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Israeli tanks enter Gaza; Hamas signs "deal"
Today's Headlines
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Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Transvestites Terrorize Magazine Street
EFL: NEW ORLEANS — Robyn Lewis, owner of Dark Charm fashion and accessories for women, represents the first line of defense for the Magazine Street shop owners. She is the first to see them come strutting in their pumps down St. Andrew Street, the bewigged pack of thieves who have plagued the Lower Garden District since May. Like an SOS flare, Lewis grabs her emergency phone list and starts calling. “They’re coming,” she warns Eric Ogle a salesman at Vegas, a block down Magazine Street. Ogle, who was terrorized by the brazen crew two months earlier, alerts neighboring Winky’s where manager Kendra Bonga braces for the onslaught. Soon every shop owner in the 2000 block of Magazine Street has been alerted. Sarah Celino at Trashy Diva eyes the door, ready to flip the lock at the first sight of the ringleader’s pink jumpsuit and fluorescent red wig.

Down at Turncoats, where the fashion-happy gang once made off with more than $2,000 in merchandise, store manager Wes Davis stands ready. Davis said it wasn’t supposed to be like this. They survived Hurricane Katrina’s Category 3 winds and the ensuing looters. They reopened despite the long odds of doing business in a devastated city. The last thing the Magazine Street shop owners expected to threaten their survival was a crime ring of transvestites.

The transvestites first appeared in March when they raided Magazine Street like a marauding army of kleptomaniacal showgirls, said Davis, using clockwork precision and brute force to satisfy high-end boutique needs. They first hit Vegas March 31 while Ogle was working. “They come in groups of three or four. One tries to distract you while the others get the stuff and run out the door. It’s very simple,” Ogle said.

Next door at Winky’s, Bonga heard people screaming inside Vegas, then saw a blur of cheap wigs and masculine legs in designer shoes streak past her door.

Ogle gave police a description of the perpetrators — African-American males ranging in height from 6 feet to 6-5. They all wore the same midriff shirts and wigs with twisted, dreadnaught hair. “They’re all very skinny and very flamboyant,” Ogle said.

In the ensuing weeks, the gang of transvestites continued their reign of terror. Sometimes they come dressed as men, though Bonga said it is obvious who they are based on their delicately plucked eyebrows. Sometimes they bring 2-year-old children to add to the level of distraction. They once returned to Vegas holding an “infant” that really was a Cabbage Patch doll wrapped in a blanket.

Lewis said she understands the understaffed NOPD has bigger priorities than to “catch a drag queen running down the street with an armful of clothing.” So the store owners created their own watchdog system unofficially known as the “Drag Queen Alert List,” a comprehensive phone roster of every business on the block with stars next to those who carry guns. When one shop owner spots a gang member, they immediately warn everyone on the block and raise their defenses in unison.

The transvestites, Ogle said, appear to be drug-addicted and fearless in their lust for designer shoes, jackets and jewelry.
Posted by: Steve || 06/27/2006 09:38 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'm sure that it is just a case of "mistaken identity."
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/27/2006 9:54 Comments || Top||

#2  But, but...the evil shopowners are profiling!
Posted by: Spot || 06/27/2006 10:56 Comments || Top||

#3  Ogle gave police a description of the perpetrators — African-American males ranging in height from 6 feet to 6-5. They all wore the same midriff shirts and wigs with twisted, dreadnaught hair. “They’re all very skinny and very flamboyant,” Ogle said.

No stereotypes here, no sir.
Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden || 06/27/2006 12:32 Comments || Top||

#4  "We're going to shoplift these stores . . . and look fabulous doing it!"
Posted by: Mike || 06/27/2006 16:17 Comments || Top||

#5  So, do you know why gay burglars always get caught? They just can't resist a grand entrance! Drum roll please.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/27/2006 17:55 Comments || Top||


Limbaugh detained at Palm Beach airport
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Rush Limbaugh was detained for more than three hours Monday at Palm Beach International Airport after authorities said they found a bottle of Viagra in his possession without a prescription. Customs officials found a prescription bottle labeled as Viagra in his luggage that didn't have Limbaugh's name on it, but that of two doctors, said Paul Miller, spokesman for the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

A doctor had prescribed the drug, but it was "labeled as being issued to the physician rather than Mr. Limbaugh for privacy purposes," Roy Black, Limbaugh's attorney, said in a statement. U.S. Customs and Border Protection examined the 55-year-old radio commentator's luggage after his private plane landed at the airport from the Dominican Republic, said Miller. The matter was referred to the sheriff's office, whose investigators interviewed Limbaugh. According to Miller, Limbaugh said that the Viagra was for his use, and that he obtained it from his doctors.
You get the sense that perhaps, just perhaps, Mr. Limbaugh's name is on a list or two?
Certainly not. Norm Mineta has told us many times that he would never profi...what? He's leaving office? Oh. Never mind.
Posted by: Fred || 06/27/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Attention, 80% of you guys over 50, up against the wall and spread 'em.

