India and Britain have agreed to cooperate in the field of civilian nuclear energy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Thursday, as the two countries also announced an agreement on jointly developing oil and gas resources.
"We have agreed to cooperate in civilian nuclear energy," Singh said at a press conference after a summit with his British counterpart Tony Blair in the city of Udaipur in India's western desert state of Rajasthan.
"On strategic issues we discussed the vital needs for energy security ... for India's need for atomic energy," Singh said.
"I mentioned to the prime minister that the understanding we reached with President Bush recently would require modification in the rules of the Nuclear Suppliers Group in meeting India's requirements of expanded trade in civilian nuclear areas," he added.
US President George W. Bush during a meeting with Singh in Washington on July 18 agreed to help energy-starved India develop its civilian nuclear energy programme even though New Delhi has not signed the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
The Nuclear Suppliers Group, which comprises about 30 countries including Britain, France and the United States, has in the past excluded assistance to countries that have not signed the NPT but Bush argued that cleaner energy resources including nuclear power were vital for the future of India's economy.
"Britain recognises the need for a supportive international environment to meeting our pressing energy requirements," Singh said during Thursday's press conference in New Delhi. "The prime minister (Blair) was very supportive of India's concerns in this regard."
A statement from the British high commission (embassy) said the accord on oil and gas "will further strengthen India and Britain's links in this sector and lead to greater cooperation".
"The accord will also assist more British and Indian oil and gas firms to develop indigenous oil and gas resources," it added.
At their meeting in Udaipur, Singh and Blair also discussed climate change and global warming, a spokesman for Blair said.
India had stressed it had problems with the Kyoto Protocol to tackle global warming but that New Delhi recognised the need to deal with the issue.
Blair and others are keen to enlist the support of India and China in the battle against climate change due to concerns that any reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by the West will be more than offset by pollution from the booming industries of the emerging economic giants.
Posted by: Oztralian [AKA] God Save The World ||
09/09/2005 11:56 ||
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Illegal immigrants who fail to appear for their trials can now be tried in Absentia. The Arizona Court of Appeals has overturned a lower court ruling in a case involving an illegal immigrant who was charged with drug possession. Juan Lugo posted bail and quickly asked to be deported back to Mexico, which he was. When officials tried to prosecute him in Absentia, they were denied by the lower court.
#3
If I were on the jury, we could have a fair trial and convict him in Tucson. I've gone 6+ years without being called. I got called 3 times in Orange County in 5 years.
Taking a well deserved break from Soylent Green production... Pyongyang, September 7 (KCNA) -- The 5th national sports contest of agricultural workers was held in the pleasure ground at the foot of scenic Moran Hill here from Sept. 1 to 6. The "pleasure ground"?
It drew Korean wrestlers, Taekwon-do players, famous players of swinging, seesaw and Yut game and strong men from farms across the country. They fully displayed national sports technique and skills, special gifts, noble collectivism and sporting morality. Tonight on KCNA, "Legends of SeeSaw"...
The climax of the contest was the Korean wrestling and tug-of-war between the teams of North Phyongan Province and North Hwanghae Province which have had a hot competition since the first matches. The incentive: Winners eat the Losers...
North Phyongan Province came first, North Hwanghae Province second and Pyongyang City third in total points. Our team is red hot, your teams will be shot...
Players from the Namap Co-op Farm in Yomju County, North Phyongan Province won the title in Korean wrestling, players from the Tonam Co-op Farm in Yonan County, South Hwanghae Province in Taekwon-do, players from North Phyongan Province in tug-of-war, players from Ryongchon County, North Phyongan Province in swinging and seesaw and players from Myonggan County, North Hamgyong Province in Yut game. Damn. I had Pyongyang City in the Yut game. And they didn't even cover...
#2
You know, in the sport of Professional Swinging, it has always bothered me that the famous players get all the glory, and nobody pays any attention to those folks doing the pushing. *They* do all the work...
Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
09/09/2005 12:19 Comments ||
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A NEO-NAZI axe murderer who boasted of waging a bloody race war on Melbourne streets will be free within weeks. Dane Sweetman, who bashed Asians and gays, and firebombed synagogues, was granted parole after a hearing in June. It was his first bid for parole and will save him from another five years in jail. Sweetman, 36, will be released from Fulham Prison, Gippsland, on October 3.
He has been behind bars since 1990 when he killed Adelaide man David Noble with an axe at a party to celebrate Adolf Hitler's birthday.
Is David still dead? Just curious.
A year later, on the day he was sentenced in the Supreme Court, he sparked a security furore by plunging a home-made knife into the dock. Sweetman also has convictions for a sex offence, attempted murder, malicious wounding, possessing a pistol, intentionally causing serious injury and assault with a weapon.
But other than that he's fit to be released
The Herald Sun learned of Sweetman's impending release through independent sources.
Adult Parole Board secretary David Provan said releases were not made public unless it was in the public interest, such as the recent freeing of notorious pedophile Brian Keith Jones.
"I mean, what interest could the public have in us setting a Nazi axe-murderer free?"
Mr Provan said the board granted parole to Sweetman so there would be a period in which he could be monitored. A source said Sweetman started his jail term as an uncooperative, violent and foul-mouthed prisoner, but had kept out of trouble in recent years. Another source said Sweetman still believed in the neo-Nazi movement.
The source said Sweetman was a feared individual who, he hoped, would walk from prison a changed man, but had a reputation of contempt for authority. "He has shown contempt for the system. I would not like to be his parole officer," the source said. "I have heard Sweetman is still very feared within the prison system, and still holds true to neo-Nazi views."
Once a Nazi, always a Nazi
The source said Sweetman was known to harbour a hatred of police. Sweetman became a neo-Nazi while in prison in the years before the Noble murder. He and fellow extremists in Pentridge Prison formed a group called The Guard.
Internet references suggest that he may have supporters in the community. On one website where people can post their views about sex, religion and politics, a person has written under the name Dane Sweetman: "I've noticed that letters in the paper in support of the war are usually from Jews in Jewish enclaves. I'd like to see another holocaust. Any takers?" It is highly unlikely Sweetman personally posted the message because prisoners do not have access to the internet.
Sweetman's hate-filled jail diaries said he wanted to kill drug users, doctors, teachers, police, priests, pornographers and homosexuals. He boasted that the day after his 1989 release, he firebombed a synagogue. The next day he attacked a man at a Thornbury halfway house, believing he was gay. He bragged of launching a brutal attack on a woman in Fitzroy because she had an Asian boyfriend.
Sweetman's freedom ended when he and Martin Darren Bayston attacked the English-born Mr Noble at the Hitler birthday celebrations at a Pascoe Vale South house. Things got out of hand when Mr Noble said that they didn't make women like Sweetman's girlfriend in England, and asked if he could borrow her for the night. Sweetman, on bail over the Thornbury assault, responded by embedding an axe in Mr Noble's head. Mr Noble apparently pulled the weapon out and said: "I've got a hammer in my head." Bayston then got a boning knife from the kitchen and stabbed Mr Noble 18 times. His body was left in the backyard until morning when his legs were severed and the remains stuffed in a car boot and dumped near the Yarra River at Kew.
Some devotees of Melbourne's punk scene have long memories of Sweetman.
On the Melbourne Punx Forum website, contributors recently spoke of Sweetman and others trashing a gig at a Melbourne venue and assaulting staff and patrons.
Nice guy. Makes me glad I live in Texas where we know how to deal with people like Sweetman.
Posted by: Oztralian [AKA] God Save The World ||
09/09/2005 11:20 ||
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"Sweetman?" You gotta be kidding me.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/09/2005 13:08 Comments ||
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I look at that picture and I say to myself, "You know, I'll bet that guy's an axe murderer."
Jacques Chirac was released from hospital last night following a week of treatment for a "little vascular accident" that may have been a stroke but will certainly have repercussions for French politics for years to come.
Not that anyone would notice brain damage
The 72-year-old French President had reportedly worked from his sick bed, but when he re-emerged from Val-de-Grace military hospital he faced a media clamour about the excessive secrecy surrounding his health and harsh questions about his political future.
Mr Chirac's infirmity dramatically escalated the intense battle within his centre-right UMP Party for the presidential race in 2007. While commentators pronounced the final end to the veteran politician's possible ambitions for a third term, his protege, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, and rival, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, engaged in a phony war in the press. The pair, who are said to detest each other, brandished their presidential credentials as their head of state remained in hospital.
Popcorn, anyone?
With a broad smile and accompanied by his wife Bernadette, Mr Chirac walked out of hospital unaided yesterday afternoon. He appeared well enough and either heavily tanned or made up as he declared with his characteristic grand hand gestures how proud he was of the French hospital system.
"Ok, wind him up, point him toward the car and hope for the best."
But Mr Chirac appeared to be confused about where the TV cameras were before he announced he was "in good form" and going home to have lunch. He gave no explanation of his malady.
If Jacques can't find a camera for a photo op, nobody's home
Mr Chirac refused to confirm whether he would be well enough to travel to New York next week for a UN summit, but he said his doctors had advised him to go easy for a week.
His health problems were revealed to French citizens the day after he entered hospital and in only the scantest of detail. The Elysee Palace said the admission followed headaches and slight vision problems, loss of motor skills and uncontrolled drooling. But the President's aides, led by his daughter Claude Chirac, drafted the sketchy hospital bulletins on his condition, leading to speculation that he was far sicker than suggested.
Kind of like the last world leader treated in a French military hospital.
Le Monde said the palace was little better than the Kremlin at honestly informing voters of their leader's health. There is a fine French presidential tradition of keeping health complications notoriously secret. Francois Mitterrand's prostate cancer, which eventually killed him, was deliberately concealed from the public by his doctor and Georges Pompidou died of leukemia in office although the palace has insisted he had influenza.
Got to watch out for that flu, killed a lot of Soviet leaders.
Mr Chirac's spell in hospital took on a political life of its own when Mr de Villepin became defacto president. He gave regular vague updates on Mr Chirac's condition and took his place at a ministerial meeting. Conspiracy theorists suggested the Chirac camp was engineering a smooth handover of power to edge out UMP chief Mr Sarkozy.
Having decorators in, looking at new curtains, etc
Mr Sarkozy seized the moment of Mr Chirac's hospitalisation and called for a "rupture" with the politics of the past. He gave a confident interview to Le Monde outlining his plans for a revitalised France.
But the popular Mr Sarkozy has been frustrated by Mr de Villepin's assumption of the presidential mantle. This week Mr de Villepin celebrated 100 days in office and despite initial scepticism voters appeared to have warmed to his hauteur and mild labour reforms. In a blow to Mr Sarkozy it was even openly suggested on French television by Chirac supporter and National Assembly president Jean-Louis Debre that Mr de Villepin would make a fine UMP candidate for the presidency.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/09/2005 13:00 ||
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While commentators pronounced the final end to the veteran politician's possible ambitions for a third term...
Oh, goody! Does this mean they can prosecute him now for his mayor of Paris shenanigans?
Customs officers in Dorohusk, on Poland's border with Ukraine, have made an unusual seizure, confiscating nearly 530 kilogrammes (1,166 pounds) of pods meteorites they found hidden on a Russian-registered truck, officials said Friday. "In total, 529.5 kilogrammes of meteorites were confiscated, including three humanoid-shaped very big ones, weighing 176 kilos, 150 kilos and 80 kilos," Poland's customs service said in a statement. "They probably came from the same place in Siberia where a meteorite crashed in 1947," the statement said.
"Da, ve uncover them in Roswellski"
According to the truck's payload ledgers, its cargo was quartzite, a tough stone composed almost entirely of quartz grains, derived from sandstone. The truck was bound for the Czech Republic.
Posted by: Oztralian [AKA] God Save The World ||
09/09/2005 11:57 ||
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They probably needed them to refuel the Yakusa/ Soviet Woodpecker Grid.
A Florida business owner has been cited by the city of Orlando for displaying several U.S. flags in the windows of her office building â and a religious-freedom law group has gone to bat for her.
According to a statement from Liberty Counsel, Nancy Maddox, the owner of Peacock Home Collection, has been targeted by Orlando's Code Enforcement Bureau because of the small flags hanging on the outside of 15 windows at her home furnishings company. The flags measure no larger than 34 œ inches by 23 inches.
The daughter of a U.S. veteran who served in three wars, Maddox says she wanted to display the flags as a way to honor American military personnel. She says the flags are temporarily displayed on specific days, such as Independence Day, Memorial Day and September 11.
Liberty Counsel says the city has ordered the flag's immediate removal. A violation hearing is scheduled for Sept. 14.
