Chess grand master and noted egomaniac Bobby Fischer has been placed in solitary confinement at a Japanese immigration detention center for four days after a fracas with guards at breakfast, his fiancee and ex-bodyguard said on Monday. The former world chess champion is fighting deportation from Japan to the United States, where he is wanted for violating sanctions against Yugoslavia by playing a chess match there in 1992. He has been in custody in Japan since he was arrested last July for traveling on an invalid U.S. passport. Oops.
Fischer's fiancee, Miyoko Watai, a four-time Japan women's chess champion who last year announced plans to marry Fischer, said he told her during a meeting on Monday morning that he had been in solitary confinement from last Wednesday to Sunday morning at the detention center in Ushiku, northeast of Tokyo. "There was a bit of trouble with some of the staff," Watai said at a news conference. Watai said Fischer became involved in a dispute with guards when he asked for an additional boiled egg at breakfast.
"Please, sir? May I have some more?"
The dispute escalated to a scuffle, leading Fischer to be placed in solitary confinement.
"Into the box wit' yez! Lessee yez think yer way outta there!"
Watai and other Fischer supporters, including a longtime friend who came to Japan last week in hopes of taking Fischer back to Iceland, said last week that they and Fischer's lawyers had been prevented from meeting with him since Wednesday. Ok, let's put it in terms these chess geniuses can understand....he's been checked, and getting close to checkmated.
Iceland, the site of the match where Fischer won the world chess title in 1972 in a classic Cold War encounter with Soviet champion Boris Spassky, offered Fischer a home late last year. In February, it agreed to issue him a special passport that would allow him to travel through 15 West European countries in what is known as the Schengen Zone, thereby avoiding deportation. Icelandic Ambassador to Japan Thordur Oskarsson said that the passport has been issued and is being held at the embassy in Tokyo pending Fischer's release. "Our instruction is only to release it to him when the Japanese authorities release him from detention," he added. Well, if he keeps acting like this, it is highly unlikely they will let him go pick it up.
It remained unclear, however, whether Japanese immigration authorities would agree to let Fischer go to Iceland rather than deport him to the United States. On Friday, Fischer formally applied to Japanese immigration authorities for voluntary departure to Iceland. Fischer's longtime Icelandic friend Saemundur Palsson, who met the chess great when he was his bodyguard during the 1972 match, said he was unhappy with Japan's handling of the case. "I am very disappointed in the Japanese people for taking part in this because I thought they were one of the best and most polite people I had ever met," he said. Polite people can deal with having only one egg at breakfast, Palsson....
In the latest twist in the case, a Japanese newspaper reported Sunday that Fischer might be indicted by U.S. authorities for tax evasion, after which the U.S. government might ask for him to be handed over by Japan. Now we're bringing out the big guns, the IRS! Fischer's lawyers declined to comment on the report, saying they still had to verify their client's bank balance details.
They write this as thouugh they are the same person...
John Bosnitch, second from right, speaks at a news conference on Friday, joined by Fischer's fiancee Miyoko Watai, left, his lawyer Masako Suzuki, second from left, chess match organizer Gudmunder G. Thorarinsson, third from left, and Fischer's former bodyguard, Saemundur Palsson.
It should read ...his fiancee AND his ex-bodyguard...
Now EX-bodyguard? Why EX?
And he still hangs out with Icelandics? Trying to relive old glories....
Ten years ago, I predicted that the political left would eventually be driven completely into a fantasy world of conspiracy theories. This was inevitable as world events continued to refute their basic tenets.
The commercial-style Paranoid Conspiracy Theory (PCT), a well-established and proven device of propaganda, provides a safety valve for Left-conformists, since it can generate an alternate explanation for literally any occurrence or sequence of events, postponing any realization of the failure of previous beliefs. The Left is especially vulnerable to this because of its generic association with commercial media culture. The latter, of course, has a vested interest in substituting fantasy for reality and vast skill at doing so. This susceptibility is an inherent flaw in the leftist worldview, one that will doom them.
It is obvious now that ad hoc "cointelpro" efforts (and you know what I am talking about) should focus on inciting and spreading Paranoid Conspiracy Theories among Left-conformists. Now, the specific theories cited at the link may not be of much use, though many elements can be incorporated. What matters is not the specific claims but the conspiracy theory as a device of propaganda, an all-inconclusive meme with the power to subsume all Leftist thought. As such, it is a framework into which any necessary set of specific claims can be dropped.
It is impossible to bring the Lefties over to our side, since this is antithetical to their most basic goal, the acquisition of power and control over others. What we can do is render these efforts ineffectual by diverting their basis to a non-existent set of facts. Actions, positions, and collective strategies based on Paranoid Conspiracy Theories will have no lasting effect on the real world, yet they will absorb the energy of the believers.
The diabolical beauty of this is the ability of the conspiracist meme to account for its own failure, the conspiracy itself is the cause when events don't follow the theory's predictions ie the pro-democracy turbulence in the Middle East is is a Rovian-fostered delusion rather than the result of Bush administration policy. The PCT believers will therefore sink further into their delusional fantasy ideology, rather than abandoning it, as events proceed.
Our greatest success so far in this area has probably been to convince the Left-conformist masses that the harmless bungler Karl Rove is the actual mastermind of our efforts. With this convenient strawman as an explanation, the fantasy-prone lefties are diverted from any substantial engagement with the opposition and our efforts proceed unimpeded.
#1
Dammit, AC, how many times do we have to tell you not to post sensitive Halliburton Co. executive board minutes where non-members of the VRWC can read it???
#8
LOL! Awesome AC! Notoriety and admiration from RB adorn you!
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/08/2005 22:14 Comments ||
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#9
From the Indymedia link above to this article - I don't know whether this is a joke, a bald-faced lie, or a brazen attempt to hide in plain sight by telling the truth, but it was posted this morning
An episode of the new series of sci-fi drama Doctor Who has been leaked onto the internet. A 45-minute episode, called Rose, has appeared three weeks before the series is expected to begin on BBC One. Rose is the name of the character played by pop singer Billie Piper, who will be the assistant to the Doctor, played by Christopher Eccleston.
Picture at the link, she's hot.
It is unclear how it came to be on the web and whether it is the final cut. The BBC was unavailable for comment.
Busy looking for the leak, I'd guess. For all the cheesey special effects and stupid plots, Doctor Who is one of my all time favorite shows. I can't wait to see it.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/08/2005 8:50:04 AM ||
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Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/08/2005 16:32 Comments ||
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Barbara, Dr Who was running when my family first got a TV 45 years ago. One of my favourite episodes is filmed entirely in a corridor because the set budget had run out.
A new county law aims to keep readers from reeking. Libraries in San Luis Obispo County have had their own rules banning offensive body odor since 1994, but the policy became law after the Board of Supervisors last month adopted an ordinance that lets authorities kick out malodorous guests.
Won't that descriminate against bums the homeless?
Visitors to 14 libraries and a bookmobile also could be asked to leave for fighting, eating, drinking, sleeping, playing games, and printing or viewing illegal materials on library computers.
OK, that part is enforceable.
"The point is to make the library a comfortable, safe place for everyone to use," said Moe McGee, assistant director of the San Luis Obispo City-County Library. A strict code of conduct, officials argue, is needed to ensure one patron's right to use a public library doesn't infringe on the rights of another. Yet the law can raise tough questions for librarians, said Irene Macias, Santa Barbara's library services manager. "What is bad odor?" Macias asked. "A woman who wears a strong perfume? A person who had a garlicky meal?"
Posted by: Desert Blondie ||
03/08/2005 8:47:19 AM ||
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#1
"What is bad odor?"
