a similar request by a socialist candidate in 2003. A friend once pulled a stunt on some leftist teachers, by getting special privileges because he was a "socialist" (in a high school election). Only after they had not only given him all sorts of advantages over his opponents, but personally touted the importance of what he was doing to the other students, did he declare himself a "national" socialist. He won the election, so the leftist teachers nullified the outcome, then just decreed that the "democratic" party had won, even though it was fifth in the vote tally.
#2
So in Washington state, you cannot promote ideas or candidates on radio without it being subject to regulation, but if you're a "socialist" you can ignore the most basic requirements of campaign finance law.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
07/15/2005 10:35 Comments ||
Top||
#3
well, in WA, being Dem also entitles you to 48 "Get Out OF Jail Free" cards along with waivers of most election rules....
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/15/2005 11:15 Comments ||
Top||
#4
but wait! theres more!
And you get to have all of your imaginary friends, felons, illegal aliens, and coprses vote for you as well. (at least in King County (Seattle is in King Co)).
The state Supreme Court today struck down an attempt to force a voter referendum on the Legislature's overhaul of voter-approved tax-and-spending limits, with one justice writing in dissent that the majority betrayed "the sacred trust" of the people.
In a 6-3 decision, the high court ruled that an emergency clause slapped on the move by lawmakers was valid. Opponents have argued lawmakers were purposely trying to evade the possibility of a public vote.
"The Washington State Constitution and our jurisprudence dictate that the Legislature may suspend the right of the people to order a referendum on a bill where the bill is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or in support of state government and its existing public institutions," Justice Charles W. Johnson wrote for the majority.
Secretary of State Sam Reed refused to accept the "Saving I-601" referendum because the Legislature had declared its spending revision measure off-limits to a citizen vote.
Referendum 60 sponsors rushed to the high court, seeking an 11th-hour ruling that lawmakers erred in slapping an "emergency clause" on the bill to make it take effect immediately, foreclosing a vote by the people.
The challengers included the Washington Farm Bureau, Washington State Grange, state chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business, the Building Industry Association of Washington and the Evergreen Freedom Foundation. All are fiscally conservative groups.
In a sharply written dissent, Justice Richard B. Sanders wrote that the majority betrayed "the sacred trust the people of this state place in this court."
"A legislature determined to inoculate itself from referendum, a secretary of state determined to violate his statutory and constitutional duty to allow a referendum petition to at least circulate, combined with a supreme court openly hostile to the people's check on the legislature, brews a potent poison to the people's constitutional role in the legislative process," Sanders wrote.
In 1993, voters approved Initiative 601, requiring a two-thirds vote of both houses to raise taxes. The initiative also limited state spending growth to inflation plus population growth.
Over the years, lawmakers have adjusted the measure to allow additional spending.
This year, the Democratic-controlled Legislature passed Senate Bill 6078, revising the spending limits and allowing a simple majority vote on tax and fee hikes this year and next.
The bill included an emergency clause to put it into effect the minute Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire signed it. Democrats then quickly passed a $500 million package of revenue bills to balance the $26 billion, two-year state budget.
Without the emergency clause, which says the legislation was necessary for support of public institutions and safety, the bill wouldn't have taken effect until 90 days after the session ended and citizens could have tried to gather enough signatures to force a statewide vote in November.
In addition to asking the court to force Reed to process the referendum, the groups had asked the court to authorize a new 90-day signature-gathering window, since the deadline to collect about 112,000 signatures would be July 23.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, denying rumors of his retirement, said Thursday he will continue heading the court as long his health permits. "I'm not about to announce my retirement," he said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press. "I want to put to rest the speculation and unfounded rumors of my imminent retirement," said Rehnquist, 80, and ailing with thyroid cancer. "I am not about to announce my retirement. I will continue to perform my duties as chief justice as long as my health permits."
Rehnquist released the statement hours after being released from an Arlington, Va., hospital after being treated for two days with a fever.
"They'll have to pry the gavel from my cold dead hand!"
Posted by: Steve ||
07/15/2005 09:05 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
OK, it's official, they're totally insane. (CNSNews.com) - Young liberals this week flocked to the nation's capital to hear, among other things, liberal television pundit and Democrat political strategist Paul Begala accuse Republicans of wanting to kill him and his children to preserve tax cuts for the rich. Begala was featured at the first-ever Campus Progress National Student Conference, which was designed to provide campus liberals with the tools necessary to fight the conservative movement. The event also drew former President Bill Clinton, for whom Begala once worked as an advisor.
A panel discussion entitled "Winning the War of Ideas" centered on the book of the same name by Thomas Frank and detailed the challenges that Democrats face in persuading voters in the American heartland and elsewhere to embrace their agenda and support their candidates. Begala's presence on the panel created a stir when he declared that Republicans had "done a p***-poor job of defending" the U.S. Republicans, he said, "want to kill us.
"I was driving past the Pentagon when that plane hit" on Sept. 11, 2001. "I had friends on that plane; this is deadly serious to me," Begala said. "They want to kill me and my children if they can. But if they just kill me and not my children, they want my children to be comforted -- that while they didn't protect me because they cut my taxes, my children won't have to pay any money on the money they inherit," Begala said. "That is bulls*** national defense, and we should say that."