The legal organization has contacted the city citing alleged procedural defects in the citation and warning that the sign ordinance used against Maddox is unconstitutional.
"I am astounded that the city of Orlando would reprimand anyone for displaying the American flag. We should encourage patriotism, not punish it," stated Mathew D. Staver, president and general counsel of Liberty Counsel.
Staver says if the city does not back down, Liberty Counsel will file a federal lawsuit on constitutional grounds.
#3
I personally think it's time to pass a law that says any person attempting to deny any U.S. Citizen or Legal Immigrant the right and ability to fly the U.S. flag, shall be guilty of treason and punished by death. Any local, city or state government that passes any law restricting the flying of the U.S. flag shall be considered to commit insurrection. The members of that body shall then be seized for treason and be punished by death.
I also vote for death by flamethrower, but then I'm a mean and viscious Imperialist Warmonger.
#6
How about it's okay to burn the flag, if you're wrapped in it and we get to set you on fire? I might enjoy that and owning flamethrowers IS legal in my state. Now if I could only find one to buy.
#9
I believe she should be able to hang her flag. But, why the American flag? I am very ashamed of that flag at this time. When we get the faschist unaccountable administration out of there, I will then be proud to display the flag. But I will burn it at every chance until then.
Thanks for your genius Mark Twain.
If you wish to donate, there are links at the original article...
By DEVLIN BARRETT
WASHINGTON -- A new Democratic effort to whip up indignation about the Bush administration's handling of Hurricane Katrina also tried to raise money for Democratic candidates.
Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat and the head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, issued an appeal Thursday urging people to sign an online petition to fire the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency over his handling of the Katrina response.
After an inquiry from the Associated Press, the DSCC quickly pulled down the page and said they would donate to charity any money raised by the anti-FEMA petition.
When recipients clicked on a link to the petition, the top center of the screen _ above the call to "Fire the FEMA director" _ had asked for a donation to the DSCC.
Other DSCC Web pages have the same appeal for contributions, but several do not.
Since Katrina, Democrats have charged Republicans badly botched the response, and some have called for the firing of FEMA chief Michael Brown.
In recent days, Republicans hit back by accusing Democrats of trying to use the human tragedy for political gain. The letter, the GOP said Thursday, was proof.
"It's a disgrace to exploit Hurricane Katrina to raise political funds," said Brian Nick, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
"They should halt this activity because it's way over the line," he said.
DSCC spokesman Phil Singer said: "While the content of the letter is totally valid, it should have never been linked to a Web site that asks people to contribute to political campaigns. We regret it, have removed the letter from our site and will donate any contributions raised as a result of this petition to the Red Cross."
The letter is the latest sign that more than a week after Hurricane Katrina struck, the political fight over what went wrong in the response continues to grow.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has called for an independent commission to probe government failures before and after Katrina, while House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi called Bush "oblivious, in denial, dangerous" in his approach to relief efforts.
Rep. Thomas Reynolds, head of the House Republicans' fund-raising efforts, described Democratic criticism as "reprehensible," saying "this is a tragedy, not an opportunity."
The administration and Republican leaders in Congress are scrambling to launch a number of initiatives to help hurricane refugees and victims, including a new $51 billion aid package.
During the 2004 presidential campaign, some Democrats attacked President Bush for using an image of Sept. 11 devastation in a re-election campaign ad, accusing him of exploiting the tragedy. At the time, Schumer did not join in the criticism.
#3
Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat and the head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, issued an appeal Thursday urging people to sign an online petition to fire the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency over his handling of the Katrina response.
#4
The DNC is *not* taking advice from Karl Rove. They have a new guy, he said he just flew in from Spokane, sez his name is Ralk Evor. Reports say he's brought a lot of new energy to the mission, and has everyone working extra hard to promote Democrat values throughout the nation.
A new Democratic effort to whip up indignation about the Bush administration's handling of Hurricane Katrina also tried to raise money for Democratic candidates.
Sen. Charles Schumer (search), a New York Democrat and the head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, issued an appeal Thursday urging people to sign an online petition to fire the Federal Emergency Management Agency's director over his handling of the Katrina response.
After an inquiry from the Associated Press, the DSCC quickly pulled down the page and said they would give the Red Cross any money raised by the anti-FEMA petition.
When recipients clicked on a link to the petition, the top center of the screen â above the call to "Fire the FEMA director" â had asked for a donation to the DSCC.
Since Katrina, Democrats have contended the GOP administration badly botched the response, and some have called for the firing of FEMA chief Michael Brown.
Republicans hit back by accusing Democrats of trying to use the human tragedy for political gain. The DSCC letter, the GOP said Thursday, was proof.
"It's a disgrace to exploit Hurricane Katrina to raise political funds," said Brian Nick, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
DSCC spokesman Phil Singer said: "While the content of the letter is totally valid, it should never have been linked to a Web site that asks people to contribute to political campaigns."
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/09/2005 15:57 ||
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The dems are beyond disgust at this point. The only hope is their imprisonment and execution.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Hurricane Katrina not only covered New Orleans in toxic goo, it also flushed out a large, vocal and potentially pestilential cadre of First Over-Responders.
Rep. Bob Wexler set the stage just minutes after the first levee burst by accusing President Bush of gross incompetence. Rep. Harold Ford followed shortly after with an artless race-card play, wondering aloud why so many people of color had been stranded.
In time, virtually every Democratic panjandrum found some novel way to politicize the Atlantic typhoon. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton inveigled against the evils of Big Oil. Sen. Edward Kennedy suggested holding a forum on New Orleans' racial and economic tensions -- during John Roberts' Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
There was talk of shutting off future tax cuts, spending hundreds of billions of dollars, firing Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown, recalling all National Guard units from Iraq and revamping the federal government's plans for dealing with terrorist attacks.
Opinions wildly outnumbered facts among the Over-Responders. At one point, Randall Robinson alleged that locals were cannibalizing the bloated and blistered bodies of the city's dead, while rap star Kanye West repeated the urban legend that black looters were described as "looters," while whites were designated as "survivors."
Military expert Celine Dion, seconded by Michael Moore, alleged that the Pentagon had failed to dispatch helicopters to the scene (the helicopters arrived within hours of the hurricane's making landfall).
The three most popular tropes claimed insanely that the 60,000 or so people dispatched by the federal government to lend aid, along with thousands of private citizens who flocked to the Gulf Coast to offer aid and succor, were guided by racist impulses; that they sought only to help affluent whites, leaving the poor (especially blacks) to fend for themselves in the nightmare world of New Orleans; and that George W. Bush was responsible for this explosion of physical and spiritual misery.
These claims, aided by an onslaught of anti-Bush press accounts, failed utterly. A paltry 13 percent of the public believes the president deserves blame for the mess. Nearly two-thirds of those responding to a CNN-Gallup poll said the administration shouldn't fire anybody -- presumably because mere mortals ought not to take the blame for hurricanes.
Let's face it, the political left -- aided and abetted by Pat Buchanan and members of the bed-wetting right -- made utter fools of themselves. Fortunately, the American public showed a surer sense of proportion and a greater knack for leadership.
While powerless politicians thundered, the public took action. Families packed up goods and shipped them to the Gulf Coast. Houses of worship organized fund-raisers. Truckers suspended normal business and headed to the region, offering to transport goods or people. Individual charitable donations exceeded $500 million in the week after the hurricane ripped into Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi.
As if to demonstrate the nonpartisan nature of human decency, Albert Gore Jr., once an almost-president, sent a bus south and brought it back with a load of evacuees, upon whom he and others lavished some old-fashioned Southern hospitality. Meanwhile, fellow Tennessean Bill Frist rolled up his sleeves and delivered free medical care to the sick and wounded.
A friend of mine rented some helicopters and, with the approval of state and federal authorities, launched a series of operations to rescue stranded civilians and deliver humanitarian supplies to squatters trying to stay within the city.
These people, and thousands more like them, didn't wait to fill out forms or organize press conferences. They headed to the scene and asked to help. In so doing, they -- not the political yobbos -- set the tone for post-Katrina America.
We Americans always have measured ourselves by three things: our resilience, our ambition and our determination to do the right thing. Every unexpected setback calls forth strengths and virtues latent in the national character -- special skills we never dreamed would lie within us.
When bad times come, we tell ourselves we can create good times. That's why nobody will care a year from now what House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi had to say this week. She offered nothing constructive.
Instead, in the manner of New Yorkers after Sept. 11, the folks who form our national heart and soul will bury the dead, care for the living and build upon ruined soil the foundations of a revived civilization -- chastened by the big storm, educated by the failures of a culture that spawned looters and cheats, and inspired by the opportunity to say to the large and deadly storm, "Nice try, but you picked on the wrong country."
Tony Snow is the host of the 'Tony Snow Show' on Fox News Radio.
Posted by: Oztralian [AKA] God Save The World ||
09/09/2005 05:14 ||
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There was a 5 earthquake yesterday in the Alps, the epicenter was not far away from where I live, scared the hell out of everybody when houses started to vibrate, with an audible "roar". No damages, apart from lots of falling rocks from the mountains, only one wounded. I shudder to think about a 7.5 earthquake, or any other such displays of nature. This small event helps put Katrina in perspective, IMHO, there really are forces we're powerless against, and can only hope to prevent their worst consequences and cope with the aftermath.
Senior US defence officials have briefed their Indian counterparts on the Patriot-3 anti-missile system, the American side said Friday, as the two countries' military ties continue to grow.
Posted by: john ||
09/09/2005 17:15 ||
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It's a logical relationship, assuming they stop playing kissy-face with the PRC.
"I am Colonel Abbas Fadhil; Tadji Military Base Commander,â Abbas wrote. âOn behalf of myself and all the People of Tadji Military Base; I would like to console the American People and Government for getting this horrible disaster. So we would like to donate 1.000.000 Iraqi Dinars to help the government and the People also I would like to console all the ASTs who helped us rebuilding our country and our Army. We appreciate the American's help and support. Thank you."
#1
Chris Wallace (on Howie Carr's radio show) just stated that he's on his way out as head of FEMA based on his 'failure' w/ Katrina and his resume padding.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/09/2005 15:43 Comments ||
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#4
Mr. Brown is going to turn in his resignation in a week or two, citing 'other opportunities.' GWB will thank him for his loyal service. Repubs will cite him as the single screw-up in the federal end of the system. Donks will cite him as the tip of the iceberg. Nancy Pelosi will screech, Hillary Clinton will plot, Jesse Jackson will sneak, Joe Liebermann will hide, and Rush will bloviate.
There. You don't have to read WaPo now :-)
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/09/2005 17:23 Comments ||
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Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown is being removed from his role managing Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, The Associated Press has learned.
I guess we should wait until we hear from a reliable source
Brown is being sent back to Washington from Baton Rouge, where he was the primary official overseeing the federal government's response to the disaster, according to two federal officials who declined to be identified before the announcement.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/09/2005 13:42 ||
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[...]
What was not anticipated was the way the Hurricane tore at our human divisions.
First out of the gate were the Holy Men of the Cult of Global Warming, who couldnât wait for the first dead to wash up before they declared the Hurricane irrefutable proof of Global Warming and a direct responsibility of George W. Bush.
Next up were the racial ambulance chasers, [...]
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin couldnât stop such junkie armies from destroying much of what was left of the Cityâs medical infrastructure, but he could excuse them, explaining that it was all just people âlooking for something to take the edge off their jones, if you will.â [...]
It wasnât desperation, or insanity, or protest. It was New Orleans, without police.[...]
#1
Worked a convention at the NO convention center in the late 90's. Trade show had 6-7000 attendees from across the nation. An attendee simply walking home a block off Bourbon street was shot in the face for not handing his wallet over quick enough. Never got a chance to even speak let alone resist.
I had watched the local morning news and didn't hear about it the morning after or even the evening after. However word had passed through the attendees very quickly. The bartender who I asked about it already had the theory worked out... goblins sit on a one way street and watch for out of towners to walk down it, circle around the block and pull up on the victims. He told me it was happening every couple of weeks, but usually was just a robbery.
My point? The locals know whats going on, the local news doesn't cover the crime stories until the convention is about to leave town and the police are spread thicker around the French Quarter, but still not in force enough to keep out the goblins.
Scientists are currently tracking a very large flare that occurred on the Sun around 1:40 pm EDT (17:40 UT). The current estimate of the size of the explosion is X-17; that would place the flare as the fifth largest ever observed.
While the blast was not aimed at Earth, the event created a complete blackout of high frequency communications in North and South America. According to the NOAA Space Environment Center, communications used by emergency services along the Gulf Coast may have experienced problems due to this flare.
