#3
The failure of both a main and emergency parachute is extremely rare, according to members of her Johannesburg Skydivers Club.
And I'm sure its never happened twice to the same person before either. She should be safe, unless the guy packing the chutes has a beef with her that is.
#4
In the US, reserves are packed by certified riggers, not the parchute club. If she was a regular jumper, she probably packed her own mains. Can't speak for the South African rules.
Posted by: ed ||
02/09/2006 15:22 Comments ||
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#5
Falling at the speed she had to be falling, I'm surprise the power lines didn't slice her into several neat pieces.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/09/2006 15:28 Comments ||
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#6
I had one of those canape malfunctions at 10,000 ft coming into Detroit. Luckily there was no one in the heads. No more airline food for me.
Neil Entwistle, whose wife and infant daughter were found shot to death in their home, was arrested for their murders Thursday in Great Britain, the Middlesex District Attorney's office said.
I think we all saw this coming
Entwistle was arrested by British authorities and faces murder charges in Massachusetts, spokesman Emily LaGrassa said. "He is in police custody in England at this time," LaGrassa said.
Massachusetts does not have the death penalty, so that won't be a problem
Rachel Entwistle, 27, and 9-month-old Lillian, were found shot to death in a bed in their home in Hopkinton on Jan. 22, killed by a small-caliber bullet.
Bastard
A spokesman for Rachel Entwistle's family would not comment, but said they would release a statement later Thursday. Authorities have said Neil Entwistle, 27, left the country and returned to his native England around the time of the shootings, but have not given an exact timetable.
Reportedly he told his family he doesn't remember how he got to England
Massachusetts authorities flew to London late last month to interview Entwistle at the U.S. Embassy, but officials didn't say whether he answered any questions. He had been labeled a "person of interest" at that point but not a suspect.
PARIS - France honored Uma Thurman on Tuesday, proclaiming the "classic and disconcerting beauty" a knight in the Order of Arts and Letters. "We welcome Uma Thurman, a model-actress, admired throughout the world and especially in our country, France," said Cannes Film Festival Director Gilles Jacob. He presented the award to Thurman on behalf of the country's Culture Ministry.
Thurman's career "would make her the favorite actress of an entire generation," he said. Jacob evoked her "atypical and bohemian" childhood as the daughter of a renowned Tibet scholar, who was named for a Hindu goddess. "The public discovered your grace and sensuality," Jacob said, outlining Thurman's acting career that began on a New York stage when she was 16. Her screen credits include roles in "Dangerous Liaisons," "Pulp Fiction" and the "Kill Bill" films. Jacob hailed the 35-year-old actress as a "classic and disconcerting beauty," a "femme fatale" and a "dreamy creature" before pinning a medal on her black Christian Dior jacket. "I'm so flattered and touched by your comments," said Thurman, who was in France to promote her new movie, "The Producers." Have I ever mentioned how much I admire the French?
#3
I've given this very little thought and I'm pretty sure that if I could have Uma and a Sleep Number bed (75), I'd be pretty happy this weekend. And, um this pillow. And this lamp, too.
#5
A knight in the Order of Arts and Letters? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is that? I'm picturing a sword that's polka-dotted, with a fuschia colored leather handle and a matching polka-dot ribbon to be used to cinch your wonderful chain-mail pants! Not exactly a knight I'd be quivering in fear of (except for Uma being behind that chain-mail, that is).
Posted by: BA ||
02/09/2006 10:29 Comments ||
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#6
Love the mouseover. Technology at its finest!
Posted by: Jonathan ||
02/09/2006 12:36 Comments ||
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#7
Hey, that was fun. How you dood it? Another tech upgrade.
By the way, I just can't fantaisize about Uma, her face *really* reminds me (in a female version) of one of my male relatives, a wiry 6'7" (? about 2m) teenage apprentice carpenter.
That would be terribly wrong and homoerotic, wouldn't it?
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday put off deciding the fate of a peacekeeping mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea to give the United States more time to resolve a long-standing border dispute between the two nations.
The decision means the United States will have another month to get Ethiopia and Eritrea to agree at last on a definitive border, after which the mission's mandate expires. Ethiopia has refused to accept a border ruling from 2002, and Eritrea late last year banned U.N. helicopter flights and expelled Western peacekeepers with the mission in apparent response.
The United States hopes that Eritrea will ease the restrictions on peacekeepers if the border dispute is settled. Otherwise, the Security Council will have to decide whether to scale back the peacekeeping mission. "Obviously we hope that progress will be made and we won't have to face that eventuality," U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said Wednesday. "But one of the things we talked about in the council today was contingency planning for changing the configuration and deployment" of the mission.
Bolton said that in the coming weeks the United States would seek a meeting of witnesses to a 2000 peace accord between the two nations as a way to resolve the dispute. They are the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and the African Union. He also wants a border demarcation commission to resume its work.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/09/2006 00:00 ||
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American archaeologists have made the first discovery of a new tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings since King Tutankhamun's was uncovered in 1922, Egypt's antiquities chief has announced.
The 18th Dynasty tomb included five mummies in intact sarcophagi with coloured funerary masks along with more than 20 large storage jars, sealed with pharaonic seals, Zahi Hawass, head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities said in a statement.
Posted by: Indiana Jones ||
02/09/2006 19:57 Comments ||
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#2
I watched the Discovery show on Nefertiti of the 18th Dynasty last night. It was really interesting. This woman (Egyptologist) figured out who/where she was just from looking into an Egyptian wig found in a museum. This will be great because we have better forensics now and this tomb will not have been disturbed.
President Robert Mugabe has begun to reverse his "insane" land grab and offer some white farmers the chance to lease back their holdings in Zimbabwe. With the fastest shrinking economy in the world, Mr Mugabe has had to backtrack on six years of chaos and his own determination to rid the country of all white farmers.
I don't recall the story about the white farmers having been dropped on their heads. Why would he expect them to return?
Death wish would be the only reason ...
The U-turn is expected to be announced within days. The ruling Zanu-PF party's politburo has been informed and selected journalists in the state-controlled media have been briefed on how to spin the policy reversal.
We'll be looking forward to seeing hundreds of Zim journalists bumping into the walls, because spinning that one will make anyone dizzy.
The government is expected to admit in the next few days that it has only used about 50 per cent of the land it seized. In reality, land economists say the figure of idle land is nearer 80 to 90 per cent. Such waste.....
How big a rube would one have to be to return to such a situation?
#4
Domestic and international economy failing huh Robert ? Well , you got what you wanted , cry me a river , or alternatively find people who actually know how to maintain land , and dont slash and burn , you fuckwad
#6
President Robert Mugabe has begun to reverse his "insane" land grab and offer some white farmers the chance to lease back their holdings in Zimbabwe.
