Buying a calf for a needy-villager in Africa this Christmas would seem the ideal present but one charity says the warm glow one gets from sending some "ethical gifts" is not always matched by the reality. Send a Cow, one of the original charities involved in donating livestock to needy communities, says that cheap cows provided by some charities as part of ethical giving schemes will not make a "significant impact on poverty".
Gotta keep an eye on those cheap Chinese knockoff cows.
The charity donates foreign breeds of cow to African families, and charges charitable givers £750 per cow. In contrast, Christian Aid is offering £165 cows on its virtual gift list and Oxfam is offering calves for only £32.
Bloody bastards. Those are prolly pirated clone cows.
Pat Simmons, communications manager for Send a Cow, says the cheaper cows are local breeds that give a fraction of the milk yield of their £750 cows, who can give up to 25 litres of milk a day. "We are trying to make a real impact on poverty," said Ms Simmons. "One and a half litres of milk a day is not going to make a significant impact." The cheaper cows, she added, were "a lot of extra work for very little return".
"It's in the fabric and the finishing. Only the finest EU-certified artisans handle our cows. They are really the best in the field."
Her charity also trains families in animal husbandry and supports them if the animals become sick. She had heard reports from Africans who were given a goat or other livestock with no backup - only to have it die soon afterwards.
Kinda like the goldfish I won at the fair, eh?
Both Christian Aid and Oxfam rejected claims that their cheaper cows would not help poor families.
"Certainly not! Our cows work smarter, not harder, and we've really improved our bovine supply chain. We keep just-in-time inventory and we've developed an extensive network of drop shippers to keep our overhead down."
Douglas Graham, head of business development at Oxfam, said the charity had "a different way of working" to that of Send a Cow, and talked to local partner organisations to provide the most appropriate solutions for people's needs. A Christian Aid spokesman said the charity felt it was better "to give money to local partner organisations and let them buy what they need". Both charities said they also provided vaccinations and backup schemes for all livestock provided.
"We offer a fantastic extended warranty plan for only £14.95."
Like many other organisations offering "good gifts" this Christmas, neither Christian Aid nor Oxfam guarantee that your donation will actually be spent on the goat, cow, flock of chickens or well that you have purchased. Instead, the money goes into a fund that is spent on livestock or useful projects to help struggling communities in developing countries. The Christian Aid spokesman said the charity believed that this was a more effective way of using the money than allocating it strictly.
In other words, you pay for a cow, you get a Mercedes for the village elder's brother-in-law.
Research by Whitewater, the charity marketing specialists, suggests that 30 per cent of Britons are considering splashing out on livestock and wells for the developing world as part of Christmas shopping this year. In the 25-34 age group, that figure rises to 40 per cent. Bryan Miller, Whitewater's planning director, said the trend for buying "virtual gifts" had increased since World Vision promoted the idea four years ago. He expected it to peak over the next few years. "It's a very nice new way of fund-raising," he said.
#1
(point 1)Africa is notoriously hard on imported livestock that have little or no resistance to native disease and parasites.
(2)750 vs 165
750/165=4.5
Granted that is still a large difference in the amount of milk,however 25 liters of milk doesn't do much good if it spoils from lack of refrigeration. 4.5 cows@165 apiece provides a hell of a lot more beef and leather than 1 cow@750.Wonder if under cutting a French farmer's price has anything to do with their objections,nahh that couldn't have anything to do with it.After all it is all from the goodness of the Euros heart.
#2
Also, a high production cow will need a lot of expensive high protein feed, instead of dry season grass or foliage. And will need a huge amount of water. Cows are thirsty in a hot climate and an African village might already be using all of the available water. The more they produce, the shorter their lifespan. If they are mated to local bulls, they are no further ahead with improving the breed.
#4
Didn't PETA come out with a report about how cattle ate up an unreasonable amount of feed, and that it was more economical to just eat the grains yerself? Don't these bleeding hearts ever talk to each other?
#5
I can appreciate this type of help. The private sector is trying to help people to become self sufficient. We ought to try this concept here in America. Our congress introduced a bill to help our needy with analog to digital converter boxes for the TV to the tune of 3 billion dollars. Thats about 18 million cheap cows. What a world.
Another group of charities are trying to bring permanent sources of clean water and sanitary systems to people. This also goes a huge distance in supplying basic necessities.
