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MPs visit Swat to pay obeisance to Sufi Mohammad
Today's Headlines
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-Short Attention Span Theater-
AFC Chief Explains Korean Beheading Threat
Why...yes, he is.
AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam has rubbished media reports that he had used the term "cut off his head" in the literal sense.
Geez, guys, now why would you even think that?
Bin Hammam is seeking re-election to FIFA’s executive committee but is facing a challenge from Bahrain football boss Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa. In a television interview in Qatar, Bin Hamman talked of the Koreans leading a plot to ensure that he lost his seat on the committee. "Some people have launched a campaign against me, maybe they don't like me, a man from the desert being at the helm. Shaikh Salman is not doing this on his own, he is doing this at the instruction of others, especially people in the (South) Korean federation," he said. He then reportedly said he would "cut the head off a top Korean offical".
I'm pissed off and I'm Arab! Behead that guy!
This prompted the Korean FA to demand an apology.
Kinda touchy about Arabs threatening beheadings are they?
In response, Bin Hammam has explained that the Arabic metaphor “An Yaksar yadah wa rijalh wa ra'asah wa hatha ma yaja'alah ya'amal dhid Bin Hammam” he used means to halt someone's progress and is not what had been literally interpreted by some English newspapers.
Yabba dabba do klattu barrata nicto...
“It is a popular, harmless and widely used Arabic metaphor,” Bin Hammam said.
Yeah, an Arab cutting off a head? Where do you guys think up such things?
“It means to halt someone's plans or nip in the bud someone's progress. It is like the English saying ‘heads will roll’. That doesn't literally mean someone’s head is going to roll off, does it?” laughed the AFC chief.
HA HA HA! I kid! I'm a kidder!
“As we all know the first thing to be lost in translation is humour. Cliches and phrases are most likely to be misinterpreted,” added Bin Hammam.
Yes, and as we all know, Muslims are famous for their sense of humor...
“I hope this sets the record straight.”
Now, screw...INFIDELS! Or I'll cut your friggin heads off! HA HA HA! There I go again...
Posted by: tu3031 || 02/19/2009 12:15 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  AFC Chief Explains Korean Beheading Threat

Ima thinking Roger Goodell will want to address this in the offseason rules committee meetings. What's that?



nevermind
Posted by: Frank G || 02/19/2009 18:26 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Egypt frees dissident Nour for ''health reasons''
Egyptian authorities freed opposition politician Ayman Nour Wednesday in what came as "sudden news" that surprised Nour and his supporters after more than three years in prison on forgery charges he said were politically motivated.

Cheers and trilling of joy filled the air of Ayman Nour's home in Zamalek neighborhood in Cairo as friends and members of the Gad party welcomed him home, while a demanding crowd of journalists from various news agencies gathered for interviews.

"We are more than joyous, we are thrilled out of belief that Mr. Nour has been released and is coming back to us," Warda Ali, assistant to Ayman Nour and Jameela Ismail, told AlArabiya.net

Nour told AlArabiya.net from his home that he plans to continue his work in politics through the opposition Ghad party. "Thank God I am released and now here with my family and supporters," Nour told AlArabiya.net. "I plan to continue with my political advocacy as an Egyptian citizen."

Gameela Ismail, Nour's wife confirmed her husband's intention to resume his post as leader of the party, insinuating that he has plans for another presidential campaign. "He will carry on with what he was doing prior to his imprisonment," Ismail told AlArabiya.net.
Posted by: Fred || 02/19/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Bangladesh
Ziaul Haq arrested, sent to jail
Another Zia ul-Haq...
Convicted former BNP state minister Ziaul Haq Zia, who entered the country on February 13 dodging immigration officials at Zia International Airport (ZIA), was arrested in the capital early yesterday.
Posted by: Fred || 02/19/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Britain
Bank bailout could add £1.5tn to public debt, taking it to 100% of GDP, warns ONS
2.15tn USD
Posted by: tipper || 02/19/2009 11:45 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  'As the deficit rises, Mr Darling may well need to find a way of further convincing the markets of the UK Government's credibility - with the possibility of further future spending cuts and/or tax rises.'

So perhaps there will be cuts in Britain's absurdly high social security (welfare) payments in the near future... since a rise in taxes would definitely make the economy worse.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/19/2009 13:01 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Ecuador expels US diplomat
Ecuador has given a US diplomat, embassy first secretary Marc Sullivan 48 hours to leave the country for 'meddling' in its domestic affairs.
Posted by: Fred || 02/19/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Good! Stop foriegn aid immediately. A penny saved is a penny earned.

