Coincidence?
Al Gore, Nobel laureate, former vice president of the United States and author of the global warming documentary An Inconvenient Truth, will deliver the opening address at a conference on "Renewable Energy and Beyond," scheduled to be held at Tel Aviv University May 20-21, the university said Sunday.
Gore will be arriving on a special visit to Israel as guest of the Dan David Prize. The 2008 Dan David Prize will be awarded to Gore on May 19 for social commitment to environmental protection and the prevention of a global ecological disaster, a statement from the university read.
Tel Aviv University is organizing the international conference with the intent of addressing all issues - technological, economic, political - pertaining to moving towards using renewable energies as a substitute for oil and coal.
President Shimon Peres, National Infrastructures Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, and Environmental Protection Minister Gideon Ezra will also attend the conference.
TAU President Prof. Zvi Galil noted, "Tel Aviv University... which has become a leading academic institution on environmental issues in light of its widespread environmental research, constitutes a natural home for this conference.
"The conference organizers were able to bring together the topmost researchers and a series of prominent policy-making elements for a landmark international gathering," he said, adding that the TAU conference would "help increase awareness of renewable energy issues in this country and throughout the world."
Ironically, also on Sunday, Israel's largest supermarket chain announced that it was limiting purchases of rice by consumers who are attempting to stock up in the face of an anticipated 60-70% price rise. The limit was lifted Monday morning as prices rose by 65% (in a country with a single-digit inflation rate since the mid-90's). Many people believe that the two events are connected.
#1
Unprecedented frosts in Vietnam and parts of southern China were a factor in the current rice shortage, but don't expect to see headlines like - Global Cooling Causes Rice Shortages - any time soon.
#2
To the AGW goons, food shortages are not bugs, but features. They don't love gaia so much as they hate the human race...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/28/2008 10:33 Comments ||
Top||
#3
What is it about Al Gore and the embarrassing conincidences? It used to never fail that when he got a big headline for global warming that the temperatures would plummet to record lows. Now this. I think God just gets a real kick out of highlighting what a bunch of fools these clowns are.
#4
Indeed, Snin, but it would probably take a rain of frogs or the Mississippi turning to blood for him to notice. Even then he would blame it on Bush.
Murcek, I have been thinking:
If the mullahs block the straits of Hormuz or get up to some similar mischief, we will fry their asses; but in the meantime we will have $100 a bushel corn and $15 gas.
We will be inundated by hordes of hungry Mexicans joining the millions already here. Even this can be turned to our advantage, however. We just go around Boulder, Marin County and similar moonbat occupied zones and post signs saying "Eco-Waqui Vive Aqui" on the lawns of known eco-wackies. We can tell the residents it means "Warmest Eco-greetings to our little Gaia-child siblings from the south" (A succinct language, Spanish).
The newcomers will take care of the rest.
#5
Well, Big Al appears again. I was thinking he maybe was doing it on his own tab, for the good of mankind, you know, until I notice he's being awarded the "Dan David Prize for 2008". Accompanied by a nice little honorarium for his presence, no doubt. He and Billy Boy are real cash hogs aren't they?
#7
Can you imagine what life in America would have been like with this fat, ignorant fcuk as POTUS?
I thought we were the world's laughing stock under Carter and BJ. AlGore would have taken that ridicule to a whole new level. Given that the Nobel Prize Committee have chosen to give both this bonehead and Arafish one of their prizes, how could anyone with two neurons to rub together ever hold their awards in any kind of regard again?
Posted by: Thaimble Scourge of the Pixies4707 ||
04/28/2008 17:17 Comments ||
Top||
NEW YORK Print circulation continues on its steep downward slide, the Audit Bureau of Circulations revealed this morning in releasing the latest numbers for some of the country's largest dailies in the six-month period ending March 31, 2008. When a full analysis appears it is expected to find, according to sources, the biggest dip yet, about 3.5% daily and 4.5 for Sunday.
The following circulation compares the new data to the same period a year ago. Daily circulation is the Monday-through-Friday average.
-- The New York Times lost more than 150,000 copies on Sunday. Circulation on that day fell a whopping 9.2% to 1,476,400. The paper's daily circulation declined 3.8% to 1,077,256.
Continued on Page 49
#1
When I was a daily newspaper reporter in the 1980s, the managing editor had a TV in his office so he could see what had to be put in tomorrow's paper. Now the TV people look at blogs and Drudge to see what they have to put on in the next 15 minutes. Most print news stories read as if reporters and editors have no idea how to use google, let alone Lexis / Nexis. Soon, newspapers will run listings of what was on TV and in the theaters last week...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/28/2008 10:19 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I love the Titanic graphic because it just says it all. In the not too distant future, I think a dinosaur graphic will tell the tale.
#3
They'd do better if they kept all their fiction off the front page. I'd pay for straight reporting without the slant, but they don't seem to be able to resist toying with the facts and they appear to believe that slanting is editing.
For those with pet birds, a very large roll of clean brown paper can be purchased in the hardware store paint supplies section for less than the cost of a few Sunday editions.
#4
That's what happens when your high-school graduates can't read.
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/28/2008 11:44 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Bobby, I think it's not reading (They see and read the words) it's comprehension, they don't really understand the meanings the words try to convey.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/28/2008 15:03 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Example
"He slept with me" (Two year old)
"He slept with me" (20 year old)
Same words, entirely different meaning, that's the comprehension that's lacking here.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/28/2008 16:37 Comments ||
Top||
#7
it's comprehension, they don't really understand the meanings the words try to convey.
THE much-awaited results of the presidential election are expected to be released this week -- exactly a month later -- the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) announced yesterday. The announcement appeared to be in response to the expressed impatience of Sadc, which gave yesterday as a deadline for ZEC to release the results -- or the credibility of the poll would be in tatters.
Addressing a press conference, ZEC chairman, Justice George Chiweshe, said the process of feeding the recounted statistics into the system had already started. "We trust that by Monday 28 April this process will have been concluded," he said. "Immediately thereafter, the returning officer (Chief Elections Officer) will invite the four Presidential candidates or their agents to a verification and collation exercise, leading to the announcement of the results of the Presidential election."
He said observers would be invited to the process, which was in terms of an agreement between the chief elections officer and the four presidential candidates. Each party would tally the figures it collected from the 9 000 polling stations. If there were no discrepancies and they all agree on the figures the result could be released soon thereafter.
Chiweshe said much of the recounting in the 23 constituencies had been completed and that only five constituencies remained. "These five are also on the verge of completion," he said. Of the 10 constituencies recounted up to Friday there had been no significant changes to the initial results: MDC-Morgan Tsvangirai, 99 House of Assembly; Zanu PF, 97; MDC-Arthur Mutambara 10; Independent one. In the Senate, Zanu PF 30; MDC-MT 24; MDC Mutambara six.
Ambassador Jeremiah Kingsley Mamabolo, head of the South African observer mission, said their assessment of the recounting exercise was that it had not impacted on the initial results announced soon after the elections.
Chiweshe spent a greater part of the press conference explaining the delays in announcing the presidential election results. He said, they had to check 36 000 V11 forms nationally and there were delays in receiving returns from Matabeleland, which were eventually airlifted to Harare via Bulawayo. He said court action brought against the commission had contributed to the delay by two weeks. "However, we were to a large extent during that period unable to inform the electorate as to what progress we were making as doing so would have entailed discussion of issues still pending before the courts."
It might have been a coincidence, but yesterday's press conference came as Sadc warned it would not accept more excuses from the ZEC if it failed to release the results of the presidential elections by yesterday. The announcement yesterday would appear designed to respond to SADC's concerns and impatience.
Sadc sent its observer team back to Harare last week to observe the recount of 23 disputed constituencies. Sadc had said beyond Saturday it would not accept claims that the release of results had been affected by logistical difficulties.