What's sad is that, knowing this, I could have been detained last time I flew back to the US for having prescription antihistamines that I bought over the counter overseas.
Posted by: ed || 06/27/2006 8:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Shoulda been caught DWI? I mean if you're a Dem and a representative with a Kennedy name, it's OK right?

BTW - where do all the 'young' men obtain the little blue pill? And they just so happen to pick this man, who probably needs it more than the 20 year olds.
Posted by: Elmert Jinetle8240 || 06/27/2006 9:13 Comments || Top||

#3  I had to giggle when I heard this story. But I have to wonder if the private planes of Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, et al will get similar scrutiny at any airport. I can’t wait to hear the story on his show today.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 06/27/2006 10:33 Comments || Top||

#4  Meanwhile:

General Information: Violent vs. Property Crime Rate:

State: FL Violent Crime Property Crime
City Population: 88,101

Murder: 14
Forcible Rape: 64
Robbery: 538
Aggravated Assault: 545
Burglary: 1,474
Larceny or Theft: 5,977
Car Theft: 1,267
Arson: 13

Data Source:
2003 FBI Report of Offenses Known to Law Enforcement Zero values may indicate the data was not available.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/27/2006 10:38 Comments || Top||

#5  Just can't wait for the Customs people to detain a busload of AARP crowd types coming back from Mexico or Canada with 'prescription' drugs.
Posted by: Wholumble Hupomomp4920 || 06/27/2006 12:36 Comments || Top||

#6  Rush opened his show about 38 minutes ago complaining that Bob Dole's luggage got mixed up with his. LOL.
Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden || 06/27/2006 12:38 Comments || Top||


SeaLand devastated by fire! Dump your online gaming stock.
The "independent state" of Sealand, home to data havens and pirate radio operators, was ruined yesterday by a massive blaze. Snip from a local news report:

The so-called Principality of Sealand, seven miles off the coast of Felixstowe and Harwich, was evacuated at lunchtime yesterdayafter a generator caught fire. Thames Coastguard, Harwich RNLI lifeboat, Felixstowe Coastguard rescue teams, firefighting tug Brightwell, the RAF rescue helicopter from Wattisham and 15 Suffolk based firefighters from the National Maritime Incident Response Group (MIRG) were all called into action to tackle the blaze.

One man, believed to be a security guard, was airlifted from the scene and taken to Ipswich Hospital with smoke inhalation but no one else was on the Second World War gun emplacement.

Michael Bates of Sealand's royal family vows to rebuild. No word yet on exactly how the fire happened, or whether foul play may have been involved, but tthere have been at least seven attempts by raiders to try to seize it from the Bates family with petrol bombs, shotguns and hand-to-hand fighting.

The company announced that it had become operational in December 2000 and that its Acceptable Use Policy prohibited child pornography, spamming, and malicious hacking - but that all other content was acceptable. It claimed that it had no restrictions on copyright or intellectual property for data hosted on its Servers, arguing that as Sealand was not a member of the World Trade Organization or WIPO, international intellectual property law did not apply. Other services available from HavenCo at the time included IT consulting, systems administration, offshore software development, and electronic mail services.

Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, HavenCo announced that the operation would block initiatives "contrary to international custom and practice". HavenCo claimed that it had experienced few difficulties with any foreign government or organization, although according to detractors, the British government "reacted quietly" by enforcing British laws concerning unlicensed data transmissions to and from Sealand, although it is unclear what is meant by this, and no evidence has been produced in support of these claims.

Ryan Lackey left HavenCo under acrimonious circumstances in 2001, citing disagreements with the Bates family over management of the company. HavenCo itself is still in operation, but the extent of its current business is unknown.

HavenCo resembles Neal Stephenson's fictional datahaven in the novel Cryptonomicon, and various details match up as well — an investor named Avi, location on an island, affiliation with cypherpunks, use of cryptography, etc. However, HavenCo was already in operation before the book was in wide circulation, and the concept of a data haven is a far older idea. The use of small islands as tax havens and flags of convenience is perhaps a hundred years old, and data havens claim to be an extension of that same theme.
Posted by: 3dc || 06/27/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Down Under
Australia will ask China to put pressure on N.Korea
PRIME Minister John Howard will urge China to pressure North Korea to abandon its long-range missile program when he meets Premier Wen Jiabao tomorrow.

While trade is the major focus of Mr Howard's flying visit to the southern province of Guangdong, he said he would also discuss Iran and North Korea with the premier. "Those two countries continue to worry the world and, in the case of North Korea particularly, worry the region," Mr Howard told reporters shortly after arriving in the city of Shenzhen. "No other country has a greater influence on North Korea than does China.