The Clinton administration's national security efforts involved the right blend of "experience" and "strength," Begala said, an assertion with which the 9/11 Commission apparently disagreed. In its report, the bipartisan commission stated that "each president considered or authorized covert actions, a process that consumed considerable time -- especially in the Clinton administration -- and achieved little success beyond the collection of intelligence."
Begala also included Republican domestic policies in his sweeping criticism. The GOP, he said, "ain't had a new idea since they opposed Social Security, and guess what, they still do. ... They are beginning to figure out that there is no Soviet Union, but they still want Star Wars to stop it," Begala said.
Mr. Begala hasn't noticed other people besides the Soviet Union have or are building missiles.
"Okay, they are utterly and completely brain-dead," echoing comments earlier this year by Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, who accused Republicans of being "brain dead."
Frank insisted that Republicans are not quite as tough on national security as many Americans think. "Franklin Roosevelt got us in World War II. They dragged the Republicans kicking and screaming. They didn't want to get in that war. They didn't have any problem with Hitler. I won't go so far as to say they thought Hitler rocked. But there were people in America who did, and they didn't want us to get in that war. Democrats have always been just as tough as Republicans once they're in office," Frank said.
Frank did not mention one of the most vocal opponents of U.S. intervention in World War II: Democrat Joseph P. Kennedy, who was one of Roosevelt's top fundraisers, the U.S. ambassador to Great Britain and father of John F. Kennedy, who would later become America's 35th president.
Yeah, they always seem to gloss over that one.
Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., the eldest of the ambassador's sons, wrote his father with his own observations of the global conflict. Hitler's "dislike of the Jews ... was well-founded," the younger Kennedy explained in his letter. "In every revolution, you have to expect some bloodshed. Hitler is building a spirit in his men that could be envied in this country," wrote Kennedy, Jr., expressing an opinion his father shared. "I was very pleased and gratified at your observations of the German situation, and I think your conclusions are very sound," the elder Kennedy replied to his son.
Frank defended his point, however, claiming that Republicans didn't see Hitler as a threat to America until Pearl Harbor. He repeated the Democratic criticism of America's invasion of Iraq. Saddam Hussein "was a horrible (sic), a dictator, a butcher, a tyrant, a mass murderer -- as evil as they come," Frank said, but he added: "I don't think he was a threat to the U.S. at the time." Former Clinton administration Chief of Staff John Podesta told the students that "you can fight hard for what you believe without breaking the law, without cheating and certainly without checking your morals at the door."
Posted by: Steve ||
07/15/2005 08:47 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
A panel discussion entitled "Winning the War of Ideas" centered on the book of the same name by Thomas Frank
It's just a freak'n book tour. Gather around, you stupid little sheep drones, buy my book! $25.00 And get on my mailing list too - so I can just ask you to send me your money to help - The Cause(TM)
#2
Were these people ALWAYS this crazy? Or have eight years of defeats driven them nuts?
Either way, he is right. Time to break out the Raid.
Not because we want to "Preserve Tax Cuts for the Rich", but we have determined that their stupidity is a hazard to themselves and others.
#3
There are some I feel like killing sometimes - but not over tax cuts. Over disregarding the Constitution, over decimating the defense of the country (military and intelligence), over refusal to control our borders. Hmmmm, sounds like maybe the Clinton aides aren't the only ones who might feel worried.
Posted by: I would prefer not to this time ||
07/15/2005 9:41 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Civil wars are nasty. It might help to lower the level of the rhetoric to avoid one, but I only see the Dems, their leadership, and their cheerleading team at the DU and other Soros sponsored sites keep raising the volume. The zero factor is still in play. One shot and it can be 'Bloody Kansas' all over again on a national scale, but it can still be avoided. It appears the right finally is getting some backbone and is probably not going to back down, so it up to the left to pull the trigger to start the games. I suspect that when the dust settles a lot of migration will follow trail of thousands of crown loyalist to Canada and Europe after the War of Independence and thousands of confederates to Mexico and Brazil after the first Civil War.
#5
Franklin Roosevelt got us in World War II. They dragged the Republicans kicking and screaming. They didn't want to get in that war.
As far as that goes, it's true. It leaves out the fact that once we were in the war, the Republicans supported the war effort. Unlike, for example, this war. More people died on 9/11 than at Pearl Harbor, and most of the 9/11 dead were civilians. Yet the Democrats treat this war as if it's optional.
And before someone whines about Iraq not being involved, the first US invasions in WWII were mounted against French territories in Africa. France had not declared war on us, nor we on them, at the time...
I won't get into the Democrats' shameful behavior before, during, and after the Civil War.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
07/15/2005 10:33 Comments ||
Top||
#6
The poor scum just wants to make a buck and continue to feel special and relevant. Personally, I'm sick of the historical blah blah demos did this and pubs did that BS. A partisan recalculating old scores between political parties from sixty years ago using new math adds nothing to anything. He and his ilk have got alot to do with the problems our nation now faces. That is fairly recent and relevant history. He's made it fairly clear that he has got nothing real to offer today. Time for him to piss off and smoke that one in the hookah for a year or two before stepping up to try and snatch some slimelight at the DC clowntime conference for progress.