I'll take Odors for $100, Alex.
What does it take to drive every other living creature out of the building?
#4
Hey - I lived in Thailand for almost a year (1 year ago, in fact) and visited more than a dozen times before that - I know durian. Holy shit! You know if anyone in the entire hotel has breached the No Durian! rule! They have cards with a picture and the rule in 4 or 5 languages all over the hotels, lol! Evil shit!
#5
I may be alone on this, but I think that's a good rule. The homeless do hang out in libraries but, man, they STINK. Their smell can clear an entire area. And you don't want somebody with that strong of a pee stench sitting in the upholstered chairs.
It seems ok to me to demand that they clean up to an acceptable degree before they go in.
#6
What does it take to drive every other living creature out of the building?
A skunk.
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
03/08/2005 9:56 Comments ||
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.com, my little brother said the same thing when he went to Malaysia. One of his drivers had one in the trunk of the car....he thought something died horribly in there before he found out what it was.
Makes you wonder just how hungry the first poor bastard who ate that crap was when he bit into it.
#9
"Won't that descriminate against bums the homeless?"
That was kinda the idea. I think this is mostly about the San Luis Obispo city library, which is in the center of town across from city hall and the county gov't center. The "homeless" have been an "issue" there for some time. It's a little better now, since they moved the Day Center (i.e.: soup kitchen) out of the historic San Luis Obispo Mission (a huge tourist attraction)(the Mission, not the soup kitchen).
"What is bad odor?" Macias asked. "A woman who wears a strong perfume? A person who had a garlicky meal?"
No Irene, it's some lice-infested character with a literal c**p-load in his drawers.
Posted by: Dr August Balls of SLO ||
03/08/2005 12:38 Comments ||
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#10
One day a sergeant was telling me of his post WWII experiences administering the Marshall Plan in China. After a time, his Chinese driver, deciding to speak frankly, said, "Sarge you're pretty good 'Joe', but you drink cow's milk and it makes you stink like shit." Oh well, one person's rose is an other man's corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum).
#14
The unibomber was identified by his smell in libraries
ummm wasn't it his manifesto that tipped his brother to report him?
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/08/2005 15:07 Comments ||
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#15
I like the smell of durian. The first time I tried it, I thought it was the most disgusting thing I have ever tried to eat. The second time I tried it, I started to see what all the fuss was about (Asians love durian). Thats when I realized it was additive.
#17
Worse than garlic, worse than durian its carbon diselenide. Or even tellurium breath.
Posted by: The Chemist ||
03/08/2005 16:50 Comments ||
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#18
DB - The site is rather bizarre, lol! If I didn't know better, I'd say there is a sexual thingy going on there - complete with centerfold. *shiver*
English translation with illustrations of the recent comic book pamplet distributed by the Mexican government on how to violate US borders and live as an illegal alien.
Posted by: ed ||
03/08/2005 6:08:27 PM ||
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AT LEAST 133 inmates died at a prison in the Dominican Republic yesterday after rival gangs fighting to control the drug trade at the jail set pillows and mattresses ablaze and blocked the entrance from their jailers. A fire chief, Nestor Vera, said three gangs battling over who would sell drugs and cigarettes at the jail in Higuey, 75 miles north-east of the capital on the eastern tip of the island, had blocked the entrance to the cell block in order to fight it out, before some of them started the fire. The violence began when an inmate, Jose Manuel Hernandez Mota, shot and wounded a rival gang member on Sunday night and dozens of prisoners began fighting over who would take control, Gen de la Cruz Martinez said. Guards broke up that fight, but at about 12:30am many prisoners began rioting, setting fire to pillows and sheets. The Dominican Republic has the most overcrowded jails in the western hemisphere, according to United Nations figures.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
03/08/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
...Wondering which genius had the idea of burning the place down to prove a point.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
03/08/2005 0:40 Comments ||
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Guess they showed them who's boss.
Also, BooFrigginHooHoo...
The presidents of Estonia and Lithuania on Monday refused invitations to attend May ceremonies in Moscow marking the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, due to lingering bitterness over the postwar Soviet occupation of the Baltic nations.
""Our dance card is full now; we'll sit this one out."
People in the former Soviet republics of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia are split over whether the leaders should go to the ceremony; Russia has never acknowledged its role as a driving force behind the five-decade Soviet occupation of the Baltics. "Understanding well how sensitive history is to the Lithuanian nation, I have decided to stay in Lithuania on May 9 to celebrate it properly," Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus said after meeting Russia's ambassador to Lithuania, Boris Tsepov. He said he hoped Russia would understand his decision. Adamkus invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to Vilnius so he could explain in person his reasons for not attending.
I like a leader with a spine. It's all the rage in New Europe!
Tsepov left Adamkus' office without answering questions from reporters, and Russia's Foreign Ministry had no comment.
No printable comments, at any rate.
President Arnold Ruutel of Estonia also said Monday that he would not attend the ceremonies, but would send his foreign minister. "The sufferings of the people of Estonia caused by World War II and those of the following years have not yet died away from the memory of the people," Ruutel said. Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga said in January she planned to attend the events in Moscow, saying she wanted to "extend the hand of friendship" to Russia. But she also pointed out that while much of Europe was celebrating the end of an occupation, the defeat of Nazi Germany signaled the beginning of a five-decade Soviet occupation for much of Eastern Europe.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
03/08/2005 12:04:58 AM ||
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#5
There is a very large Russian populace in Latvia, especially in Riga and industrial cities in its east. As each misstep of Putin causes more global problems over time, I think President Vike-Freiberga will find these dance steps becoming increasingly difficult.
#6
This was probably an easy decision for Adamkus. He fought Nazis during the war, then commies after the war, finally arriving nearly penniless in the US (where he became a citizen; he had to give up his US citizenship when he became president of Lithuania). He's walked the walk.
#7
Slighty OT, but relevant:
I recently went to a Bar Mitzvah with my son for a friend of his who's family immigrated from Lithuania. They passed the Torah from great-grandfather to grandfather to father to son - pretty routine so far. The catch, though, was that the great-grandfather was the last person in the family to be Bar Mitzvah'd - the grandfather and father weren't allowed theirs. It was very powerful and moving, even to Gentiles like my son and me.
#8
Slighty OT, but relevant:
I recently went to a Bar Mitzvah with my son for a friend of his who's family immigrated from Lithuania. They passed the Torah from great-grandfather to grandfather to father to son - pretty routine so far. The catch, though, was that the great-grandfather was the last person in the family to be Bar Mitzvah'd - the grandfather and father weren't allowed theirs. It was very powerful and moving, even to Gentiles like my son and me.
Posted by: DORF ||
03/08/2005 9:24 Comments ||
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#8
I knew a Korean owner of a "Japanese" steak house, whose four marriageable, but unmarried daughters still lived with him. For any bachelor who entered the place, he gave a free complimentary bowl of his 'private stock' kim chee, and you were his best buddy in the whole world. Ever seen a man with a look of desparation in his eyes?
#11
Damn, Sgt, Mom - that's not even close to right!
Kimchee is good. (Spicy, but good. And crunchy.) Sauerkraut is, well, sour. It sucks.
But I luv ya' anyway. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/08/2005 15:03 Comments ||
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#12
Barb, I konkur, however... In the case kimchi is not available, sauerkraut may do--it also kontains lactic acid and is a rich source of vitamin C. Not the stuff in jars or kans, it has been pasteurized and made just... sour. The fermented whole kabbage head (usually in sealed plastic wrap) is good and also tastes different. The best thing is to make your own--a large (5 gallons) earthenware vessel stored in cold place filled with grated kabbage, several whole apples, several horseradish roots, generous amount of karraway seed and some salt (one spoon/gallon)...give it about 4 months to ferment. Eat as is--a side dish, don't kook (actually, it would taste so good that idea of kooking it would not kross your mind).
