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Army takes Sultanwas, kills 81; Mullah Fazlullah maybe titzup
Today's Headlines
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
German Man Attacks Woman Over High-Priced Asparagus
Reuters.
Must've been a slaw news day in Europe.
German police are searching for a motorist who beat a 24-year-old woman selling white asparagus because he was upset about her asking price for the coveted springtime vegetable, police said on Monday.
Lettuce hear some more, please.
The prices for white asparagus, sometimes called "edible ivory" in Germany, fluctuate wildly during the short springtime season, peaking early in the season at 10 euros per kilo.
Any way you slice it, that's a lot of green.
The man screamed at the woman that her asparagus was overpriced. He then punched her in the face and threatened to unleash his attack dog at her.
"He tried to squash me! He didn't carrot all about my feelings!"
She fled and called police.
"This looks like a case for...Inspector Legume!"
"The motorist said her prices were totally over the top," said Dietmar Keck, police spokesman in the Havelland district west of Berlin, without saying how much she was asking.
"It may have been more than he could afford on his celery, but that doesn't give him any right to bean her. When we catch him, he'd better kumquatly peas or he'll be in an even worse pickle. We Germans take our vegetables very seriously."
Posted by: Mike || 05/20/2009 16:19 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ah, yes - it is Spargel season again, isn't it? How time does fly.

Great - if painful - inline, Mike. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 05/20/2009 17:58 Comments || Top||

#2  In other news, Artie chokes two for a dollar.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 05/20/2009 18:14 Comments || Top||

#3  D *** NG IT, GEORGE HERBERT BUSH = BUSH 1 WAS PRESIDENT OF THESE UNITED STATES, AND AS POTUS RESERVES HIS DEMOC MANLY EX-CIA NAVY RIGHT AS LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD TO NOT EAT HIS BROCCOLI NO MATTER WHAT HIS MOM + FIRST LADY BARBARA SAYS!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/20/2009 18:31 Comments || Top||


Ireland Reveals Controversial Report on Church Abuse
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/20/2009 12:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Bad thing: it happened and the Church covered up.

Not-as-bad thing: the abuses stopped over 10 years ago.

good thing: there are active measures in place to hold all to accountability now.
Posted by: OldSpook || 05/20/2009 23:47 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Aussie GP does brain surgery with household drill
The astonishing procedure took place after Nicholas Rossi, 13, fell off his bike in the small rural town of Maryborough in Victoria and hit his head.

He was not wearing a helmet, and the impact knocked him momentarily unconscious. The boy was kept under observation, but one hour later, he started drifting in and out of consciousness. The injury was the same that recently led to the death of actress Natasha Richardson after a skiing accident.

The hospital was not equipped with a surgical drill. Instead, Dr Carson had to use the next best thing - a household drill found in the hospital's maintenance cupboard. He disinfected the drill and, under the guidance of a Melbourne neurosurgeon over the phone, used it to bore into Nicholas's skull to release the blood clot. Nicholas was released from hospital on Tuesday.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 05/20/2009 01:52 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hat tip to Dr. Carson who had the courage to ....drill here - drill now! Doubt it would have happened in the lawyer enriched USA.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/20/2009 7:48 Comments || Top||

#2  Ironically, this was the very first discovery ever made about brain surgery--that you absolutely must relieve the pressure of bleeding or the patient will die immediately.

English King Henry II (d. 1599) had a splinter impaled in his brain while jousting, but was still alive. The royal surgeon knew that to leave it in was certain, immediate death. But nobody knew what would happen were it to be removed. So in consultation with two other doctors, they removed the splinter, and Henry II lived another 9 days.

The next major advances in brain surgery didn't happen until the US Civil War, because until then, brain injuries either killed immediately, or were not conducive to surgery. The invention of the mini ball changed that, often tearing away a chunk of skull, but leaving the brain underneath relatively unharmed.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 05/20/2009 12:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Trephaning goes back to the Paleolithic, of course it was to let the devils out, but it may have dones just this on occasion...
Posted by: Spereger Untervehr6555 || 05/20/2009 15:23 Comments || Top||

#4  Correction to #2: It was FRENCH King Henry II, in 1559
Posted by: mom || 05/20/2009 16:35 Comments || Top||

#5  Some of the Indians of Peru were knowledgable of brain surgery, and apparently did it frequently. The Incas crushed them, and didn't continue to do brain surgery. The Spanish conquered the Incas, and it wasn't until the 19th Century that the people of Latin America were re-introduced to brain surgery.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 05/20/2009 17:43 Comments || Top||

#6  I don't know whether I'd rather have a bottle in front of me or a frontal lobotomy.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 05/20/2009 18:17 Comments || Top||


Wonderbra celebrates 70 years
The wine was flowing, cupcakes were stacked in tiers and artwork hung on display at Le Royer Gallery, the host venue of the Wonderbra 70th anniversary celebration party Thursday night. Wonderbra was founded in Montreal in 1939.

As the fashionable crowd mingled, models weaved their way through the gallery space, wearing nothing but gold lamé tutus and the latest Wonderbras. Soon enough, these brave glamazons dropped the skirts and pranced around in the latest panties as well. As daring as these models were, for the most part, the garments were flesh toned and conservative. A few frills and leopard prints strutted about, but the focus of the anniversary show was the evolution of the bra's structure, a point which came across most clearly with pink and beige palettes.

A retrospective showcase of vintage bras, which revealed the progressions and transgressions of the Wonderbra consumer, was on display at the event.
Posted by: Pappy || 05/20/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  An uplifting symbol of western civilization!
Posted by: N guard || 05/20/2009 0:42 Comments || Top||

#2  We're missing a certain well-known RB side graph/image, aren't we?
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/20/2009 2:32 Comments || Top||

#3  Yes, that image has held up well.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 05/20/2009 6:14 Comments || Top||

#4  A sign that women lying to men works.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles the pedantic || 05/20/2009 7:17 Comments || Top||

#5  Party mammaries caught on film, one would hope.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/20/2009 7:21 Comments || Top||

#6  Anything over a mouthful is wasted.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 05/20/2009 18:19 Comments || Top||

#7  Not quite Deacon, a handfull is more fun.
(PS, I have large hands)
Posted by: Eedneck Jim || 05/20/2009 20:27 Comments || Top||

#8  AAAHHRRRGGGHHH, damn vanishing nym.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 05/20/2009 20:29 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
El Paso school a haven along violent border
EL PASO, Texas (CNN) -- Marina Diaz knows each day could be her last when she leaves for school each morning.

But that doesn't stop her from making the trip from her home on the dusty outskirts of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, a key battleground in Mexico's drug wars, to El Paso, Texas, where she attends high school.

From the moment she catches a bus to downtown Juarez, she is mindful of her surroundings. This is a city that saw 1,600 homicides last year. She warily watches the federal soldiers patrolling the streets.

Diaz, 18, finally relaxes after she clears customs at a border checkpoint and passes the "Welcome to Texas!" sign greeting pedestrians at the intersection of El Paso Street and 6th Avenue in downtown El Paso. From there, it's another five minutes to the Lydia Patterson Institute.