#7
For a really straightforward description of the inner philosophy of moonbats, I recommend a pre-Civil War book, "Cannibals All: Or, Slaves Without Masters", by George Fitzhugh. In it, Fitzhugh proposes that slavery is not just good, but *so* good, that 9 out of 10 people should be slaves. Of course, the book is written on the assumption that the author, and the reader, are of the "1 in 10" who deserve to be masters, not slaves. He goes on at length about how wonderful the life of a slave is, and how masters must be such fine people, to do all the "real" work to manage the happy slaves beneath them, who only have to do what their masters tell them. In other words, Fitzhugh and Hillary Clinton and company really are no different, intellectually; both in their belief in their own superiority, and their utter disdain and contempt for those they believe are beneath them. Available through Amazon.com
#8
"The Clinton administration's national security efforts involved the right blend of "experience" and "strength.."
Begala went on to say...And Sandy Berger can prove it...oops...guess he's wearing the wrong pants tonight.
#11
And before someone whines about Iraq not being involved, the first US invasions in WWII were mounted against French territories in Africa. France had not declared war on us, nor we on them, at the time...
#13
I am big. The conferences I get invited to got small...
Posted by: Paul Begala ||
07/15/2005 16:24 Comments ||
Top||
#14
"I was driving past the Pentagon when that plane hit" on Sept. 11, 2001. "I had friends on that plane; this is deadly serious to me," Begala said. "They want to kill me and my children if they can. But if they just kill me and not my children, they want my children to be comforted -- that while they didn't protect me because they cut my taxes, my children won't have to pay any money on the money they inherit," Begala said. "That is bulls*** national defense, and we should say that."
....and then a giant spring came out of his head and he started running in circles.
#15
"I was driving past the Pentagon when that plane hit" on Sept. 11, 2001. "I had friends on that plane; this is deadly serious to me," Begala said. "They want to kill me and my children if they can. But if they just kill me and not my children, they want my children to be comforted -- that while they didn't protect me because they cut my taxes, my children won't have to pay any money on the money they inherit," Begala said. "That is bulls*** national defense, and we should say that."
....and then a giant spring came out of his head and he started running in circles.
#17
Hitler, liked most Socialists of the period whether Left-wing or Right-wing, believed in Continetalism and or Mackinder's World Island - read Russia and Asia. His WW1-minded Generals and Admirals were the ones who cared most about attacking and invading England, and targeting Brit cities as opposed to Scapa Flow and destroying the Royal Navy in "decisive battle". Truth be told, iff Adolf's Generals and Admirals had followed his choices in the proper manner, the possib exists that England might had surrendered or sought armistice very early in the war, even before Pearl Harbor, ala VICHY PARIS + VICHY LONDON. Compared to Stalin or Mao, HItler however defective or medic ill was by far the superior war strategist-planner to both.
#18
As for the Demoleft, I have no probs if there Party goes into history, as I sincerely doubt their incessant and perennial Wafflings, Dialecticisims, and professional Policratisms, etc. is what Jefferson, Jackson, or even the early laissez faire Socialists-Utopians had in mind! I can see OLD HICKORY now going ballistic on learning that the Demoleft want America to obey a UNO and world community whose Mandates are NOT to be obeyed except via Media-based propaganda, or not to be obeyed if the POTUS is a Democrat.
Looks like the bribes have FINALLY been paid. Nothing to see here...
JAKARTA (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Friday international aid was flowing smoothly to tsunami-hit areas of Aceh, denying reports of large numbers of containers languishing on Indonesian wharfs. Pay no attention to the large numbers of containers languishing on Indonesian wharfs. Those are for...something else.
Michael Whiting of the UN Joint Logistics Center in Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra island, said early blockages were largely due to the inexperience of many non-government aid groups that flocked to the region after the Dec. 26 disaster.
"It's well within manageable proportions now," Whiting said. Got all the servants up to speed, the gourmet chefs now know the menu, the hookers are ensconsed, the cababa boys know what we drink. All is ready...
"Everyone has been extremely cooperative and we are all focused on the same thing. Get the stuff to the people who need it as quickly as we can," he told Reuters. Tsunami hits December 26, 2004. Today is July 15, 2005. I suppose that is quick work by UN standards.
The international community has pledged billions of dollars in aid to tsunami-hit regions around the Indian Ocean, with the lion's share going to Indonesia. Some media reports in recent weeks have pointed to hold ups in aid delivery. The elimination of red tape and the prevention of corruption has been a major concern for donors in the world's fourth most populous nation. Oh, it said "prevention". I thought it said "preservation". My bad...
Whiting, responsible for aid logistics in Sumatra, said that in April a backlog of some 1,500 containers had built up on the docks at Medan's main Belawan port, but that as of July 12 there were only 300 containers of aid, half of which had been there for only a week. "Everyone was pointing the finger at the Indonesian government," Whiting said of the earlier backlog.
"In fact, when I looked into it, they'd done everything they could to make it work and it pointed more to the lack of logistic capacity in the NGO community. They didn't know what a bill of lading was and so on." Now everything is hunky-dory. Nobody's pocketing any money off of this. Nope. No way.
At the height of the emergency relief effort, there were more than 180 non-government aid groups operating in the isolated Indonesian province. In Aceh's provincial capital Banda Aceh, the man who leads the reconstruction of tsunami-hit areas told reporters the government should also take the blame for aid distribution glitches."The bureaucracy is too complicated and the central government's sense of emergency or sense of crisis is little. We have received many reports on fundings, but it hasn't arrived here yet," said Kuntoro Mangkusubroto. 400,000 dead people, and no sense of crisis? I have real high hopes about this thing.