U.S. Aid. The United States is the largest bilateral donor in Ecuador. Principal
goals for U.S. assistance to Ecuador are bolstering democracy, reducing poverty,
protecting the environment, and securing the northern border with Colombia. Ecuador
received $25.2 million in aid in FY2007, including $17.3 million in counternarcotics
assistance. In FY2008, Ecuador received roughly $32 million in U.S. aid, including $9.1
million in counternarcotics assistance. The FY2009 request for Ecuador was for $32.5
million, with $13.4 million in counternarcotics assistance.


Posted by: Besoeker || 02/19/2009 7:41 Comments || Top||

#2  One more of those little tests that the Obamanation will fail.
Posted by: AlanC || 02/19/2009 9:09 Comments || Top||

#3  Hillary needs to tackle South America next. Steaks are going up there for us every day.
Posted by: newc || 02/19/2009 12:03 Comments || Top||

#4  mmmmm steak
Posted by: Frank G || 02/19/2009 15:18 Comments || Top||

#5  I thought we were getting steak from Argentina?
Posted by: Pappy || 02/19/2009 16:18 Comments || Top||

#6  don't cry for me aaaargentiiiina, my heart blockage nevvver left you....
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/19/2009 16:30 Comments || Top||

#7  I'll bet the stiped pants brigade in La Paz is trying to figure a way to meddle in Bolivian affairs so they can get kicked out. But then they'd just get transfered to ZimBob'sWay
Posted by: Cheaderhead || 02/19/2009 17:05 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Putin Warns US Against Socialism
Russian Prime Minister Vladamir Putin has said the US should take a lesson from the pages of Russian history and not exercise "excessive intervention in economic activity and blind faith in the states omnipotence".
Vlad can see it, but it's still beyond B.O. Maybe 50 years from now an American Vlad will warn some Chinese New Hope.
"In the 20th century, the Soviet Union made the states role absolute,"
"There is no reason to believe that we can achieve better results by shifting responsibility onto the state."
Putin said during a speech at the opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "In the long run, this made the Soviet economy totally uncompetitive. This lesson cost us dearly. I am sure nobody wants to see it repeated."

Sounding more like Barry Goldwater than the former head of the KGB, Putin said, "Nor should we turn a blind eye to the fact that the spirit of free enterprise, including the principle of personal responsibility of businesspeople, investors, and shareholders for their decisions, is being eroded in the last few months. There is no reason to believe that we can achieve better results by shifting responsibility onto the state."
Posted by: Grunter || 02/19/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Correct Sir.

Correct.
Posted by: newc || 02/19/2009 3:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Tony Soprano teaches Sunday School and economics? Who knew?
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/19/2009 7:30 Comments || Top||

#3  Putin's a nationalist, not a communist.
Posted by: lotp || 02/19/2009 8:33 Comments || Top||

#4  Ummmm, could I please get some help here? My jaw just bounced off the floor and I think it's bruised.


What the hell does this do to the 0's mindset when his commie heros tell him it doesn't work?
Posted by: AlanC || 02/19/2009 9:13 Comments || Top||

#5  There is no reason to believe that we can achieve better results by shifting responsibility onto the state.

Since the state has shown it is incompetent in carrying out its regulatory powers and responsibilities already. Put integrity back into the system and people will be open to putting their money and faith back into it as well. That means you have to loudly and publicly sacrifice a few heads for the spectacle [re: Frank et al].
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/19/2009 9:15 Comments || Top||

#6  Putin is a fascist. Same for the Russian economy.
Posted by: Dino Unereger3662 || 02/19/2009 9:24 Comments || Top||

#7  That's a Bizzaro World moment, for sure. Putin may be a godless commie whatever, but that don't mean he's wrong. He did live thru the whole fUSSR thingie with its totally foo'ed economics, after all.

Anyone care to draw parallels between Lysenkoism and Global Warming for extra credit?
Posted by: SteveS || 02/19/2009 9:34 Comments || Top||

#8  Putin's a nationalist, not a communist.
He also has a funny bone I think.
Posted by: .5MT || 02/19/2009 9:43 Comments || Top||

#9  Anyone care to draw parallels between Lysenkoism and Global Warming for extra credit?