She is not the only student making the trip across the border each day. In fact, most of the students in the school do it: About 70 percent of the institute's 459 students live in Juarez. Some are American citizens with Mexican parents; others are Mexican citizens who carry a student visa to any one of three U.S.-Mexico border checkpoints in El Paso that serve tens of thousands of students, white-collar workers and day laborers each day. Students describe their lives and daily challenges »

When she gets to the school each morning, Diaz changes out of her jogging pants and into her uniform skirt.

"Because of the people over there, I don't feel comfortable with the men and stuff, so I wear pants," she explains. "You definitely see a difference here. The streets, they are more clean here than they are in Juarez, and I think the people respect you a little more. You don't have to worry about people giving you trouble."

El Paso, population 734,000, has long enjoyed the benefits of strong community ties with its industrial sister city of approximately 1.5 million. But the violence and insecurity created by the war between the Mexican government and the drug cartels has strained that relationship.

For students at Lydia Patterson, who live in Juarez and cross the bridge each weekday, the small, United Methodist preparatory school has become a safe haven in the months since drug-related violence in Juarez has intensified.

"My school is a home for me because I have teachers and they treat me like parents," says Hazel Barrera, 18. "Here, they take care of us and they make us feel comfortable and safe."

Lydia Patterson's faculty and administrators -- many of whom are graduates of the school, and also reside in Juarez -- say the school's mission is very much the same as it was when it was founded nearly 100 years ago as a sanctuary for Mexican families fleeing the violence of the Mexican Revolution.

"Our students are exceptional, and I always tell them I respect them and I admire their courage because they're living through this horrible time," says the school's president, Socorro Brito de Anda.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/20/2009 18:39 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Russian recognition of S. Ossetia, Abkhazia guarantees absence of new attacks
The Russian recognition of independent South Ossetia and Abkhazia guarantees that no one will ever attack them, Russian State Secretary -- Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin told a Tuesday press conference in Geneva.

He visited Geneva to attend the fifth round of the consultations on Caucasian security and stability.

"The decision to recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia was not easy for Russia. For 16 years Russia had been honestly fulfilling its peacekeeping commitments and settling regional conflicts. Yet the taboo on the use of force was breached in August 2008. That buried Georgia's territorial integrity," he said.
Not exactly the same as being nibbled to death by mice. Perhaps the next American president will do something about this.
Posted by: Pappy || 05/20/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Strength of Russian bases in Abkhazia, S. Ossetia to be reduced
The numerical strength of the Russian military bases in Abkhazia and South Ossetia will be reduced by means of the deployment of part of these bases in the Russian territory, Russian First Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Kolmakov said on Tuesday.

"Maybe there is no sense in the full stationing of our bases in the territory of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Part of these forces may be stationed in the RF territory," the first deputy defence minister told journalists.
"We won. Get over it."
"At present the issues of the bases' arrangement and installation are being considered. But we can say already now that the numerical strength of these combat formations will be no less than a brigade each," he noted.
Posted by: Pappy || 05/20/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


US, Russia to hold second day of nuclear arms talks
MOSCOW - The United States and Russia were set to hold Wednesday a second day of talks aimed at replacing a landmark Cold War-era nuclear disarmament treaty that expires in December, officials said.
Is there a need to do this, or it going to be a cheap PR 'victory' for Bambi?
The talks on a successor to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) are a central part of US President Barack Obama's desire to 'reset' strained ties with Russia and their result could have far-reaching implications for global security. Signed in 1991, START led to deep cuts in the US and Russian atomic arsenals and is seen as a cornerstone of strategic arms control, but the agreement expires in December.
Neither we nor the Russians need to spend billions of dollars/rubles on new nuclear weapons, though the Russians pro'ly can't help themselves. Let them do so and bankrupt their economy even more quickly ...
Russian foreign ministry spokesman Igor Lyakin-Frolov said the first day of talks took place Tuesday and would continue Wednesday as planned. He made clear though there would be little public information about them. 'By agreement of both sides the talks will be discreet and they will only release an agreed joint statement at the end,' Lyakin-Frolov told AFP.
"I will say no more!"
Ahead of the talks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he hoped they would be 'fruitful' but also cautioned that they would be linked to controversial US missile defence plans in eastern Europe.

'We believe that the START treaty cannot be discussed in a vacuum,' Lavrov was quoted as saying by news agencies late Monday. 'It must reflect the issue of global security, which certainly includes Russia's, and this implies that we must sort out the situation on missile defence,' Lavrov added.

'We will take into consideration all factors involved in creating security, including missile defense and setting armaments in space,' Lavrov said.

Moscow has reacted angrily to US plans to place elements of its planned global missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. Washington has tried to keep missile defence off the negotiating table at the START talks, saying that the shield is not directed against Russia and is instead meant to protect against Iran.

But that rationale was called into question in a report published Tuesday by the New York-based EastWest Institute, which said Iran was far away from having long-range missiles and that the shield would not work anyway.
Of course they don't think it will work: they're another of the 'think tanks' funded by the usual Leftist donors. The shield already works, and we know Iran is working hard on both nuclear weapons and missiles to deliver them. The 'EastWest Institute' has a vested interest in ensuring that we're not prepared.
Obama has pledged to continue with missile defence but only if it is cost-effective and proven to work.
Guess Bambi is on board!
The only real proof is when someone unsuccessfully shoots missiles at us.
Moscow wants a broad treaty that limits both nuclear warheads and their carriers, such as missiles and bombers, while Washington prefers to focus only on deployed warheads that are ready for launch.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/20/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The US should absolutely not decrease strategic weapons, but increase them. Russia can't afford their current rusting arsenal and will be forced to unilaterally cut nukes or gut their conventional forces to pay for nukes. Cutting ours allows the Russians to upgrade their conventional arms to invade or intimidate their neighbors. Each submarine or strategic missile costs the Russians at least 5X the percentage of their defense budget than does the US.
Posted by: ed || 05/20/2009 14:31 Comments || Top||

#2  WORLD MILITARY FORUM > IIUC RUSSIA FOOLISH: FAILURE OF US WAR IN MIDDLE EAST, IRAN-TURKEY ALLIANCE MEANS ISLAMIC MILITANTS WILL BE AT RUSSIA'S THROAT. MUSLIM DESTABILIZATION AND LOSS OF CENTRAL, FAR EAST TO MILITANTS AND CHINA. RUSS FOCUSES ON MIL OPERATIONS IN CHECHNYA WHILE IGNORING SPREAD OF FUNDAMENTALISM TO OTHEE REGIONS.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/20/2009 22:09 Comments || Top||


Economy
"Let somebody else take the stock. Give us the money,"
In which the UAW gripes about its ownership stake in General Motors.
Posted by: Seafarious || 05/20/2009 08:07 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Gee, guys, why don't you want the stock?

"Well, you see, they build crappy cars that nobody wants, and their labor costs are off the scale because their unions are sucking them dry."

But, aren't you their unions?

