Russian police are investigating a case of a boss who chained his subordinate naked to a tree in the forest to punish him for badly done work. On May, 26 a naked man covered in bangs and bruises was found standing chained by a pair of handcuffs to a tree in the forest near the Belogorsk town in Russias Far East.
According to Interfax, the man had spent almost 24 hours in the forest before he was found by railway workers; Regnum news agency reports he spent several hours at the tree. The man, 39, told the police he had been punished by his boss, director of a Belogorsk enterprise, for refusing to engage in illegal actions. However the investigation found out the boss had been angered by the mans botchery. Enraged, the director beat the man up and took him out of town to a nearby forest where he made him undress and chained him to a tree.
The hot-tempered employer is now charged with illegal restriction of a mans freedom, with a maximum penalty of two years in prison.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/05/2006 09:57 ||
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If this jamoke of a boss lands in jail, he will gain a whole new understanding of "bangs and bruises" .
I believe that the photo being used by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution may be even funnier than Rantburg's
You're correct, and it's now in the photo library, as well as here. AoS
Police unions criticize U.S. attorney
The grand jury investigation of 4th District Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney enters its third month today with no hint from the federal prosecutor about how much longer it will take to settle a case that legal experts said should have been wrapped up in a matter of days. McKinney was accused of striking a Capitol Hill police officer March 29, and the case was referred to the grand jury April 5. The drawn-out process of deciding whether she should be charged with assault has police fuming that the DeKalb County Democrat is getting preferential treatment from a politically motivated prosecutor.
"Right from the start this U.S. attorney has handled this case differently from every other case," said Chuck Canterbury, national president of the Fraternal Order of Police. "And it's because she is a sitting congresswoman."
No kidding! Chuck deserves a lifetime achievement 'Master of the Obvious' award.
McKinney's office and the office of U.S. Attorney Ken Wainstein declined to comment.
Capitol police, already angry over McKinney's case, bristled when superiors ordered them last month to drive Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) home rather than investigate the possibility that he'd been drinking after he crashed his car into a barricade near the Capitol. Kennedy later blamed the incident on prescription drugs he'd been taking and checked into a rehabilitation facility.
What most angers the police about the McKinney case is that it involves an assault no matter how minor of a police officer. Police reported that McKinney hit an officer in the chest after he failed to recognize her as a member of Congress and tried to stop her from going around a security checkpoint, something members of Congress and their aides are typically allowed to do. "It's obviously frustrating for us," said Andy Maybo, head of the Capitol Hill police union. "This sends out the message that it's OK to hit a police officer and it's not, regardless of who you are."
In legal terms, McKinney's case "is as simple as you can get," said George Washington University legal expert Jonathan Turley. Usually anyone who hits a police officer is immediately arrested on felony charges, police and legal experts said. In political terms, however, Mc-Kinney's case is far from simple. "It is loaded with emotion, and I think the U.S. attorney is being very, very conservative in how they approach this."
Given the political sensitivity made all the more delicate by Mc-Kinney's early accusations that she was the victim of racial profiling legal experts said it's understandable that no decision has been made. "That would be unusual for a run-of-the-mill case, but this isn't a run-of-the-mill case," said Frank Carter, former head of the public defender service in Washington whose clients included White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
He said many cases like McKinney's never reach a grand jury because they're settled quietly and privately, avoiding a public spectacle. "This ... begged for that," he said.
#3
He said many cases like McKinney's never reach a grand jury because they're settled quietly and privately, avoiding a public spectacle .... and another Atlanta street will be named after her.
#4
"Right from the start this U.S. attorney has handled this case differently from every other case," said Chuck Canterbury, national president of the Fraternal Order of Police. "And it's because it was Whitey's fault that a black woman was singled out by the KKK Capitol police cuz it was da man suppressing the sista, ya know and they don' like a black woman in a white man's world and fuck them whiteys she is a sitting congresswoman."
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/05/2006 10:44 Comments ||
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#7
I think she has a good case for discrimination since the Capitol Police gave Patrick Kennedy a freepass. White guy goes free, black woman prosecuted. DWI in many instances is assault with deadly weapon. Can be prosecuted as premeditated as well. The Capitol Police needs to apply the law to both fairly and equally!!!
But since they gave Kennedy a wink and a nod and drove him home... it would be very difficult to do anything to him now.
#9
Well not do disagree, but as a former cop I can tell you that I would view a drunken Kennedy as a cliche.. worthy only of pity, or maybe laughter. I still would have arrested him, but maybe the Capitol Police have different rules. But if he had gotten out of the car and slapped me in front of several witnesses, that ain't pity or laughter time. That's 'throw their ass in jail for felony assault on a police officer time'---regardless of color. Still, the Kennedy incident does raise some interesting questions. If it had not been capitol police but a regular street cop in a patrol car, maybe Kennedy would have been charged.
