A meteorite weighing around two kilos landed right in the yard outside Bjørn Herigstad's home in coastal Jæren, western Norway, over the weekend. It's the second meteorite-landing in Norway in a month, and experts are calling the incident sensational.
Bjørn Herigstad says he found the meteorite just outside his house at Orre, in the Jæren district just south of Stavanger in Rogaland County. When he went outside Sunday morning, he found a crater on his property, about 25 centimeters deep.
"I couldn't understand why there was such a hole and just started filling it in," Herigstad told local newspaper Jærbladet.
But then he found an unusual stone a few meters from the crater. "It's the oddest stone I've ever seen," he said.
Herigstad said he took it into his kitchen and washed it off, then weighed it. "You could see that it had melted and that it's burned on one side," he said. "What if it had hit our house? It would have gone right through the roof. I wonder whether our insurance would have covered it."
Per Amund Amundsen of the Stavanger Astronomy Society says that meteorites land on Norway as often as every month, but most are never found.
"This is a bit of a sensation," said Amundsen, who's also a professor at the University in Stavanger. "It's not unusual that a meteorite of this size would have created such a hole. This is incredibly exciting."
Astronomers were also excited last month when residents of northern Norway saw a meteorite streak through the light summer sky before it hit the ground east of Tromso. The University of Oslo's astro-physics department has a full report of the meteorite on its web site that's in Norwegian only, but it's possible to see a photo of that meteor before it hit.
Knut Jørgen Ødegaard, an astronomer at the University of Oslo, agreed that the meteor at Jæren over the weekend "is very special. What's sensational is that it fell so close to a house. That's extremely unusual."
Herigstad, meanwhile, isn't sure what hell do with the meteorite, which could be a valuable sales object. A quick check on the Internet revealed prices as high as NOK 700,000 (more than USD 100,000).
"We had just been wondering whether a cabin we're building is getting too expense, and then this falls out of the sky," he said with a laugh.
I'll bet this is the first of many... An Iowa judge has denied unemployment benefits to a man who claimed discrimination after being fired from an ethanol plant for drinking "automobile fuel" produced by the company. You mean, I'm not supposed to drink it? Is that in the employee handbook, because I didn't see it.
Cory Neddermeyer, 42, was fired in April from Amaizing Energy in Denison, where he worked as a maintenance technician. The company produces ethanol fuel for vehicles in a formula that includes a high concentration of alcohol. Mmmmmmmmmm...Amaizing Drunken Fuel.
Neddermeyer was fired after an April 21 incident at the Denison plant. According to Neddermeyer, he showed up for work that morning and saw that there had been a spill of fuel alcohol. Hundreds of gallons of 190-proof alcohol were contained in a 6-inch-deep holding pond that was about 30 feet by 24 feet. Mmmmmmmmmmmm...190 proof alcohol.
It proved to be too much to resist, Neddermeyer said. Woo-Hoo!!!
"I am a recovering alcoholic, and I thought about the availability of this alcohol throughout the day," he wrote in a statement later provided to state officials. "Curious about the taste and its effects, I dipped into this lake of liquor and drank what I considered to be 2 to 3 ounces. The next thing I remember is waking up in Crawford County Memorial Hospital." Anything for science, right, Cory?
Neddermeyer had been found by his co-workers in an incoherent state, unable to say his name or the day of the week. Guess he found out about it's effects...
He was taken to a hospital, where his blood-alcohol level, according to state records, was reported at 0.72 - nine times the legal limit for driving, and almost double the level that is considered potentially fatal for many adults.
He was briefly hospitalized for acute alcohol intoxication, during which time his employer searched his work area and allegedly found three empty pop bottles that contained trace amounts of the fuel.
At a subsequent state hearing on Neddermeyer's request for unemployment benefits, plant manager Jeff Bruck expressed shock at Neddermeyer's actions.
"This is a fuel alcohol," Bruck testified. "This is an explosive product." The liquid had not been blended with gasoline.
At the hearing, Administrative Law Judge Teresa Hillary asked Neddermeyer, "Why would you drink fuel?"