On Friday, he received a list of reconstruction projects approved by parliament worth almost 4 trillion rupiah ($430 million). The approved government budget for rehabilitation of tsunami-hit areas is at 8.4 trillion rupiah ($900 million) for 2005. The remaining 4.4 trillion rupiah for 2005 will be funneled through government ministries, the reconstruction body said. So hurry up and get us all fixed up. Then SCREW...INFIDELS!
Posted by: Johnny ||
07/15/2005 14:52 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
Should we expect a "stern warning" or a "severe reprimand"?
A United Nations panel has condemned the United States' conviction in 2001 of five Cubans on charges of spying for Cuba, according to a copy of the ruling obtained Thursday by the Associated Press.The ruling by the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention says the United States violated international law. The men were denied full access to evidence and to their lawyers, and "the trial did not take place in the climate of objectivity and impartiality," the ruling said. And I'm sure their lawyers haven't run the appeals up and down the federals courts of course? Finally found someone to buy their bullshit and, surprise, surprise, it's at the UN! Rulings by the panel of five lawyers aren't binding on countries. My how...UN!
Leila Zerrougui, head of the group, said she couldn't comment on the case because the time for a U.S. response hasn't expired. Want a comment Leila? How about "Go piss up a rope"?
The defendants were Geraldo Hernandez, Antonio Guerrero, Ramon Labanino, Fernando Gonzalez and Rene Gonzalez. They were arrested in 1998 and convicted in 2001 on charges of trying to infiltrate U.S. military bases and Cuban exile groups. They are serving prison terms of 15 years to life. Don't get your hopes up boys...
#2
I too would like to criticize the U.S. trial of Cubans for spying: 15 years to life seems too light. Let's make it a legal requirement to execute spies.
Posted by: Neutron Tom ||
07/15/2005 13:32 Comments ||
Top||
After 5 years online railing against the Kyoto idiocy, it looks like I'm going to have to find a new issue. It will be interesting to see which of the signers repudiates it first. My money is on New Zealand or Canada.
AS the G8 Gleneagles summit proved, there is no consensus on how to combat global warming today or tomorrow but the bell now tolls on a decade of illusion.
The Kyoto protocol, with its system of caps, targets and timetables, is being buried with a discretion that conceals one of the great public policy failures in recent decades. Hoax is probably a better word.
Kyoto is collapsing before reality. The politics of global warming is being transformed by two simultaneous events: a recognition that climate change is real and serious and a recognition that the Kyoto methodology has failed as a solution.
This is the significance of the G8 statement on climate change. It is ironic that one of Kyoto's champions, Tony Blair, has broken the news but Blair is a realist and the Gleneagles declaration is the dawn of a new realism.
At his press conference Blair said he wanted leaders to agree that climate change was a problem, that human activity led to greenhouse gas emissions and that emissions had to be stabilised and then reduced. All leaders, including George W. Bush, agreed. But Blair then declared that regardless of how many targets the EU reached, that "if we don't have America, China, India taking the action necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, then we won't solve climate change". Referring to the "fundamental disagreement" over Kyoto, Blair said he hoped the G8 meeting had "put in place a pathway to a new dialogue when Kyoto expires in 2012".
The story is the new dialogue. Neither Blair nor the Gleneagles statement affirmed an extension of Kyoto's targets as the post-2012 solution and the anger from sections of the green lobby is palpable. Everyone knows why Kyoto is fading -- the US, India and, to a lesser extent, China, the three economies that will dominate the coming century, won't wear the legally binding Kyoto system.
The demise of Kyoto is a symbol of the transfer of global power from Europe to the Asia-Pacific region where China and the US are located. The idea that the Kyoto system, sanctified by Europe's leaders, sustained by the public's idealism and driven by the greens, would work on a global basis was always flawed.
The European world view is in decline and Kyoto is a monument to Europe's magnificent cleverness, its use of soft power and its blind faith in regulation and controls.
Australian Environment Minister Ian Campbell, in a matter-of-fact tone, told me: "I think there is a pretty clear international recognition now that any chance of going ahead with the Kyoto system of caps, targets and timetables is destined to failure.
"I don't think there is much doubt, frankly, about the science of global warming. The great challenge is to reduce emissions by probably about 50 per cent sometime this century. The only system that will have international support to achieve this after 2012 will be one that does not include country-specific targets and timetables.
"The Kyoto targets and timetables are not effective. In Australia we allowed the debate to polarise around Kyoto. But the real debate now is about post-Kyoto and how to get a comprehensive and practical system that limits greenhouse gas emissions. What's actually happening is that Tony Blair and other nations have moved closer to the US position that the answer must be found in technology and this is reflected in the G8 climate statement."
Campbell says the global challenge is how to have both "economic expansion and lower greenhouse emissions".
During the past nine months there have been two meetings that signalled the new direction. The first was the UN annual climate change meeting in Argentina in December 2004 and the second was the ministerial meeting convened by Blair earlier this year as a prelude to the G8.
The EU's relentless push for tougher emission targets after the 2008-12 Kyoto period has run into insuperable opposition from the US and the developing world. It is agreed that the post-2012 system must be global and not just confined to the rich nations. That gives the big energy users such as the US, China and India great leverage over the methodology.
