I tried to get you past the WaPo advertisement to the first photo.
Palin is in three of 21. WaPo just can't stop.
We were going out of DC to Antietam/Sharpsburg and saw hundreds and hundreds streaming in. Police had stopped traffic on I-270. A few minutes later, another stream came by, without escort, mixed with traffic, and Mrs. Bobby stopped counting at 300. Good thing I was driving!
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/30/2011 08:26 ||
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Takes 8-10 seconds to load, and I'm sorry - you can't get past the WaPo ad.
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/30/2011 8:33 Comments ||
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The war of Islam against the unbelievers continues, some 1300 years after the initial conquest.
An Egyptian military court sentenced two Copts to five years in jail for violence and attempting to turn a factory into an unlicensed church. The two men, also convicted of possessing weapons, were arrested on May 18 after fights broke out between Christians and Muslims in Cairo as the Copts planned to hold prayers in the building.
A Coptic-led group that participated in a reconciliation meeting between the two sides says the two men are not guilty and their lawyers will try to appeal the ruling.
Sameh Abdel Satar, a member of the Egypt Lovers and Peace Society, said the church had been granted permission in January to convert the building into a church. He said, "The first prayer was meant to be held on January 30, but the revolution happened."
The military prosecution claimed the building was registered as a garment factory and that the two men assaulted workers inside.
The king is clearly uninterested in sharing Hosni Mubarak's fate.
CASABLANCA, Morocco -- Club wielding Moroccan police riding motorcycles drove into crowds of thousands of demonstrators in the country's largest city to disperse a protest by pro-democracy activists on Sunday. A similar protest organized by the pro-reform February 20 movement in the capital's twin city of Sale on Sunday also was violently disrupted, as was a demonstration in front of parliament a day earlier.
With a hand-picked commission set to recommend amendments to the constitution as part of King Mohammed VI's own reform process, authorities are showing no tolerance for demonstrations by activists.
Phalanxes of police motorcycles cruised through the main roads and back streets of Casablanca's lower income Sbata neighborhood, scattering any attempts by the protesters to regroup.
Heavily armored riot police were also deployed throughout the neighborhood blocking streets to cars and discouraging people from congregating in large groups. There were no official reports of the number of injured.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/30/2011 00:00 ||
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"What in heaven's name brought you to Casablanca?"
Captain Louis Renault
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras -- Former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya said Sunday the coup that toppled him two years ago was an international conspiracy and that some of those plotting his ouster wanted to kill him.
"Pay attetion to meeee!"
Zelaya ended his long exile and returned to Honduras on Saturday under a deal brokered by Colombia and Venezuela, paving the way for the poor Central American country's return to the Organization of American States and reintegration into the world community.
Pro'ly more important for Honduras to get back into good graces since it's poor and needs the help, but it's just a matter of time before Mel starts causing trouble.
The former president said in a news conference at his home that the June 2009 military-backed coup that saw him whisked out of Honduras by soldiers should be investigated.
Zelaya has previously accused Washington of supporting the interim government of Roberto Micheletti, which replaced him after his ouster. President Barack Obama and other U.S. officials inappropriately publicly criticized the coup.
During the news conference, Zelaya said Gen. Romeo Vasquez, the former head of the Armed Forces, told him that the backers of the coup wanted him killed.
That would have solved a number of problems even as it would have created several more.
Quite possibly it's even true. Former President Zelaya must sometimes have told the truth.
He's a commie; it's possible but it isn't the first explanation I usually seek out...
He said he was told that the coup-plotters were angered by the negative from the armed forces and threatened to hire paramilitaries to kill him.
A truth commission formed in May 2010 and led by former Guatemalan Vice President Eduardo Stein is scheduled to give a report on June 16 on what happened before, during and after the coup. But Zelaya said he doubted that the commission would clarify everything because its members include coup sympathizers.
Zelaya was thrown out of office -- and the country -- 23 months ago by soldiers for ignoring a Supreme Court order to cancel a referendum asking Hondurans if they wanted an assembly to retool the constitution. The opposition had called it a bid by Zelaya stay in power by allowing presidential re-election, while his supporters said the assembly was to reform Honduras' economic and political structures.
The opposition has it right, as we discussed at the time. WaPo neglects to mention that Honduran constitutional law expressly forbade the referendum, but Mel tried to do it anyway, with convenient, pre-marked ballots ('Si!') flown in from Venezuela.
Honduras' post-coup interim government resisted international pressure to restore Zelaya -- who took up exile in the Dominican Republic -- and in late 2009 current President Porfirio Lobo was elected in a previously scheduled vote.
