(SomaliNet) A shipment of weapons bound for Zimbabwe would be recalled after South African port workers refused to unload it, China said on Thursday. "To my knowledge, the Chinese company has decided to recall the ship and the relevant goods bound for Zimbabwe," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a news conference.
Earlier, Zambia, which chairs the Southern African Development Community grouping, had urged regional states to bar the An Yue Jiang from entering their waters, saying the weapons could deepen Zimbabwe's election crisis.
Jiang said the reason was the same she gave on Tuesday -- that the ship had been unable to unload its goods, but she defended the shipment. "In the field of conventional weapons, we have trade relations with some countries. These are consistent with our laws and with Security Council resolutions and China's international obligations.
"We have been very responsible and cautious with regards to weapons exports."
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/25/2008 00:00 ||
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"We have been very responsible and cautious with regards to weapons exports."
They must pay their PR guys a whole hell of a lot of money so their heads don't explode when they say stuff like this.
And it is for the same reasons that I think it would be OK to deliver nukes to Taiwan and Tibet to use at their discretion.
They didn't tell you that hosting the Olympics would be a double-edged sword, did they?
#2
They were being recalled anyway, because of ah...uh...lead...lead...yes, lead paint. That's the story. The head of Collective #13 Tractor and Kalashnikova Revolutionary Medium Industries is being investigated for improper application of finishes. The shipment constitutes important evidence in the forthcoming disappearance of one of the factories petty bureaucrats.
#3
If Zim-Bob does not get the Responsible Arms Shipment from the ChiComs, along with the Olympic fuse lighter torch replica, he will Oh-Fish-ally lose.
Posted by: Alaska Paul in Chefornak, AK ||
04/25/2008 22:09 Comments ||
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Russian Internet users may soon need to learn from those living in China if they want to continue having access to all the Internet has to offer. The Russian government is looking into expanding its laws against extremism to cover the Internet, and the result could be that websites and ISPs will be required adhere to the same strict rules currently in place for print media in the country. Unsurprisingly, the proposal has sparked criticism from rights activists who have concerns about widespread censorship of the Internet inside Russia.
bottom line is it would be similar to China's firewall, Now if they will just block their criminal botnet farmers...
January is January again in the Central Asian state of Turkmenistan. President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, who swept to power in 2006 in his gas-rich Caspian nation, on Thursday reversed a decision made by his autocratic predecessor who renamed the first month of the year after himself in 2003.
Saparmurat Niyazov, who ruled Turkmenistan with an iron fist for 21 years until his death in 2006, dotted the desert nation with statues of himself and also renamed all other months and days of the week after his mother, national poets and symbols. He declared himself Turkmenbashi, or Head of the Turkmen, and banned opera, ballet and circus during his long rule.
Berdymukhamedov, seeking to soften Turkmenistans image abroad and open up the long-isolated country, has been reserving some of Niyazovs most eccentric and unpopular policies. Under his latest reform, all months and days of the week will be given their original Turkic and Russian language names. Under Niyazovs arrangement which many Turkmen people found confusing, January was called Turkmenbashi, April was named after his mother, September after his spiritual guidance book Rukhnama, and Monday was just called The main day. Thousands of citizens have written to ask to return to the Western month names and call the days of the week the way our ancestors did, parliament speaker Akja Nurverdyeva said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2008 00:00 ||
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He was a kook of the old school, and in the grand manner.
#2
Actually, the reason was simpler:
Niyazov fit on a standard 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper, thus making calendars easy to hang,
but Berdymukhamedov used up an entire roll of butcher paper and there are few houses with walls big enough for that. And poor little February ( with only 28 days) would be dwarfed.
Ok, so I interpret your statement to mean that you would like a superdelegate to take Hillary Clinton into a room and somehow intimidate her, you don't specify how, to drop out of the race and that at the end of this process, only one of them, preferably the superdelegate, would emerge.
I am constantly amazed how Olberdouche is held in any measure of esteem by even the moonbats. Classless, clueless, no-talent and nasty is no way to go through life, young man
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/25/2008 18:38 Comments ||
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#5
Maybe Keith could hypnotise Hillary! with his unibrow?
Reading the analysis of Dan Wofford (son of former Pennsylvania Senator Harris Wofford) on "What Went Wrong" for Obama in the last primary is a rather reassuring experience. When Obama offered that Rosetta Stone of Condescension at the San Francisco fundraiser, you (well, probably) and I thought that ought to be a big deal. The coverage suggested it could be a big deal. But Obama's cheerleaders in the press insisted it wasn't a big deal, and the polls didn't give us instant confirmation that it was a big deal. . . .