Developing nations pledged to high levels of economic growth to destroy poverty and improve incomes reject the campaign by rich EU nations to impose legally binding emission caps that involve a surrender of sovereignty at considerable economic cost.
The media orthodoxy that the US and Australia are isolated in refusing to embrace Kyoto is now obsolete. Whether it was ever accurate is debatable. There was only one reason for Australia to sign and that was to boost its clout for the post-2012 negotiations and this argument may no longer apply.
The rearguard action to salvage Kyoto will be waged by some European nations, the green lobby and sections of the scientific community but their cause seems forlorn.
It is known that the 2008-12 Kyoto system won't deliver. Global emissions are likely to rise about 30 per cent in this period. Even if all the Kyoto nations meet their targets the increase would still be 28-29 per cent. In fact, not all nations will meet these targets. Canada, having made foolish pledges, is in trouble. But the EU should meet its overall target.
Blair's G8 meeting has begun to identity the new common ground. The US is accepting the reality of global warming and China is accepting the reality that developing nations must be part of the solution.
The future solution will be different from Kyoto. It will be universal. It will involve less "top-down" prescription and more "bottom-up" practical applications. There will be a greater emphasis on innovation, cleaner technologies and lower emitting energy sources. There may well be timetables but they are going to be voluntary, not binding and yes, the new global consensus is a long way off.
#1
"a recognition that climate change is real and serious"
-Story Author
"I don't think there is much doubt, frankly, about the science of global warming. The great challenge is to reduce emissions by probably about 50 per cent sometime this century. The only system that will have international support to achieve this after 2012 will be one that does not include country-specific targets and timetables." ... [More wishy-washy handwringing blah, blah, blah.]
-Australian Environment Minister Ian Campbell
Frankly, there is doubt, you twit. Once the Kool Aid is swallowed and once your job is dependent upon maintaining the fiction, nothing will disuade these bumpkins from muttering the mantras. I'm seriously disappointed with the majority of scientists who do NOT buy into this hyperventilating hogwash for not continuing to denounce it. They did a few times early on, but have sat on their collective hands for the last couple of years - prolly trying to get in on the grant money. Gutless turds. That it's dying is good. That it's happening solely because of the suicidal economics [and US resistance] is unsatisfactory.
#2
Well I know one the "models" that these global warming frauds must not know, the models are bogus.
Computers can do (1)calculations like solve for X and (2)store and retrive data, that is all they can do. They can pilot a aircraft accurately using 1 and 2, they can even run my engine in my car. All that is based on factual and completely understood mathmatical processes, "Modeling climate" asks the computer to make asumptions. Computers can't make asumptions very well. I would not trust them with my life if they were doing so. I certainly will not trust them to tell me about the climate in the future or even past, using totally incomplete data sets and flawed, incomplete mathmatical processes. Every "scientist" that peddles "global warming" is on the make for grant money and jobs, period, full stop. It's crap science by crappy scientists.
#3
I do think human CO2 emissions are (tending to) warming the climate, although I am deeply sceptical that this effect is detectable above the 'noise' in the system (i.e. no one knows if measured climate changes result from CO2 emissions or other causes).
The issues with Kyoto are; the 'results' of global warming are mostly alarmist claptrap, the mechanism proposed - reducing CO2 emissions - was clearly unworkable (without massive numbers of nuclear power stations) to anyone with an ounce of brainpower, and were climate warming ever to become a real problem, its clear we can cool the climate on far shorter timescales than CO2 warms it.
We don't know the future climate changes, Kyoto has no chance of making any difference (and is enormously expensive) and there are much better solutions should we ever have a real problem. Another UN save the world scheme bites the dust. Shame it took us so long to get there.
#5
Even if there is a warming trend, man made or natural, none of these scientists or environmental dudes have ever explained why they believe it to be a catastrophy. The rise in temperature could just as well increase rainfall and lengthen the growing season. CO2 is plant food. The resulting increase in food production could help millions.
#10
"BUT the EU shouls meet its overall target."
And I will be driving an electric car that goes 1,000 miles before needing to recharge by next Christmas.
There are only a couple of EU countries that have come close to reducing their emissions and Britain is one. France was falling behind most everyone else in the EU.
Posted by: Stephen ||
07/15/2005 19:49 Comments ||
Top||
#11
The irony here is France gets 90% of its electricity from non-CO2 emitting sources, mostly nuclear. Hence its ability to substitute is limited. Britain has been substituting gas for coal. Most of the EU 'savings result from shutting down smokestack industries particularly in the ex-communist countries. That process appears to be running out of stuff to shutdown and the UK has run out of coal to substitute. Hence EU emissions will rise from here on.
#12
"I don't think there is much doubt, frankly, about the science of global warming
Lying grant whores, eco-terrorists, and lilliputians trying to saddle the US economy do not a consensus make. The science is NOT proven. The theory and solutions proposed would restrict the US while allowing China free rein to pollute at will. Antiamericanism, moral screeching and pop-science. In 25 or so years (when the natural climate cycle reverses) all will be discredited - I'll put money on it that the science horde will develop collective amnesia (remember th ecoming ice age?) - maybe they could study that? Only if grants are available, I bet
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/15/2005 22:06 Comments ||
Top||
THE deaths of three people in one family from suspected bird flu has prompted fears of the first human-to-human transmission of the deadly virus in Indonesia.