"I don't have a good explanation for that," he replied. "Curiosity?" Sounds better then "I'm a shithead?" I suppose... Neddermeyer argued that his employer shared in the responsibility for the incident because the spill at the plant provided an "opportunity" for him to drink.
He also argued that Amaizing Energy was discriminating against him due to his "disease of alcoholism."
He asked Hillary whether the protections afforded him under the Americans with Disabilities Act could be applied to his request for unemployment benefits. Should've gone with the "I'm a fuckin idiot" defense and thrown himself on the mercy of the court.
"The fact that you're an alcoholic does not excuse your behavior," Hillary replied. "You're not allowed to come into an unemployment hearing and say, 'I'm an alcoholic so I don't have to live with the misconduct standards.' "
Hillary denied the request for benefits, saying Neddermeyer had committed job-related misconduct that could have resulted in his death.
"The employer has a right to expect employees not to drink the fuel," Hillary ruled. "Just because some of the ethanol leaked onto the floor is not a good reason for the claimant to drink automobile fuel." You're in the wrong state, man. In Massachusetts, you'd have been set for life.
Court records indicate Neddermeyer has twice been convicted of driving while intoxicated.
Neddermeyer said Thursday that he has been struggling with alcohol for at least 10 years and is now getting additional help.
"Things were going pretty well until that day at work," he said. Next stop, SSI...
#4
"Curious about the taste and its effects and always having wanted one of the coveted 'Darwin Awards'..."
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07/10/2006 14:06 Comments ||
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"Alcoholism" is considered a handicap for purposes of the anti-discrimination statutes, so, for instance, I can't fire someone because he's an AA member or he's been through rehab, so long as he's behaving himself.
"Intoxication," however, is another matter. I can fire someone for coming in to work snockered, even if they are alcoholic.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/10/2006 14:41 Comments ||
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I kinda feel sorry for the bastard. I think they were right to fire him (they had to, really) and he certainly didn't deserve unemployment benefits. But I just kinda feel sorry for him for wrecking up his life over a stupid mistake like that.
KABUL - Models strode down a catwalk in the Afghan capital Kabul for the first time in decades this weekend as two designers showed off their clothes behind the guarded walls of a luxury hotel.
An audience of expatriates and well-heeled Afghan watched the show in hotel garden, under a clear midsummer nights sky, to the strains of traditional Afghan music. All of the models showing the conservatively cut clothes that included designer burqas were expatriate women, to the disappointment of some in the audience.
The organisers said they did not want to court controversy in what is a deeply conservative Muslim country by having Afghan models. We invited a lot of Afghan women to attend the show but not to be models, said Italian designer Gabriella Ghidoni, who organised the show with an Afghan partner.
The models should have been Afghan, but we know that many families still dont allow their daughters to do things like this, said a member of the audience, Nooria Farhad. It will be much better and more effective if in future our Afghan models do fashion shows and show the world Afghan clothes. I hope one day well have Afghan models, she said.
Another member of the audience said the Saturday night show was a boost for the city, which has seen bloody anti-government and anti-foreign riots and several bomb blasts in recent weeks. This is really important for the country, its a great morale booster for the people, said bank chairman Haji Ali Akbar. It also shows that Afghanistan is going towards stability and the platform for foreign investment and businesses is opening day by day.
Ghidoni and her partner, Afghan designer Zolaykha Sherzad, started off training women in fashion and jewellery design. They then began selling the output from their Kabul shops. These days there was a market for fashion in the city, although it may not be obvious, she said. Theres not much in terms of the fashion we see in the West but there is fashion within a private environment, within the houses, she said. People like to be fashionable.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/10/2006 00:00 ||
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Congrats are in order, as Afgan women have formally entered the late 1950's-early 1960, at least fashionwise. Which Muslim babe gets to be Nancy Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Montgomery - Barbara Eden, or Ann Margaret-rock, etal - Dare Joan Collins, or Raquel Welch ala ONE MIYUHN YEARS BC in bikinis, follow???
BALTIMORE - Thirteen anti-war activists were given citations Saturday for protesting outside the National Security Agency headquarters at Fort Meade. An NSA security officer cited the activists for "entering into military facility for purposes prohibited by law" and ordered them to leave the area, protest organizers and an NSA spokesman said. They were ordered to appear in U.S. District Court in Baltimore to be arraigned at a date to be announced.
