Photo's of the Miscreants and the Store are at link.
It was thinly-veiled attempt to impersonate a mother with her child.
But by donning a burkha and pushing an empty pram, this burly 6ft 6in robber managed to persuaded a jeweller he was woman who just wanted to peruse the trinkets.
The unwitting female shopkeeper unlocked the door to let him as his accomplices, a gang of four men armed with hammers, appeared out of nowhere and piled into the shop.
They battered down a second door and smashed open the glass display cabinets, shovelling £200,000 of 24-carat gold jewellery into bags before fleeing.
Raj Kumar, who owns Friends Jewellers in Smethwick, West Midlands, said today: "We have buzzer entry and he was trying to get my mum to let him in.
"She thought he looked too tall to be a woman but he had this pushchair with him.
"When she opened the door these men ran in from behind and used hammers to smash through the next door.
"It took them about five goes to get through the glass."
Once inside, the men sprayed Mr Kumar, his brother Ash and their two security guards with pepper spray before raiding the cabinets.
Mr Kumar said: "They got us all in the face, one of them threw a claw hammer at me, and they hit my brother's arm, he's got a big cut down it.
"We think this gang have raided other jewellery shops so we tried to prepare for something like this, but when it happened we just froze. We thought they had guns."
The robbery happened just after 1pm on Wednesday.
The men made off on foot to a nearby street where there were two cars waiting. The offenders are all believed to be Asian.
Mr Kumar is now putting up a £5,000 reward for information which leads to a conviction.
Councillor Keith Davies expressed concern about robbers impersonating women in burkhas.
Mr Davies, who is also a member of the police authority, said: "I am a member of the police authority and I will be asking if this kind if think has happened before.
"It's the first time I have heard of anything like this.
"It calls up a lot of questions about how we deal with crime. I would hate to think there could be challenges on women walking round the streets in burkhas. It is really unusual."
Councillor Mohammed Rouf added: "I am really shocked. It seems they are trying to come up with new ideas to rob people.
"This is bad for the community and I am shocked that they would go this far just to steal."
West Midlands Police are appealing for witnesses.
A force spokesman said: "Five men, with their faces covered, entered the store.
"Once inside, the men, armed with hammers, smashed display cabinets and sprayed four members of staff with an unknown substance.
"The men made off on foot with a quantity of jewellery across the road to waiting vehicles
"The waiting cars are believed to be an Audi A4 or RS 4 model and a silver mini with a black roof.
"The offenders are all believed to be Asian, dressed in dark clothing with their faces covered.
"One offender was thought to be wearing a full-length burkha garment. He entered the store with an empty pushchair and was described as 'pretending' to be female.
"There were six members of staff in the store at the time of the incident. The four members who were sprayed with the substance suffered a small amount of redness to skin."
Clinton's tale of landing at Tuzla airport "under sniper fire" and then running for cover is simply not credible. Photographs and video of the arrival ceremony, combined with contemporaneous news reports, tell a very different story.
Posted by: Mike ||
03/21/2008 13:52 ||
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#1
Ah, come on, you know as a good liberal its not about facts, its about how you feel.
That trip up the Mekong on Christmas was just seared, seared into another Senator's (D-MA) mind.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/21/2008 15:27 Comments ||
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#3
As I heard it, she asked a secret service guy for his weapon, walked out on the wing of the plane and took the snipers out before they could be a threat to anybody. It was just that Marine ROTC training that she almost thought about looking into maybe that kicked in.
At least that's the way I thought I heard it...
#5
Her story was about a greater truth ... or just some crap she pulled out of a favorite orifice.
Posted by: Formerly Dan ||
03/21/2008 16:18 Comments ||
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#6
Givver a break folks, she's already established, during the many depositions she gave in the 90s, that her memory can't be relied on. BTW, I wonder if the deposition sessions are clearly identified in the just released calendar? Or maybe that's what "private meeting" means.
With elections only eight days away, President Mugabe looks like being overwhelmed by a wave of support for the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai as the 84-year-old leader's grip on power falters.
Mr Tsvangirai's formidable backing in Zimbabwe's urban areas has been consolidated since the election campaign began five weeks ago and now, after a series of forays into the poverty-stricken rural areas where the ruling Zanu (PF) party has hitherto held control, it is clear that Mr Mugabe has a fight on his hands there, too. On Wednesday Mr Tsvangirai pushed into Mashonaland West, Mr Mugabe's home province, to draw mostly large crowds of exultant peasants responding to his chant of chinja! - Shona for change - in a region where until very recently it would have been almost impossible for his faction of the Movement for Democratic Change to campaign.
And unlike Obama's call for 'change' in the U.S., change in Zimbabwe really is a matter of life and death ...
In the small farming town of Karoi, 124 miles (200km) north of Harare, at least 8,000 people filled the local rugby ground to give the 56-year-old former national labour movement leader an ecstatic welcome, singing handidzokera shure (no going back) and waving red plastic cards to signify Mr Mugabe's sending off.
It is unimaginable that we could have come to this place [before], Mr Tsvangirai said in an exclusive interview after leaving St Boniface's Catholic mission in Urungwe district, where about 2,000 people respondedjoyously to his promise. Bit by bit the rooster is going to be served up, a reference to Mr Mugabe's symbol, the cockerel.
Mr Mugabe, by contrast, has been securing large numbers at rallies but by dragooning children and rent-a-crowd contingents, watched over by soldiers with automatic rifles and secret police. On Wednesday, after he held a rally 44 miles south of Karoi in his home town of Chinhoyi, I counted 11 heavy lorries, each laden with about 100 people, on the way back to the towns - some as far as 60 miles away - where they had been picked up.
About 18 miles outside Karoi a farmer said that Zanu (PF) had to call off a meeting with local officials on Sunday because only ten people turned up - in an area dominated by ruling party settlers occupying former white-owned land. Zanu (PF) is finished, he said.
In Magunje, a business centre near Karoi, Mr Mugabe cut short a rally last week after first the local electricity supply grid and then two diesel generators failed to power the public address system. People at the back were shouting at him: Can you see what is happening to the country?', said one man who attended. Sources there said that two technicians of the national electricity utility were arrested on suspicion of switching off the power.
Couldn't be Bob's fault for running the country into the ground, of course ...
Last week a poll surprised analysts by reporting that a survey had given Mr Tsvangirai 28 per cent of the vote in the run-up to presidential elections on March 29. Mr Mugabe had 20 per cent and Simba Makoni, Mr Mugabe's former Finance Minister, 8 per cent. The election is being held simultaneously with parliamentary and local council elections. Mr Mugabe previously had been expected widely to be ahead.