China unveiled a law Tuesday authorizing an attack if Taiwan moves toward formal independence, ratcheting up pressure on the self-ruled island while warning other countries not to interfere. Taiwan denounced the legislation as a "blank check to invade."
The proposed anti-secession law, read out for the first time before the ceremonial National People's Congress, doesn't say what specific actions might invite a Chinese attack. "If possibilities for a peaceful reunification should be completely exhausted, the state shall employ nonpeaceful means and other necessary measures to protect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity," Wang Zhaoguo, deputy chairman of the NPC's Standing Committee, told the nearly 3,000 legislators gathered in the Great Hall of the People.
Beijing claims Taiwan, split from China since 1949, as part of its territory. The communist mainland repeatedly has threatened to invade if Taiwan tries to make its independence permanent, and new law doesn't impose any new conditions or make new threats. But it lays out for the first time legal requirements for military action.
Taiwan's leaders warned that the move could backfire by angering the island's voting public. Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, which handles the island's China policy, said the law gives China's military "a blank check to invade Taiwan" and "exposed the Chinese communists' attempt to use force to annex Taiwan and to be a regional power."
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Posted by: .com ||
03/08/2005 4:25:16 AM ||
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#1
PRC has been spouting this nonsense since Quemoi and Matsu under Eisenhower. Just more hot air for domestic consumption.
China is reported to have demanded that Australia review its 50-year-old military treaty with the United States and New Zealand, warning that it could threaten regional stability by drawing Australia into a conflict over Taiwan. The Australian newspaper quoted Beijing's director-general of North American and Oceanian Affairs He Yafei as saying Australia and the United States had to be careful not to invoke the ANZUS alliance against China. "We all know Taiwan is part of China and we do not want to see in any way the Taiwan issue become one of the elements that will be taken up by bilateral military alliances, be it Australia-US or Japan-US," he was quoted as saying.
"If there were any move by Australia and the US in terms of that alliance that is detrimental to peace and stability in Asia then it (Australia) needs to be careful."
The ANZUS (Australia-New Zealand-United States) Alliance, drawn up at the end of World War II, is Australia's most important military treaty, under which each country is obliged to support the other in the event of an attack. Australia would be expected under its terms to support the United States if China resorted to force over Taiwan. China is also one of Australia's most important trading partners and an already cordial relationship is constantly widening and deepening to the extent the two are now discussing a free trade agreement.
However, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer suggested last year that Australia might not necessarily go to Taiwan's aid because a flare-up might not constitute a direct attack on US interests. Defence experts were quoted as saying the warnings were a reminder of China's growing economic strength in the region and that Australia may risk its economic and political ties with the nation if drawn into the Taiwan issue. The Australian government said Tuesday that there was no possibility of the ANZUS alliance being reviewed. "We have no plans and the United States has no plans to amend the ANZUS treaty," a spokesman for Downer told AFP.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
03/08/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
...Gad, those heathen Chinee are idiots...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
03/08/2005 0:33 Comments ||
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China is reported to have demanded that Australia review its 50-year-old military treaty with the United States and New Zealand, warning that it could threaten regional stability ....
One wonders if the term "oxymoron" translates well into Mandarin.
#5
But not stupid enough to actually do anything about Taiwan, probably. These pathetic Chinese histrionics respond to a widespread and authentic crude nationalism at home, but the beauty is that while the gangsters government gets negligible short-term mileaage at home out of this, it helps generate the real-world response (Japan's slow movement back toward a real security role) that helps us and hems them in. There's a reason China is famous for culture, cuisine, and not foreign policy acumen ....
#6
Veraline, they just passed a law about Taiwan today in Beijing, declaring it an indivisible part of China and forbidding it to secede.
If I were Taiwanese, I would probably build a big statue on the shore facing mainland, so it is visible at least by binoculars from over there. Its unveiling would coincide with the declaration of independence. I suppose that I don't have to explain what the statue would represent. ;-)
#8
I can't figure out who or what in China is so flipping stupid. China keeps pushing this Taiwan issue.
aiwan is already a huge investment in China. It doesn't appear that most Chinese folks on Taiwan care about a separate "nation." They do however want to live the way they fell like. If China would just shut the hell up and quit stepping all over it's self a peaceful and gradual reunification will take place. This crap they are doing now just makes that day further off not sooner.
#9
China tells Australia to review its defense treaty with the US:
In a show of Trilateral brinkmanship a senior official in the Australian Ministry of Organic Foods confided; "This demarche from China will not stand. In fact all three ANZUS partners, Australia,New Zealand, and the United States demanded today that China take the MSG out of all Chinese foods (especially take-out)!"
#10
"Mainland" china belongs to Taiwan...not the other way around. I think the argument can be made that the government of Taiwan has a hell of a lot more claim on the mainland than the "communist" government on the mainland has on Taiwan.
Posted by: Tom Dooley ||
03/08/2005 2:28 Comments ||
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#11
A half-century old security arrangement ... threatens stability. Queer bit of reasoning there.
Posted by: Rex Rufus ||
03/08/2005 2:32 Comments ||
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#12
I am watching Japan. As the Chinese rattle sabers, the Japanese quietly rearm. In a competition between PRC and a resurgent Japan, my money is on Japan.
#13
Just remember the Argentina scenario, when the economy goes south and unrest goes north, invade and appeal to nationalistic emotions. The Chicom government has yet to experience a real recession and all its wonderful social impacts. Interesting times ahead.
#14
Is this a return the the 50s and 60s? The Reds used to routinely threaten massive destruction if no one paid attention to them. Rather like the NorKs, in fact.
#17
This should not come as a terrible surprise to anyone. The Chinese, as one would expect, are devotees of Sun Tzu, and Sun Tzu tell us that in order of importance one should attack the enemy's:
1. Strategy
2. Alliances
3. Armies
4. Cities
We've seen plenty of #1. Now expect lots of #2, as they try to scare off our allies in the region.
#19
Mike, AzCat, Sobiesky: does "counter-explains" (according to Babelfish, the translation for "oxymoron") count? :P
BH, Dreadnought -- sadly, this looks like the case. Got any ideas for countermoves that will actually be implemented, or are we going to need some *ahem* "political will" augmentations? (read: vote out liberals -- and start bureaucratic purges)
You, Dreadnought, are completely correct and it bothers me, because the Art of War is predicated on having a dictator-king who can smoothly implement his desires ...
#20
Mike, AzCat, Sobiesky: does "counter-explains" (according to Babelfish, the translation for "oxymoron") count? :P
BH, Dreadnought -- sadly, this looks like the case. Got any ideas for countermoves that will actually be implemented, or are we going to need some *ahem* "political will" augmentations? (read: vote out liberals -- and start bureaucratic purges)
You, Dreadnought, are completely correct and it bothers me, because the Art of War is predicated on having a dictator-king who can smoothly implement his desires ...
P.S. Sorry about the double post, I forgot to ID myself.
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
03/08/2005 11:56 Comments ||
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#21
If NK can tell China to F*&K off, so can we
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/08/2005 12:24 Comments ||
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#22
...China is reported to have demanded that Australia review its 50-year-old military treaty with the United States...
... or risk death in the "Buddha of all Battles" (tm)!
#23
SOMEONE didn't get the memo about not underestimating our nation's enemies ...