Twenty-five people participated in the protest, but only 13 who refused to stop carrying signs were cited, said Max Obuszewski of the Pledge of Resistance - Baltimore, one of those cited. They carried a banner reading "NSA Crime Scene" and other signs protesting the agency's involvement in the war in Iraq.
The activists were stopped on a road near the NSA entrance that provides access to two museums that are open to the public, Obuszewski said. "We were on, I would argue, public property," he said. "Anybody could go there and get gasoline; anybody could go there and visit the two museums."
Don Weber, an NSA spokesman, said Fort Meade policy specifies that protesters submit a written request for a permit and the activists cited had not done so. The Pledge of Resistance - Baltimore sent a letter last month to Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander, the NSA director, seeking a meeting to discuss issues including "the illegal wiretapping and wholesale collection of Americans' phone records" and "the NSA's surveillance of our group." The organization has received no response, Obuszewski said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2006 00:00 ||
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"We were on, I would argue, public property," he said. "Anybody could go there and get gasoline; anybody could go there and visit the two museums."
Here's my test. Could I erect a monument to the 10 Commandments at the same spot? Or would I be told by a federal judge to remove it? I think we know the answer. There's a difference between public access and public display.
#2
Max Obuszewski? Whaddaya know? Somebody I knew made it to the big time - a mention on Rantburg.
See, I went to high school with him (my nom de burg is the name of our sports teams.) He graduated a year ahead of me. His brother was our class clown - who served six years in the Marine Corps as RIO (back seat driver) of an F-4.
Max has been a "peace" activist for many years - constantly protesting and stirring up trouble. Funny, he doesn't seem to want to go to North Korea and protest their warlike actions, or any other country in the world. He only picks on America. Of course, in America, unlike in a true dictatorship, he is free to express his opinions. It is only when he crosses a line and enters a military site that he gets arrested. At most he will have to pay a fine, or spend a few days in jail. In other countries he would have been beatn or shot on the spot, or simply disappeared.
#3
Ah, my old office with its nasty government-green walls, 3rd floor over in the A...
I still remember when they were building both of those shiny ops buildings and President Reagan came to dedicate 1A. We used to joke they were put there so the Soviets could set their SLBM warhead aiming points a bit more neatly.
U.S. Rep. John Murtha understands he has become a lightning rod for his controversial and uncharacteristic outspokenness against the war in Iraq. But Murtha, D-Johnstown, says he believes troops will begin being redeployed before the November election, a move that will allow him to refocus on jobs, health care and economic development closer to home in his bid for re-election. Itll still be an issue in the fall. It just wont be as much of an issue, Murtha said in an interview with The Tribune-Democrat. Youre going to see a redeployment of troops this year. I think youll see a substantial withdrawal of troops.
Political experts are divided about whether Murthas polarizing views on the war will affect his campaign against Republican challenger Diana Irey, a Washington County commissioner. I cannot deny that Murtha has done a wonderful job for our region, said state GOP Chairman Rob Gleason of Johnstown. Hes brought home the bacon. If thats how you want to judge a congressman or any elected official, he gets five stars. I think everything was pretty positive until the past few months, when he started attacking the president and the war and saying things that werent really positive as far as the troops were concerned.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2006 00:00 ||
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the issue is Murtha's sanity, patriotism, political opportunism, and ethical issues. He can try and lie his way out, but sunshine will destroy this virus
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/10/2006 0:08 Comments ||
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I'll send your opponent money. It's going to cost you to hold that seat if you can.