"I've had a regular dialogue with the Chinese leadership on North Korea over a number of years and I'll be resuming that dialogue when I meet the premier."

Mr Howard, who was greeted by two lines of clapping hostesses as he entered his hotel today, will also discuss the progress of talks to set up a free trade agreement (FTA). If the pact goes ahead, it will be China's first with a developed economy. But Mr Howard says Australia will always have a "super dooper" economic relationship with China regardless.

Exports to China have quadrupled in the past 10 years, without an FTA. "The negotiations are going quite well. I don't know how long they'll take to complete and I'm not giving a guarantee about either completion or a time," he said. "What we should remember is that whether we sign a free trade agreement with China or not, we have one super dooper economic relationship with this country and the quadrupling of exports over a period of 10 years is a pretty remarkable achievement and that's been done without a free trade agreement.

"If we can add to it, that's good. But there are some important issues involved for the domestic industries of the two countries."

Mr Howard and Premier Wen will tomorrow attend a ceremony marking the arrival of the first commercial shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Australia's North West Shelf. The $25 billion deal for long-term supply of LNG to China is Australia's single largest export deal.

Mr Howard will also address a conference on the FTA before heading home on Thursday morning. He said he would not be discussing LNG prices as it was not the government's role to negotiate prices, but described the deal as the beginning of a further stage of expansion for the industry. "Of course China is not the only customer for Australian LNG - Japan and Korea are wonderful customers and I hope in time that the United States, particularly the west coast of the United States might become a customer," he said. "But it really is part of the opportunity Australia has to underpin China's enormous industrial expansion."

Mr Howard described his trip as an "important symbolic visit" and an opportunity to have a lengthy discussion with Premier Wen.

China is Australia's second largest trading partner after Japan, with exports to China hitting $16 billion last year - up 46 per cent - and imports rising 19 per cent to $21 billion. In April, Australia agreed to export uranium to China to fuel its booming nuclear power industry.
Posted by: Oztralian || 06/27/2006 07:54 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Australia should let it slip about the huge Japanese military expansion that is resulting from North Korea's nonsense. Nukes and everything. Glad we're down under, eh?
Posted by: rjschwarz || 06/27/2006 12:44 Comments || Top||


Europe
First gay divorce turns ugly
Rantburg, bringing you all the human interest and animal stories fit to print. Although some are of questionable taste.
A YEAR after legalising gay marriage, Spain is now seeing its first gay divorce, complete with a custody fight over the couple's dogs. The claimant is asking for the right to stay in the marital home and to take custody of their pets. The suit added that his ex-partner would be granted visiting rights to see the animals, a report on the website of newspaper El Mundo said. Council officials said divorce proceedings were private and would only confirm that the unnamed men were married in a Madrid suburb last October, three months after Spain became the fourth country to legalise same-sex marriages. The claimant said in a petition that he had dedicated his life to the relationship, giving up a modelling career and abandoning his dog hairdressing business to follow his partner who had found work in France. Some 1300 gay weddings have now taken place in Spain.

The marriage legislation gives same-sex unions the same status as heterosexual ones, including inheritance rights and adoption, a plan that drew hundreds of thousands of Spaniards into streets to march both in favour and against.

Meanwhile a steep rise in divorces has increased yet further since a new divorce law was introduced last year. In 2005, 150,000 marriages were dissolved, compared with 83,000 in 1995.
Posted by: phil_b || 06/27/2006 07:24 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The claimant said in a petition that he had dedicated his life to the relationship, giving up a modelling career and abandoning his dog hairdressing business

And we all know how lucrative the dog hairdressing business can be...
Posted by: tu3031 || 06/27/2006 8:06 Comments || Top||

#2  So the divorce is actually uglier than the marriage?
Posted by: Mike || 06/27/2006 8:32 Comments || Top||

#3  Excuse me, I'm going to go throw up now.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 06/27/2006 9:08 Comments || Top||

#4  I'm sure they can find a Chinese restaurant in Spain. Just take the couple to a sit down dinner to talk it over - Pooch.
Posted by: Elmert Jinetle8240 || 06/27/2006 9:15 Comments || Top||

#5  And we all know how lucrative the dog hairdressing business can be...

Depends on the venue. If it's a local grooming shop, it's gonna take capital and time to rebuild since grooming businesses rely on customer loyalty a lot and he's given up his customer base.