The elation is overshadowed by what election watchdogs say is a determined effort to rig the ballot. Mr Tsvangirai said that he was concerned about changes to the electoral law to allow policemen into polling stations, which could intimidate voters. He also said that there were too few polling stations in urban areas to cater for the large numbers of opposition voters. There are also fears about the hugely inflated voters' roll, which could disguise illegal ballots, and the denial of postal votes for three million Zimbabweans who have fled abroad from the economic collapse.
He also claimed to have evidence of an order to the state mint to print 600,000 postal ballots, permitted only for diplomats and members of the military serving abroad, when perhaps 20,000 might be needed. In addition, nine million ordinary ballot papers have been printed for an official electorate tally of 5.9 million voters.
Mr Mugabe's victories against the MDC in the last three national elections since 2000 have been dismissed by independent election observers as the work of violence and comprehensive rigging. With the climate of violence significantly reduced, fraudulent activity may be his target now, Mr Tsvangirai said. We will declare victory because the people will have won, he said. Mr Mugabe would claim victory again but, Mr Tsvangirai said: We know this is a people's victory which he is trying to deny.
The MDC went to court to challenge its previous election losses but this time we are not going to court, he said. If he steals the people's victory, what will the people do? They will not accept that.
The people must defend their victory, he said. He would not elaborate and declined to speculate on what might happen.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/21/2008 00:00 ||
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mugabe is probably entertaining rev wright this weekend. discussing liberation theology and how best to inculcate a population with the throwback ideology of ignorance as bliss.
Saudi Arabia is to retrain its 40,000 prayer leaders - also known as imams - in an effort to counter militant Islam. Details of the plan were revealed in the influential Saudi newspaper Al- Sharq al-Awsat.
As long as 'retrain' means 'fire' or 'deport' or 'silence', the plan just might work ...
The plan is part of a wider programme launched by the Saudi monarch a few years ago to encourage moderation and tolerance in Saudi society. The ministry of religious affairs and new centre for national dialogue will carry out the training, the paper said. The centre was created five years ago to disseminate a moderate interpretation of Islamic tradition.
There is growing awareness in Saudi society that security measures alone are not enough to counter the threat of Islamic militancy.
Saudi clerics have long been accused of encouraging Saudi youth to join global jihad and of inciting hatred of non-Muslims.
Only as a matter of state policy ...
Nearly 1,000 imams have already been sacked over the past few years for being too obvious.
The Saudi royal family has come under increasing pressure - mainly from Washington - to change religious textbooks and to rein in militant clerics.
But critics are sceptical about whether such initiatives would work as long as the powerful, and ultraconservative, religious establishment in Saudi Arabia continues to exert enormous influence over society. Only last week, a prominent cleric called for the beheading of two liberal writers who had questioned the orthodox view that Muslims can not change their religion.
How 'bout beheading the prominent cleric instead? That would change things real fast ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Isn't that rather a lot to have running around off-message?
#5
As long as 'retrain' means 'fire' or 'deport' or 'silence', the plan just might work
You left out "Execute".
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/21/2008 4:03 Comments ||
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Licence plates!, making licence plates. Now that would be a good job to retrain them for. Something nice and steady and long-term.
Posted by: Titus Cloling7944 ||
03/21/2008 7:10 Comments ||
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#7
Maybe if they're really clever they could rewrite the Koran while nobody is looking...you know, just issue a "revised, standard edition" with all the parts about beheading infidels and Jooos left out. But then, would there be anything left after they did that?
By James Kirkup, Political Correspondent and Sophie Borland
Almost 2,000 immigrants are being granted the right to live and work in Britain every day, official figures have disclosed.
More than 710,000 foreigners received National Insurance numbers last year, an increase of eight per cent from 2005-06, according to figures published yesterday.
The statistics also show that migrants make up 10 per cent of the workforce in some areas. Local authorities with particularly high numbers of registrations included Newham, in London, with over 16,000, Brent with 15,600, and Birmingham with 14,550.
The figures were obtained by the Conservatives, who last night said they showed the Government had lost control of the immigration system.
Chris Grayling, the shadow secretary for work and pensions, said: "It seems ministers have little idea of what's going on."
The Local Government Association (LGA) said the figures provided more evidence that central government funding for council services was not keeping pace with population changes.
Sir Simon Milton, the LGA's chairman, said: "The speed and scale of migration combined with the shortcomings of official population figures is placing pressure on funding for services like children's services and housing.
"This can even lead to unnecessary tension and conflict. Improving alternative sources of information such as GP registrations and National Insurance numbers as part of a new package of measurements would allow the Government to gain a much clearer picture of migrant movements.
"This would allow the right amount of money to get to the right places, ensuring decent public services for all."
Last week the LGA announced proposals that would see Tesco and other large supermarkets help to provide data on population growth in areas around their stores.
Retailers are highly efficient at recording the numbers of people coming through their doors and their information will be used help local councils compile figures.
The LGA is also looking at using GP registrations, schools census data and National Insurance numbers to provide more accurate population estimates.
The proposals come amid growing concerns that migrants are placing a strain on hospitals, schools and workplaces.
Some MPs in areas where immigrant numbers have risen in recent years, particularly from eastern Europe, complain that services are near breaking point.
Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, announced plans last month for foreigners to pay an "immigrant tax" to help fund the schools and hospitals they use.
#1
The British government should take better care of the Gurkha's. How about letting them in, giving them and their families the red carpet treatment? They are already fiercely loyal, it will undoubtedly give you a better grade of immigrant, one who won't have their hands (hooks) out for generations to come.
My deepest sympathies to their families, from first hand experience they are angels, their professionalism and dedication concerning their patients goes way beyond any "regular" job.
* after months of "procedures" and shuttling back and forth between Intensive care and my private room I secretly gave up. Nothing was holding me to this World but for one sweet sweet 90 pound room keeper.
With the sweetest voice and ever so softly [barely audible] She would sing to me old Filipino nursery songs while she went about her work.. they were my last tie to this world...
That's the scariest quote in the article, no experience fighting the disease.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/21/2008 12:51 Comments ||
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#4
"The strain is not any more infectious than normal TB."
"Over one-third of the world's population has been exposed to the TB bacterium, and new infections occur at a rate of one per second.
Not everyone infected develops the full-blown disease; asymptomatic, latent TB infection is most common. However, one in ten latent infections will progress to active TB disease, which, if left untreated, kills more than half of its victims."
#5
I would like to add that there is a building almost in line of sight, that used to be a TB sanitarium, before the disease was radically reduced in the US.