If confirmed, the deaths of a father and two young daughters in Tangerang on the outskirts of Jakarta, would be the first from avian influenza in the world's fourth most populous nation.
"We suspect (the deaths) were caused by bird flu," Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari said today.
She said the first girl died several days ago and was already buried, but tests on the other girl and the father had been conducted.
"The second test showed there are signs this may be caused by avian influenza," Supari said.
She said authorities were concerned about possible human-to-human transmission as there was no evidence of contact with poultry.
"The first test showed negative for the H5N1 virus, then we conducted a second test, which showed signs of the H5N1 virus," said Supari.
She said more samples were being sent to a laboratory in Hong Kong for testing and results should be known within a week.
Authorities have taken blood samples of 315 people who had contact with the family. The mother of the two girls, aged one year and eight years old, was among those under observation, but so far she appeared healthy.
Last month, Indonesia reported its first human case in a poultry worker, but the man did not develop symptoms and is healthy.
Bird flu has killed 40 people in Vietnam -- half of them since the H5N1 virus returned in December, state-run media said yesterday.
Avian influenza, which arrived in Asia in late 2003, has also killed 12 Thais and four Cambodians. Millions of fowl have been slaughtered across the region in efforts to stamp out the virus.
#1
The significance of this, is that cross border transmission (of H5N1) is a/the pandemic red flag.
I follow these things closely and a family travelling to HK and India both of which are not reporting current H5N1 human transmission and then becoming infected means its prevalent one in one of those places. The chances they acquired this in Indonesia are minimal.
#2
I'm getting started on my pandemic preparations. Already got Tamiflu doses for myself and my family. The family doctor didn't blink when my wife asked for the prescription.
The United States is close to testing a new missile aimed at destroying deep bunkers where suspected weapons of mass destruction are stored, the a British science magazine has reported.
Four prototypes of the new "bunker-buster" will be tested later this year by Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control of Dallas, Texas, which are working with US Navy scientists on behalf of the Pentagon's Threat Reduction Agency, it says.
Traditional bunker bombs are streamlined bombs whose sheer weight enables them to force through soil, rock or concrete before they detonate.
The new design is different, the report, in next Saturday's issue of New Scientist, says.
The missile has a blunt nose that, combined with high velocity, creates a bubble of air in front of the weapon. The idea is that the bubble forces earth out to the sides as the missile descends, creating a cavity that the weapon can slide through.
The warhead could thus reach much deeper buried structures than conventional bunker-busters, the inventors hope.
The principle for the weapon comes from a new generation of high-speed torpedoes, which create a gas bubble around themselves called a supercavity.
A Russian torpedo of this kind, called Shkval, can move through the water at 360 kilometers (225 miles) per hour because it is essentially moving through water vapour rather than water, and resistance is thus very low.
"Lockheed Martin hopes the supercavitating missile will reach 10 times the depth of the current air-force record holder, the huge BLU-113 bunker-buster, which can break through seven metres of concrete (22.7 feet) or 30 metresfeet) of earth," New Scientist says.
In addition, the new weapon could carry more explosives than its predecessors.
The BLU-133 needs a thick casing to resist friction, but a supercavitating missiles could have a thin casing, leaving more space for explosives or incendiaries.
The Pentagon wants an incendiary payload in order to incinerate chemical or biological weapons, the report says.
#2
sounds good except for crystalline rock formations - I can't see how that gas shield would eject rock along the warhead path...then again - burying the whole disrupted and leaking radioactive mess in a rubble filled cavern would work fine for me, thankyouverymuch
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/15/2005 22:22 Comments ||
Top||
King County sheriff's detectives are investigating the owners of an Enumclaw-area farm after a Seattle man died from injuries sustained while having sex with a horse boarded on the property.
Investigators first learned of the farm after the man died at Enumclaw Community Hospital July 2. The county Medical Examiner's Office ruled that the death was accidental and the result of having sex with a horse.
A surveillance camera picked up the license plate of the car that dropped the man off at the hospital, which led detectives to the farm and other people involved, said sheriff's Sgt. John Urquhart.
Deputies don't believe a crime occurred because bestiality is not illegal in Washington state and the horse was uninjured, said Urquhart.
But because investigators found chickens, goats and sheep on the property, they are looking into whether animal cruelty â which is a crime â was committed by having sex with these smaller, weaker animals, he said.
The farm was talked about in Internet chat rooms as a destination for people looking to have sex with livestock, he said.
"A significant number of people, we believe, have likely visited this farm," said Urquhart.
The Humane Society of the United States intends to use the case during the next state legislative session as an example of why sex with animals should be outlawed in Washington, said Bob Reder, a Humane Society regional director in Seattle.
"This and a few other cases that we have will allow us a platform to talk about sex abuse of animals," Reder said.
Thirty-three states ban sex with animals, he said.
Susan Michaels, co-founder of local animal-rights organization Pasado's Safe Haven, said she has been fighting to have bestiality made illegal. "It's animal cruelty behind closed doors," Michaels said.
Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com
Notice? No names. A PC paper like the Seattle Times must have a reason.
