London, 7 Dec. (AKI) - Independent British broadcaster Channel 4 has selected a Zimbabwe-born niqab-wearing Muslim from the Midlands to deliver its alternative to the Queen's traditional Christmas Day message. Although the woman, whose name has been given as Khadija, has said she will be watching the British sovereign's annual broadcast on 25 December - as she always does - Channel 4's move is expected to reignite the veil controversy. The channel has also beeen accused of provocation by pitting Khadija against Elizabeth II - who is head of the Church of England.
Khadija's six-minute broadcast will air at exactly the same time as the Queen's - 3 pm GMT on 25 December. The alternative message comes at the end of a year that has seen a series of controversies over women wearing the niqab or eyes-only veil in Britain and elsewhere in Europe, as well as a recent dispute over flagship airline British Airways' attemtp to ban staff from displaying crucifixes.
The Independent quoted a Channel 4 spokesman as saying: "The right to wear religious symbols from niqabs to crucifixes, remarks made by the pope about Islam and the publication of Danish cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed have all generated a debated about multiculturalism, secularism and integration, a debate in which British Muslims have played a key role and one that will shape the future of British society."
"Therefore, we believed it was fitting this year the message shoudl be given by a British Muslim woman," the spokesman added.
Channel 4 chose Khadija after a month-long search among Muslim communities in the north of Britain and the Midlands. The network said it was releasing few details about the woman because she was reluctant to talk to the media ahead of her message. However a spokesman also said she is "articulate and interesting" while the Leeds-based production company, Chameleon, which found Khadija described her as "a feisty woman who will deliver a thought-provoking message." Her message - her first broadcasting experience - will be filmed over the next ten days at a number of locations in Britain, Chameleon said.
The channel said she was born in Zimbabwe, is a British citizen, is married and has been wearing the full niqab or the past 10 years. The Arabic word for 'full veil' - this covers everything but the eyes. She was cited by the Daily Mirror as saying she wears the niqab because it empowers women to be free of the pressures of fashion. She reportedly does not believe that wearing the niqab is divisive.
The decision to broadcast such a contentious alternative comes after several years during which Channel 4 has screened light-hearted messages in its address which has bee runing since 1993. Last year, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver featured in a spoof in which he pretended to cook junk food. Previous occupants of the coveted role have included the late gay icon Quentin Crisp, Ali G as played by Jewish commedian Sacha Baron Cohen, and parents of the murdered black schoolboy Stephen Lawrence.
#4
This is idiotic. There is no justification for stupidity like this.
Cultural jihad? IE impose the presence of islam as a fait accompli, and show assertiveness and defiance against the now obsolete "ancient order" (Britain as we know it, for now).
#6
Perhaps the Brits could contact the USN for a quickly scheduled demo of the EFA-18G Growler (Electric Lawn Dart) and they could also demonstrate the abilities of the ECM system to selectively jam discrete frequencies (oh, say Channel 4). Just a suggestion, since the EA-6B Prowlers do an awesome job now and again here at beautiful downtown NAS Whidbey.
#7
Imagine that. After each of Churchill's inspiring speeches having UK radios switch to some alternative Nazi "message"... I'm glad we're not at war with Islamofascism, otherwise I'd think the UK is lost.
Gloom. Doom. His bubble is intact. He B Green. Prince Charles launched his 'green revolution' with a stark warning that we are all 'living on borrowed time' if we don't stop eating up the world's resources.
In a forthright speech in front of leading figures, including Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Prince said: 'We are consuming the resources of our planet at such a rate that we are, in effect, living off credit and living on borrowed time. 'It is our children and grandchildren who will have to pay off this debt and we owe it to them and ourselves to do something about it before it is too late.'
The Prince launched his Costing The Earth The Accounting For Sustainability project at a forum at St James s Palace attended by politicians and business and faith leaders. They included the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams, Lord Browne, chief executive of BP, and former US vice president Al Gore, a leading environmentalist whose film An Inconvenient Truth warns the world must act now to save itself.
The former Democratic US presidential candidate praised Charles's green initiative in a video message to the forum. He said it may be 'one of the most important initiatives' and stressed: 'We need to continue the effort to solve the climate crisis.'
The heir to the throne is determined to reduce his carbon footprint on the world. He encourages his staff to make trips around the capital on bicycle instead of taking cars or cabs. He could kill himself. That would do it.
Actor Stephen Fry and comedian Al Murray have teamed up to make a film in support of the Prince. Fry, a close friend of Charles, plays Planet Earth while Murray, otherwise known as the Pub Landlord, stars as the Moon in the appeal.
The Prince is set to label all his Duchy Originals range with details of greenhouse gases made during their production. The Queen has already gone green at Windsor Castle with a plan to use hydroelectric power.
The Duke of Edinburgh uses a taxi cab fuelled by liquid petroleum gas to travel around London, while water in a bore hole at Buckingham Palace is used to supply air conditioning to the Queen's gallery before topping up the water levels in the Palace lake.
Mr Gore visited Britain in September to promote his film. Charles is said to have met him privately at Highgrove to discuss their mutual passion for the environment. They swapped spit (Carbon) and CO².
#3
When is Chucky going to turn in the Royal Family's be-jewelled Hoss-and-Carriage for a simple 10-speed bike, or a CAMEL??? He asks his Staff to do it, but thus far no Media-hound photo evidence to show that he's done it, or intends to do it. HOW CAN THE LEFT STOP TAKING THEIR VALIUM + OTHER PSYCHOTIC MEDS IFF THEY HAVE TO DO WHAT THEY DEMAND EVERYONE ELSE HAS TO DO???
#4
It is Muslims who breed like flies and operate backward economies. The fact that those who come to the West, immediately attempt to export their primitivism, reveals the inherent stupidity of any follower of the Mohammad cult.
#9
In one charter trip from Old Blighty to the far reaches of the Empire, Charles uses more fuel in his royal jet than I do in 20 years of flying my bird.
Inherited wealth and the idle rich telling the rest of us how to live. Pfeh.
And we all are living on borrowed time. We all are gonna die. It is what we do with our borrowed time that counts. What have you been doing with your life, Charlie, me lad?
A pox, a proletarian pox on ye.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/07/2006 9:48 Comments ||
Top||
#10
What we have here is the ultimate example of a guy with too much time and too much money on his hands...
#11
'We are consuming the resources of our planet at such a rate that we are, in effect, living off credit and living on borrowed time. 'It is our children and grandchildren who will have to pay off this debt and we owe it to them and ourselves to do something about it before it is too late.'