A noteworthy feature is its smokestack, used to burn mattresses and linens used by its patients.
#6
Back in the mid-1960's, 4 children (from one family) in the local elementary school were found to have TB. In our small town, the possibility that it could have spread through the school kids/teachers to everyone in town caused the local health authorities to order a tine test for everyone in town. Mama called me at school and told me to get one because I had been home visiting not long before it was discovered. Mama - who was a nurse at the regional hospital - had one and got a red streak the entire length of her arm. She didn't have it, thank goodness, but had obviously been exposed, but good.
It was determined (I don't know how) that she wasn't an asymptomatic carrier and she was moved from men's medical to men's surgical. She wasn't allowed to work on a medical wing again because there was too much risk she might be exposed again and come down with it.
And this was the old-fashioned regular TB.
Anytime I transported a coughing patient to the hospital, I put a mask on me and any other crew members, and on the patient if possible. I've had the TB vaccination. The resistant strains of TB are found mostly in inner cities and among some immigrants, IIUC, but it could be out here in the county. Why take chances?
That is some scary shit.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/21/2008 19:58 Comments ||
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#7
My mother had TB, was in a sanitorium for a while when I was small.
I did tine tests annually for many years thereafter. Bad stuff indeed.
"Cases of active tuberculosis in King County (WA) last year jumped 11 percent to a 30-year high, reflecting the area's global connections to a world where a third of the population is infected with the disease, public-health experts said Thursday.
In 2007, 76 percent of the 161 cases of active TB in King County were among people not born in the U.S., and a majority were men, according to statistics from Public Health Seattle & King County.
The most common countries of origin were Vietnam, Somalia, Ethiopia, India and the Marshall Islands...
...In 2007, 20 cases of TB in King County, 12 percent of the total number, resisted treatment by at least one medication. The worst kind of TB, feared by health officials, resists more than one type of antibiotic. Only two cases in Washington last year, both reported in King County, involved such multidrug-resistant TB."
SEOUL (Rooters) - Female North Korean refugees who get repatriated by China face sexually abusive searches by prison guards who try to retrieve valuables concealed in their bodies, refugees who escaped to the South said on Friday.
Old news, though Roooters is just waking up ...
North Korea has been accused of controlling its population by shutting them off from the outside world, keeping them in fear through arbitrary and unlawful punishment, and running a network of political prisons to suppress dissent.
Also old news ...
Women defectors often hide money in their bodies before they set out from China to South Korea but once caught become subject to searches in which their private parts are violated by guards, some of the defectors said in a news conference.
"It's more bearable when women guards conduct the search, but some of the men just put their dirty hands in our private parts. The main reason is to get money," said a refugee who spoke under the pseudonym Kim Sung-hee.
She said she was caught in China trying to come to South Korea after escaping the North in 2000. "Some women, if they don't have cash on them, wrap rings or other items in plastic and hide them in their bodies," said another victim who had been sent back to the North after living in China for more than five years.
Defectors caught heading to South Korea or who come in contact with religious groups face severe punishment that includes torture, while those who simply stayed in China to work are let off on lighter charges, the refugees said.
The majority of a group of 30 North Korea defectors in a survey said they suffered sexual torture while spending time in state prisons, said an expert on North Korean torture, Byun Ju-na, in a report. The forms of abuse cited in the report were largely violations of genitals with instruments such as sticks and whips.
About 1,000 refugees fleeing the North eventually find passage to the South each year, where they are almost always granted citizenship.
Federal drug regulators, in announcing Wednesday that the mystery contaminant in heparin was an inexpensive, unapproved ingredient altered to mimic the real thing, moved closer to concluding that Americans might be the latest victims of lethal Chinese drug counterfeiting.
The contaminant made it difficult for Baxter International, the manufacturer of the heparin associated with the allergic reactions, to detect the impurity {and they do test for impurities}. This compound to our knowledge is not naturally occurring, Dr. Woodcock said. It should not be in heparin. And it obviously should not be in the form it is in.
Measures have been taken, although the FDA has not visited the Chinese workshops in question. We feel doctors and patients can be confident that the product on the market for the large volume uses of heparin, for dialysis and so forth, has been tested and is safe, Dr. Woodcock said. Safe until the next cheap contaminant is dreamed up to add to products shipped to the West.
Last divided capital, as turkey invaded and ethnically cleansed (with organized murders and rape, and bringing in of turkish rustics as colonizers) an european country, which it still occupies to this day.
Rival Cypriot leaders agreed to reopen a landmark street running through the heart of Cyprus's divided capital in a meeting Friday to kickstart peace talks, top UN representative Michael Moller said.
Reading from a joint statement issued by Cypriot President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, Moller said "the leaders have also agreed that Ledra Street will as soon as technically possible open and function in accordance with the established practices at other crossings."
Speaking later in the day, Nicosia Mayor Eleni Mavrou said she was hopeful the street would be reopened by the end of the month.
"Technical work will begin on Monday and I'm optimistic that the crossing at Ledra Street will open by March 31," she told state radio.
Ledra Street has been a symbol of the decades-old conflict between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, with Christofias calling it the heart of Nicosia, the world's last divided capital.
Last year, the Greek Cypriots tore down their side of the concrete barrier on the pedestrian street inside the old city's 600-year-old Venetian walls. Turkish Cypriot authorities demolished their side in 2005.
Following Moller's intervention, the Greek- and Turkish-Cypriot authorities hammered out a deal to open the barricaded street.
It will be the sixth crossing point opened since April 2003 when Turkish Cypriots for the first time lifted entry restrictions for Greek Cypriots.
The announcement came at a meeting between newly elected Christofias, the Greek Cypriot leader, and Talat at which they also agreed to start formal negotiations in three months' time to seek an end to the Mediterranean island's 34-year division.
Speaking ahead of the anticipated deal on reopening Ledra Street, Christofias said "this opening is very welcome. By tradition it is the heart of Nicosia, the heart of the people of Nicosia. It will bring further communication with people in order to reduce the gap in the soul and heart of the people.
"It will convey the message that leaders are ready to make a step forward to a solution. I'm ready, it's to Talat to tell me."
Last March, the border post on the southern side of the street was demolished.
The barricades were among the first erected after intercommunal violence flared in the city in 1963. At the start of 1964, UN peacekeeping troops arrived on the island and have remained ever since.
The two sectors stand only around 50 metres (yards) apart at Ledra Street but it may take several days for the crossing to be opened as the area must be cleared of landmines and the buildings made safe after decades of neglect.