#3
My disinformation nose is twitching wid MURTHA - its obvious that Motherly Communism-Totalitarianism-Govt'ism is the Failed Left's PC "reactionary" response to mere lowly, defective, Male Brute GOP-Conservative Rightist Fascism and Rightist Authoritarianism. SHORT OF DE FACTO TREASON, ITS USELESS FOR THE DEMOLEFT TO ARGUE ISOLATIONISM OR VIETNAM REDUX, ETC. BECUZ MAINSTREAM CONSERVATIVE AMERICA REALIZES EITHER THE RADICAL ISLAMISTS OR SECULAR COMMIES INTEND TO CONQUER ANDOR KILL US NO MATTER WHAT DUBYA OR AMERICA DOES. The Chicom's ambition to politely exterminate 200Milyuhn-plus Americans and control 1/2 or more of CONUS-NORAM does NOT distinguish between US Leftist, Rightist, Moder or Independent, US Dem vs GOP vs Other, MASON vs DIXON, White vs Non-White, ..................etc. Not even the intellectualist or humanist Liberal quips of ALan ALda's HAWKEYE character in MASH TV Show saved Hawkeye from doing what people wid guns in his face or back told him to do upon pain of death or being shot, and no matter how
"rational", reasonable, or compromising, i.e.
"caring", Hawkeye was. NO AMERICAN SHOULD BE SCARED TO FIGHT ANY TYPE OF WAR, INCLUDING BUT MOT LIMITED TO NUCLEAR WAR, AGAINST ENEMIES WHOM ARE GOING TO KILL AND DESTROY YOU ANYWAYS, AND NO MATTER HOW MANY CONCESSIONS ARE MADE. The "status quo" is no longer acceptable or tolerable to either Secular Socialist andor Radical Islamist, etal.
#4
My disinformation nose is twitching wid MURTHA - its obvious that Motherly Communism-Totalitarianism-Govt'ism is the Failed Left's PC "reactionary" response to mere lowly, defective, Male Brute GOP-Conservative Rightist Fascism and Rightist Authoritarianism. SHORT OF DE FACTO TREASON, ITS USELESS FOR THE DEMOLEFT TO ARGUE ISOLATIONISM OR VIETNAM REDUX, ETC. BECUZ MAINSTREAM CONSERVATIVE AMERICA REALIZES EITHER THE RADICAL ISLAMISTS OR SECULAR COMMIES INTEND TO CONQUER ANDOR KILL US NO MATTER WHAT DUBYA OR AMERICA DOES. The Chicom's ambition to politely exterminate 200Milyuhn-plus Americans and control 1/2 or more of CONUS-NORAM does NOT distinguish between US Leftist, Rightist, Moder or Independent, US Dem vs GOP vs Other, MASON vs DIXON, White vs Non-White, ..................etc. Not even the intellectualist or humanist Liberal quips of ALan ALda's HAWKEYE character in MASH TV Show saved Hawkeye from doing what people wid guns in his face or back told him to do upon pain of death or being shot, and no matter how
"rational", reasonable, or compromising, i.e.
"caring", Hawkeye was. NO AMERICAN SHOULD BE SCARED TO FIGHT ANY TYPE OF WAR, INCLUDING BUT MOT LIMITED TO NUCLEAR WAR, AGAINST ENEMIES WHOM ARE GOING TO KILL AND DESTROY YOU ANYWAYS, AND NO MATTER HOW MANY CONCESSIONS ARE MADE. The "status quo" is no longer acceptable or tolerable to either Secular Socialist andor Radical Islamist, etal.
#9
Wonder if the people of Johnstown think that Murtha will still be able to bring home the bacon after antagonizing the entire Republican party. This ass has been a porkmeister extraordinaire for many years but I do believe that his future earmarks will be few and far between.
#10
More importantly, Johnstown Democrats are prolly the white, moderate type(for the most part).Union coal miners,school teachers, old Roosevelt era war vets, you know the type. And he hasn't been acting like a man who represents the moderate Donk lately has he? In fact if he were to walk down the street in Johnstown there may be more than a few people who would have a few choice words for him. You gotta remember 60% of this country can prolly be persuaded to vote either way given the right candidate. He's gonna do it to himself, all we need to do is sit back and watch the show.
In July 2004, freshman Gov. Jennifer Granholm was in such demand for interviews at the Democratic National Convention in Boston, she even turned down star ABC News anchorman Peter Jennings. She was toasted as a bright new hope, chosen for a prime-time speech. Admirers were disappointed to learn she was born in Canada and therefore can never run for president. Two years later, Granholm's rising star has been yanked to Earth by a lagging Michigan economy. Polls show her virtually tied with Republican challenger Dick DeVos, whose unprecedented TV ad campaign so far has cost an estimated $7 million.