NEW DELHI, July 15 (AFP) - India's government wants a planned USD 2.2 billion deal for the purchase of 43 passenger aircraft with European plane maker Airbus for state-run domestic carrier Indian Airlines re-examined, the aviation minister said Friday. Heh heh
The Indian Airlines board has already cleared the acquisition of 20 Airbus A-319s, 19 A-321s and four A-320s but the finance ministry is not satisfied the price is the best possible and has blocked the deal.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel now wants a committee of experts to be appointed by India's prime minister to re-examine the issue.
Maybe Airbus throwing a hissy fit when one of the Indian airlines bought Boeing is going to come back to bite them
"I will write to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after he comes back from the United States and then he may appoint a committee," Patel told AFP. The minister said the effort is to ensure "absolute transparency" in the negotiation of prices. Singh is slated to visit the United States from July 18 to 20.
I hear Washington State is beautiful this time of year
Posted by: Steve ||
07/15/2005 13:57 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
FYI - Boeing is now based in Chicago not Seattle. It was based in Seattle but the Washington State Government managed to drive them out..... However they still have plants in Washington State (at least until the unions manage to drive them offshore....).
Keep your hands off my internet, Kofi...
BRUSSELS, Belgium - A U.N. panel created to recommend how the Internet should be run in the future has failed to reach consensus but did agree that no single country should dominate.
The United States stated two weeks ago that it intended to maintain control over the computers that serve as the Internet's principal traffic cops.
In a report released Thursday, the U.N. panel outlined four possible options for the future of Internet governance for world leaders to consider at a November "Information Society" summit.
One option would largely keep the current system intact, with a U.S.-based non-profit organization, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, continuing to handle basic policies over Internet addresses.
At the other end, ICANN would be revamped and new international agencies formed under the auspices of the United Nations. Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...no.
"In the end it will be up to governments, if at all, to decide if there will be any change," said Markus Kummer, executive director of the U.N. Working Group on Internet Governance, which issued the report. The 40 members of the panel hailed from around the world and included representatives from business, academia and government.
World leaders who convened in December 2003 for the U.N. World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva couldn't agree on a structure for Internet governance. Some countries were satisfied with the current arrangement, while others, particularly developing ones, wanted to wrest control from ICANN and place it with an intergovernmental group, possibly under the United Nations. Yeah, right. "Possibly"...
Leaders ducked the issue and directed U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to convene the working group to come up with a proposal for the second and final phase of the summit, in Tunisia in November. Tunisia? Aw, man...what's wrong with Monaco or Tahiti? This could take years...
Though the group could not agree on a single model, it does recommend the creation of a new global forum for governments, industry and others to discuss key issues such as spam and cybercrime â areas not currently handled by ICANN. The panel recommended a larger international role for "governance arrangements," Kummer said, and participants felt no one country should dominate. Wonder what country they were talking about?
He stressed the sentiment dates back to the Geneva summit and was not meant as an attack on the United States or a direct response to the U.S. Department of Commerce statement two weeks ago that it intends to keep ultimate authority for authorizing changes to the list of Internet suffixes, such as ".com." Of course it wasn't. I believe him, don't you?
The United States historically has played that role because it funded much of the Internet's early development. "The group as a whole recognizes that it is clear the U.S. has played a beneficial role," Kummer said. ...but it doesn't mean they like that idea.
ICANN chief executive Paul Twomey said the report confirmed his organization's role. "If the Internet was a postal system, what we ensure is that the addresses on the letters work," he said. "We don't think we're a regulator. We think we're a technical co-ordinator." Twomey said ICANN had a narrow technical coordination role for a particular layer of the Internet â specifically domain names and the numeric Internet Protocol addresses used to identify specific computers.
But ICANN critics believe the organization has drifted beyond its technical mandate. They have cited ICANN's growing budget and its involvement in creating procedures for resolving trademark dispute as examples.
Paul Kane, chairman of a Brussels-based coalition of domain name administrators called the Council of European and National Top-Level Domain Registries, said the report told ICANN diplomatically that it needed to narrow its focus. "Keeping things focused means not having a massive budget, having a well-defined scope and a well-defined mission," Kane said. "They have neither. They're not following their original remit." Ha! Sounds like...the UN maybe, Paul?
Others have expressed concerns that ICANN remains too close to the U.S. government, which gave ICANN its authority in 1998 but retains veto power.
Developing countries have been frustrated that Western countries that got on the Internet first gobbled up most of the available addresses required for computers to connect, leaving developing nations to share a limited supply. And some countries want faster approval of domain names in non-English characters â China even threatened a few years ago to split the Internet in two and set up its own naming system for Chinese. I like it just the way it is, thank you very much...
#1
Yea, I love how the UN wants to take away American hard work and make it availible to everyone else and regulate it. If that isn't communism, nothing is.
Take note Koffi, if other nations don't want to use our internet, tell them to develop their own fucking system and stop trying to regulate and take control of our lives, hard work and free speech.
Fuck off and die.
Now, can we get US out of the UN and the UN out of the US yet?
#2
If the UN can bring the same level of effectiveness, efficiency and professionalism to running the Internet as they have to peace-keeping and disaster relief then I support them completely. And by 'support them completely' I mean offering mockery, ridicule, an occasional kick in the arse and the word NO in a large, helvetica font.
#3
It would be a great way for the UN to gain a chokehold on a significant portion of world commerce ... and then tax it.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/15/2005 12:48 Comments ||
Top||
#4
This is just the UN expanding their nookie-for-food program to 'cyberspace'. They want to control [the distribution of] all the kiddie-porn out there....