So it's reassuring to hear an Obama supporter an Obama delegate, no less! come out and say, "yup, it was a big deal." And to point out that elitism and snobbery are toxic in American politics, even in Democratic primaries...
You ask "what went wrong"... Here's my hangover-colored answer:
He visited San Fransisco [sic] two weeks ago. That's what happened.
* Message to all Democratic Candidates: Never to go San Fransicso [sic], unless incognito;
* Message to Barack: Don't think out loud at fundraisers in San Fransisco [sic] if you're stupid enough to go there.
* Message # 3: If someone in SF asks you about those "strange rural people in PA"...don't indulge their liberal, latte drinking bull [poop]...Just tell them if they want to understand rural and ethnic PA that they should get in the Prius's and drive down to Bakersfield or any of the other mid state towns in California where there are people who actually lead ordinary lives and care about God and own guns....
Bittergate hurt a lot bc is slowed down and then with the poor debate performance stopped what was truly real closing momentum. No question had he not gone to SF or said those comments, we lose by 3-4 pts.
As somebody mentioned weeks ago, "if, as current polls predict, Barack Obama loses Pennsylvania by a double-digit margin on April 22, the truly ominous omen will not be the loss itself, but his campaigns catastrophic inability to tailor its message to vital demographics."
Posted by: Mike ||
04/25/2008 14:57 ||
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#1
"campaigns catastrophic inability to tailor its message to vital demographics hide its bigotry and self-absorption"
There - fixed.
Anyway, the internet is making it hard for any politician to "tailor a message to vital demographics" - otherwise known as say one thing in California and the polar opposite in Pennsylvania. Also known as LYING.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/25/2008 16:24 Comments ||
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#2
Actually, the other problems listed are more telling:
campaign perhaps wisely didn't invest time and strategy to win over seniors... we've just got to find a way to reach seniors...
Working class PA folks, esp those over 45, don't trust Obama...this is a problem and other than getting them to meet Obama retail style...don't know how we solve it, unless we can get him to do a quick tour of duty in Iraq...
Way to cautious in outreach to Jewish community...did not put enough assets out on the table...not enough Jewish folks involved....self perpetuating problem...Think the same is true for Catholics.....A friend close to the campaign said she was surprised to see how few Catholics and Jews there were on the campaign...
Those are some serious flaws for a campaign to have.
#3
So enlighten me, what good did all this do? The Clinton strategy of 'throwing the kitchen sink' at Obama, netted her 10 delegates. The race card employed by uncle Bill and cousin Eddy polarized the 'bitter' feelings of some blue collar lunchpail' whites! Obama is fighting against Hillary's run, Bill's run, and McCain's run. Pennsylvanians got what they deserved; a win for Hillary, and a retention to their bitterness...nothing to lose in my view!
#4
OK - I'll enlighten you (somebody should, and it's not like it would be hard..). By exposing BHO's lack of juice with the MAJORITY of voters in the US - the non-academics/effete leftys/ blacks/college students - it showed the superdelegates that he isn't that saleable in the general election, and kept them from forcing her out. She gave herself more time to question his poorly-thought-out stances, his variety of connections to unlikeable characters, his money ties to same, his radical privately-held beliefs, his cowardice in refusing more debates, his thin-skinned self/wife/supporters, and, oh yes, that whiny nasty bitch of a wife will be given more time to shed her handlers and say something really stoopid and offensive. It was a matter of HRC staying alive. There? Learn something?
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/25/2008 17:45 Comments ||
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#5
Frank, I'll enlighten a little more.
1) BO can't keep his mouth shut.
2) BO has rabbit ears.
3) BO can't win purple states.
4) BO can only win the Democratic primaries in states (excepting Illinois) that are safely Red in the fall.
5) BO, as a child of privilege and plenty, has a basic contempt for people who are not like him.
6) BO, as a 'progressive' (hard left Dhimmicratic socialist) can't relate to the people he needs to win the election: God-fearing, gun-toting, rural/suburban working class people who might be inclined to listen to the Dhimmis.