Cyprus has been divided along ethnic lines since 1974 when Turkey seized its northern third in response to an Athens-engineered Greek Cypriot coup in Nicosia aimed at uniting the island with Greece.
A UN bid to reunite the island failed in 2004 when the Greek Cypriots voted against the plan in a referendum, although the Turkish Cypriots voted overwhelmingly in favour.
Nicosia Municipality said it would need at least five days to complete the works which are expected to be carried out by Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot municipalities of Nicosia in conjunction with the United Nations.
President Nicolas Sarkozy says France will cut its total nuclear arsenal to less than 300 warheads.
Sarkozy did not say how many warheads France currently has as that information is a state secret. The Federation of American Scientists, which tracks nuclear arsenals around the globe, said France had 348 warheads in a status report for 2008.
Most of France's nuclear weapons are aboard submarines. Sarkozy said France will reduce its airborne force of nuclear weapons, believed to account for less than half the total arsenal, by a third. That will leave France with less than 300, he said.
The French president was speaking Friday at the inauguration of a new nuclear submarine, "The Terrible." NB : meaning "the fearsome", not the terrible, thabnk you very much.
It was his first major speech on France's nuclear deterrent since he took power last May.
Denver could face a "dangerous situation" on the eve of the Democratic National Convention, war protesters said Thursday, after losing a coveted permit for Civic Center to the convention host committee.
"When things blow up because the police have to enforce a permit that the Democrats got, dont blame us for that," said Glenn Spagnuolo, an organizer for the Re-create 68 Alliance.
"Blame the Democrats for trying to silence dissent in the city of Denver."
The lottery for permits to protest, pray or hold other events in city parks during the DNC Aug. 24 through 28 resumed Thursday after the city bungled the drawing Tuesday by accidentally leaving out some of the applicants' names.
But when Jenny Anderson, event planner for the Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee, won the permit for Civic Center for a kick-off Aug. 24, Spagnuolo accused the committee of creating a "very serious, dangerous situation . . . for everybody."
Re-create 68 - which has promised demonstrations that will rival those at the bloody 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago - will be at Civic Center on Aug. 24, with or without a permit, he said.
The group, which is expecting up to 50,000 protesters from across the country, plans to march from Civic Center to the Pepsi Center, where the convention will be held, on Aug. 24, even though a parade route or a security zone hasnt been announced.
Some people observing the lottery attributed it to karma.
#5
let's try out the sonic and heat-ray non-lethal systems? Let the Donks vote no, then suffer the criticisms (and trial-lawyer class action suits) over the real casualties.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/21/2008 21:10 Comments ||
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#6
Now you know why Bush and Cheney built all those concentration camps on the outskirts of Denver. BwaaHaaHaaHaa!
Posted by: Karl Rove ||
03/21/2008 21:19 Comments ||
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#7
Maybe Denver can borrow some water cannon from the Germans.
Why waste our precious water?
Lock and load live ammo. Use the bodies as compost.
See? A green solution. They become carbon neutral and they get recycled!
#11
New York, DC and even Seattle should have lots of really good intel in these "folks" (if Denver wants to use it). And since this squid has made a threat of violence I don't see why it should take much to put he and his friends in the jug for a while.
In the new Franklin & Marshall College Poll . . . only 53% of Clinton voters say they'll vote for Obama should he become the nominee. Nineteen percent say they'll go for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and 13% say they won't vote. Sixty percent of Obama voters say they'll go for Clinton should she win the nomination, with 20% opting for McCain, and three percent saying they won't vote.
Grim. Or encouraging, depending on your perspective.
Posted by: Mike ||
03/21/2008 13:02 ||
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I fail to see the downside of having 50% of Democrats not vote (Whichever way it goes) looks like a self-inflicted wound to me, and a sure Repub win.
They're really that stupid?
(Never mind, rhetorical question.)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/21/2008 13:29 Comments ||
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#6
The poll didn't say how many Democrats have already decided they're not going to vote for either Clinton or Obama and MAY just vote for McCain.
My 'dyed in the wool', Democrat neighbor falls in that category. Obama is "too inexperienced" (haven't talked to her since the Rev Wright flap)and she doesn't want Bill back roaming the Whitw House halls and poking into things he shouldn't. (double entendre alert)
#7
Some of the impassioned on the Republican side said similar things when Fred Thompson fell out of the race, and Rudy Giuliani... and Ron Paul. (Has Mr. Paul formally ceded the candidacy yet? I've lost track.) I doubt we'll see all that much follow-through in November.
Posted by: Formerly Dan ||
03/21/2008 16:16 Comments ||
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#9
I don't know TW...this thing is getting really messy. If HRC gets the nomination by appt., I'm betting around 80% of the dem African American vote sits this one out. Now, how much of that was ever a voting block, I'm not sure. But the lingering bitterness would be a major factor affecting dem identity politics.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/21/2008 17:13 Comments ||
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#10
ah, there's the popcorn wagon. i thought Barbara had left early for Easter Vacation for awhile there...
#12
I don't like McCain all that much except on foreign policy and supported Fred during the primary. However, I'll make damn sure I vote to help keep either Mrs. Ican'tkeepmydickinmypants or Mr. Iamnotracistsofuckyouwhitey out of the white house. If Romney or other true conservatives had won, I suspect the dhimocrat base would feel the same as I do about their candidate. However, with the rage and anger going on between the dhimocrat candidates now, and the fact that McCain is liberal light on domestic issues, I can see a lot of dhimocrats coming over to the republican side or just staying home come November.
#13
Nah, I'm here, Querent - just had to go out to see a friend for a while. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/21/2008 19:43 Comments ||
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#14
Its NOT good for BARACK when even JUAN COLE criticizes him for NOT CLARIFYING HIS POSITION ON WRIGHT - Barack, however, remains ahead of Hillary by over 100-plus delegates.
ALso on FOX this AM > POLITICO.com - EVEN IFF SHE WINS MOST OR ALL THE REMAINING PRIMARIES, HILLARY CAN'T WIN THE DEM POTUS NOMINATION UNLESS DEM SUPER-DELEGATES TURN AGZ OBAMA???
#15
FOX > KRAUTHAMMER - SUPERDELEGATE and Hispanic NM Governor RICHARDSON's suppor of Obama is likely meant to offset the very serious damage to Obama's campaign wrought by the Pastor Wright controversy, damage which Krauthamer believes was hardly relieved by Obama's speech. Richardson's support as a SUPERDELEGATE is intended to convince Amer's minority voters that Obama + campaign are okay despite "Wright" and will still win the Dem POTUS nomination, i.e. OBAMA IS STILL "THE MAN/HOPE FOR CHANGE IN AMERICA", etc.