Lease? LEASE? What about those farms that were OWNED by whites that were seized?
Phuque this. As long as Mugabe is still running the show, he and his cohorts should continue to suffer the consequences of their actions.
The deadly H5N1 bird flu virus has been detected on a large commercial chicken farm in Nigeria the first reported outbreak in Africa, the World Organization for Animal Health said Wednesday. The outbreak appears to be restricted to birds, and no human infections have been reported, the Paris-based organization said.
Nigeria said the outbreak was on a farm in Jaji, a village in the northern state of Kaduna. Agriculture Minister Adamu Bello told reporters in Abuja that the deadly strain of the virus was detected in samples taken Jan. 16 from birds on the farm. "We are dealing with a new continent," said Alex Thiermann, an expert for the World Organization for Animal Health, known as the OIE, told The Associated Press.
Bird flu began ravaging poultry stocks across Asia in 2003, forcing the slaughter of more than 100 million birds and jumping to humans. The World Health Organization has confirmed 88 deaths from bird flu out of a total of 165 cases of human infection. Almost all the cases have been in Asia, but the disease recently has been detected in Europe and the Middle East. Though all the people who contracted the disease so far are believed to have been infected through contact with sick birds, experts are concerned the disease could mutate into a form easily spread from human to human, potentially triggering a global pandemic. Experts have long been concerned about Africa's ability to deal with a bird flu outbreak. Thiermann noted that some African countries have "very weak" veterinary systems.
Along with 'very weak' everything else. Except guns and ammo.
The Church of England voted Wednesday to acknowledge its complicity in the global slave trade and to urge governments to fight its modern equivalent: human trafficking. The General Synod, a national assembly elected from the laity and clergy of each diocese, voted unanimously to commemorate next year's 200th anniversary of Britain's abolition of slavery by apologizing to the descendants of slaves for its role in the injustice.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2006 11:18 ||
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#1
Slavery was in every major culture and society from the start of recorded history till the 19th century when Western cultures decided to campaign to end it, largely lead by Anglo-American anti-slavery societies. The West[tm] has nothing to apologize for. It was the source for the modern revulsion to the practice. Sorry, we don't buy your guilt complex anymore. That's your problem.
#2
I submit that the invention and development of the internal combustion engine and the petroleum that fuels them have done more to end slavery than any other source.
The work of humanity (farming, building, traveling) has to get done somehow, and the ICE (plus harnessing electricity) is far more efficient than having to feed clothe house and manage vast armies of human and animal slaves.
If petroleum becomes unavailable (through political or natural means), look for slavery to come back in a huge way.
#4
I am waiting for the Church of England to apologize to the Pope for Henry VIII and give back all the land that he took from the Catholic Church. Seems reasonable given their current policy of apologizing for everything short of breathing.
#5
It's true that slavery existing in the vast majority of cultures throughout history, and still does in a few today (take a bow, Saudi Arabia). But the global slave trade that started in the 16th and 17th centuries, largely to provide a source of labor for New World colonies, was a bit different. Historically, slavery hadn't been racially based (slaves came largely from the ranks of debtors or conquered enemies) and there wasn't an expectation that slaves and their descendants would remain in slavery in perpetuity.
The apology seems bogus - I'm not sure what particular role the Anglican church played in that system other than being the church of the British Empire subjects who participated (along with African Muslims and animists, European Catholics, etc.)- but the particular form of slavery they seem to be talking about was uniquely noxious in important ways.
#6
GH - long before the New World was 'discovered' by the Europeans, there was a thriving slave trade between sub-Saharan Africa and Cairo, Baghdad and Damascus. The Europeans began their slaving in the New World with the locals, who couldn't stand up to the work. They employed other Europeans, but found the available stock short on supply. They then turned to the African source. They didn't conduct massive raids into the country side to gather new property. They simply replaced the Arab traders who were buying them from other Africans. The Africans selling other Africans were doing nothing different than the Romans did to conquered people.
#7
The evidence of US participation all those years ago is very evident in our society today. The amount of African slaves taken to Arabia is claimed (depending on the sources) to be 20-100x those brought to the Americas. Do you notice any walking around in Arabia today?
#8
SOP35: Never been to Arabia, but I'm told you can find a few darker citizens. I remember hearing that eunuchs were popular, which might have a little bearing on populations. And if I recall Lewis' book correctly some of the slaves went to mining areas.
But the US was something of an oddity in the Americas (together with Haiti): most places had to keep importing slaves, but here they lived long enough to reproduce. (See Roll, Jordan, Roll for a history of slavery in the US.)
Posted by: James ||
02/09/2006 16:31 Comments ||
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MOSCOW - Russia is contemplating an ambitious project for voluntary repatriation of ethnic Russians living in the other states once part of the Soviet Union in response to skilled labor shortages due to a shrinking population, media said on Thursday. The business daily Vedomosti said President Vladimir Putin had recently signed an order asking officials in the presidential administration and various other state bodies to draft a program by June 1 for bringing Russians scattered throughout the ex-Soviet empire back to Russia proper.
During tsarist times and especially in the Soviet era Russians were given various incentives -- ranging from well-paid jobs and property grants to forcible exile or imprisonment in labor camps -- to emigrate to lands over which Moscow had won political control. Many remained for generations. But in the 15 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union, many Russians have found themselves stranded as ethnic minorities in countries -- notably in the Baltic states -- where they do not have the same rights or opportunities as the national majority populations.
Estimates on the numbers of ethnic Russians living in ex-Soviet republics vary, but generally range between 20 million and 25 million people. Close to half live in Ukraine, where data compiled by the US government in the 1990s showed around 22 percent of the countrys population was Russian.
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#1
The one thing governments of nations with low birthrates refuse to consider are the obvious reasons for the low birthrates. Ironically, the solution to the problem would make more sense to the Russians than it would in the US or Europe.
Under the best of circumstances, having children in onerous and difficult. People both need to profit from having children, and to have few alternatives to procreation. They also need to have government off their backs, to take the added pressure away from having children.
Unlike in the US and Europe, where people are rewarded by giving them more money and things, in Russia, historically, those who they wanted to produce started by having what they *needed* taken away, and returned only when they are productive.
That is, they are given only potatoes to eat. If they are productive, then they would get salt and pepper. If it was really good, maybe some green beans.
This system is very cost-effective, and it solves the problem of marginality. If you pay a scientist $1,800k a year, how much more brilliant can you expect him to be for another $100k? Isn't it better if he is brilliant for salt and pepper?
Though this is gross exaggeration, the same principles apply to getting people to have more children.
First, build young people modest but roomy, clustered accommodations far away from the big cities and pollution. They perform light work that is dull and rote, and spend their days in boredom. There is nothing to do but make children. But when they have more than several children, then they automatically get upgraded to a better part of town, with more things to do for their children. Good schools, healthy environment, etc.