#6
They want UN control and UN taxation of teh Web but those are minor thing, they want to be able to regulate what can be on the internet, in short, political censorship. It's about cutting access to information pure and simple. No thanks.
NEW DELHI - India will be unable to commit to greenhouse gas emission targets when the first phase of the Kyoto treaty ends in 2012 as its energy-hungry economy is developing fast, the top UN climate expert said on Thursday.
Under the Kyoto climate change protocol which came into force in February, some developed countries will try to reduce greenhouse gas output by 5.2 percent of 1990 levels by 2008-12. But developing countries such as India and China are exempt from the treatyâs emission targets because they say their economies will take a serious hit if they change their energy policies.
And because they flat out refused to sign unless they were exempted.
As its fuel imports grow and demand for cars surges, experts say India -- whose economy is projected to grow at over six percent annually over the next few years -- could be under pressure to join rich nations in efforts to lower emissions in the next phase of the Kyoto treaty after 2012.
âWe (India) are a large political entity but should we be penalised on that account?â Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the United Nationsâ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, told Reuters in an interview. âPeople here are not responsible for even 1/20th of the extent of the greenhouse gases that, say, someone in North America is probably emitting.â
Pachauri said developed countries had to take the lead in cutting carbon emissions that scientists say are causing the world to heat up. âWe are not historically responsible for this problem. So the first steps have to be taken by those who are historically responsible -- the developed countries.â
"You guys wrote that goofy treaty, don't expect us to play by your silly-assed rules," he added.
âIf the developed countries do nothing and expect us to take the burden, thatâs clearly unacceptable ... we are a large country, a poor country, an energy-scarce country and, therefore, a lower-emitting country in terms of per capita emission.â
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/15/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Makes sense to me. BTW you guys need any B1 bees? We have 30 extra.
From Compass Direct
A Jordanian court of appeal rejected a last-ditch appeal this week from the Muslim guardian fighting for custody of Christian widow Siham Qandahâs two minor children. The June 13 decision reconfirmed an earlier verdict from Ammanâs Al-Abdali Sharia Court two months ago which revoked the legal guardianship of Abdullah al-Muhtadi, the maternal uncle of Qandahâs daughter Rawan and son Fadi. According to Qandahâs lawyer, this final verdict from the appellate court cannot be appealed. It effectively cancels all other pending cases regarding permanent custody of the children, now 16 and 15 years of age.
Al-Muhtadi has been ordered by the court to repay misspent funds he had withdrawn from his wardsâ inheritance accounts without judicial approval. He is also expected to be required to repay several thousand dinars in monthly orphan benefits which he failed to forward over the past 11 years.
Qandah may now select a new guardian for court approval to oversee her childrenâs legal affairs until they reach maturity at age 18. In accordance with Islamic inheritance laws enforced in Jordan, the new guardian also must have a Muslim religious identity. ....
Although born, baptized and raised as Christians, Rawan and Fadi were designated legally as Muslims after their soldier fatherâs death 11 years ago in Kosovo, where he served in the U.N. Peacekeeping Forces. At that time an Islamic court had produced an unsigned âconversionâ certificate claiming that their father had secretly converted to Islam three years before his death. Under Islamic law, this automatically made his minor children Muslims, thus preventing their Christian mother from handling their financial affairs.
So Qandah asked al-Muhtadi, her estranged brother who had converted to Islam as a teenager, to serve as their legal Muslim guardian. But al-Muhtadi gradually began pocketing some of the childrenâs monthly benefits. Later he filed suit to take personal custody of the children, in order to raise them as Muslims. In the process, he withdrew nearly half of their U.N.-allocated trust funds, allegedly to pay lawyersâ fees.
After a four-year court battle, Jordanâs Supreme Islamic Court ruled in al-Muhtadiâs favor in February 2002, ordering Qandah to give her children into his custody. Subsequently, she and her children went into hiding several times to avoid arrest or forced separation. ...
At age 18, each of the children will be permitted to decide whether their official Jordanian identity will be Muslim or Christian. But under Islamic laws of inheritance, their choice to be Christians will require them to forfeit the U.N. trust funds deposited in their name, along with their ongoing orphan benefits from the Jordanian army. ....
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
07/15/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
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.
A male Zimbabwean athlete who won several awards in women's competitions in southern Africa has been sentenced to four years in jail for offensive behaviour, the prosecutor said. Samukeliso Sithole, 18, was arrested in February after a female friend lodged a complaint to police, saying that she had undressed in full view of the athlete, thinking that he was a woman. "He has been convicted of six counts of impairing the dignity of female athletes who undressed in his presence after he made them believe he was a woman," prosecutor Tapfumanei Nkonde told AFP.
(CNSNews.com) - Young liberals this week flocked to the nation's capital to hear, among other things, liberal television pundit and Democrat political strategist Paul Begala accuse Republicans of wanting to kill him and his children to preserve tax cuts for the rich. Begala was featured at the first-ever Campus Progress National Student Conference, which was designed to provide campus liberals with the tools necessary to fight the conservative movement. The event also drew former President Bill Clinton, for whom Begala once worked as an advisor.
NEW DELHI - India will be unable to commit to greenhouse gas emission targets when the first phase of the Kyoto treaty ends in 2012 as its energy-hungry economy is developing fast, the top UN climate expert said on Thursday.