Nail on the head, SteveS!
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 02/19/2009 11:07 Comments || Top||

#10  I have looked into his soul, and I see a giggle.
Posted by: Rawsnacks || 02/19/2009 12:36 Comments || Top||

#11  Putin is a thug, a nationalist and ruthless on top of it. He is, however a realist. He knows if the US economy really heads south in a hard way, the rest of the world, including his Russia will be dragged along. This is his first warning. The next may be nukes and boomers pointed at us again to try to boost the US into rebuilding its military for some economic boost.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/19/2009 12:46 Comments || Top||

#12  Am I on the same universe anymore?
Posted by: Lagom || 02/19/2009 16:31 Comments || Top||

#13  ION CHINESE MIL FORUM > WALKER'S WORLD:WHOM FALLS FASTER - EAST ASIA OR EUROPE [versus USA = USSA/USR Amerika]???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/19/2009 20:08 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Russian Navy sinks Chinese merchant ship
New Star, the cargo ship, was sequestered at the Russian port of Nakhodka earlier this month for alleged smuggling. It left the port not far from the Sino-Russian border without permission from Russian authorities last Thursday and was chased by a cruiser, a Russian newspaper said.

Later, the warship shot at least 500 rounds onto the ship and forced it to sail back toward the port in force 6 winds.

Bloomberg stated the New Star fled Nakhodka on Feb. 12 after the shipment of rice it unloaded was rejected by the buyer, who then asked a court to seize the ship while suing for damages.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 02/19/2009 08:57 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Later, the warship shot at least 500 rounds onto the ship

500 rounds is enough to sink the Yamato if your aiming is half decent. The creww needs gunnery classes and the captain an assignment as sailor second class.
Posted by: JFM || 02/19/2009 9:38 Comments || Top||

#2  JFM, maybe it was 500 rounds of 7.62x39.
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/19/2009 9:42 Comments || Top||

#3  That's a pretty major incident....
Just saying...
Posted by: 3dc || 02/19/2009 10:45 Comments || Top||

#4  I suspect a lot of unknowns on this story.
Posted by: tipover || 02/19/2009 11:15 Comments || Top||

#5  Glenmore, you don't mention bullets as rounds and they are not big/expensive enough you mention the number you fired.
Posted by: JFM || 02/19/2009 11:43 Comments || Top||

#6  perhaps it was a 12mm machine gun, or a 20mm or 30mm cannon.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/19/2009 11:46 Comments || Top||

#7  If they used their version of a CIWS, 500 rounds isn't really that much. That's prolly still only 10-20 seconds depending on it's rate of fire.

I don't think the ships carry 500 rounds for the larger sized guns anymore either. Anyone know how many 76mm rounds our ships carry normally?
Posted by: Silentbrick || 02/19/2009 12:29 Comments || Top||

#8  Interfax reported that several hundred shots had then been fired in the direction of the ship from a 30-mm automatic cannon.
Posted by: Icerigger || 02/19/2009 12:32 Comments || Top||

#9  I can just imagine the discussion on the Russian ship as to whether or not to launch a rescue operation in bad weather for Chinese sailors. Wonder what they were supposedly smuggling.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 02/19/2009 12:35 Comments || Top||

#10  #7, I assume you meant US ships, which means ZERO rounds of 76mm. US still has 5 inch guns. Oh, wait, I just remembered our Coast Guard has 76mm guns on the armed cutters.
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 02/19/2009 12:44 Comments || Top||

#11  i guess someone got upset that the rice they were paying fifty cents a pound for turned out to be fifty cents a pound quality rice, and figured paying off someone to impound the ship would make their negotiating position better. Or something.

They're probably in the process of making up a plausible sounding story now, involving melamine, lead, depleted uranium, or fullerenes-encased antiprotons.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/19/2009 12:46 Comments || Top||

#12  Anybody speak Chinese?

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=6be_1234970614
Posted by: tu3031 || 02/19/2009 12:52 Comments || Top||

#13  you don't mention bullets as rounds and they are not big/expensive enough you mention the number you fired.

You might if you have the usual knowledge of matters military commonly held by members of the journalistic profession, JFM. I didn't question the word round, and these days I might actually know more about military stuff than many professional journalists, a shocking idea.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/19/2009 12:55 Comments || Top||

#14  I'm quite sure these reporters haven't watched the Dissident Frogman's Shooty-Noshooty video so they'd be educated on what exactly bullets are;p
Posted by: Silentbrick || 02/19/2009 13:24 Comments || Top||

#15  they are not big/expensive enough you mention the number you fired.

I dunno. Local cops have to account for every single one, and only have a handful allocated for training every year. And as far as 'expensive ' enough - been ammo shopping lately? The one economic stimulus that actually has worked.
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/19/2009 13:54 Comments || Top||

#16  Would those be the same local cops who only successfully prosecute a small fraction of the homicides that occur in your fair city-surrounded-by-a-hill?
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/19/2009 17:26 Comments || Top||

#17  Various CHIN MIL FORUM'ERS aren't happy wid the Russians, reminding each other how many of their countrymen live and work in Russ Far East compared to non-Chinese.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/19/2009 18:44 Comments || Top||

#18  fair city-surrounded-by-a-hill?