Meanwhile, Granholm holds her fire. Pundits say Granholm is in danger of becoming a one-term wonder.
If her celebrity has worn thin, her skills as a campaigner have not. The reelection of Michigan's first female governor will hinge on whether her charisma and power of persuasion can trump the public's deep anxiety over the state's economy. "I think we have very challenging circumstances in Michigan because of our automotive industry, and when you combine that with a very well-funded opponent, it makes a great opportunity to educate voters about our plan," Granholm said in Battle Creek last week, referring to her actions to lure new jobs to the state, upgrade education standards and put people to work repairing roads. "People in Michigan have to have an aggressive plan, and they know we didn't get here because they have a Democratic governor. We got here because of the automotive industry, because of unfair trade and old solutions that are not going to get us out."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2006 00:00 ||
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People in Michigan have to have an aggressive plan, and they know we didn't get here because they have a Democratic governor. We got here because of the automotive industry, because of unfair trade and old solutions that are not going to get us out.
Translation: Yes, I was in charge the last few years, and I had a major role in setting state policy, but none of this economic failure is my fault. Vote for me! Vote for me!!
#2
She's into handouts and all the disgruntled blacks in Detroit know this so they will vote for her. She's Michigan's own canuck born mini-Hillary. My GOP buddies in the state cannot stand her.
HARRISBURG - He scooped water ice into cups for dozens of people on a sweltering hot day, autographed footballs for little kids and adults alike, and jumped up on a stage before several thousand people and sang - solo and a cappella - just to win them over. That's how former Pittsburgh Steeler Lynn Swann, more accustomed to dashing in and out of crowds than trying to woo them, has been spending his days recently as he wraps up the first of several expected statewide bus tours this summer in his quest for the governorship.
Although he garnered mostly good reviews along the way - both from the public and in the media - it remains a question mark whether Swann's recent and aggressive campaign push will help jump-start his flagging campaign. Supporters insist that after a series of early gaffes and general campaign disorganization, Swann is finally doing what he needs to be doing: going out on the road and talking to voters, while also minding the campaign bank account. Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, for instance, is scheduled to travel to King of Prussia on Wednesday to help raise money for him. Later this month, there is another fund-raiser scheduled for Swann, in Virginia, organized by Republican National Committee finance chairman Dwight Schar. And there has been talk for weeks that President Bush will come in August to raise funds for Swann, although Swann's staff will not confirm it.
"I think his campaign had a slow start, but they are pulling things together now," said Renee Amoore, the state GOP's deputy chair. But there are still deep doubts that Swann is too far behind Gov. Ed Rendell - not just in political gravitas, but in campaign cash - to catch up. And if he doesn't show upward movement in the polls by Labor Day, many believe that this fall's governor's race could turn into a lock for Rendell. "The single biggest threat right now to Swann is if he's not successful in moving the polls," said Chris Borick, director of Muhlenberg College's Institute of Public Opinion. "If the perception," Borick added, "is that he's not gaining momentum, that there's no energy, then the concern becomes: Will he be able to raise the kind of money to stage the kind of statewide media campaign necessary to win the election?"
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2006 00:00 ||
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A handsome, black football player runs for governor and so they write a hit piece like this one. Could it be possible to write a piece more negative than this one? I'm surprised they didn't also write, "some critics say he is a child molester, but his campaign officials denied the charge".
I bet he wins despite all of the negative adjectives they throw his way. He just doesn't fit the part of "poor little naive loser" that they are trying to portray him with.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - The candidates say they offer legitimate political differences. Their conservative critics say it's a campaign dirty trick. Jeff Ippel is a Republican, involved in a three-way primary race for a seat in the Kansas House. His wife, Pam, is unopposed in the August Democratic primary - for the same seat. Pam Ippel, whose platform emphasizes health care and funding for education, said she was the first to enter the race for an open seat from this Kansas City suburb. "The more Jeff thought about it, the more he thought he'd have a better chance," she said.
"Better ideas," said her husband, who is running on a platform of smaller government and fewer illegal immigrants.