If I were a senior McCain staffer, I'd be thinking about how I'm going to have my man hold each and every red/purple state GWB won in 2004, and go after 5 or 6 blue/purple states like Wisconsin, Minnesota, New Mexico and maybe even Pennsylvania, that Kerry won.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/25/2008 18:20 Comments ||
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#6
so true, Dr. Steve. His victories have not come in large primary-voting states, by any means. He's dominated caucus states, and, heh heh, we don't seem to have that process in the General. I see a blowout, even with McCain. I predict libtard heads exploding soon. I'm buying plastic sheeting for protective cover ....kinda like an old Gallagher show
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/25/2008 18:26 Comments ||
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#7
Working class PA folks, esp those over 45, don't trust Obama.
Hey, I work for a living. Doesn't that make me working class?
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/25/2008 19:14 Comments ||
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#9
I'd like to see you go tell some regular guy in Altoona that voting for Hill meant he got "a retention to his bitterness." I'd think you'd be lucky to have a "retention" to all your teeth.
#10
The race card employed by uncle Bill and cousin Eddy polarized the 'bitter' feelings of some blue collar lunchpail' whites!
"lunchpail whites"? Just a tad condescending now, aren't we?
BTW, Hillary carried the white male vote in 12 states, Obama's carried it in 10. That Obama routinely has carried an overwhelming majority of the black vote somehow seems to get lost in the shuffling of that deck of race cards.
Obama is fighting against Hillary's run, Bill's run, and McCain's run. Pennsylvanians got what they deserved; a win for Hillary, and a retention to their bitterness...nothing to lose in my view!
Lessee... Obama's campaign in Pennsylvania didn't reach out to seniors, didn't have members of two major religious groups (Jews and Catholics, who are two of the major groups of Democrat Party supporters in the Northeast) on his in-state campaign staff, made a misstep in San Francisco and then both he and his staff proceeded to make matters worse...
Yep. It was all that bitterness that created a record voter turnout. Couldn't have been the smart-man condescension, or insulting their religion while talking to a bunch of San Francisco moneybags, or the subsequent pandering to their anti-trade concerns while he privately derided the same.
No - it's the voters' fault. Those stupid, racist, blue-collar, church-going, gun-shooting voters.
Oh, by the way - the same ones Obama's going to have to solicit a vote from if he gets the nomination...
#11
Since I seem to represent the only opposing view to the Clinton-McCain 'Love-fest' on the Rantburg Site; let me make this clear...I am an Independent, I was supporting Hillary before Obama announced, and had a good feeling for Mike Huckabee, and Ron Paul, and wished either had done better with the percentages! My final nod in the fall will come down to how I feel Bill & Hillary treated Obama in the primaries...God forbid I don't think about Frank G at the moment of truth, I just might pull the lever for Clinton, or Bill Clinton and Carville and pull it for McCain...tough wrestling with my conscience, it's not my pocketbook this time...it's personal!
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/25/2008 22:57 Comments ||
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#13
smn: Right now, there is One Big Thing--the war. Obama wants to lose it. He gets the One Big Thing wrong.
Hillary may want to win the war, but she's in a party dominated by people who want to lose it, and she's pandering to them. I don't think we can trust the second Clinton administration to be any less feckless than the first one was in confronting our enemies.
McCain, for all his flaws, gets the One Big Thing right. He wants to win it.
That makes the decision pretty easy.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/25/2008 23:33 Comments ||
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That North Carolina GOP ad? More than 172,000 views since Tuesday, with who knows how many who have now seen it replayed on cable news networks.
Also revealing is, as Instapundit's reader noted, the response: Jeremiah Wright is ipso facto racially divisive and thus out of bounds for a political ad. So is showing Osama bin Laden, the Obama camp insists in response to a Hillary Clinton ad. So is quoting Obama's statement at the San Francisco fundraiser about "bitter" small town Americans "clinging" and whatnot.
Stephanopolous asking Obama about Bill Ayers? Out of bounds. Asking him about why he doesn't wear a flag pin? Not fair, not permitted, and making the whole debate "something akin to a federal crime" in the eyes of the New Yorker.
Asking more than eight questions about Tony Rezko? That's just being unreasonable.
I can't believe that Obama and his fans in the press have led me to near-total agreement with the new campaign strategist for Hillary Clinton, Geoff Garin:
Let me get this straight.
On the one hand, it's perfectly decent for Obama to argue that only he has the virtue to bring change to Washington and that Clinton lacks the character and the commitment to do so. On the other hand, we are somehow hitting below the belt when we say that Clinton is the candidate best able to withstand the pressures of the presidency and do what's right for the American people, while leaving the decisions about Obama's preparedness to the voters.
Who made up those rules? And who would ever think they are fair?