Essentially, child-oriented suburbs that function as breeding facilities. Keep them dull places to live, and covertly send only people who are the best breeding stock to live there. No jobs for people who you don't want living there, and no people beyond the age of reproduction.
Russia is almost ideally suited for this, because it has huge and pristine open spaces where cities would be easy to build and would be good places to live. The only thing preventing it is their penchant for centralizing everything around Moscow.
Were they to create a dozen such "breeding cities", their demographic problems would be over.
Stop abortion on demand. Make it available only in cases that endanger the physical life of the mother. Provide free pre-natal/obstetrics care for all. Unwanted babies could be given up for adoption and the government could subsidize adoptive parents to encourage adoptions.
Make human life a primary value, an end in itself instead of a means to some other end, and you'll have more of it.
#4
How did the Chinese up their population during their brief spat with the Soviets? Did they mandate children or give some kind of promo to encourage? Seemed to work in spades.
Russia should (a) outlaw abortions for ten years (b) ensure the condoms have an intolerable failure rate (c) dump viagra into the water supply.
#5
Although I know a lot of ethnic Estonians that would be popping champagne if this were to happen, the only real migration back to Russia took place from 91-94, and the chances of a significant amount of others returns are slim and none.
Simply, even for the "alien" Russian who doesn't qualify for Estonian or Latvian citizenship, (the can, however, pick up a Russian Federation passport any time they want, but they don't) the quality of life is so much better, and the wages so much greater, by staying in the Baltic States.
Plus, the kids of the migrant workers that came during the Russification projects speak the langugage with a little bit of a "Baltish" accent. I've been told by several that they're seen as outsiders when they travel to Russia.
Maybe they'll get some people from Central Asia, but not from the Baltic States.
#6
The Baltic States are currently very prosperous due, in part, to having surplus labor and a capitalistic economic structure. A large emmigration to Russia would be a losing proposition for all involved -- maybe the Algerians would benefit.
As for home grown population increases, I don't know of any secular society that needs to build maternity wards. Religion seems to curtail self-absorbtion which leads to parenthood. Britney Spears may have a child to self-validate, but she won't be having four.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/09/2006 18:01 Comments ||
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Buried 300 years before official founding of city by Romulus and Remus, then covered over by [Julius] Caesar's Forum.
The ashes of an ancient chief or priest who lived three centuries before the legendary founding of Rome have been unearthed in the heart of the city, archaeologists report. The remains were discovered late January inside a funerary urn at the bottom of a deep pit, along with bowls and jars, all encased in a hutlike box.
The artifacts date to about 1000 B.C. The size and richness of the tomb suggest that the ashes are the remains of a high-ranking individual, said the researchers who made the discovery.
Roberto Meneghini, of the Department of Cultural Heritage, is directing the excavations at Caesar's Forum. He says several shepherd villages rose on the hills of Rome before the city was founded. "We have evidence of settlements in the area dating back to the 14th century B.C. They were small tribes of a few dozen people," he said. "They federated in the eighth century B.C. under the rule of a leader remembered as the legendary Romulus." Roman myth holds that Romulus, son of the war god Mars and a human woman, founded Rome around 800 B.C.
#1
Interesting, that would put his death Contemporaneously with King Soloman's reign in Israel, and the beginning of the Temple construction in Jerusalem thereof.
A Taiwanese man and a Frenchman were charged Thursday with attempting to buy and export to China cruise missiles, an F-16 fighter engine and other military parts and weaponry.
Ko-Suen "Bill" Moo, of Taipei, was also accused in the indictment of being a covert Chinese agent and attempting to pay a $500,000 bribe to gain release from U.S. custody. He has been held since November and has pleaded not guilty to the illegal export charges. The other man indicted, Maurice Serge Voros of Paris, remains at large.
The activities described in the indictment are illegal under the Arms Export Control Act. Since 2000, there have been more than 400 investigations into alleged efforts by Chinese agents or front companies to buy or illegally divert U.S.-made weapons, military components and sensitive technology, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.
According to the indictment, Moo deposited $3.9 million in a Swiss bank account to pay for weaponry after he allegedly met with people he thought could arrange the sale. They were in fact undercover U.S. agents. If convicted on all counts, Moo would face up to 50 years in prison and Voros could get up to 35 years behind bars.
Posted by: ed ||
02/09/2006 18:55 ||
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HERE'S a challenge to all of those bravehearts currently banging on about how they'd fight to their dying breath to preserve our right to free speech.
Pick up your gun, use up your Virgin air miles and go shoot those fundamental religious fanatics who've just suppressed a 62-year-old knight of the British realm's right to express himself.
I'm talking about Sir Mick Jagger having two songs censored by American TV networks during Sunday's Super-bowl, for fear they would upset the country's dominant Christian right. Did he call Jesus gay or Mary a whore? No. He mentioned a grain-eating farmyard animal. ....
A really nasty attempt to deflect anger from the muslims and toward the US. Our censorship idiots don't help.
#1
"Sir" Mick was hired and paid a bazillion simolians to do a show (and a crappy one it was, too). Under those cirumstances, I think those doing the hiring and providing the venue have a perfect right to demand exactly what they paid for.
This is a commerce issue, not a free speech issue.
Posted by: SLO Jim ||
02/09/2006 16:17 Comments ||
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#2
For what Mick was paid, if told to, he would have sung, "I'm a little tea pot, short and stout." He can sing what he wants on his own dime.
Posted by: ed ||
02/09/2006 16:29 Comments ||
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#3
The Mirror might recall that olde englishe saying, him what pays the piper picks the tune.
#5
Fox's transmitters. They can broadcast or not as they choose. The government didn't tell them what to do, they did it because they give a rat's ass about what their customers want.
If Jagger wants to say bullshit on TV, he can pay for the time. As he was being paid, he can deal with what his employers want and get over it.
(And, really, if I were British, I wouldn't be bragging that Jagger's got a knighthood. Do they give them out with bags of coke?)
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/09/2006 17:11 Comments ||
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#6
Actually its the public airwaves. If the broadcast had been done on cable there would not have been a bit of censorship. We manage our public airwaves the same way we manage our public lands. We don't permit strip mining or clear cutting. We don't even permit the display of Jesus in a cradle on the town square anymore for Christmas. However, on your private land, on your private network, you have a lot of leeway, just ask Mr. Stern.
#9
Pick up your gun, use up your Virgin air miles and go shoot those fundamental religious fanatics who've just suppressed a 62-year-old knight of the British realm's right to express himself.