While some governments began recognizing Honduras after Lobo took office, Latin American countries such as all the usual leftists Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Nicaragua and Ecuador demanded that Zelaya be allowed to return home without facing criminal charges before ending Honduras' pariah status.
Honduran courts dropped the corruption charges and arrest warrants pending against Zelaya, and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez brokered a deal Zelaya's safe return home.
The OAS is expected to discuss Honduras in Washington in the coming days and at the organization's general assembly in El Salvador June 5-7.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/30/2011 00:00 ||
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Zelaya needs an "unexpected" encounter with a large, venomous reptile or six.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/30/2011 13:36 Comments ||
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Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
05/30/2011 10:31 ||
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Modern China is like a great freight train storming up a long, steep slope with no summit in sight, all its locomotives straining. It cannot slow or stop. The brakes would never hold. If it pauses for a second, it will start to roll back towards disaster. The whole world would be shaken by the crash that followed.
A friend challenged me on the conventional wisdom that China will become a military threat by 2040. He laughed and pointed me to this article and said history has passed judgement twice on Communist vs. Democratic systems as a route to power. He stated that China is in some serious sh..., ah, stuff.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
05/30/2011 11:21 Comments ||
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#2
...candidate evacuation point above the tsunami splash inside a terra-formed mountain ring perimeter?
It's Command vs Capitalist economies that determine national growth and wealth. At this time, China is much more capitalist internally and mercantile externally than America. That's why they have $2 trillion of your money in the bank and can afford an empty city for 1 million. Socialist America can't even afford Detroit.
#5
The great cities of the world grew because something stoked the process first. We're talking basics here. You'd think someone would have at least played one of the City Building sims before even starting this. Heck, there's even one for China.
#6
There was something about this on the television when I woke up this morning. They were saying that the empty city they showed was built and bought by speculative betting on the real estate boom, the new city being only fifteen kilometers from the old one. So at least some of China's ghost cities are the result of capitalism run amok, when aided by too easy money -- as it sometimes will do -- not poor government planning as such.
#7
tw: Keep in mind, there's still a great deal of planning in the Chinese economy; basically, loans as loans per se are often a fictional entity; the government decides which loans are given, and which loans actually have to be paid back. It's a way of doing central planning within a nominally "capitalist" framework. And since they get the money in the first place by increasing their equivalents to M1 and M2, they're basically printing money. Which is the same thing as a tax on anyone who's holding cash.
So the effect's the same as if they were taxing people and handing out money to favored industries, except they don't have to explain anything to the countries they're exporting to.
But wait, there's more!
In order to get out of the Inflation Tax, people wind up investing in tangible assets... like... what Lucy Van Pelt always wants for X-mas, but never gets... Real Estate.
So with a country of 1.mumble billion people, where 500 million of them are literally living in congested apartments, the big question is, how do you go about building housing in such a large market hungry for it without having people moving in?
This is the point where I have to say, I got nothin'.
Maybe that means some part of my chain of logic is flawed, or maybe some of the base data about the empty cities is flawed or wrong. We have to consider that some of the reports here are wrong or mistaken in some way.
If I knew someone in Inner Mongolia and that they had enough guanxi to comment without incurring personal problems, I could ask them to check out the situation.
#8
CPC Officials + Chin Analysts, Bloggers have said it - Beijing fears a LT, de facto threat to the Party + Chin Socialist State via free market flexibility + sociocultural libertarianism.
Best illustrated or symbolized this Memorial Day weekend by the RB Artic on the forced rescue of starving + abused Chin dogs by a group of private dog-loving Chin citizens, as more likely than not local CPC Bosses knew + tolerated the abusive vendors, espec to escape from formal state investigation + prosecution.
#9
Hurrah for learning! Thank you for explaining, Snowy Thing.
The only thing I can think of as a reason for all that building, beyond to provide housing, is to provide jobs. People had to be hired to build the place, and some more people to staff and maintain them ongoing, All of those people won't be revolting any time soon... Does that make sense?
#10
Ask the Chinese and they will tell you "money lives there". There are many "stores of value". Fiat Money, get eaten away with inflation, Gold, can be stolen by thieves and family and property, will keep track with GDP and I believe there are no property taxes in China.
A provacative billboard reading: "Jesus: a prophet of Islam" was vandalised one day after it was posted on one of Sydney's busiest roads. The billboard is one of three paid for by an Islamic organization called MyPeace and gives a phone number so people can receive a free Koran and other Islamic literature.
The head of MyPeace, Diaa Mohamed, said the vandalism "validates the reason they went up in the first place". He said the damage would not affect his plans to put up similar ads on buses, and eventually on television.