HARARE - President Robert Mugabe tightened his grip on Zimbabwe on Monday with victory in a Senate poll seen by critics as a mere formality, but analysts say low voter turnout showed deepening dissatisfaction with his 25-year rule. Mugabeâs ruling ZANU-PF party went into Saturdayâs elections for a new upper chamber of parliament a certain winner, thanks to an opposition boycott in many constituencies and electoral laws that reserve seats for loyalists such as tribal chiefs.
The party had won 23 of the 29 seats announced by mid-day on Monday with only two results still to be declared, giving it a near 90 percent majority in the 66-seat Senate which will have the final word on any new laws.
But analysts say while ZANU-PF consolidated its victory, the government had been embarrassed and Mugabeâs own credibility hurt by a voter turnout of only 10 percent after a boycott campaign by main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. âThe governmentâs confidence has been shaken ... and there will be many people in his camp who will be looking at this as a sign that they are isolated and are losing support,â said Eldred Masunungure, a leading political commentator.
âWhat this might do is to undermine their loyalty to Mugabe and ZANU-PF, and although we might not see public desertions, some of his lieutenants will be wary of taking open positions against the opposition,â he said.
Tsvangirai, whose opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) split into two bitter factions over the Nov. 26 polls, claims most Zimbabweans believed it was pointless to âcontinue taking part in fake elections.â The MDC chief ordered a boycott, saying participation would lend legitimacy to a government that routinely rigs votes.
But a rival MDC faction said Tsvangirai had lost an internal vote on the issue and went into the polls, fielding 26 candidates and winning at least six seats.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/29/2005 00:00 ||
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A new life is being born out of tragedy of a Filipina maid deported from Bahrain. Arlene Quilondrino, 23, arrived in Manila yesterday with a BD5,000 cheque from the kidney donated by her mother Letecia to a Bahraini. Arlene, who also worked as a housemaid for the same Bahraini family but in a different household, was deported on Sunday night after running away from her sponsor. She claimed that the sponsors tried to get their hands on BD5,000 that was awarded to her for agreeing to allow her dead mother's kidneys to be transplanted. [Her mother] was declared brain dead on October 31 after suffering from a brain aneurysm.
One of her kidneys was transplanted into Bahraini Ali Hassan Abdulla, 45, on November 3 at the Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC). The money was presented by Health Ministry officials last Wednesday at the hospital to Arlene, who was accompanied by a police escort. While waiting for her flight at the Bahrain International Airport, Arlene called the GDN and expressed thanks to the embassy and all those who helped her. She also thanked the officials at the Isa Town Detention Centre, whom she said treated her well. The embassy shouldered Arlene's one-way ticket to Manila, while the Bahrain Kidney Friendship Society and Mrs Quilondrino's sponsor jointly paid for the repatriation cost of BD600.
FUJAIRAH â Over two-thirds of the women serving term in Fujairah jails are well educated, and adultery topped the list of crimes committed by women, accounting for 50 per cent of the crimes followed by prostitution at 13.3 per cent.
There's a trend here ...
These figures were revealed in a recent study conducted by Amina Mubarak Abduallah Al Dhahiri from the UAE University on 'Crimes of Women in the Emirate of Fujairah.' The study has identified poor upbringing, break-up of family or an insecure family environment where social imbalance is high and a low standard of education in the family as the factors that drive women to crime.
99% of them were committed by women who wanted to be in control of their own bodies ...
Most of those convicted are young, under the age of 25, constituting 48 per cent of the total convictions. Divorced women in jail represent 40 per cent â the highest, the study said, while married women came second (33.3 per cent), single women 16.7 per cent, and widows 10 per cent.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/29/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
What were they expecting - Grand Theft Auto: Dubai?
#2
I would have thought the largest group of women criminals would be Asian maids fleeing from their sexual predator UAE employers.
In other UAE news: Hormone treatment for gay men Men arrested at what a United Arab Emirates official said appeared to be a gay wedding are to be given hormone therapy, officials said on Tuesday.
Why not combine megadoses of testosterone 'roidrages with a weight training program and one-on-one "counseling" with the local imam?
Posted by: ed ||
11/29/2005 8:57 Comments ||
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#3
Why not combine megadoses of testosterone 'roidrages with a weight training program and one-on-one "counseling" with the local imam?