Bottom line is you can get away with a lot of things, depending on the cop. But one thing a cop will NEVER let slide is when you assault him. And if you do go down, don't be a chicken shit and cry racism.
#10
Yes MCS, If I have to rank the offenses, Assaulting a Police Officer is at the top. Clearly a person capable of doing that is capable of doing anything with no regard to the law. However, by not prosecuting Kennedy and letting him walk, any half witted lawyer now has the ammo he/she needs to create doubt in the mind of at least one juror... and trust me if it comes to a trial they will be looking awfully hard for that one.
#11
There will be no trial. The "Royals" and most of the wealthy in this country are immune from arrest and prosecution. If it was me or you our asses would already be rotting in jail. It's the system.
This is one more example of why I am not sure anymore it's worth saving.
A lioness at Kiev's zoo has killed a man who climbed into her enclosure. A Ukrainian of Azerbaijani origin lowered himself into the enclosure using a rope. He was quoted as saying God would save him.
"Hello, you have reached God. I'm out of the office right now. Please leave a prayer at the beep, I'll get back to you."
One of four lions in the enclosure seized the 45-year-old by the throat, and he died at the scene.
Lions, why do they.....oh, right
The zoo - which keeps the lions on an "island" protected by concrete blocks - was packed with visitors at the time of the attack on Sunday. "The man shouted 'God will save me, if he exists', lowered himself by a rope into the enclosure, took his shoes off and went up to the lions," a zoo official told Reuters news agency.
"Look, Sheba, lunch is early today"
"A lioness went straight for him, knocked him down and severed his carotid artery."
Clearly an experienced lioness.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/05/2006 09:47 ||
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LOL: too bad we didn't find this earlier, it would have made the top of the masthead in today's Defender-Scimitar. Wonder if Fred will do an afternoon edition?
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/05/2006 10:01 Comments ||
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Yeah, but did they eat him, at least? Otherwise, his death would be meaningless and useless, I mean.
Posted by: ed ||
06/05/2006 11:45 Comments ||
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If the probability of 1 lion killing you is 50%, the probability of 2 lions killing you is 75%, and the probability of 4 lions killing you is 3000%.
#8
Perfessor: If the probability of 1 lion killing you is 50%, the probability of 2 lions killing you is 75%, and the probability of 4 lions killing you is 3000%.
dear Perfessor Principia Mathematica,
I was just stinkin, do you think I go buy me some lotto tickets today?
anonymous5089: Yeah, but did they eat him, at least? Otherwise, his death would be meaningless and useless, I mean.
LOL! the Lions tried to et the poor imbecile but then refused to and were overheard to say "WoW that guy tastes especially Ukrainian weird"!
Redacted by moderator. Comments may be redacted for trolling, violation of standards of good manners, or plain stupidity. Please correct the condition that applies and try again. Contents may be viewed in the sinktrap. Further violations may result in
banning.
#15
Redacted?? Sheesh, I thought it was pretty funny. But, OK - no more "dirty arab" jokes from me.... (or was it the cannibal restaurant part that was in bad taste?)
#17
Reminds me of the joke about a tourist who goes to a cannibal restaurant.
On the menu: Aussie for $50, Frenchman for $50, Mexican for $50, or Arab for $150. Tourist asks the waiter, "why is the Arab so expensive?" The waiter replies, "You ever try to wash an Arab?!?"
Well fucking DUH! You think these TIGR guys were stoned during some rather important biology classes?
Cell organelles? Golgi bodies? Mitochondria? Chloroplasts? Ribosomes? Ring any bells, boys?
Hell, Mitochondria and chloroplasts have their OWN DNA and manage their own protein synthesis, replication, and have bilayer membranes, etc. Think of them as ancient benign invaders, eh? Yeah, I'm thinking symbiosis, you wonder-wankers. Sheesh.
Geez, I guess the quality and value of prizes in Cracker Jacks have really risen since I was a kid actually paying attention in class.
#3
the entire sum of genetic material from microbes in the lower gut -- includes more than 60,000 genes. That is twice as many as found in the human genome.
Different organisms have different genes. Wow! That's a shocker.
#5
Flyover, sorta. There is a difference, the cell structures that you mention are an integral components of cells and albeit functioning autonomously, the are encoded in the human genome.
The gut bacteria, on the other hand, are acquired after birth (for the most part) and preponderance of one or another of the major types would decide whether you'd be generating methane or more obnoxious gases for the rest of your natural lifespan. ;-)
Boys we are truly symbiotic organisms. Shit living in our cells, operating independently, having their own cell membranes within our cells, two even having independent DNA, rather proves that point.
You did not address the separate DNA of mitochondria and chloroplasts in your assertion that they're covered in the human genome. If you're knowledge extends beyond 200-series college biology, please elaborate how this was handled - I don't know. I also freely admit my studies ended long before there was a Human Genome Project.