Another warning for Mugabe was in the Mail & Guardian's report that President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, the AU chairperson, had said privately he would be willing to explore the option of convening an AU summit on Zimbabwe's delayed presidential poll.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/28/2008 01:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Ambassador Jeremiah Kingsley Mamabolo, head of the South African observer mission, said their assessment of the recounting exercise was that it had not impacted on the initial results announced soon after the elections.
Translation: "Dammit, Bob, will you take the money and get outta here before we have to do something about it!!"
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/28/2008 6:02 Comments ||
Top||
The UN has covered up claims that its troops in Democratic Republic of Congo gave arms to militias and smuggled gold and ivory, the BBC has learned. The allegations, based on confidential UN sources, involve Pakistani and Indian troops working as peacekeepers.
Cats and dogs living together ...
The UN investigated some of the claims in 2007, but said it could not substantiate claims of arms dealing. UN insiders told the BBC's Panaroma they had been prevented from pursuing their inquiries for political reasons.
That's one way to keep from being embarrassed ...
The UN peacekeeping operation in DR Congo is the largest in the world, with 17,000 troops, spread across the country. The BBC's Martin Plaut says they have managed to bring a measure of stability since they were first established by the UN in February 2000. They have also helped disarm the warring factions, run democratic elections and assisted with reconstruction.
But an 18-month BBC investigation for Panorama has found evidence that:
- Pakistani peacekeepers in the eastern town of Mongbwalu were involved in the illegal trade in gold with the FNI militia, providing them with weapons to guard the perimeter of the mines.
- Indian peacekeepers operating around the town of Goma had direct dealings with the militia responsible for the Rwandan genocide, now living in eastern DR Congo.
- The Indians traded gold, bought drugs from the militias and flew a UN helicopter into the Virunga National Park, where they exchanged ammunition for ivory.
The UN looked into the allegations concerning the Pakistani troops in 2007. It concluded that one officer had been responsible for dealing in gold - allowing traders to use UN aircraft to fly into the town, putting them up at the UN base and taking them around the town. But the UN decided that "in the absence of corroborative evidence" its investigators "could not substantiate the allegation" that Pakistani peacekeepers supplied weapons or ammunition to the militia.
They have a particularly high standard of corroborative evidence when it comes to their own ...
The head of the UN peacekeeping operation in New York Jean-Marie Guehenno declared last year: "The investigation has found no evidence of gun smuggling. But it has identified an individual who seemed to have facilitated gold smuggling. We have shared the report with the concerned troop contributing country and I am confident they will take the required action. And this issue is closed."
"And don't you ever bring it up again!"
But returning to eastern DR Congo, the uppity BBC spoke to several residents of the mining town of Mongbwalu, who said they had seen the FNI re-armed. One former militant told our correspondent he had witnessed seven boxes of ammunition being brought from the UN camp to the re-supply the FNI during a critical fire-fight.
Two FNI leaders known as "Kung-fu" and "Dragon", who have been jailed in the capital, Kinshasa, have stated publicly that they received help from the UN. The BBC managed to get into the maximum security jail and both confirmed this. Kung Fu, whose real name is General Mateso Ninga, said: "Yes, it's true, they did give us arms. They said it was for the security of the country. So they said to us that we would help them take care of the zone."
The FNI has been described by Human Rights Watch as "some of the most murderous individuals that operate in eastern Congo". The ethnic Lendu militia was involved in the bitter clashes with their Hema rivals in the Ituri district.
UN insiders - close to the investigation - told the BBC they had been prevented from pursuing their inquiries for political reasons. The BBC's Martin Plaut says that in short, the Pakistanis, who are the largest troop contributors to the UN in the world, were too valuable to alienate.
I mean, who else would you get to do these jobs, the mighty Uruguayans?
These are not the only allegations to have been brought against peacekeepers in DR Congo. In December 2006, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said Moroccan troops had been involved in widespread sexual abuse. "There have been crimes such as rape, paedophilia and human trafficking," he said, shortly before leaving office.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/28/2008 00:26 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
The top US diplomat for Africa, Jendayi Frazer, has said the UN Security Council should consider sanctions on Zimbabwe over the post-election crisis. She told the BBC that if the situation did not change "we should contemplate multilateral sanctions through the UN". Ms Frazer, who is touring the region, urged African leaders to speak "very loudly" against post-poll violence.
Opposition and human rights groups allege a government campaign of abuses in the wake of last month's vote. Four weeks after the elections, results from the presidential race remain unreleased. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which overturned President Mugabe's parliamentary majority for the first time in 28 years, says its candidate Morgan Tsvangirai won the presidency outright. Independent monitors have also said he got the most votes, but may not have gained the absolute majority necessary to avoid a run-off poll.
Ms Frazer said the US Embassy in Zimbabwe had received documented evidence of more than 450 people who had been beaten since the vote, one death and about 1,000 people who had been displaced. The MDC says 15 of its supporters have been killed.
This article starring:
Jendayi Frazer
Posted by: Fred ||
04/28/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#3
Is this going to be like that garbage barge from New York (or similar) that sailed around the world for a year or two looking for a place to unload before ending up back at its original destination?
#5
There are other ways of bringing in weapons with little or no fanfare or bruhaha. Zim Bob was just buying in bulk and became high profile with a sh*t ship load of weapons and ammo.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/28/2008 23:22 Comments ||
Top||
#1
RUMORMILLNEWS > THE CRUCIBLE BETWEEN GENOCIDE AND PARADISE IN ZIMBABWE; + TOPIX > ZIMBABWE: THE FAILURE OF DEMOCRACY OR THE FAILURE OF BLACK AFRICA? African and African Union, by and for same???
Huda Azar Nunu, a Jewish woman who is a lawmaker in Bahrain's upper house, will be named to the Washington position, according to a report this week in A Sharq al-Awsat, a Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily published in London.
"The sources denied that the appointment of Nunu as a woman and a Jew is a public relations campaign by Bahrain in the West, emphasizing that Huda Nunu has proven her qualifications, whether through her membership in the Consultative Council or through her work in human rights associations, of which she is an active participant in Bahrain," the newspaper said.
Bahrain, a Persian Gulf state sandwiched between Iran and Saudi Arabia, has a tiny Jewish population dating back to Talmudic times. Nunu is descended from Iraqi Jews who migrated to the port of Manama in the late 19th century. Jews in Bahrain have kept a low profile but generally have been treated well.
The nation is considered among the more progressive in the region, and was among the first to allow women to run for public office.
#2
What a sweet thing to say, dear Menhadden Snogum6713! You're quite right about not serving, too -- the probability approaches 100% that I would forget about being diplomatic at a critical point, plunging the entire world into open war, and I'd feel just awful about it.
#3
I'm 100% behind you TW, but I think being outspoken is a plus, not a liability, if the world can't handle truth, too bad.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/28/2008 14:24 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Its an old tactic in the moslem world to send dhimmi citizens to represent them in strong infidel countries.
In our country we usually send big campaign contributors as ambassadors to 2nd and 3rd tier countries (or sometimes we send people we want out of the country for other reasons). Unless I miss my guess, TW wouldn't fall into the 'big campaign contributor' category. However, Obama might consider the other category for TW if he wins.
#5
Ummm, this could easily be a "Send the troublemaker out of town, and be rid of her" ploy
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/28/2008 16:11 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Bahrain is one of the few countries in the Middle East that is run with adult supervision. Call me a starry-eyed optimist if you will, but I think this is a genuine good sign.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/28/2008 16:32 Comments ||
Top||
#7
MHW - if BO wins the White House, I'm moving to remote Alaska, and urging the state to secede.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/28/2008 17:19 Comments ||
Top||
CARACAS, Venezuela, April 27 (UPI) -- New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said he has persuaded Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to intervene to help secure the release of three U.S. hostages. "President Chavez has agreed to try and help," the Democratic governor said.
Richardson met Saturday with Venezuelan officials who agreed to let the former presidential candidate negotiate with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia, or FARC, to release three military contractors -- Tom Howes, Marc Gonsalves, and Keith Stansell -- held since 2003.