Er...didn't the Brits ban guns, particularly handguns, not too long ago? So, even if somehow these folks being incited had managed to retain their guns somehow, wouldn't they be considered terrorists if they boarded airliners with those same banned weapons with the intent to use them on foreign soil - and isn't the incitement to citizens to band together, invade, and use weapons against citizens of a foreign country an incitement to war against that country?
Just a few questions I'd like this particular moonbat to answer...
When John Rapanos began moving sand on his property in 1988, federal officials showed up, ordered him to stop, and began what has turned into an 18-year battle over the federal government's authority over wetlands.
On Tuesday, Feb. 21, Pacific Legal Foundation will argue the case of Rapanos, a 70-year-old grandfather of six, before the United States Supreme Court. The case will decide whether the federal government has authority over virtually all water in the United States or whether wetlands far from navigable waters are solely under the jurisdiction of states.
No one disputes the federal government's authority over waterways that can be used for shipping or commerce and wetlands adjacent to those waterways. But, in Rapanos's case, the wetlands are 20 miles from any navigable water.
"We are asking the Court to clearly limit the federal government's power and properly leave regulation of inland wetlands to states and other local jurisdictions, consistent with the law and the Constitution," said Reed Hopper, a principal attorney for Pacific Legal Foundation, which is representing Rapanos.
"Overzealous federal prosecutors have used every tool available to punish a 70-year-old Michigan grandfather for moving sand from one end of his property to another, even asking a judge to put him in prison for five years."
"This case is about the federal government overstepping its authority, not about whether our water will be clean," Hopper said. "In fact, government agencies that provide clean water for tens of millions of Americans are supporting this landowner because they want the Court to put an end to federal overreaching."
The case comes before the High Court five years after the Court rebuked federal officials for asserting authority over small inland ponds in Illinois. In that case, the Court said the water was outside the jurisdiction of the federal government.
Despite that decision, the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have continued to pursue Rapanos and others who alter remote inland wetlands without federal permits.
Rapanos's case has drawn the interest of groups representing hundreds of water agencies, who have joined amicus briefs in support of his position.
"Agencies on the front lines of providing clean water for tens of millions of Americans support Rapanos because they have seen first-hand the abuse of the law by the federal government," Hopper said. "Drainage ditches, concrete water runoffs, even pipes -- the federal government considers them all to be within its jurisdiction. In the federal government's view, every drop of water in the country is within its reach."
"Congress never gave federal officials such authority and our Constitution clearly leaves that power to the states," Hopper said.
A broad coalition representing hundreds of government agencies, utilities, water users, and environmental interests are among those supporting Rapanos. They include:
-- The State of Alaska, which has more than half the nation's wetlands within its jurisdiction.
-- The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the nation's largest urban water district.
-- The Association of California Water Agencies, which represents about 90 percent of the public water agencies in California.
-- The Western Urban Water Coalition, a national coalition of municipal water agencies that serve most of the largest cities in the western United States and a total of 31 million urban water consumers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, and Washington.
-- The Western Coalition of Arid States, which includes more than 100 water and wastewater utilities in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, and Texas.
-- The State of Utah.
-- The 1.1 million-member National Association of Realtors.
-- The National Federation of Independent Businesses Legal Foundation.
-- The Foundation for Environmental and Economic Progress.
-- The former head of Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality.
"A broad coalition of people have come together to stand side by side with a man who has been mercilessly pursued by the federal government," Hopper said. "Unfortunately, government officials have taken it upon themselves to rewrite the law and give themselves power that Congress and our Constitution never intended."
"When one citizen is abused by government, we all lose," Hopper said.
#1
We'll see if the new justices back up Justices Kennedy and Souter in their belief that all property belongs to the state and individuals or sub-administration units are simply stewards of the 'peoples' property.
Virginia Montague Evans Puller, the widow of U.S. Marine Corps hero Lt. Gen. Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller, died Saturday at her home in Saluda. She was 97.
A funeral service is scheduled for Saturday at Christ Church in Middlesex County, where her husband was buried 35 years ago.
Virginia Montague Evans was 29 when she married then-Marine Capt. Lewis Burwell Puller in Saluda. The new Mrs. Puller followed her husband while he served in China, Hawaii and across the United States. During World War II and the Korean War, she returned to Saluda and raised their children - Virginia and twins, Martha and Lewis Jr. - while "Chesty" Puller burnished his reputation as a courageous Marine. During his military career, he earned the Navy Cross a record five times.
The Navy Cross is the corps' second-highest decoration behind the Medal of Honor.
After Puller's retirement from the Marine Corps in 1955, the couple settled in a house in Saluda near where Mrs. Puller grew up.
Lewis Burwell Puller died in 1971. The couple's son, Lewis Burwell Puller Jr., the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "Fortunate Son," died in 1994.
Mrs. Puller is survived by her two daughters and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
#1
RIP Ma'am - your husband's legend will never die. On a separate note, iff memory is correct, am I correct in believing that Hollywood has yet to do a per se film on Chesty Puller??? Not many films on KOREA 1 either.
#2
If it hasn't already been done, Hollywierd won't do it. Have to wait for the next generation before the great stories will be told. Too bad - cause then all those that served will be gone to make sure it's accurate.
Support for Hillary Clinton's Presidential bid has slipped over the past month to the lowest levels recorded in two dozen surveys over the past year. Today, just 27% of Americans say they would definitely vote for the former first lady while 43% would definitely crawl naked over broken glass to vote against. Still, 59% of Americans believe it is somewhat or very likely that she will be the Democrat's nominee in 2008.
Among Democrats, the number who would definitely vote for Clinton dropped 11 percentage points over the past two weeks. New York's junior Senator is viewed as politically liberal by 45% of voters (little changed from two weeks ago). Thirty-three percent (33%) see her as politically moderate. Collectively, todays Hillary Meter places Senator Clinton a net 53 points to the left of the nation's political center. That's unchanged over the past two weeks. And the far-left considers her a sell-out for voting for the war. Go figure
#1
But did this poll include the voters interred cemetaries of the major cities? I think not, and they do have an effect on the outcome of American politics.
#2
I still don't take her lightly, if only because we don't know what the circumstances will be in '08.
For instance, if Osama and Zawahiri are caught/confirmed dead by say, the fall of '07,will voters want to keep up the fight or will they want to "move on"?
Slick Willie won with just 43% of the popular vote after the Cold War ended.
In light of that, I'm not willing to adopt the "Hillary has no chance" attitude without knowing the socio-political environment in 2008.
#4
What is the percentage who would crawl naked over broken glass to vote against her?