BTW, additional data points in favor of symbiosis, bacterial free-riders in the gut, on all skin surfaces, etc., are appreciated, but the point is not in doubt, IMHO, LOL.
#7
See, thats what you get for not listening to your mother. How many times did she tell you not the put that thing in your mouth. You dont know where its been.
#8
Scientists have long known that at least 50 percent of human faeces, and often more, is made up of bacteria from the gut. Bacteria start to colonise the intestines and colon shortly after birth, and adults carry up to 100 trillion microbes, representing more than 1,000 different species.
jeeze, now ima gonna have to memorise;
"Hey, You're full of shit but even more bacteria!"
LIMA, Peru (AP) - Former President Alan Garcia appeared headed toward victory over nationalist ex-army officer Ollanta Humala in Sunday's presidential runoff. It would be a stunning comeback for a man whose name had been equated with political disaster - and a rejection of a political upstart enthusiastically endorsed by Venezuela's anti-U.S. president, Hugo Chavez.
Unofficial partial counts by the polling firm Apoyo and the citizen watchdog group Transparencia gave the center-leftist Garcia more than 52 percent of the vote. Appearing before hundreds of followers at his campaign headquarters before the first official results were announced, Garcia thanked God for what ``appears to be a victory by the party of the people.'' He said Peruvians had sent an overwhelming message Sunday to Chavez that they wanted no part of the ``strategy of expansion of a militaristic, retrograde model that he has tried to impose in South America.''
A Humala victory could have tilted Peru into the axis of Chavez, who has already extended his regional influence, gaining a loyal ally with the December election of Evo Morales as Bolivia's president. Like Morales, Humala had pledged to punish a corrupt political establishment and redistribute wealth to his country's poor Indian and mestizo majority. But his radical rhetoric frightened many and won Garcia votes on Peru's more industrialized northern coast and in Lima, the capital, where Garcia said he had won 65 percent of the vote. Humala appeared headed to victory in Peru's heavily Indian southern Andes, a stronghold of his support.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/05/2006 00:00 ||
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thanks Hugo!
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/05/2006 13:19 Comments ||
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Letter to Garcia: "Don't take any offered helicopter rides..."
More on the story from yesterday
Evo Morales, Bolivia's left-wing president, has launched a sweeping land reform plan by handing over about 9,600 square miles of state land to poor Indians. The move marked the start of Mr Morales's "agrarian revolution", just weeks after his government nationalised the natural gas industry, giving foreign-owned firms six months to negotiate new contracts or leave. "We want to change Bolivia together," Mr Morales told the thousands of Indians gathered in the eastern city of Santa Cruz to receive land titles.
"Getting back the land means we're getting back all the natural resources, we're nationalising all the natural resources."
Onlookers chanted "Evo" and waved Bolivian and rainbow whipala flags (yours for only $95.00 plus shipping), which represent 500 years of Indian struggle. The ceremony came after talks broke down between Mr Morales and agribusiness leaders over his reforms, which involves the distribution of 77,000 square miles of public land - an area roughly twice the size of Portugal - in the next five years. The government is studying the redistribution of unproductive private land, while one farmers' organisation has said it would form "self-defence" groups to prevent such seizures. The redistribution plans are heightening long-standing tension between the prosperous residents of Bolivia's agricultural lowlands and the poorer, mostly Indian people of the western high plains.
"The greatest need right now is the recuperation of our territory," Wilson Chacaray, a Guarani Indian leader, told the crowd. "The landowners, the foreign companies, the political parties that have dominated this country took our land from us and that's why we live in misery."
#2
"Getting back the land means we're getting back all the natural resources, we're nationalising all the natural resources."
That's what Mexico did in the early half of the 20th Century. What did it get them other than an economy that has to rely up expelling a large portion of their own population and a dependency upon the money those send back to keep the economy afloat even though the country is blessed with abundant arable land, mineral resources, and vast petroleum reserves. Mexico is only able to rank eleventh in GDP. South Korea whos GDP was basically zero by the end of the Korean War, with an area the size of Florida, about 50 million people and no natural resources and very limited arable land is number thirteen in GDP. Proof that intelligence is finite, there are just more people in the world today.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/05/2006 14:49 Comments ||
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uh.....Take Five
Posted by: Dave Brubeck ||
06/05/2006 15:05 Comments ||
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And even Indians (from India) are getting into the act
Bolivia awards El Mutun mine deal to India's Jindal
Bolivia's leftist government on Thursday awarded Jindal Steel and Power Ltd. a contract to develop El Mutun, a site believed to contain one of the world's biggest iron-ore deposits.
Officials said Jindal vowed initially to invest a total of $2.3 billion to mine ore and produce steel -- the biggest investment in a single project in Bolivian history and a boost for the government of President Evo Morales, which nationalized the energy industry last month.