Richardson engaged FARC and Venezuelan officials in January and said the agreement from Chavez will allow negotiations to move forward, the Santa Fe New Mexican said Sunday. "I'm going to try and engage the best I can to secure the release of these hostages to promote the humanitarian accord," he said.
And himself for Obama's vice-president ...
The Bush administration backed away from negotiations to free the hostages, saying it is against U.S. policy to negotiate with terrorist groups.
There's a reason for that. Think about it, Gov ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/28/2008 00:54 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
FARC is listed as a terrorist group, right, so it is considered to be hostile to the US. Too bad there isn't some kind of law that prevents private citizens from negotiating with hostile groups.
Oh wait! The Logan Act. Of course. Too bad it hasn't ever been enforced. We could scoop up Jimmuh, John Kerry, Richardson, Jesse Jackson and many other useful idiots.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
04/28/2008 1:36 Comments ||
Top||
#2
"We could scoop up Jimmuh, John Kerry, Richardson, Jesse Jackson and many other useful useless, traitorous idiots."
Fixed that for ya', Rambler.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/28/2008 1:42 Comments ||
Top||
#3
How many Democrat Senators are their currently illegally engaged in diplomacy?
#4
New Mexico's legislature finishes it business by the end of March, Bill's got to find something to do since he dropped out of the Prez race. I don't think they stick Ritalin in the water in Santa Fe, so he's got to do 'something'.
Pressure is growing on the state of Bavaria to allow the first new edition of Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" since World War II to be published in Germany.
The documentation centre at the former Nazi parade grounds in Nuremberg threw its weight behind a new academic edition this month, centre Director Hans-Christian Täubrich told The Local on Monday. The move gave new momentum to a standing request by the Institute of Contemporary History in Munich to reissue the book, a best-seller in Nazi Germany, with commentary.
Historians at both institutions say it is important a new academic edition be issued before the copyright on the book, held by the German state of Bavaria, expires in 2015, 70 years after Hitler's death. Once the book moves into the public domain, some historians fear German neo-Nazis could issue their own editions without repercussions.
"The most important thing is that this book be demystified," Täubrich said. "An edition with commentary would show how what he wrote was complete and utter nonsense."
The book is a key to understanding the way the Nazis used propaganda, Täubrich said, and an edition with commentary could show the historical roots of Hitler's anti-Semitism.
Hitler wrote "Mein Kampf" ("My Struggle") in 1924, in part from a Bavarian jail. The book tells his life story to that point and calls for racial war to win more land for Aryan Germans and to fight against Jews and Communists.
Though excerpts of "Mein Kampf" have been published in Germany - and the entire book is widely available on the internet, in second-hand stores and abroad - Bavaria has rejected requests for a new German-language edition. Publishing Hitler's anti-Semitic polemic would be disrespectful to victims of the Holocaust, the Bavarian government has argued.
A spokeswoman for the Bavarian ministry of finance did not immediately return a call for comment to The Local on Monday.
A leader in the Jewish community in Germany told Deutschlandfunk radio last week he supports an academic edition of Hitler's book being made available both both in print and on the internet. "In general, I support making the book with commentary available to the public," said Stephan Kramer, general secretary of the German Jewish Council, adding that his group would like to take part in the publishing project.
Täubrich said an edition with commentary would take about three years of hard work to put together.
Dieter Pohl, a historian with the Institute of Contemporary History, told German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung the new edition would be 'hellishly complex'. Because of Hitler's ranting style and tendency to bend the facts, nearly every line in the book will require commentary, Pohl said.
I have been quiet on the presidential campaign. I'm not much of a political writer in the first place and am firmly of the opinion that you should only write to your strengths. However, Obama's appearance on Fox news was a tactical mistake of massive proportions. In addition, it legitimized the greatest threat to our country -- fact free debate. As such, Obama has lost my vote. . . .
By going on Fox news, Obama made the right wing press legitimate. "Heretic!"
This is a mistake not only for the election, but for out country as a whole. Misinformation/disinformation/outright lies from the right wing noise machine are killing our country. By participating in this medium in any way, Obama has legitimized it. "Traitor!"
The Democrats boycotted Fox news for this election cycle and what happened? Voter turnout is at records and enthusiasm is high. This boycott of Fox news obviously did not hurt the Democrats in any way. Yet now Obama is going on Fox. "Blasphemer!"
Simply put, I cannot vote or support anyone who participates in this medium. "You have Fox cooties all over you now. Ewwwwww!"
As such, Obama has lost my vote. I will most likely vote for a marginal third party candidate -- or write in Frank Zappa. Even from the grave, he's a better damn choice. You gotta admit, Zappa owned the whole "yellow snow" issue.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/28/2008 11:40 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
So... by exercising his 1st amendment right with the "Right Wing" pres, they disapprove? Dhimocrats can only tow the party line and the deviance from it results in exile and being shunned? How... Stalinist.
#6
This is why the liberals keep losing. Any point of view other than their own is lies! Anything that doesn't agree with them is counterfactual! By God, they've got a monopoly on the truth, and you had better listen, or else you're a mouthbreathing idiot.
#10
Well, at least Bonddad knows that exposure to the truths, facts, or lies of the other side can and will make your brain fart work.
I think Bonddad shows signs of being a throwback and should be banned from kos, lest he infect the site and they all begin to fart think..
#14
By God, they've got a monopoly on the truth, and you had better listen, or else you're a mouthbreathing idiot.
Not only that, you're EEEEEVVVVILLLLLL and bien-pensants like them can and will, "by whatever means necessary," stop you from pursuing your nefarious designs. It's FOR THE CHILDREN, of course...
Posted by: Thaimble Scourge of the Pixies4707 ||
04/28/2008 17:08 Comments ||
Top||
#15
Fickle bastards, aren't they?
Posted by: Clinter Darling of the Munchkins3507 ||
04/28/2008 19:19 Comments ||
Top||
#16
The Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow attack the Orbital Mind Control Lasers with the aid of the TV Networks and the Girlie Magazines.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
04/28/2008 20:36 Comments ||
Top||
WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court has ruled that states can require voters to produce photo identification without violating their constitutional rights. The decision validates Republican-inspired voter ID laws.
The court vote 6-3 to uphold Indiana's strict photo ID requirement. Democrats and civil rights groups say the law would deter dead, poor, older and minority voters and those with fake IDs from casting ballots.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/28/2008 11:24 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I remember reading some of the leftie blogs (prior to my New Years resolution) when this was hot: lots of lefties were waxing prolific about how this would hurt the poor, minorities and the elderly.
To which I posed a question: "what percentage of the poor, minorities or elderly lack a state-issued photo ID?"
Good thing I ducked.
Thing is, they can't answer the question. I don't know the precise answer either, but it's my experience, as an inner-city physician, that most everyone has a photo ID. You either have a drivers license or a state ID so as to cash a check, etc. Some elderly in the city have a transit authority photo ID so that they can get the bargain rate for the busses and trains.
A photo ID is the first good step to stop fraud. That's why banks and stores ask for one when you write a check. It's why the DMV issues you one to drive. Any simpleton knows this.
The whole issue, and we know, and the Kos Kiddies know it, is that a photo ID makes retail vote fraud more difficult, and retail (e.g., at the precinct station) fraud is what the inner-city Democrats excel at. You can't snow the election judges as to your identity if the photo doesn't match.
Currently in Chicago you just need the city-issued 'voter ID' card -- a postcard -- to vote. You could print a hundred of those, go to a hundred precincts, and vote as you wish. Require a photo ID and that stops immediately.
This is serious good news. Now the states have to follow through and get the laws passed to require a photo ID in every election at every level at every precinct.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/28/2008 12:31 Comments ||
Top||
#2
There goes the dems fairness in fraud platform.
#4
Pay attention. This is the one thing positive Bush has done. Kept the SCOTUS as a functioning , logical entity. Thank God for the reprieve. The next Prez could swing it again, as likely three appointments will open during the next four years. Even if John Boy McClain gets in, will he do right by the conservatives ?
#6
This is nice, but retail vote fraud has already moved on. Photo IDs don't prevent fraud on absentee ballots, for example.