No comment on the modeling thing ....
Posted by: lotp || 06/27/2006 9:29 Comments || Top||

#6  Who was it that said he was in favor of gay marriage - they should be free to suffer just like the rest of us?
Posted by: Xbalanke || 06/27/2006 12:25 Comments || Top||

#7  Ever watch two gay men fight over another lover? Had to call police once while driving through S. Beach and witnessing a gay-spat.
Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden || 06/27/2006 12:31 Comments || Top||

#8  "First gay divorce turns ugly"

Gee, maybe homosexual marraige is just like the heterosexual kind. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 06/27/2006 14:30 Comments || Top||

#9  L.O.D., that's not the worst kind of domestic violence. When lesbians decide to fight it out, that can be vicious. Women fight dirty.
Posted by: Swamp Blondie || 06/27/2006 15:14 Comments || Top||

#10  IIRC France's first civil unions ended up quite quickly in separation (apparently, male homosexual relationships are not rock-solid), and France's first homosexual marriage, pronounced by leftist fiend green mayor Noël Mamère, ended up in farce, declared void by justice, and with the "husbands" on the run from police for swindling an elderly lady to pay for the marriage's expenses. Hé hé.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 06/27/2006 16:13 Comments || Top||

#11  I'm sorry, but the only gay divorce case I want to know about involves Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
Posted by: Eric Jablow || 06/27/2006 23:23 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
San Jose Mayor Arraigned on Bribery Charge
SAN JOSE, Calif. - The Whig Federalist Know-Nothing Bull Moose Anti-Masonic apparently unaffiliated mayor of San Jose was arraigned Monday on public corruption charges stemming from a secretly negotiated garbage contract deal. The judge in the case against Mayor Ron Gonzales, 55, postponed the entering of pleas after Gonzales' attorney said he planned to ask for the case to be dismissed on the grounds that the allegations do not amount to a crime. Lead prosecutor Julius Finkelstein said he was not surprised by the defense tactic and added, "We think our interpretation of the law is correct."

In an indictment unsealed last week, Gonzales was charged with six felonies, including conspiracy, bribery, misappropriating public funds and falsifying records. If convicted, he could face up to eight years in prison. Gonzales, in his final year as mayor of the nation's 10th-largest city, has said all the charges against him are false, and he has resisted growing pressure to resign.
Posted by: Fred || 06/27/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Wow. They don't even bury "Democrat" in like the tenth paragraph, like the Times does...
Posted by: tu3031 || 06/27/2006 8:10 Comments || Top||

#2  this peesn shiats still arownd? thanx ron. yoo put my father owta werk. he went ta texas. ima figyerd skrew it, (not cuzn ron tho) an went em yeer later. austins ben good ta me. likerin bettern me expedishens ta liverin ny an va.

never lernt to much bowt this guy persunaly. all ima knoew wuz hiz supporterz at evergreen college (yes, ima wuz still attendin till 2001 :( ! ) were maynlee radikal "return ca to mejiko!" types. aynt neederd knoe moren that. ima mexican. yoo doent speek fore me fool!!!! hope ya go ta jayle before ima hat danse all over yore ass.

>:(
Posted by: muck4doo || 06/27/2006 22:24 Comments || Top||

#3  oh. an yorte hayrejut bites to!

>:(
Posted by: muck4doo || 06/27/2006 22:26 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Part of Newark Terminal Briefly Closed
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Part of a terminal at Newark Liberty International Airport was evacuated Monday night as authorities investigated a suspicious package. Police and a bomb squad responded to a suspicious package report at about 8:20 p.m., said Tiffany Townsend, spokeswoman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport.

The package was declared safe, and the closed part of the terminal was reopened at about 9:40 p.m., Townsend said. The closure at one of the New York City area's three major airports compounded weather-related delays from heavy rains on the East Coast.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/27/2006 00:01 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Bishop slams thrashing of minority MPA
LAHORE: The Rt Rev Dr Alexander John Malik, Bishop of Lahore and Moderator Church of Pakistan, has denounced the Sindh Assembly incident in which a minority MPA was thrashed by other MPAs for writing a chit to a woman MPA. He said that there were rules and procedures to deal with such matters, but resorting to physical violence right in the assembly was condemnable. The incident depicted intolerance in society and treatment of minorities in Pakistan, he said. The Bishop has written to the PPP chairperson, complaining against the attitude of the party MPAs. The Bishop asked the president and the prime minister to take notice of the incident.
Posted by: Fred || 06/27/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  thrashed by other MPAs for writing a chit to a woman

Moral of the story:

Don't want to get beaten? Then dont give a chit, mm'kay?

Posted by: Oldspook || 06/27/2006 14:40 Comments || Top||

#2  PakiWakiStan: Chitty, chitty => Bang, bang.
Posted by: ed || 06/27/2006 14:46 Comments || Top||

#3  Wow, moder Paki society circa 1006 2006 A.D.
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 06/27/2006 14:48 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Coming Home -- a town, it's police, it's vets, it's people turn out for a hero
Hundreds turn out for arrival of Pfc. Kristian Menchaca

BY Emma Perez-Treviño, Chris Mahon
and Kevin Sieff
The Brownsville Herald

June 27, 2006 — The body of Army Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, arrived at the Brownsville airport Monday in a solemn ceremony broken only by the sobs of his young widow.