Posted by: john ||
06/05/2006 16:20 Comments ||
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Wait till Evo Morales discovers that Naveen Jindal isn't a native
Naveen Jindal is a member of parliament, India since 2004 representing the constituency of Kurukshetra in the state of Haryana. He is a member of the Congress Party. He is an industrialist with operations located in Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh. He runs the rail & steel and power businesses of the Jindal Group, the fourth largest private sector Indian business group by assets and sales turnover.
Prior to 2002, the Flag code of India did not permit flying of the Flag of India on non governmental institutions. In 2001, a case was filed against Naveen Jindal for flying the Flag of India atop his company building. He said that he was inspired by his American friends displaying their flag during his college days in USA and he believed that flying the national flag should be the right of every Indian. He took the case to the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India and won both cases. The Supreme Court ordered the Government of India to set aside a committee to look into this matter. Finally on January 26, 2002 (India's Republic Day), private citizens were allowed to fly India's flag inside and atop their buildings and institutions. His story was reported widely in the Indian media which hailed him as a liberator.
Naveen Jindal excels in skeet shooting and holds a national record. He also plays polo.
Posted by: john ||
06/05/2006 16:20 Comments ||
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It is pretty clear that we are moving away from manned combat aircraft. A combination of technologies promises astoundingly deadly unmanned aircraft.
First, the aircraft itself, able to hit literally inhuman speeds, with a bigger engine, more armament, fuel and weaponry. Ultra-advanced manned aircraft in reserve, just in case.
Second is guidance, both remote control and AI for when remote control is either not essential, or when communications are cut off.
Third is advanced weaponry such as air-to-air and air-to-ground multirole solid state lasers. This would mean the greatest vulnerability would ironically be ordinary ball shot, either aircraft or ground fire.
#4
I want to say this without being to bravado about it but it just happens to be true. When you speak of Air Power and kick ass pilots you are talking about he U.S. Establishing a Top Gun school is a whole lot different than creating Top Gun pilots. The PRC is updating their Air Forces but they are FAR, far behind Taiwan and light years behind the U.S. in technology and training. Having front-line aircraft will not get you front-line pilots. We (and I include our allies) OWN the airspace battlefield and it would take a very long time for that to change. The day that a PRC Aircraft Carrier conduct operations off Honolulu then I will change my assessment. I would love for a PRC participation in a Red/Green Flag exercise just for fun.
#5
Don't forget electro-magnetic, etal. shielding, ala STAR TREK, will eventually also be incorporated into US systems. SHIELDS UP, MR. SULU - SHIELDS UP, AYE, CAPTAIN.
Style note: your in-line comments go in strike-through text, not highlight. AoS.
With a steady wind blowing from Peking the north, Yang Xuhua looks out at his wind turbines on the rolling plains of Zhangbei county and waxes optimistic over China's potential for clean energy from bureacratic flatulence. "We have abundant wind energy potential, if we can tap this in a big way it will reduce a lot of the bad pollution that comes from President Jiang Zemin coal burning."
"More and more people in China are becoming convinced that we must make use of our wind resources because it is cheap to exploit, clean, renewable, abundant and does not cause global warming," Yang said. "The problem for China right now is that we don't have the equipment to realize our goals."
"The problem for the growth in wind industry in China is that we cannot harness Noam Chomsky buy turbines fast enough,"
Posted by: DanNY ||
06/05/2006 00:38 ||
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Hmmm, could be a very good thing.
Their vast needs could spur research and development.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/05/2006 10:32 Comments ||
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They just need to check with Teddy before they decide where to build the windmills.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/05/2006 00:00 ||
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SIMPSONS > "On this day in June 1989, NOTHING HAPPENED", or words to that effect. D*** It, STANDING MAN has been standing in front of my tank for going on forty years now, and t'aint likely to stop.
#1
Great story of the Iron Knight, sunk by a Japanese sub in WW2. Located in 125 metres of water.
There were 16 ships torpedo'd off the NSW coast in WW2. Only 3 are located so far.
Hat tip to my Dad. Thanks Artie!
Posted by: DanNY ||
06/05/2006 00:29 ||
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Boeing is doing awesome work.
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/05/2006 10:48 Comments ||
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Secure borders begin with a double fence and a minefield in the middle.
Posted by: ed ||
06/05/2006 10:55 Comments ||
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No, no minefields. I don't want Juan, Maria and their children blown up, I want them to apply through regular channels.
Double fence, concertina wire in the middle, from San Diego to Brownsville. Appropriate border patrol, adequate personnel, and no catch and release. Increase the numbers of legal immigration permits, match them to prospective employers, and give them a legal identity card. Make sure they pay taxes on their income. Employers who repeatedly hire illegals get put out of business. Legal immigrants get a pathway to citizenship if they want it. Current illegals get a pathway to regularize their status, 'cause we're not deporting 12 million people (we don't even know who all of them are to the nearest million).