"Well, yeah, but, um, er..."
Posted by: Mike || 05/20/2009 8:18 Comments || Top||

#2  May I see a show of hands of all of you that would now buy a GM or Chrysler car (past loyalty notwithstanding) now that ownership and management has passed to a union that has helped contribute to the bankruptcy of both entities. I see one, two, - what only two and both are trolls.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 05/20/2009 10:06 Comments || Top||

#3  Hmm... used to buy GM - Bought a 06 Envoy then an 07 Pontiac Vibe for my Wife (who was just learning to drive at the time). Earlier owned a number of Pontiacs and Chevys.

Won't buy a GM, Ford, or Chrysler ever again.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 05/20/2009 11:12 Comments || Top||

#4  Anyone care to wager to whom the UAW expects to sell the stock????



Here comes Barry with a wad more cash.
Posted by: AlanC || 05/20/2009 12:14 Comments || Top||

#5  I really wanted a Camaro. Mid-life crisis you know.
Posted by: Hellfish || 05/20/2009 12:21 Comments || Top||

#6  why buy this crap when you can buy a Honda or something similiar at about the same price and it won't catch fire going down the road( have a friend who this actually happened too with a Neon). Also had a Volvo S80 that could prob give the Camaro a run for it's money and was built like a tank
Posted by: funky skunk || 05/20/2009 12:26 Comments || Top||

#7  As the snake starts eating its own tail.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 05/20/2009 12:28 Comments || Top||

#8  See Chicago Boyz, "Why isn't Detroit a paradise"

http://chicagoboyz.net/archives/6380.html
Posted by: mom || 05/20/2009 16:38 Comments || Top||

#9  I want a Dodge Viper. I already have the engine. It's the same one that's in my Dodge truck.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 05/20/2009 18:22 Comments || Top||


California Voters Reject Slate of Budget Propositions
LOS ANGELES - California's voters on Tuesday rejected a complex slate of ballot propositions designed to keep the state from sliding further toward fiscal calamity.

The only measure they approved in a statewide special election was Proposition 1F, which will prohibit raises to lawmakers and other state elected officials during deficit years.

Voters rejected at least four of the five other measures, including Proposition 1A, the centerpiece of efforts by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other state leaders to fix California's ongoing fiscal problems. It would have created a state spending cap while prolonging temporary tax increases and also strengthened the state's rainy day fund.

"Tonight we have heard from the voters and I respect the will of the people who are frustrated with the dysfunction in our budget system," Schwarzenegger said in a statement late Tuesday.

"Now we must move forward from this point to begin to address our fiscal crisis with constructive solutions."

The failure of the measures means California's budget deficit will grow by nearly $6 billion above the current $15.4 billion deficit, forcing Schwarzenegger to make further cuts to state programs already facing major rollbacks.

"Obviously, it's disappointing," said Democratic Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, chairwoman of the Assembly Budget Committee. "But I think the voters are sending a message that they believe the budget is the job of the governor and Legislature. We probably need to go back and do our job."

Other measures voters rejected would have transferred $460 million over the next two years from mental health programs to help close the state deficit; redirected $1.7 billion from children's programs; and allowed $5 billion in borrowing from lottery revenue.

Proposition 1B, which would have restored more than $9 billion to schools, was trailing in early returns Tuesday but was effectively moot. Proposition 1A's defeat means that the measure cannot be approved even if voters approve it.

The special election ballot also included races for a congressional seat and a state Senate seat, both in Southern California. East of downtown Los Angeles, voters were deciding who would fill the seat vacated by U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, with two Democrats locked in a tight race.

The governor missed Election Day in California but cast a mail-in ballot before leaving for the nation's capital, where he joined a White House announcement on new vehicle fuel-efficiency standards.

The Republican governor spent part of the day talking to members of California's congressional delegation, bracing them for the prospect of additional spending cuts if the propositions failed.

Laying off thousands of state employees, reducing the school year by seven days and cutting health care services for tens of thousands of low-income children are among the options.

California will need a waiver from the federal government allowing it to make some of those cuts without jeopardizing money from the stimulus package.

Despite the doomsday predictions, California voters largely tuned out, illustrated by the trickle at polling places throughout the state. Local election officials projected that about a third of the state's 17.1 million registered voters would cast ballots, roughly half of whom were expected to do so through mail-in ballots.

Sentiment at polling stations throughout the state was a mix of anger toward politicians and resignation that the state would continue to face financial turmoil no matter the outcome of Tuesday's vote.

Schwarzenegger said last week that the state's deficit would be $15.4 billion in the coming fiscal year even if voters approved the propositions. It would grow by nearly $6 billion if they did not.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/20/2009 02:57 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The ultimate test of the "tea parties". A shot across the bow of the Dems? Of Obama Admin? I hope so.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 05/20/2009 6:33 Comments || Top||

#2  62%-67% (even higher in San Diego County) voted no on the 1A - 1E tax increases. That's called a "F*ck no!" moment
Posted by: Frank G || 05/20/2009 7:14 Comments || Top||

#3  I corrected the misleading headline

California Voters Reject Slate of Tax Increase Propositions
Posted by: Bright Pebbles the pedantic || 05/20/2009 7:19 Comments || Top||

#4  Time for parents to pay for their own childrens' education themselves.

Government crèche are expensive and don't do much in the way of teaching.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles the pedantic || 05/20/2009 7:22 Comments || Top||

#5  We probably need to go back and do our job.

So, ol' Noreen is admitting that she and her fellow political weasels don't do a damn thing to justify their paychecks?
Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie || 05/20/2009 7:29 Comments || Top||

#6  "Our phony-baloney jobs are on the line!"
Posted by: eLarson || 05/20/2009 7:38 Comments || Top||

#7  The reckoning is coming and the legisalture is going down. The only measure to pass was the one tha restricted their pay. Also last year we passsed a law to change the gerrymandering way districts are formed. It probably will not give the GOP a majority but it will force the Dems to consider the other side when drafting budgets. In our state they need a 2/3 vote to raise taxes. If that were not so we would have taxes that would make NY blush.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 05/20/2009 8:54 Comments || Top||

#8  Can you hear me now?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/20/2009 9:00 Comments || Top||

#9  Hmmmmm.... California goes Republican?
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/20/2009 9:05 Comments || Top||

#10  Proponents outspent foes 10 to 1

"Schwarzenegger helped behind the scenes to garner big contributions for the measure's proponents, who raised about $30 million and outspent foes by nearly 10 to 1. Among the big contributors were businesses hoping to avoid tax increases if state finances slumped further: oil companies, tobacco and alcoholic beverage firms, sports teams and Hollywood studios.