Low frequency navigation systems may also have experienced a period of significant degradation. Further, they report that agencies impacted by space weather storms may experience disruptions over the next two weeks. These include spacecraft operators, electric power systems, high frequency communications, and low-frequency navigations systems.
The source of the explosion is probably the same sunspot group that erupted in mid-August. Over the past two weeks, this active region produced a series of significant solar eruptions as it made its way around the back side of the Sun (facing away from Earth). More eruptions are expected in the coming days as it rotates back into view.
Solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) -- associated giant clouds of plasma in space -- are the largest explosions in the solar system and can pack the force of a billion megaton nuclear bombs. They are caused by the buildup and sudden release of magnetic stress in the solar atmosphere above the giant magnetic poles we see as sunspots.
The NASA/ESA SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), missed the event due to routine orbit maneuvers and instrument maintenance. Its coronagraphs will be back in operation Friday morning.
Posted by: Oztralian [AKA] God Save The World ||
09/09/2005 11:50 ||
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European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English
will be the official language of the European Union rather than German, which
was the other possibility.
As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded that
English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5- year
phase-in plan that would become known as "Euro-English".
In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c". Sertainly, this will
make the sivil servants jump with joy.
The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of "k". This should klear up
konfusion, and keyboards kan have one less letter.
There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the
troublesome "ph" will be replaced with "f". This will make words like
fotograf 20% shorter.
In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted
to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible.
Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have
always ben a deterent to akurate speling.
Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent "e" in the languag
is disgrasful and it should go away.
By the 4th yer people wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th"
with "z" and "w" with "v".
During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining
"ou" and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil hav a reil sensi bl rite n styl.
Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu
understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru.
Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German like zey vunted in
ze forst plas.
If zis tru Mucky, pleas tel pepl.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
09/09/2005 13:49 Comments ||
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#8
Bush is a dumb wooden marionette, all the moon-bats worthy of their non-aborted DNA (thanks mom!)know that the evil puppet-master-string-pulling supra-duper-genius mastermind Karlinius Rovius Maximus seeded the sun with some spot tek as he was flying over the gulf seeding Katrina with his evil Kyoto-busting Hurricane Dust No. 5. You think that boy can't multi-task?!?!
Crying won't help ya, tin foil won't do ya no good
When Karl comes for ya, ya know you gotta leave the hood. Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah.
Posted by: Abu al-MacSuirtain ||
09/09/2005 14:04 Comments ||
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#9
"Solar Warming" is to blame. I 'll leave it to wiser wits to fit Bush into the blame equation for this one...
#10
Mucky was that you giving him [Cheney] shit in Mississippi yesterday?
I saw that on CSPAN. The clip came with a label saying something like "This feature contains a brief moment of explicit language." I was on the edge of my seat. Was Cheney going to deliver one of his famous expletives? Who was he going to cuss out? But, after a while nothing happened, and the label went away, so I went on with what I was doing, though still wearing the headphones.
Then I heard a fellow saying "Fuck you, Mr. Cheney. Fuck you, Mr. Cheney." It sounded as if he were just walking past, and decided to sound off. A reporter (rather eagerly) asked Cheney if he'd gotten a lot of that, and Cheney said that was the first he'd heard of it. It sounded as if Cheney said, "Must be a fan of John..." and the reporters laughed. But it was Patrick Leahy that Cheney was supposed to have told to fuck off.
#1
This is sad, but I hope this is only an exception.
Through a ML on a totally unrelated topic (fortean lore), I've read a first hand account of a Katrina victim : it was pretty harsh against authorities, both local and federal, whose responses and actions were uncaring and not effective (people being left stranded, sheriffs blocking bridge crossing to dry zones for fear of looting, responsibles leading refugees on "wild goose chases" to get rid of them,...)... but the testimony was clear on one thing, the solidarity of ordinary people, both on scene, during evacuation (such as a flight attendant IIRc giving his shoes to a shoeless evacuee), and on arrival to others States (warm and helpful reception from ordinary texans, as opposed to the searches and lack of empathy from the authorities).
#3
"Oh my...I'm terribly sorry, but it seems we're not zoned for evacuees. See for yourself. Right here in Paragraph XXIV(c), Subsection 9, Clause (w). Chesterwood Hillandale Gardens Estates wishes you the very best, but you'll need to look elsewhere, I'm afraid. And get that mutt out of here before I call the authorities."
#4
Tell them to f-off. I'd like to see them bring this to court.
Posted by: Rafael ||
09/09/2005 12:45 Comments ||
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#5
This is what happens when big gov't libs have even gotten down to the subdivision level. I've heard of numerous homeowners being sued to take down U.S. flags, one here in Atlanta sued a homeowner for having 30 something pink flamingos in her yard. Personally, I understand the ugliness of pink flamingos as yard decor, but it ended up it was from the local High School kids who raised $1 for 9/11 victims for every flamingo they placed. So, you could call in and get them to "flamingo" your neighbor's yard as a joke. I'm on my subdivision's HOA Board, and it truly is amazing the number of stupid rules we have just to keep up property values. Most of the rules are things we just discussed (and took care of) between neighbors just 10-15 years ago. Welcome to suburbia, I guess, but most HOA's have either the choice of NOT enforcing the covenant and/or changing the covenant (by vote), so this can be gotten around. I imagine it would pass 100% too.
Posted by: BA ||
09/09/2005 13:21 Comments ||
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Transcript of Hugh Hewitt's interview with Fox News Major Garrett:
HH: Making an encore appearance, and we're very grateful for it, Major Garrett of Fox News Channel. Major, you certainly made waves yesterday. Perhaps the most reported story in America was yours. You followed up on it tonight. What has your investigation into the Red Cross relationship with the Louisiana Department of Homeland Security revealed today?
MG: A couple of things. First of all, it established on tonight's Special Report, that it wasn't just the Red Cross. It was the Salvation Army. Both agencies, both organizations were ready, prepared, pre-positioned, eager, but were thwarted in their efforts to bring supplies, basic supplies...not everything these people needed, but core supplies to the Superdome, and then eventually, the convention center. Why? Because the New Orleans Department of Homeland Security said look. Our plan is to evacuate these people. Marty Evans, the President and the CEO of the American Red Cross, said on camera...you don't have to believe me. Believe her. You can read her own eyes, saying look. We were told if we came in, we would create an atmosphere that would lead people to stay, and give them the feeling that they should stay. And the state did not want that.
HH: Now you said the New Orleans Department of Homeland Security. Did you mean the Louisiana Department...
MG: I'm sorry. Yes. Louisiana. Right. Because it is a state agency that is answerable to the governor, although the governor did not explicitly make this statement, I'm told so far.
HH: Who made this decision?
MG: I've also asked the Red Cross to create for me, and they've promised to do so, a timeline and a paper trail.
HH: Oh, very good.
MG: Now, they are a bit...they're very eager to put together the timeline. They're a little bit more reluctant about the paper trail, because as they've told me, look. We expect all this stuff to be subpoenaed by Congress very soon. I said well, that's probably true, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't be able to get it.
HH: Exactly.
MG: They said yeah, but look. The issue here, Hugh, is the Red Cross knows it's going to have to deal with Louisiana the next time around. And the next time around. And they're always trying to avoid the appearance of sticking it to somebody, if the political leader in charge feels as if the Red Cross is sticking it to them. So they feel that they're in a bit of a tenuous place.
HH: On the other hand, Major Garrett, they're a quasi-public agency, depending upon the good will of the public for their donations.
MG: Right.
HH: I think the public wants to know.
MG: And I said look. You guys had no problem posting this on your own website. So I just think it's a matter...I said you know, if you want to give it to me, and then put it on your website, that's fine. But just make sure I'm in the loop, because I want to know who said what to whom. And if that's written down anywhere, the public should see it.
HH: And what did the Salvation Army tell you?
MG: The Salvation Army basically said look. We...first of all, both agencies also want to let people know that they've served the needs of thousands of people who got out, and who got out just a little bit to high ground, north of New Orleans. But they couldn't get in to meet those needs. They asked to get in. They were prepared with their...the Salvation Army has these ever-familiar portable kitchen canteens, is what they call them. They can actually make food, produce food on spot, and distribute it there. People line up. We've seen that at hurricanes and other natural disasters. They were ready. Not allowed in. At first, it was this idea that we don't want to create a magnet at the evacuation site. Secondarily, it became an issue of well, there's lots of water, and we can't assure your safety, so on and so forth. Here's another key point, Hugh. I was very specific with the American Red Cross, president and CEO Marty Evans, and said wait. Tell me clearly. Were you prepared to go in before the levees broke? Before water became an issue of any kind? She said absolutely. Were you denied access before the levees broke? She said we were denied access from minute one.
HH: And did they attempt to renew their request to get in after the levees broke, Major Garrett?
MG: Yes. I am told that the timeline indicates a frequent reasking of this question.
HH: And a frequent denial by Louisiana state Department of Homeland Security?
MG: Right. Because as we discussed last night, their system was this is the shelter of last resort. It is an evacuation site, not a services site. And today, in Louisiana, the Louisiana National Guard said look. Here we were. We had four hundred Louisiana National Guard soldiers at the Superdome. Let's do the math here, Hugh. Four hundred National Guard soldiers coping with thirty thousand evacuees.
HH: Right. Right.
MG: And they said, look. The Mayor told all these people to bring three days worth of food and water. Well, not very many people did. So the National Guard did bring in, on its own, palettes of food, water and things. But clearly, it wasn't enough. Clearly, they were overwhelmed. The numbers were staggering. In the end, it was up to 60,000 people that the National Guard had to supervise, or at least try to supervise at these two places, and eventually move out with the buses. Where did the buses come from? They came from FEMA. 1,100 of them were produced in 72 hours, even though as we all saw, buses were under water all over the city, never used.
HH: What is your understanding of what happened at the convention center? Was the National Guard there insufficient force to prevent the allegations of huge brutality and murder?
MG: No. Clearly not. And the situation in the Superdome was tough for the National Guard, because you had people on various different levels of this enormous complex. And four hundred on thirty thousand, I mean, just forget it. It's not possible. You're doing the maximum, but in proportion to the numbers, it's a minimal effort.
HH: So the pre-positioning of resources around New Orleans was abysmal?
MG: Yes. I mean, I think in a word, you have to understand...and Marty Evans of the American Red Cross said look. The failure from my point of view is, and I don't want to second-guess people, but look. You have to have a realistic, executable plan, and then execute the plan for evacuation. They didn't have it.
HH: Now Major Garrett, when you broke this story last night, it immediately sped across the United States. People are aghast, even though there have been hints about it. You mentioned the O'Reilly Factor the night before. It had been on the website. But none of the other networks are carrying this. Why?
MG: Look, I don't know. And believe me, Hugh, this is not the first time in my career I have found myself with my news judgment saying this is an interesting and important story. Where are my colleagues? I don't know if you remember any of the swift boat coverage, but I covered that story more aggressively, more factually, and with more direct response to key questions from the Kerry campaign, than any other television reporter in this country. And I never lost my relationship with the Kerry campaign, because they always knew my questions were hard and tough and fair, but I always gave them a chance to express their opinion.
HH: Now Major Garrett, this morning, Rush...
MG: Everyone was ridiculed about...everyone who covered the swift boat story was an idiot. You know, well, I've been in this position before.
HH: But this morning, Rush made the blanket statement, and I think he's right, that if it is reported on Fox, the other networks will not consider it news. I believe that's because you're crushing them, and they hate to attribute to you guys a head start on something. But this is a huge story of important, national interest.
MG: They don't even have to attribute it to Fox. They can go to the website. They can call Marty Evans, and get her on camera whenever they want. Look, they don't need to talk to me. All they have to do...I mean, Hugh, I've covered a lot of hard stories, and I've done a tremendous amount of hard digging in my journalistic career. I've got to be honest with you. This isn't an example of it. I mean, it was a pretty basic story. Ask a few core questions, get some core answers, read the state documents, add it up.
HH: We're running low on time, Major Garrett. Was the Salvation Army reluctant to confirm to you? Or were they willing?
MG: No. No. I mean, look. Are they advertising it? Are they calling me up? No.
HH: Senior officials at the Salvation Army?
MG: Yeah. Among the most senior people here in Washington, D.C., who are coordinating their efforts across the Gulf region.
HH: And they were ready to go, and they were blocked as well?
MG: Yes.
HH: That's remarkable. Major Garrett, great reporting. I hope we can check in with you again.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/09/2005 10:37 ||
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#1
But... but... but...