Here in California we are voting nearly 50% absentee. Do we have fraud? A friend of mine is married to a women of Mexican heritage. Every election she routinely gets 6-8 absentee ballots in the mail. The come in her married name, maiden name, with spelling variations, etc. These are not requests for an absentee ballot, but the actual ballot itself. The kicker is that she has never requested an absentee ballot. These come unsolicited. Someone else has filled out the forms and forged her signature.
Personally, I think the only answer to fraud is transparency. End the secret ballot. Post everything to the Internet, where the results can be examined, audited, confirmed, challenged, etc by anyone. If we lived in Cuba or Venezuela this might pose a problem, but not here. Your donations are already public knowledge and posted on the Internet. And the upside would be that fraud would end overnight.
I'm afraid my wife would beat me up if she found out about some of my votes.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/28/2008 13:40 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Woozle, nice try. I recall Bush nominating one Harriet Miers, but we went kicking and screeming until he found a real judge. Further, Bush has done little to expose this voting fraud. After 7 years with the bully pulpet, he should have fixed all this, but little has been started and much less finished to guarantee fair elections.
Bush has failed to address numerous problems here. He is more of a do nothing president, more like (gasp) Clinton.
#9
The absentee ballot is too easy to defraud. A good example was given by Iblis. Get rid of it and have an extended voting period in person with ID and fingerprint so the infirm, those on vacation can vote. Those overseas vote at the embassy or bases.
Posted by: ed ||
04/28/2008 15:58 Comments ||
Top||
#10
We have photo id requirements here in Colorado, and have had since at least the early 1980's. We also require every person who submits an absentee ballot have it certified by someone who has to see a photo id. Usually it's a notary public. In the military, it was the voting officer. My bank offers free notary service for customers. Most do. Most county clerk's offices will notarize absentee ballots for free, also. Failure to have absentee ballots verified is an open door for fraud and abuse.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/28/2008 17:46 Comments ||
Top||
#11
Further, Bush has done little to expose this voting fraud.
Why do you think all those AGs were fired at Justice? Could it be, when you look in to them, it was an issue that wasn't given priority by those offices.
Oh, and not to pop anyone's celebratory balloons, this only applies to states that want to use photo IDs. This ruling doesn't require photo IDs be adopted by states currently not employing them.
Barack Obama, struggling to win over more white Democratic voters, said in a Sunday television interview race would not be a factor in November's election that could make him the first black U.S. president. "Is race still a factor in our society? Yes. I don't think anybody would deny that," Obama said on "Fox News Sunday."
"Is that going to be the determining factor in a general election? No, because I'm absolutely confident that the American people -- what they're looking for is somebody who can solve their problems," the Illinois senator said in an interview taped on Saturday.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/28/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"what they're looking for is somebody who can solve their problems"
Which sure as hell wouldn't be YOU, Senator - or any of the other candidates.
The people looking for someone to solve their problems need to check a mirror.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/28/2008 1:22 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Barbara, lighten up; you may live to see your nineties and you're dreading Obama like he's the last President the US will ever have, or that he'll plunge your fragrant utopia down... into the lowest brimstones of the fiery hell!! Actually, I believe the founding fathers would have been utterly astonished if they could have peered into the crystal ball and seen such a fruit of their arduous labor of love; An American 'colored' sitting at the seat of the reigns of power, in their founded society, and in less than 300 years. Such an achievement no doubt they would have recalled, assailed any known history they where familiar with from the British empire back through the Romans and Greeks! Mr Washington himself, surely...would have shed a tear of accomplishment and awe!!
The feeling would not have been the same for the founding fathers for Hillary, as their thoughts of Empirical England; the Monarchy and it's entanglements would have creped in, permeating a feeling of abode and concern.
BO is a product of that corrupt Chi-town patronage politics system. That means he's been bought and paid for pol, groomed by the Chi-town ward patronage system.
1) OB is woefully short on anything but TALK. He's an empty vessel IOW.
2) He's never managed a large business, or a small biz for that matter.
why would that count you might ask smn?
Think Having to suffer the consequences of your own choices, reality IOW smn. Now having yourself, family and employees suffer your own bad choices is one thing, how about 303 million Americans?
OB lacks real experience.
3) OB was never in uniform. Our Armed Forces are a tremendous but complicated World Standard institution.
Our DOD and Armed Forces are going to BE a HUGE part and PLAY a Huge Part of every American's future.
OB lacks real experience.
4) OB was never a Governor w/ the incumbent staff, bureaucrats, employees to manage or has he any experienced running a State budget and having to raise the moneys in State Taxes to run the Government.
Deeds as opposed to talk.
It is America's BAD luck that we have two other flawed choices to pick from.
McCain is a War Hero but 'out of touch' with his base on immigration etc, . A bit daft too, the only thing going for him are the other two are much poorer choices than he is.
Her Thighness: Her qualifications: She Chose to marry Billy Blue-Dress Clinton who won his first Presidential term with 40+% of the National Vote.
all three are weak, but Obama is by far, the riskiest choice of all.
#4
Opus had an interesting perspective on the issue of race in the election, yesterday.
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/28/2008 6:35 Comments ||
Top||
#5
The first problem I had with Obama was his alleged left-leaning. The angry wife shouldn't matter, except we had one of those (Hillary) and I didn't like it. Then the Pastor/Mentor thing. His race is only incidental to his anger.
I'd vote for Bill Cosby in a heatbeat, but then - he's an "oreo", isn't he.
For those of you who haven't spent 15 years in Texas, Oreo is a term of derision applied to a black person who is too white - black on the outside and white on the inside.
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/28/2008 6:57 Comments ||
Top||
#6
What? He get 98+ percent of the black vote and it's "not about race". If whites voted in November 98+ percent for a white opponent candidate would it be about 'race'? What would smn say? Heh.
#7
Race isnt an issue in the 2008 presidential election huh? Somebody better tell DNC Chairman Howard Dean. You may recall his remarks when he addressed the National Baptist Convention this year.
"But the tide is changing. Our Democratic candidates for President aren't we proud to have a slate of Democratic candidate running for President that looks like the rest of America. Our candidates do not look like they're from the 1950's and talk like they're from the 1850's.
Do you suppose Deans 1950's comment was a not-too subtle reference to Jim Crow? Hmmm and come to think about it maybe, just maybe, his 1850's remark was a stealth suggestion about slavery? Gosh do ya think? Oh thats right making sweeping generalizations about bigotry based on ones skin color isnt racism if youre talking about Old White Males. What was I thinking?
#8
The Romans were in the habit of making successful non-Romans into citizens, which is why so many of the emperors, including all of the later Byzantine ones, were of non-Roman stock. The Founding Fathers were surely aware of this. Certainly George Washington was pleased to consider Jews as worthy to be American citizens as members of his own Church of England. There's no reason to think he wouldn't have been just as pleased to consider educated and successful men of colour his political, if not social, equals, Thomas Jefferson be damned.
You need to read a bit more history, smn.
Really, that's a dreadful picture of Candidate Obama. It looks like he struck a noble pose, then checked to see if his audience was impressed. And what was his wife thinking, letting him go out in a black suit with a silver tie as if he were prosecuting a murder in the summer? It should be navy blue or charcoal with classic patterned tie, which say, "I belong in charge, and you can trust me." The shirt is gorgeous, though.
#9
His many poses with his chin tilted up are a combination, I think, of his Ivy League arrogance and the aerodynamic effect of the passing breezes on his flapdog ears, which act as canards and force the head back once he's started the tilt.
#11
Procopius2k, Don't forget your history, Hillary was on her way to coronation and with 90+% of the 'Black Vote', and Bill Clinton the cherished 'first black president'...until Obama joined the race but more so, the historical considerations given his 'run' by white Iowa, New Hampshire, and other states! After that, blacks rallyed around whites for him. So yes, if it's about race, than ask whites why they promoted it?
Woozle Elmeter 2700, I'm so sad you missed your Reich by 988 years! Aryan ears, we all know are better hearers!