Despite a big advantage in cash and manpower, the campaign failed to gain traction from the start. Polls throughout the race showed all the ballot measures -- except Proposition 1F -- losing badly, as voters expressed equal parts confusion over the package and disdain for the Sacramento politicians who crafted it."
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/20/2009 10:18 Comments || Top||

#11  Now they have a real problem. How can they make drastic cuts in vital services (in favor of their pet projects) without pissing off their favorite group - the illegal aliens?
Posted by: CrazyFool || 05/20/2009 11:15 Comments || Top||

#12  All non Californians should be asking how much is my state going to have to pay to bail these people out? We are having our own problems here in Kansas with the recession hurting the aircraft and pharmacutical businesses. Fortunatly we have agriculture and if the EPA will wait to attack the methane gas, and if commodities stay firm we will be able to at least maintain. That is unless there is a sir charge to help California and New York out of there tax and spend economies.
Posted by: bman || 05/20/2009 11:36 Comments || Top||

#13  The legislature is going to have to shift its focus to how it will attract business to the state. They have to concentrate on long-term revenue generation combined with spending restraint. A very good first step would be to push, yes push, for offshore oil drilling. It would bring in $billions. (I can dream can't I??)
Posted by: remoteman || 05/20/2009 12:09 Comments || Top||

#14  Suggestions for cuts for Governor Schwartzeneggar from a California school teacher - - -

"As you listen to the news about the student protests over illegal immigration, there are some things that you should be aware of:

I am in charge of the English-as-a-second-language department at a large southern California high school which is designated a Title 1 school, meaning that its students average lower socioeconomic and income levels.

Most of the schools you are hearing about, South Gate High, Bell Gardens , Huntington Park , etc., where these students are protesting, are also Title 1 schools. Title 1 schools are on the free breakfast and free lunch program. When I say free breakfast, I'm not talking a glass of milk and roll -- but a full breakfast and cereal bar with fruits and juices that would make a Marriott proud. The waste of this food is monumental, with trays and trays of it being dumped in the trash uneaten.
(OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK )

I estimate that well over 50% of these students are obese or at least moderately overweight. About 75% or more DO have cell phones. The school also provides day care centers for the unwed teenage pregnant girls (some as young as 13) so they can attend class without the inconvenience of having to arrange for babysitters or having family watch their kids. (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK)

I was ordered to spend $700,000 on my department or risk losing funding for the upcoming year even though there was little need for anything; my budget was already substantial. I ended up buying new computers for the computer learning center, half of which, one month later, have been carved with graffiti by the appreciative students who obviously feel humbled and grateful to have a free education in America . (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK)

I have had to intervene several times for young and substitute teachers whose classes consist of many illegal immigrant students here in the country less then 3 months who raised so much hell with the female teachers, calling them "Putas" whores and throwing things that the teachers were in tears.

Free medical, free education, free food, day care etc., etc., etc. Is it any wonder they feel entitled to not only be in this country but to demand rights, privileges and entitlements ?

To those who want to point out how much these illegal immigrants contribute to our society because they LIKE their gardener and housekeeper and they like to pay less for tomatoes: spend some time in the real world of illegal immigration and see the TRUE costs.

Higher insurance, medical facilities closing, higher medical costs, more crime, lower standards of education in our schools, overcrowding, new diseases etc., etc, etc. For me, I'll pay more for tomatoes.

We need to wake up. The guest worker program will be a disaster because we won't have the guts to enforce it . Does anyone in their right mind really think they will voluntarily leave and return?

It does, however, have everything to do with culture: A third-world culture that does not value education, that accepts children getting pregnant and dropping out of school by 15 an d that refuses to assimilate , and an American culture that has become so weak and worried about " political Correctness" that we don't have the will to do anything about it.

CHEAP LABOR? Isn't that what the whole immigration issue is about? Business doesn't want to pay a decent wage. Consumers don't want expensive produce. Government will tell you Americans don't want the jobs.

But the bottom line is cheap labor. The phrase "cheap labor" is a myth , a farce, and a lie. There is no such thing as "cheap labor."

Take, for example, an illegal alien with a wife and five children. He takes a job for $5.00 or 6.00/hour. At that wage, with six dependents, he pays no income tax, yet at the end of the year, if he files an Income Tax Return, he gets an "earned income credit" of up to $3,200 free. He qualifies for Section 8 housing and subsidized rent. He qualifies for food stamps. He qualifies for free (no deductible, no co-pay) health care. His children get free breakfasts and lunches at school. He requires bilingual teachers and books. He qualifies for relief from high energy bills. If they are, or become, aged, blind or disabled, they qualify for SSI. Once qualified for SSI they can qualify for Medicare . All of this is at (our) taxpayer's expense . He doesn't worry out car insurance, life insurance, or homeowners insurance. Taxpayers provide Spanish language signs, bulletins and printed material. He and his family receive the equivalent of $20.00 to $30.00/hour in benefits. Working Americans are lucky to have $5.00 or $6.00/hour left after paying their bills and his. The American taxpayers also pay for increased crime, graffiti and trash clean-up.

Cheap labor? YEAH RIGHT! Wake up people!

Posted by: Lumpy Elmoluck5091 || 05/20/2009 12:20 Comments || Top||

#15  Cheap Labour IS real. It's the benefits that are the problem.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles the pedantic || 05/20/2009 12:24 Comments || Top||

#16  Lumpy:

Is that your experience or is there a link?
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/20/2009 12:32 Comments || Top||

#17  Come on Lumpy - don't hold back - tell us how you *really* feel!

Don't forget the increase in crime rates - including robbery, murder, rape, DWI - the whole bit.

These are *not* law abiding people. They have no respect for the laws or the institutions of their host country.

And, just as you say there is no such thing as CHEAP LABOR there is no such thing as ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT - these are *not* immigrants. They are not immigrants legally (they have not be granted 'immigrant' status) and to use the 'immigrant' name is a insult to all the hard working, law abiding, LEGAL immigrants in this country.

They are ILLEGAL ALIENS!

And to welcome them in, grant them entitlements or a pathway to citizenship is to piss in the face of every legal alien who worked their ass off and waited patiently for their turn at the american dream.

NO EDUCATIONAL BENEFITS NO MEDICAL BENEFITS (save for immediate life-saving), NO ANCHOR BABIES NO WELFARE or SSI.

That would go a long way to solve California's budget problems.

(There - I managed to tie this back to the original tread...)
Posted by: CrazyFool || 05/20/2009 12:35 Comments || Top||

#18  I am curious how much of Cal's budget is contractually obligated or legally (read Federally) mandated. I would not be surprised if their deficit is so big that it even cuts into their obligated expenses. Even if not, they'll be hard-pressed to not totally gut non-required programs. Harbinger of things to come for all of us.
Posted by: Glenmore || 05/20/2009 12:38 Comments || Top||

#19  We've got a lot of unemployed in California. We've got unions and pensions clogging up the budgets. A brave man might break a union or two to solve both problems at once. Won't happen of course, but the suggestion might get some folks to stop the nonsense.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 05/20/2009 12:59 Comments || Top||

#20  I am curious how much of Cal's budget is contractually obligated or legally (read Federally) mandated.

The answer is that nearly all of it is on 'autopilot'.
Posted by: Iblis || 05/20/2009 13:22 Comments || Top||

#21  Get 'em Lumpy!!! Right on!!!

We probably need to go back and do our job.

Gee, ya think?