Snowy, what a superb description! I love it!

Yes, those be the ones. The same ones who can fire something like 40 shots at some guy and only hit him twice. (I forget the details - late last year, sad story.)
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/19/2009 19:16 Comments || Top||

#19  TOPIX > VARIOUS - CHINA DEMANDS ANSWERS FROM RUSSIA. Why to shoot = fire upon the cargo ship + Chin allegations that Russia's Coast Guard ship stood by = wilfully did little to nothing to help drowning /swimming Chin + foreign sailors???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/19/2009 20:17 Comments || Top||

#20  Don't feel bad, a few years go Montgomery Alabama cops fired 107 rounds at a truck stuck in a drive thru restraint's lane and didn't hit a thing but a concrete retainer wall around the truck, after everyone ran out of ammo, the cops ran up and arrested the guy.
Posted by: Rednek Jim || 02/19/2009 20:31 Comments || Top||

#21  Restaurant, Dammit.
Posted by: Rednek Jim || 02/19/2009 20:33 Comments || Top||

#22  I think I've reached the point where if I lived in Louisiana I'd try to trade the NOPD for the Rapid Action Battalion.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/19/2009 21:26 Comments || Top||


Europe
Czech president compares EU to Soviet Union
BRUSSELS – The European Union has turned into an undemocratic and elitist project comparable to the Communist dictatorships of eastern Europe that forbade alternative thinking, Czech President Vaclav Klaus told the European Parliament on Thursday.

Klaus, whose country now holds the rotating EU presidency, set out a scathing attack on the EU project and its institutions, provoking boos from many lawmakers, some of whom walked out, but applause from nationalists and other anti-EU legislators.

Klaus is known for deep skepticism of the EU and has refused to fly the EU flag over his official seat in Prague during the Czech presidency, saying the country is not an EU province. He said current EU practices smacked of communist times when the Soviet Union controlled much of eastern Europe, including the Czech Republic and when dissent or even discussions were not tolerated. "Not so long ago, in our part of Europe we lived in a political system that permitted no alternatives and therefore also no parliamentary opposition," said Klaus. "We learned the bitter lesson that with no opposition, there is no freedom."

He said the 27-nation bloc should concentrate on offering prosperity to Europeans, rather than closer political union, and scrap a stalled EU reform treaty that Irish voters have already rejected. Klaus said that questioning deeper integration has become an "uncriticizable assumption that there is only one possible and correct future of the European integration."

"The enforcement of these notions ... is unacceptable," Klaus said. "Those who dare thinking about a different option are labeled as enemies."

Observers had been expecting Klaus to deliver a critical speech during his first and only visit to the EU chamber at a time when his country holds the EU limelight as chair of the 27-nation bloc. "I have never experienced a situation where the presidency of the European Union ... compares the EU with the Soviet Union," said Belgian lawmaker Ivo Belet.
Perhaps because you haven't opened your eyes and ears ...
Posted by: Steve White || 02/19/2009 14:09 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If the yoke fits...
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/19/2009 14:34 Comments || Top||

#2  Belmont Club » Notes from the underground
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 02/19/2009 15:03 Comments || Top||

#3  Vaclav Klaus remembers life under communism. Most of the EU legislators only saw it from behind the wall and what they read in Pravda.

Mr. Belet is just lucky he's not speaking Russian or German himself. He'll have no idea why, though.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 02/19/2009 15:41 Comments || Top||

#4  Those who deny this are invited to explain how the the EU can be "free" if practicing Roman Catholics are essentially banned from being physicians in the EU and call the Romany "gypsies" can get you jail time.
Posted by: no mo uro || 02/19/2009 17:40 Comments || Top||


Serbia: Italian group probes depleted uranium use in NATO bombings
(AKI) - An Italian non-governmental organisation is investigating consequences of NATO's 1999 bombings of Serbia and the effects of the use of depleted uranium on the civilian population.

The 'Un ponte per...' NGO investigators Alessandro di Meo and Samantha Mengarelli arrived in Belgrade on Wednesday for talks with Serbian officials, eyewitnesses and victims of the NATO airstrikes.

They will tour several Serbian cities that were hardest hit during the bombings before submitting a report to the Rome-based NGO.