Is he calling for U.S. welfare reform here? Sounds so much like domestic politicos, I just can't tell. I'ma sooooo confused.
Posted by: BA ||
12/07/2006 10:04 Comments ||
Top||
#12
This was one of the wealthiest men who has ever lived. Time for a republic; if only for the energy savings on calorie-rich bloviation.
#13
I could be wrong but I thought most resources were recoverable, its just a cost matter. Yeah we can't get the oil back once it's been burned but plastics and metals can be remelted and reformed and the cost to do so is dropping all the time so by the time we start to run out there will be other options. Yeah wood can't be recycled but I've heard it grows on trees.
This is just idiocy. If he's right I might as well sell my stock in whale oil futures.
#14
Charles should take a leaf from his great uncle, Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David Windsor aka (albeit briefly) as Edward VIII / Duke of Windsor and, recognizing that he is not fit to be King, renounce the throne. In this case, he should step aside in favor of his son.
British police say they are now treating the death of Alexander Litvinenko, the former Russian spy, as a murder inquiry. "Detectives investigating the death of Alexander Litvinenko have reached the stage where it is felt appropriate to treat it as an allegation of murder," London's Metropolitan police said in a statement on Wednesday. "Detectives from the counter-terrorism command are pursuing many lines of inquiry, both in the UK and Russia, and have spoken to a number of witnesses in connection with the death."
It cautioned, however, that detectives were keeping an open mind and were methodically following the evidence. "It is important to stress that we have reached no conclusions as to the means employed, the motive or the identity of those who might be responsible for Litvinenko's death," the statement said. It added that the inquiry was still in its early stages and that the police were not prepared to comment on "speculative reports" in the media.
I dunno. I'm still holding out for the "he slipped in the shower and fell onto a vial of Polonium that his dog found out in the yard under that ugly rhododendron his crazy aunt planted a couple-three years ago to celebrate his nephew's graduation from podiatry school except that he didn't really graduate on account of that no-good Jenkins girl who wanted him to join her at the ashram and..." angle to get a little more investigation...
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Alex! You look like hell!
We need a "Master of the Master of the Obvious" graphic for this story.
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/07/2006 6:06 Comments ||
Top||
Radiation has been found at the British Embassy in Moscow, it emerged yesterday. On Monday, officials said a room there would be tested as a precaution after former KGB bodyguard Andrei Lugovoi went there to deny involvement in poisoning Alexander Litvinenko.
Mr Lugovoi and another Russian businessman reportedly met former spy Mr Litvinenko at the Millennium Hotel in Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, on November 1, the day he was apparently poisoned.
A spokesman said: 'A team of experts have concluded a precautionary check of the British Embassy.
'They have found no danger to public health. Small traces of radiation were found below levels that present a risk to health. The embassy is working as normal. There is no cause for concern.'
The development came as the Italian academic who met Mr Litvinenko on the day he was allegedly poisoned was discharged from hospital. Mario Scaramella had been treated at University College Hospital in London after testing positive for polonium 210 - the same radioactive toxin that is thought to have killed 43-year-old Mr Litvinenko. A hospital spokesman said Mr Scaramella had been discharged and was showing no symptoms of radiation poisoning.
#1
This almost sounds like disinformation. There is not only background radiation everywhere, but trace amounts of mildly radioactive things get everywhere.
It only matters when it is of the specific radioactive isotope. That means detecting radiation doesn't mean anything, unless it's a LOT of radiation, in which case the source is secondary. It means that a positive chemical test for that isotopic chemical is what matters.
Polonium is chemically similar to tellurium and bismuth.
Fijis Great Council of Chiefs, the GCC, maintains that Ratu Josefa Iloilo is still the legal president and head of state of Fiji. This comes a day after the military commander, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, made himself acting president and unsuccessfully sought the resignation of the prime minister. Commodore Bainimarama then announced that he had dissolved parliament and made new appointments. Soldiers also removed the vice president, Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi, from his office and his official residence yesterday.
The head of the Council of Chiefs, Ratu Ovini Bokini, said that the removal was illegal. Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi is a fine Chief and highly respected member of the legal profession, a former High Court Judge who is legally and unanimously appointed by the Chiefs. Ratu Jonis removal from office is illegal and unconstitutional and disrespectful.
Ratu Ovini Bokini says there is concern that the military may also attempt to remove the president, Ratu Josefa Iloilo from his residence after Government House issued a statement which failed to approve the military take-over. Ratu Ovini also says the GCC has called on all soldiers to "lay their arms down, return to barracks" and carry out their normal duties. And, New Zealands Prime Minister, Helen Clark, has again called on Fijian military officers to ask the commander, coup leader Frank Bainimirama, to step down.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
Turkey has reportedly agreed to open one of its seaports and an airport to Greek Cypriot ships and planes in an effort to avoid the suspension of European Union accession talks. The EU has been threatening to put those talks on hold after Turkey failed to open its ports and airports to Cyprus whose Greek Cypriot government is not recognised by the Turkish government. Last week the European Commission recommended slowing down the entry process by freezing several negotiating chapters that states are required to complete before being able to join.
Forget the minimum wage. Or outsourcing jobs overseas. The labor issue most on the minds of members of Congress yesterday was their own: They will have to work five days a week starting in January.
The horror.
Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, the Maryland Democrat who will become House majority leader and is writing the schedule for the next Congress, said members should expect longer hours than the brief week they have grown accustomed to. "I have bad news for you," Hoyer told reporters. "Those trips you had planned in January, forget 'em. We will be working almost every day in January, starting with the 4th."
Continued on Page 49
#2
More time in the DC environment - smoke-filled back rooms and sound bites in front of cameras - and less time listening to their constituents. Sounds like a plan, to me. I am worried about the Brownie Troop, however. Poor Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.); her daughter will be soooo disappointed.
And anyway - who says Monday evening to early Friday afternoon is a "five-day week"?
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/07/2006 6:18 Comments ||
Top||
#3
The heart bleeds.
Seriously, if the rooms are smoke-filled, maybe we can use them in a study of second-hand smoke and lung cancer?
#4
With the new calendar, the Democrats are trying to project a businesslike image Hoyer and other Democratic leaders say they are trying to repair the image of Congress But most Democrats, some still giddy from their election victories, seemed game.
Translation: Its not about working harder, smarter, or more efficient. Its all about Style!
#5
At first, I was thinkin' this was a good thing (drive down their "pay"/hour of "work"). But, then I realized, I'd prefer them to not "work" at all, and keep their grubby paws off my money and out of my life. Get ready for even more legislation for the chilluns(tm), Mother Earth(tm), the "Gay Rights" agenda-pushers, and, in general, ALL of the lobbyists inside the beltway selling our nation down the river.