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
03/08/2005 13:57 Comments ||
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#24
EY,
I think the most important thing for us is to understand the game that the Chinese are playing. Going back to Sun Tzu again, The Art of War asserts that the greatest skill is shown by generals who win battles without fighting. (Devotees of Clausewitz, feel free to disagree, but that's another discussion.)
I honestly do not believe that the PRC is going to launch a surprise invasion of Taiwan with all the costs and uncertainty associated with such an enterprise. I think their ultimate goal is to bluster and bully, convince Americans, Australians, even Taiwanese that it just isn't worth fighting over and basically hand over the island without a shot being fired.
So I guess it gets back to the old saw: The best way to avoid a fight is to be ready for one.
#28
The civilized world should just ignore China. They are too unstable. Our companies should stop building products there and stop kissing Chinese ass in order to be positioned for when the market finally opens up. Stop investing and let them rot.
POlitical reform would come quickly after that, either that or the Chicoms would attack Taiwan to distract their people, attack Taiwan a decade before they had any chance of winning.
IT wasn't the birthday present Raymond Akhtar Ali was looking for, as the High Court yesterday ensured the baby killer would die in jail. A butcher who killed and dismembered his newborn baby girl just minutes after her birth, Ali lost his bid for a retrial yesterday. The Full Bench of the High Court in Canberra took less than a minute to find Ali — who will spend his 52nd birthday today in a jail cell — was a cold-blooded killer who had no right to freedom. Ali, a butcher who specialised in preparing halal meats for other Muslims, bashed Chahleen Amy Blackwell to death minutes after her birth beside a tank stand at a property at Logan Village, south of Brisbane, in September 1998. The court was told he dismembered the infant, removing the reproductive organs, in the same fashion that he killed goats for halal customers.
The girl's mother, Amanda Leanne Blackwell, had been having a secret affair with Ali despite her engagement to the butcher's nephew. The Queensland Supreme Court was told Ali forced Blackwell into prostitution and kept her as a virtual sex slave. Blackwell testified Ali was the baby's father and that he was present at the birth. But before she could hold the baby Ali took her away and later returned, telling her he had disposed of the body. Ali claimed he was not Chahleen's father, but DNA tests proved there was a 99.9 per cent chance the child was his.
While Ali received a life sentence, Blackwell convinced a jury she did not take part in the murder and escaped with lesser charges of manslaughter and concealing the birth of a child. Ali twice appealed to the Queensland Court of Appeal, first claiming errors in Supreme Court Justice Margaret Wilson's verdict. The first appeal was dismissed, but a second appeal on the grounds that his legal team was incompetent granted Ali special leave to appeal to the High Court. The High Court found the evidence against Ali was solid, there were no errors that interfered with his chance of an acquittal and there was nothing to be gained by a retrial. At his sentencing before the Supreme Court in Brisbane in November 2000, Ali shouted: "I will prove my innocence to a higher court. I have been judged on my colour and my religion." The highest court in the land spoke yesterday, ensuring Ali would spend his birthday and every day for the rest of his life in a cell.
#1
No offense, but if it has to hit somewhere, Australia or New Zealand are the best places. Those countries are civilized, with building codes, and honest civil services. You never see headlines about "100,000 dead in Canberra flooding" or Los Angeles, for that matter.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/08/2005 17:03 ||
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Hmmm. A nonbinding resolution approved by the U.S. House urging EU leaders to maintain the arms embargo passed by a fairly lop-sided 411-3. I wonder who the 3 Nays were?
#6
lunatic Rep In Name Only - more Hard Core Libertarian
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/08/2005 19:50 Comments ||
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Ron Paul - Where libertarianism meets Maoism, and why the real libertarians are holding their noses and voting Republican these days.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
03/08/2005 20:32 Comments ||
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Ron Paul from the lefty Maoist fringe of the Libertarian party. He is really a RINO. He couldn't get elected as a Libertarian, hence the GOP party label on him. From Texas no less.
#9
I do have some respect for Ron Paul. He routinely votes against pork projects, including in his own district. Not many can claim the latter.
His foreign policy has some precedents, including Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, Gerald Nye. I'm not saying he right on this, just that the Jeffersonian strain of foreign policy has a long history in this country. Not everyone opposed to foreign intervention is an anti-American leftist or Islamic fifth-columnist. Most, but not all.
Belgian Foreign Minister Karel de Gucht has demanded an end to Wallonian arms sales to Tanzania.
Those damm Wallonian's, I never trusted them.
De Gucht said the decision by the French-speaking community to help build an armaments factory in Tanzania totally undermined efforts by the federal government to stabilise the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo. His comments were made to Belgian daily newspaper De Standaard. The New Lachaussee factory in Liege is currently delivering machines to modernise the production line at a munitions factory in Tanzania. "The Wallonian region maintains that these machines will only be used to produce munitions for the Tanzanian army. The reality is that in the near future, people in the East of Congo will be killed by these bullets," said De Gucht.
"And the north, south, east...."
Posted by: Steve ||
03/08/2005 3:34:15 PM ||
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The Walloons, or the French speaking community of Belgium, are the hereditary aristocracy, as is the King. The Flemish speakers are the peasants. Even today (or at least the mid-1990s)in many businesses, management is made up of Walloons, while the Flems are labour. And of course, the Belgian Congo used to be the personal property of the King of the Belgians, the Supreme Walloon himself.
The strange case of the homosexual necrophiliac duck pushed out the boundaries of knowledge in a rather improbable way when it was recorded by Dutch researcher Kees Moeliker. It may have ruffled a few feathers, but it earned him the coveted Ig Nobel prize for biology awarded for improbable research, and next week he will be recounting his findings to UK audiences on the Ig Nobel tour. Ducks behave pretty badly, it seems. It is not so much that up to one in 10 of mallard couples are homosexual - no one would raise an eyebrow in the liberal Netherlands - but they regularly indulge in "attempted rape flights" when they pursue other ducks with a view to forcible mating. "Rape is a normal reproductive strategy in mallards," explains Mr Moeliker.
As he recounts in his seminal paper, The first case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard anas platyrhynchos, he was in his office in the Natuurmuseum Rotterdam, when he was alerted by a bang to the fact a bird had crashed into the glass facade of the building. "I went downstairs immediately to see if the window was damaged, and saw a drake mallard (anas platyrhynchos) lying motionless on its belly in the sand, two metres outside the facade. The unfortunate duck apparently had hit the building in full flight at a height of about three metres from the ground. Next to the obviously dead duck, another male mallard (in full adult plumage without any visible traces of moult) was present. He forcibly picked into the back, the base of the bill and mostly into the back of the head of the dead mallard for about two minutes, then mounted the corpse and started to copulate, with great force, almost continuously picking the side of the head.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: tipper ||
03/08/2005 9:16:08 AM ||
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Homosexual necrophiliac Dutch ducks? The government of Netherlands funds this krap instead of finding parliamentarians Geert Wollers and Hassan Ali decent secure places to live?
Turkey has said it is changing the names of three animals found on its territory to remove references to Kurdistan or Armenia. The environment ministry says the Latin names of the red fox, the wild sheep and the roe deer will be altered. The red fox for instance, known as Vulpes Vulpes Kurdistanica, will now be known as Vulpes Vulpes.
(shrug) Go right ahead, call them what you want. Just don't hold your breath waiting for anyone else to recognize them.
Turkey has uneasy relations with neighbouring Armenia and opposes Kurdish separatists in Turkey. The ministry said the old names were contrary to Turkish unity. "Unfortunately there are many other species in Turkey which were named this way with ill intentions. This ill intent is so obvious that even species only found in our country were given names against Turkey's unity," a ministry statement quoted by Reuters news agency said. Some Turkish officials say the names are being used to argue that Armenians or Kurds had lived in the areas where the animals were found.