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/05/2006 11:07 Comments ||
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Fences won't stop them. All it can do is slow them up, at best, for a 10's of minutes. Massive border patrols to chase and catch the 3 million illegal border violators each year are required or nothing gets accomplished. You can hire another 50,000 full time Border Patrol agents, but it won't matter. Increase apprehension from 30% to 80%. So what? It means they will have to make 3 crossing attempts to have 50% success. Big deal, so it takes another 2 days at the border and 2 extra finger printings at La Migra. No foul, no mess, lunch and dinner provided courtesy of US taxpayers.
A minefield puts the burden on risk on the border violators themselves. Get their asses blown up and no money goes back to the hometown. They know it's there. They are not welcome. Stay out. It's not their country. Cross and surely risk life and limb.
Otherwise, I will settle for a minimum 1 year sentence to a labor gang hand building the TX-CA sea level canal. Take out the financial incentive. Get caught and the folks back home will be deprived of the violators income for the season.
Posted by: ed ||
06/05/2006 11:32 Comments ||
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Most of what Steve said, and definitely a mine field!
#6
Juan, Maria, and their children won't be blown up if they 'use' regular channels. A minefield would only harm those who choose (of their own free will) to violate our borders. Juan, Maria, and their children would cross over at a Port of Entry. The united states welcomes immigrants all the time.
That being said I think a minefield might be a bit extreame.
Contrary to what the illegal aliens advocates try to say there already is a legal process for entering the United States for immigration.
#7
"Current illegals get a pathway to regularize their status, 'cause we're not deporting 12 million people (we don't even know who all of them are to the nearest million)."
Until the next 12 million or so illegals show up, so the U.S. can give amnesty all over again.
What is the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over, in hope that the result will be different?
#8
Right Ford. I tire of the argument that it's impractical to deport 12 million illegals. How do we know? Have we ever tried? Besides, the entire immigration debate is irrelevant until the US has the sack to secure the border. The we can debate at length the sad tale of 'Juan, Maria and theur children'.
#10
seal the border at San Diego permanently and reopen it somewhere in an unincorporated piece of desert. Any Californians who want to travel past the Southern border can fly. Strengthen the border patrol and build bigger, more fortified walls. Begin massive deportation of illegals residing in the U.S. that have had no children born here since they've arrived. One's that have had children can stay after going through new procedures implemented by Congress (which would meet them half-way to their desired amnesty). Provide benefits to employers to raise wages in fields dominated by illegal workers so more Americans would be willing to do them. And then take it from there. First, seal and relocate the border. And whoever thinks mine fields are a good idea is a total jackass.
#11
I wonder if all this isn't preparation for an Invasion and (very) short War with the intended result a divided Mexico forming the next several states like the current states Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, California, etc already are.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/05/2006 15:57 Comments ||
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Guys, look at this the military way:
Barriers, be they fences, tank traps or minefields, exist to delay the opponent and to canalize thier movement. This is to give the defender (us), a) time to react properly (i.e. get agents there), and b) rerstrict the movment to areas where we have a large advantage in dealing with the opponent.
No fence will ever serve as a barrier on its own. Even the Berlin wall and the ineer-German Border walls were not effective 100% against keeping people from lcrossing them illegally. And if you notice, it was the MANNED components that made them highly effective.
Again, the barriers are there to delay and canalize. The rest of it is enforcement: react quickly to detain and immediately deport.
And the latter has been severely missing on both our northern and southern borders.
#13
Yup, OS has it. Build a non-lethal fence, as I said earlier. Then make sure you have enough Border Patrol -- that's OS's point. You won't stop 100% of the illegal traffic, but stopping 90% is a major benefit. Once you've done that, you can work on fixing legal immigration, work permits, etc, etc, etc.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/05/2006 16:31 Comments ||
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#14
Understand the Florida gators are lookin' for some chew toys, perhaps a moat?
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/05/2006 18:28 Comments ||
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#15
I tire of the argument that it's impractical to deport 12 million illegals. How do we know? Have we ever tried?
If we don't try it with the Mexicans we may well end up having to with the Muslims. Maybe we need to start working on this. [/ultra-cynical]
#16
You invade my house by the front door and I will pump 2 rounds of 12-gauge 00 buckshot into you. But unlike the US government, if you sneak into my house by the back door, I will not give you a share of my house.
Since the Bracero farm worker program of WW2 exposed a wide segment of Mexicans to the US, 25% of Mexicans have moved to the US, the majority of immigrants walking over the border illegally. That is a population movement of the scale, but compressed in time, of Turkic people moving into the Byzantine Empire or Germanic people displacing the Celts. That is several times the speed of Europeans moving into the Americas. Now include Central American illegals, visa overstayers, and those smuggled in from all over the world.