Posted by: BA ||
12/07/2006 10:15 Comments ||
Top||
#1
According to the AP article, exerpts of Professor Stein's letter ran in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Mr. Carter may have to move to New York City if he wants a social life after this.
Actually I found the bits about Barbie Boxer, one of the Senate's more obvious Towering Intellects, more interesting.
As already noted here on NewsBusters, the Senate held a hearing today examining the role of the media in promoting climate alarmism. With others covering the newsmaking part of the discussion, I decided to drop by to observe things from a blogger's point of view.
I went into the hearing expecting it would be more interesting than your typical congressional hearing and wasn't disappointed. Dr. David Deming, a geophysicist from the University of Oklahoma recount an experience he had with an NPR reporter who hung up on him after he declined to say that he thought global temperature increases were human-caused.
Apparently I was not joined in my assessment of things by CNN anchor Miles O'Brien who fell asleep several during the discussion according to several witnesses. Only a colleague's nudge prevented the slumbering former science correspondent from missing the entire discussion. One would think that O'Brien could have scared up some more interest considering his ongoing feud with the Inhofe.
I also heard some interesting scientific debate as to whether ice core temperature readings can really be used as a reliable indicator of whether carbon dioxide is related to global climate changes. Don't expect to hear much about this, though, since it the CO2 proponent, Dr. Daniel Schrag of Harvard, was less-than-articulate arguing the affirmative. As of the writing of this posting, I haven't found a single news source that quoted from today's hearing. I did see and converse with several reporters but so far have yet to read any coverage.
What I did find online, though, was an AP article which briefly mentioned the hearing but quoted no one other than California Democrat Barbara Boxer, the incoming EPW chair. It went out late today and could easily have quoted from any of the Republican members of the committee but did not.
In the committee room, it was striking to me just how inept that the global warming alarmists seem to be at making their arguments. While many scientists do indeed take the position that humans' carbon dioxide emissions do cause global warming, they and their political allies seemed quite poor at making their case.
Boxer provided the best example. She began her statement with a grab bag of short, context-less quotations from various businesses and government agencies about how global warming is a humongous problem that needs immediate action. Most of her quotes were from non-scientific groups and were not even about the subject of the media's coverage of climate change, the topic of the hearing.
That's bad enough as a rhetorical device but apparently it wasn't bad enough for Boxer. In the middle of the hearing, she reverted to quoting cue cards of media coverage of the issue, ostensibly to show how the press is not being led by alarmists. Unfortunately for her, though, her quotations (from such bastions of conservatism as the New York Times as the Tulsa World) did just the opposite, at least if you didn't automatically agree with her. When Inhofe and my colleague at the Businesses and Media Institute Dan Gainor pointed out her problem, Boxer seemed utterly oblivious.
It only got worse for Boxer, though, as she reverted to the soundbites once again (using many of the same ones she'd already quoted previously) at the end of her testimony but with an added twist. Instead of asking the witnesses what they thought about a specific statement, the California Democrat asked them to raise your hand if you disagree with one of her out-of-context quotes. At first, hostile witnesses played along but eventually it got so absurd that Dr. Deming finally called her on it. Barbie, baby, you're dumb as a rock. A green rock.
None of this seemed to bother a reporter from Roll Call with whom I was seated. She seemed decidedly against Inhofe and scoffed whenever he or one of his witnesses would challenge the liberal point of view. I didn't catch her name but I wasn't exactly surprised since besides the fact that most MSM reporters ideologically line up with Democrats, Barbara Boxer did one thing wellframing the hearings as a matter of whether the government was trying to control the news media.
That was far from the case as anyone who wasn't asleep could have observed.
"Law & Order" star Sam Waterston plays a prosecutor on TV, but offscreen he has a new role as pitchman for Unity08 - a grass-roots drive to run a bipartisan presidential ticket in two years with candidates chosen by a national primary on the Internet.
"I've been waiting for an idea like this for a long time. ... A nonpartisan process of nominating a presidential and vice presidential candidate ... taking money out of the race," Waterston said yesterday in a telephone press conference announcing his support.
The 66-year-old Yale University-educated star of "The Killing Fields" said he is not a candidate for office and that the movement is not supporting anyone at this time.
The group, whose backers include ex-Jimmy Carter aide Hamilton Jordan, former Gerald Ford adviser Doug Bailey and ex-AOL chief Steve Case, is still working out procedures for qualifying candidates, who will be required to run in bipartisan pairs.
Under the plan, registered voters could cast ballots online in a nationwide primary to pick the ticket. Then volunteers would petition states to get the Unity08 candidates on ballots for the 2008 election, the group's Web site says.
"Through Unity08, for the first time we are going to throw out the back-room deals," Waterston says in a video posted on the site. "You'll vote. You'll decide. Not the consultants and spin doctors. Not the special interests. Not the lobbyists."
Posted by: Dar ||
12/07/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I think I prefer Arthur BranchFred Thompson's politics.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
12/07/2006 0:56 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Isn't that sorta how they used to do it back in the day? First place gets the Presidency; second gets the Veep?
#3
"I've been waiting for an idea like this for a long time. ... A nonpartisan process of nominating a presidential and vice presidential candidate ... taking money out of the race," Waterston said yesterday in a telephone press conference announcing his support.
"Taking money out of the race" will never, never, never, NEVER happen and Sam knows this. It's just a polite fig leaf to cover the fact that Sam's choices haven't been electable thus far.
However, if this idea gets any traction, my vote is for JoeMendiola!
Joe! Joe! Joe!
#6
"Taking money out of the race"
If they really want that, you must first take the POWER out of the results of the race. If there is nothing of importance to influence, there wouldn't be much incentive to try.
Rawalpindi, Pakistan (AP) - The dusty, traffic-choked streets of this sprawling Pakistani metropolis are a world away from the crisp mountain streams and heather-covered glens normally associated with single-malt whiskeys.
But it's here in dusty Rawalpindi that the only malt whiskey distillery in the Muslim world is preparing to launch its newest product - a 21-year single malt that it claims will rival the best Scotch whisky.
"Very few distilleries anywhere in the world, even the high-end ones in Scotland, produce ... 21-year old malts," said M.P. Bhandara, chief executive of the Murree Brewing Company, announcing the launch of the new product, which goes on sale in January.