#16
Richardson has been for sale to highest bidder for a while. He missed the boat before the NM primary, but hopes to parlay the delegate watch into a cushy job in a future Donk admin. No matter that he carries no weight (even in getting Monica a job to placate Bill Rodham/Vernon Jordan), but he's been whoring longer than Edwards.... these mooks are gonna find only the Superdelegates matter and they pissed away any influence they had. Pity.../not
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/21/2008 20:01 Comments ||
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#17
The only way to stop the bleeding would be for both candidates to appear "together" and declare to choose the other as VP for the convention! This would also minimize or stop the 'barbs' that are being hurled about lately!
#8
WAFF.com > RUSSIA: TIBET CRISIS IS BECAUSE OF KOSOVO EXAMPLE.
See also REDDIT/GLOBAL VOICES ON-LINE > KOREA: INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENTS [budding] IN TIBET AND KOREA.
WAFF.com > CHINA'S OTHER CRISIS. Taiwan's KMT versus DPP elex + UN Membership Referendum; + TOPIX > CHINA IN ETHNIC TURMOIL. Taiwan, Tibet, Urghurs, Mongolians.
Former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro said today that she objected to the comparison Sen. Barack Obama drew between her and his former pastor in his speech on race relations Tuesday. . . .
"To equate what I said with what this racist bigot has said from the pulpit is unbelievable," Ferraro said today. "He gave a very good speech on race relations, but he did not address the fact that this man is up there spewing hatred." . . .
Ferraro said she had "no clue" why Obama would include her in his speech, and said Obama's association with Wright raises serious questions about his judgment.
"What this man is doing is he is spewing that stuff out to young people, and to younger people than Obama, and putting it in their heads that it's OK to say `Goddamn America' and it's OK to beat up on white people," she said. "You don't preach that from the pulpit."
Ferraro also said she could not understand why Obama had called out his own white grandmother for using racial stereotypes that had made him cringe.
"I could not believe that," she said. "That's my mother's generation." . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
03/21/2008 06:13 ||
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out to young people, and to younger people than Obama
#3
Obama should pull out of this race, take a sabatical under the tuteledge of Mr Tom Sowell, and then maybe he'll have a career and some substance to offer. This period has only served to demonstrate how inadequate is his preparation. Here is a guy, full of talent leaping to the fore on the backs of white and black voters, yet he's totally unprepared to deal with the economic complexity of a market economy. His bona fides are legal education and community organizing.....big deal, another ambulance chaser with a skill for gathering a crowd.....please do yourself a favor barrack, admit your not ready, you have not the education to lead a high bandwidth economy, as evidence by the company you've kept, and the positions that guide that company are soooooo obsolete, and yet.....you dont see that.
You sir have a lot of gaps in your education, and whats holding you together is pure and simple; your ability to organize an operation under the greater fool theory.
#4
Ferraro said she had "no clue" why Obama would include her in his speech.
Well Gerri, its called a political pre-emptive strike. You see, the fact that no white candidate could have delivered that speech and received any where near the same accolades as he did proves you were spot on with your prior analysis. Good lord woman have you forgotten the basic tenets from the Gospel of Identity Politics?
Minority Status was, is, and always will be a disadvantage. And to speak aloud of any such privileges resulting from such status will brand you a heretic to the Progressive movement.
#5
He included Ferraro's statements because the phony moral equivalence wouldn't be complete.
Out and out race hatred directed at whites when expressed from the black pulpit or in an audience of black folk is considered the norm.
The well-founded observation that Ferraro made about Obama's progress in the campaign needed to be distorted and amplified into a racial slur of epic proportions.
This allows Obama to absolve black leaders (Wright) of guilt in perpetuating racial blood-libels and push back responsibility to evil white folks where they believe (and will always believe) it belongs.
What is funny is that as a Democrat she objects to being tarred with the same brush that is normally reserved for 'racist Republicans'.
#6
Question to Panda2099: BHO might have some talent, but it's not the kind that serves the US well. He's a gifted orator, and can inspire people with most innocuous statements. But politically he's done almost nothing, except to propose a global tax to be levied on the American people. He has the kind of talent to pull the wool over on the DNC, that is for sure, but only because the Dems themselves aren't interested in ability, only demogoguery and identity politcs. In that sense, BHO was their godsend.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/21/2008 11:31 Comments ||
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#7
Rex Mundi: Barak is a gifted orator when he has a teleprompter. He has been weak in extemperaneous speaking and in taking questions. He has been weak in the debates even though moderators have softballed questions.
#8
Rex wheres the question. My post fully encapsulate yours, BO has no economics, but socialism, therefore he is not qualified to run this economy, frankly his bona fides are a joke. in his world of liberation theology, socialism is the outcome where the blind get to lead everyone into their own blindness. counterprogramming obama is easy, he has nothing but his race to stand on.
#9
D'oh...point taken Panda2099. My question was regarding to BHO as being "full of talent". I was curious as to, aside from that which you state, what other talents you saw in the man? I gather you see little or nothing.
DoDo...I'd also include BHOs ability to speak to a crowd...with or without teleprompters. He can deliver a speech eloquently. The minute one adds journalistic inquirey, and critical thought, his unpreparedness is shamefull. He should never have gotten this far in the process. That he has, is a frightening prospect. He still has a very good chance of becoming POTUS.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/21/2008 12:02 Comments ||
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I think it was foolish of Obama to make the Ferraro comparison. I'm sure it played well to the choir of minorities who want to excuse their own personal failures or to liberals who wallow in white guilt. However, all that it did was to give the media another celebrity squabble that would assure at least another 3 day media cycle to draw attention to Obama's association with the Rev. White.
At this point, Obama should be doing ANYTHING to change the subject. While his coming out speech may have been necessary for his faithful, it did nothing but perpetuate the story for those who may not yet have heard about it - or worse, further clarify for those who may not have been paying attention to just how hateful of a church Obama has been attending. By taking aim at Ferraro, a one-time democratic vice president, he shot himself in the foot.
#11
hmmm, interesting, how can BHO compare Ferraro to Wright if he never heard any of Wrights speeches of hate?
Very telling.
Posted by: Jan ||
03/21/2008 15:00 Comments ||
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#12
Good catch, Jan. :-)
Senator Obama was intelligent and hard-working enough to get an undergraduate degree at Columbia and a law degree at Harvard, where he edited the Law Review, one of the most prestigious opportunities there. There are plenty of other persons of colour admitted to both schools, so that wouldn't have gotten him the editorship, nor kept him in once he got into either school. But other than being very bright and hard working, I certainly don't know anything that makes the honourable Senator worthy of the highest office in the land.