Eighteen-year-old Christina Menchaca of Big Spring, Texas received her husband’s body shortly after noon, surrounded by family, her little boy, and Rev. Carlos Villarreal.

They watched as 11 members of the 101st Screaming Eagles Military Funeral Detachment team provided full honors as they carried the varnished brown coffin from a chartered Falcon jet to a waiting hearse.

The coffin was draped with an American flag.

“He was a young man who had dreams and hopes and they just vanished,” U.S. Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz said after watching the arrival of Menchaca’s body with local officials who showed their respect at the Brownsville-South Padre Island International Airport.

“He deserves a hero’s burial,” Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, said.

Menchaca, a native of Brownsville and Houston, Army Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker, 25 of Madras, Ore., and Army Spc. David J. Babineau, 25 of Springfield, Mass. came under fire June 16 at a traffic control point south of Yusufiyah, Iraq.

Babineau’s body was recovered at the ambush site, but Menchaca and Tucker were kidnapped. Their bodies were found June 19 next to a road near the village of Mufaraji, northwest of Yusufiyah. Several explosive devices were encountered, delaying the recovery of the bodies until the following day. The three soldiers were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Ky.

While in Brownsville in the mid to late 1990s, Menchaca attended Porter High School and Vela Middle School, which is no more than a mile north of the Brownsville Event Center – where his visitation will be held today.

For the last week, the flags — of the United States, Texas, and Mexico — that line Ruben M. Torres Boulevard have all flown at half-mast. They’ve been accompanied by banners and tickers reading “in honor of Pfc. Kristian Menchaca.”

On Tuesday, when Menchaca’s body was returned to Brownsville, hundreds more flags appeared on the boulevard.

In addition to the police procession that accompanied Menchaca’s hearse, hundreds of Brownsville residents, some noticeably weeping, drove slowly to the city’s events center. From city officials to “Los Escondidos,” a biker group, every member of the procession carried his own American flag.

“By coming here I am showing my respect,” said Frank Garza, a former soldier. Even though he doesn’t know Menchaca’s family, Garza’s nephew, who is currently assigned to Border Patrol duty, will be driving in from Arizona for the funeral.

Like Garza, Adelaida Rey showed her support by waving a small flag from the side of the road. She brought her grandchildren along to share the experience.

“El estaba peleando por nuestro freedom, y por eso estamos aqui,” she said. “He was fighting for our freedom and because of that we are here.”

Although Rey speaks only Spanish, she carefully pronounces the word “freedom” in English. For the woman waving both Texas and American flags, it’s a word too important to be translated.

While the procession drove by, Rey’s grandchildren were as solemn as she was. “Es importante que lo vean,” she said. “It’s important that they see this.”

Under a blue sky with foreboding rain clouds on the horizon, stood Henry Valdez, sweating from the 90-plus degree humidity.

He stood far from the small crowds of people that dotted Paredes Line Road up to the event center, the motorcade’s final destination.

“I came to pay my respects,” the former U.S. Marine said.

“So young, man. So young,” he said with a sigh.

“So young.”

Soon afterwards, the convoy of about 100 turned right onto Paredes Line Road from Ruben Torres Boulevard. Its final destination, less than a mile away, was now visible.

Catching sight of the convoy, which wound like a snake around the corner, Irahi Masso whispered to her young son, “Here he comes Brandon, raise the flag.”

He dutifully obeyed, raising a small American flag. It was a mirror image of the dozens of public safety officers parked across the street, holding full-size flags of their own.

In the middle of the motorcade of cars, trucks and motorcycles, was Menchaca’s body in a polished, black hearse, making its way past the Massos and Valdez. Other than the rumble of vehicles, it was quiet.

As the procession entered the center’s parking lot, it passed members of Brownsville American Legion Post 43 and other veterans.

Finally, with the emergency response vehicles that escorted the body finally dispersed, all that was left was the black hearse. It parked beneath the overhang at the center’s entrance.

The only sound as his flag-draped coffin was unloaded was water gurgling in a fountain between two palm trees. The ends of the yellow ribbons attached to the trees fluttered gently in the breeze.

Menchaca’s mother and other immediate family members waited at the Brownsville Event Center for his arrival, instead.

Menchaca will be buried in uniform and with several medals: America’s Meritorious Service Medal, a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star and a Prisoner of War medal.

“He earned them, he goes down with them,” Ortiz said.
Posted by: Sherry || 06/27/2006 11:59 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I can't let myself read these stories at work. Must save them for home when I can tear up at will.
Posted by: Xbalanke || 06/27/2006 12:21 Comments || Top||

#2  i know the feeling xbalanke
Posted by: Greamp Elmavinter1163 || 06/27/2006 14:05 Comments || Top||

#3  Jesus that's hard to read. But well done, Brownsville Herald. Thank you for telling it straight.