The new spirit, Murree's Millennium Reserve, will only be available to a small clientele of expatriates and non-Muslims in a land where prohibition has been enforced for 30 years. The distillery's product lines - including 8- and 12-year-old single malts - cannot be sampled abroad because Islamabad bans the export of alcoholic beverages...
#2
I'm reminded of Japan's attempts to replicate Scotch whiskey. Teams of scientists dispatched to Scotland to analyze water, peat, barley, etc. And when they exactly replicate the same in Japan, it still tastes like Sh&t.
#7
One of my few claims to fame is that I make a better Midori (Japanese for green) than the Japanese.
Or at least that's what the sheilas I invite home tell me. Actually the Japanese no longer make Midori, it is now made in Mexico.
In Australia they desecrate the drink by adding milk, and then having to say "Na Na Na Na" to a local football theme song.
#11
Pakistan's late military leader Zia-ul-Haq banned alcohol consumption by Muslims who constitute 97 per cent of the population more than 25 years ago. Murree Brewery, listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange, was among the first modern breweries in Asia when it was established in 1861 at Ghora Gali near resort town Murree in the Pir Punjal ranges of the Western Himalayas.
Murree later added a distillery to its business and some of its premium brands include Murree's Classic Beer, 8-Year-Old Single Malt Whisky, Bols Silver Top Gin, Bolskaya Vodka and Beehive Brandy.
"We are in talks with some Indian companies, but it is in early stages," Mr Bhandara said in an interview. He declined to name the companies but added these were "the big ones in India".
Mr Bhandara who is also a Member of the Pakistan National Assembly was here as a part of a visit on an invitation from Government of India. He said Murree has no plans to take its alcoholic beverage business overseas and Pakistan has a ban in place on export or import of alcohol.
Stating that the approach of Pakistan to alcohol was "ambivalent", Mr Bhandara said the entire country was serviced through 66 licensed outlets and some of the big towns and cities went without shops. "But we try to make our business viable," Mr Bhandra who heads Murree that has diversified into fruit juices and glass manufacturing, said. The beer and liquor business accounts for nearly 60 per cent of the company's revenues, while fruit juices and glass manufacturing contributes 35 per cent and five per cent respectively.
The company's entire liquor and beer operations are now carried out at Rawalpindi after the Ghora Gali brewery was burnt during the Partition riots.
Posted by: john ||
12/07/2006 15:34 Comments ||
Top||
#12
liquor and beer operations are now carried out at Rawalpindi
Is that where ISI go for a nightcap after a hard days' work planning the global intifada?
#13
Many Pak Army Generals are quite fond of their whiskey.
Some even have a fondness for bacon - like the founder of Pakistan, Mohammed Ali Jinnah who regularly had bacon and eggs for breakfast and scotch in the afternoon.
The Pak dictator General Yahya Khan really loved his whiskey - "Black Dog".
Posted by: john ||
12/07/2006 16:23 Comments ||
Top||
Huge discrimination against women in the Arab world is holding back overall economic prosperity and social development in the region, a United Nations report said on Wednesday.
An Arab renaissance cannot be accomplished without the rise of women in Arab countries, the Arab Human Development Report 2006 said. Directly and indirectly, it concerns the well-being of the entire Arab world.
The UN Development Programmes report, which was compiled by Arab experts and academics, said countries in the region must give women more access to the tools of development, such as education and health care, and consider positive discrimination.
In many nations, womens exclusion is enshrined in laws that specifically restrict their activities, even though the constitutions of most Arab states would provide a basis to eliminate bias, according to the report. The business of writing the law, applying the law and interpreting the law is governed above all by a male-oriented culture, the report entitled Towards the rise of women in the Arab world said. That does seem to be what their holy book had in mind.
A complex web of cultural, social, economic and political factors, some ambiguous in nature, keeps Arab women in thrall, the report said, pointing to cultural hangovers and the way societies are structured to deal with education and the family.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Huge discrimination against women in the Arab world is holding back overall economic prosperity and social development in the region, a United Nations report said on Wednesday.
While women's rights definitely represent a steadily-ignored rhinocerous in the Arab living room, as usual, they've omitted any mention of the ever-present elephant; Namely, Islamic terrorism.
Any "Arab Renaissance" is going to be held back a whole lot longer, if not permanently, by the strong possibility of nuclear annihilation in retaliation for continued terrorist atrocities. Women's rights, however important they very much are, pale in comparison to the MME (Muslim Middle East) developing some sort of industrial and agricultural infrastructure instead of the current one that relies almost exclusvely on petroleum and religious war.
#2
Huge discrimination against women in the Arab world is holding back overall economic prosperity and social development in the region, a United Nations report said on Wednesday.
I'm curious. Can anyone name any major national entity that is economically successful that doesn't allow women reasonable levels of opportunity and equality?
#3
I still like Michael Yon's piece Empty Jars as to why it is such a problem for any advancement in the musselman's world.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
12/07/2006 10:35 Comments ||
Top||
#4
If those wimmins would peek out of their sacks occaisionally, they could change things fast. I believe I just heard a press report recently about some female who became very upset about her companions' extracurricular activities. So after he was sound asleep, she poured some gasoline on his genital area, dropped the match and he awoke to fried hotdog and beans. This would work well in Islamo society.
#7
The problem is that the right to bully women is one of main "attractions" of Islam. Especially for pimply faced adolescent men with no social skills.
If you have to treat women with respect, you might as well be an Infidel.
Alo
Posted by: frozen Al ||
12/07/2006 15:17 Comments ||
Top||
NASHVILLE - A team of scientists at Vanderbilt University have been given an award from Popular Mechanics magazine for a discovery that could someday replace the common light bulb, the researchers say.
Led by Vanderbilt associate professor Sandra Rosenthal, the team nearly a year ago discovered a new way to make solid-state lights that produce white light. They say the finding could replace the common light bulb and cut the world's electricity consumption in half.
We were actually working on something else when this discovery was made," Rosenthal said. "But I think good accidents happen in science a lot more often than scientists want to admit."
The latest award from the magazine is one of several the team has won for experimenting with quantum dots tiny semiconductor crystals of cadmium selenide that absorb light and generate a charge.
Research associate James McBride, who at the time of the discover was studying the way quantum dots grow, had asked Michael Bowers repeatedly to make batches of smaller and smaller crystals.
Bowers, a graduate student in chemistry, put the nanocrystals into a small glass cell and illuminated it with a laser, expecting to see blue light. Instead he saw white.
The surprise discovery was that the tiny crystals can absorb blue light produced by light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, and emit a warm white light.