The changes are profound. In conjunction with Great Society programs, much of lower class America have been gutted by below livable level wages, replaced by welfare subsidies and idleness. Respectable jobs like construction, maintenance, food service that used to be done by the lower and lower middle classes are now done by illegals at wages far too low support a family. Welfare and a little dealing and hustling have replaced it. Not much social mobility in that, unless you count State Prison. Illegal immigration is now so pervasive, even rural small town America cant escape it. Try to get a job packing meat these days.
Lowered standards, expectations. crime and drug use are the rule. For instance, during my senior year high school English, I studied how to spell there, their, theyre, to, too and two. I shit you not. ESL classes learned to spell chewy and chuy. The school was 85% Hispanic with a large population of illegals/children of illegals who were mired a culture of crime, drugs, ignorance, teenage pregnancy, no expectations and no future. Of the 1000 Freshmen, less than ½ graduated. Only 3 went to college in the fall, though more did eventually go. As for loyalties, it wasnt to Uncle Sam and Americans.
That was 30 years ago. Since then the illegal immigration situation and their demands on services have only gotten worse. I just pray my income holds up long enough so that my kids can graduate from schools better than the one I attended.
Jackass? No, the voice of experience. Open your eyes, dumbass.
Posted by: ed ||
06/05/2006 20:59 Comments ||
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The Religious Affairs Ministry has prepared a draft proposal on an Islamic Education Commission (IEC), which will be sent to the president for approval, sources said. Sources said that Ejazul Haq, the minister for religious affairs, would meet President Pervez Musharraf to get his approval and later meet Ittehad-e-Tanzimat-e-Madaras-e-Dinya (ITMD) representatives to finalise the draft.
According to the draft, the president will nominate the commissions chairman and the ITMD the deputy chairman, both serving a three-year term. Representatives of five wafaqs representing major sects, the religious affairs secretary, the education secretary, a religious scholar and an education expert would be members of the commission. The draft also proposes introducing the federal education board curriculum at seminaries. The wafaqs would nominate five people who would represent the ITMD and the religious affairs and education ministries would appoint two scholars.
According to the proposal, the five wafaqs will get the status of education boards and their degrees will be equal to matriculation, FA and BA. But the ITMD would have to centralise its examination system and the commissions chairman would be the degree-issuing authority, sources said, adding that the ITMD would make its recommendations to the chairman.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/05/2006 00:00 ||
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PATNA: A retired IPS officer was shot dead when he tried to stop a gang that was robbing passengers of the Rajendra Nagar-Mumbai Lokmanya Tilak Superfast Express here on Sunday.
Moments after the train started from the Rajendra Nagar Terminal six armed persons got into the train, robbed over 20 passengers in the air-conditioned coach, and shot dead the former DIG, A.K. Singh, who has been practising as a lawyer at the Patna High Court, when he refused to part with his belongings.
Mr. Singh was travelling with his wife, daughter and daughter-in-law to Mumbai to visit his son.
The gangsters completed their operation in a few minutes and decamped even before the train entered Patna Junction. Police nabbed one of them and on the basis of his disclosures arrested the rest of the gang members.
The police claimed to have recovered the looted property as also the mobile phone and wallet of the former DIG.
The weapon used to commit the murder has also been seized.
Posted by: john ||
06/05/2006 00:00 ||
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That phrase reveals much, that only "First Class" is air conditioned, and makes it easy to find who's got money.
I've seen pictures of Trains in India with people hanging onto every available inch outside, thousands of people, grossly overloaded, it makes me wonder how many fall off and are injured or killed that you never hear about
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/05/2006 16:04 Comments ||
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Tired of Arabs and Muslims being portrayed as bad guys, a Syrian firm puts out a new line of games.
Inside the frosted glass doors of Afkar Media, located in Damascus's newly-built free-zone, software developers are trying to rebuild a civilization inside a video game.
Set to be released in September, "Al-Quraysh" is a strategy game that tells the story of the first 100 years of Islam's history from the viewpoint of four different nations - Bedouins, Arabs, Persians, and Romans.
One can choose to command any of the armies of the four nations or lead the army of the main character, Khaled Ibn Waleed, a Muslim warrior who defeated the Roman and Persian empires and never lost a battle. Or one can play the role of the Bedouin sheikh, who must earn the respect of his tribe. The player has the task of building and protecting trade routes and water sources, building armies, conducting battles, and freeing slaves.
It's just one of several new games produced in the Middle East with the idea that video games, like other media, play a role in shaping young minds and impacting self-esteem. The makers hope "Al-Quraysh," named after the prophet Muhammad's tribe, will help to correct the image of Islam, alleviate tensions with the West, and stoke pride among young Muslims.
"Al-Quraysh is going to help people in the West better understand the people who are living in the East," says Radwan Kasmiya, an avid gamer and the executive manager of Afkar Media. "We want to show that this civilization was a sort of practical and almost heavenly civilization."