NATO has admitted the use of depleted uranium in the bombing campaign and Italian media has reported that 45 Italian soldiers who served in the international forces in Kosovo (KFOR) died after the bombing and 515 became ill with cancer.
Posted by: Fred || 02/19/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Politix
Tab for Obama's home aid: $275B
Via Instapundit
Posted by: ed || 02/19/2009 13:19 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And the poor bastard who played by the rules, weathered the storm, and keep his mortgage in order.... what will there be for him?
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/19/2009 13:22 Comments || Top||

#2  Taxes - people like that generate income and manage money.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/19/2009 15:27 Comments || Top||

#3  And the poor bastard who played by the rules, weathered the storm, and keep his mortgage in order.... what will there be for him?

Well, figure out what ya want, draw up your sign and get out there next time Barry's in town...

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/02/18/more-scenes-from-mesa-i-need-a-beachfront-condo-mr-president/
Posted by: tu3031 || 02/19/2009 16:16 Comments || Top||

#4  I want a yacht, dammit.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 02/19/2009 16:40 Comments || Top||

#5  "Free Hookers and Booze!"

(but can you imagine the types of hookers the government would sponsor? Yikes! Run Away! Run Away!)
Posted by: CrazyFool || 02/19/2009 17:21 Comments || Top||

#6  I want first class airfare around the world, with suitable accommodations and meal allowance. My "listening tour" would only cost about a hundred thou.
Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie || 02/19/2009 17:24 Comments || Top||

#7  Q: What do you call someone who pays their taxes, pays their mortgage, and saves money every month?
A: Sucker!
Posted by: DMFD || 02/19/2009 19:09 Comments || Top||


Sharpton's Pseudo-Controversy Silliness
Pseudo-controversy is a great friend of unpopular figures; it serves to draw attention away from important subjects to trifling semantic disputes. In light of plummeting approval ratings for the stimulus package, the Democratic Party can only benefit from changing the topic. The latest distraction is sadly predictable. Questionable race relations have once again reared their ugly head.
Posted by: Age Of Pericles || 02/19/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Al's no longer in the loop, if he ever was. Now he's just loopy.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 02/19/2009 13:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Sharpton, Activists Protest New York Post Cartoon

Make sure you send the Post a thank you note, Al, for giving you the chance to still keep keeping it real and not having to be a contestant on "Biggest Loser".
Posted by: tu3031 || 02/19/2009 14:03 Comments || Top||

#3  Sharpton's continued search for relevance. Hey, there's always the SNL gig.
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/19/2009 18:09 Comments || Top||


GOP governors consider turning down stimulus money
A handful of Republican governors are considering turning down some money from the federal stimulus package, a move opponents say puts conservative ideology ahead of the needs of constituents struggling with record foreclosures and soaring unemployment.

Though none has outright rejected the money available for education, health care and infrastructure, the governors of Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alaska, South Carolina and Idaho have all questioned whether the $787 billion bill signed into law this week will even help the economy.

"My concern is there's going to be commitments attached to it that are a mile long," said Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who considered rejecting some of the money but decided Wednesday to accept it. "We need the freedom to pick and choose. And we need the freedom to say 'No thanks.'"

U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., the No. 3 House Democrat, said the governors -- some of whom are said to be eyeing White House bids in 2012 -- are putting their own interests first. "No community or constituent should be denied recovery assistance due to their governor's political ideology or political aspirations," Clyburn said Wednesday.
"You will be serfs, dammit!"
In fact, governors who reject some of the stimulus aid may find themselves overridden by their own legislatures because of language Clyburn included in the bill that allows lawmakers to accept the federal money even if their governors object.

He inserted the provision based on the early and vocal opposition to the stimulus plan by South Carolina's Republican governor, Mark Sanford. But it also means governors like Sanford and Louisiana's Bobby Jindal -- a GOP up-and-comer often mentioned as a potential 2012 presidential candidate -- can burnish their conservative credentials, knowing all the while that their legislatures can accept the money anyway.

Jindal said he, like Perry and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, is concerned about strings attached to the money even though his state faces a $1.7 billion budget shortfall next year.

Barbour spokesman Dan Turner, for example, cited concerns that accepting unemployment money from the stimulus package would force states to pay benefits to people who wouldn't meet state requirements to receive them.

In Idaho, Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter said he wasn't interested in stimulus money that would expand programs and boost the state's costs in future years when the federal dollars disappear -- a worry also cited by Jindal and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

A spokesman said Sanford, the new head of the Republican Governors Association, is looking at the stimulus bill to figure out how much of it he can control. "We're going through a 1,200-page bill to determine what our options are," Spokesman Joel Sawyer said. "From there, we'll make decisions."