And of couse, no one has ever lived here but Turks. You can look it up in any Turkish history book, so it must be so. I mean, would they lie about it?
Turkey has tense ties with its eastern neighbour Armenia, which it does not officially recognise. Armenians accuse Turkey of genocide, saying 1.5 million of their people died or were deported from their homelands under Turkish Ottoman rule. Turkey denies the genocide and says the death count is inflated.
Deny all you want, they're still dead.
For the last two decades, Turkey has also been fighting Kurdish separatists, who have sought an independent state in Turkey's south-east.
A Kurdish nation is sounding better every day.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/08/2005 8:36:58 AM ||
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NAME CHANGES
Only the names are changed to protect the innocent...
Red fox known as Vulpes Vulpes Kurdistanica becomes Vulpes Vulpes
Wild Sheep called Ovis Armeniana becomes Ovis Orientalis Anatolicus
Roe Deer known as Capreolus Capreolus Armenus becomes Capreolus Cuprelus Capreolus
#5
No Robert, John Elroy Sanford was not his name. As a child he was born Vulpes Kurdistanica, and called Vully as a small child.
The "Sanford" came about because no one could pronounce Kurdistanica when he was in grade school.
IN THE world of Brussels bureaucrats, precision is everything. That is why, when asked to produce a definition of the word "food", it took them no fewer than 72 words. That compares with only 18 in the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, which says food is: "What one takes into the system to maintain life and growth, and to supply waste; aliment, nourishment, victuals." Brussels has expanded on that, describing food as:
"Any substance, whether processed, semi-processed or unprocessed, which is intended to be, or reasonably expected to be, in whole or in part, ingested by humans, and includes drink, chewing gum and any substance including water which has been used in manufacture, preparation or treatment but does not include feed and feed ingredients, live animals, plants prior to harvesting, cosmetics, tobacco or substances such as drugs, narcotic or psychotropic substances, residues and contaminants."
The hope is that this will help clarify the meaning of the word for CODEX, the joint food standards organisation run by the United Nations and the World Health Organisation. It had asked for help as it revised its Code of Ethics for International Trade in Food - its existing definition runs to more than 40 words. The call for a new definition went to governments and international bodies, and suggestions, including the long-winded Brussels option, will be considered by CODEX next month. It said the definition of food should be "as wide as possible to cover most situations". It goes on: "To ensure the protection of consumers it is important to maintain the explicit reference to chewing gum in the text of the definition as it should be considered as food even if a part only of chewing gum is actually ingested by the consumer." For a more succinct definition, there is always the 1610 description from the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. With commendable brevity, it says food is: "What one eats, as opposed to 'drink'."
I don't wonder why they can't define "terrorist" anymore...
Chewing gum is a food?
Posted by: Seafarious ||
03/08/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Somewhere in here, there's a horrible joke about asking a North Korean to provide a written definition of "food" and having him eat the paper and pencil ... but I'm too cultured for such things.
Posted by: Rex Rufus ||
03/08/2005 2:47 Comments ||
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#6
I thought the European definition was whatever is halal.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/08/2005 8:07 Comments ||
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#7
The term "food" means (1) articles used for food or drink for man or other animals, (2) chewing gum, and (3) articles used for components of any such article.
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
03/08/2005 10:04 Comments ||
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jackal - I went to the link and that was it. It will stand the test of time, whereas the EU will have to keep adding and deleting to the list as times change and lawyers wrangle. Less is more.
#12
it's a difficult concept for you to grasp, isn't it Aris. Kind of like "we the people" v/s your preamble. We don't have to keep updating ours each time something changes.
#13
Thanks for the non-sequitur insulting, 2b, when I merely mentioned that a definition referencing itself is, well, the definition of "circular definition".
"We don't have to keep updating ours each time something changes."
No, you only update your *interpretation* of the law, and in order to describe the evolution of your political history, you end up needing to reference a thousand court decisions made by non-elected judges, instead of a thousand laws made by elected parliamentarians.
#14
"...non-elected judges..."? I guess that would be a reference to the Supreme Court justices that require confirmation by the Senate. Nomination, then confirmation. No confirmation and the nomination fails. That's not elected?
Posted by: Tom ||
03/08/2005 13:12 Comments ||
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"Nomination, then confirmation. No confirmation and the nomination fails."
You are describing the exact process that the European Commission (and its President) faces. The European Commission (and its President) are also "confirmed" by the European Parliament, but that hasn't stopped people here from calling them (correctly) unelected.
"That's not elected?"
Ofcourse it's not. Same with the European Commission, that's just "appointed and then approved".
#17
Your hopes are irrelevant to me, 2b. I'd appreciate your opinion on this issue more: Would you call the SCOTUS judges "elected" as Tom would or not?
#18
I have no desire to have a "discussion" with you Aris. Why don't you just go ahead and post your preconceived notions since it never really gets past that point, now does it?
#19
Whenever you ask questions about the EU or Greece I do my best to respond, even when it's questions that require page-long answers. But a question that you could answer in a mere sentence or even a mere word, and you don't have the common courtesy to respond, and you instead evade the question.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/08/2005 19:31 Comments ||
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#26
One day I'll be famous, I'll be proper and prim,
Gone to St. James so often I will call it St. Jim.
One evening the King will say, "Oh, Aris, old thing,*
I want all of Rantburg your praises to sing.
Next week on the twentieth of May, da-da-da-da-da-da-DA,
I proclaim Frightened Greek Boy Day!
#27
Definition of "elected": "1. To select by vote for an office or for membership."
Senate confirmation is by voting and is thus election. There were plenty of past nominees who were not confirmed and thus did not get into office.
The "thousand laws" enacted by EU parliamentarians (#13) will need interpretation by someone, won't they, Aris? I'll wager that your bureaucrats are sufficiently verbose that there will be a lot of problems. And the multiple cultures and languages will make it even more complicated. Many of the laws will be ignored because they are too verbose and impractical to even read, yet alone to obey.
Honestly, Aris, I thought the old Soviet "central planning" had been thoroughly discredited. But try it if you wish. When the Muslims outnumber you they will simplify everything for you. Have a nice life.
Posted by: Tom ||
03/08/2005 20:24 Comments ||
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Definition of "elected": "1. To select by vote for an office or for membership." Senate confirmation is by voting and is thus election
For it to be a proper selection, you need to have more than one candidates. If you only have one candidate, that's not an election, or even a selection, that's just an approval vote.
Same as the approval votes of the Commission by the European Parliament.
But be my guest. If you admit that everyone claiming the Commission to have been unelected was utterly wrong, then I'll concede that your Supreme Court judges are also "elected". Be consistent with your definition of "elect".
The "thousand laws" enacted by EU parliamentarians (#13) will need interpretation by someone, won't they, Aris?
"Interpretation" of the law in the European sense seems to me a MUCH more limited affair than interpretation of the law as done in USA.
Certainly I remember no major policy decisions being made by courts, like Roe vs Wade or Brown vs Board Of Education in USA.
As for your random personal and non-sequitur attacks and other random efforts to divert the topic yet again (like talking about Muslims in Europe), they again reveal you as thoroughly contemptible. Have a nice death.
#29
Have a nice death? My Lentan vow is broken. You insignificant little worm, how dare you? Ban him
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/08/2005 20:48 Comments ||
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#30
Back to my vows - and a confession Saturday
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/08/2005 20:48 Comments ||
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#31
my apologies to RB'ers
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/08/2005 20:54 Comments ||
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#32
How dare I? What, did I insult my "betters" again?