#12
Obama is not a candidate because of race. Obama is a candidate because of Hillary. So many people can't stand Hillary that an alternative was inevitable, and Obama seemed to be an intelligent well-spoken man with the least political baggage at the time. Now the light is shining on him so strongly that all can see he is carrying snooty liberal baggage in one hand and oppressed-race baggage in the other -- while keeping one foot on top of some dubious Chicago baggage. At this point I can imagine Hillary beating him, race riots at the Democratic convention, and a strong McCain victory in November.
#15
..the historical considerations given his 'run' by white Iowa..
White Iowa didn't vote. A very narrow self selected group of party activists usually identified as guilt ridden liberals who happen to be white participated in a caucus.
#16
I think Obama "Looks like America" intelligent and well educated (No I'm not going to vote for him, but it's NOT because of what color he's been painted by birth, you have NO choice about that).
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/28/2008 16:24 Comments ||
Top||
#17
smn, you're beginning to sound suspiciously like a troll. As far as this 'Burger is concerned, you can take your 'Bama-worshipping idiocy elsewhere along with all the rest of your foolish tripe. If you're stupid enough to actually believe the nonsense you post, you're too damned stupid to write anything worth reading. Straighten up or go away.
Posted by: Thaimble Scourge of the Pixies4707 ||
04/28/2008 17:24 Comments ||
Top||
#18
Thaimble Scourge of the Pixies4707, I plan to give Rantburg a sebatical on June 4th anyway; something I have do do for a while every year or two to 'vent'. I don't cuss on this site, I stay extremely focused on the issue discussed in forum, and yes react to the direct 'barbs' tossed my way by the enbeds! As for being a troll, I'm insulted; the ole "throw the baby out with the bathwater" eh?
Hang in there for another month...and like Nixon once eloquently obliged: "...You won't have ole smn to kick around anymore!"
In the long term however, if Frank G, Fred, and OldSpook agree that I should leave, I'll pick up my marbles and scurry to the next sandbox.
#19
"if Frank G, Fred, and OldSpook agree that I should leave, I'll pick up my marbles and scurry to the next sandbox"
Attention: Frank G, Fred, and OldSpook -- clean-up on Aisle 18!
#20
I don't really care. Smn is silly at best, projectionist racist at worst, and not worth worrying about except as an ignorant chewtoy. As always, it's Fred's call.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/28/2008 21:41 Comments ||
Top||
The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the embattled pastor of presidential candidate Barack Obama, gave a 45-minute sermon on Sunday that included a reference to his "public crucifixion" for past comments from the pulpit.
"Yeah. It wuz a crucifixion, only with no nails. And there wasn't a cross. And I wuz wearing a dashiki. And Pontius Pilate wudn't there..."
Wright received a standing ovation from the 4,000 worshippers at Friendship-West Baptist Church, the Dallas Morning News reported.
"Yay! Hurray! [Clap!] [Clap!] [Clap!]"
During the first of two Sunday sermons he was expected to deliver, Wright wove a Gospel message with commentary about social justice. He told the congregation to lean on God and stand up for themselves.
"And God damn America!"
Security was tight, and no media cameras were allowed inside the church, the newspaper reported.
"Brother Muggsy, bar the door! Noboady leaves this room!"
Wright became an issue in the presidential race in March after the circulation of videos of old sermons in which he accused the U.S. government of racism and accused it of flooding black neighborhoods with drugs.
On non-existent evidence...
In a sermon days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Wright said, "America's chickens are coming home to roost" after it dropped atomic bombs on Japan and "supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans."
Tell 'em the part about "God damn America!"
The videos, circulated widely on television and the Internet, knocked Obama's campaign off-stride. The Illinois Democrat distanced himself from the comments of Wright, whom he has known for 20 years.
"Huh huh! Just my batty old uncle up there in the pulpit. Pay no attention to me. I'm safely not race-driven."
Wright, who is leaving Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, said the videos were old snippets that were taken out of context.
How do you take "God damn America" out of context? It carries its own context, doesn't it?
In an interview aired Friday on PBS, Wright said publicizing portions of old sermons was unfair and "made me the target of hatred." He said he had received death threats.
"Didja keep any of them? Like, for evidence?"
"No, no! Too hateful! You wouldn't wanna see 'em!"
Wright was scheduled to speak Monday at the National Press Club in Washington. He was invited to Friendship-West to honor the Rev. Freddie Haynes, the church's senior pastor. "We're going to hear the whole sermon," Haynes had promised his congregation. "Not just the clips in order to feed a right-wing agenda."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/28/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Now that thats out of your system Fred, tell us about the play by play of Hillary's Pastor...........................................Oh, not worth mentioning, he's not black...okay what about McCain's Pastors speech that Sunday?.
...............................not black either??? Most happiness Fred, in your quest to find ever more tantalizing Racist Right Whitey exerts, from down in the black bible belt!!!
#3
I think smn has been appointed by the Obama campaign to keep us Rantburgers honest.
I never post anything bad about Hillary, smn, it's against Rantburg (unwritten)law. Not.
I believe we do, smn, try to supplement the standard media news, with other sources (Australian, Palestinian, Pakistani, Pravda, etc) and a certain amount of irreverent commentary, such as the above.
Did Obama take his daughters to hear the Rev. Wright? Is that the face of "change"?
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/28/2008 6:32 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Not too sure what you mean by "quest to find ever more tantalizing Racist Right Whitey exerts, from down in the black bible belt." I'm feeling kinda stoopid this morning.
Apparently I've hit approximately the right nerve, though, which implies I'm doing what I originally set out to do. If there's some race, religion, group, or planet I haven't offended at least once on this site, please let me know. I'll get right on it.
Thhhhhpppppp!
Posted by: Fred ||
04/28/2008 8:46 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Wright, who is leaving Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, said the videos were old snippets that were taken out of context.
FOX has one of the sermons up - in three parts.
Hewitt has played the entire audio of one
Frankly, the rest of the media is perfectly happy with the snippets, Imagine the damage they played or made available the entire sermons...
#10
"Now wondering if 90% of black people - the 90% voting for bHo - agree the CIA created AIDS"
I imagine most no more agree with that than I agree that Hillary encountered dangerous sniper fire in Bosnia, or than most of y'all who are going to vote GOP agree with McCain on election financing reform.
#11
Rev Wright delivered a speech this am at the NCAAP that was overtly racist and clearly suffused with junk science - a lot of right brained, left brained stuff with graniots (spelling apprx) mentioned.
#12
Race baiters use race baiting as a way to establish their importance. Hitler was a master of this stuff. He would emotionally spell out a problem, then toss blame at whomever he wanted to harm. This is why we don't appreciate race baiting. The focus of the resulting hate is us, we of white skin even if we didn't have anything to do with the problem.
It's a simple process to lead people to do whatever trouble you want to cause. Nothing constructive ever results from emotional blaming speeches, only destruction. I don't find any Christian message in Reverend Wright's speeches, just finger pointing.
#13
I once reported to a young, black, female engineer (Perdue-trained, no less) from Atlanta who'd grown up in the crowd that surrounded the Martin Luther King, Jr. family. The things she believed -- a chemical engineer doing research! -- government-created AIDS, all good things invented in Africa and all bad invented by Whites, Jews controlling the media and the world of finance even as she only used Jewish doctors... and she was the Platonic Ideal of a spoiled brat with a belief in her level of competence completely uncoupled from reality.
#20
I watched some of Wrights speech this morning at the National Press Club. This guy is nuts. Every time he opens his mouth, he sounds crazier than the last time. He has been on TV 3 times since Friday. Each time he drives more and more people (white, hispanic and asian people anyway) away from Obama. It certainly is time for an honest discussion of race in America and part of that honesty is for mainstream America to stand up and reject this guy for the race hustler that he is.
#22
I think the AIDS epidemic got it's start from people having sex with space aliens.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/28/2008 13:57 Comments ||
Top||
#23
I heard the entire sermon and was appalled - not only at the standard leftist assertions but at the wild flights of "logic" and wildly contradictory proclamations. Not to mention the attitude wherein he seems to think he's some sort of OT prophet.