Posted by: Mike ||
04/25/2008 12:41 ||
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i have a really cool picture of Obamabamaringdong NOT saluring the flag that would be a welcome addition to the photo galley. i can't get it to copy here. how will i ever be abel to share????
#4
To those who will not be named.
Here at Rantberg we trash Bush. We trash McCain. We trash Hillary. In accordance with equal opportunity, we'll also trash Obama as appropriate. It's nothing personal, its business, they're just politicians.
#5
BO is a machine politician straight out of Chicago : the machine says "Jump" and the people say "How high?". He has never faced a true committed opponent and is now learning that politics in most of the US is a contact sport. If he had worked through the system in Texas, he would know that by now and would not be so inflicted with foot-in-mouth disease.
#6
if he had worked through the system anywhere else, he'd still be a City Councilman
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/25/2008 19:35 Comments ||
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If he had worked through the system anywhere else, he would still be the trash collector. I've seen high school drop-outs with more real world knowledge that this idiot.
#8
Bama is there because of his color. Nothing else. As the novelty has faded, so has Bama. I'm really, really hoping the Dems nominate him because if they do, they're looking at a McGovern '72-type butt-kicking.
I'm absolutely amazed that the Dems can be so mind-bogglingly stupid. That said, it's not without precedent. It was their unwillingness to dump BJ Clinton after Monica (when real, nonideological pols like Tip O'Neill wouldn't have hesitated 30 seconds) that gave America 8 years of Bush instead of Gore.
The current crop of Dems not only wants to win, they want to do so while publicly embarrassing their opponents because they hate them so badly. That bitter, vicious hatred cost them in 2000 and I suspect it's going to cost them again this year.
The government's plan to crack down on illegal workers could cost employers more than $1 billion a year and legal workers billions in lost wages because they'll be wrongly discharged, sue everybody, and make more evil lawyers, a study commissioned by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce says.
Those costs are enough to trigger a federal law that would require the Homeland Security Department to analyze more thoroughly the effect of its proposal, said Richard Belzer, a consultant hired by the chamber to do the study. Well, at least his study supported the Chamber's position. So he'll get more studies.
The department's proposed "no match" rule would require employers to fire workers who can't resolve mismatches between their name and Social Security number. The chamber opposes the proposal.
Belzer's study will be among public comments submitted to the Homeland Security Department on the proposal. The department could adopt the proposal after reviewing the comments. The deadline for comments is Friday.
Social Security sends no-match letters to employers. They often occur because someone is working illegally, but a mismatch can also take place because of typos, misspellings and name changes, among other reasons.
The Homeland Security Department issued average costs for employers based on how many employees they have and what percent might be unauthorized workers. It determined there would not be a heavy cost to employers.
Belzer, a former economist with the Office of Management and Budget, looked at overall costs and multiplied the average costs by the number of employers in each category. He also used the Homeland Security's baseless, wild-a** guess estimates that 2 percent of legal workers a year would lose their jobs because they can't resolve the Social Security mismatch.
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/25/2008 06:39 ||
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In other words, you can do damned near anything as long as the Right People make enough money.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/25/2008 7:14 Comments ||
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I think the devil is in the details. That is, they are in effect saying that if you aren't in this particular government database, you have no right to work.
But this particular government database isn't particularly accurate, inclusive or comprehensive.
The raw math is that there are over 300 million Americans. But only about 280 million social security numbers assigned to living Americans. Of these, maybe 220 million are, or have been employed.
Since it's a new database, it might only have 20 or 30 million confirmed SS holders at given jobs. Meaning that for 20 years, at least, it is going to be pretty useless. Even after that time, it may only be up to 50% of employed workers.
The awful assumption of databases is that they are 100% inclusive, 100% comprehensive, and 100% accurate. You're not going to come anywhere close to that at the national level.
Several hundred thousand to as many as a million or two Americans are "blanks". The only records the government has on some of them are police records. They are indistinguishable from non-citizens.
Otherwise, they aren't in the system. But beyond that, there are a buttload of "semi-blanks", for which the government has such little, or so innacurate, data, that they are effectively non-citizens as well.
There is no ability to correct bad information, or even determine if it is bad, and mistakes multiply in the system. The government is a sloppy record keeper, and there is almost no way for a citizen to correct errors in their own records.
This is why identity theft is an increasing nightmare. It is both very easy to do, and takes years to correct. A Kafkaesque nightmare.
Just remember the pennies saved by the employer who both pockets the difference to line his bank account and the 'savings' passed on, if at all, to the consumer are made up in the form of taxes and fees to pay for the increase in education, welfare and law enforcement costs involved with illegals. All that is occurring is the form the cost takes not whether there is a cost or not.