Posted by: Formerly Dan ||
02/09/2006 19:50 Comments ||
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#5
count me in. I can grow more skin
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/09/2006 19:55 Comments ||
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#6
Agree with CLEARONG on this one - IRAN, NORTH KOREA, ....TAIWAN during Dubya's last term is as much about electing Hillary andor a Dem POTUS to the WH as is for the issues or controversies involv those nations. ONCE A DEM POTUS IS BACK IN THE WH, OWG > THE SCENARIO EXISTS AMER's ENEMIES MAY NOT ALLOW ANY GOP-CONSERVATIVE TO TAKE IT BACK WITHOUT WAR.
The ultimate Attention Whore.....
Hat Tip Michelle Malkin The journey toward truth often begins with one simple act of faith and determination.
Cindy Sheehan spent months searching for answers for why her son had to give his life in Iraq, and months traveling across the country wading through the spin and the lies seeking a truth that never came. When enough was at long last enough, Cindy went to Crawford, Texas and sat down.
And in that one quiet moment of determination, a ripple of truth became a great river, joined in its journey by the tributaries of thousands of others who could not ignore the simple power of one grieving mother asking, "Why?"
Cindy has become an inspiration to many who fight for truth. She is an example of the extraordinary power we each possess to make change in the world.
Because we in the progressive community are on this journey with her, Cindy is generously donating some of her time to help raise money for the YearlyKos Convention (see below for more info on YearlyKos).
You are bidding on a speaking engagement with Cindy Sheehan. Cindy will come speak to a group of your choice (within the continental US)*, and any speaking fees and transportation costs will be waived (your group will only need to provide lodging for the night).
This is a wonderful opportunity to treat your group to an evening of motivation, inspiration, truth, and the indomitable power of a mother'shatred for her son's sacrifice love... and you get to help out the progressive cause, to boot! How great is that?
* Note: Because of the obvious potential for right-wing shenanigans, Cindy retains the right to refuse to speak to groups antithetical to her cause or offensive to her beliefs. So much for the 'light of truth'.
If no group can be agreed upon, the winning bidder will receive a full refund.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2006 9:41 Comments ||
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#4
The proceeds of this auction benefit the YearlyKos organization. YearlyKos is dedicated to organizing and supporting an annual meeting of progressive netroot activists. The first YearlyKos will provide 1500 convention attendants and tens of thousands of online participants (via webcasting and live blogging) with training sessions, panel discussions, and lectures by leading lights of the blogosphere (including activists, politicians, and technical experts). Most importantly, it will provide the opportunity for progressive citizens to meet with each other and form connections. Our auction proceeds will go toward our effort to keep the registration cost at an affordable level and include as many people as possible in this important meeting-of-minds. Non-profit status pending in the state of Pennsylvania.
Please bid generously!
The 2006 YearlyKos convention will be held in Las Vegas at the Riviera Hotel, June 8 - 11. You can find out more at www.yearlykos.org.
#5
We should bid this out the roof, and then let her deny us because it is a pro Iraq war group. Thus blowing out the whole process. This attention whore is selling her dead son's memory on Ebay. She has reached a new low.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
02/09/2006 9:56 Comments ||
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#6
Calling her a whore is demeaning to whores. Whores don't pretend about what or who they are. plus I have infinately more respect for whores that I do cindy.
#7
You guys should check out the other items that Yearly Kos has sold! Hillarious! A "authentic" George W. Bush voodoo doll (from New Orleans...yeah right), and a pair of Bosnian socks, that these yahoos paid $50-100 for! They've probably collected about a total of $400 from their previous sales, hardly covers the airfare, doesn't it?
Posted by: BA ||
02/09/2006 10:37 Comments ||
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#8
And in that one quiet moment of determination, a ripple of truth became a great river, joined in its journey by the tributaries of thousands of others . . .
. . . channelled through the elaborate flood-control system of the mainstream press, cleansed of all extremist moonbattery by the sewage treatment plant of a professional media relations firm, and piped into America's homes in a fluoridated stream of 10-second sound bites.
Posted by: Mike ||
02/09/2006 10:45 Comments ||
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#15
I think we should pool our money and place a bid from some remote location (Fairbanks Alaska or Bagdad, Iraq) where it would cost more then the bid to ship Mother Cindy Shithan..... From the Progressive Party of --location--.
I'm sure the good citizens of Bagdad would welcome her with open 'arms'.....
That kettle is awfully black. Sen. Hillary "Thunder Thighs" Rodham Clinton on Wednesday accused Republicans of "playing the fear card" of terrorism to win elections and said Democrats cannot reveal their radical left-wing agenda keep quiet if they want to win in November. The New York Democrat, facing re-election this year and considered a potential White House candidate in 2008, said Republicans won the past two elections on the issue of national security and "they're doing it to us again." It couldn't be because they really are more serious about defending the country, could it? Nah.
She said a speech by presidential adviser and bogeyman of the LeftKarl Rove two weeks ago showed the GOP election message is: "All we've got is fear and we're going to keep playing the fear card."
"What do we have to worry about? Name one country in the world that dislikes us!"
In that speech, Rove suggested Republicans can prevail in 2006 by truthfully showing Democrats had undermined terrorism-fighting efforts by questioning Bush's authority to allow wiretapping without getting court approval first. Clinton said a convention of United Auto Workers that Democrats should not be afraid to question Bush's handling of the war as long as they avoid mentioning what they would do differently. "I take a back seat to nobody when it comes to fighting terrorism and standing up for national homeland security, as long as it doesn't involve spending money on the military, or letting enemy sympathizers be deported" she said. She added, "Since when has it been part of American patriotism to keep our mouths shut?" It would be a part of common decency if you would shut up.
White House spokesman Ken Lisaius responded: "It sounds like from reports that the full moon political season is certainly starting early for some."
#1
I must admit, she looks different without her leather hip boots, whip and thin mustache.
Posted by: Captain America ||
02/09/2006 0:14 Comments ||
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#2
It is the Classic DhimmiDonk Gambit, screech that the other guy is doing precisely what you are doing. High Obfuscation and Mongering Quotients. A'skeers the small children and confuses the middle of the roaders.
#4
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday accused Republicans of "playing the fear card" of terrorism to win elections and..
Translation: "Terrorism Is No Big Deal."
She added, "Since when has it been part of American patriotism to keep our mouths shut?"
The Big Problem with her and her ilk running their mouths is that they haven't offered anything reasonable in terms of alternatives other than appeasement and/or capitulation.
#5
"All we've got is fear and we're going to keep playing the fear card."
Card played by Dems with blacks and other minorities, pro-abortionists, fem-nazis, university professors, etc. "If those Republicans get power, you will be destroyed!". Like that doesn't work, why keep playing it?
#6
Hillary Clinton is correct. What she is saying is really old news. It is a given that Bush-Rove are exploiting The Iraq War for political gain and winning elections. They played the "fear card in Prez election 2004 and Rove has stated that they are going to do it again in midterm elections 2006.