Frankly, the rest of the media is perfectly happy with the snippets, Imagine the damage they played or made available the entire sermons...
Agreed: the "context" is worse than the snippets. In a Q&A session after his Press Club rant when people questioned his AIDS and 9/11 claims he answered with: "Have you read X?" or "Have you read Y?" Hell, I've read several books (painfully well documented and footnoted) that claim ETs started all the world's early civilizations. According to Rev. Wright's logic that makes them true.
#24
Excalibur #6, don't be presumptuous, I could be white, married to a black woman. I could be mixed, and could find a center ground of understanding. However I can admit and reveal to you that I am Independent, and could likely have this same exchange with you on a different person running, after November 7th! I prefer to 'look down' on the big picture, than up from the foxhole. 'Certain whites' are upset because Obama is always getting the lion's share of the black votes; blacks are excited over the choices whites are making for him! These historic considerations will not be ignored by progressives, both black and white. Certain whites will be upset if 90% of the black vote go to Hillary this fall if Obama drops out for party unity reasons. Certain whites will be upset should 90% of the black vote push the lever for McCain this fall, over the negative, nasty, tactics deployed by the Clinton campaign to push him(Obama) aside, [sweet revenge]! So as you can see, whites will lead blacks to the cliff, but only blacks can decide to jump off!
#25
Reverend Wright definitely needs a nationwide TV show of his own. At least until November.
Posted by: ed ||
04/28/2008 15:46 Comments ||
Top||
#26
I don't care if he's a little green man from Mars, Obama is stil la dishonest leftist, and has had long affirmed relationsthips and mentorships from racists liek Rev Wright, and domestic terrorists, and hard core socialists. In addition to that, he is duplicitous and an elitist as shown by his "guns and religion" remarks.
All of the above are sufficeint to disqualify him for any thinking person - and thats without addressing his further fatal flaws such as a mediocre legislative record and lack of substance on substantive matters, and complete stupidity when it comes to Iraq.
#27
#26 I don't care if he's a little green man from Mars, Obama is still a dishonest leftist
A bit of redundancy there, OS, but I couldn't agree more with what you're saying. I have a friend here in town that thinks BO needs to be elected to office in Reno, NV, and serve there for ten or twelve years, so he can grow up. We won't repeat what he says about Hillary or John McCain. He (and I, as well) would vote for Bill Cosby over either of the three currently running. BTW, John is a retired Black Air Force officer, and about ten times as intelligent of either of the Obamas, or even both of them combined. I listen when he talks. I keep trying to get him to come to Rantburg, but he never seems to have the time.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/28/2008 21:39 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Come on Fred...fill my screen like you do on your Obama opins! And where the hell are your thoughts on McCain, does he even exist in your universe??
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/28/2008 8:24 Comments ||
Top||
#4
I thought I got Hillary when she was under sniper fire a week or two ago? Did you sleep through it?
And if I haven't hit McCain yet, I promise I will. He's a better man than either B.O. or Hillary, but there's always the Keating 5 to bring up.
However, let me add that both B.O. and Hillary have announced they'd surrender in the WoT first thing. McCain has explicitly stated he won't. That makes his remaining sins easier to either forgive or to address later.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/28/2008 8:51 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Just mention McCain's sell out on illegals to get us started. He hasn't forget that yet and I'm sure he's got payback in the folder. Which is why Congressional elections are just as, if not more, important this cycle.
Well happy frikkin days are here again! Senator Clinton says shes going to solve energy dependence, eliminate global climate change, create jobs, and provide health-care all in one big master plan. Why thats down right com-pre-hensive of her. Not to sound skeptical here but Im a tad curious as to whom exactly does she mean by we in that statement the government? And hows that gonna work with that whole Free Market thingy? Oh well I guess shell fill us in on those mundane little details after she gets elected.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
04/28/2008 11:44 Comments ||
Top||
#9
Wow, green collar jobs. That's great. Now all those folks that lost all those dot com jobs ten years ago can get new ones.
I wanna become a carbon credit advisor. No wait. A carbon credit guru. Yeah. That's what I want...
#10
Fred may not badmouth McCain very often but he lets me do it whenever I want and I do it quite often.
My hope is that, if Obama manages to win, which is still a very big if, he will be so bad that Republicans will nominate a real conservative in 2012. Obama will then go down in history as being an even worse president than Rantburg's all time favorite, jimmuh carter. That is, if we manage to survive an Obama presidency, which is a very big if. Sorry, I think even Hillary would make a better president and that ain't sayin' much.
But don't worry, smn, if Obama loses I hear the Castro brothers are still in charge in Cuba so you can always move down there to get your free health care.
A few things I can say for your guy, as ridiculous as he is, he sure is giving Hillary a run for her money. He's making her sweat. He's making her stumble all over herself. It sure is fun to watch. And if it wasn't for Obama, we might never have heard the soaring oratory of his mentor the Racist Right Reverend Jeremiah Wright.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/28/2008 14:26 Comments ||
Top||
#11
My prediction:
If McCain wins, he's one term and out.
If Hillary wins, she's one term and out.
If O'Bama wins, we get him for two terms, sorry.
I am not currently offering predictions of who actually wins.
#13
NS, thats kinda what some people are hoping for. The problem isn't the Presidency, its the Congress and its pork and corruption.
Term limits NOW. And apply them to currentl members. 6 terms house, 3 terms senate. 20 years in DC is plenty. (And I'm being generous, I'd rather it be 4 and 2 for 20 years).
No More Trent Lotts, No More Robert Byrds, No More
Pelosis (D-CA) or Lewis.
#15
I seem to recall that Forest Rangers wear Green Collars, no others that I know of.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/28/2008 16:33 Comments ||
Top||
#16
OS you are absolutely correct on the term limits thing and I agree with your proposed limits. They are perfect. This has to be a high priority for all Americans, regardless of their political party.
Posted by: Snash Oppressor of the Mohammatans aka Broadhead6 ||
04/28/2008 20:06 Comments ||
Top||
#18
Yes, but damn well pay them at least a mill a year if nothing more to attract better candidate [works in sports and other businesses] and to suppress the stupid people tricks of getting family/blood hired, by reelection committees or lobbyists, to generate income.
#19
Hillarity wouldn't know anything about work - she's never done any. Neither has silver-spoon-boy BO. If you want to create jobs, cut the amount of bureaucracy and red tape the "Government" has saddled companies with for decades. The IRS was finally forced to quit collecting the tax to "pay for the Spanish American War". We still have rules put in place for World War II - a war that's been over for 60 years.
As for term limits, it's a start. Each state should also be FORCED to purchase and maintain a dwelling for elected officials from their state, who will vacate when they lose an election or are forced out by term limits. As for limits themselves, I suggest a maximum of six terms as a Congressman, and two as a Senator, the same limits as on the Presidency. Congresscritters of both stripes will have to fund their own retirement from their ample paycheck. "No retirement? Too da$$ed bad - you should have planned better."
An even bigger problem is the high-handedness of unelected bureaucrats that think THEY run the government. They should all be reminded that working for the government is a privilege that can be withdrawn, not a right. AFSCME should be crushed, and any complainers fired on the spot. When in he$$s name did the GOVERNMENT need unionized employees? Put an end to it, and the politics that go with it. Use force if necessary, and whack a few that scream the loudest - they're the ones that have stolen the most.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/28/2008 22:12 Comments ||
Top||
#20
OP, your comment about unionized govt employees struck a note: Mrs. Ret and I both used to despise unions, having grown up in Michigan with amny UAW relatives and watching their featherbedding tactics.