The only thing I have to add is that Prop 1F didn't go far enough. All of the legislators should be automatically recalled if they fail to agree on a balanced budget by the start of the fiscal year. Get all of them outta here, automatically recalled and ineligible to run for any public office anywhere in the state ever again.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 05/20/2009 14:44 Comments || Top||

#22  One more thing, voters in this state back in the days of Governor Pete Wilson passed Prop 187 which would have stopped the kinds of abuses Lumpy describes so well. But our state supreme court found it unconstitutional and struck it down. By then the governor was Gray Davis, a donk, who refused to contest the matter in any higher court. I can't for the life of me understand what's unconstitutional about withholding taxpayers' money from programs that benefit illegal aliens but that's what they said.

Further, for those of you who fear the rest of the country might get stuck with some of California's bills, keep in mind that a big part of our budget woes are a direct result of spending on illegal aliens. This is a federal problem so, Prop 187 notwithstanding, it's only right that the federal government should help us. I would, of course, be happier if the feds would just secure the border.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 05/20/2009 15:04 Comments || Top||

#23  Hate to say it, but I generally feel more comfortable visiting the south of France than anywhere I've been in California.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/20/2009 15:42 Comments || Top||

#24  The reckoning is coming and the legisalture is going down.

Nonsense. The teachers' and prison guards' unions let the trunks have their fun day. But the propositions will be ignored or declared unconstitutional and the legislature will be returned as is in the election that really counts. Governor McClintock? lol.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 05/20/2009 15:49 Comments || Top||

#25  I am curious how much of Cal's budget is contractually obligated or legally (read Federally) mandated.

The answer is that nearly all of it is on 'autopilot'.


Then the only options are:
1) Bankruptcy (but "too big to fail")
2) Federal bailout
3) Court-ordered tax increases
4) Voluntary renegotiation of labor & pension contracts (Hah!)

My bet - a combination of 2 & 3 with some token spending cuts (perhaps 0.05%)
Posted by: Glenmore || 05/20/2009 15:57 Comments || Top||

#26  Link to article posted by Lumpy
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/20/2009 16:01 Comments || Top||

#27  Snopes take on Lumpy's article
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/20/2009 16:09 Comments || Top||

#28  2) Federal bailout

Do I hear the rustle of 2/3rds of the "smaller" states inching towards a Constitutional Convention.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/20/2009 19:30 Comments || Top||

#29  As far as I'm concerned, P2k, we can gallop to that convention.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 05/20/2009 20:30 Comments || Top||

#30  I don't think a CONCON would be a good idea at this time. The Donks and their comrades in ACORN (flush now with $2B+ of our tax dollars) would pull out all the stops to get a chance to rewrite our constitution.

I don't think the results would be pretty.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 05/20/2009 21:53 Comments || Top||

#31  Okay-y-y, I'll bite, and where do tell does DA ARNUUULD = SACRAMENTO STATE GOVT think it will find the US$460.0MILYUHN = US$9.0BILYUHN, etc. to meet these new obligations???

* MILYUHNS + ZILYUHNS + SHILLYUHNS + .........@!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/20/2009 22:46 Comments || Top||

#32  Hate to say it, but I generally feel more comfortable visiting the south of France than anywhere I've been in California.

Might be that the French have experience with jackboot-wearers?
Posted by: Pappy || 05/20/2009 23:07 Comments || Top||

#33  First - Stop coddling and paying for illegals. Deport them and DO NOT LET THEM BACK IN.

Second, Stop spending so damned much. Freeze public pay. And stop the unions from extorting more pay - let them choose cut jobs, or cut pay.

Third sell all those damned golf courses, etc.
Posted by: OldSpook || 05/20/2009 23:50 Comments || Top||


Japan's economy suffers record plunge
Japan's economy has suffered its worst quarterly performance since records began more than five decades ago as it continues to struggle with the economic crisis. The world's second largest economy experienced a quarterly 4 per cent shrink in its gross domestic product (GDP) reflecting the continued impact of the recession on the export-dependent nation.

Hit hard by a global plunge in demand for cars and technology, Japan's economy shrank 15.2 per cent in the first quarter compared to last year, according to Cabinet Office figures. The contraction eclipses that of other industrialised nations: the nation's GDP slide was more than double the 1.6 per cent recorded in the US and significantly higher than Europe's record 2.5 per cent.

A weakening in domestic demand has been the biggest contributor to Japan's decline, with consumer spending dropping 1.1 per cent and business investment plunging a record 10.4 per cent during the same period.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/20/2009 00:03 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  WORLD MILITARY FORUM > IIUC FEMALE JAPANESE STUDENT DEMANDS TO MARRY STRONG CHINESE MEN [unafraid of strong or educated women], NOT WEAK EFFEMINATE/ANTI-FEMALE JAPANESE MEN. ASIA'S DESTINY AND INDEPENDENCE, ETC. IN NEW WORLD ORDER AT STAKE VIA ABILITY OF CHINA, JAPAN TO WORK TOGETHER.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/20/2009 19:28 Comments || Top||

#2  ION WMF > ORDINARY CHINESE SHOLD BEAR IN MIND: CHINA MAY NOT RECOVER ITS "TOP TEN" ANCIENT TERRITORIES [as lost to RUSSIA, JAPAN, + VIETNAM].

To wit,
* OKINAWA [Japan] = former RYUKYUS "LAND/ISLANDS OF CHINA"
* DAOYUS ISLANDS
* NORTHERN CHINA + OUTER MONGOLIA
* RUSS PORT, REGION OF VLADIVOSTOK.
* SAKHALIN ISLAND = "TREASURY PUI" ISLAND
* MCMAHON LINE [Chin Himalayas = Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, etc./INDIA-PAKI-CHIN LOC]
* TANNU = TANNU RIVER REGIONS/OUTER MONGOLIA [read, RUSSIA]
* JIANGDONG DUNSAN 64
* KHABAROVOSK [Russia] = "BIG USSURI/BLIND MEN" ISLAND
* NANSHA ISLANDS



Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/20/2009 19:39 Comments || Top||


Oil prices bounce above $60 in New York
Oil prices jumped to a six-month high above 60 dollars Tuesday on growing signs of economic recovery amid concerns about unrest in African crude producer Nigeria, traders said.

New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, rallied to 60.48 dollars a barrel -- a level last seen on November 10. The contract later stood at 59.90 dollars, up 87 cents from Monday's close. Brent North Sea crude for July delivery touched a six-month high of 59.65 dollars a barrel before pulling back to 59.05 dollars, up 58 cents from Monday.