#13
FERRARO was on CNBC/MSNBC segment critiquing Obama's speech as defective and non-responsive, + calling for OBAMA to take a clear position on WRIGHT'S VIEWS.
JUAN COLE + GERALDINE = TWO BIG PRO-DEM, MSM-PARTY STRIKES AGZ OBAMA.
#2
If she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know (pause) there's a reaction in her that doesn't go away and it comes out in the wrong way.
Like how, Barack? What's the stereotypical white person do in this situation? Flip them off? A little name calling? Get a rope?
So I guess it would be okay for me to say that the stereotypical black person in the same situation would, oh, I don't know, whip out his 9 and start wildly shooting up the street?
Would that be racist of me to have that reaction...or would I just be your "typical white guy"?
#4
Between Rev. Wright as a mentor, endorsements by Louis Farrakhan and the New Black Panther Party, Mr. Obama doesn't exactly have to dig his own hole.
James Taranto had it right:
"It is true that there was a time when white Americans had to be taught to treat black Americans with respect, and that is where our rules of racial etiquette came from. But "racial reconciliation," the need for which we've been hearing so much about, demands a new etiquette--one in which everyone, regardless of race, is expected to treat others with equal respect. If Obama is as skilled a talker and conciliator as his supporters make him out to be, he could lead the way here. If he wants to become president, he would be well advised to do so. After all, he'll need white votes, and references to "a typical white person" are not likely to win them over."
According to the Honorable Reverend Wright, correct? Who has no influence on BO's thinking, correct? So why is BO hanging out with this racist?
BTW: Does anyone have copies of a few of his best "God Bless America" speech to prove that his "God Damn America" speech was only a one-off crafted to inspire and not condemn the country he has chosen to live in rather than head back to his beloved Utopia called Africa?
#10
I can't wait for someone to produce a tape with Obama speaking from the pulpit. After attending that friendly assembly for over 20 years, he's had to have been invited to speak at least once.
#12
It's a good thing for Obama that he is in charge and not an employee or mentor or close family member. Otherwise,Obama, the guy in charge, would throw him under the bus along with pastor and grandma. My question is this. When will Michelle start sporting treadmarks on her back? Any bets?
Posted by: Titus Cloling7944 ||
03/21/2008 7:22 Comments ||
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I am actually offended by his remark that I am anything like his racist, spoiled and coddling grandmother.
#14
Hmmm...those who rationalize and legitimize 'black anger' prepared to give the same respect to 'white anger'? No. Not likely. Cause you understand, its the lib mantra - one set of rules for me and another set of rules for thee. Its about POWER. It's never really been about all those other things like justice, equality, fairness, because those are universals which apply regardless of color, race or creed.
Imagine if Senator Clinton was asked if she thought that Senator Obama was justifying Reverend Wrights hate speech. And she responded Look; Reverend Wright is a typical Black man that grew up in an era where it was bred into him to distrust the government dominated by white men.
How long would it take for her political career to be swirling down the crapper?
#21
Thanks Depot Guy....that was just the point I was going to make. Uh, what happened to Jimmy The Greek when he made similar statements regarding "breeding"? I noticed yeseterday, that even though this quote was played loudly and often, NOONE was willing to touch it - all criticism was directed at the "typical white person" which in of itself is toxic. Now we get to see the real BHO....and it looks like there's more to come. BHO will not get the nomintion - the DNC can't afford it. They'll hand the nomination to Hillary, and the Democrat party will implode as a result.
Popcorn! Where's my fool....bring me more popcorn!
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/21/2008 11:22 Comments ||
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#22
How about- "Vote for Obama whitey, and be brought low".
#24
ed: Gorb, just google "youtube reverend jeremiah wright ". There are lots of it.
My intensive research is revealing lots of hate speech, but no love speech. Does that mean my 'typical white person' perspective is screwing with my search results?
India pressed its newly inducted advanced weaponry into one of the biggest military exercises in recent time just 75 kms from Pakistan border in Thar desert in Rajasthan on Wednesday.
With over one hundred diplomats and military attaches from 59 countries in attendance, the exercise code-named Brazen Chariots at the Pokhran field firing ranges was aimed at trial of modern weaponry, Indian Army Chief Deepak Kapoor said.
The advanced frontline T-90 tanks, SMERCH long-range missiles, spy drones, fighter jets, and air defence gun systems were on the move in the exercise area in Rajasthan.
Media reports quoting Indian Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor after the exercise said objectives of the exercise had been achieved.
When asked whether India wants to send out message to the foreign observers through this exercise, Gen Kapoor said, it was not aimed at sending out any message through this exercise.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/21/2008 12:29 ||
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Posted by: john frum ||
03/21/2008 12:32 Comments ||
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An Indian Army multi-barrel rocket launcher fires at 'enemy positions' at an exercise code named 'Brazen Chariots' at the Pokharan firing range, in western Rajisthan, India, Wednesday, March 19, 2008. Foreign military observers from 60 countries witnessed the joint army and air force exercise in the desert in the western Indian state of Rajasthan.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/21/2008 12:34 Comments ||
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#3
Indian and foreign military observers watch a joint military exercise between the Indian Army and Air Force, code named 'Brazen Chariots' at the Pokharan firing range, in Western Rajasthan, India, Wednesday, March 19, 2008.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/21/2008 12:36 Comments ||
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#4
An Indian army vehicle moves under camouflage in the joint army and air force Air-Land battle exercise named 'Brazen Chariots' at the Pokharan firing range in India's desert state of Rajasthan March 19, 2008.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/21/2008 12:39 Comments ||
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Ah, spring. The US and South Korea would usually hold Operation Team Spirit about this same time every year. Big exercise, weeks in the field, on terrain you expect to be fighting on. All within even less distance than 75km from the Nork border.
Despite long-standing efforts by successive U.S. administrations to rein in U.N. spending, the United Nations this month presented its top donors with a request for nearly $1.1 billion in additional funds over the next two years -- boosting current U.N. expenses by 25 percent and marking the global body's highest-ever administrative budget, according to internal U.N. memos.
Much of the increased spending flows from Bush administration demands for a more ambitious U.N. role around the world. During President Bush's tenure, the United States has signed off on billions of dollars for U.N. peacekeeping operations in Sudan and elsewhere, and authorized hundreds of millions for U.N. efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq, where U.N. officials helped organize elections and draft a new constitution.