Posted by: Common Sense ||
02/09/2006 11:56 Comments ||
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So youre saying Bush-Rove are NOT exploting the Iraq war for partisan political gain?
Posted by: Common Sense ||
02/09/2006 13:12 Comments ||
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#10
Were is all the bad stuff that the Dhimmi party said was going to happen when Gore didn't get elected? Fear mongering is the first and last tactic of the dhimmi party.
Sorry Jackasses we are better off now than we were under Clinton and we live on a school teachers salary. Everything in our family life is better under Bush. I guess that is why we voted for him. We fear you Democrats. You sure have screwed up the state we live in.
#11
Your right SPOD - we are better off under Bush. For on we don't have to face Mecca to pray to a false God in the name of a False Prophet (we dont even have to pray if we dont want to) under pain of Death (or humiliation and tax).
When I try to imagine what Gore would have done after 9/11 I thank God for George W Bush!
This is just the same-old Donk FUD (Fear, Uncertainly, and Doupt) they always spread.
The majority of the country disagrees with you and thinks the country is heading in the WRONG
direction under Bush and the Republican congress according to most major polls.
Furthemore if Gore had been elected Prez, I dont think 9-11-01 would have happened.
Posted by: Common Sense ||
02/09/2006 14:36 Comments ||
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#13
facts mean nothing to Common Idiocy - ignore
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/09/2006 15:11 Comments ||
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#14
"Furthemore if Gore had been elected Prez, I dont think 9-11-01 would have happened."
Man, it takes some industrial-strength stupidity to believe something like that. Are you on drugs or something????
Posted by: Dave D. ||
02/09/2006 15:13 Comments ||
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#15
there were warning signs that I think Gore would have reviewed and taken action on rather than arrogantly telling the people telling him these things to "piss off" as Bush did prior to 9-11.
Posted by: Common Sense ||
02/09/2006 15:21 Comments ||
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#16
CS - Polls aren't worth the bullshit the're based on. Anyone can produce a poll which says exactly what they want.
The only poll which matters was back in November '04. I think the November '06 poll will be more of the same. You see people are learning about the little tricks used to (for example) influence polls (Question: Do you wish we did not have to go into Iraq. Answer: Yes. Conclusion: most Americans oppose the war in Iraq!). And the tricks the Media uses to influence public opinion (Highlight the deaths and bombing in IRAQ! Never mention the good news (reconstructions, Democracy taking a foothold). And if some idiot soldiers do something stupid gloat and focus on it exclusively for an entire year!).
And if Al was president 9/11 would have happened -- and Al would have simply tried to 'understand why they hate us' while bending over and grabing his ankles.....
The majority of Americans were against the Civil War and just about every war we've been in.
You liberoids liked the Civil War (that was waged by a Republican prez)
Posted by: Captain America ||
02/09/2006 15:32 Comments ||
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#18
Those were the same warning signs the Clinton/Gore administration chose to ignore for eight years. I have yet to see any action by AG that shows he would have done anything besides continue selling the nation's most sophisticated technology to the Chinese. And I'll add that these illegal technology transfers were the prime reason I voted against AG in 2000. I did not trust him on nat;l security issues.
those are your opinions and I can respect that, I just totally disagree with you.
In my humble opinion, President Bush means well, but he is a incompetent bumbler, who makes bad decisions that cause more problems than they solve. (spread democracy to middle east, hamas elected, attack iraq-no wmids are a prime examples)
Politics historically happens in cycles and over the last few years Republicans have been in the controlling position, but it is my firm belief that all of that is about to change. The majority of american people are starting to get sick of Bush and the Republicans and I think it's going to show in 06 & 08.
You repubs seem to forget that Clinton was in office for 8 yrs and at one point Dems controlled all three major division of govt as the repubs do now.
Posted by: Common Sense ||
02/09/2006 15:45 Comments ||
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#20
forget? That's why we took them away - because you lost the electorate in all three institutions. Now you're losing the Judicial branch as well. Yeehaw!
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/09/2006 16:01 Comments ||
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#21
The diffence is Democrats started with control and immediately lost control of the House abd Senate.
1992: Clinton elected with 43% of votes (Clinton owes presidency to Perot).
1994: Democrats lose both House and Senate.
2000: Bush wins Electoral College
2002: Republicans increase margin in House and Senate.
Posted by: ed ||
02/09/2006 16:17 Comments ||
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#22
"You repubs seem to forget that Clinton was in office for 8 yrs and at one point Dems controlled all three major division of govt as the repubs do now."
Gore was in office for eight years too. Look where it got him.
Don't assume an endless cycle of Republican/Democratic oscillations. This recent Dean, Gore, Kerry, Polosi lunacy is pretty darned inept compared to the likes of Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy, and Johnson. And Carter and Clinton had best shut up because their Iran/OBL records will make interesting political ads.
#23
Made a mistake:
2002: GOP wins Senate going from 49 R:50 D:1 I (Socialist) to 51 R:48 D:1 I
Posted by: ed ||
02/09/2006 16:23 Comments ||
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#24
ed:
For some reason you seem to think those repub results are permanent...I dont think so.
the bottom line on clinton is that he won, not once but twice and all three branches were under
Democratic control during his term for a period.
You seem to forget that democrats dominated the congress for much of the 20th centurn and its only in the last 20 years or so that repubs started to get a piece of that pie..lol
I give Newt Gingrich a lot of credit for that because he had good ideas and knew how to sell them to the public.
Posted by: Common Sense ||
02/09/2006 16:27 Comments ||
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#25
there were warning signs that I think Gore would have reviewed and taken action on rather than arrogantly telling the people telling him these things to "piss off" as Bush did prior to 9-11
You are mistaken. Our intelligence services were far too hamstrung prior to 9-11 to deliver the proper information to any sitting President, be it Bush or Gore. Presumably you are referring to what is known as the Able Dangerscandal, which strikes me as complete fiasco that occurred due to an excess of political correctness in the FBIs legal department. Yes, the warning signs were there. Unfortunately, there didnt happen to be in the oval office.
Would Gore have acted swiftly, decisively, and (most importantly) controversially before tragedy struck had he known? We will never know for certain, but I have my doubts.
I think you seriously undestimate the democrats and overestimate the republicans...
the problem for democrats is they keep writing off the south/midwest and those are the areas where the republicans have made most of their recent gains. democrats have got to get down there and fight for those voters.
Essentially if Gore or Kerry had one just one or two southern/midwestern states, the results would have been different..Bush hardly won by a landslide in either of those elections, which is what you try to make it sound like.