Sure, then they could play for the Florida Marlins.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/29/2005 9:05 Comments ||
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Zappy and Hugo making a play for the "Axis of Almost as Weasel."
Spanish defence minister Jose Bono was finalising details of a controversial arms deal with Venezuela. Despite criticism from the United States over the deal with Venezuela, Spain has said it should not harm relations with Washington because it's a deal "between companies".
"Capische?"
The US has threatened not to authorize the sale of the Spanish-made equipment because it contains US technology to which Venezuela could gain access. The US could "veto" the inclusion of specific components. The agreement involves the sale of 12 aircraft and eight frigates built by Spain's EADS-CASA and Navantia groups at a cost of EUR 1.7 billion Last week, US ambassador to Spain, Eduardo Aguirre, said: "In the long run, we hope the sale won't go ahead." Aguirre said his country is concerned the sheer size of the purchase will prove "a destabilizing factor in that region". Regarding the deal, Bono said his country will work out "everything that benefits Spain and the interests of its industry" with "transparency and clarity".
KIEV, UKRAINE â Viktor Kushner and about a dozen friends staged a rally at Kiev's city hall one day last week to protest what they call "corruption" in the sale of some public parkland to a private business. This sort of demonstration is a regular sight on the streets of Kiev these days, though it was practically unheard of barely a year ago.
"The experience we had in the Orange Revolution last year showed that it's possible to change things by taking a stand," says Mr. Kushner, a public employee. "We've become freer, and we're learning to act like free people."
It's difficult to judge the issues involved in Kushner's specific complaint against city hall. But growing evidence suggests that one of Ukraine's worst scourges, corruption, may be receding in the face of heightened public awareness and postrevolutionary street activism.
Though the economic reforms promised by President Viktor Yushchenko have been slow to arrive, experts say significant numbers of businesses are leaving the shadow economy, more people are paying taxes, and fewer officials are taking bribes. "There are very strong anti-corruption moods in society right now," director of the independent Institute of Global Strategy in Kiev. "The revolution was above all a moral event that changed public consciousness. Officials know they must tread carefully in this atmosphere."
The Berlin-based organization Transparency International, which annually rates the perception of corruption in 150 countries, this year notched Ukraine up to 113th place from last year's 122nd, putting it roughly on a par with Vietnam and Zambia.
Government tax receipts rose by 30 percent in the first nine months of this year, despite a sharp economic slowdown, thanks to individuals and companies emerging from the shadows to pay their taxes.
In October, foreign investors received a heartening sign when one of Ukraine's biggest steel mills, Krivorizhstal, was "reprivatized" and bought at open auction by India's Mittal Steel Co. for $4.8 billion. The same company had been previously sold to the son-in-law of then President Leonid Kuchma for just $800 million. "This was a signal to the whole society that times have changed," says Oleksander Chekmishov, deputy director of the Institute of Journalism in Kiev.
Ukraine's improving performance, however slight, contrasts with the worsening perception of corruption in some of its post-Soviet neighbors. Russia, which stands at No. 128 in Transparency International's table of 150 countries, has seen corruption levels soar hand in hand with the deepening authoritarianism of President Vladimir Putin's rule over the past five years.
Nevertheless, many Ukrainians, such as Kushner, appear to regard corruption as a bigger problem than ever in their country. "The whole system is dirty," he says. "Everything needs to be taken under public control." One reason for the widespread distrust, experts say, is the acrimonious bickering that has broken out among the leaders of the victorious Orange coalition. Another reason, some suggest, is that a freer post- revolutionary media has taken to airing allegations of official misconduct more thoroughly. "In the past, the issue of high-level corruption was kept behind closed doors and seldom raised in the press," says Oleksander Shushko, director of the Center for Peace, Conversion and Foreign Policy, a Kiev think tank. "Now we hear about it every day on TV, so it seems like there's more of it."
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/29/2005 00:52 ||
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TORONTO (AP) - A corruption scandal forced a vote of no-confidence Monday that toppled Prime Minister Paul Martin's minority government, triggering an unusual election campaign during the Christmas holidays. Canada's three opposition parties, which control a majority in Parliament, voted against Martin's government, claiming his Liberal Party no longer has the moral authority to lead the nation.