But state Democratic Party chairwoman Carol Fowler says Sanford's hesitation is driven by his political ambition rather than the best interests of a state that had the nation's third-highest unemployment rate in December. "He's so ideological," Fowler said. "He would rather South Carolina do without jobs than take that money, and I think he's looking for a way not to take it."
Posted by: Fred || 02/19/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  In Idaho, Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter said he wasn't interested in stimulus money that would expand programs and boost the state's costs in future years when the federal dollars disappear -

That's the catch to make you simply another dependent administrative unit of Washington rather than a 'state' in anything other than name only. It's part of the 'bondage' process.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/19/2009 9:22 Comments || Top||

#2  Take it.

But I don't want to take the money mister. You'll own me.

Take the money.

Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/19/2009 17:14 Comments || Top||


Kansas budget bill signed
Follow up from yesterday
Kansas state workers will get paid and tax refunds will go out after Gov. Kathleen Sebelius ended a political standoff Tuesday by approving $300 million in budget reductions.

However, Sebelius didn't accept all the Republican-controlled Legislature's proposed cuts. She vetoed a provision that would have slashed school spending by $32 million. Instead, she cut that to $7 million statewide for K-12 education. "This is a responsible way to limit the reductions to schools, to pay our bills and to move this process forward," Sebelius, a Democrat, said in a hastily called late-afternoon news conference. "I'm just sorry we had to have this high drama and worry a lot of Kansans."

The bill signing ended a two-day showdown between GOP lawmakers and Sebelius that jeopardized tax refunds and this week's paychecks for state workers.

With the bill signed, leading Republican lawmakers said they now can support Sebelius' proposal. They'll meet with the governor today to formally vote on borrowing money from other state funds to meet payrolls and other obligations. "Signing that bill ensures we'll be in the black at the end of the year," said House Speaker Mike O'Neal, a Hutchinson Republican.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/19/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ..followup from Monday/Tuesday. My guess is that this didn't really make the national news (nearly every time Kansas makes the national scene it is an embarassment) news but I felt it important that with so many states having problems balancing their accounts that it can be done.

Laws and procedures against government overspending, what a concept.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/19/2009 11:20 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
All Punjab senators elected unopposed
All the 11 senators from Punjab have been elected unopposed, an official of Election Commission Punjab revealed on Wednesday.
Democracy in action.
Posted by: Fred || 02/19/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Peres consults with Kadima, Likud delegations on coalition
At Beit Hanassi, Mofaz says national unity gov't headed by Kadima is the people's will; Sa'ar: No arithmetic possibility of Livni forming coalition.
Posted by: Fred || 02/19/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Olde Tyme Religion
Report suggests modest dress is health hazard
Veiled women are at risk for vitamin D deficiency because of lack of sun exposure, putting them at risk for a slew of health disorders, according to a report published Tuesday, though covered women do not seem ready to give up their hijabs just for possible health benefits.

After years of health campaigns against tanning and excessive sun exposure which cause skin cancer, doctors are now warning of vitamin D deficiency and urging more sun exposure especially for those whose dress codes prevent them from showing too much skin.

A 2007 study found 30 to 50 percent of adults and children from sunny climates including Saudi Arabia, UAE, India and Lebanon were vitamin D deficient.

Veiled women say their hijab does not hinder them from enjoying a bit of sunshine
Tuesday's report confirmed similar findings from another 2007 study of 87 Arab-American women in Dearborn Michigan that found the more conservative a woman dressed, the lower her vitamin D intake and consequently the higher her risk of disease.

Hijabi women who followed a vitamin D-rich diet had higher levels of vitamin D yet still not as high as the women who did not wear the hijab. It found that veiled women had only one fifth of the necessary level of vitamin D while the unveiled women who supplemented their diets had 28 percent.

Posted by: Fred || 02/19/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Science & Technology
US Navy orders 64-megajoule Rail Gun
The $21m deal will see BAE's recently acquired American operations build a new and more powerful prototype railgun for the Office of Naval Research (ONR). The US naval boffinry operation has already demo'd a record-breaking 10 megajoule magnocannon, but it wants more.