The game also holds lessons for Muslims, says Mr. Kasmiya.
"I get very embarrassed by the way we are showing our civilization," says Kasmiya. "There were rational laws that were governing Muslims at that time. This allowed this civilization to last for a long time and to accept the other civilizations that they came in touch with. It was not a conservative or sectarian civilization. But people have stopped taking the ideas behind the laws, and are taking the laws themselves. They do not understand the essence of the laws."
Afkar Media has already produced two games, both dealing with the plight of the Palestinian people. One game released last year, "Under Siege," was born out of frustration with the prevalance of Arabs and Muslims portrayed as terrorists in Western video games. The creators of the game say the story line counteracts the biases in some Western games by showing the Palestinian struggle from an Arab vantage point and creating Arab and Muslim characters who are fighting in self-defense.
In the first scene of "Under Siege," Baruch Goldstein, the Israeli settler who killed 27 worshipers in a Hebron mosque in 1994, snickers as he sneaks up to the mosque where two boys, Maen and Ahmed, are among those praying inside. Goldstein enters the mosque and starts shooting into the prostrated crowd.
As chaos ensues, Ahmed must disarm Goldstein and turn to fight Israeli soldiers. Killing civilians - Israeli or Arab - will make him lose his stamina. Maen is armed with a slingshot and must help the ambulance, which is being blocked by Israeli forces, reach the mosque.
Critics say the game merely inverts stereotypes - replacing extremist caricatures of Muslims with extremist caricatures of Jews, like that of Baruch Goldstein, and using the violent "shooter" format common to many video games.
But by giving young Muslims and Arabs the chance to see themselves in "the good guy" roles, Kasmiya hopes the games will bolster self-esteem among the region's children.
"Most video games on the market are anti-Arab and anti-Islam," says Kasmiya. "Arab gamers are playing games that attack their culture, their beliefs, and their way of life. The youth who are playing the foreign games are feeling guilt. On the outside they look like they don't care, but inside they do care. But we also don't want to do something about Arabs killing Westerners."
Both "Al-Quraysh" and "Under Siege," which cost roughly $100,000 to make, have been funded and released by Dar al-Fiqr, a publishing house that distributes a wide range of conservative to liberal voices on topics related to Islam. An estimated 100,000 copies of "Under Siege" have been distributed around the Arab world.
Hasan Salem, a director at Dar al-Fiqr, hopes "Al-Quraysh" will promote a more "modern" Islam.
"People believe that only their heritage will help this nation," says Mr. Salem. "We believe that this nation needs a new vision, new people, new blood to study, read, and then think about Islam. We believe in this line, not the old line that only reads old books and believes in the past."
But Dar al-Fiqr and Afkar Media's toughest challenge may be getting serious gamers to play.
Weak copyright laws in the region limit a company's ability to profit from such games, which sell for about $10 a copy.
And games like "Al-Quraysh" must compete with the sophisticated graphics and game plots of a multibillion-dollar gaming industry.
Mohamad Hamzeh, a 26-year-old gamer, says he bought "Under Siege," but that he would not play it instead of other popular games like "World of Warcraft" or "Counterstrike" because he says the plot lines are not convincing.
"We do want to put Arabs in games and show that we have a civilization, we respect other people, and that we are not aggressors," says Mr. Hamzeh, who develops video games himself. "But it's hard to really get into a game like 'Under Siege.' When you are in 2005 and you find a game that was released in 1995 that was much more advanced, it is not good. You must feel the challenge in the game. They are paying so much attention to the political and religious part, they are not concentrating on the technical parts of the game."
An earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale has rocked the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, the US Geological Survey said.
There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre did not issue an alert.
The tremor struck at 2:56am on Tuesday (local time) with its epicentre 24 kilometres north-east of Manado, a coastal city in northern Sulawesi, and at a depth of 16 kilometres.
Indonesia is recovering from a powerful earthquake that struck Java island late last month killing nearly 5,800 people and leaving some 340,000 others homeless.
Aid has been pouring into the disaster area to assist recovery from the quake, which also left 33,000 injured.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where the meeting of continental plates causes frequent seismic activity.
A geographical fault-line runs parallel to the Indonesian island of Sumatra and tectonic activities along it have repeatedly led to strong earthquakes.
Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer says the security situation in East Timor is generally under control. There was fresh violence overnight as Australian and Malaysian troops were forced to use helicopters and armoured personnel carriers to control gangs.
The Minister visited Dili on Saturday and met with East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao who broke down and wept over the plight of the nation. Mr Downer says there are still outbreaks of violence but the situation is better than it was. "The gang violence has of course very substantially declined since the troops arrived, but prior to their arrival it was simply no law and order there but it hasn't gone," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/05/2006 00:00 ||
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U.S. military stations around the world could soon be playing more hip-hop and rock and cutting back on country music, sports and talk shows. The consulting group Lund Media Research recommended those changes after an analysis of American Forces Radio, and officials will meet this week to discuss the proposals.