Its all BUSHES FAULT! and Karl Rove, and Cheeney and Haliburton and.... Oh and the flies on my dog's back are responsible too! I'm sure they were in on it from day one!.
Posted by: LA DemocRATS ||
09/09/2005 11:21 Comments ||
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#2
From the Mark Steyn article further down the page on the radio-blogger..
On this story, the national media is giving away they don't understand anything about government.
#3
What amazes me about this is that now the usual MSM goons are jumping on board too. Soledad o' Brien was on (CNN) this morning interviewing the Lt. Gov. and he was very quick to point out the same thing..."Look we still are rescuing people, let's wait and place blame later, blah, blah, blah." Soledad continued pushing him, even making snide comments. She said that she's heard from several sources (about the nursing home outside of N.O. where 12-30 people died) now that the Director had called multiple times to get evacuated (even after the storm), but that the State (I assume) continued to turn them down as the "heat" on N.O. was turning up. I already see numerous lawsuits on the Mayor and probably the Gov. too.
Posted by: BA ||
09/09/2005 13:14 Comments ||
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#4
BA -- we can only hope so!
Wow. Having the Red Cross and the Salvation Army on hand would have done A LOT to calm nerves and provide some structure in the emergency situation. It also would have provided proof-positive witness to the gross, criminal incompetence of the government of Louisiana.
#6
ex-lib: Methinks you're right. I have a feeling that if the Feds or even private charities like Red Cross and Salvation Army had been in there, the local/State's would've looked like boobs. And, many are now saying "Well, if you would've fed us, the violence wouldn't have been so bad." Maybe so. Louisiana politics has a LONG track record of corruption, and New Orleans is in the middle of all of dat. Even stuff posted here yesterday about the State and City not being able to come up with matching funds for Fed $ for the levees NUMEROUS times, and yet, the Levee Board felt the need for a new jet, etc. Knowing how Fed $ usually works, the Feds pay 50%+ (sometimes even up to 90% or so), but the local/State has to pony up some matching funds. This didn't happen. In fact, Sen. Mary Landreiu (her brother is the Lt. Gov. of LA) and the other Senator from LA (now gone) were said to be 2 of the most influential Sens. during Clinton. And, yet, they couldn't bring home the bacon? If they'd wanted the money, they could've gotten it. And the money they did get went to stupid stuff like private jets and bike paths ON TOP of the levees.
Posted by: BA ||
09/09/2005 18:17 Comments ||
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The chart topping hip hop rapper star who used a network hurricane fundraiser to charge "George Bush doesn't care about black people" was loudly and lustily booed during last night's NFL kickoff show.
The appearance of Kanye West, who was beamed into the Boston stadium via remote from Los Angeles, received a strongly negative response from the crowd.
"The boos were thunderous and lasted for much of his number," reports the BOSTON GLOBE.
Developing...
Via drudge. I love seeing liberal asshats step in it and then get it shoved in their face.
#4
I think this just shows that racist honky white folk don't care about Kanye West. Which is okay, because up until last week, most racist honky white folk didn't know who Kanye West was...
Posted by: Kanye West ||
09/09/2005 11:17 Comments ||
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#5
also let's the NFL know the guy that sold them on "West is hot hot hot! They'll eat him up!" is a damn fool. Santana yes, West - STFU and go back to your anonymity
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/09/2005 11:24 Comments ||
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#6
The appearance of Kanye West, who was beamed into the Boston stadium via remote from Los Angeles, received a strongly negative response from the crowd.
#15
Kanye West was booed because of his stance on pro-porn, not because of his comments about Bush. You idiots are now in the minority. Bush can't hide behind you ding dongs anymore.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin garnered a ton of publicity with a profanity-laced interview he gave to WWL radio last Thursday, where he blasted President Bush and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco for not coming to rescue his city in time. However, Nagin's most newsworthy comments - where he explained why he didn't use hundreds of city school buses to evacuate his city's flood victims - went almost unnoticed. Turns out, Nagin turned his nose up at the yellow buses, demanding more comfortable Greyhound coaches instead. "I need 500 buses, man," he told WWL. "One of the briefings we had they were talking about getting, you know, public school bus drivers to come down here and bus people out of here." Nagin described his response: "I'm like - you've got to be kidding me. This is a natural disaster. Get every doggone Greyhound bus line in the country and get their asses moving to New Orleans." While Nagin was waiting for his Greyhound fleet, Katrina's floodwaters swamped his school buses, rendering them unusable.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/09/2005 10:05 ||
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#5
I'm like man, you've got to be muthafuckin kiddin' me! This is a natural muthafuckin disaster, so get every muthafuckin Greyhound fuckin bus line in the country to move their muthafuckin asses to New Orleans! Cause my peeps ain't ridin no muthafuckin piece of shit yellow schoolbus. Shit.
Posted by: Andy ||
09/09/2005 11:20 Comments ||
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#6
Um... call me crazy, but if the schoolbus is good enough for kids on an almost weekly basis, aren't they good enough to get people out of the city to prevent drowning?
#8
Sorry Sir, but Greyhound is a private company. On the other hand, those school buses belong to the local department of education, which is typically a government entity.......
#10
I wonder if lawyers are going to be able to turn this into liabilitiy and wrongful death claims against Nagin and the city of NO. The law suits are going to keep the lawyers busy one decase for each month of clean up.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/09/2005 12:22 Comments ||
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#11
Perhaps this is more to the point,
Ray Nagin: School Buses Not Good Enough
Posted by: Gir ||
09/09/2005 12:26 Comments ||
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#12
I heard one of the LSU professors (Traffic Engineer) yesterday talking on Hannity's show (this professor actually wrote part of the City's Evacuation Plan in hurricanes) and he just stated the facts (as engineers are used to doing). He claims the City (alone) had over 300 school buses AND 500 City transportation buses. Assuming you'd actually watched the storm (remember it hit Cat 5 on Saturday after lunch, I believe, even going up to 175+ mph SUSTAINED winds at one point Sat.) and called for evacuation using all of those resources, you could've saved THOUSANDS! I believe someone here at RB did the #s before on the school buses, but here's my rough estimate:
* 450 City buses (assume 90% function; probably low, but this is New Orleans) at say 40 people/bus = 18,000 people (you could probably pack more in if you wanted).
* 270 School buses (again, assuming 90% are functional) at say 30 people/bus (this low too, but I'm being conservative) = 8,100 people
NOW, assume you started this on Saturday. You could've made say at least 2 trips to Baton Rouge, and possibly 3, if you went on in to Sunday. Even if you just planned logistics on Saturday, and made only 1 trip to Baton Rouge (or wherever else) on Sunday, that's still 23,000+ people you wouldn't have had to pick off houses or find their corpses now in their attics. At 2 runs to Baton Rouge (1 round trip, and the 2nd, you'd just stay in Baton Rouge), you could've evacuated 46,000+ peeps. And, that's not including all the cab drivers, etc. that may have helped out. Even if the Mayor's estimate of 20% of the City staying behind (approx. 100,000 people) was right, we all know that not 100% of those people COULDN'T find a way out. Say even 75% for some reason couldn't get out...to save well over 50% of them, just by using the City's own buses would've been impressive. It's even come out now that the Director of the Nat'l Hurricane Center called the Mayor at home on Saturday and told him point blank what this would do to "his" city (and that's when we pretty much knew it would hit N.O. directly or close enough to breech the levees, probably) and even probably told him to evacuate RIGHT THEN! Mayor didn't call for "mandatory" evacuation until Sunday, I believe, only 18 hours before the storm hit.
Posted by: BA ||
09/09/2005 12:35 Comments ||
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#13
Nagin: Beyond stupid.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/09/2005 12:46 Comments ||
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#14
Between the Bus fiasco and the banning of the American Red Cross and Salvation Army, it's almost like Nagin coulda been a Cable TV* executive.
Oh yeah, that's right.
* ...you will be rescued sometime between Monday at 8AM and Friday at 5PM. Or not. Thank you for using NOLA's customer response section.
Posted by: Dave ||
09/09/2005 12:58 Comments ||
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#15
GREAT analogy, Dave!
Posted by: BA ||
09/09/2005 13:05 Comments ||
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#16
LOL Andy, Robert Crawford! Unbelievable. Just a thought, but it would have done a lot to calm the kids to have their families driven to safety by their own SCHOOL BUSES, and would have served to build a sense of community overall. Just a thought . . .
#17
Is it just me or is NAGIN saying GREYHOUND, NOT DUBYA, ACTUALLY CAUSED THE HURRICANE, ORDERED THE LEVEES BLOWN, AND ORDERED A POLICY OF GENOCIDE AGS NO'S BLACK SURVIVORS, ala AL SHARPTON and GUMBO-GATE!???? * Reminds me of when HOMER SIMPSON asked a one-eyed new bartender for a simple clean glass, and the bartender replied, "HERE YOU ARE, YOUR MAJESTY" while sarcastically genuflecting. As a private company that is also a national carrier, theres no law that forbids GREYHOUND, etc. from voluntarily participating or contributing to local emergency planning or operations, free at cost or discount, nor when requested by public authority. NAGIN is basically saying that NO either couldn't afford any type of city contingency plan, or that it wasn't a priority even in the best of times,thus da plans are useless before you even start. Lest we forget, parks full of milyuhns and zilyuhns of long-haul Trailer-Trucks and Vans were also flooded out - methinks between death by drowning or starvation, and riding an uncomfortable 40'+ commercial container to safety, the container will win. Iff soldiers or civies can ride Army Deuce 1/2's, civies can ride industrial Trailer Trucks and other vehi-i-i-ckles.
September 9, 2005: Military UAVs are the latest assets that have been drafted into service for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. The reserve units sent to New Orleans don't have UAVs, so the navy has come forward with UAV support.
Ten Evolution class UAVs are flying out of the New Orleans Naval Air Station to relay photos of the devastation to the Air Force. These "backpack"-size UAVs are being used to assess damage to the region's infrastructure, including damage to oil and gas facilities, dikes, and berms. This is the largest civilian mission for UAVs to date. The Evolution weighs 6.5 pounds, is powered by lithium batteries, and can stay aloft for an hour or two, depending on the mission type. It has a range of at least 10 kilometers and can carry a color TV camera, low-light TV camera, or an infrared (heat sensing camera). The Evolution typically operates at an altitude of 300 feet. The UAV is designed to be simply snapped together and flown within 15 minutes of taking it out of its package and put together. "Flown" through an off-the-shelf laptop computer, it has a hands-off GPS autopilot, so an operator can just set up the flight path and let it go.
In addition, five Silver Fox UAVs equipped with thermal camera were to be shipped into the New Orleans region to search for survivors. The Silver Fox was originally developed by the Navy's Office of Navy Research as a quick fix to give the Navy's a bird's eye view during exercises, and to avoid migrating whales. It was later drafted into service to provide convoy reconnaissance for the Marine Corps during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Vice Chairman of the House Armed Services committee has pushed to get the Silver Fox and other UAVs sent to New Orleans to assist in relief efforts. The Silver Fox also uses off-the-shelf avionics and a hands-off GPS autopilot. The Fox weighs 22 pounds, has a wingspan of 6.5 feet, fuselage length of 4.7 feet, and can be launched by hand or catapult. It carries an infra-red and high-resolution color zoom camera and breaks down to fit into a "super-sized golf bag." Powered by a small gasoline engine, the Fox typically operates at an altitude of around 300 meters with a range of up to 240 kilometers and a max speed of 105 kilometers per hour. It has a flight endurance of 10 hours, but this is expected to increase to 20 or more hours with the JP-8 engine upgrade.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/09/2005 09:48 ||
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Amid the heart-wrenching moments of devastation from deadly hurricane Katrina, there is at least one bright spot. Snowball, a small white dog taken by police from a sobbing little boy as he and his family were boarding a bus at the Superdome, has been located, USA Today reported Thursday.
Snowball is now at the Louisiana SPCA in Gonzalez, La., and will be reunited with his owner, U.S. Department of Agriculture veterinarian Terry Conger told the newspaper. The Humane Society of the United States I find that a little hard to believe. My experience with the HSUS is that they are solely a political extremist group, like PETA, and don't actually help animals. They have nothing to do with the local humane shelters. and the Louisiana SPCA rescued 43 dogs and 16 cats from the Superdome and delivered them to a temporary shelter at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center.
When the police took the dog during the Superdome evacuation, the boy cried "Snowball! Snowball!" until he vomited. At the time authorities said they didn't know where the boy or his dog ended up.