Specifically, the ONR wants a 64-megajoule hypervelocity job, able to lob its projectiles 200 miles or more and have them arrive still going at Mach 5-plus.
Posted by: 3dc || 02/19/2009 19:53 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


The Time is Now
Iran's historic first successful space launch on February 2nd, placing its domestically grown satellite "OMID" into an elliptical orbit around the Earth which has reached heights of 224 miles and speeds of 4.6 miles a second is currently being tracked by JSPOC (14th Air Force) at Vandenberg AFB, Calif. OMID has made multiple over flights of the United States and will continue to do so. (Click here to view the current position of OMID)

More at link, and make it a point to click on the link showing the current position of OMID....good graphic....
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 02/19/2009 08:37 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Besides, "this is not good," my first reaction after reading this was that this new capability and platform would give Iran, among other things, the ability to launch an EMP attack against the US. Like I said, this is not good. In fact, this is very, very bad.
Posted by: eltoroverde || 02/19/2009 13:22 Comments || Top||


Home Front Economy
Wholesale inflation takes biggest jump in 6 months
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Inflation at the wholesale level surged unexpectedly in January, reflecting sharply higher prices for gasoline and other energy products. The Labor Department said Thursday that wholesale prices increased by 0.8 percent last month, the biggest gain since last July and well above the 0.2 percent increase that economists had expected.

The acceleration was led by a 3.7 percent surge in energy prices with gasoline prices jumping by 15 percent, the biggest gain in 14 months. Even outside the volatile food and energy sectors, wholesale prices showed a bigger-than-expected increase, rising by 0.4 percent. Economists had expected a slight 0.1 percent rise in so-called core inflation.

Food prices were well-behaved last month, falling for a second straight month. The 0.4 percent decline in January reflected lower costs for beef and dairy products which offset gains in the price of vegetables and chicken products.

In addition to the big jump in gasoline costs, prices for home heating oil were up by 5.4 percent and liquefied petroleum gas, which is often used to heat homes in rural areas, surged by 20.2 percent, the biggest jump in more than six years. Outside of food and energy, there were increases for pharmaceuticals, light trucks and passenger cars and civilian aircraft.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/19/2009 14:08 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Recessions contract supply until it come into balance with demand, at which point prices rise. Combine that with central banks printing money and it's Zimbabwe-style hyperinflation here we come.
Posted by: phil_b || 02/19/2009 19:18 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Geronimo's Great Grandson Asks Yale Secret Society to Return Ancestor's Skull
It's the stuff of legends: an elite secret society that includes what would become some of the most powerful men of the 20th century allegedly invading the grave of an Apache chief to steal his skull for fraternal rituals. It's also the stuff of a new lawsuit filed Tuesday by descendents of that Apache chief.

On the 100th anniversary of the death of Geronimo, 20 of his blood relatives have asked the courts to force Yale University and the school's secret organization, Skull and Bones, to release his remains for return to his native land and a proper burial.

The lawsuit also names President Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Army Secretary Pete Geren as defendants because they are responsible for maintaining Geronimo's remains on a U.S. Army base in Oklahoma, the group said.

Skull and Bones has never said whether any of Geronimo's remains are in its possession. The descendants say they are investigating long-held claims that in 1918, members of Skull and Bones, including Prescott Bush, the father of George H.W Bush and grandfather of George W. Bush, invaded Geronimo's grave at Ft. Sill and stole his skull, some bones and other items buried with him.

"In this lawsuit, we're going to find out if the bones are there or not," said the group's lawyer, said the group's lawyer, Ramsey Clark, who was attorney general in President Lyndon Johnson's administration.
Posted by: Icerigger || 02/19/2009 06:03 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ramsey Clark

The last gig with Saddam left your practice hanging, so you dig this up?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/19/2009 10:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Ramsey Clark. When you absolutely, positively have no chance in hell...
Posted by: tu3031 || 02/19/2009 10:30 Comments || Top||

#3  and they know it's there because they heard it on Alex Jones or on Coast to Coast.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/19/2009 12:03 Comments || Top||

#4  I actually kinda agreed with the plea to return Geronimo's bones - if, Skull & Bones really has them - but then I saw that Ramsey Clark is involved and promptly lost all interest.
Posted by: Sgt. Mom || 02/19/2009 12:10 Comments || Top||

#5  The real question is that if Geronimo had some of Bush's bones, would he give them up?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 02/19/2009 13:47 Comments || Top||

#6  "Uh, why does his skull have these holes in it, and why did you preserve it in petroleum jelly?"
Posted by: Anonymoose || 02/19/2009 15:25 Comments || Top||

#7  Many Mexicans believe the secret society ALSO has Francisco "Pancho" Villa's skull. They must have a regular Dr. Mengele type collection there...
Posted by: borgboy || 02/19/2009 16:00 Comments || Top||

#8  Have them call me...
Posted by: Ramsey Clark: Bad Lawyer || 02/19/2009 16:11 Comments || Top||

#9  Anonymoose, you are totally warped.
Posted by: KBK || 02/19/2009 18:22 Comments || Top||