She is a GS- 11/12 and works for Navy Officers. they come and go and her dept is a 'check in the block' for command in the medical arena. Fairly routinly she gets a boss with the God complex and stupid stuff unsues. She joined the union just so she could have some support so that she could get her work done and not have to do dipsh!t stuff (like move offices every 2 weeks, and other non value added crap, i know about that, she was directed at least twice to move overnight, no overtime, no support, and be up and running the next day. we got done about 3 am. then did it again)so please don't use that broad of a brush when you are painting the bureaucrats, there are actually some good ones out there. but i do agree those that are worthless need to go!
In its thirteenth flight conducted from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota, today (April 28, 2008), ISROs Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C9, successfully launched the 690 kg Indian remote sensing satellite CARTOSAT-2A, the 83 kg Indian Mini Satellite (IMS-1) and eight nanosatellites for international customers into a 637 km polar Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO). PSLV-C9 in its core alone configuration launched ten satellites with a total weight of about 820 kg.
After the final count down, PSLV-C9 lifted off from the second launch pad at SDSC SHAR, at 09:24 Hrs IST with the ignition of the core first stage. The important flight events included the separation of the first stage, ignition of the second stage, separation of the heatshield at about 125 km altitude after the vehicle had cleared the dense atmosphere, second stage separation, third stage ignition, third stage separation, fourth stage ignition and fourth stage cut-off.
The 690 kg main payload, CARTOSAT-2A, was the first satellite to be injected into orbit at 885 seconds after lift-off at an altitude of 637 km. About 45 seconds later, Indian Mini Satellite (IMS-1) was separated after which all the nano satellites were separated in sequence. The initial signals indicate normal health of the satellites.
CARTOSAT-2A is a state-of-the art remote sensing satellite with a spatial resolution of about one metre and swath of 9.6 km. The satellite carries a panchromatic camera (PAN) capable of taking black-and-white pictures in the visible region of electromagnetic spectrum. The highly agile CARTOSAT-2A is steerable along as well as across the direction of its movement to facilitate imaging of any area more frequently. ?
Soon after separation from PSLV fourth stage, the two solar panels of CARTOSAT-2A were automatically deployed. The satellites health is continuously monitored from the Spacecraft Control Centre at Bangalore with the help of ISTRAC network of stations at Bangalore, Lucknow, Mauritius, Bearslake in Russia, Biak in Indonesia and Svalbard in Norway.
High-resolution data from CARTOSAT-2A will be invaluable in urban and rural development applications calling for large scale mapping.
Indian Mini Satellite (IMS-1), flown as an auxiliary payload on board PSLV-C9, is developed by ISRO for remote sensing applications. Weighing 83 Kg at lift-off, IMS-1 incorporates many new technologies and has miniaturised subsystems. IMS-1 carries two remote sensing payloads - A Multi-spectral camera (Mx Payload) and a Hyper-spectral camera (HySI Payload), operating in the visible and near infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. The spatial resolution of Mx camera is 37 metre with a swath of 151 km while that of HySI is about 506 metre with a swath of about 130 km. The data from this mission will be made available to interested space agencies and student community from developing countries to provide necessary impetus to capacity building in using satellite data. The versatile IMS-1 has been specifically developed to carry different payloads in future without significant changes in it and has a design life time of two years.
Eight Nanosatellites from abroad are carried as auxiliary payloads besides IMS-1 as well as CARTOSAT-2A. The total weight of these Nanosatellite payloads is about 50 Kg. Six of the eight Nanosatellites are clustered together with the collective name NLS-4. The other two nanosatellites are NLS-5 AND RUBIN-8. NLS-4, developed by University of Toronto, Canada consists of six nano-satellites developed by various universities. Two of them - CUTE 1.7 and SEEDS - are built in Japan, while the other four - CAN-X2, AAUSAT-II, COMPASS-1 and DELPHI-C3 are built in Canada, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands respectively. NLS-5 is also built by University of Toronto and RUBIN-8 is built by Cosmos International, Germany. The eight nanosatellite payloads of PSLV-C9 are built to develop nano technologies for use in satellites as well as for the development of technologies for satellite applications.
In its twelve consecutively successful flights so far, PSLV has repeatedly proved itself as a reliable and versatile workhorse launch vehicle. It has demonstrated multiple satellite launch capability having launched a total of sixteen satellites for international customers besides thirteen Indian payloads which are for remote sensing, amateur radio communications and Space capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE-1). PSLV was used to launch ISROs exclusive meteorological satellite, KALPANA-1, into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) in September 2002 and thus proved its versatility. The same vehicle will be used to launch Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, Indias first mission to Moon during this year.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/28/2008 05:52 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[12 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
What's the max loft weight on this ballistic missile satellite launch vehicle, anyway?
The United Nations (UN) should implement the Pakistani Senate resolution against the Dutch film, Fitna, which has hurt the sentiments of Muslims across the world, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Babar Awan said on Sunday.
The worlds societies should avoid making fun of each others religion, prophets and sacred books, Awan told a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club. A large number of PPP leaders and activists were also present.
The UN Charter of Demand has completely failed in preventing conflicts and clashes between various world cultures and civilisations, the PPP senator said.
He also urged the Rabita-e-Islami, an Islamic organisation, to support the Senate resolution against Fitna, released by Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders. He said the movie had wrongly portrayed Islam, hurting Muslims sentiments. The [holy] Quran is the best book that promotes harmony among all civilisations and cultures, he said.
He said that every country had its own laws, and that if a citizen insulted another countrys religion he or she could not be tried in accordance with laws of the country whose religion had been insulted. It is therefore the need of the hour to make international laws to stop such things, he said.
Response to Fitna: Awan said he would also make a film, Difa-e-Quran, in response to Fitna, adding that the movie would be released in five international languages English, Arabic, Urdu, Persian and French. It will be released on the 1st of Ramazan, he added.
He requested Muslims across the world to suggest a name for his film, saying that the movie had temporarily been named as Difa-e-Quran. A Rs 100,000 cash prize will be given to the person whose suggested name is selected, he said, and asked those interested in the contest to mail their suggestions to his Senate office.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/28/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[13 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#1
The [holy] Quran is the best book that promotes harmony among all civilisations and cultures, he said.
In other words, if all those damn infidels would just submit to Islam, or pay jizya, and subject themselves to Sharia, there would be peace, because we would all be one big Ummah.
Well, of course, except for the Sunni/Shiite split, and the fact that the Saudis don't trust the Persians, and everybody hates the Turks cuz of that whole caliphate thing, and ...
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
04/28/2008 1:44 Comments ||
Top||
#2
The problem with Fitna was that its producers didn't exploit its success with follow ups. They should have had a whole series of other short subjects in the can when Fitna aired.
#4
The UN Charter of Demand has completely failed in preventing conflicts and clashes between various world cultures and civilisations, the PPP senator said.
There is no such thing as the UN Charter of Demand. There is, however, this in the preamble,
"to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women..."
This little sentence produced a ton of weaseling in the Islamic world back when people actually cared what the UN charter said.
#9
Wach this very carefully folks, this is the first "Nose of the Camel" attempt to take over the UN for Islam.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/28/2008 16:08 Comments ||
Top||
#10
I vote we nuke Rawalpindi, then force every muslim between Cairo and Tonga to watch Fitna three times. We will videotape their heads exploding for posterity.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/28/2008 22:19 Comments ||
Top||
Get ready for another economic shock of major proportions a virtual doubling of prices at the gas pump to as much as $10 a gallon.
A customer pumps gas in Los Angeles, where self-serve regular gasoline exceeds 4 dollars a gallon.Thats the message from a couple of analytical energy industry trackers, both of whom, based on the surging oil prices, see considerably more pain at the pump than most drivers realize.
Gasoline nationally is in an accelerated upswing, having jumped to $3.58 a gallon from $3.50 in just the past week. In some parts of the country, including New York City and the West Coast, gas is already sporting a price tag above $4 a gallon. There was a pray-in at a Chevron station in San Francisco on Friday led by a minister asking God for cheaper gas, and an Arco gas station in San Mateo, Calif., has already raised its price to a sky-high $4.62.
In Manhattan, at a Mobil gas station at York Avenue and East 61st Street, premium gas is now $4.03 a gallon. Two days ago, it was $3.96. Why such a high price? Blame the people at STOPEC (he meant OPEC) and the oil companies, an attendant there told me.