The loss means an election for all 308 seats in the lower House of Commons, likely on Jan. 23. Martin and his Cabinet would continue to govern until then.
Opposition leaders last week called for the no-confidence vote after Martin rejected their demands to dissolve Parliament in January and hold early elections in February. Monday's vote follows a flurry of spending announcements in Ottawa last week, with the government trying to advance its agenda ahead of its demise.
Martin is expected to dissolve the House of Commons on Tuesday and set a firm date for the elections. Under Canadian law, elections must be held on a Monday unless it falls on a holiday and the campaign period is sharply restricted.
The Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper joined with the New Democratic and Bloc Quebecois parties to bring down the government - prompting the first Christmas and winter campaign in mostly Christian Canada in 26 years. Recent polls have given the Liberals a slight lead over the Conservatives, with the New Democrats in third place. The same surveys suggest the Bloc Quebecois would sweep the French-speaking province of Quebec, making a majority government unlikely no matter which party wins the most seats.
Harper would become prime minister if the Conservatives receive the most seats in Parliament. He favors tax cuts and opposed Martin's successful bill to legalize same-sex marriage throughout Canada.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/29/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
They should have done it last year when it wouldn't have interfered with hockey.
#3
The criminal conspiracy formerly known as the Liberal Party of Canada.
Posted by: john ||
11/29/2005 10:19 Comments ||
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#4
Being a monolingual, self-involved Texas-American, I'm not sure if it's the conservatives or liberals are being called "grits." Plus, how did they get that nickname?
Posted by: Almost Anonymous5839 ||
11/29/2005 11:37 Comments ||
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#5
From the paper. Didn't you ever get sucked into that old "Sell GRIT!" scam as a kid?
#7
The vote was 171-133. Martin has some 'splainin' to do... Harper needs to hold his western base, and get more inroads into Ontario to have a chance..
BTW - North Pole Internet -
Politics on Ice...
Its a different world up there...
The Nunavut Provincial Legislative Assembly Here. All but two members are Inuit or part Inuit.
The Supreme Court is making sure that Shawn Gementera will be wearing his punishment for stealing mail. Literally. The high court rejected Gementera's appeal Monday of a lower court's sentence that the San Francisco resident stand outside a post office for 100 hours wearing a sandwich board that reads: ``I have stolen mail. This is my punishment.''
In February 2003, Judge Vaughn Walker of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco added the sandwich-board penalty to Gementera's sentence of two months in prison and three years of supervised release. Gementera had pleaded guilty to charges that he stole mail in San Francisco and nearby city of Burlingame in May 2001. Gementera had argued that this sentencing caused cruel and unusual punishment prohibited by the Eighth Amendment and the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984.
Gementera's attorney, Arthur K. Wachtel, said he was disappointed by the Supreme Court's decision to dismiss the case without comment. ``It's pretty rare that the Supreme Court has an opportunity to review a case involving appropriate punishment,'' Wachtel said. ``Especially now that our country is interested what is and what is not appropriate punishment.''
Oh I think the Court commented allright; you just didn't hear it. Wonder when we can bring back the stocks?
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/29/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Stocks might be quite useful. Imagine teenage shoplifters doing a week standing in the middle of the mall in stocks.
Posted by: James ||
11/29/2005 11:29 Comments ||
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#2
WOW! I ALMOST regained some respect of the high court. Now if the only would reverse Kelo and Roe/Wade then I might start liking them again.
The owner of an Oakland liquor store destroyed by an arson fire Monday morning was kidnapped shortly before the fire and held for several hours against his will, police said. Tony Hamdan, owner of New York Market in West Oakland, was found Monday afternoon in the trunk of a car in an El Cerrito parking lot, police said. Investigators provided no other details on the kidnapping this morning.
--------------
Police said Monday they have concluded that the vandals were not affiliated with the Nation of Islam, the 75-year-old black religious group led by Minister Louis Farrakhan. Deputy police Chief Howard Jordan said Monday that police are investigating the possibility that people affiliated with another Black Muslim group could be responsible.