The sad story of Snowball prompted an outpouring of emotion from pet lovers around the country who went on the hunt for the boy and his dog. One woman set up a reward offer to encourage the search for Snowball.
On Thursday, the president of the Humane Society of Southeast Texas in Beaumont blasted officials for not doing enough to take care of the pets of hurricane victims. Wait a minute, there. Nobody loves animals more than I (well, that guy in Seattle does, I guess), but human beings come first. If Cami and some stranger fell into a wash, I know which I'd rescue first.
That said, I question the intelligence of whoever wrote the order to ban all pets. Several people have stated that they stayed behind because they knew that the authorities would not let them take their pets. If you force people to leave their pets behind, some will take the chance and stay with them. In this case, that was a bad choice, but if the floodwall hadn't failed (just the hurricane damage), it would have been the better choice.
#1
My experience with the HSUS is that they are solely a political extremist group, like PETA, and don't actually help animals. They have nothing to do with the local humane shelters.
There are two components to HSUS. One is the advocacy group you mention but there is another part that does quite a bit for animal rescue efforts. I have a friend who has been on the scene at quite a few disasters rescuing pets. She is in NOLA right now. Like many organizations, there are the queen bees and the worker bees.
Posted by: Formerly Dan ||
09/09/2005 10:23 Comments ||
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#2
I stand (well, sit) corrected, and "thank you" to your friend. I would still not contribute to the HSUS, because I fear the money is fungible.
#3
Yeah, put people through additional torment because they can't take the pet. They lost pretty much everything, what's one more thing right? F**king idiots.
Posted by: Rafael ||
09/09/2005 12:57 Comments ||
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#4
I thought that was a bad policy too. For a lot of people, pets are really important. Besides, they tend to improve our sense of humanity--make us better people in a lot of cases. (favorite prayer: "Oh Lord, make me the person my dog thinks I am.")
Anyway, I think it's so terrific that they found Snowball! It was a pathetic story, and I was cringing at the thought of the disruptions in family relationships, and attachment issues sure to surface in the aftermath. A little boy simply does not have the cognitive ability to manage that kind of loss. And did anyone see the video footage of the little dog trying to get into the bus after everyone was loaded? Ouch.
A lot of domesticated animals are still in a bad situation now because of human incompetence (thank you, Gov. Blanco) and I hope anyone that can contribute to the pet-rescue effort will. Hey--and it's another thing that sets us apart from the terrorists. We LIKE dogs. (I don't trust anybody that doesn't like dogs . . . )
#5
Something that Ghandi said rings true: we can tell a lot about a society by how it treats animals (paraphrase).
It's also my opinion that some people shouldn't be allowed to have pets. If you have time to evacuate by car, take the pet with you fer cryin' outloud. But if you do leave it behind, don't leave it in a cage sitting on top of the washer and dryer!
Posted by: Rafael ||
09/09/2005 19:34 Comments ||
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Pulled from story on MoveOn protest. EFL:
Tom Matzzie, Washington director of MoveOn.org Political Action, also focused his criticism on the Bush administration, calling the federal response to Hurricane Katrina "a national disgrace. Blah..blah..blah
Speaking with Cybercast News Service after the event, Matzzie implied that cuts by the Bush administration might have been responsible for the breaching of New Orleans levees. "The administration, OMB (Office of Management and Budget) cut out of the budget, what was it, $71 million in funding for the levee upgrades in Louisiana. OMB is a function of the White House, the OMB director reports to the White House," Matzzie said. "And, that money could have been used to upgrade the levees."
But records Cybercast News Service obtained from the U.S. Senate's Energy and Water Development Subcommittee paint a different picture. According to an analysis of funding for Corps of Engineers projects from fiscal years 2001 through 2005, Louisiana was the top recipient of funding in the country, getting $1.9 billion of the Corps' $22.9 billion budget.The three Corps flood control projects surrounding New Orleans received a total of $391 million in direct funding during that five-year period.
Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), believes there was more than enough money to correct any deficiencies in the levee system, even without funding the Corps of Engineers. But, in his opinion, much of the money was wasted. "Like all the other appropriations bills Energy and Water has been filled with pork," Schatz complained. "It's the nature of the problem in Washington that members of Congress like spending money, especially on pork-barrel projects, and that means that significant national priorities are ignored." CAGW identified nearly $631 million in what it considers pork-barrel projects just in the 2005 Energy and Water Appropriations Act. The group's 2005 "Pig Book" details millions of dollars for such projects that went to Louisiana following the efforts of the state's congressional delegation, especially Democratic U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu and former Republican U.S. Rep. and current Sen. David Vitter.
"$43,813,000 for projects in the state of Senate appropriator Mary Landrieu and the district of House appropriator David Vitter, including: $11,450,000 for the J. Bennett Johnston Waterway ($9,000,000 for construction and $2,450,000 for operation and maintenance," CAGW states. The group also notes that on Jan. 9, 2000, the Washington Post said the waterway "still carries less than 0.1 percent of the commercial traffic on America's government-run river transport system - even though it receives a remarkable 3.4 percent of the system's federal funds." The list of projects CAGW considered wasteful also included $2,000,000 for a "sugar-based ethanol bio-refinery" at Louisiana State University; and $500,000 for "alternative fuel plant construction" in Livingston Parish.
Schatz said he isn't sure if the death and destruction caused by Katrina will cause members of Congress to "wake up and smell the coffee you can't drink in New Orleans anymore. "It is just outrageous," Schatz concluded, "and I don't know [that it's] shocking enough to members that they will actually forego some of their local projects." CAGW is asking members of Congress to sign a pledge not to add extraneous funding to federal relief bills for hurricane victims. Four members of Congress had signed the document as of Thursday. Another eight had expressed their intent to take the pledge, but had not yet returned a signed copy to the CAGW offices.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/09/2005 09:36 ||
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#1
Don't confuse them with the facts, they pull the ones they need out of their asses.
#2
Someone needs to tell that LOUDMOUTH LUNATIC Matzzie to get the FACTS straight be fore he starts spewing his left wing venom.He's probably out golfing on the new course they built w/ that DIPSHIT Landrieu.The money that should have been used for the levees!!
#6
Now people, the Left knows telling the truth is NEVER in it's best interest, so why anyone doesn't assume anything they say is a lie is beyond me. They lie about EVERYTHING so keep that in mind.
#8
I'm really going to believe ANYTHING coming out of the government.
What makes the government a more believable source is that it has to answer to the public. If something in their numbers is inaccurate, someone will probably discover the discrepancy, and a correction will be made.
If MoveOn.org is full of crap, who are they going to be accountable to? The answer is NOBODY.
#9
You and your lost the elections RWS. You have been loosing and the trend has been against you the past 37 years. The future holds more of the same. Wish in one hand and piss in the other RWS. See which one fills up first, loser.
Posted by: ed ||
09/09/2005 23:42 Comments ||
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#10
You and your kind
Posted by: ed ||
09/09/2005 23:43 Comments ||
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Published at the "Small Dead Animals" blog; EFL; go read it all. It's moving and inspiring.
Woody was on the road traveling last Thursday when he saw the plight of people in New Orleans, . . . and last Friday he decided he could not sit still any more.
He borrowed his wife's SUV, he took off on the road with a lot very large coolers, he does big cookouts at times, and two large tables on the top of the SUV. He purchased hundreds of pounds of lunch meat, large containers of sandwich spread and loaves of bread. Then he filled the coolers with hundreds of bottles of water. Friday night Woody checked into a hotel part way to Louisiana and set up an assembly line to make sandwiches, he spent nine hours building sandwiches and developed a good case of sandwich elbow. He had every thing cooled down and Saturday afternoon he was on the highway in Louisiana mixing in with large relief convoys of Tahoe's, Expeditions and Suburbans flying down the road over eighty miles per hour. They passed a number of military convoys loaded with all sorts of heavy equipment, he said that the road of full of workers and soldiers heading towards New Orleans.
Woody made it through the first road block tucked into a group of government vehicles as he was just waved right on by. The second road block of Highway patrolmen stopped him and saw he was loaded with coolers and he told them he was with the group and he was passed through. At the third road block just out of New Orleans he was stopped and asked for an identification badge, he tried to bluff by searching around his SUV, the Patrolman than ask him again who he really was and his reply was "I am just a crazy guy from Texas with a truck load of sandwiches and water" and offered him a sandwich. The patrolman looked at him like he was crazy and then he told him to pull out and drive on down the street. There he was stopped again at a gathering of large number of highway patrol cars and patrolmen.
When Woody told them what he was doing, they asked around and one of the men in charge told him that there was a bus breakdown at a church a few blocks away and that they could use some food. . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
09/09/2005 07:25 ||
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The Navy's newest destroyer brings stealth to the high seas--and may mark the return of the gun to naval combat.
by Michael Goldfarb, The Weekly Standard Emphasis added; EFL'd to get to the good part; go read the whole thing.
. . . The Navy's next-generation destroyer, the DD(X), will be armed with a battery of two 155mm Advance Gun Systems that will offer a spectacular improvement over its predecessors in range, accuracy, and rate of fire. The DD(X) may, in fact, portend the reemergence of the gun as the primary weapon of the fleet. . . . At the dawn of the 21st century, the Navy's primary antisurface gun battery consists of one 5-inch gun with a range of 13 nautical miles. But if the Navy sticks to its schedule, by 2012 two DD(X) ships will be operational, each armed with a battery of two 155mm (6.1-inch) Advanced Gun Systems with a range of no less than 68 miles. . . .
Critics of the AGS point out that accuracy of fire may be less important than the volume of fire when softening up onshore targets for an amphibious assault, but because the DD(X) can be replenished while at sea (and while firing), she will be able to fire at least one gun continuously for an indefinite amount of time. In addition, each gun will be capable of putting up to eight rounds on a target simultaneously. To achieve this effect, shells will be fired in rapid succession at different trajectories. In conjunction with the counter-battery capability of the dual band radar, any enemy troops who fire on U.S. forces will have only minutes before the 2 guns of DD(X) can return fire with devastating accuracy: Tests have shown the guns accurate to within two meters at a range of 68 nautical miles. . . .
All of the technologies discussed so far have already been successfully tested, but the DD(X) is also designed to allow for the rapid deployment of technologies still in the pipeline. The Navy hopes to fit these ships with an electromagnetic rail gun by 2020. The rail gun would be capable of firing a guided projectile up to 267 nautical miles, which would put all of North Korea into range from either coast of that peninsula (or, to take another theoretical example, allow the Navy to bombard Paris from the English Channel). . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
09/09/2005 06:55 ||
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#1
Mike, thanks for the chop job.
This is a giant step for navy and woefully needed.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/09/2005 8:06 Comments ||
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The first DDX with a railgun should be named the Robert Anson Heinlein.
#4
#2 The first DDX with a railgun should be named the Robert Anson Heinlein.
Or maybe the Dr Jerry Pournelle. One thing I do like in the AGS is the adoption of the 155MM bore size. This should allow the use of common projectiles with the Army's Paladin mobile guns to a point.
#6
I am worried about this ship. I've been reading some very harsh reviews about procurement, design and construction.
The bottom line is that the ship, while good, is just to freaking expensive, too few can be produced, and quality control at the shipyard is awful. In addition, its power system has been *changed* mid-development, which is a cardinal whoopsie in shipbuilding.
#7
Anybody have any idea how it could be as accurate as 2 m over 68 miles? That doesn't seem possible with cross winds and eddies unless self guiding munitions are used.
Posted by: DO ||
09/09/2005 11:42 Comments ||
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Of course the AGS should hopefully be able to be retro fitted into any of the current surface combatants.
#9
At that range, they will be GPS guided, rocket assisted projectiles. At one time, the Navy was talking about 100 mile ranges. Expensive (Army's Excalibur GPS guided 155mm round is expected to cost $50,000), just not as expensive as missiles.
Posted by: ed ||
09/09/2005 11:54 Comments ||
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I'm all for stealth technology, but it seems that since stealth came along, military toys have been getting decidedly uglier instead of sleeker and cooler looking. Just compare an F-16 with an F-117 or an Arleigh Burke with the DD(X). Oh well, the price of progress.
#13
Return of big naval artillery? Pleaaaaase! Your average battleship fired shells who were 15 to 20 times heavier and they had not two but eight guns.
There are reports of Tiger tanks upturned by close misses of battleship shells after D-Day. Think in this: sixty tons of steel being pushed aside and upturned by a close miss
Now what would be nice, would be having the Uss New Jersey beng reequipped with the 406mm version of this gun.