#4
Better some people who are legit have to fight the Gov't to get their SSNs right than to fail to stop the invasion. The wall won't do it. The only thing that will is to make it impossible for the invaders to survive while here. That means they must be denied the right to work or to receive any benefits. If the lying Democrat sons of whores who pander to the labor movement REALLY cared about the American worker, establishing a loophole-free vetting system would be the FIRST item on their priority list.
The fact that it isn't even ON their priority list more than amply justifies my description of them.
Posted by: Thaimble Scourge of the Pixies4707 ||
04/25/2008 9:33 Comments ||
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#5
The only real way to fix the problem is to issue a bounty. $200 a head would work nicely.
#6
Whenever the Chamber of Commerce and Labor Unions are in agreement on any legislation it means the majority of American taxpayers will end up taking it in the shorts. Two examples come to mind Increased fuel taxes and Comprehensive Immigration reform.
#11
Hmm..if there were no illegals, there would be no need for 'minimum wage laws', the market, without the presence of unlimited labor, would take care of that.
Greenpeace founder Patrick Moore says there is no proof global warming is caused by humans, but it is likely enough that the world should turn to nuclear power - a concept tied closely to the underground nuclear testing his former environmental group formed to oppose.
The chemistry of the atmosphere is changing, and there is a high-enough risk that "true believers" like Al Gore are right that world economies need to wean themselves off fossil fuels to reduce greenhouse gases, he said. "It's like buying fire insurance," Moore said. "We all own fire insurance even though there is a low risk we are going to get into an accident."
The only viable solution is to build hundreds of nuclear power plants over the next century, Moore told the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday. There isn't enough potential for wind, solar, hydroelectric, and geothermal or other renewable energy sources, he said.
With development of coal-fired electric generation stopped cold over greenhouse gases, the only alternative to nuclear power for producing continuous energy at the levels needed is natural gas. But climate change isn't the only reason to move away from fossil fuels.
Fossil fuels also are a major health threat. "Coal causes the worst health impacts of anything we are doing today," Moore said.
Plus, uranium can be found within the United States and also comes in large quantities from Canada and Australia. Nuclear Power reduces the reliance on supplies in dangerous places including the Middle East, he said.
Moore spoke at the chamber breakfast after an appearance in Idaho Falls Tuesday night that attracted 300 people. He also spoke to the Idaho Environmental Forum in Boise, all sponsored by the Partnership for Science and Technology.
He represents the Clean Air and Safe Energy Coalition, a nuclear energy-backed group promoting reactors for electric energy generation. He began his career as a leader of Greenpeace fighting nuclear testing and working to save whales. In recent years, he has taken on causes unpopular with his former group, like old-growth logging, keeping polyvinyl chlorides and now nuclear energy.
He says his change of heart comes from his background in science and a different approach to sustainability. He sees a need for maintaining technologies that are not harmful while fixing or replacing those that are harmful. "We don't believe we have been making too much electricity," he said. "We believe we've been making energy with the wrong technologies."
His critics, like Andrea Shipley, executive director of the Snake River Alliance, say he has simply sold out. "The only reason Patrick Moore is backing something as unsafe and risky as nuclear power is he is being paid by the nuclear industry to do so," Shipley said.
#1
[span class=EnvironmentalistWacko]
Heretic! Blasphemer! Iconoclast! We shall burn him at the stake, then plant some trees to offset the carbon dioxide from the fire.
[/span]
Posted by: Mike ||
04/25/2008 8:56 Comments ||
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"The only reason Patrick Moore is backing something as unsafe and risky as nuclear power is he is being paid by the nuclear industry to do so," Shipley said.
Whereas Andrea, along with the rest of the majority of Climate Alarmists, is probably being paid by the big oil & gas companies, just like the head of IPCC. Their sole motivation (oh - apart from self denial and lack of will to live) is to classify carbon dioxide as a pollutant, so that it is captured using sequestration techniques, thereby ensuring the cheap supplies of CO2 required to make EOR (Enhanced Oil Recovery) techniques viable in the free market, now that steam extraction is becoming less & less effective.
#6
that enviros who spent their lives opposing nuclear power, are now endorsing it, should inform you just how seriously they take the threat from global warming. Its sincere, NOT an excuse for some luddite assault on capitalism.
I too believe nuclear power has a role to play, among other forms of energy, and conservation, in reducing CO2 emissions and fighting global warming.