"Gains in the stock market increased optimism that the global economy is recovering," said BetOnMarkets analyst David Evans.
Plus the risk of inflation, plus the new money finding its way into hedge funds who need to generate returns better than said inflation ...
Oil jumped by around two and a half dollars on Monday as traders tracked prospects of a global economic recovery, rising shares on Wall Street and developments in Nigera.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/20/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I suspect the dead cat is about at the apex of its trajectory.
Posted by: gorb || 05/20/2009 1:00 Comments || Top||

#2  What, you think all that new production coming out of Venezuela is going to bring the price down? All the massive reinvestment going on by Pemex in Mexico is going to come through?

hahahahhahahahahahahahaha
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 05/20/2009 10:09 Comments || Top||

#3  More dollar falls than oil price rises.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles the pedantic || 05/20/2009 11:15 Comments || Top||

#4  BP,
Over the past month 5-6% of the oil price increase could be attributed to dollar exchange decline (based on gold prices). That's on the order of half or less of the oil (or gasoline) price change.
Posted by: Glenmore || 05/20/2009 12:52 Comments || Top||

#5  OPEC has been cutting production since late past year.
Posted by: ed || 05/20/2009 13:07 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Limbaugh blasts Powell attack
(CNN) - Colin Powell and Rush Limbaugh escalated their war of words on Wednesday, with the talk radio host calling the former Secretary of State part of the "stale, the old, the worn-out GOP that never won anything."

The comments came hours after Powell fired back at Limbaugh and former Vice President Dick Cheney over recent remarks questioning his GOP credentials.

"Rush Limbaugh says, 'get out of the Republican Party.' Dick Cheney says, 'he's already out,'" Powell said at a Tuesday night event in Boston, according to the Boston Globe. "I may be out of their version of the Republican Party, but there's another version of the Republican Party waiting to emerge once again."

Powell drew ire from many in the GOP for his decision to endorse President Obama's candidacy, and said earlier this month that the party would be better off without Limbaugh.

On his show Wednesday, Limbaugh mocked Powell's comments. "And now there's an agenda, an emerging agenda, that he's waiting for for the Republican Party?" said the radio host. "The only thing emerging here is Colin Powell's ego. Colin Powell represents the stale, the old, the worn-out GOP that never won anything."

Limbaugh, who has been called the de facto leader of the Republican Party by leading Democrats, also said that he is resigning from the position.

"I am resigning as the titular head of the Republican Party," Limbaugh said. "Clearly I am not the titular head of the Republican Party, it's not an office I sought, it was an office position that rather was ladled onto me, and one I was appointed without by acquiescence."
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/20/2009 18:45 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Wow!
"stale, the old, the worn-out GOP that never won anything."
is a blast in CNN's vocabulary. I guess anything like a real insult would be "hate".

Posted by: whitecollar redneck || 05/20/2009 20:33 Comments || Top||

#2  Powell you dickless wonder, go away - What part of the Republican Party endorses a socialist like Obama.
Posted by: OldSpook || 05/20/2009 23:51 Comments || Top||


When Daniel Hannan speaks substitute Obama's name for Brown's
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/20/2009 12:21 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Obama is Brown with a tele-prompter.

Without it they are identical.

Brown today said that an "Election would cause Chaos", an insight into how worrying the situation in the U.K. is at the moment. Large numbers of people are worried that the Civil Contingencies Act will be used as a means to postpone the election.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles the pedantic || 05/20/2009 12:28 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
Ma Deuce Still Going Strong
Built since the 1920s, the reliable, powerful, air-cooled .50 caliber (12.7 mm) M2 Browning Machine Gun (aka. "Ma Deuce") is still one of the world's most effective heavy machine guns. It can be carried by a team of soldiers, or mounted on vehicles and aircraft. Despite its age, its combination of reliability, durability, and kick-butt firepower has made it one of the most requested weapons in the Iraqi theater of war, and it remains popular around the world. Modern alternatives like FN's M3M/GAU-21 have been introduced, and the XM307/312 remains a future possibility, but the M2 remains, as one of our correspondents put it, "the mounted lance of the US cavalry." The USA has even had to ramp up .50 cal ammunition production, in order to keep up.

Ma Deuce: the M2 Heavy Machine Gun

The M2HB crew-served 12.7mm/ .50 cal machine gun features a rate of fire of 450-600 rounds per minute, a maximum effective range of 2,000 yards (1,830m), and a maximum range of 7,440 Yards (6,800m). Muzzle velocity with M33 is 2,910 Feet Per Second (890 Meters Per Second). As has become standard in modern machine guns, it is air-cooled and belt fed. The complete gun weighs 84 pounds (38.2 kg), not counting any tripods or mounts, with a barrel weight of 24 Pounds (10.88 kg).

The M2's slow rate of fire is not necessarily a disadvantage. Though it limits the gun's anti-air effectiveness, it makes the weapon more controllable against ground targets -- and has even led to combat situations where the M2 has been successfully employed in one-shot sniper mode using a telescopic sight. Discovery of the M2 sniper option is widely credited to legendary USMC sniper Carlos "White Feather" Hathcock in Vietnam.

The M2HB comes in 2 variants, fixed and flex. The fixed version is generally used on tanks, and has different mountings and a different trigger mechanism.

General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products has also developed an M2E2 version, after 25 years of experience manufacturing the M2HB machine gun for the U.S. Department of Defense. The enhanced M2E2 provides new features and design improvements, including a quick-change barrel system, flash hider, and and a manual trigger block safety. It is currently in production.

The Lightweight .50 Caliber (12.7mm) Machine Gun (LW50MG) is a more developmental variant. The LW50MG is expected to have significantly less recoil, and to be lighter than current weapons. It is also expected to demonstrate increased accuracy and lethality in combat, though an LW50MG that simply maintained the M2HB's marks in those areas could still be valuable.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/20/2009 15:28 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  An amazing weapon. Stand to the side and mind the position of the bolt when removing the backplate. Those driving spring rods do not take prisoners.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/20/2009 15:48 Comments || Top||

#2  John Moses Browning was one hell of a designer.
Posted by: Mike || 05/20/2009 16:18 Comments || Top||

#3  Why don't they have multiple fire rates - fast for aircraft, slow for camels a mile away? Also, I'm curious. Do they have some kind of recoil stabilization mechicanism system for while on auto fire?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 05/20/2009 16:19 Comments || Top||

#4  She's a heavy lady Richard, so recoil isn't as bad as one might think. You've got a pedestol and pintle mount (pictured in the graphic). The smaller piece of gear to the rear is the T&E (traverse and elevation) mechanism. A heavy tripod is used in the ground firing move. A sandbag or two on each foot of the tripod pretty well stabilizes your weapon. Three to five round bursts will keep you on target. It will fire single shot and an entire suite of night vision equipment is available as well. Barrels can be changed out pretty quickly but one must check and set the headspace and timing prior to firing. A simple gauge is used for this purpose. The M2 is highly respected by the US Army Infantryman and Marine.

Posted by: Besoeker || 05/20/2009 17:21 Comments || Top||

#5  He's right, as big and heavy as she is, once set up she's dream to fire. My son's at age 5 and 7 put 100 rnds each down range, sitting cross legged behind the tripod! And as Besoeker said, it is all about headspace and timing! I'm sure the M2 will always be in our Army.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 05/20/2009 17:44 Comments || Top||

#6  I love this old son of a gun.

My favorite weapon, nothing calms your nerves in combat more than the chug chug chug of a 50 cal.