Other Republicans accuse the Ippels of working as a team. "Personally, I think it's a fraud. It's a deliberate strategy of confusion," conservative Republican Jeff Colyer said. He says their real goal is to siphon away votes from his campaign to ensure the nomination of a GOP moderate, Sherrelyn Smith. "It's an absolute sham. They're trying to confuse voters and manipulate the process," agrees Republican state Rep. Eric Carter, who is giving up the seat to run for state insurance commissioner. The Ippels and Smith denied any collusion. "There's absolutely no truth to it," Smith said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2006 00:00 ||
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clever way to assure a family income. He spits the vote, pulling enough GOP votes from those not paying attention and she wins.
Of course, it could backfire, but in Kansas, it probably gives thema better set of odds than they would have had.
Has Coyler thought about having his wife run as a Democrat?
Muslim loyalty to Canada urged
Convention puts a positive spotlight on Islam
By SHARON HO, TORONTO SUN
Thousands of Muslims gathered in Mississauga yesterday to express their love for Canada and show that they are not "bloodthirsty terrorists".
"Terrorism is against Islam," said Naseem Madhi, president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. "Creating disorder is not acceptable in Islam."
At the 30th annual Ahmadiyya Muslim Community annual convention, Madhi encouraged Muslims in Canada to be loyal to this country.
"Loving your homeland is loving your faith," he said.
"You cannot stay here and be loyal to somewhere else. If people say they cannot be loyal, they should go home."
But only this Islamic sect's love of Canada was evident yesterday at the International Centre as about 20,000 Muslims turned out to pray, hear Islamic teachings and profess their love for Canada. Canadian flags decorated the hall and every chair.
"As an Ahmadi Muslim my belief is loyalty to my country, my place of residence," said Basat Khalifa, manager of media relations for the Ahmadiyya community. "Our community's motto is love for all, hatred of none."
The convention also tried to show the many positive sides of Islam.
"Everybody hears the negative (about Islam) because the negative has so much media coverage, especially when you have the 17 arrests (of terrorism suspects)," Khalifa said.
Liberal leadership hopeful Joe Volpe made an appearance at the event.
"All of the values that we identify as Canadians are those that they (Ahmadi Muslims) have had part in shaping," Volpe said.
Non-Muslims like George Raptis, also attended the convention to learn about Islam.
"If I'm going to form an opinion, I have to get to know a little bit of it," Raptis said. He said he liked the message he was hearing yesterday.
"It's so nice to see everybody on the same page -- promoting peace, helping out your neighbour and trying to say you're in a wonderful country."
As most of us toasted liberty and pursued happiness last week, Jim Harvill opened his mailbox and learned these rights are not as unalienable as he thought.
On July 3, Harvill, an affable operations manager for Sprint PCS near Spokane, got the following letter from the publisher of two magazines he has subscribed to for years. "It is with deep regret that we must inform you ... " it read, "we must cancel all subscriptions to Washington State."
The magazines are "Casino Player" a monthly review of U.S. casinos and hotels and "Strictly Slots" a guide to one-armed bandits, video poker and other mechanized means of gambling.
Hardly classic literature. But Harvill liked them. And now he can no longer read them, thanks to a twisted reading of the state's new law against Internet gambling.
The state says placing bets online is against the law. Fine. But the state goes on to say that even writing about Internet gambling in a way that's promotional is "aiding and abetting" an illegal industry.
So now two print magazines consider themselves banned in this state. It's not clear whether the publisher pulled them on his own or was asked to by the state. The letter vaguely cites "new state laws regarding the legality of online gaming."
Mind you, no actual betting occurs via these magazines. People like Harvill buy them just to read about gambling.
"It's completely surreal," Harvill says. "My government is saying there is something I'm not allowed to read. I've lived in this country for 60 years and I can't remember anything like this happening to me before." This is just the tip of the iceberg. The anti-gambling statute was so poorly written that it boggles the mind.
When the sudden appearance of an endangered flower halted a controversial housing project in the heart of California's wine country, the developer, Scott Schellinger, suspected he was the victim of a plant. Now, after calling in experts from the state's fish and game commission, who have backed his findings, he is claiming that the "discovery" of rare and protected Sebastopol meadowfoam on the eight-hectare (20-acre) site near San Francisco was the work of opponents who transplanted the flowers from elsewhere.