#9
Liberalhawk, I dont doubt that Patrick Moore is sincere in his beliefs, but the opening line of the article will tell you that he doesnt believe AGW to have the disaster potential that most enviroweenies whine about.
From this and other things he has said, I think that his views have changed through a reappraisal of modern nuclear reactors in a post cold war context, with all that entails. He also decries the socialist politicisation of AGW, recognizing the human cost of its hypocracies, which are just now coming to light (biofuels raising food costs, etc)
I think he shares my concerns where the article mentions:
"Nuclear Power reduces the reliance on supplies in dangerous places including the Middle East"
Which is why I think that the myth of AGW is an essential component of us winning the WOT. As per my two previous posts regarding proliferation of cheap CO2, we can only gain from the EOR opportunities. Less fertilizer use in CO2 pumped greenhouses is another added bonus to decouple us from Arab oil.
#11
mhw - you can add me to your list of "enviro" types.
I believe in conservation and rational, sustainable exploitation of our environment. That makes me no less of an environmentalist than these saintly types.
I think that capitalism has the answer to most of these problems, if that's what they are; everybody here knows that in democratic countries people, governments and corporations work much more progressively than under tyrannical oppressive systems.
Part of that progress is creating a better environment for all of us to live in. It could well be that part of the reason for the recent warming is due to the reduction in cooling from Sulphate aerosols, now that all power stations are fitted with gas scrubbers - a clear sign of progress which certainly didnt come from the Leftist Liberators.
I really dont see what we have to lose from being more fuel efficient and weaning ourselves off M.E. oil. Emissions restrictions, combined with sequestration tax breaks are the way forward, IMO
#14
What I have in my head is that the CO2 would be pumped into caverns or crevices, thereby increasing the pressure in those areas and eventually rupturing something. Are you suggesting that all this CO2 would be absorbed into the areas it is pumped into, and not substantially increase pressure? Seems wrong to my common sense, but maybe I'm wrong.
#15
If the CO2 is used to freshen oil fields by pumping it a few hundred feet below well depths, it will take several hundreds/thousands of years to migrate up. Also, if there is any truth to the bacterial oil formation theory, the CO2 will act as fertilizer for said bacteria and actually increase the levels of available oil.
currently CO2 is already pumped into the ground as part of tertiary oil production; this is happening now on a large scale
there are also some ongoing sites where CO2 is pumped into the ground to replace methane taken out of the ground but this is small scale stuff
most of the efforts to pump CO2 into either salt formations or limestone strata or other media are mostly in the computer simulation stage -- I'm pretty sure some experiments have taken place
one of the big barriers here is that before you can pump CO2 into the ground, it has to be isolated in whatever industrial process you have
also, CO2 is a commercial product (the fizz in cola) and if your industrial process produces a nice pure stream of cheap CO2, then you are probably already selling it
He also says
"It's like buying fire insurance," Moore said. "We all own fire insurance even though there is a low risk we are going to get into an accident."
I dont know how up on the climate change literature he is. Id admit there is no "proof" that in the absense of policies to change it, massive Global warming will take place, with a 100% certainty. I think its 95% clear that it will take place, and at least 70% that the net effects will be negative, and non-trivial. Actually quantifying the net costs, and the offsets, is not easy.
The case for insurance, unless the insurance is spectacularly costly, is strong. How costly it will be to significantly decreased GHGs is also a matter for debate.
We can decrease that cost in many ways. Including nukes in the package is ONE way. Using market based tools, like tradeable allowances, is another. Researching better technologies is a third.
#18
"It's like buying fire insurance," Moore said. "We all own fire insurance even though there is a low risk we are going to get into an accident."
Along those same lines, I have "Life and Health" Insurance, it's called Smith and Wesson"
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/25/2008 17:29 Comments ||
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#19
"It's like buying fire insurance,"
More like buying life insurance, since I agree with LH that there's virtually a 100% chance of global warming occurring. The question is when. Of course there is also virtually a 100% chance of global cooling with occurring.
#21
Ahh, the WOT/9-11 > where FASCISM is the NEW COMMUNISM-SOCIALISM, GOVTISM the NEW LIBERALISM/
LIBERATARIANISM, IMPERIALISM the NEW FEDERALISM, EMPIRE-ISM the NEW REPUBLIC, etc............> @
so why not CONSERVATISM the NEW ENVIRONMENTALISM???
Chris Wallace must have some important questions for Barack Obama. After all, the Fox News Sunday host has had 769 days to dream them up.