Infinite thanks to Pfc. Kristian Menchaca. Please rest in peace, son.

If the Phelps crew shows up, I hope they're all shot dead on the spot, away from the idiot version of the press, and the police can't find a
single witness.

Again, deepest thanks, Kristian, you are in my prayers.
Posted by: Fliger Unavirong3232 || 06/27/2006 14:13 Comments || Top||

#4  *Sniffle* Thank you, sir.
Posted by: Seafarious || 06/27/2006 14:49 Comments || Top||

#5  What a town full of great Americans! God bless each of them.

Rest in peace PFC Menchaca and thank you.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 06/27/2006 22:55 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
Wacky Ways To Cool Earth
In the past few decades, a handful of scientists have come up with big, futuristic ways to fight global warming: Build sunshades in orbit to cool the planet. Tinker with clouds to make them reflect more sunlight back into space. Trick oceans into soaking up more heat-trapping greenhouse gases.

Their proposals were relegated to the fringes of climate science. Few journals would publish them. Few government agencies would pay for feasibility studies. Environmentalists and mainstream scientists said the focus should be on reducing greenhouse gases and preventing global warming in the first place.

But now, in a major reversal, some of the world's most prominent scientists say the proposals deserve a serious look because of growing concerns about global warming.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Anonymoose || 06/27/2006 14:19 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What about Mars? The ice caps are melting there to. Maybe we should tell the Martians to go hybrid.

I know, that's Bush's fault to.

Damn you Karl Rove!
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 06/27/2006 14:45 Comments || Top||

#2  I'd be a little more comfortable with planetary engineering if we had a prototype to work with OTHER than the one we live on. ;-)
Posted by: lotp || 06/27/2006 14:47 Comments || Top||

#3  lotp, you don't want to do beta testing with live data?!?! Where is your adventurious spirit, damnit!??!?!
Posted by: DarthVader || 06/27/2006 15:37 Comments || Top||

#4  It's not nice to fool mother nature. Lack of empirical evidence on the result may just ensure we have a global ice age. The earth is such a complex system, something known as a continuous state problem, that tampering without knowing all - in this case most -of the variables usually leads to unforseeable results.
Posted by: Warthog || 06/27/2006 16:01 Comments || Top||

#5  Martin A. Apple, president of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents, said of geoengineering at a recent meeting in Washington, "Let's talk about research funding with enough zeroes on it so we can make a dent."

That tells ya all you need to know...
Posted by: Ptah || 06/27/2006 16:04 Comments || Top||

#6  lotp, you don't want to do beta testing with live data?!?! Where is your adventurious spirit, damnit!??!?!

I've got too many software launches of that type on my karma already ... ;-)
Posted by: lotp || 06/27/2006 16:10 Comments || Top||

#7  We have a doubling time of computation/cost of about 18 months, and this time is itself diminishing - it's always a bad idea to continue exponential trends indefinitely, but this one still has some legs in it. We're getting closer and closer to having 'smart dust' available with ubiquitous communications (think a sensor in every cubic kilometre of atmosphere).

Couple these two trends together and you end up with a system that will be gathering huge amounts of data on the atmosphere and be able to make predictions (if only by using neural nets to identify patterns) and so we'll be able to change climate (locally at least) by using a different kind of smart dust.

Of course, if we get self-replicating nano-machines, then this particular problem will become 'trivial' to fix. Other problems will arise though...
Posted by: Tony (UK) || 06/27/2006 16:18 Comments || Top||

#8  Some things that make me question how much man is really adding to global warming as Gore asserts:

1. Scientists have studied the Sun & have concluded that it is hotter now and going through a heating period. (Apparently the sun goes through it's own cycles of heating up and cooling off).

2. The Ice Caps on Mars are really melting (as I sarcastically mentioned before.)

3. The ant-arctic ice cap has actually become more firm-packed while the arctic is melting.

4. The earth has only heated by a margin of one degee over the past 100 years.

5. *as per Mrs. BH6 - my extremely smart biologist/environmental science wife - the earth has went through numerous heatings, coolings, and mini-ice ages over the past millenia - this is no different. Plus, after all we are coming out of an ice age.

-I tend to think that man has added a little to global warming by the use of fossil fuels etc, (either way I don't think we've helped). However, I think it's about 80% less of what Al Gore asserts. Either way I pray for the day we are off the arab oil and on to something better to test this hypothesis.
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 06/27/2006 16:18 Comments || Top||

#9  Dr. Angel Anon-0-Moose outlined a plan to put into orbit small lenses that would bend sunlight away from earth — trillions of lenses, he now calculates, each about two feet wide, extraordinarily thin and weighing little more than a butterfly.