I dare by the same way others "dare" to talk merrily and gloatingly about Europe being destroyed by hordes of invading Muslims, that's how I dare. If you can't stomach open insults, don't launch either open nor covert ones.
Tom's "Have a nice life" in the doublespeak way that means its opposite. Bah!
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/08/2005 21:00 Comments ||
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#34
*shrug* Ban me, if you will.
But if you don't mind, I'd also first like to know whether wishing death on an entire continent or an entire nation is considered a lesser offense than wishing death on one person.
And I'd also like to know from more people than Tom whether SCOTUS judges are considered to be elected or not.
And as a sidenote, going back to the topic of the thread, I'd like to know whether there's anyone else who thinks that "term "food" means (1) articles used for food" sounds a bit circular.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
03/08/2005 21:11 Comments ||
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#38
Matt, not for Aris, he's way over there in paranoid delusions territory. At first I thought it is a language barrier, but few marbles short of full set is now, IMHO, a better diagnosis.
#39
Matt, perhaps it was indeed over the line, but it was no more than what they wished me and my entire continent. I prefer to put it into plain words when they've instead learned to use mock-polite expressions to pretend to hide their barbs and claim plausible deniability.
#41
Interesting -- Krusty understands better than Aris, and he's just a Simpsons character.
Posted by: Tom ||
03/08/2005 21:16 Comments ||
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#42
I defy you to find a comment where I said I "wouldn't mind if the whole of Greece fell into the sea and disappeared" or even agreed with anyone else saying it. You are out of control and spiraling downward.
Posted by: Tom ||
03/08/2005 21:19 Comments ||
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#43
Tom> You've got a point there and I mildly misremembered - you didn't say that you wouldn't mind, you and .com just said that you wouldn't care one way or another if all of Greece drowned or got swept away by the next tsunami. http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.asp?HC=1&D=2005-02-04&ID=55560
Cheers. I note that nobody called that neither Dave D nor Matt called that over the line, it seems, nor disputed its classiness.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/08/2005 21:37 Comments ||
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#45
Oh, Aris! I quoted a .com rant that I requested for "The Classics" -- a rant aimed at one of your twitty periods just like tonight. The .com rant was filled with hyperbole. Ever heard of hyperbole? I even credited it and put it in quotes. The fate of millions of Greeks never entered my mind -- it was all about YOU. It's still all about you, isn't it? You never get off the stage, even when tomatoes start flying. What a prima donna you are.
Posted by: Tom ||
03/08/2005 21:46 Comments ||
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#46
Tom, when you yourself say that something *you* did was all about *me*, then it's not me who's the self-obsessed "prima donna", it's you who's obsessed over me.
I take insults on my continent as insults on my continent, insults on my nation as insults on my nation, insults on my person as insults on my person. That's not being *self*-obsessed. That's just me being a humourless SOB with a long memory.
Learn to mean what you say and to say what you mean, Tom. I didn't insult your nation or continent in the effort to insult you.
On other matters, this would have been an all-around much smoother conversation if you hadn't seen fit to intrude irrelevancies like the muslim conquest of Europe in a discussion about whether the Supreme Court of the USA can be considered to be elected or not -- same way that it'd have been smoother if 2b hadn't responded first with rabid hostility at my simple remark that a certain definition seemed circular.
#48
Aris! I knew I could find ya in some Euro-type subject matter like this. Anyway, I wanted to make sure you read the thread here "Lessons Learned".
It is about the USMC kickin' ass and takin' names (just like they always do. heh) in Falluja. Tears came to my eyes with pride as I read of what our young Marines did there, Aris. Such fine and determined young men, Aris. I am sure not one of them was thinking of oil or neo-cons or even the EU! They were thinking of their fellow Marines, all engaged in mortal combat with a ruthless, hellish enemy. US Marines. No better friend, no worse enemy.
Anything like the US Marine Corps anywhere in the EU (other than the UK)? Not more than a few platoons. A Marine MEF+ (30K men) could defeat the entire Greek military. Ina long weekend. Pffffft. Soft power? 0 on the turgidity scale. No rise. Flat line. End-of-the-story.
An even longer version of his recent column in which he claims "fundamentalist" Christians don't give a rat's ass about the environment. The mere thought of a religious person must send him into convulsions. The contempt bleeds off the screen when you read his screed.
Though there is something new in this piece:
Here are some direct quotes: "Islam is an intolerant religion—and it's clear whose side we should be on in the Middle East." Applause greeted these words: "Allah and Jehovah are not the same God.... Islam is a Satanic religion.... They're going to attack Israel for certain...." Gary Frazier shouted at the top of his lungs: "Wake Up! Wake Up!" And roughly eight hundred heads (at $25.00 per) nodded approval as he added that the left-wing, anti-Israel media—"for example, CNN"—will never tell the world the truth about Islam. According to these three, and the millions of Americans they lead, Muslims intend ultimately "to impose their religion on us all."
Um, Bill? Many of them do want to impse their religion on us all. Those are the fundamentalists you should be afraid of. He wrote this piece for his fellow choir members you read the NYReview of Books. If you enjoy handwringing and hatred, the article is worth a read.
#2
So Moyers, like a lot of other leftists, gets the heebie jeebies when passing the local Baptist Church, but smiles indulgently when the local mosque is found to be passing around pamphlets titled "Your Neighbors: They're Infidels and Their Throats Should Be Slit".
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/08/2005 14:47 Comments ||
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#3
Shipman : Moyers really needs to provide a specimen, and a blood sample first, so he can be advised of the best treatment for his condition.
Then if the results come back as suspected, its time for, as it says on your link (I kid everyone not!) "Put the fresh brain 1 in the first ziploc bag."
1Cranial contents not pictured for the squeemish. Please see This with a cautionary warning...
I always thought that by neutralizing misfiring brain cells that liberalism would be lessened. But his case calls out- no cries out for such a resolution...
Hat Tip Drudge
While I was posting THK, I saw this gem...
BILL CLINTON BACK TO HOSPITAL IN NEW OPERATION Tue Mar 08 2005 11:11:18 ET
Statement from the Office of President Bill Clinton
Former President Bill Clinton will be undergoing a medical procedure this week to remove fluid and scar tissue from his left chest cavity. The procedure, which is a recognized, occasional consequence of open-heart surgery, will take place Thursday at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center and he will remain in the hospital for three to ten days.
The procedure is known as a decortication, and will require general anesthesia. The scar tissue developed as a result of fluid and inflammation causing compression and collapse of the lower lobe of the left lung. The surgery will be done either through a small incision or with a video-assisted thoracoscope inserted between ribs. The fluid buildup and lung collapse has caused the President some discomfort in recent weeks, but he has otherwise been in very good condition, recently passed a stress test and is walking up to four miles a day near his home in Chappaqua, NY.
The risk of the procedure is low, and once fully recovered, President Clinton is expected to resume his work without limitations.
#1
Not that I'm wishing him any ill, but does anyone think that when he does die, the reaction from the American people (not the leftist moonbats) will be anywhere close to what they had for Reagan?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/08/2005 16:34 Comments ||
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#2
The moonbat left is well on its way to moving away from Clinton as hero.
#3
We Republicans should give him a hearty farewell. He's done more for the nationwide success of the republican party than any even Karl or W ....
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/08/2005 16:57 Comments ||
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#4
This is indeed a recognized complication, but they're underplaying the severity. A decortication is NOT pleasant. He'll need a chest tube for a couple days afterwards, some monitoring, and he'll be recovering for 4 to 8 weeks.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/08/2005 18:02 Comments ||
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#5
Ten post-op days in hospital doesn't sound like a walk in the park.