Last week, the Anglican Bishop of South Sydney said that though it was "complete nonsense" to say Jesus was a prophet of Islam, the billboard was unoffensive.
Summary: Academic study entitled 'Anti-Semites as a Coalition Party' concludes that virulent anti-Zionism and antisemitism are spreading rapidly throughout the German Left Party. The Feankfurter Rundschau links to the study in their report, which broke the story last week. Widespread media discussion followed, prompting angry responses from Left Party leaders and accusations of seeking votes among antisemitic groups from government coalition partners. Until now it was common wisdom that antisemitism is the exclusive province of the Right, but now there's a German academic study on the subject which shows irrefutably otherwise, and ties left-wing Israel boycott efforts to the Jew-hatred of those dreadful neo-Nazi types.
#2
So? The KKK didn't have anything to do with the Right either - having been created by the Democratic party. Nevertheless in Academia, public schools, and the media - they are protrayed as right-wing.
Posted by: Ho Chi Glesing8262 ||
05/30/2011 16:42 Comments ||
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Good catch, Ho Chi Glesing8262. :-)
Ibis, we know antisemitism is a free-floating problem, but the concept is new to the Germans, who seem to have forgotten that politics had both a left and a right long before communists and fascists were so much as a gleam in their respectful philosopher's eyes. It's quite exciting to watch them worry at the problem with their modern little teeth... as much fun as watching the Dutch figure out how to reconcile their disparate ideals with the unavoidable reality that Geert Wilders represents.
The Euro was a stupid socialist idea, as is the idea of turning over a country's sovreignty to an outside UNELECTED bureaucracy.
I'm just surprised it took this long fot them to notice.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/30/2011 9:47 Comments ||
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If the Greeks spent less time protesting and dodging the tax man, and more time working, Greece wouldn't have these problems. Which is why Greece has these problems.
My bride and I dine frequently at a neighborhood egg place run by a Greek family. Harder working bunch of people you'll never find.
Makes me wonder if all the hard workers in Greece decamped to America some time in the past.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/30/2011 10:54 Comments ||
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My protest.
End the Number one cause of plane crashes! Repeal the law of Gravity!
#7
Makes me wonder if all the hard workers in Greece decamped to America some time in the past. Freedom, resources and the rule of law are a winning combination.
Mama! the end of the world is nigh, Greeks may have to pay their taxes.
European leaders are negotiating a deal that would lead to unprecedented outside intervention in the Greek economy, including international involvement in tax collection and privatisation of state assets, in exchange for new bail-out loans for Athens.
People involved in the talks said the package would also include incentives for private holders of Greek debt voluntarily to extend Athens repayment schedule, as well as another round of austerity measures.
Officials hope that as much as half of the 60bn-70bn ($86bn-$100bn) in new financing needed by Athens until the end of 2013 could be accounted for without new loans. Under a plan advocated by some, much of that would be covered by the sale of state assets and the change in repayment terms for private debtholders.
#3
Don't bail any of them out. They're supposed to be adults - let 'em sink or swim on their own.
And no, we shouldn't have "bailed out" GM, the banks, etc., here, either. It's only made us measurably worse off. If you're "too big to fail," you won't fail. (Though size isn't really the issue, is it? It's lack of real leadership, union greediness, and pandering politicians.)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/30/2011 9:41 Comments ||
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This is a terrible idea "including international involvement in tax collection and privatization of state assets" When Nationalism kicks in history will repeat itself. Especially if things get worse.The EU will with willful ignorance or even willful arrogance fan the flames of Nationalism. Why is it always more money that is the fix?. What next should this fail and it will. Nothing is being done to stop the bleeding. Transfusions at one end and blood loss at another. Modified Marshall plan based on capitalism of its people and industrial development not handouts not more socialism. Rather a nationalism of a people to work for their own betterment and to help others less able. The pass it on idea. Naive perhaps. Wishful thinking maybe. Better choice possibly. "Which shall it be" H. G. Wells.
BELGRADE, Serbia Protesters throwing stones and bottles clashed with baton-wielding riot police Sunday in Belgrade after several thousand Serbian nationalist supporters of jailed war-crimes suspect Ratko Mladic rallied outside the parliament building to demand his release.
By the time the crowds broke up by late evening, about 100 people were arrested and 16 minor injuries were reported. That amounted to a victory for the pro-Western government, which arrested Mladic on Thursday, risking the wrath of the nationalist old guard in a country with a history of much larger and more virulent protests.
Rioters overturned garbage containers, broke traffic lights and set off firecrackers as they rampaged through downtown. Cordons of riot police blocked their advances, and skirmishes took place in several locations in the center of the capital.