Sorry Moose, I couldn't help it!! Waaa
Posted by: RD || 06/27/2006 16:35 Comments || Top||

#10  Couple these two trends together and you end up with a system that will be gathering huge amounts of data on the atmosphere and be able to make predictions (if only by using neural nets to identify patterns) and so we'll be able to change climate (locally at least) by using a different kind of smart dust.

Maybe. Neural nets learn by trying to match pre-existing patterns. We would need to understand the causal patterns of whole climactic systems, at a very very detailed level, as only the first step in this.

Not my area at all (the weather side) but a friend of mine who did doctoral work at Penn State, one of the best climate modeling groups in the world at the time, thought we were far from that a decade ago. Do we understand it better now? (Could be we do - it's not a rhetorical question ....)
Posted by: lotp || 06/27/2006 16:35 Comments || Top||

#11  I have a plan to half carbon and reduce temperature by the utilizing the absolute shearing force of boredom.

woof!
Posted by: Al Gore || 06/27/2006 16:40 Comments || Top||

#12  Might work, Al Gore. You certainly leave ME cold LOL.
Posted by: lotp || 06/27/2006 16:42 Comments || Top||

#13  "I'd be a little more comfortable with planetary engineering if we had a prototype to work with OTHER than the one we live on. ;-)"

so pouring large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere ISNT planetary engineering?
Posted by: liberalhawk || 06/27/2006 16:43 Comments || Top||

#14  Nope - THAT's "tinkering". Whole 'nuther approach LOL.
Posted by: lotp || 06/27/2006 16:49 Comments || Top||

#15  Nor my area lotp, I was just extrapolating a little ways into the future and I have just finished reading Ray Kurzweils' "The Singularity is Near", hence all the talk about exponentials ;)

I do believe the only way we're going to avoid planetary catastrophes (man-made or otherwise) is through our science and technology - a regression to an agrarian existence will doom billions to short, brutal, hungry lives.
Posted by: Tony (UK) || 06/27/2006 17:38 Comments || Top||

#16  Somehow, I think it should involve beer.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/27/2006 17:56 Comments || Top||

#17  "so pouring large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere ISNT planetary engineering?"

CO2 (or airborne plant food) is 0.003% of the atmosphere up from 0.002% and change in atmosphere terms of 0.001%

Yawn.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 06/27/2006 17:57 Comments || Top||

#18  Actually, the iron enrichment of seawater and resulting increase in calcium carbonate deposits in the ocean is one that can be tested in small scale demonstration projects. It could also result in an upswing in harvestable fish stock, due to the increase in the lower food chain prey species. But large scale terraforming on the only inhabitable planet that we have access to -- no freaking way.
Posted by: Shieldwolf || 06/27/2006 19:17 Comments || Top||

#19  Shieldwolf
DoD/DoE tested it a few years back.
It worked just fine.
Posted by: 3dc || 06/27/2006 19:56 Comments || Top||

#20  The problem is that the eco-nuts still haven't explained away the "warming" on a solar system scale - and how that most of this warming may be related to solar output activity. And they have yet to prove that anyw arming effects are even caused by greenhouse gasses - rather than indicated by their presence. Nor is there any explanation of the warming periods of previous millenia where it was far warmer than now - and the geologic ages where it was even warmer than any of mankind' climatological periods - what caused those? WHat has cause the flattening out of mean global temperatures over the past 7 years?

And better yet - WHAT CAUSED THE COOLING after each and every one of those warming periods?

Hmm?

Don't have an answer, do you? There is NO model that can illustrate realiable ANY of the historical warming and cooling periods. NONE.

They need to stop screwing around and follow the most likely source (solar fluctuations, polar magnetic changes, etc) than the ones that fit their political agenda.
Posted by: Oldspook || 06/27/2006 21:38 Comments || Top||

#21  What the ...? Man and Gummermint haven't controlled the Sun or God, etal. yet - what the hell is going on here!? Communism OWG and Totalitarianism now, D *** it, the Lefties and Policrats need the $$$.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/27/2006 22:17 Comments || Top||

#22  Broadhead6

You forgot to mention the formation of a new Great Red Spot on Jupiter.
Posted by: DanNY || 06/27/2006 22:37 Comments || Top||

#23  CO2 is not a greenhouse gass. H2O vapor is.

In the fall of 2002, Mnt Etna spewed out during 10 days as much of pollutants, including CO2, as equaled whole mankinds' production of the same during 15 years.

Nuff said.
Posted by: twobyfour || 06/27/2006 23:52 Comments || Top||


Home Front Economy
Flooding cripples Washington DC; more rain forecast
I've set up the PO Box for my "It's For The Children™" Flood Relief Foundation. All donations are fully tax deductible as the IRS is currently pumping four feet of water out of its basement and will certainly see things my way if any questions are raised later on. Open up your hearts and your wallets, Rantburg brethren and sistren. It's For The Children™!
Floods that ravaged the US capital kept government tax collectors and federal agents away from work on Monday and closed the home of the Declaration of Independence.