One such group prominent in West Oakland is that affiliated with the late Yusuf Bey, founder of the Your Black Muslim Bakery chain. The group's male followers, including men who sell bean pies and other baked goods on Oakland streets, also wear suits and bow ties. In 1993, employees of a Bey-owned laundry in North Richmond were implicated in the vandalism of a store in North Richmond, in which food and liquor were knocked off store shelves. One of the laundry employees was arrested in the ransacking, which caused about $1,500 in damage.
In an interview at the time, Bey said his group was angered by gatherings of people outside the North Richmond store who apparently sold drugs. Bey died of colon cancer in 2003. Problems with loitering and drugs have been associated with liquor stores in Oakland, leading to the shutdown of two stores in the West Oakland areas. But City Councilwoman Nancy Nadel said Monday that the two stores targeted this week were not known as hot spots for loitering and drug activity.
A person who answered the telephone at the Your Black Muslim Bakery headquarters Monday declined comment on the liquor store incidents.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/29/2005 16:04 ||
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Deputy police Chief Howard Jordan said Monday that police are investigating the possibility that people affiliated with another Black Muslim group could be responsible.
GILGIT: A prisoner was shot dead on the premises of an anti-terrorism court in Gilgit on Monday. Police said it arrested the attacker. Police said accused Shamshad from the Khomer area sneaked into the courtroom where Sher Ahmed of Bagrote Valley was brought in connection with a murder case against him. Sources said Sher Ahmed was in police custody when Shamshad attacked him. Sher Ahmed was taken to the Gilgit District Headquarters Hospital where he died. The sources said that Sher Ahmed had reportedly murdered Shamshadâs sister after she refused to marry him.
Served him right. I guess.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2005 00:00 ||
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If I wuz gonna bump somebody off, I'd do it outside the courthouse...
LAHORE: A man was shot dead by unidentified assailants while his father and a passerby were injured outside the sessions courts in the Islampura police jurisdiction on Monday. Ghulam Mustafa, 25, a resident of Chung, had come to a murder hearing at the sessions courts with his father Maqbool Ahmed. They were about to enter the courtâs premises when five men opened fire at them injuring Ghulam, Maqbool and a passerby lawyer Agha Zafar Iqbal. They were rushed to the hospital where Ghulam died while the condition of the two injured was stated to be out of danger. Ghulamâs body was sent to the morgue for an autopsy and a case has been registered on Maqboolâs complaint.
Islampura SHO Nauman Habib said that Maqbool Ahmed was involved in over four murder cases and had come to the court with his son for the hearing of one of the cases. Saddar Investigations SP Babar Sarfraz said that it was likely that Ghulam was shot dead by his rivals, and he expected the assailants to be arrested soon.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2005 00:00 ||
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Bad weather has claimed the lives of at least two earthquake survivors, the first confirmed victims of what officials fear will be a new disaster for the 3.5 million Pakistanis who lost their homes last month. With heavy rain and snow lashing Pakistan's part of divided Kashmir, more than 100 people were brought to hospitals with hypothermia and respiratory diseases on Monday. The bad weather blocked roads and grounded helicopters as troops raced against the approaching Himalayan winter to ferry aid to remote areas devastated by the 8 October earthquake that killed more than 87,000 people.
Three-month-old Waqar Mukhtar died of pneumonia hours after he was brought in from nearby Neelum Valley, said Abdul Hamid, a doctor at a hospital in the regional capital, Muzaffarabad. In the town of Bagh, a middle-aged man died a day after he was brought in with hypothermia, said Lieutenant-Colonel Johan De Graaf, senior medical officer at the Nato field hospital there. "If we don't get people into shelters, they will die. It's as simple as that," said Air Commodore Andrew Walton, commander of the Nato disaster response team in Pakistan. "That's the second disaster that's waiting to happen if we in the international community don't do something about it." Walton said it was critical to get more shelter materials and mobile medical teams quickly to high-altitude areas. Mountaintops in the area have a fresh covering of snow.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Stupidity is not a crime---so you cannot appeal the (usually capital) sentence.
#3
Feudalism is behind a lot of the reluctance to move.
Many landlords in Pak Kashmir are not allowing their serf tenants to leave, fearing that they would never return from the Punjab.
Posted by: john ||
11/29/2005 14:33 Comments ||
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#1
A major problem with autopsies is the difficulty in getting the personnel, time and money to do them. I suspect that in the future, there will be three radically different forms of autopsy.