Posted by: Common Sense ||
02/09/2006 16:31 Comments ||
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#27
CS, you tried to state some equivalency between Clinton and Bush. I showed you where you were wrong. Clinton came into office with both House and Senate control. He then proceeded to lose both in the next election and never regained either houses. Bush came into office with only the House under GOP control. The next election, the GOP won control of the Senate and increased House margins. Hardly equivalent. LoL in you want, but Democrats control neither the Office of the President, House of Representatives, Senate, and now the Supreme Court. If it makes you feel better, you'll always have the Washington Post and the New York Times. Talk about Selected, not Elected.
Posted by: ed ||
02/09/2006 16:37 Comments ||
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#28
ed:
I give credit to Newt Gingrich for what he accomplished during the Clinton years for republicans. What I am trying to get thru your head is that what republicans currently have isnt PERMANENT. IF you believe that then you are deluding yourself. Democrats at some point in the near furture are going to start making a comeback as republican voters, particularly the middle class/lower middle class and independents realize that they were duped by Karl Rove and company.
Posted by: Common Sense ||
02/09/2006 16:44 Comments ||
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#29
Problem is if Gore/Kerry had focused on a southern state they may will have simply traded for a northeastern state or two.
Like I said I think a number of things have emerged in the past decade or so which will shift the political landscape. One is the Internet and Blogs - where people can get their own un-predigested news and have open discussions (like here on Rantburg) or see the 'closed' discussions (such as on DU / KOS / etc....). No longer can Cronkite declare the Tet offensive a 'humiliating defeat' - Rather / Mapes tired much the same with the National Guard story and were busted - by bloggers. Back before the Internet & Blogs, Rather and Maples probably would have gotten away with it (Along with the silencing of the Switftboats) and we would have President Kerry right now.
You would have had President Kerry or Gore if
they had won Ohio and Florida respectively.
thats how close those elections were. the electorate is essentially split down the middle.
democrats cannot write off the south as they have in the last two prez elections and expect to win.
Posted by: Common Sense ||
02/09/2006 16:57 Comments ||
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#32
CS is just playing the newest game in the Dem's strategy book. Its a version of killing your parents and throwing yourself on the mercy of the court cause you're an ophan.
The Dem leadership at the national level have chosen the anti-war strategy just like the Whigs during the War of 1812. They know they've handed the Reps the means to hammer them in the next election. So they play this hand which is "Don't you use that". Come on, the Dems for years have played a similar card with the black community for decades - "the Republicans hate black people". They play it all the time, they play it at every opportunity. They just played it again at the funeral the other day. They never give their opponent the benefit of the doubt that there are principles of real 'equality' before the law and that 'regardless of color, race or creed' means exactly that. Nope, nope, the Reps just hate black people. Keep saying it and don't let up. Now its our turn on the war.
CS and his cell are trying to sell the 'guilt' card so that Reps won't make up commercials that consist of nothing but the words and images of what the Dem leaders and leadership have said about this war for years. CS knows that the successes in the ME can no longer be covered up or obstructed by their patrons in the MSM. CS knows the MSM can't be relied upon to protect his buds.
News bulletin for you CS. We don't buy your guilt trips anymore. We're going to fight this in the same manner that you, your Kossock buds, your DU buddies, and Mr. Soros played. Now the old fart Republicans in Congress and still in the upper levels of the RNC, don't have the guts to play the game and actually still believe that they can rationally convince your crowd that they're not Nazis. The Blogsphere however is not beholding to the RNC or the old farts. We don't care to be loved by neo-Stalinists or transnational progressives. We understand that they won't take prisoners and therefore we won't either.
Now be prepared to take your lumps this November. And its not going to get better anytime soon.
Your best bet is to plan 8 to 10 year out to reconstitute the national party with Dems like Bill Richardson in NM and other local and state leaders who won't be beholding to the Kos Kiddies. Heck, even Mao turned on the Red Guard to retain control of the party.
#33
CS, Republican control will last as long as the Dems continue to endanger the USA. You would be surprised at the number of non-Republicans here (like me) who will never vote for a Democrat as long they continue their unthinking, uncritical, head in the sand policies wrt the true nature of our enemies. Just to make your day. In the 2004 elections, I pulled the straight Republican ticket for the first time in my life. I'll be damned if I'd vote for an members of a party that nominated a traitorous ponce like Kerry to become the president of the United States.
PS. Re: Ohio and Florida. you are forgetting two little factors. The red states are fast gaining population (and electoral votes). In addition redistricting is occuring, placing even more districts out of Democratic reach.
Posted by: ed ||
02/09/2006 17:10 Comments ||
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#34
CS, Republican control will last as long as the Dems continue to endanger the USA.
This is what a lot of Democrats don't seem to understand - the first order of business is survival.
Maroon their type on a deserted island, and they probably wouldn't last very long.
#35
The Dems should have learned in 2004 that you've got to have something better than snooty Kerry/Kennedy Monday-morning quarterbacking to win. The "known" Dems have a legacy that is not pretty and will kill them in the political ads.
As for the south, they controlled it once. I started out as a registered southern Democrat like my parents -- but we haven't actually voted socialist, er - Democratic, for a long time. Maybe that's because we want people of good principle in office, not the socialists, poll-chasers, and raving lunatics that are on the Democratic podiums today.
#36
FORT SUMTER was fired upon or defended by ordinary honest men whom predomin did what they did for their beliefs, and under God, NOT LIKE NOW WITH THE WAFFLERS. So many escargots, Not enuff maple hotcakes or steaks.
In 1942, the slogan went Angrezon Bharat chhodon. Now, it sounds more like Angrezon Bharat aao.
At a time when public schools have sprouted like mushrooms after rain, new players have hit upon a novel way of grabbing eyeballs: Hiring an expatriate headmaster or director, primarily from Britain.
"At least three of my clients from places as different as New Delhi, Dehra Dun and Ranchi have asked me to find one," says former Doon School principal Gulab Ramchandani, who now works as an education facilitator and helps businessmen set up public schools.
The prohibitive pay packet that a foreigner demands is hardly a deterrent. Industry sources say the trend started a couple of years ago. But now, the demand is so high that London-based education consultants are often roped in to help with recruitments.
These companies do the spade work: advertising in British newspapers The London Times ' educational supplement being a favoured spot conducting initial interviews and short-listing candidates for final selection.
Gabbitas, a London-based education consultant firm, admits it has received enquiries from schools in India seeking British-qualified staff.
Earlier, low financial reward was often a deterrent to candidates. But the stance is shifting since "some schools now offer more competitive packages," said Wendy Fidler of Gabbitas in an email response.
Industry sources reveal some expatriate professionals earn over Rs 2 lakh per month, including social security benefits. That is more than twice what an Indian principal makes in a very good public school.