#15
I remember years ago, seeing a beautiful video of a 16" round landing on the side of a large hill in Lebanon, lifting up the whole side of that large hill and shaking it really hard. Took out four well-spaced artillery positions.
#16
HHHmmmmmmm. a five-incher is a five-incher, but is now too politically incorrect to call a six-point-one incher a "six-inch gun"!? It makes me laugh that Nelson kicked the asses of the French fleet all around the world but both the RN and USN have to become metric.
#17
HHHmmmmmmm. a five-incher is a five-incher, but is now too politically incorrect to call a six-point-one incher a "six-inch gun"!? It makes me laugh that Nelson kicked the asses of the French fleet all around the world but both the RN and USN have to become metric.
True, but at least you have to admit that the metric system makes a lot more sense strictly from a logical viewpoint. Besides it really is the only legal system of measure in the USA. The inch is officially described as 25.4MM
As Hurricane Katrina evacuees prepare to attend school in cities such as San Antonio, Texas, there is word that the death toll from Katrina may be less than had been feared. But as of Thursday -- a week and a half after the hurricane hit the U.S. Gulf Coast -- there still are no definitive numbers.
Estimates had run as high as 10,000 dead in New Orleans, but the actual body count so far is lower than that and officials who had feared the worst now hope the terrible predictions were wrong.
The recovery of Katrina's victims speeded up in the last two days.
Searchers are now going door-to-door in the New Orleans neighborhoods where the water has fallen enough to look inside flooded homes.
In what may be their last peaceful pass before they get tough, rescuers were finding many stragglers finally ready to flee the filthy water and the stench of death in New Orleans.
"Some are finally saying, 'I've had enough'," said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Michael Keegan. "They're getting dehydrated. They are running out of food. There are human remains in different houses. The smells mess with your psyche."
The job of carrying out the mayor's evacuation order was left largely to the 1,000 or so remaining members of New Orleans' beleaguered police force.
"We are not going to be rough," said Police Chief Eddie Compass. "We are going to be sensitive. We are going to use the minimum amount of force."
By Thursday, Mississippi had recorded 201 deaths and Louisiana 83, and other states had much lower numbers.
In Mississippi teams have been recovering bodies since hours after the storm struck on Monday last week.
The results in both places have encouraged some officials to hope the body count may not reach the predicted heights.
"I am thinking we are better off than we thought we'd be," said Louisiana state Sen. Walter Boasso, who represents St. Bernard Parish near New Orleans, parts of which still sit under more than two metres of water.
The authorities are ready in case the number of deaths rises dramatically. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has brought 25,000 body bags to the Gulf region.
A morgue in St. Gabriel, Louisiana, is capable of processing 140 corpses a day and officials planned to handle more than 5,000 bodies.
When a hurricane strikes, local officials usually announce death tolls within days as searchers retrieve bodies from crushed buildings and crumpled cars.
New Orleans is different. The flood waters in the city sit stagnant in low-lying areas, preventing rescue crews from searching thousands of houses that are up to their eaves in polluted water.
In the first week after the disaster, officials and politicians discussed the possible death toll reluctantly, often only after being pressed by journalists.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin suggested as high as 10,000 under such questioning. Louisiana U.S. Sen. David Vitter said his "guesses" started at 10,000, but made it clear he had no factual basis for saying that.
Clusters of corpses have been found in some areas. In St. Bernard Parish, east of New Orleans, at least 32 deaths were confirmed at one nursing home. But there have been few instances of this type of thing.
Hundreds of thousands fled the Gulf coast before the storm, spurred by "mandatory" evacuation orders, which in the United States are not enforced by police.
Rescuers plucked thousands more from streets, levees, roads and rooftops. At least 32,000 were rescued and another 70,000 were evacuated from New Orleans after the storm, according to official figures.
Some feared thousands were trapped in attics and would succumb to the water or the heat. But rescuers later found many damaged roofs where residents chopped through with axes.
In Mississippi Gulf towns, there is little stench of death compared to devastated regions of Indonesia after the tsunami.
In the rural areas east of St. Bernard Parish, some bodies will never be found because alligators will have taken them away, locals said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/09/2005 00:46 ||
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The determined are always fast; but the scared are quicker!!
#2
The authorities are ready in case the number of deaths rises dramatically. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has brought 25,000 body bags to the Gulf region.
I really wish the press would stop getting woodies over large numbers of body bags. The reality is that it doesn't take much space or energy to move LOTS of body bags, and if you're sending 1,000, you may as well send 10,000.
But, hey, I guess what modern "reporters" do is easier than jobs that require physical or mental effort.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
09/09/2005 8:34 Comments ||
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Now we will be having an orgy of handwringing over the number of dead, as if keeping an accurate count and blaming someone will bring anyone back to life. Caring for the survivors, cleaning up the mess & making new arrangements for civil defense are far more important stories.
#5
All those wetting themselves over the 25K body bags are probably the same ones who got hard ons over the number of body bags sent to the Gulf in '91. In truth like Crawford says the shipping of 10K was most likely as easy as 1K, possibly even easier. But I have one question. Out of the total poulation of the NO metro area in any given week just what are the total number of deaths from natural causes anyways? And the question is not to make light of the deaths of any of the one who died in Katrina
#6
As an aside, body bags are used for lots of things other than bodies. Think large trash bags with zippers and you know what I mean.
Granted, they are a tad pricier than "hefties", but if you're not the one paying for them...
As New Orleans descended into chaos last week and Louisiana's governor asked for 40,000 soldiers, President Bush's senior advisers debated whether the president should speed the arrival of active-duty troops by seizing control of the hurricane relief mission from the governor.
For reasons of practicality and politics, officials at the Justice Department and the Pentagon, and then at the White House, decided not to urge Mr. Bush to take command of the effort. Instead, the Washington officials decided to rely on the growing number of National Guard personnel flowing into Louisiana, who were under Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco's control.
The debate began after officials realized that Hurricane Katrina had exposed a critical flaw in the national disaster response plans created after the Sept. 11 attacks. According to the administration's senior domestic security officials, the plan failed to recognize that local police, fire and medical personnel might be incapacitated.
As criticism of the response to Hurricane Katrina has mounted, one of the most pointed questions has been why more troops were not available more quickly to restore order and offer aid. Interviews with officials in Washington and Louisiana show that as the situation grew worse, they were wrangling with questions of federal/state authority, weighing the realities of military logistics and perhaps talking past each other in the crisis.
To seize control of the mission, Mr. Bush would have had to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows the president in times of unrest to command active-duty forces into the states to perform law enforcement duties. But decision makers in Washington felt certain that Ms. Blanco would have resisted surrendering control, as Bush administration officials believe would have been required to deploy active-duty combat forces before law and order had been re-established.
While combat troops can conduct relief missions without the legal authority of the Insurrection Act, Pentagon and military officials say that no active-duty forces could have been sent into the chaos of New Orleans on Wednesday or Thursday without confronting law-and-order challenges.
But just as important to the administration were worries about the message that would have been sent by a president ousting a Southern governor of another party from command of her National Guard, according to administration, Pentagon and Justice Department officials.
"Can you imagine how it would have been perceived if a president of the United States of one party had pre-emptively taken from the female governor of another party the command and control of her forces, unless the security situation made it completely clear that she was unable to effectively execute her command authority and that lawlessness was the inevitable result?" asked one senior administration official, who spoke anonymously because the talks were confidential.
Officials in Louisiana agree that the governor would not have given up control over National Guard troops in her state as would have been required to send large numbers of active-duty soldiers into the area. But they also say they were desperate and would have welcomed assistance by active-duty soldiers.
"I need everything you have got," Ms. Blanco said she told Mr. Bush last Monday, after the storm hit.
In an interview, she acknowledged that she did not specify what sorts of soldiers. "Nobody told me that I had to request that," Ms. Blanco said. "I thought that I had requested everything they had. We were living in a war zone by then."
By Wednesday, she had asked for 40,000 soldiers.
In the discussions in Washington, also at issue was whether active-duty troops could respond faster and in larger numbers than the Guard.
By last Wednesday, Pentagon officials said even the 82nd Airborne, which has a brigade on standby to move out within 18 hours, could not arrive any faster than 7,000 National Guard troops, which are specially trained and equipped for civilian law enforcement duties.
In the end, the flow of thousands of National Guard soldiers, especially military police, was accelerated from other states.
"I was there. I saw what needed to be done," Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said in an interview. "They were the fastest, best-capable, most appropriate force to get there in the time allowed. And that's what it's all about."
But one senior Army officer expressed puzzlement that active-duty troops were not summoned sooner, saying 82nd Airborne troops were ready to move out from Fort Bragg, N.C., on Sunday, the day before the hurricane hit.
The call never came, administration officials said, in part because military officials believed Guard troops would get to the stricken region faster and because administration civilians worried that there could be political fallout if federal troops were forced to shoot looters.
Louisiana officials were furious that there was not more of a show of force, in terms of relief supplies and troops, from the federal government in the middle of last week. As the water was rising in New Orleans, the governor repeatedly questioned whether Washington had started its promised surge of federal resources.
"We needed equipment," Ms. Blanco said in an interview. "Helicopters. We got isolated."
Aides to Ms. Blanco said she was prepared to accept the deployment of active-duty military officials in her state. But she and other state officials balked at giving up control of the Guard as Justice Department officials said would have been required by the Insurrection Act if those combat troops were to be sent in before order was restored.
In a separate discussion last weekend, the governor also rejected a more modest proposal for a hybrid command structure in which both the Guard and active-duty troops would be under the command of an active-duty, three-star general - but only after he had been sworn into the Louisiana National Guard.
Lt. Gen. James T. Conway, director of operations for the military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the Pentagon in August streamlined a rigid, decades-old system of deployment orders to allow the military's Northern Command to dispatch liaisons to work with local officials before an approaching hurricane.
The Pentagon is reviewing events from the time Hurricane Katrina reached full strength and bore down on New Orleans and five days later when Mr. Bush ordered 7,200 active-duty soldiers and marines to the scene.
After the hurricane passed New Orleans and the levees broke, flooding the city, it became increasingly evident that disaster-response efforts were badly bogged down.
Justice Department lawyers, who were receiving harrowing reports from the area, considered whether active-duty military units could be brought into relief operations even if state authorities gave their consent - or even if they refused.
The issue of federalizing the response was one of several legal issues considered in a flurry of meetings at the Justice Department, the White House and other agencies, administration officials said.
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales urged Justice Department lawyers to interpret the federal law creatively to help local authorities, those officials said. For example, federal prosecutors prepared to expand their enforcement of some criminal statutes like anti-carjacking laws that can be prosecuted by either state or federal authorities.
On the issue of whether the military could be deployed without the invitation of state officials, the Office of Legal Counsel, the unit within the Justice Department that provides legal advice to federal agencies, concluded that the federal government had authority to move in even over the objection of local officials.
This act was last invoked in 1992 for the Los Angeles riots, but at the request of Gov. Pete Wilson of California, and has not been invoked over a governor's objections since the civil rights era - and before that, to the time of the Civil War, administration officials said. Bush administration, Pentagon and senior military officials warned that such an extreme measure would have serious legal and political implications.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has said deployment of National Guard soldiers to Iraq, including a brigade from Louisiana, did not affect the relief mission, but Ms. Blanco disagreed.
"Over the last year, we have had about 5,000 out, at one time," she said. "They are on active duty, serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. That certainly is a factor."
By Friday, National Guard reinforcements had arrived, and a truck convoy of 1,000 Guard soldiers brought relief supplies - and order - to the convention center area.
Officials from the Department of Homeland Security say the experience with Hurricane Katrina has demonstrated flaws in the nation's plans to handle disaster.
"This event has exposed, perhaps ultimately to our benefit, a deficiency in terms of replacing first responders who tragically may be the first casualties," Paul McHale, the assistant secretary of defense for domestic security, said.
Michael Chertoff, the secretary of homeland security, has suggested that active-duty troops be trained and equipped to intervene if front-line emergency personnel are stricken. But the Pentagon's leadership remains unconvinced that this plan is sound, suggesting instead that the national emergency response plans be revised to draw reinforcements initially from civilian police, firefighters, medical personnel and hazardous-waste experts in other states not affected by a disaster.
The federal government rewrote its national emergency response plan after the Sept. 11 attacks, but it relied on local officials to manage any crisis in its opening days. But Hurricane Katrina overwhelmed local "first responders," including civilian police and the National Guard.