The first will be the traditional autopsy, used especially of cases of extreme trauma and oddities of the body, where you just have to have a hands-on approach.
The second type will be the virtual autopsy, with some fluid and tissue samples taken, and a much higher retention of data for medical, civil and criminal purposes.
The third type is the general autopsy, used in cases of some mystery, but with no suspicion of criminal activity or malpractice. This is the vast majority of autopsies, and more and more, they are just not done because of the drain on resources. Even some private autopsy firms have been created to pick up the slack.
However, what the general autopsy needs is a mechanized process. Under the direction of a technician, not a Medical Examiner, the body would be put on a conveyor belt. At first they would be C-T scanned and X-Rayed, then the machine would take all required (needle) tissue and fluid samples that properly packaged, would be shipped to pathology for analysis.
Then, if invasive investigation is needed, the machine can do several time consuming and difficult procedures, such as cutting the skull for brain examination. Then the cadaver exits the machine, so that the ME can do his analysis quickly.
On the surface this sounds gratuitous, until you see the alternative: not doing an autopsy at all.
In past, by mandating autopsies for all unexplained deaths, medical science learned an enormous amount of useful, important, and life-saving information. Accident prevention, cluster illnesses, incompetant surgeons, and many new diseases were discovered this way.
An automated process is not as de-humanizing as it sounds, especially under the watchful eye of a technician. And with several gigabytes of data from each cadaver, soon there could be a gigantic, searchable database for pathological conditions that we have only known about before from anecdotal and statistical information.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
11/29/2005 16:26 Comments ||
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#5
Hey, Barbara :)
Dawg was thinking only in human terms, which speaks well of her/him. Adding in the subhumans, those who actually derive glee and entertainment in what most would call real desecration, was missing, I thought.
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Myanmar's military government has extended the house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy leader who has spent much of the last 16 years in detention, her political party said Monday. The National League for Democracy said it was unable to confirm the length of the extension, although under the anti-subversion law being applied, it would be one year. It did not say how the party's Central Executive Committee, which met Monday, confirmed the extension. The military government has not commented on the reported action.
What's to say?
The United States criticized the move, saying Myanmar's military leaders should steer the country toward democracy by releasing Suu Kyi and other political prisoners. "The extension of Aung San Suu Kyi's detention is yet another step in the wrong direction by Burma's military leaders," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. Myanmar is also know as Burma. McCormack said that instead of charging Suu Kyi with a crime, the military leaders were "making the incredible assertion that she is being held for her own protection."
The Nobel peace laureate was last taken into custody on May 30, 2003, after her motorcade was attacked by a pro-junta mob as she was making a political tour of northern Myanmar.
Which was all her fault, of course.
Suu Kyi, 60, has spent 10 of the last 16 years in detention, mostly under house arrest. She is under virtual solitary confinement at her residence in the Myanmar capital, allowed no outside visitors other than her doctors and no telephone contact. Suu Kyi's longest period of house arrest was from 1989-1995, during which she was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. Her current detention was extended for a year in November 2004.
The latest extension had been expected, since the military government has shown no signs of wishing to talk with the NLD to resolve the country's political deadlock. Reporters who waited in the street near Suu Kyi's house on Sunday - when her last detention order expired - saw heightened security, and witnessed a police car entering her compound and leaving five minutes later. It was widely assumed that they came to deliver her new detention order, which comes into force when it is read to the detainee.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/29/2005 00:00 ||
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Makes me ill to think that people like this are lumped in with Yasser Arafat and Kofi Annan.
House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert has told federal officials that the lighted, decorated tree on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol -- known in recent years as the "Holiday Tree" -- should be renamed the "Capitol Christmas Tree," as it was called until the late 1990s. The Capitol's senior landscape architect confirmed the name switch yesterday for The Washington Times. "It was known as the 'Holiday Tree' for several years and just recently was changed back to the 'Capitol Christmas Tree.' This was a directive from the speaker," said Capitol architect Matthew Evans.
"The speaker believes a Christmas tree is a Christmas tree, and it is as simple as that," said Ron Bonjean, spokesman for the Illinois Republican.
The Capitol tree, traditionally overshadowed by the White House's "National Christmas Tree," was renamed a "holiday tree" several years ago, according to the Capitol Architect's offices, in an effort to acknowledge the other holidays of Kwanzaa and Hanukkah -- although no one seemed to know exactly when the name was changed or by whom.