As for the sniper option....the M2 has these two screws in the top of the receiver that protect tapped fittings to screw in a telescopic sight. The jarheads used this feature to pick off ChiCom soldiers in Korea.

Just goes to show you that a good solid simple design well made with good materials is timeless...kinda like an old Mercedes Diesel.

BTW, I still have a scar on my left hand from clearing a jammed 50 in combat. Seems I tried to load it, charge it and fire it all at the same time with my hand in the way....

Love this thing. We could end this mess in Afghanistan if we just gave one of these to every grunt in the field and gave him enough ammo.....
Posted by: James Carville || 05/20/2009 18:58 Comments || Top||

#7  Great weapon, also used by naval security detachments and small craft.

They're also pretty good against water-borne targets as well.
Posted by: Pappy || 05/20/2009 23:17 Comments || Top||

#8  Pretty good against a samuri sword as well, as I recently saw on you tube. One day I'd love to fire one.
Posted by: Kofi Claitle6576 || 05/20/2009 23:55 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Indonesian military plane crashes, at least 68 dead
I suspect Insh'allan maintenance ...
JAKARTA, Indonesia - At least 68 people are dead following the crash of a military plane on the Indonesian island of Java. Air force official Suyono says he expects the death toll to rise following Wednesday morning's crash.

Air force spokesman Bambang Sulistyo said the C-130 Hercules was carrying at least 112 passengers and crew. It was on a routine training mission when it crashed near the base in East Java province, smashing into houses and then skidding into a rice field and bursting into flames.

Indonesian television flashed footage of fire engulfing the wreckage and soldiers carrying bodies on stretchers. Witnesses said many of the victims were badly burned.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/20/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Short Round goes vote-buying in Iran
I didn't know ACORN had a Teheran branch ...
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Opponents of Iran's hard-line president have accused him of trying to buy votes before the June presidential election by handing out checks and free vegetables to the poor. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government has defended the payments, saying the checks for 500,000 and 1 million rials—about $50 and $100—have nothing to do with the election.
"No, no, certainly not!"
It has been distributing the money to poor families—most of them in rural areas and small towns—since last year, and in recent weeks it broadened the distribution to include students and teachers. The government also announced that on May 10 it began making $80 payments to 5.5 million people in rural areas throughout Iran.
"Yeah, that's right, we're feeding the poor. And my wife Morgan Fairchild there in the burqa is helping me!"
Ahmadinejad's critics have seized on the payments as another opening to exploit one of his biggest vulnerabilities heading into the June 12 vote—discontent over his handling of the faltering economy. They accuse him of using the cash to win votes from people hit hard by rising inflation and unemployment.

"Attempting to win people's vote through dispensing public assets is a dangerous phenomenon employed for the first time (by Ahmadinejad's government)," said a statement Tuesday by a reformist party called the Islamic Revolution Mujahedeen Organization.

Mohammad Reza Khatami, a former deputy parliament speaker, said, "Ahmadinejad's government has no plan for the country other than handing out checks for $100."
Which in Iran will buy a lot of votes ...
Politicians on both sides of the country's reformist-conservative political divide have said such payments promote a "begging culture."

The one conservative candidate challenging Ahmadinejad's re-election bid, Mohsen Rezaei, said the president should create jobs for young people rather than doling out money to them from state funds. "Don't hand out cash to the youth. Give them jobs with good income," he said in comments posted on his Web site on Monday. "The current economic conditions are harming the dignity of Iranians."

The leading reformist candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, said the latest payments are an affront to the dignity of Iranians on "the eve of an election." He said the money would be better spent by putting it into infrastructure projects.

The reformist daily Etemad-e-Melli, or National Confidence, said students protested the distribution of $50 checks at a university dormitory in Tehran on Sunday because they found them insulting. The semiofficial Mehr news agency, however, quoted Tehran University dean Farhad Rahbar as saying the students were angry because they wanted more money than the government was offering.

In recent weeks, the government has also distributed free potatoes in small towns. The government said the potatoes had nothing to do with election, saying it was a choice between distributing them or letting them rot.

Students at a campaign event for Mousavi in the central town of Yazd on Monday chanted, "We don't want a potato government" and "Death to potatoes," a play on the "Death to America" slogan common at rallies by hard-liners.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/20/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Wouldn't wanna call it pork...
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 05/20/2009 16:06 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Blind leading the Blind Dept
Gee, you'd think those educational professionals who gave them their graduation papers would review their 'quality control' standards. Nah.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/20/2009 08:47 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This comes at no surprise since US students have been falling behind other countries for years in terms of math and science. If it wasn't for chinese, taiwanese, indian and other asian students in our school system we'd rank right up there with Lesotho and Somalia.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 05/20/2009 10:11 Comments || Top||

#2  That's because the government runs the schools and taxpayers pay for them rather than parents.

Socialism causes failure, and you have socialist schools.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles the pedantic || 05/20/2009 10:37 Comments || Top||

#3  I agree with pebbles, the parents have no say in their childrens schooling no more unless home schooled. Also when the government took away the right too whoop your childs ass when they needed it ( not abusing punishing) this downward spiral of the schools started
Posted by: funky skunk || 05/20/2009 12:22 Comments || Top||

#4  Ah, yes. I remember swats. I had a few meetings with the Board of Education myself. They were very instructive.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 05/20/2009 15:10 Comments || Top||


An Islamic college in Berkeley?
The proposed Zaytuna College would be a first: a four-year, accredited, Islamic college in the United States. "Part of the process of indigenizing Islam in America is for the community to begin to develop its own leadership from inside the country, develop its own scholars," said Hatem Bazian, chair of the management board for Zaytuna College and a senior lecturer of Near Eastern studies at the University of California at Berkeley.

"There is a growing need in the Muslim community to provide a variety of trained specialists to fulfill a growing and diverse community infrastructure and institutional framework," Bazian said -- to work as imams, as chaplains, or within the growing network of Islamic non-profit organizations. Currently, Bazian said, American students who seek a high-level Islamic education must study in the Muslim world.

The proposed college would be built out of an existing institute with significant influence in the Islamic community. The Zaytuna Institute and Academy, an Islamic educational institute founded in 1996, is transitioning into Zaytuna College; the Berkeley-based institute already offers classes, but not for university credit. Those behind the transition from institute to college plan to seek accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges – a daunting and multi-year process, they realize.

“We know what is required. We know how difficult it is in terms of maintaining solvency and making sure that the management structure is strong. Those are things that WASC is looking for – making sure that the caliber of the education is at the level it should be, making sure that the organization is solvent and will continue to be around years from now," said Farid Senzai, a member of Zaytuna’s management board, director of research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding and an assistant professor of political science at Santa Clara University. “Many other colleges started out very small and we anticipate that we will start very small and slowly transition to a much bigger college over time,” said Senzai.

The planned Zaytuna College could start offering classes in either fall 2010 or 2011 (a final decision on a launch date has not yet been made). An estimated $2.5 to $4 million is needed to cover the costs of starting up -- a manageable amount, said Bazian, who also cited a need to raise another $10 to $20 million to start an endowment. The college would launch in rented space in Berkeley, although officials are identifying potential permanent locations in the Bay Area.