#10  heh
Posted by: Frank G || 02/19/2009 18:23 Comments || Top||


Home Front Economy
CBS slashes dividend as income falls 52%
CBS cut its annual dividend by 81 per cent to preserve cash as it reported a steep 52 per cent drop in net income for the fourth quarter. Although the US broadcaster's recent programmes have led viewer ratings, it reported declines in revenue and profits nearly across the board, excluding its digital business, as advertising revenues fell.
Posted by: Fred || 02/19/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well, your core demographic is also finally hitting the terminal end of the projected line.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/19/2009 9:19 Comments || Top||

#2  stay perky, Katie!
Posted by: Frank G || 02/19/2009 11:25 Comments || Top||

#3  Courage...
Posted by: tu3031 || 02/19/2009 11:26 Comments || Top||

#4  Courage...I shake my head everytime I'm reminded of ol' Dan...
Posted by: Grunt_0369 || 02/19/2009 12:44 Comments || Top||


Kelsey Grammer: Stimulus and Bailout Laws Reward 'Evil-Doers'
(CNSNews.com) - Television and film actor Kelsey Grammer said the economic stimulus bill rewards "evil doers," among whom are people who did not pay their mortgages or should not have obtained a mortgage in the first place but will now be bailed out by taxpayers.

"The only problem I see with the stimulus package is that, as a rule, it rewards the people that are evildoers -- all of them -- and that's a problem for me, personally," Grammer told CNSNews.com at the reopening of the Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C.

"It may not be a popular position to take," said Grammer, "but I honestly believe that the bill is fraught with the idea that those who did the most damage to our country -- from the bottom up and the top down -- are the ones that are actually going to get the most rewards."
Posted by: Icerigger || 02/19/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The same thing is happening in Australia. Social policy disguised as economic policy.

Posted by: phil_b || 02/19/2009 0:46 Comments || Top||

#2  You are right phil_b. Reward the deadbeats, punish the savers. Great way to run a country. Unfortunately there's no effective opposition in Australia right now.
Posted by: Aussie Mike || 02/19/2009 4:22 Comments || Top||

#3  video at link
Posted by: Icerigger || 02/19/2009 5:53 Comments || Top||

#4  #2 You are right phil_b. Reward the deadbeats, punish the savers. Great way to run a country. Unfortunately there's no effective opposition in Australia right now. Posted by Aussie Mike

But that's the goal here as well.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/19/2009 7:57 Comments || Top||

#5  Great way to ruin a country.

There, fixed it for you Aussie Mike.
Posted by: AlanC || 02/19/2009 9:11 Comments || Top||

#6  Atlas is starting to shrug. For the first time in many years I paid no federal income tax for last year.

Don't fund them. Shut them down.
Posted by: Parabellum || 02/19/2009 9:20 Comments || Top||

#7  Its not so unpopular a stance out in the rest of the world Mr. Grammer, and you are absolutely right. As my wife said, "Why is our daughter going to be paying off somebody else's house?" Well, edited for language.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/19/2009 11:31 Comments || Top||

#8  swk, very well put.
Posted by: Icerigger || 02/19/2009 11:51 Comments || Top||

#9  And with that, Grammer's career is officially kaput.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 02/19/2009 16:38 Comments || Top||

#10  See moral hazard.
Posted by: DMFD || 02/19/2009 19:22 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2009-02-19
  MPs visit Swat to pay obeisance to Sufi Mohammad
Wed 2009-02-18
  Four killed, 18 injured in Peshawar car bombing
Tue 2009-02-17
  Surprise! Pervez Musharraf was playing 'double game' with US
Mon 2009-02-16
  Another Wazoo dronezap
Sun 2009-02-15
  Talibs: Pak will surrender in Swat
Sat 2009-02-14
  Suspected U.S. Missile Strike Zaps 27
Fri 2009-02-13
  Canadian Muslim sentenced for firebombing Jewish institutions
Thu 2009-02-12
  Pak arrests 'main operator' in Mumbai attacks
Wed 2009-02-11
  Taliban Attack Afghan Government Buildings, Killing 20
Tue 2009-02-10
  FBI woman sexually harassed me: 26/11 accused terrorist
Mon 2009-02-09
  Female Tamil Tiger bomber kills 28 after hiding among refugees
Sun 2009-02-08
  India wants Pak declared terrorist state
Sat 2009-02-07
  Russia allows transit of US military supplies
Fri 2009-02-06
  Islamabad High Court frees AQ Khan
Thu 2009-02-05
  Thirty dead in Pakistan blast: hospital

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