At a news conference on Saturday, Mr. Chertoff said, "The unusual set of challenges of conducting a massive evacuation in the context of a still dangerous flood requires us to basically break the traditional model and create a new model, one for what you might call kind of an ultra-catastrophe."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/09/2005 00:35 ||
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#1
This act was last invoked in 1992 for the Los Angeles riots, but at the request of Gov. Pete Wilson of California..
Further clarification: Governor Wilson did not request federal assistance until the third day of the riots. Army troops (from Fort Ord) and Marines were not able to deploy until the following day.
#2
First instincts are often the best ones, particularly with ass clowns in state and city government.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/09/2005 5:26 Comments ||
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According to the administration's senior domestic security officials, the plan failed to recognize that local police, fire and medical personnel might be incapacitated.
And this, folks, is something that no drill could ever have exposed.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
09/09/2005 8:36 Comments ||
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"Can you imagine how it would have been perceived if a president of the United States of one party had pre-emptively taken from the female governor of another party the command and control of her forces, unless the security situation made it completely clear that she was unable to effectively execute her command authority and that lawlessness was the inevitable result?" asked one senior administration official, who spoke anonymously because the talks were confidential.
This is exactly what Billary and the democracts would have wanted. Sick that they would expose thousands of [black, minorities] to this for political gain - but that is the Democrats nowdays....
#5
And this, folks, is something that no drill could ever have exposed.
Um, it would, had the scenario been envisioned by disaster personnel.
The Navy trains (or trained - it's been over a decade for me) for major conflagration or damage, including loss of key personnel, equipment, communications, or entire repair parties.
#6
Well, looks like they may have decided to throw FEMA's Brown to the dogs. Fox just reported that his #2 in the Katrina event, a CG Admiral, will take over on the scene and Brown is headed back to DC.
From the NY Times....
Even as millions of Americans rally to make donations to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, the Internet is brimming with swindles, come-ons and opportunistic pandering related to the relief effort in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. And the frauds are more varied and more numerous than in past disasters, according to law enforcement officials and online watchdog groups.
Florida's attorney general has already filed a fraud lawsuit against a man who started one of the earliest networks of Web sites - katrinahelp.com, katrinadonations.com and others - that stated they were collecting donations for storm victims. In Missouri, a much wider constellation of Internet sites - with names like parishdonations.com and katrinafamilies.com - displayed pictures of the flood-ravaged South and drove traffic to a single site, InternetDonations.org, a nonprofit entity with apparent links to white separatist groups. The registrant of those Web sites was sued by the state of Missouri yesterday for violating state fund-raising law and for "omitting the material fact that the ultimate company behind the defendants' Web sites supports white supremacy."
Boris? Is that you?
Late yesterday afternoon, the Federal Bureau of Investigation put the number of Web sites claiming to deal in Katrina information and relief - some legitimate, others not - at "2,300 and rising." Dozens of suspicious sites claiming links to legitimate charities are being investigated by state and federal authorities. Also under investigation are e-mail spam campaigns using the hurricane as a hook to lure victims to reveal credit card numbers to thieves, as well as fake hurricane news sites and e-mail "updates" that carry malicious code aimed at hijacking a victim's computer. "The numbers are still going up," said Dan Larkin, the chief of the Internet Crime Complaint Center operated by the F.B.I. in West Virginia. He said that the amount of suspicious, disaster-related Web activity was higher than the number of swindles seen online after last year's tsunami in Southeast Asia. "We've got a much higher volume of sites popping up," he said.
The earliest online frauds began to appear within hours of Katrina's passing. "It was so fast it was amazing," said Audri Lanford, co-director of ScamBusters.org, an Internet clearinghouse for information on various forms of online fraud. "The most interesting thing is the scope," she said. "We do get a very good feel for the quantity of scams that are out there, and there's no question that this is huge compared to the tsunami." On Sunday, the Internet security company Websense issued an alert regarding a phishing campaign that lured users to a Web site in Brazil that was made to look like a page operated by the Red Cross. Users who submitted their credit card numbers, expiration dates and personal identification numbers via the Web form were then redirected to the legitimate Red Cross Web site, making the ruse difficult to detect. The security company Sophos warned of a similar phishing campaign on Monday.
The lawsuit filed in Florida last Friday accused Robert E. Moneyhan, a 51-year-old resident of Yulee, Fla., of registering several Katrina-related domain names - including KatrinaHelp.com, KatrinaDonations.com, KatrinaRelief.com and KatrinaReliefFund.com - as early as Aug. 28, even before the hurricane had hit the Louisiana coast. By Aug. 31, according to the Florida attorney general, Charles J. Crist Jr., Mr. Moneyhan's sites had begun asking visitors to "share your good fortune with Hurricane Katrina's victims." A "Donate" button then took payments through a PayPal account that Mr. Moneyhan had set up. Mr. Moneyhan did not respond to numerous phone calls and e-mail messages, but the Web site names in question are now owned by ProjectCare.com, a loose collection of Web sites that is using the Katrina sites as an information center for hurricane victims. Kevin Caruso, the proprietor of ProjectCare.com, said that he had offered to buy the sites from Mr. Moneyhan on Sept. 2, but that Mr. Moneyhan, scared about ending up in the Greybar Hotel distressed over the lawsuit, simply donated them to Project Care without charge. Mr. Caruso also said that after several phone conversations, he believed that Mr. Moneyhan, was scared sh@@less "trying to help the Hurricane Katrina survivors, but did not have the experience to proceed properly." The lawsuit, however, states that Mr. Moneyhan had tried to sell his collection of Katrina-related domain names on Sept. 1 "to the highest bidder." The suit seeks $10,000 in civil penalties and restitution for any consumers who might have donated to the Web sites while they were controlled by Mr. Moneyhan.
Jay Nixon, the Missouri attorney general, sued to shut one of the more bizarre fund-raising efforts yesterday. A state circuit court granted a temporary restraining order against Internet Donations Inc., the entity behind a dozen Web sites erected over the last several days purporting to collect donations for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Also named in the Missouri suit, which seeks monetary penalties from the defendants, is the apparent operator of the donation sites, Frank Weltner, a St. Louis resident and radio talk show personality who operates a Web site called JewWatch.com. I'm sure it's one of Cindy's favorites.
That site - which indexes Adolf Hitler's writings, transcripts of anti-Semitic radio broadcasts and other materials, according to the Anti-Defamation League - attracted headlines last year when it appeared at or near the top of Google search results for the query "Jew." It remains the No. 2 search result today. Google: It's not just for Bush-bashing anymore!
Boris! It *is* you!
Volokh notes that it's unconstitutional to shut down a website simply because it fails to disclose its racist beliefs. Must be how Boris has managed to hang on so long.
Most of Mr. Weltner's Katrina-related Web sites - which include KatrinaFamilies.com, Katrina-Donations.com, and NewOrleansCharities.com - appear to have been registered using DomainsByProxy.com, which masks the identity of a domain registrant. However, Mr. Weltner's name appeared on public documents obtained through the Web site of the Missouri secretary of state yesterday. Those indicated that Mr. Weltner had incorporated Internet Donations as a nonprofit entity last Friday. The various Web sites, which use similar imagery and slight variations on the same crude design, all point back to InternetDonations.org. There, visitors interested in donating to the Red Cross, Salvation Army or other relief organizations are told that "we can collect it for you in an easy one-stop location."
It is unclear whether any of the sites successfully drew funds from any donors, or if Mr. Weltner, who did not respond to e-mail messages and could not be reached by phone, had channeled any proceeds to the better-known charities named on his site. But the restraining order issued yesterday enjoins Mr. Weltner and Internet Donations Inc. from, among other things, charitable fund-raising in Missouri, and "concealing, suppressing or omitting" the fact that donations collected were intended "for white victims only." "It's the lowest of the low when someone solicits funds" this way, Mr. Nixon said in an interview before announcing the lawsuit. "We don't want one more penny from well-meaning donors going through this hater."
#1
Time to let the neighborhood know how Mr. X at 8765 main st, makes his living? Let people handle their own
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/09/2005 0:05 Comments ||
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#2
When I saw the title, I thought you meant literally, as a continuation of the Sgt Mom reducing plan. Now I see it's about "people" who aren't as useful to society as fly larvae.
#7
When in doubt, give to the Salvation Army or the Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief. Most efficient delivery, most expertise, and lowest overhead.
BTW, #3 daughter, who is high functioning Autistic, has more sense than most at her school. She is refusing to donate to the relief effort at her high school because the gimmick is "donate and get a chance to win an ipod." She asks, "Why are they spending money on an ipod instad of giving it to the hurricane victims? I'm giving through the church instead."
Anglican Christianity's split over homosexuality worsened Thursday as Africa's two most important archbishops joined to criticize a new Church of England policy on gays and lesbians. Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola and Ugandan Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi each assailed a July 25 announcement from England's bishops that said gay priests who register same-sex partnerships under a new civil law will remain in good standing so long as they promise to remain celibate. The English bishops also said that lay Anglicans who register civil unions will not be denied the sacraments. "If England adopts a new faith, alien to what has been handed to us together, they will walk apart. Simple as that," Akinola said at a Thursday news conference where he reaffirmed his stand on gay issues.
Last month, he accused Anglicanism's mother church of an "outrageous" departure from biblical teaching that is "totally unworkable (and) invites deception and ridicule." He further suggested that world Anglicanism must now discipline the Church of England along similar lines that Anglican bodies worldwide have taken against liberal actions by the U.S. and Canadian churches. Orombi said that Akinola "speaks for all of us" who lead the self-governing Anglican branches in Africa. "We see a different direction taking place" in England, Orombi said, and "we can only pray and hope they do not walk away." The churches led by Akinola and Orombi combined have 26 million members, a third of the world's Anglicans and equal to the Church of England membership. The continent of Africa, whose Anglican council is chaired by Akinola, is home to half of world Anglicans.
Discussion of the Anglican split is expected at Nigeria's national synod starting Saturday, a meeting of Africa's primates - or church leaders - in Tanzania Sept. 19-22 and a special international conference for conservative Anglicans in Cairo, Egypt, beginning Oct. 25. The Nigerian and Ugandan churches have broken ties with the U.S. Episcopal Church over its 2003 consecration of a gay bishop living with a partner and its toleration of same-sex blessing ceremonies. Same-sex rites are also at issue between Africans and the Anglican Church of Canada. In a 1998 vote, 82 percent of the world's Anglican bishops opposed homosexual relationships on biblical grounds. The two archbishops were in New York to receive awards from the online magazine Kairos Journal for "their bold and consistent stand" against the U.S. and Canadian changes. Honored with them were Presiding Bishop Gregory Venables of southern South America and Archbishop Datuk Yong Ping Chung of South East Asia.
The magazine's publisher, retired American Standard Companies president Emmanuel Kampouris, said he hoped the awards would encourage Anglicans and others "fighting for orthodoxy." None of the visitors are meeting with Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, head of the New York-based Episcopal Church. They chuckled when asked about a meeting.
#1
I got a question for any Episcopalians/Anglicans on this board.
I saw a rather large church in my soon-to-be new home that called itself "Anglican". I thought that was odd, since I had been told since I was a little girl that Episcopalians and Anglicans were the same thing.
Is a church that calls themselves "Anglican" here in the states a more conservative/old school bunch?
#4
A little thing called the American War of Independence resulted in the local "Church of England" franchises previously owned by the crown to come under new local ownership.
#5
What's springing up all over the US are Anglican "missionary" churches. Conservative Episcopalian churches revolting against their liberal bishops by becoming missionary Anglican churches for a conservative African diocese.
This, of course, leaves the liberal US bishops apoplectic with rage; but gives the US church a new, conservative bishop, albiet in Africa, for which they are more than happy to send large monetary gifts.
This, in turn, is an incredible shot in the arm to poor African dioceses, which are growing in leaps and bounds at the expense of Islam in Africa. In fact, it is so obvious that Anglican Xtianity is overwhelming the continent that Imams in Africa are in a major sweat about it.
Black Africans, it seems, when given a choice between Moslem slavery under Arabs and Anglican freedom, democracy and liberty, unfairly seem to choose the latter.
WASHINGTON - Nearly 900 foreign nationals, many of them French and British, are still missing in the areas devastated last week by Hurricane Katrina, The Washington Times said on Thursday.
The US State Department Wednesday afternoon told the newspaper that, based on numbers provided by various embassies, 883 foreign nationals were still unaccounted for in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. A spokesman for the British Embassy here said 50 Britons were located in the New Orleansâ Superdome, but that 96 other nationals were still missing. At the French Embassy, a spokeswoman said 50 French had been located and that information on an additional 10 nationals had been received, but that 160 Frenchmen were yet to be found.