Disclaimer: I did 4 tours in AFRTS on the maintenance side. Every few years one of these surveys pops up claiming to know "what the troops want". Troops response is "Huh? No one asked me!"
The most significant change would be creating two music stations for worldwide broadcast. One would feature mostly hip-hop, rap and pop music, and the other would play classic rock, alternative bands and a mix of Top 40 selections.
AFRTS stations have gone automated, satellite feeds from broadcast center are played direct most of the day. Local spots inserted as needed, manned outlets normally do a morning and afternoon "drive-time" show. Bases with cable systems may carry multiple radio channels, locations with transmitters can select which feed they broadcast during different hours.
Popular talk shows, such as Rush Limbaughs program and those from National Public Radio, would be relegated to a third station broadcast only in a few select areas, according to the military publication Stars and Stripes.
Since when has NPR ever been "popular"? Rush is hugely popular, except by HQ AFRTS staff. They've tried several times to kill his show since it was forced on them. I heard this disscussion first hand.
Lund also recommended abandoning play-by-play broadcasts of American sports events, which attract few listeners. Those games would instead be available via the cable and satellite systems of American Forces Radio and Television Services (AFRTS).
Lund found that talk radio isnt popular among troops under age 34, and country music, while it does have an audience, is very unpopular among many military personnel. "They said when we play country, we pull in the country fans but lose everyone else, said Warren Lee, operations and plans officer for AFRTS.
And when you play rap and hip hop you lose everyone who doesn't like them either. Plus, the biggest hip hop records tend to be so vulgar, the AFRTS outlets can't play them.
The report also recommends removing the Tom Joyner show from over-the-air broadcasts as well, despite its popularity among minority troops. Several white respondents complained about the show, and Lund officials deemed it too controversial for AFRs attempts to broaden its listening audience.
"Several white respondents" which included several Wing Commanders
The rationale behind the proposed changes is simple, according to Andy Friedrich, deputy director for AFRTS: To attract the largest possible audience.
I think Andy has been there since the earth cooled
If officials decide to accept the Lund recommendations, the changes could be implemented by January 2007 at the earliest. More info at Stars and Gripes
Posted by: Steve ||
06/05/2006 10:32 ||
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#1
You'd think in a world with XM and Sirius radio that this is one serious place Rummey could outsource the whole department and let the troops tune to what ever rocks their boat. What's the break even mark for a relay satellite versus funding this bureaucratic pit?
#2
Just what I was thinking HU. Buy/lease several Sirius channels and unencrypt them so any Sirius receiver, whether on subscription or not, can play them. Same for TV. Have a few unencrypted channels of DISH or whatever DBS satellite is active in that hemisphere. It will be a heck of a lot cheaper than having AFRTS staff in each of the theaters and variety can be expanded.
Posted by: ed ||
06/05/2006 11:57 Comments ||
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#3
"They said when we play country, we pull in the country fans but lose folks who'd rather hear music that denigrates women into whores and bitches whose only function is a sex toy for murderous gold-tooth sporting drug dealers in fancy cars everyone else, said Warren Lee, operations and plans officer for AFRTS."
Check it out!
I hip hop the hippie the hippie to the hip hip hop, and you dont stop
the rock it to the bang bang boogie say up jumped the boogie
to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat
now what you hear is not a test--I'm rappin to the beat
and me, the groove, and my friends are gonna try to move your feet
see I'm A-F-R and I say hello
to the black, to the white, the red, and the brown, the purple and yellow
well, my name is known all over the world
by all the foxy ladies and the pretty girls
I'm goin down in history
as the baddest military there could ever be
planes go up real high and drop the JDAMs below
the concussion starts gettin into your toes
ya start poppin jihadis with an M-82
and movin your body right down to your shoes
and the Ba'athists start doin the freak
I said damn, right outta their seat
then they throw they hands high in the air
surrenedrin' before we kick their derriere
we're rockin to the beat without a care
with the sureshot ordinance for the affair
singin on n n on n on n on
the war dont stop until the break of dawn . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
06/05/2006 16:57 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
A lioness at Kiev's zoo has killed a man who climbed into her enclosure. A Ukrainian of Azerbaijani origin lowered himself into the enclosure using a rope. He was quoted as saying God would save him. 
The Religious Affairs Ministry has prepared a draft proposal on an Islamic Education Commission (IEC), which will be sent to the president for approval, sources said. Sources said that Ejazul Haq, the minister for religious affairs, would meet President Pervez Musharraf to get his approval and later meet Ittehad-e-Tanzimat-e-Madaras-e-Dinya (ITMD) representatives to finalise the draft. 