These increases are taking place before the all-important summer driving season, signaling even higher prices ahead.
Thats also the outlook of the Automobile Association of America. As long as the price of crude oil stays above $100 a barrel, drivers will be forced to pay more and more at the gas pump, a AAA spokesman, Troy Green, said.
Oil recently hit an all-time high of nearly $120 a barrel, more than double its early 2007 price of about $50 a barrel. It closed Friday at $118.52.
The forecasts calling for a jump to between $7 and $10 a gallon are based on the view that the price of crude is on its way to $200 in two to three years.
Translating this price into dollars and cents at the gas pump, one of our forecasters, the chairman of Houston-based Dune Energy, Alan Gaines, sees gas rising to $7$8 a gallon. The other, a commodities tracker at Weiss Research in Jupiter, Fla., Sean Brodrick, projects a range of $8 to $10 a gallon.
While $7$10 a gallon would be ground-breaking in America, these prices would not be trendsetting internationally. For example, European drivers are already shelling out $9 a gallon (which includes a $2-a-gallon tax).
Canadians are also being hit with rising gas prices. They are paying the American-dollar equivalent of $4.92 a gallon, and theyre being told to brace themselves for prices above $5.65 a gallon this summer.
Early last year, with a barrel of oil trading in the low $50s and gasoline nationally selling in a range of $2.30 to $2.50 a gallon, Mr. Gaines in an impressive display of crystal ball gazing accurately predicted oil was $100-bound and that gasoline would follow suit by reaching $4 a gallon.
His latest prediction of $200 oil is open to question, since it would undoubtedly create considerable global economic distress. Further, just about every energy expert I talk to cautions me to expect a sizable pullback in oil prices, maybe to between $50 and $70 a barrel, especially if theres a global economic slowdown.
While Mr. Gaines thinks there could be a temporary decline in the oil price, hes convinced an overall uptrend is unstoppable. In fact, he thinks his $200 forecast could be conservative, and that perhaps $250 could be reached. His reasoning: a combination of shrinking supply and increasing demand, especially from China, India, and America.
Mr. Brodricks $200 oil forecast is largely predicated on a combination of pretty flat supply and rip-roaring demand. Other key catalysts include surging demand in China and India, where auto sales are booming, and major supply disruptions in Nigeria and also in Mexico, our second-largest source of oil imports, where oil production has fallen off a cliff.
More factors include the ever-present danger of additional supply disruptions from volatile countries in the Middle East that are not our allies, and the unwillingness of SUV-loving Americans to trim their unquenchable thirst for foreign oil. Likewise, for the first time, emerging markets this year will use more oil than America.
KOMMERSANT >< WHOSE OIL IS THE BENCHMARK? As "sweet crude" continues to decline, demand for "sour crude"[already 80% of world output/produc] will increase. READ > SOUR CRUDE FROM RUSSIA, VENEZUELA, OTHER OPPONENTS OF THE USA = US POLICIES. ARTICLE - WHY SHOULD MINORITY "SWEET CRUDE" [Read - US-Saud-Allies]BE THE BASE FOR WORLD PRICES VV MAJORITY-AND-HIGHER "SOUR CRUDE"???
#3
ALso from KOMMERSANT > EMERGING ECONOMIES CALL FOR OVER US$4.0 BILLION INVESTMENTS. GOLDMAN-SACHS > says will need US$4.35 Bilyuhn over TEN YEARS [2008-2018], wid RUSSIA per se anticipated to be the PER-CAPITA GLOBAL LEADING ENERGY PRODUCER-INNOVATOR???
#5
Why not $25 a gallon? Why not $50? WTF? If the govt. doesn't want to do ANYTHING about this then I guess the entire economy and transportation sector can crash in flames. I'll be fine eating wild game and fish. But it might suck for you city dwelling types.
Maybe Ted Turner was right about the cannibalism thing. Lets bar-b-que him first. I got dibs on the drumstick.
#7
I think one of Stein's laws is that if something cannot go on, it won't, and IIRC liquid fuel above $50/bbl creates a deluge of competition, which is probably a year or two off.
The trick is to not allow OPEC to recover its market control as prices crash and competition comes online - perhaps an adjustable tariff on oil imports dedicated to support grain exports, domestic farm subsidies, and African agricultural development to feed the world?
Posted by: ed ||
04/28/2008 20:13 Comments ||
Top||
#10
Remember its the dollar that's falling, not that the commodity is quickly rising. When the government buys a product or service, it gets something for the money [regardless of amount of padding]. When the government dumps hundreds of billions on the credit/speculation market it creates a chase for limited resources. Which one depends upon what the speculators want to play with. Like oil itself, the funding of credit/speculation is fungible, money is simply shifted around by the players.
#12
Remember its the dollar that's falling, not that the commodity is quickly rising.
So? The effect is still the same. Lot's of people I know are having trouble getting to work, even with economical cars.
I sold my truck and bought a 40mpg auto 4 months ago due to rising prices, now, as things continue to rise out of sight I am approaching the same problem. I can't afford to drive no matter the MPG my car gets.
We're getting close to the time for some taring, feathering and lynching.
#13
We're getting close to the time for some taring, feathering and lynching.
Start with algore, and work down through the Sierra Club, Greenpeace, and every other "environmental" bunch of whackos that are trying their damnedness to destroy this nation. I'll bring a rope and an axehandle.
I think the Dummycritters will take care of themselves in Denver this August.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/28/2008 22:25 Comments ||
Top||
#14
Start with algore, and work down...
Gorebots head goes on a pike, and then a 24x7 webcam feed so people can check in every now and then to see how the decomp is going.
For the rest of the usual suspects you refer too, the slowest and most painful death imaginable. Televised...Pay Per View!
#15
I'll believe we have a gas crisis when I see us drilling ANWR, the eastern Gulf coast, and the deposits off California and North Carolina. Not before.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/28/2008 22:48 Comments ||
Top||
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.
NEW YORK Print circulation continues on its steep downward slide, the Audit Bureau of Circulations revealed this morning in releasing the latest numbers for some of the country's largest dailies in the six-month period ending March 31, 2008. When a full analysis appears it is expected to find, according to sources, the biggest dip yet, about 3.5% daily and 4.5 for Sunday. 
THE much-awaited results of the presidential election are expected to be released this week -- exactly a month later -- the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) announced yesterday. The announcement appeared to be in response to the expressed impatience of Sadc, which gave yesterday as a deadline for ZEC to release the results -- or the credibility of the poll would be in tatters.
The UN has covered up claims that its troops in Democratic Republic of Congo gave arms to militias and smuggled gold and ivory, the BBC has learned. The allegations, based on confidential UN sources, involve Pakistani and Indian troops working as peacekeepers.
The head of the UN peacekeeping operation in New York Jean-Marie Guehenno declared last year: "The investigation has found no evidence of gun smuggling. But it has identified an individual who seemed to have facilitated gold smuggling. We have shared the report with the concerned troop contributing country and I am confident they will take the required action. And this issue is closed."
Huda Azar Nunu, a Jewish woman who is a lawmaker in Bahrain's upper house, will be named to the Washington position, according to a report this week in A Sharq al-Awsat, a Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily published in London.
CARACAS, Venezuela, April 27 (UPI) -- New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said he has persuaded Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to intervene to help secure the release of three U.S. hostages. "President Chavez has agreed to try and help," the Democratic governor said.
Barack Obama, struggling to win over more white Democratic voters, said in a Sunday television interview race would not be a factor in November's election that could make him the first black U.S. president. "Is race still a factor in our society? Yes. I don't think anybody would deny that," Obama said on "Fox News Sunday."
The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the embattled pastor of presidential candidate Barack Obama, gave a 45-minute sermon on Sunday that included a reference to his "public crucifixion" for past comments from the pulpit.
Get ready for another economic shock of major proportions a virtual doubling of prices at the gas pump to as much as $10 a gallon.