In terms of curriculum, the plan is to start with just two majors, in Arabic language and Islamic law and theology. All students would be required to take an intensive summer Arabic course, or otherwise demonstrate proficiency, prior to their freshman fall. Students would also take anywhere from 54 to 70 credits in general education.

“One thing that will be very unique about it is having a belief or being a person of faith is going to be celebrated,” said Senzai. “There’s nothing wrong with having a spiritual component in the educational process. So very much in line with many of the Jesuit schools that exist in the United States, we’re seen as the Muslim version of Georgetown University, for instance.” Bazian softened the analogy a bit. As for Georgetown -- "That's setting the target way too high. I will be satisfied with [being akin to] a functioning community college that's not running in the red!" Still, he continued, "The mission of the institution has a flag planted in the ethical values of Islam and its long, varied and diverse tradition that has been transmitted to us through generations."

The college would be open to interested individuals of all faiths (not only Muslims) and would be co-ed. Senzai is co-editor of the 2009 book, Educating the Muslims of America (Oxford University Press), which offers this description of the Zaytuna Institute’s mosque, or masjid: “The Zaytuna masjid does have a partition, but unlike partitions in most mosques it is also pleasing to the eye…. Because the masjid is used as a classroom space as well, there is a stage immediately in front of the end of the partition that enables both men and women to see the teacher equally, the partition dividing the room in half… The raison d’être for the partition in this structure seems to be so male students can focus during class on the sacred texts rather than the sisters while still allowing female students to interact with their male instructors.”

That description refers to the mosque (which doubles as classroom space) in the Zaytuna Institute, and not to the proposed college or its classrooms. When asked about this topic, Bazian said there would be no barriers separating the genders at Zaytuna College but that men and women typically would sit on opposite sides of a classroom because of cultural norms.

Bazian said he doesn't expect that the Islamic character of the college will present any obstacle in the accreditation process, pointing out that Zaytuna would follow in a long tradition of faith-based institutions. Attaining accreditation will be a challenge, but not for that reason, he said. "I'm confident that Zaytuna will be welcomed not only by WASC but also by other institutions that see the value of developing an American Muslim institution that is intended to develop a unique program to fit the needs of a growing Muslim population -- in conversation with other academic institutions both in California and around the country," he said.

"This is not to say that people of ill will, outside or in the general arena, will not take issue with this. I think this is part of the period that we are in, that Islam is under the microscope... and some individuals of ill will will find the opportunity to express their ill will, but we will not be distracted by some who desire to make a career out of criticism. We'd rather build."
Posted by: ryuge || 05/20/2009 06:39 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well, you didn't think they were going to open up a Christian or Jewish college in Berzerkley, did you? That would be too controversial....
Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie || 05/20/2009 7:38 Comments || Top||

#2  In terms of curriculum, the plan is to start with just two majors, in Arabic language and Islamic law and theology.

Oh, great...
Posted by: Parabellum || 05/20/2009 8:16 Comments || Top||

#3  great, during the study abroad programs will students get kidnapped and maybe get their head sawed off? or recruited?
Posted by: GirlThursday || 05/20/2009 8:18 Comments || Top||

#4  I thought at least one (if not all) colleges in Berkley were islamic?
Posted by: CrazyFool || 05/20/2009 8:34 Comments || Top||

#5  Do faculty have their pick of wives?
Posted by: Excalibur || 05/20/2009 9:50 Comments || Top||

#6  I'm all for it. Put it in Gitmo.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 05/20/2009 10:12 Comments || Top||

#7  I have always wondered exactly how vibrant the Muslim community in the US - outside of certain localities where they have gathered unto themselves - really is. The usual Islamic representatives are always going on about how many there are in the US and how many converts are gathering ... but I really don't see much evidence, in my own life and circle of friends. I do know a handful of people from India and the Middle East who I think might possibly be Muslim, just based on their apparent country of origin - but they don't seem to be all about beards, burkas and the Koran. I know of one woman, an American, who wears the full robe and headcovering, but not the veil ... but basically, all these converts I keep hearing about are either prison converts and all-round-scumbags, particularly brainless women with authority issues, or adolescents like whatsisfern, the American Talibani. There don't seem to be any well-adjusted, mainstream American types among them. I know the perils of making big assumptions based on one's own limited experience, but San Antonio is a big city and fairly cosmopolitan. I'd just think if American Islam was all that - I would know of more Muslims, personally.
Posted by: Sgt. Mom || 05/20/2009 11:04 Comments || Top||

#8  Houston has 17 Islamic centers (largest in the country, I believe). I was in the post office the other day where there's always a line out the door. I looked around and realized I was the only one there without a headscarf, burka, or beard.

When they start to blast their call to prayer from the mosques 5 times a day, I'll know it's time to leave.

BTW, I think I saw a survey recently that Islam is now the fasted growing religion among Hispanics.
Posted by: Zorba || 05/20/2009 11:51 Comments || Top||

#9  A fully-accredited American college, offering a degree in Islamic law and theology and requiring Arabic, prepares students for the high demand jobs of the future in the grand global Ummah. They will have to pay the professors adequately so they don't look elsewhere for world-class imams--California taxpayer dollars working hard for the people once again.
Posted by: Lumpy Elmoluck5091 || 05/20/2009 11:53 Comments || Top||

#10  "Part of the process of indigenizing Islam in America is for the community to begin to develop its own leadership from inside the country, develop its own scholars."

The idea for development of “Westernized” Islamic institutions is not a new phenomenon. In theory they could serve as a moderate Counterweight to the more ridged (or dare we say radical) teachings of traditional Islam. Unfortunately, in practice they have not resulted in much more then an adoption of conventional Muslim dogma. As witnessed by the quotes in this article it’s difficult to imagine that this situation would be any different.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 05/20/2009 11:58 Comments || Top||

#11  I saw a report that Mexicans were converting to Islam and rejecting Catholicism. It was surmised the women, in particular, were rejecting the overtly sexual machismo culture.
Posted by: Lumpy Elmoluck5091 || 05/20/2009 12:00 Comments || Top||

#12  "It was surmised the women, in particular, were rejecting the overtly sexual machismo culture."

Well, that's a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire, isn't it?
Posted by: Sgt. Mom || 05/20/2009 12:12 Comments || Top||

#13  Well, the radical imams will probably bring the America-hating average down among the Bezerkley Faculty. :<
Posted by: ebrown2 || 05/20/2009 13:15 Comments || Top||

#14  This is just one of the many, many reasons I voted no on the tax and spend propositions on the California ballot yesterday. If we let them have the money they'll spend it on programs like this. I can't frickin' stand it. Please, stop the madness!!! It gets to a point where you feel like you live in a mad house and you wonder what you did or didn't do to deserve it. I don't think I deserve but I'm sure as hell getting it. Help!!!
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 05/20/2009 14:36 Comments || Top||

#15  i thought all the colleges in berkely were muslim
Posted by: funky skunk || 05/20/2009 20:17 Comments || Top||



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