The researchers say if they can learn how to get the quantum dots to consistently produce white light more efficiently, then quantum-dot-coated LEDs could someday replace light bulbs.
The team is currently working on ways to make the LEDs brighter. Although LEDs are found in accent lighting and flashlights, they are not white enough for general, light-bulb-like use.
The team published a scientific paper on the discovery in fall 2005. Bowers is now writing a second paper that could be published next spring or summer.
#1
Half of the world's electricity goes to produce light? I would have thought to run factories or refrigerators, but then I never did grasp applied economics. Still, I'd be willing to trade out my remaining incandescent lights for something better than compact fluorescents... when someday finally arrives.
#3
"But I think good accidents happen in science a lot more often than scientists want to admit."
This is one of the great myths of the non-science public's view of how science is done, and this guy is doing good science no favor by perpetuating the myth here.
Yes, there are a few notable exceptions, but science is almost never (read, less than 1/1000th of 1% of the time) a guy with a bad haircut shrieking "eureka" in a messy room full of bunsen burners and test tubes. Science is a long, laborious, painstaking process that requires patience, diligence, deiscipline, and a high tolerance for failure and going back to the proverbial drawing board.
Any time a "scientist" promotes any other idea about the field he is doing all good scientists a disservice, and furthers an incorrect sterotype to the public. The public would have an entirely different view of science if they understood what it is really like when done properly.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
12/07/2006 6:13 Comments ||
Top||
#4
True, no mo euro, and then that one experiment goes cockeyed, and something unexpected appears. The steady progress of science has resulted from careful execution of experimental design -- I watched my father do that all my life. And the use of the matrix array has resulted in more quickly determining boundary conditions and robust areas where efforts ought to be concentrated. However, the great leaps happen when there is a decidedly queer result that needs decidedly creative thinking to understand. I once sat in a seminar next to the research scientist who, while searching for improved methods to prevent chemical depositions on fabric from hard water used in washing machines, came upon the technique to provide bio-available calcium in citrus juice.
The seduction of science has always been that eureka moment. The joy of science is the successful execution of a well-designed experimental sequence leading to greater understanding, but only those who have been seduced will ever get to enjoy it. Most people are not willing even to be seduced when it looks easy; why would their attitude change if it looked like hard work?
#5
Legends of native Americans all speak of a heavenly light source which fires up (after suitable prayers and offerings are made) in the morning, stays on for up to 15 hours a day, requires no electricity, indeed, no source of fossil fuels to operate. In addition to providing light to see by, this source also promotes plant growth and development. Leading authorities sniff that this is merely a legend, and if it did exist, besides not being available for hours at a time every day, would contribute to global warming.
#6
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny ...'
Issac Asimov
#7
And so you take my carefully thought out two full paragraphs of dependent clauses, and reduce to single memorable sentence. Darn you, Bright Pebbles! ;-)
#9
The acid test for LED light is whether the bands of light it produces are pleasing. This is why most people prefer incandescent to florescent lighting.
The best lighting is a bit expensive. It is an Ott light, named after the Walt Disney stop action photographer who invented it. He did a lot of research to find a natural light that was very conducive to plants and animals. Unfortunately, he put it in a light bulb that needs a special socket.
However, if you get the winter blues, it is well worth it to spend an hour a day reading a book under an Ott light.
#10
How many scientists does it take to replace a lightbulb?
Posted by: john ||
12/07/2006 11:43 Comments ||
Top||
#11
Legends of native Americans all speak of a heavenly light source which fires up (after suitable prayers and offerings are made) in the morning, stays on for up to 15 hours a day, requires no electricity, indeed, no source of fossil fuels to operate.
Yes, but there's a related avenue of research that maintains those "suitable prayers and offerings" must consist of human hearts ripped from living "offerings." And they have LOTS of empirical data to back this up.
Case of the Dwindling Docket Mystifies the Supreme Court
WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 On the Supreme Courts color-coded master calendar, which was distributed months before the term began on the first Monday in October, Dec. 6 is marked in red to signify a day when the justices are scheduled to be on the bench, hearing arguments.
The courtroom, however, was empty on Wednesday, and for a simple reason: The court was out of cases. The question is, where have all the cases gone?
#1
constitutional law scholars "are kind of bored these days."
With the many, many challenges to First Amendment freedoms posed by Islamist infiltration and their useful idiots -- freedom of speech, of religion, of the press -- this breathtaking statement is testament to the astonishing complacency, ignorance, and ideological orthodoxy that has destroyed two generations of legal scholarship.
In any case, good. The Supreme Court has a lot of butting out to do. So long as they're more interested in importing foreign law into the Constitution than defending its timeless principles, the fewer cases they take on, the better.
#3
Maybe Congress could get a clue and go back to meeting two days a week, four months a year. We'd all save money.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/07/2006 11:12 Comments ||
Top||
#4
I've come to the conclusion that many in the U.S. truly do want the Supremes to butt out of making laws in this country. It really started prior to this, but Roe v. Wade (I know, expect the whirlwind here) pushed the activism full-tilt (note how the public STILL doesn't accept it as "settled case law" more than 30 years later). Add to that, the skyrocketing (attorney) costs to file lawsuits, and you could be seeing the effects of "litigation fatigue" in the courts. Of course, Congress slowing down the amount of new laws they push out helps.
I truly think the Michael Newdow case and the Kelo case have swayed public opinion against the Federal courts. And, I'm all for decreased "oversight" by the Supremes, except for maybe the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco (the most overturned Appeals Circuit by the Supremes in the nation).
Of course, just killing any enemies on the battlefield could take away the "Human Rights" groups last vestiages of cases before the Supremes. Of course, out of work nutty Judges and agenda-pushing attorneys is a feature, not a bug, in my book.
Posted by: BA ||
12/07/2006 11:26 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Waiting for a Dem prez to promote a justice from 9th circus court and start writing law again!
Conservative leaders voiced dismay Wednesday at news that Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of Dick Cheney, is pregnant, while a gay-rights group said the vice president faces "a lifetime of sleepless nights" for serving in an administration that has opposed recognition of same-sex couples. Horse$hit. Barely to the end of the first paragraph and they've already got it spinning at 4500RPM. I don't see it that way. I see it as the WH doesn't care if there is a parallel track as long as it isn't called "Marriage". Call it a Civil Union or something instead.