Doctors said six police officers were among the 16 people brought to a hospital with minor injuries. Police remained on the streets as the crowds broke up.
The clashes began after a rally that drew at least 7,000 demonstrators, many singing nationalist songs and carrying banners honoring Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military commander. Some chanted right-wing slogans and a few gave Nazi salutes.
Supporters of the extreme nationalist Serbian Radical Party were bused in to attend the rally. Right-wing extremists and hooligan groups also urged followers to appear in large numbers, creating the biggest test of Serbian sentiment and the governments resolve since Mladics arrest.
The demonstrators, who consider Mladic a hero, said Serbia should not hand him over to the U.N. war crimes court in The Hague, Netherlands.
Cooperation with The Hague tribunal represents treason, Radical Party official Lidija Vukicevic told the crowd. This is a protest against the shameful arrest of the Serbian hero.
Demonstrators demanded the ouster of Serbian President Boris Tadic, who ordered Mladics arrest. A sign on the stage read, Tadic is not Serbia.
More than 3,000 riot police were deployed around government buildings and Western embassies, fearing that the demonstration could turn violent. Riot police tried to block small groups of extremists from reaching the rally.
Nationalists are furious that the Serbian government apprehended Mladic after nearly 16 years on the run. The 69-year-old former general was caught at a relatives home in a northern Serbian village.
The U.N. tribunal charged Mladic with genocide in 1995, accusing him of orchestrating the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica and other war crimes of Bosnias 1992-95 war. Mladics arrest is considered critical to Serbias efforts to join the European Union, and to reconciliation in the region after a series of ethnic wars of the 1990s.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/30/2011 00:00 ||
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As the GOP looks to defeat an African American president who mobilized record numbers of young and minority voters four years ago, how relevant are the preferences of 200,000 or so caucus goers in a rural state that is overwhelmingly white and significantly older than average? Flyover country never mattered before, why should it matter now?
For the past nine presidential elections, Iowa has reveled in the attention it gets with its position at the front of the presidential nominating contest. This time around, the question is not just who will win the Iowa caucuses but also whether it will matter. Past history, future speculation at the link.
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/30/2011 08:56 ||
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The media is trying to nuke the Iowa Caucuses because it looks like Palin and Cain are going to do extremely well in them. The media favorite RINOs don't look to do as well, and the media is in the bag for Zero, and wants a squishy RINO as his opponent, like in 2008.
Two years ago, the Orchard Grove (Frederick, MD - upscale DC suburb)
staff just wanted to give kids something to do during recess. Teachers at the time were worried about an increase in fights, verbal and physical. Some also noticed that many students were not playing classic playground games.
"We have kids who come here who don't know how to play kickball," physical education teacher Brenda Tarquinio said. "We used to be able to do fun things just having a stick." I'll bet you never heard of Invisible Baseball. We only needed four bases.
So Tarquinio created a structure for recess. She set up orange cones around the field near the jungle gym. She used Popsicle sticks to help kids tally their laps on a course of five laps per mile. For every 25 laps, she awarded them a small plastic shoe. This granted entrance to the "mileage club."
The charms became more elaborate: Snowflakes for running in January, shamrocks in March, turkeys in November. Names of members in the marathon club (just over 26 miles, or 131 laps) were posted on gymnasium walls. Then came the 100-mile club (500 laps). The charms became an Orchard Grove fad, akin to friendship bracelets or virtual pet keychains. You can't mandate that!
But the results have surprised the staff. As kids ran, fitness scores rocketed and disciplinary problems dwindled. And for whatever reason, test scores rose. Imagine that. When I finished high school, four years of P.E. was required for graduation. Three of the four years it was five days a week, for an hour.
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/30/2011 11:27 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
A provacative billboard reading: "Jesus: a prophet of Islam" was vandalised one day after it was posted on one of Sydney's busiest roads. The billboard is one of three paid for by an Islamic organization called MyPeace and gives a phone number so people can receive a free Koran and other Islamic literature.
Summary: Academic study entitled 'Anti-Semites as a Coalition Party' concludes that virulent anti-Zionism and antisemitism are spreading rapidly throughout the German Left Party. The Feankfurter Rundschau links to the study in their report, which broke the story last week. Widespread media discussion followed, prompting angry responses from Left Party leaders and accusations of seeking votes among antisemitic groups from government coalition partners. Until now it was common wisdom that antisemitism is the exclusive province of the Right, but now there's a German academic study on the subject which shows irrefutably otherwise, and ties left-wing Israel boycott efforts to the Jew-hatred of those dreadful neo-Nazi types.
Two years ago, the Orchard Grove 