There are exceptions though. One school says it paid only about Rs 75,000 per month to an expatriate principal. 77Rs(Rupee)=1 Pound; 44Rs=1 USD. A lakh=100,000 Rupees. Therefore 2 lakh=about 2,600 Pounds/month, or $4,500/month, $54,000/yr. British headmasters in Britain aren't paid diddly.
#5
I am soo gad I joined the Army. That was just frightening.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
02/09/2006 22:03 Comments ||
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#6
It's clear that the men on that ship don't have enough to do. Can't they swab the flight deck, or go to general quarters and launch a deckload strike on North Korea, or something?
Posted by: Mike ||
02/09/2006 22:07 Comments ||
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#7
That was GREAT! That seems to really capture the spirit of a warship. LOVED IT!
It may not be the Walrus, but it's apparently the Walrus' cousin's uncle's college roomate, or something...
SKUNKS WORKING
Lockheed Martin Advanced Development Projects is making perhaps the first realistic tests of a hybrid airship--a concept that dates back many decades but that is just now being tried at a significant scale.
The Skunk Works had secretly built the craft and hoped for a quiet first flight at its Palmdale, Calif., facility, but a few passers-by noticed the strange object in the sky.
The Defense Dept. is showing interest in two categories of airships--those that can carry large cargo at low altitude, exemplified by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) Walrus program, and those that can operate in high-altitude low-wind conditions and remain on station for long periods of time. The configuration of the Skunks Works ship indicates it is the former--a hybrid heavy-load carrier...
...A hybrid airship derives most of its lift by being filled with a lighter-than-air gas such as helium. Overall, it is heavier than air and gains the final 20% or so of lift by flying like an aircraft, but with slow takeoff and landing speeds that allow operations from short unprepared strips.
The Skunk Works made the first flight of its "P-791" testbed on Jan. 31 at its facility on the Palmdale Air Force Plant 42 airport. The manned flight was about a 5-min. circuit around the airport in the morning and appeared to be successful. The company did not announce or want to discuss the flight.
The P-791 is not part of a government contract, but rather an independent research and development project by the Skunk Works to better understand airship capabilities and technologies, such as materials, a company official says. However, it may also be a quarter-scale prototype of a heavy-lifter.
TO GAIN MORE SPAN TO ACT LIKE a wing, the P-791 is three pressurized lobes joined together. An observer of the first flight says it was about the size of three Fuji blimps blended together. The Fuji blimp, a Skyship 600 model, is 206 ft. long. That suggests the P-791 would have a gross lift of roughly 3-5 tons.
Not enough for the Sparrowhawk fighters... yet. And too bad for the conspiracy minded, it isn't triangular, the way JP Aerospace's designs are...
Posted by: Phil ||
02/09/2006 17:53 ||
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Link ||
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#1
Borgboy waits in hope for the re-emergence of "Project Orion"...
#2
That high altitude, low-movement dirigible would seem to be just the thing for Israel, in that it could give them constant surveillance of the Paleo lands, and they would be able to identify and counterbattery a missile site even before it was fully set up.
A Walrus, on the other hand, might be best adapted with an "airwing"-type lift (see airwing.com), which is a grain-harvester-looking prop believed to be more powerful, and quieter, than a helicopter.
Al Reuters. Trust, but verify.
The military's role in deterring attacks on commercial satellites is set to be strengthened in the first broad overhaul of U.S. space policy in a decade, a U.S. official said on Wednesday. The policy would remove any ambiguity about official responsibility for figuring out who was behind any attack on U.S.-owned commercial satellites, said Air Force Col. Anthony Russo, head of the U.S. Strategic Command's space division.
Russo said recent drafts of the policy, which he said could be announced within months, did not rule out weapons in space. Instead, they speak of taking "all appropriate measures to defend our space assets," he told a reporters at a forum organized by the private Center for Media and Security. "All appropriate measures is a pretty broad statement," Russo said. "It doesn't rule out weapons in space. It doesn't say go build them either." Wink. Wink.
Currently, no known weapons specifically designed to apply force are stationed in space -- an absence that Russia, China and many others who support weakening US power strongly support.
Russo described President George W. Bush's emerging national space policy as an "evolution" from the current one, issued in 1996 by then-President Bill Clinton. "The new bit clarifies that (the military's responsibility) extends to commercial assets that are not necessarily providing U.S. government services," he said.
Responding to an attack could fall to U.S. law enforcement, the State Department or another government agency depending on the case, Russo said. Putting the military squarely in the equation should act as a deterrent to those who would interfere with satellites, Russo said "because right now they can do it and expect to get away with it."
Tens of thousands of incidents involving possible attacks on satellites are reported each year, he said. But only a handful of these turn out to be deliberate efforts to pirate services or interfere for political reasons. "I see that trend increasing," Russo said, adding that he expected the U.S. military to get more resources to carry out the projected space-mission expansion.
The United States is increasingly dependent on commercial space companies for national security-related work as well as essential telecommunications and financial services.
The United States will consider introducing a resolution in the UN Security Council to step up international pressure on military-ruled Myanmar for alleged human rights abuses, the State Department said on Tuesday. "We would look at that option very, very carefully and we would look at all UN options, all UN options," Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian affairs Christopher Hill told a Congressional hearing after legislators pressed for such a resolution.
Washington put the international spotlight on Myanmar in December when it successfully pushed the Security Council, despite initial objections from China and Russia, to hold a briefing on human rights and other problems in the Southeast Asian state for the first time.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2006 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Neil Entwistle, whose wife and infant daughter were found shot to death in their home, was arrested for their murders Thursday in Great Britain, the Middlesex District Attorney's office said. 
PARIS - France honored Uma Thurman on Tuesday, proclaiming the "classic and disconcerting beauty" a knight in the Order of Arts and Letters. "We welcome Uma Thurman, a model-actress, admired throughout the world and especially in our country, France," said Cannes Film Festival Director Gilles Jacob. He presented the award to Thurman on behalf of the country's Culture Ministry.
President 
The deadly H5N1 bird flu virus has been detected on a large commercial chicken farm in Nigeria the first reported outbreak in Africa, the World Organization for Animal Health said Wednesday. The outbreak appears to be restricted to birds, and no human infections have been reported, the Paris-based organization said.
Support for Hillary Clinton's Presidential bid has slipped over the past month to the lowest levels recorded in two dozen surveys over the past year. Today, just 27% of Americans say they would definitely vote for the former first lady while 43% would definitely 
The journey toward truth often begins with one simple act of faith and determination.
Sen. Hillary 
The United States will consider introducing a resolution in the UN Security Council to step up international pressure on military-ruled Myanmar for alleged human rights abuses, the State Department said on Tuesday. "We would look at that option very, very carefully and we would look at all UN options, all UN options," Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian affairs Christopher Hill told a Congressional hearing after legislators pressed for such a resolution.