Fox News Sunday has a weekly countdown clock. Five weeks after Mr. Wallace introduced Obama Watch, a weekly countdown clock marking the number of days since he said Mr. Obama had committed to an interview, the Fox News Channel announced Thursday that the Democratic presidential candidate would appear on its Sunday morning public affairs show this weekend.
In an interview, Mr. Wallace said Mr. Obama had agreed to an interview in March 2006, but had not followed through. We had been trying very quietly for the intervening two years to try to get him to come on, he said. Eventually I came to the feeling that we were being played. They were saying we are going to do it, we absolutely intend to do it, and they werent doing it.
So Fox found a visible way to push for an interview: an Obama Watch graphic, complete with the tick-tock sound and split-screen effect used on the Fox counterterrorism drama 24. It debuted on March 16 at 730 days, 13 hours, 53 minutes, and 18 seconds. Every week since, he has reminded the audience of the standing invitation to Mr. Obama.
So did it have an effect? Mr. Wallace said the conversations about an interview became more serious after the Obama Watch started, but he added: In the end, they dont do it for us. They do it for themselves. I think his defeats in Ohio and Pennsylvania have convinced them that he needs to reach out to blue collar, moderate and conservative Democratic voters, and Fox News Sunday is a good place to reach them.
Mr. Wallace will tape the interview with Mr. Obama in Indiana Saturday afternoon. He promised a tough, probing but fair interview.
Fox News Sunday is shown on Fox broadcast affiliates on Sunday mornings and repeated on the cable channel in the evening. Hillary Rodham Clinton appeared on the broadcast in February and John McCain appeared earlier this month. An Obama spokesman did not immediately reply to an e-mail request for comment.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2008 00:00 ||
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Senator Obama: "Do you support African American leaders who demand 'reparations' from the federal government, for alleged and proven abuses of African Americans?"
Obama (probably): "I condemn the abuses - which include enslavement and discrimination in government services and employment - but I am not sure that 'reparations' are the appropriate remedy."
Obama would leave the "reparations" issue open, because many of his black supporters - and friends - want payback. Obama is the biggest ambulance-chaser in American history. If elected President, he would effect a major transfer of wealth, which would cripple the American economy.
#4
it's not payback. It's white liberal guilt assuagement. F*ck em
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/25/2008 15:23 Comments ||
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#5
As an Independent, I would love to see the Super-Delegates pool together and toss the remaining points to Queen Hillary! As I recall, I didn't feel so bad when the Supreme Court 'handed' the Presidency to "W" over Gore in the finale anyway! NO MORE DEBATES...Barack, atleast until June 4th; and be prepared to take the Michigan and Florida matter to the Supreme Court, should the 'Hildabeast' contest the DNC's ruling! Remember, 'Billy Boy' fought it up all the way to the Congress's 'Peter Principle' with Ken Starr, a lessen it may do good to emulate!! I'd rather you lose with your head and principles held high than 'kowtow' to the race-baiting and cynicism of sore losers!
#2
Procopius, I must respectfully disagree. 172,000 views on YouTube and who knows how many millions more on TV.
They made their point, and kept the Wright issue on the front burner.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/25/2008 10:24 Comments ||
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#3
Rev. Wright appears to be keeping himself on the front burner. Personally, I hope we hear and see a lot more from him in the coming days. Maybe a Larry King duet with Wright and Faracoon.
#4
Nope. Bill Moyers Journal, tonight on PBS. Billy will lob them in, and the Rev will smack them outta the park in what I'm sure will be a hard hitting PBS droolfest...
Nepal Communist Party (Maoist) leader Prachanda on Thursday demanded that the 1950 Peace and Friendship Treaty between Nepal and India be scrapped. Addressing a press conference after a meeting with the donor communities coordinated by the U.N. agencies in Nepal, Mr. Prachanda said: We stand [by] our previous commitment that the 1950 treaty should be scrapped and many other treaties between India and Nepal should be reviewed in the new context.
Just about to make their move: oust the Indians and invite the Chinese in.
In their 40-point memorandum submitted to the government before embarking on the path of armed insurgency in February 1996, the Maoists had demanded annulment of various treaties with India and review of other ties. Among the discriminatory treaties cited were the 1950 treaty and Integrated Mahakali Treaty.
The memorandum had also demanded regulation of the Nepal-India border, banning entry of Indian vehicles into Nepal, closure of Gorkha recruitment, and ban on vulgar Hindi movies.