Oh, I bet we all know when, don't we?
Posted by: Steve ||
11/29/2005 11:50 ||
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#1
The funny thing is, it is a Christmas Tree, whether you want to refer to the season as Holiday Season or not. No other religion features a tree, why not call it what it is? Nobody calls a menorah a "holiday lamp".
#3
Yep, it is a Christms Tree. That's where the holiday comes from. Period. Full stop. Trying to hi-jack it and neuter it is asinine.
Slowly, but surely, there is a real no-shit backlash building against the ACLU / Michael Newdow / et al assaults on the traditions and customs of the majority of Americans. All they've managed to accomplish is to piss off everyone to the right of Trotsky.
I think, in sum, they've merely revealed themselves as "ist" ideologues and, well, as demonstrably insane attention whores. I see a clear parallel between the backfiring antics of these domestic morons and the Zarqi-styled Caliphatists. I hope they share a common fate, too. Asstards.
#4
Wow, I couldn't have said it better, DOT! Keep up the rants! When even Neal Boortz (who is no friend, at least cuts 'em no slack on his show) is defending the Christians, ya better look out!
Posted by: BA ||
11/29/2005 15:42 Comments ||
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#5
I personally, PREFER they call it a Christmas Tree, not a Holiday Tree. Calling it a Holiday Tree might imply there is such a thing as a Chanukah tree - there aint, and Jews shouldnt put up such a thing. A Christmas tree is, in the US, a Christian tradition, whatever pagan origins it may have. I dont want it implied that the Capitol is honoring Chanukah by lighting a tree. I presume Muslims feel the same way.
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.
HARARE - President Robert Mugabe tightened his grip on Zimbabwe on Monday with victory in a Senate poll seen by critics as a mere formality, but analysts say low voter turnout showed deepening dissatisfaction with his 25-year rule. Mugabeâs ruling ZANU-PF party went into Saturdayâs elections for a new upper chamber of parliament a certain winner, thanks to an opposition boycott in many constituencies and electoral laws that reserve seats for loyalists such as tribal chiefs.
She claimed that the sponsors tried to get their hands on BD5,000 that was awarded to her for agreeing to allow her dead mother's kidneys to be transplanted. [Her mother] was declared brain dead on October 31 after suffering from a brain aneurysm.
FUJAIRAH â Over two-thirds of the women serving term in Fujairah jails are well educated, and adultery topped the list of crimes committed by women, accounting for 50 per cent of the crimes followed by prostitution at 13.3 per cent.
The Supreme Court is making sure that Shawn Gementera will be wearing his punishment for stealing mail. Literally. The high court rejected Gementera's appeal Monday of a lower court's sentence that the San Francisco resident stand outside a post office for 100 hours wearing a sandwich board that reads: ``I have stolen mail. This is my punishment.''
The owner of an Oakland liquor store destroyed by an arson fire Monday morning was kidnapped shortly before the fire and held for several hours against his will, police said. Tony Hamdan, owner of New York Market in West Oakland, was found Monday afternoon in the trunk of a car in an El Cerrito parking lot, police said. Investigators provided no other details on the kidnapping this morning.
GILGIT: A prisoner was shot dead on the premises of an anti-terrorism court in Gilgit on Monday. Police said it arrested the attacker. Police said accused Shamshad from the Khomer area sneaked into the courtroom where Sher Ahmed of Bagrote Valley was brought in connection with a murder case against him. Sources said Sher Ahmed was in police custody when Shamshad attacked him. Sher Ahmed was taken to the Gilgit District Headquarters Hospital where he died. The sources said that Sher Ahmed had reportedly murdered Shamshadâs sister after she refused to marry him. 
Bad weather has claimed the lives of at least two earthquake survivors, the first confirmed victims of what officials fear will be a new disaster for the 3.5 million Pakistanis who lost their homes last month. With heavy rain and snow lashing Pakistan's part of divided Kashmir, more than 100 people were brought to hospitals with hypothermia and respiratory diseases on Monday. The bad weather blocked roads and grounded helicopters as troops raced against the approaching Himalayan winter to ferry aid to remote areas devastated by the 8 October earthquake that killed more than 87,000 people.