U.N. administrative costs have more than doubled, to about $2.5 billion a year, since Bush took office, while peacekeeping expenses have increased threefold, with nearly 110,000 peacekeepers in 20 overseas missions at a 2008 cost of about $7 billion.
"This is a breakdown of a 20-year-long effort to rein in U.N. spending," said John R. Bolton, who served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations early in Bush's second term. "What happened in the late part of the Clinton administration, but most spectacularly in the Bush administration, is that the principle of zero nominal growth broke down completely." That principle required the United Nations to maintain its administrative budget at the same level each year, meeting the costs of inflation through spending cuts.
The additional funds in the latest request would be used to renovate the landmark U.N. headquarters in New York, fund war-crimes investigators in Lebanon and pay $100 million to build a reinforced, attack-resistant U.N. headquarters building in Baghdad. But they would also be used to pay nearly $7 million for a 2009 anti-racism conference in Durban, South Africa, which Washington believes would serve as a forum to bash Israel.
The United States pays for 22 percent of the U.N. administrative budget and about 27 percent of peacekeeping costs, and it has vowed to press member states and the U.N. Secretariat to seek cost savings. Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, insists that the organization will have to find savings or live without its new programs. "I want to have a Ferrari, but if I can't afford it I would have to take something else or defer" additional spending, he said. "There have to be trade-offs; there has to be savings from reforms."
During the 1990s, congressionally required budget caps severely restricted the growth of U.N. expenses, and lawmakers enforced fiscal discipline by withholding more than $1 billion in U.S. dues. But administration officials now concede that they have limited leverage, because the bulk of the money in the latest U.N. supplemental request would fund missions and initiatives that Washington either approved or helped create. Much more at link
LONDON (Reuters) - Oil fell below $100 a barrel on Thursday for the first time in two weeks, extending a hefty sell-off in the previous session on growing concerns an economic slowdown in top consumer the United States would undermine global energy demand.
U.S. crude was down $3.00 to $99.54 barrel by 1302 GMT, and the first time since March 5 that it has fallen below $100, adding to an almost $5 loss on Wednesday. London Brent crude fell $2.42 to $98.31 by 1305 GMT.
"We continue to see profit-taking among commodities. There are also macro-economic concerns about the economy and the dollar has been doing better," said Mike Wittner, global head of oil market research in London for Societe Generale.
Gold dropped more than 4 percent to a one-month low Thursday, while platinum slid more than 5 percent to $1,820 an ounce, the lowest since early February as funds cashed in.
Weekly U.S. stocks data released on Wednesday showed lower fuel stocks than forecast, but the figures also revealed a fall in demand. U.S. demand for gasoline over the past four weeks was 0.1 percent below last year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration figures showed.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Make damn sure those who bid it over 100 pay in full and take delivery. No escape clauses. No good o'boy deals.
US consumption of oil products (gasoline + distillates + other stuff) has been running 1-3% below last year for the past month or so.
The interesting thing here is how long the PRC economy can keep growing. I've been expecting their economy to crash every year since 2001. When it does, their oil product consumption will drop 10-20% and price of oil will likely deflate by a good deal. Given all the money going into getting the Olympics ready, maybe the crash will be postponed.
#4
The PRC economy will keep growing at 10% as long as their exports keep growing at 20%. We, and more recently western Europe, are funding $100/barrel oil from our enemies.
Posted by: ed ||
03/21/2008 12:03 Comments ||
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#5
I think the PRC economy is right on the edge of taking a stumble right now, they've been caught selling counterfeit drugs, that's a HUGE loss of "Face" right there, no trust, no sales.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/21/2008 13:35 Comments ||
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#6
I dunno.
Hedge fund backer Bear-Sterans collapses and 2 other hedge fund backers are on the ropes...
All of a sudden the commodities runup runs out of steam because the hedge fun speculators and no longer borrow money to manipulate the futures markets...
Seems pretty connected to me.
Bankrupt the hedge funds and outlaw their business model.
#7
"Bankrupt the hedge funds and outlaw their business model." I almost hate to say it, but this makes a case for Congressional hearings on the subject and specifically directed legislation, a la Glass-Steagall or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Not going to happen, since our esteemed representatives are spending all this year on protecting their phoney-baloney jobs.
#8
China has 2 choices, both bad. Let the dollar fall in relation to the yuan and take the hit in export volume (and jobs) as Chinese goods get expensive. Or continue to peg the yuan and pay through the nose for imports like oil. It seems like either way, something big is about to break.
#9
"our esteemed representatives are spending all this year on protecting their phoney-baloney jobs"
I can't figure out what they are doing besides that, #7 AH.
I'm in the process of writing a yearly legislative update mostly about pending federal legislation on a particular (fairly broad) subject. Since this is the second year of this Congress, I started by updating the legislation I listed last year.
99% of it has had no action since introduction and assignment to committees a full year ago. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, since (IMO) some of the pending bills are spectacularly stupid. But it does make you wonder what exactly they're doing up there that they can't even schedule hearings (including on bills introduced by powerful legislators of the respective house's majority party).
Guess they're too busy doing the really important stuff like showboating for television holding "hearings" on baseball steroid use, ferchrissakes, which is none of Congress' goddam business anyway.
And they wonder why their approval ratings are lower than the President's.
If pro is the opposite of con, etc.... >:-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/21/2008 20:14 Comments ||
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Two State Department employees were fired recently and a third disciplined for improperly accessing electronic personal data on Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, Bush administration officials said yesterday. The officials, all contract workers, used their authorized computer network access to look up files within the department's consular affairs section, which processes and stores passport information, and read Mr. Obama's passport application and other records, in violation of department privacy rules, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was notified of the security breach yesterday, and responded by saying security measures used to monitor records of high-profile Americans worked properly in detecting the breaches.
Mr. McCormack said the officials did not appear to be seeking information on behalf of any political candidate or party. "As far as we can tell, in each of the three cases, it was imprudent curiosity," Mr. McCormack told The Washington Times.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/21/2008 00:00 ||
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I'd like to see BO's wife's thesis violated/hacked into. It will remain sealed until after the election supposidly.
link
Posted by: Jan ||
03/21/2008 0:17 Comments ||
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It was a Clinton operative - surprise, surprise. Maura Harty.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maura_Harty
Not clear that Ms. Harty is a Clinton operative from the wiki article. In fact, she seems to be more of a career diplomat. Nothing wrong with that. AoS.