TERESA'S BACK: ELECTION WAS HACKED!
Tue Mar 08 2005 09:32:36 ET
Teresa Heinz Kerry is openly skeptical about results from November's election, the SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER reports, particularly in sections of the country where optical scanners were used to record votes.
"Two brothers own 80 percent of the machines used in the United States," Heinz Kerry said. She identified both as "hard-right" Republicans. She argued that it is "very easy to hack into the mother machines."
Heinz Kerry did not offer any specific evidence that votes on the machines were altered.
"We in the United States are not a banana republic," added Heinz Kerry during a fundraiser in Seattle.
#4
Is it me or is it ironic that she said this in the Peoples Republic of Seattle where the dead, felons, (and imaginary friends) have voted in the governor.....
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) plans to lash out at the chamber's Republican leaders today with a report accusing them of abusing their power through parliamentary tactics designed to suppress dissent. "Help! Help! I'm bein' repressed!"
The report contends that rules governing major legislation "severely restrict or sometimes even totally block the minority's ability to debate or amend bills." It charges that Republicans on the Rules Committee have intentionally "used emergency meeting procedures and late-night meetings . . . to discourage Members and the press from participating in the legislative process." A tactic the Dems have never used, y'see...
Pelosi, a liberal who has few weapons besides rhetoric to use against the conservatives who control Congress, described the forthcoming report as documenting "devastating details of the profound abuse of power that characterizes House Republicans after 10 years in the majority." "In a battle of wits, she's defensless."
Posted by: mojo ||
03/08/2005 11:32:11 AM ||
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"tactics designed to suppress dissent..."
The particular tactic she's complaining about is called "being outvoted." Learn to live with it, Nancy.
Posted by: Matt ||
03/08/2005 13:49 Comments ||
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#2
Its also called 'Democracy'. Something the Democrats are against (apparently here as well as abroad).
#7
Pelosi should read about the tactics of some of the Democrat Speakers like Sam Rayburn, Jim Wright, and Tip O'Neill. It sucks to be in the minority.
#1
Those suggestions, since they're reasonable and rational, will be roundly ignored.
The overthrow of the Donk Leadership has to be the real first step.
Those that really care about their floundering failing party should stand up on their hind legs, round up the morons leading them into oblivion, and take them all out back and shoot them.
Then follow the advice given - with some twiddling here and there - it makes sense for the Donks and for most Americans.
#2
Hey - There is little chance of them changing unless they get thumped the way we did in 1936 (Before my time) or 1964 - I was in grade school.
They have got 40% of the people duped, so we won't see any change in their leaders soon unless someone as Edwin Edwards once put it, "is found in bed with a dead girl or a live boy."
And if you are thinking of Barney Frank, does anyone consider him a member of the Donk leadership? Or, is he just an oddball they keep around for laughs?
A bit of interesting history of why there is no filibuster in the House of Representatives. And lots of it sounds like our present day Senate
snip
Upon reaching the end, Reed declared that a quorum was present in the chamber. When a Democratic member appealed the ruling, Reed firmly denied the appeal. Every Democrat was on his feet yelling, except for a Texas representative, who was conspicuously sharpening a Bowie knife against the sole of his boot while sitting quietly in his seat. snip
As Tuchman records the scene, "pandemonium broke loose" in the House chamber. It was the beginning of five days of parliamentary tumult. A few Democrats attempted to maintain decorum, demanding formally, "I appeal the decision of the Chair!" Most others, however, were less gracious. They shouted, swore, threatened, and pounded their fists on tables and desks. Nevertheless, Reed went on reading the list of names in a calm, assured voice. When he reached the name of Rep. James McCreary of Kentucky, the latter exclaimed "I deny your right, Mr. Speaker, to count me as present!" snip
A Republican member — probably one of those 19th-century RINOs — then moved for a debate on the rule change. Reed decided to allow it. For four days the debate raged. There were points of order, appeals, and endless quorum calls. Reed would repeat the same procedure as on the first day, reading the names of the silent Democrats into the journal as "present." Tempers reached such a fevered pitch that, at one point, a knot of Democratic members advanced menacingly down the center aisle toward the speaker's chair, giving the impression that Reed would be physically assaulted. Even the galleries joined in, with spectators and reporters shouting and screaming abuse at the speaker.
All manner of invective was tossed about, with various nicknames being chosen for the presiding officer. "Tyrant," "dictator," and "monster" were among the printable ones. But somewhere along the line, someone shouted "Czar," and that was the one that seemed to stick. From that day forward, he was "Czar" Reed. snip
Theodore Roosevelt, who would later break with Reed over the annexation of the Philippines, was in awe. He called the breaking of the silent filibuster a reform "of far greater importance" than any piece of legislation. That became evident a few years later when the Democrats retook control of Congress. They immediately threw out "Reed's Rules," reinstituting the silent filibuster. Reed promptly turned it against them with relish. He succeeded in so thoroughly tying up the House that in frustration the Democrats were compelled to bring back Reed's Rules. snip
Posted by: Sherry ||
03/08/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Wonderful story. I can't help but think that this would make a could movie on politics. It certainly has all the makings of Hollywood.
Posted by: Charles ||
03/08/2005 12:41 Comments ||
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Foreign ministers from the African Union discussed reforms at the United Nations and resolved to demand five seats be reserved for African countries on the Security Council, two of them with veto power.
If we give then 10 seats and two vetoes will they move the whole thing to Tanzania?
"The time for reform is now or never," AU Commission Chairman Alfa Oumar Konare said after the closed-door meeting Monday. Konare said in order for African countries to have a real input into what happens at the United Nations, African countries need a stronger voice on the Security Council. Currently, three Security Council seats are set aside for African countries on a rotating basis, but no African country has veto power. "Today is a time for Africa, today indisputably is the hour of Africa," Konare said in Addis Ababa, the headquarters for the 53-member AU. "This position would reflect the African vision of the future of the continent and the place of Africa in the world." Under the AU proposal, the continent wide body would decide which countries would divide the boodle hold the permanent seats on the council, said AU spokesman Desmond Orjiako.Â
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/08/2005 12:19:40 AM ||
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...People in Hell want ice water. They ain't gonna get that either.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
03/08/2005 0:37 Comments ||
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#2
Well, given the today's state of UN (stick the fork in it, it' done), I am ambivalent. Transfer of UN to Tanzania sounds good.
today indisputably is the hour of Africa
Not sure what that, possibly, could mean. The last hour? Probably not yet, but as things are going over there...
#3
They can have the US seat - because if they get their wishes, we will not be using it anymore. Say hello to more tribal thugocracies trying to use the UN to chain-down and shakedown the developed countries for greed, say buh-bye to the US - and the US money.
#5
Leseehere, five African seats, eh? How 'bout: Western Sahara, Darfur, South Sudan, Somaliland, and whoever's still alive in Kivu province? Darfur and South Sudan get the vetos. It's a deal.
Posted by: Rex Rufus ||
03/08/2005 2:40 Comments ||
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#8
I say let them have their seats while the US, Britan, India, Japan, Australia, Poland, Israel form their own organization (and leave the bloated, stinking, rotting, carcass of the UN to the thugs and theves).
#13
Konare is certainly busy! Just yesterday I received a business offer from him via email which will make me a rich man....
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/08/2005 15:09 Comments ||
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#14
Fumigate the building thuroughly, then sell the offices in the UN building as condos, and throw thos drunk traffic violating 3rd-world so-called diplomats into the East River.