A Mexican consular official in Houston, Texas, told The Washington Times that it was difficult to provide a number of Mexicans still missing since many of them were undocumented.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/09/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Seems likely that most of these folks made it out but never bothered to phone the embassy to let them know.
#2
They're probably stuck in the attics ... no, wait. O.K., enrolled in a school in Houston.... ummmm ...Captured by advance secret FEMA forces and held for ransom?
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/09/2005 12:42 Comments ||
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I was starting to feel pretty smug about the pop-left's headlong plunge into Katrina conspiracy madness, then along comes World Nut Daily to prove that we, too, have our whack-jobs. This one is not just silly, goofy, or whacky; it is cackling, tree-climbing, get-nekkid-and-run-down-the-middle-of-the-road crazy:
EFL (yes there is even more of this drooling insanity at the site)
JERUSALEM â While most religious authorities seem to agree one cannot discern the intentions of God, there has been talk in some circles here and on the Internet that the storm that turned parts of the Gulf Coast into a disaster zone, prompting hundreds of thousands to evacuate their homes and possibly causing upwards of 10,000 deaths, was thrust upon the U.S. for its support of the Gaza evacuation. Er, why wouldn't this god send a pox on terrorists or a hurricane to Tehran instead?
I thought he usually sent boils, or locusts.
"Katrina is a consequence of the destruction of [Gaza's] Gush Katif [slate of Jewish communities] with America's urging and encouragement," Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Lewin, executive director of the Rabbinic Congress for Peace, told WND. "The U.S. should have discouraged Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon from implementing the Gaza evacuation rather than pushing for it and pressuring Israel into concessions."
Close to 10,000 Jews were expelled from their homes in the Gaza Strip and parts of northern Samaria. Katrina's death toll is now expected to reach at least 10,000. Over 10,000 loopy-eyed lunatics will read this crap and believe it.
America's population ratio to Israel is about 50:1. Ten thousand Jews who lost their Gaza homes is the equivalent of about 500,000 Americans who are now reported to be displaced as result of Katrina. So, why didn't an asteroid hit Dubya's Crawford ranch?
Gaza's Jewish communities were located in Israel's southern coastal region; America's southern coastal region now lies in ruins. France's southern coast is untouched, as is Iran's
The U.S. government called on Louisiana residents to evacuate their homes ahead of the storm. The Israeli government, backed by statements from U.S. officials, demanded Gaza residents evacuate their homes. "Hurricane coming" and "no hurricane" might suggest some substantial differences though.
Katrina, written in Hebrew, has a numerical equivalent of 374, according to a biblical numbering system upheld by all traditional Jewish authorities. Two relevant passages in the Torah share the exact numerical equivalent: "They have done you evil" (Gen. 50:17) and "The sea upon land" (Exodus 14:15). What is the numerical equivalent of "crackpot?"
The last four digits of the writer's phone number.
Bush, from Texas, and Rice, from Alabama, were the most vocal U.S. backers of the Gaza evacuation. Hurricane Katrina hit the states in between Texas and Alabama â Louisiana and Mississippi. So, if we seek to emulate divine wisdom, we will bomb everything between Lebanon (Hezbollah) and Hezbollah's masters in Iran; that is, Iraq.
Similarity in scenes: Many residents of Jewish Gaza climbed to their rooftops to escape the threat of expulsion, while residents of the Gulf Coast climbed on their own rooftops to protect themselves from the rising waters. Jewish Gaza homes described as beautiful and charming were demolished this week by Israel's military. Once beautiful homes in New Orleans now lie in ruins. This also happened last December in Sri Lanka and other places. What exactly did those places have to do with Gaza?
The day Katrina hit, Israel began carrying out what was termed the most controversial aspect of the Gaza withdrawal â the uprooting of bodies from the area's Jewish cemetery. There have been media reports of corpses floating around in flooded New Orleans regions. This is a parallel? Both places had cemeteries, how intriguing!
Citizens of Israel were barred from entering Gush Katif; people were only allowed to leave Jewish Gaza. As Katrina was making landfall U.S. authorities barred citizens from entering the affected areas. People were only allowed out. This is the only point of equivalence, given the police-state roundup and forced evacuation of die-hards by the authorities in New Orleans.
Gush Katif was an important agricultural area for Israel, providing the Jewish state with 70 percent of its produce. A New Orleans port that exported much of the Midwest's agricultural production was destroyed by Katrina. Food production=food distribution, a rare and eerie coincidence all right.
The connections have caused a firestorm of speculation on Internet blogs and in chat rooms. Proof positive of credibility.
In a Jerusalem Newswire op-ed discussing the similarities just before Katrina made landfall, writer Stan Goodenough commented, "Is this some sort of bizarre coincidence? Not for those who forgot to take their meds believe in the God of the Bible and the immutability of His Word. What America is about to experience is the lifting of God's hand of protection, the implementation of His judgment on the nation most responsible for endangering the land and people of Israel. Really? We are more responsible for Israel's danger than, say, Iran or Satanic Arabia? That is just an insult. Stan is a little fuzzy on this whole responsbility, cause/effect thing it seems.
WorldNetDaily the past week has received numerous letters from readers urging a Katrina-Gaza connection. Now there's a good source
One letter stated, " I think you all are dancing around the real cause of the hurricane. Let me suggest to you that it is the wrath of God on our nation because President Bush pressured Sharon to take the homes from the Jews. ... I knew we would be punished on a large scale. I faxed letters and contacted Bush every way I could begging him not to go forward with that plan to evacuate Gaza but he did so anyway, and as a result we were hit in a week with a hurricane that will make history." ...and Bush, cretinous cowboy and notorious heathen that he is, did not see the logic in this warning.
Perhaps the first to publicly connect Katrina to the Gaza evacuation was famed Israeli conspiracy theorist Barry Chamish, who sent a mass e-mail noting, "GUsh is like GUlf, and KATif is like KATrina. If you take 'KAT' from KATif and KATrina, you are left with 'IF' and 'RAIN.' If you support Gush Katif evacuation, it will rain." Even among Kabbalists, Chamish is regarded as a high-order nutcake, which is a little like being the leper with the fewest fingers.
#1
Nah I don't buy it. It was those crazy Russians and their hurricane making machine.
Posted by: Rafael ||
09/09/2005 1:23 Comments ||
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#2
More likely retribuction for our Deep Impact mission that hit an innocent comet. Associated racial issues suspected.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/09/2005 5:29 Comments ||
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#3
"GUsh is like GUlf, and KATif is like KATrina. If you take 'KAT' from KATif and KATrina, you are left with 'IF' and 'RAIN.' If you support Gush Katif evacuation, it will rain."
...Man, he had to REACH for that one. Imagine what this guy could do if he put this kind of effort into something constructive.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
09/09/2005 7:31 Comments ||
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#4
I read of this crap several days ago. Being Jewish, I was completely outraged, and forwarded it to my relatives and friends so they too can be outraged.
The radical settlers, are the most self centered people in the world. If I had any sympathy for them before, I have lost it completely.
I just have to make sure that none of the charity that I give winds up in Lewin's greedy little hands. If it were up to me, I would excommunicate him for what he said.
This may sound harsh, but I hold supposedly civilized people to a higher standard than the enemy.
Posted by: DanNY ||
09/09/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
3 Sisters are in the same tectonic region as Mt St Helens, Lassen, Mammoth, etc. I can guess what's making the bulge...
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/09/2005 0:03 Comments ||
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#2
Such a beautiful area. I've backpacked extensively through this region, 3 Sisters, Mt. Washington, Mt. Jefferson. There's an old lava bed with a lookout tower built into it that shows you all of the peaks in the area. One of my favorite places to go. Hope this bulge only burps lightly if it has too at all.
Posted by: Jan ||
09/09/2005 0:41 Comments ||
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#3
Nay, that's not a gun in your pocket, they're just glad to see ya.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/09/2005 5:33 Comments ||
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#4
something that needs to be watched for certain. The picture is Spirit Lake when I was there in 1990.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
09/09/2005 7:23 Comments ||
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#5
For a moment I thought Ron Jeremy moved out of California...
Critics claim that watchdog has ignored public opinion to approve experiment for which it changed its own rules. British scientists have been given permission to create human embryos that will have three genetic parents.
The fertility watchdog cleared a team at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne yesterday to conduct an experiment to prevent genetic disease by merging single-cell embryos with donated eggs. The decision to approve the procedure on appeal, after two previous applications were rejected, is controversial because it could eventually lead to the birth of children who carry genes from two mothers and a father.
The licence awarded yesterday by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) allows only experimental use of the technique and not the implantation into a womb of any resultant embryo. The Newcastle team does not envisage applying for permission to conduct such procedures for reproductive purposes until several years of research have shown it to be effective and safe, though the ultimate goal is to employ it to create healthy children.
A spokesman for the authority said that after taking expert scientific advice, its appeal committee had been satisfied that the research was permissible under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, and that the experiment was ânecessary and desirableâ to investigate prevention of a serious disease. Professor John Burn, who heads the Newcastle Institute of Clinical Genetics where the work will be performed, said: âI am confident, after debating at length with the team, that this is within both the letter and the spirit of the law.
âIt is a debateable issue and I do not want in any sense to diminish its significance, but mitochondria are not part of the genetic material that we consider in a sense makes us as human beings. All their genes do is make mitochondria, and many, many people share the same mitochondrial genomes.
âMy belief is that what we are doing is changing a battery that doesnât work for one that does. The analogy is with a camera: changing the battery wonât affect whatâs on the film, and changing the mitochondria wonât affect the important DNA.â
Josephine Quintavalle, of the pressure group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, said that the ruling set a dangerous precedent. âThis shows once again that the HFEA does not have any regard for public consultation and the views of the public,â she said.
Hussein Mehmet, of Imperial College, London, said that the authority had criticised similar research abroad. âThe licence awarded by the HFEA appears to contradict their own point of view,â he said.
âSimilar experiments carried out by an American group were frowned upon by the HFEA, although it should be stressed that those experiments were aimed at curing infertility while this research will focus on a special group of muscle diseases called mitochondrial myopathies.
Andy Miah, a medical ethicist at Paisley University, said: âMany of the more controversial ethical concerns arise only if we project into the future and imagine that a child were to be born, as a result of this kind of procedure." We're gonna do the partial-birth abortion thingie instead. No ethical problems there.
Perhaps I've become a luddite in My old age, but I worry about people who seem to have the "if we can do something, then we should do it, regardless of merits" thinking. Yes, I can understand why they are doing this, and it (if I read it right) isn't really having the second "mother" donate any actual genetic material.
But if they try to bring back carnivorous dinosaurs, or make real-life anime cat-girls, I'm going to strap on an explosive vest and...
#2
All these Alternatists demanding and working for Socialism and Socialism-based Regulatory Centralism everywhere despite knowing that this same ideo will inevitably force them back into the closet in the name of the ideal Socialist Man-Woman-Family, Deficit spending, and Deficits-led/induced societal Ultra-Conservatism, aka Public Order/Discipline, sub-aka [PC]Legal Slavery where the only thing between the Enslaved Masses and Govt. Thuggists are Uncle Toms and assorted Stool Pidgeons? * PRAVDA: "AT least under Communism Russian citizens were poor but optimistic" - yeah right, its the Party and State that was optimistic cuz they controlled any and all forms of private, local, and national wealth, at best the Russian masses had "State-Controlled/Managed Poverty"!?
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.
Pyongyang, September 7 (KCNA) -- The 5th national sports contest of agricultural workers was held in the pleasure ground at the foot of scenic Moran Hill here from Sept. 1 to 6. 
Jacques Chirac was released from hospital last night following a week of treatment for a "little vascular accident" that may have been a stroke but will certainly have repercussions for French politics for years to come. 
Customs officers in Dorohusk, on Poland's border with Ukraine, have made an unusual seizure, confiscating nearly 530 kilogrammes (1,166 pounds) of 
The chart topping hip hop rapper star who used a network hurricane fundraiser to charge "George Bush doesn't care about black people" was loudly and lustily booed during last night's NFL kickoff show.
New Orleans Mayor 
Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola and Ugandan Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi each assailed a July 25 announcement from England's bishops that said gay priests who register same-sex partnerships under a new civil law will remain in good standing so long as they promise to remain celibate. The English bishops also said that lay Anglicans who register civil unions will not be denied the sacraments. "If England adopts a new faith, alien to what has been handed to us together, they will walk apart. Simple as that," Akinola said at a Thursday news conference where he reaffirmed his stand on gay issues.