Mary Cheney, 37, and her partner of 15 years, Heather Poe, 45, are expecting a baby in late spring, said Lea Anne McBride, a spokeswoman for the vice president. How'd they do that? Maybe I should pay less attention to WoT news and more on other stuff! :-) Continued on Page 49
#1
Will HILLARY > "Gubmint gave her her Pregnancy before later taking it away in the name of the common good"; or will Murtha-Kerry > Vote for the Pregnancy before voting agz it"???
#2
What a load of agenda-peddling bollocks. Gay marriage is all about money. Society extends certain financial priveledges to hetero couples for the very simple reason they can have and raise children which society values highly. As a general rule homosexual couples can't and don't have children.
Therefore, lesbian couples who have children should be given the same financial priveledges as hetero couples. Whether you call it marriage is neither here nor there to me.
#3
There is a libertarian wing of the Republican Party, that wants the state out of public morals. They are a small minority, but they exist and could share some agendas with the Dems.
(I know some of you will flip out at this, but please try and bear with me.)
If the conservatives could somehow overcome their indentured servitude to America's religious right and find a way to legalize gay marriage they might do a lot to regain their voter base and simultaneously discredit the democrats.
I came up with this concept after reading yesterday's article about how the democrats are engaging in back channel talks with Hamas and other Middle East terrorist organizations.
The democrats need to be slapped down hard and in a big way. Their cozying up to Muslim voters is some of the most blatantly transparent horseshit in all of American political history. Everything else the democrats stand for is total anathema to Islamic beliefs. In a perfect display of taqqiya, Muslims are prepared to vote democratic for the sole reason of dislodging a more conservative administration that willingly prosecutes the Global War on Terrorism.
True conservatism dictates minimal intrusion by government upon the private lives of law-abiding citizens. If the republicans could somehow embrace this ancient root of conservative doctrine and cede gays their right to marriage, they might be able to call the democrats on their gigantic fraud.
By facilitating any sort of Muslim agenda, the democrats are literally placing all homosexuals in grave danger. Islam loves nothing more than executing gay people and that simple fact should have given pause to all democrats who court the Muslim vote. Instead, exactly the opposite has happened and this is a prime opportunity for republicans to highlight this bit of betrayal, not just of gays but Americans in general.
If the republicans could somehow make room in the tent for gays, they might be able to permanently cripple a substantial democratic voter base.
I know damn well this is blue sky thinking of the highest water, but I felt obliged to run it up the flag pole as an example of how 2008 can still be salvaged from the current wreckage.
Just a thought.
Posted by: Jerry ||
12/07/2006 6:15 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Jerry, mebbe we should let the muzzies into the tent; they procreate new voters faster than the gays.....
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/07/2006 6:22 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Sorry folks, didn't reset a funny cookie. The above post was mine.
#7
Bobby, that notion has already been explored by the Republicans. During the post 9-11 period, they found themselves courting Islamic votes at the UN assembly in order to ensure that all abortion language was removed from women's health legislation which was being passed at that time.
If you seriously think that the republicans should try and recruit Muslim-American voters, go right ahead and try to fly that one here. I'd have to say it has less of a chance than my own idea about co-opting the gays from their usual democratic position.
#8
lesbian couples who have children should be given the same financial priveledges as hetero couples.
What about male homosexual couples who adopt children and thereby remove a burden from the public's child welfare system? Should those couples also be extended similar financial benefits and any other privileges?
#10
Zenster, male couples adopting children is a line call. In principle Yes, but we have to remain aware of the potential for abuse.I'd say on balance no, they should not get marital benefits.
#11
...Ya know what? I say live and be well to Mary and Heather. And as far as sleepless nights go, Vice President Cheney will probably sleep quite soundly knowing that he's going to see one more grandchild.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/07/2006 10:11 Comments ||
Top||
#12
Zen, you're idea really won't float. What's striking to me is the assumption that the Repubs are so "beholden" to the "Religious Right". It's utter bull-hockey. Otherwise, the Prez wouldn't be spouting the "Civil Unions" line and the Veep would be denouncing his own daughter to further the Party. Add to that, the President's compromises on Stem Cell research (Christians feel ANY funding of this research is "playing God"), and (financial) decisions on Medicare "Prescription drugs" plans, etc. and you can see they're totally playing the "middle of the road" on these issues.
Then, LOOK at the States. Of 30+ or so States who have banned Gay Marriage (including many secular states where the "religious right" is about as rare as the Do-Do bird, like Oregon and Washington State), and you can see that "marriage" of gays is a big issue to a LOT more people than those religious right nutcases.
Other than that, you're falling for the (fake) supposedly "huge" numbers of gays out there fighting for their "rights." When the real # is something like only 1-2% of the total popluation who is gay, you're not talking about that big of a "swing" in accepting gays into our Repub "big tent." In fact, many of us (even us "Religious Right" fundamentalists) take the more Libertarian route. I could care less what you do in your own privacy, and, in fact, I don't really believe it's a big issue at all because I don't believe there's ANYTHING barring gays from willing their assets (or even children) from their "mates" when they die. All the whining about "being barred from their deathbed-side when they're dying", not being able to receive their assets when they die, etc. is ALL a smoke and mirrors game for the agenda-pushers. Many Americans (who are NOT the Religious Right) just see it as a "moral" call that they don't want to make. In fact, I'd argue the TRUE Libertarian view would be to get Gov't (at all levels) out of the marriage process ALL together and leave it to the Churches/Mosques/Temples. There are ALREADY Churches who are "performing" these marriage ceremonies. If you buy the theory of the gov't seeking to maintain a stable and thriving populace who is law-abiding, then gay marriage is also not for gov't. Just my $.02.
Posted by: BA ||
12/07/2006 10:37 Comments ||
Top||
#13
Gay marriage is all about money.
I dunno; I think it is in part, but it is also (and foremost?) yet an another level to subvert society. I mean, from what I've read, in Australia, and in France too, and most probably in the USA also, a large majority of homosexuals (not "gays", God, I hate that word) don't care for same-sex marriages; furthermore, male homosexuality is most frequently patterned around very short-term relationships and mutliple partners (quite the opposite of female homosexuality, who could claim to have an interest in marriage with much more credibility).
Homosexual marriage is not a grassroot issue, it is a tool used to further an agenda, the "gay rights" agenda.
Civil union of some sort doesn't bother me, but clamoring for actual marriage is a direct attack on what marriage stands for (IE society-recognized and formalized union, defining the family as the basic unit of reproduction and socialization).
"Gay rights", I mean beyond fighting against actual prejudice and actual gay-bashing and all, is a very subversive movement, because it is empowered by the global mass-media, and is the fellow traveller of the feminization of the Western White Male desired by the Forces of Progress.