However, Mr. Prachanda said his party wants to maintain a close relationship with all the countries and urged the United States to remove his party from its terrorist list.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koiralas party Nepali Congress has started its crucial Central Working Committee meeting which will decide whether it will join the next government under the Maoist leadership.
The CWC will also discuss the partys poor showing in the CA elections held on April 10. Only half a dozen CWC members spoke at Thursdays meeting. Opening the meeting, Mr. Koirala said there was no reason for the party to panic despite the defeat.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/25/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
It's a long, hard trip across Tibet to the grocery store, guys.
AMMAN - The European Commission and the UN Development Programme signed an agreement with Jordan on Thursday to help the desert kingdom clear landmines along its northern border with Syria. The commission said in a statement it will contribute 4.5 million euros (more than seven million dollars) to a two-year plan designed to demine around 12 square kilometres (4.8 square miles) of land bordering Syria.
'Through its support, the European Commission wishes to respond to the pressing development needs of northern Jordan, in the area bordering Syria,' it said. Under the 'Northern Border Clearance Project,' to be supervised by the UNDP, a military buffer zone between the two countries will be removed.
'The risk of mine accidents for the local population of 50,000 will be removed, the border area will become less militarised and Jordan will have made significant progress towards meeting its Mine Ban Treaty obligation,' the statement said.
Most landmines on the border were laid during successive Israeli-Arab conflicts. Jordan began clearing minefields as early as 1993, one year before it signed a peace treaty with Israel. At the time more than 300,000 mines were strewn over its territory, mostly in the Jordan Valley, but also near its eastern border with Iraq and the northern border with Syria.
Between 1993 and 2007 more than 170,000 landmines were removed, according to the government, which last year signed a deal with NATO for a 3.4-million-euro fund to support a two-year programme to destroy unexploded ordnance.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/25/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
The iranians have a much cheaper way of doing it. But Jordan would have to wait for summer vacation if they wanted to do it that way.
#2
I read that the best way to clear landmines was to run a herd of sheep across the area, nothing goes BOOM, all is well, any BOOMS and mutton for supper.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/25/2008 17:41 Comments ||
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Myanmars junta has barred domestic media from reporting on opposition to next months referendum on a new constitution, media rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders said Thursday.
RSF and the Burma Media Association said they were outraged by the methods used by the junta to prevent reporting on opposition to the charter, which pro-democracy activists say will allow the generals to entrench their rule. The military government is stopping at nothing to rig a referendum that looks as though it is going to be a sham rather than a free and transparent election, the two organisations said in a joint statement.
Restrictions: The supporters of a No vote must be able to express themselves freely in the media, and journalists must be allowed to report all viewpoints. They said no Myanmar media had been allowed to publish the views of supporters of a No vote in the May 10 referendum. RSF also called on the authorities to let the press do its work without prior censorship and to allow foreign reporters to visit Burma freely.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Didn't know that they had any media freedom to stifle.
#2
Sure they do, the govt. censor probably has 4 or 5 stories a day you can choose to print. It's probably mostly "Dear Leader" bullshit like in DPRK, but you have the choice none the less.
A mutiny at Lebanon's largest prison ended peacefully on Friday after prisoners took seven prison guards hostage, a Lebanese police statement said. "The prisoners handed over the seven warders they were holding hostage and returned to their cells after having negotiated and handed over demands to the chief of internal security, Antoine Shakuri," the statement said.
The prisoners, were calling for an improvement in their prison conditions and a pony reduction in their sentences, a Lebanese security source said. Most of the inmates, who were mainly Lebanese, Palestinians and Syrians, were serving long sentences, or were on death row. The prisoners had set fire to their cells before they took hostages.
Four senior security officials arrested on suspicion of involvement in the 2005 assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri are presently interned in Roumieh. Jihad Hamad, one of the prime suspects in Germany's 2006 train-bombing plot, is also imprisoned there.
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.
He visited San Fransisco [sic] two weeks ago. That's what happened.
The government's plan to crack down on illegal workers could cost employers more than $1 billion a year and legal workers billions in lost wages 
Greenpeace founder Patrick Moore says there is no proof global warming is caused by humans, but it is likely enough that the world should turn to nuclear power - a concept tied closely to the underground nuclear testing his former environmental group formed to oppose.
A mutiny at Lebanon's largest prison ended peacefully on Friday after prisoners took seven prison guards hostage, a Lebanese police statement said. "The prisoners handed over the seven warders they were holding hostage and returned to their cells after having negotiated and handed over demands to the chief of internal security, Antoine Shakuri," the statement said. 