And beside, Frank G. What makes you think you are so special? Konare sent me an EMail too!
#15
They can have the US seat - because if they get their wishes, we will not be using it anymore. Say hello to more tribal thugocracies trying to use the UN to chain-down and shakedown the developed countries for greed, say buh-bye to the US - and the US money.
#16
They can have the US seat - because if they get their wishes, we will not be using it anymore. Say hello to more tribal thugocracies trying to use the UN to chain-down and shakedown the developed countries for greed, say buh-bye to the US - and the US money.
(2005-03-06) -- A leaked copy of Dan Rather's farewell address, scheduled for delivery Wednesday night, contains the veteran newsman's shocking confession that, despite decades of liberally-biased reporting, he's actually a registered Republican and has secretly channeled millions of dollars to GOP candidates.
"For all of these years, I have lived a lie," Mr. Rather will say as he bids goodbye to his CBS Evening News audience member. "I have overcompensated for my natural instincts by aggressively slanting the news in favor of my political opponents -- those pathetic liberals. It was all in an effort to hide who I really am. There are many kinds of truth, and my truth is that I am a conservative American."
Mr. Rather will claim that his liberal bias became increasingly exaggerated over the years because, as he accumulated wealth he feared colleagues might detect his "conservative core values, which in the journalism racket is the kiss of death."
The text of the speech, which was faxed from a Kinko's store in Texas, also contains this personal anecdote: "In November, when it became clear that President Bush would win reelection, I ran to my dressing room and just wept for joy. I was happy for the nation, but it was also personal for me. I knew I couldn't look into that camera with a straight face night-after-night and say, 'President John Kerry'."
Mr. Rather said he's looking forward to his new career as a conservative talk radio host, Wall Street Journal columnist and guest blogger at National Review Online.
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
03/08/2005 9:12:05 AM ||
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ÃÂ In a diplomatic note to U.S. officials, Geronimo Gutierrez, undersecretary for North American affairs at Mexico's Foreign Ministry, suggested it was "very probable" the protesters could violate the rights of illegal aliens, and that they must be monitored.
ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ "What there is concern about is that some of these actions that could be taken could be in violation of federal and state laws to the detriment of Mexican citizens," Mr. Gutierrez said. "Mexico doesn't want the rights of its citizens transgressed, especially if those actions are in violation of federal and state laws."
We should pass an amendment that states that the rights an illegal alien has in Mexico are the ones they get in America. Turn them over to Joe Arpaio.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/08/2005 8:03 Comments ||
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Corrupt Mexican police regularly violate the rights of Americans, so WTF have you done about it?
Mexico's own constitution excludes foreigners from owning property in Mexico but you demand the right to American property, so WTF are you going to do about it?
The Commonwealth of Mexico, coming sooner than you think if you keep this up.
#3
Federal and state law-enforcement authorities have expressed concern over the safety of the volunteers, many of whom will camp out along the border.
No, they are concerned because this focuses attention on their (mostly the politicans) refusal to enforce immigration laws.
Thousands of women rallied in eastern Pakistan on Monday to demand justice and protection for a woman who said she was gang-raped at the direction of a village council, after a court ordered the release of her alleged attackers.
The victim, Mukhtar Mai, also attended the rally in Multan, a major city in the eastern province of Punjab.
Waving signs and chanting, the demonstrators, many of them from nearby villages, joined the rally. Organizer Farzana Bari said more than 3,000 women were at the event. "We will fight for justice for Mukhtar Mai," the women chanted during the rally, while others carried placards reading: "Give protection to Mukhtar Mai."
Some 200 policemen observed the demonstration, which ended peacefully.
In June 2002, Mai said she was raped by four men on the orders of a village council that wanted to punish her family.
Mai's brother was accused of having sex with a woman from a more prominent family, though Mai's family says the allegations were fabricated to cover up a sexual assault against the boy by several men.
Mai, a 33-year-old school teacher, went public about her ordeal, drawing international media attention to widespread crimes against women in ultraconservative Pakistan. The government also pledged to track down her attackers.
A court later sentenced six men to death for Mai's rape. An appeals court overturned the convictions of five of the men last week, citing lack of evidence, and reduced the other man's sentence to life in prison.
The government and Mai, who has expressed fears the acquitted men might target her for revenge, have said they will appeal to the Supreme Court. Bari said her group, Pattan, a charity working with women in rural communities, will stand by Mai until she gets justice. "We are with every woman who is oppressed and who face injustices," said Bari.
Posted by: .com ||
03/08/2005 4:28:31 AM ||
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The courage they are demonstrating, when they know that their protest could make them targets of personal rape and violence, gives me goosebumps. Big changes are needed in that part of the world. Ladies, God bless you.
In a symbolic break with apartheid, officials in South Africa's capital voted Monday to rename the city Tshwane, retaining the name Pretoria for the city center only. The decision was taken at a special meeting of the governing African National Congress-dominated metropolitan council, the South African Press Association reported. The city of 2 million, established by white settlers in 1855, was named after Andries Pretorius, a leader in the Afrikaners' "Great Trek" into the interior of the country. Tshwane, which means "we are the same," was the name used by some of the region's earliest African settlers. Opposition councilors argued Monday that the process was a waste of money, and said the move to rename Pretoria threatens to split the capital along racial lines.
In a related story, the nation of 'Chad' changed its name to 'Debby.'
Posted by: Seafarious ||
03/08/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Cool name, sounds like stepping into somethimg.
#3
Tshwane!
How I love ya! How I love ya!
My dear old Tshwane!
Posted by: The Great Jolson ||
03/08/2005 10:24 Comments ||
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And, in other efforts to "Afro-centrize", they have now voted to rename the words "science" after its ancient antecedant "ng'bobo"; "art", from its original "unga-unga-urp"; and to restructure their currency, based on the mongongo nut instead of gold.
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.
Ten years ago, I predicted that the political left would eventually be driven completely into a fantasy world of conspiracy theories. This was inevitable as world events continued to refute their basic tenets. 
AT LEAST 133 inmates died at a prison in the Dominican Republic yesterday after rival gangs fighting to control the drug trade at the jail set pillows and mattresses ablaze and blocked the entrance from their jailers. A fire chief, Nestor Vera, said three gangs battling over who would sell drugs and cigarettes at the jail in Higuey, 75 miles north-east of the capital on the eastern tip of the island, had blocked the entrance to the cell block in order to fight it out, before some of them started the fire. The violence began when an inmate, Jose Manuel Hernandez Mota, shot and wounded a rival gang member on Sunday night and dozens of prisoners began fighting over who would take control, Gen de la Cruz Martinez said. Guards broke up that fight, but at about 12:30am many prisoners began rioting, setting fire to pillows and sheets. The Dominican Republic has the most overcrowded jails in the western hemisphere, according to United Nations figures.
China unveiled a law Tuesday authorizing an attack if Taiwan moves toward formal independence, ratcheting up pressure on the self-ruled island while warning other countries not to interfere. Taiwan denounced the legislation as a "blank check to invade."
IN THE world of Brussels bureaucrats, precision is everything. That is why, when asked to produce a definition of the word "food", it took them no fewer than 72 words. That compares with only 18 in the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, which says food is: "What one takes into the system to maintain life and growth, and to supply waste; aliment, nourishment, victuals." Brussels has expanded on that, describing food as:
Tue Mar 08 2005 11:11:18 ET
TERESA'S BACK: ELECTION WAS HACKED!
House Minority Leader 
Foreign ministers from the African Union discussed reforms at the United Nations and resolved to demand five seats be reserved for African countries on the Security Council, two of them with veto power. 