#15
People people cmon now. Whats really important here is we finally have an answer to the burning question; Who takes lead when they slow dance Mary or Heather?
#16
The bossier one, Depot Guy, just like everyone else. Mr. Wife has a terrible time getting me to let him push me around when the music starts, even though only one of us is female.
#17
Hmmm . . . Zenster once called for my imminent demise when I attempted to discuss the clear deconstructionist agenda of the radial homosexul/lesbian left, and now not a word to anyone here who is saying the same thing. But that's neither here nor there . . .
Strangely, the conservatives have an attitude against mistreatment of those practicing homosexuality, whereas the Dems will sell them out to the lowest bidder if it furthers their political agenda. Zen's right in his observation regarding the Islamics' hatred of those with sexual maladjustments--which is really weird considering all the Moslem boys who are sodomized by men in authority roles who are committing homosexual acts themselves without any hesitation, or sense of moral accountability. Certainly, if homosexuals and lesbians want to "stay safe" they should recognize, as Zen does, the particular threat to their lifestyle that Islamic fundamentalist facism proposes. However, the homosexual/lesbian left is mostly like the political left in general, and are mostly self-deluded about politics in general ,and especially as as it concerns them.
About homosexual/lesbian "families" with children--it can create quite a problem with the healthy psychosexual development for young children to be raised by "parents" living under the domain of identity confusion, even if the adults who are attempting the raising of children are kind, caring, excellent caregivers otherwise, which many are. The long-term problems with the social and emotional development of the children under their care, is not something often taken into consideration--which I feel is evidence of selfishness and denial on the part of homosexual and lesbian pairs.
#18
Zenster once called for my imminent demise when I attempted to discuss the clear deconstructionist agenda of the radial homosexul/lesbian left, and now not a word to anyone here who is saying the same thing. But that's neither here nor there . . .
Save for the fact that you accused homosexuals of attempting to destroy Western civilization and civilization in general as we know it. Your rant was met by speculation by other members as to dosage and other amusing comments. Your torrent of condemnation seemed well-attuned to imprisonment or far worse for practicing homosexuals and I merely called you on it. The comments in this thread go nowhere near the alien terrain you traversed.
Feel free to search up and repost the rant of yours that you're referring to so that others might enjoy the awesome spectacle.
#19
Zen, I actually believe they are trying to deconstruct our society piece-meal too. But, by they, I mean the gay agenda-pushers (not all gays). In fact, I truly believe that your "average" gay is probably not an agenda-pusher, but is used by the National orgs (HRW, NAMBLA, et al) to further their agenda by #s, litigation, etc. In fact, I believe that a lot of "activist" gays are heading into careers that'll help them push the agenda (e.g. lawyers, judges, newspaper writers, etc.). Heck, I work for a Fed. Gov't agency who has 1 entire floor of attorneys. I'd estimate that almost 1/2 of them are gay/lesbian and they PUSH their agenda through our Agency (Tolerance training, GLBT Month "Celebrations"/Activities, etc.). Heck, we have 1 attorney (female) who is our rep on the GLOBE group for Federal agencies (Gay, Lesbian or Bisexual Employees = GLOBE). She gets our Agency to pay for her week long trip to the national GLOBE meeting every year (usually in San Francisco), even though it has absolutely nothing to do with our mission or activities AT ALL! Your tax dollars at work!
Posted by: BA ||
12/07/2006 21:59 Comments ||
Top||
#20
I agree w/a lot of your comments. I'm prolly in that libertarian wing of the GOP. What two consenting adults do in their own home is none of my business, I could care less and have enough other things to do in my life than worry if Adam is playing butt darts w/Rodney or if two bull dikes are swapping spit. On the same token, where in the constitution does it say homos have a right to marry? Equal protection clause doesn't work in that instance, even though they try to play that card. IMO - I'd be cool w/if they wanted to allow them to have civil unions *but* don't call it marriage. Blue is not green, blue is blue. Man and Women get married, that's the def of marriage and words have exact meanings.
BA said the state needs to stay out of the marriage business and I agree w/that - maybe a marriage/civil union/or whatever can be dictated by a church. The state can only really define appropriate ages for marriage in order to protect children. For the record, some of you may know I have an uncle who is gay. Unless you knew he went that way you'd think he was just some average dude. He finds it funny that other gays feel the need to have their relationships "recognized." Says it's stupid, and finds it disconcerting when homos try to compare their "struggle" to black civil rights. I agree.
#23
I got to thinking about A Boy and His Dog while munching on this discussion and all that ran thruough my mind was: "living on tulsa time.. living on tulsa time"...
There's not really an appropriate category for stories like these. Here will have to do.
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii -- This will be their last visit to this watery grave to share stories, exchange smiles, find peace and salute their fallen friends.
This, they say, will be their final farewell.
With their number quickly dwindling, survivors of Pearl Harbor will gather Thursday one last time to honor those killed by the Japanese 65 years ago, and to mark a date that lives in infamy. "This will be one to remember," said Mal Middlesworth, president of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association. "It's going to be something that we'll cherish forever."
Continued on Page 49
#1
True Heroes - my mom's oldest brother Pedro = Uncle Pete was serving aboard the USS NEVADA on December 7th. Eight other men + boyz from Guam reportedly served and went down wid the USS ARIZONA.
#3
"I'll tell you a secret: When your number comes up, you're going to go. Well, every morning I get up, I change my number."
A truely amazing generation of folks.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/07/2006 11:25 Comments ||
Top||
#4
This was a courageous bunch. They already had steel in their backbones because of the suffering during the Depression. Nothing frightened them. By coincidence, Gen Taylor, one of the first two pilots airborne after the first raid, passed away yesterday in Tucson. He and a pal drove ten miles to their P-40's, parked at an auxilliarly field, got up and shot down 8 planes, 6 confirmed. These brave souls were our parents and grandparents. They were brave. Lets hope we don't let them down after all their sacrifices.
We didn't hear much about this in the MSM over the past few years 'cos it was mostly Friends of Bill and other well-connected Dems running things at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Fannie Mae erased $6.3 billion in profit in a long-awaited restatement Wednesday capping the accounting scandal that stunned financial markets and brought the ouster of top executives and a record fine against the government-sponsored mortgage leader.
*crickets*
The correction of its earnings from 2001 through June 30, 2004, ordered by the Securities and Exchange Commission two years ago, was well below Fannie Mae's earlier estimate of $10.8 billion. The reworking of its accounting is costing the company some $1 billion this year to conduct. It is the first earnings statement filed by Fannie Mae, which finances one of every five home loans in the United States, since late 2004.