A little while back, the Hillary campaign specifically Lee Feinstein, the campaign's national security director, asked a question:
As voters evaluate you as a potential Commander-in-Chief, do you think it's legitimate for people to be concerned that you have traveled to only one NATO country, on a brief stopover trip in 2005, and have never traveled to Latin America?
I remember hearing their charge that Obama had only visited one NATO country in his life and it seemed pretty hard to believe... out of countries like Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Turkey, etc., Obama had only been to one? The boy who grew up in Indonesia, and visited relatives in Africa, never made it to any of those European countries? The guy who lived in Chicago and went to Harvard never made it to Canada? (I presume Canada wasn't the site of the brief stopover trip.)
Now, I'm not saying that the Hillary camp did the snooping in the passport file. But in asking that question, they seemed awfully certain that Obama had never been to one of those countries earlier in his life, didn't they? Note they didn't say, "you have traveled to only one NATO country as a senator", (it wouldn't be all that surprising that Obama had only taken a few foreign trips since taking office in January 2005); they worded the question so that it encompasses his entire life.
The question came from the Hillary camp on March 12; two of the breaches were before that date. One breach occurred two days later.
Hmmm...
Posted by: Mike ||
03/21/2008 6:02 Comments ||
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#5
You peek at a file and get fired. You leak classified information to the NYT et al, and you're a media hero.
WASHINGTON - The passport files of the three presidential candidates Sens. Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton and John McCain have been breached, the State Department said Friday.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the breaches of McCain and Clinton's passport files were not discovered until Friday, after officials were made aware of the privacy violation regarding Obama's records and a separate search was conducted.
McCormack said the individual who accessed Obama's files also reviewed McCain's file earlier this year. This contract employee has been reprimanded, but not fired. The individual no longer has access to passport records, he said.
"We are reviewing our options with respect to that person and his employment status," McCormack said.
In Clinton's case, an individual last summer accessed her file as part of a training session involving another State Department worker. McCormack said the one-time violation was immediately recognized and the person was admonished.
#8
Sandy Burglar is now advising Hillary Clinton on national security matters. LINK HERE
Gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling about how these people are continually recycled.......like sewage in an ocean outfall.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/21/2008 15:44 Comments ||
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#9
Oopsie on #2 above. Wishful thinking and was way past my bedtime lol. Oh well. She's still a Clinton appointee :)
My apologies all (and Ms. Harty if you are reading this).
A Michigan congressman wants to put a 50-cent tax on every gallon of gasoline to try to cut back on Americans' consumption.
The man's a genius. An absolute genius.
Polls show that a majority of Americans support policies that would reduce greenhouse gases. But when it comes to paying for it, it's a different story. Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., wants to help cut consumption with a gas tax but some don't agree with the idea, according to a new poll by the National Center for Public Policy Research.
"Some" equating to somewhere around 99 percent of the population.
The poll, scheduled to be released on Thursday, shows 48 percent don't support paying even a penny more, 28 percent would pay up to 50 cents more, 10 percent would pay more than 50 cents and 8 percent would pay more than a dollar. The automobile is the nation's biggest polluter; Americans use more gas than the next 20 countries combined.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Sure, Johnny. While we're at it, how about we put all of your constituents who work in the auto industry out of a job? And how about you walk back and forth to DC to reduce those "greenhouse gases" you're so worried about?
By the way, Johnny? What are greenhouse gases?
#4
Congress-stooge John Dingell 'Berry',D-MI, has a problem with the 'supply and demand' theory, however if the voters demand he be recalled, the supply of dumb ideas may decrease from a State with 58 cents a gallon tax compared to the national average of 47 cents (plus the Fed 18 cent/gal tax). Greenhouse Maroon
#5
He stole the idea from me, but mucked up the timing.
I say - but for the economy and ending of the Arab chockhold on oil, not for MMGW - raise the Federal gas tax five cents a gallon for the next 40 years. Ramps up slow, gives folks a change to sell off their old gas guzzler, lets people plan for higher prices, etc., but demonstrates a long-term commitment to weaning ourselves off big oil.
On the other hand, the increase in revenue could go toward fixing up the roads we do have, then improving trains and transit and other fuel alternatives.
On the third hand, if there was another oil embargo, or other supply problem, the tax could be suspended to reduce the price spike.
Obviously, this was much too complicated for John. But please don't tell Ralph Nader about my idea.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/21/2008 6:08 Comments ||
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#6
I must have missed the part where he said the poor (his voters) would receive a $2 per gallon rebate for their gas purchases.
#7
On the other hand, the increase in revenue could go toward fixing up the roads we do have, then improving trains and transit and other fuel alternatives.
Bobby, that has been the rationalization for prior tax increase. Instead the money is sequestered to balance the books so it never sees the light day in those 'promised' areas except in Congressional pork welfare which never results in anything with practical commercial applications.
#8
We don't need another tax on gas at the pump. We need a permanent tariff on imported oil to keep it above $65 per barrel. The resulting funds should be used for energy infrastructure development and alternative energy (e.g. nuclear -> liquid fuel) development. That would get us off the Mideast oil.
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.
Saudi Arabia is to retrain its 40,000 prayer leaders - also known as imams - in an effort to counter militant Islam. Details of the plan were revealed in the influential Saudi newspaper Al- Sharq al-Awsat.
By James Kirkup, Political Correspondent and Sophie Borland
President Nicolas Sarkozy says France will cut its total nuclear arsenal to less than 300 warheads. 
In the new Franklin & Marshall College Poll . . . only 53% of Clinton voters say they'll vote for Obama should he become the nominee. Nineteen percent say they'll go for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and 13% say they won't vote. Sixty percent of Obama voters say they'll go for Clinton should she win the nomination, with 20% opting for McCain, and three percent saying they won't vote.
Despite long-standing efforts by successive U.S. administrations to rein in U.N. spending, the United Nations this month presented its top donors with a request for nearly $1.1 billion in additional funds over the next two years -- boosting current U.N. expenses by 25 percent and marking the global body's highest-ever administrative budget, according to internal U.N. memos. 
LONDON (Reuters) - Oil fell below $100 a barrel on Thursday for the first time in two weeks, extending a hefty sell-off in the previous session on growing concerns an economic slowdown in top consumer the United States would undermine global energy demand.
Two State Department employees were fired recently and a third disciplined for improperly accessing electronic personal data on Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, Bush administration officials said yesterday. The officials, all contract workers, used their authorized computer network access to look up files within the department's consular affairs section, which processes and stores passport information, and read Mr. Obama's passport application and other records, in violation of department privacy rules, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
A Michigan congressman wants to put a 50-cent tax on every gallon of gasoline to try to cut back on Americans' consumption.