"It looked like a bad toupee," claimed one botanist, who observed the small, white flowers - latin name Limnanthes vinculans - growing through clods of "alien" soil.
The row has escalated into a scandal known as Foamgate. The residents of Sebastopol, a town of 7,800 environmentally conscious residents in the centre of Sonoma county's grape and apple growing region, deny wrongdoing. Bob Evans, a retired grammar school teacher and leading campaigner against the $70m development, says he had come across the meadowfoam while walking his dog. "It's our job to protect endangered species," he said. "I didn't plant it. No one planted it. It's clearly a natural plant that grew there because that's where it belongs."
But Mr Schellinger insists the reappearance of the bowl-shaped blooms is evidence that his opponents are desperate. "The people who planted it mistakenly believed that it would be the silver bullet that killed the project," he said.
Sebastopol's council has ordered the parties to mediation to try to find a compromise that could include a scaled-down development. And the state has ordered that the plants be removed after deciding they were deliberately introduced. "They didn't belong there. It was appropriate to remove them," said Eric Larson, a regional manager of the California fish and game commission.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/10/2006 00:00 ||
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Hmmm, my Surprise Meter seems to be busted ... tap-tap-tap ...
#2
"It's a plant!" proclaimed Detective Potter. "It all stems from the fact that somebody wants you to leaf, and they're sowing the seeds of dissention to try to weed you out."
Posted by: Mike ||
07/10/2006 7:21 Comments ||
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#4
I ran into a twit raised in Sebastopol when I was in college. He was raised liberal, was unthinkingly liberal, and dared to call other people conformists. He'd argue that taxes are too low, then brag that every job he'd ever had was paid under the table.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
07/10/2006 8:18 Comments ||
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#5
RC, that's the Left to a tee. One rule for me and another for thee.
[T]he state has ordered that the plants be removed after deciding they were deliberately introduced. "They didn't belong there. It was appropriate to remove them," said Eric Larson, a regional manager of the California fish and game commission.
(No relation.)
But good for him. Hopefully the dingbats who put them there will cringe with every spade strike as they dig them out.
#9
If it's against the law for a developer to disturb the "rare and protected Sebastopol meadowfoam" flower, then didn't some moonbat environmentalist break the law by transplanting it? Nary a mention of this angle in the story.
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.
An Iowa judge has denied unemployment benefits to a man who claimed discrimination after being fired from an ethanol plant for drinking "automobile fuel" produced by the company.
KABUL - Models strode down a catwalk in the Afghan capital Kabul for the first time in decades this weekend as two designers showed off their clothes behind the guarded walls of a luxury hotel.
BALTIMORE - Thirteen anti-war activists were given citations Saturday for protesting outside the National Security Agency headquarters at Fort Meade. An NSA security officer cited the activists for "entering into military facility for purposes prohibited by law" and ordered them to leave the area, protest organizers and an NSA spokesman said. They were ordered to appear in U.S. District Court in Baltimore to be arraigned at a date to be announced.
U.S. Rep. 
In July 2004, freshman Gov. 
HARRISBURG - He scooped water ice into cups for dozens of people on a sweltering hot day, autographed footballs for little kids and adults alike, and jumped up on a stage before several thousand people and sang - solo and a cappella - just to win them over. That's how former Pittsburgh Steeler 
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - The candidates say they offer legitimate political differences. Their conservative critics say it's a campaign dirty trick. Jeff Ippel is a Republican, involved in a three-way primary race for a seat in the Kansas House. His wife, Pam, is unopposed in the August Democratic primary - for the same seat. Pam Ippel, whose platform emphasizes health care and funding for education, said she was the first to enter the race for an open seat from this Kansas City suburb. "The more Jeff thought about it, the more he thought he'd have a better chance," she said.
When the sudden appearance of an endangered flower halted a controversial housing project in the heart of California's wine country, the developer, Scott Schellinger, suspected he was the victim of a plant. Now, after calling in experts from the state's fish and game commission, who have backed his findings, he is claiming that the "discovery" of rare and protected Sebastopol meadowfoam on the eight-hectare (20-acre) site near San Francisco was the work of opponents who transplanted the flowers from elsewhere.