*crickets*
The scandal erupted in the fall of that year when federal regulators accused Washington-based Fannie Mae with its long-standing prestige, vaunted political clout and reputation for financial excellence of serious accounting problems and earnings manipulation to meet Wall Street targets.
*crickets*
Last May, the federal agency that regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, its smaller sibling in the $8 trillion home-mortgage market, issued a blistering report alleging a six-year accounting fraud at Fannie Mae, the second-largest U.S. financial institution after Citigroup Inc. Regulators said the scheme included manipulations to reach quarterly earnings targets so that company executives could pocket hundreds of millions in bonuses from 1998 to 2004.
*crickets*
Fannie Mae paid a record $400 million civil fine in a settlement with the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight and the SEC. It also agreed to limit the growth of its multibillion-dollar mortgage holdings, capping them at $727 billion, and to make top-to-bottom changes in its corporate culture, accounting procedures and ways of managing risk.
*crickets*
The completion of the restatement "is a key step forward for the company and represents two years of hard work," OFHEO Director James B. Lockhart said in a statement Wednesday. "Much remains to be done. ... Fannie Mae faces enormous challenges in fixing its operational and risk management systems, in (financial controls) compliance, and in producing audited financial statements for 2005 and 2006." In detailing its restatement, Fannie Mae cited a $7 billion net decrease from previously reported earnings for periods prior to 2002, a $705 million reduction for 2002, a $176 million increase for 2003 and a $1.2 billion increase for the first six months of 2004.
*crickets*
Freddie Mac, which also is government-sponsored and has its stock publicly traded, had its own accounting scandal that came to light in June 2003. The company misstated earnings by some $5 billion mostly underreported for 2000-2002 to smooth out volatility in profit and uphold its image on Wall Street as a steady performer.
*crickets*
Over the last two years, Fannie Mae has disclosed a passel of new accounting problems that had been uncovered in several areas, including its core business of issuing securities backed by the billions of dollars of home mortgages annually that it buys from lenders and bundles together for resale to investors worldwide. Other problems were revealed in loans, houses acquired through foreclosures, interest on delinquent home loans and reverse mortgages. They all were in addition to the accounting-rule violations that came to light in September 2004 involving derivatives, the financial instruments that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac use to hedge against swings in interest rates.
*crickets*
Fannie Mae's chief executive Franklin Raines, a prominent Washington figure who was White House budget director in the Clinton administration, was swept out of office in December 2004 along with then-chief financial officer Timothy Howard.
Lockhart has said his agency was considering suing former executives to recover tainted bonus money if Fannie Mae failed to recoup it.
*crickets*
Fannie Mae escaped criminal prosecution over the accounting failure. The Justice Department had pursued a criminal investigation, but federal prosecutors said in August that they had shut down their probe without bringing any action. The SEC still could bring civil actions against individual executives, including people no longer at Fannie Mae, with the burden of proof less stringent than in criminal prosecutions.
Do you remember reading about *any* of this???????????
#2
Read hints about it months ago. The exact amount is not a surprise. Whether any of the responsible parties are punished is the question. Fiddling with financial figures to line the pockets of executives seems to be very, very common these last 10-15 years.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
And efforts to prevent further fraud are costing more than that each year in increased 'overhead' of the bureaucracy administering the recovery programs. I see so little money getting down to the individuals affected by the storms that the whole effort seems pointless. Just fly a C-130 over town and shovel dollar bills out the back - it will be more efficient. And probably less corrupt too. (Or Plan B: don't do anything - probably also more efficient and less corrupt, and a whole lot more sensible.)
#3
Georgie's old man was hammered by the Donks and the MSM for being too slow to respond to Hurricane Andrew in Florida. Now George is going to take hits for being too quick and too slow. If you want it fast you get big time corruption because the accountability mechanisms of bureaucracy are the ones shortcuts for speed.
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.
Prince Charles launched his 'green revolution' with a stark warning that we are all 'living on borrowed time' if we don't stop eating up the world's resources.
British police say they are now treating the death of Alexander Litvinenko, the former Russian spy, as a murder inquiry. "Detectives investigating the death of Alexander Litvinenko have reached the stage where it is felt appropriate to treat it as an allegation of murder," London's Metropolitan police said in a statement on Wednesday. "Detectives from the counter-terrorism command are pursuing many lines of inquiry, both in the UK and Russia, and have spoken to a number of witnesses in connection with the death." 
Radiation has been found at the British Embassy in Moscow, it emerged yesterday. On Monday, officials said a room there would be tested as a precaution after former KGB bodyguard Andrei Lugovoi went there to deny involvement in poisoning Alexander Litvinenko. 
Fijis Great Council of Chiefs, the GCC, maintains that Ratu Josefa Iloilo is still the legal president and head of state of Fiji. This comes a day after the military commander, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, made himself acting president and unsuccessfully sought the resignation of the prime minister. Commodore Bainimarama then announced that he had dissolved parliament and made new appointments. Soldiers also removed the vice president, Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi, from his office and his official residence yesterday.
Forget the minimum wage. Or outsourcing jobs overseas. The labor issue most on the minds of members of Congress yesterday was their own: They will have to work five days a week starting in January.
As already noted here on NewsBusters, the Senate held a hearing today examining the role of the media in promoting climate alarmism. With others covering the newsmaking part of the discussion, I decided to drop by to observe things from a blogger's point of view.
Boxer provided the best example. She began her statement with a grab bag of short, context-less quotations from various businesses and government agencies about how global warming is a humongous problem that needs immediate action. Most of her quotes were from non-scientific groups and were not even about the subject of the media's coverage of climate change, the topic of the hearing. 
Rawalpindi, Pakistan (AP) - The dusty, traffic-choked streets of this sprawling Pakistani metropolis are a world away from the crisp mountain streams and heather-covered glens normally associated with single-malt whiskeys. 
Huge discrimination against women in the Arab world is holding back overall economic prosperity and social development in the region, a United Nations report said on Wednesday. 
NASHVILLE - A team of scientists at Vanderbilt University have been given an award from Popular Mechanics magazine for a discovery that could someday replace the common light bulb, the researchers say.
In addition to providing light to see by, this source also promotes plant growth and development. Leading authorities sniff that this is merely a legend, and if it did exist, besides not being available for hours at a time every day, would contribute to global warming. 
Case of the Dwindling Docket Mystifies the Supreme Court
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii -- This will be their last visit to this watery grave to share stories, exchange smiles, find peace and salute their fallen friends. 