With as much as 7 inches of rain having fallen since Sunday, flooded basements or electrical problems forced the closure of the Internal Revenue Service headquarters, most of the U.S Justice Department and the National Archives. A 140-year-old elm tree toppled on the White House grounds and cars floated at flooded intersections on Constitution Avenue. The federal government told its roughly 200,000 area workers they could take leave time if they were unable to get to work but there was no immediate estimate of how many were affected. With portions of the area’s rail service disrupted, many commuters took to the streets to walk. The National Archives, which houses the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution and other treasured documents, said inspections “revealed no damage to original records.”

“I think we’re going to have rain for the next couple of days,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Andy Woodcock. “We have the potential for more problems, especially on Tuesday.” A flash-flood watch was in effect for the greater Washington metropolitan area through Tuesday evening, the weather service said. The heavy rainfall broke a single-day record for June 25 that goes back to 1870, Woodcock said.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/27/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Amazing how things work out like that when you deliberately build a city in a swamp. Stay safe and dry, DC Rantburgers.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/27/2006 7:39 Comments || Top||

#2  I had water in the basement for the first time in several years.

The sump pumps worked but I think water got in through a crevice in a corner of the basement wall. I've got book cases and stuff there and this is going to be a pain to deal with.

On the other hand, the Ride-On has given us two consecutive 'no fare' rides.
Posted by: mhw || 06/27/2006 8:03 Comments || Top||

#3  23 inches of rain up here in Mass since May 1st. The norm is 6.
I blame Al Gore.
Posted by: tu3031 || 06/27/2006 8:08 Comments || Top||

#4  Blame all the CO2 your SUV puts out
Posted by: bk || 06/27/2006 10:15 Comments || Top||

#5  Got the Justice department, the IRS, and the National Archives for good measure.
Posted by: newc || 06/27/2006 10:31 Comments || Top||

#6  The mold-n-mildew guys are getting ready to par-tay!
Posted by: Seafarious || 06/27/2006 10:44 Comments || Top||

#7  TW: Your comment applies even more to New Orleans, and yet, we're paying to rebuild there. Unbelievable (in engineering terms) how stupid some of these people are to build major cities in the "wetlands" (formerly known as swamps).

And, actually, considering Global Warming Climate Change is Bush's fault, how come Karl Rove couldn't dial in his Weather 2.0 and send the rain to Baltimore or somewheres else? Amazing that they'd send rain onto their own heads, isn't it (/sarcasm-moonbat channelling off/).
Posted by: BA || 06/27/2006 11:47 Comments || Top||

#8  Obviously, Rove is running out of rabbits to pull out of the presidential hat. All this rain just as the NYT valiantly and deservedly calls the Prez on the carpet yet again. I question the timing.
Posted by: Seafarious || 06/27/2006 11:59 Comments || Top||

#9  Oh, and bye for now. I need to grab lunch between storms. Toodles!
Posted by: Seafarious || 06/27/2006 12:01 Comments || Top||

#10  No water issues here in Germantown, MD, some 22 miles NW of Foggy Bottom. Good to keep a safe distance from ground zero DC in the event NYT and Libs take charge of US National Security say around 2009.
Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden || 06/27/2006 12:29 Comments || Top||

#11  We'll be scratching you off the free FEMA trailer list then LOD.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/27/2006 12:31 Comments || Top||

#12  But can I get one of those FEMA five-star hotel gigs?

A Very Late Checkout
Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden || 06/27/2006 12:40 Comments || Top||



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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.
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Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
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GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
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Fred
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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2006-06-27
  Israeli tanks enter Gaza; Hamas signs "deal"
Mon 2006-06-26
  Ventura CA port closed due to terror threat
Sun 2006-06-25
  Somalia: Wanted terrorist named head of "parliament"
Sat 2006-06-24
  Somalia: ICU and TFG sign peace deal
Fri 2006-06-23
  Shootout in Saudi kills six militants
Thu 2006-06-22
  FBI leads raids in Miami
Wed 2006-06-21
  Iraq Militant Group Says It Has Killed Russian Hostages
Tue 2006-06-20
  Missing soldiers found dead
Mon 2006-06-19
  Group Claims It Kidnapped U.S. Soldiers
Sun 2006-06-18
  Qaeda Cell Planned a Poison-gas Attack on the N.Y. Subway
Sat 2006-06-17
  Russers Bang Saidulayev
Fri 2006-06-16
  Sri Lanka strikes Tamil Tiger HQ
Thu 2006-06-15
  Somalia: Warlords Collapse
Wed 2006-06-14
  US, Iraqis to use tanks to secure Baghdad
Tue 2006-06-13
  Blinky's brother-in-law banged


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