An 85-year-old Canadian man spent hours inside his impounded car in freezing temperatures after his vehicle was ticketed for illegal parking and then towed to a police compound, police said on Thursday. Police in the western city of Edmonton, Alberta, said frost had obscured the car's windows and a tow-truck driver, unaware of the elderly man sitting in the driver's seat, took the car to the police compound. The incident occurred Tuesday.
Temperatures were close to -10 Celsius (14 Fahrenheit).
According to the Edmonton bylaw office, the ticket was written two hours before the car arrived at the impound lot. The man, whose identity has not been released, was taken to hospital for observation. Police were unsure what stopped the man from driving his car away.
This explains the absence of some of our regulars. But don't shoot the bear when he's taking a whiz, tain't sportin' ...
VERNON, N.J. (AP) - New Jersey hunters take to the woods Monday for a controversial season aimed at thinning the state's growing population of black bears, whose hungry foraging has frightened suburban residents. Up to 5,000 hunters were expected to take part in the six-day hunt - only the second in New Jersey in 35 years - which begins at sunrise Monday.
John Rogalo planned to set out with his 12-year-old son to hunt in Allamuchy Mountain State Park. "It's a chance to harvest a bear," said Rogalo, 47, of Stanhope, a self-employed contractor. "I just view hunting as a family tradition. I started at 10 with my Dad. Now my son will be with me."
Good luck, John, bring home a bear rug.
Black bears have rebounded from near extinction in the state but the loss of habitat to development is forcing many of the animals to seek food in populated areas. The hunt, restricted to an area of about 1,600 square miles in the state's northwest corner, is expected to draw thousands of hunters armed with shotguns or old-fashioned muzzle-loading rifles.
Hunters and the state say the hunt - which coincides with white-tailed deer season - is necessary, given the bears' increasing incursions into backyards and trash cans. "Most guys will just go deer hunting, but if they see a bear and there's an opportunity, they'll take it," said Frank Dara, chairman of the New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs. "It's basically a conservation thing. It's something that has to be done to control the number of bears."
The state's last bear hunt was in 2003, when 328 were killed. That was the first bear season since 1970, when hunts were suspended because the black bear population had dropped to about 100 animals. Today, the population is estimated at 1,600 to 3,200 and complaints and sightings are up sharply all over the state.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/05/2005 00:00 ||
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I'm with Mucky on this one.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/05/2005 6:18 Comments ||
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Strict conservation requires that the number of animals in a given area not exceed their food supply. We have the same problem in Colorado with elk, bear, deer, Rocky Mountain Bighorns, mountain goats, and a few other animals. The Air Force Academy had a herd of about 650 animals a few years ago. They captured and transported 300 to another area. Half of those came back. Bears and mule deer are commonly seen in Colorado Springs and many Denver suburbs. The annual deer cull in Colorado has been less than necessary for the last two years. There may be an extended season next year to help reduce the overall numbers. It's either that or have diseased animals transmitting their problems to other animals and household pets.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/05/2005 13:37 Comments ||
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DUBAI â Arab leaders should not blame foreign intervention or lack of means for their failure to implement reforms, General Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Minister of Defence, said yesterday. âIt's unacceptable to justify that failure (to bring in reforms) was due to lack of means or because of heavy foreign intervention,' Gen. Shaikh Mohammed told a conference here.
So who do we blame exactly for this, Shaikh? I mean, besides the Joooos.
'That implies a recipe for inactivity, laziness and excessive incapacity, and the people cannot bear more (of this),' Gen. Shaikh Mohammed asserted. He, however, hastened to add that signs of change and reforms were beginning to appear in many Arab states, and termed them as 'a chance for liberation from disappointment, frustration and despair.'
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/05/2005 00:00 ||
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âIt's unacceptable to justify that failure (to bring in reforms) was due to lack of means or because of heavy foreign intervention..."
#2
I don't know. I think this is very positive. The reason the Arabs are failing is because the only solution they have to ANY problem is to blame the Jews or Americans - or any other available Satan. You can't solve problems just by assigning blame.
Venezuela's firebrand president, Hugo Chávez, took overwhelming control of the National Assembly on Sunday after five major opposition parties boycotted a national election for all 167 congressional seats.
Venezuela's leftist government increased its slight majority to take nearly all the congressional seats, the ruling party said, as up to 75 percent of eligible voters stayed away from the polls.
The outcome will permit the National Assembly to change the Constitution easily, as well as enact a range of major changes supported by Mr. Chávez, in areas ranging from Venezuela's health system to the criminal code.
The withdrawal of the parties also ensured that Venezuela's opposition has, for all practical purposes, ceased to exist in an organized form, paving the way for an easy victory by Mr. Chávez for another six-year term in the election for president late next year. Mr. Chávez, first elected in 1998, has already served longer than any leader of a major Latin American country, except for Fidel Castro of Cuba.
"Chávez would have annihilated them anyway," Alberto Garrido, a critic of the government and an author of several books about the president, said by phone from Caracas. "Now, they are starting from scratch. There are people in the opposition, but the opposition leadership is in tumult, without a strategy. Tomorrow, Monday, they will not know what to do."
With polls indicating that government candidates would crush them in the election, opposition leaders had for weeks threatened to pull out. They accused electoral authorities of using digital fingerprint machines at polling sites that would permit the government to determine how individuals had voted. Last Monday, in a decision brokered by the Organization of American States, the National Electoral Council announced that it would not use the machines.
But to the surprise of election monitors, opposition parties began announcing their withdrawal on Tuesday, with some anti-government leaders charging that an open vote could not be guaranteed because four of five members of the Electoral Council are viewed as partial to Mr. Chávez. The opposition decision appeared to be aimed at appealing to international support and discrediting Venezuela's government, which has strong approval ratings.
"It's really hard to understand what exactly the political opposition leadership has in mind," he said. "But certainly it is not going to help them to present themselves as victims that deserve solidarity from the international community. With these kinds of tactics I don't think they'll gain any ground."
Of some 5,516 candidates running for office, about 556 dropped out - just over 10 percent but representing a vast majority of candidates from five major anti-Chávez parties. The boycott, coupled with heavy rains, prompted anti-government voters like Ãngel RodrÃguez, 46, a chauffeur, to decide not to vote.
"We wanted an election with established rules of the game and to count the votes as they really are," he said.
But in neighborhoods like Petare, a Chávez stronghold, Chrislaine Sael, 32, a homemaker, called boycott leaders "people who've never had the dignity to say, 'I failed.' "
She added, with satisfaction, "This is the death of those parties."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/05/2005 00:07 ||
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I believe that the demoralizing of the opposition in Venezuela can be attributed in large part to the Carter Center, friend to dictators and a scourge of democracy wherever its flying monkeys alight. Meanwhile, another Carter protege is defending Saddam Hussein...thanks Jimmuh
#2
I believe that the reason for everything that happens in the world is not necessarily focused around what America or some American does or deosn't do. At some point the people of the country in question bear the majority of the responsibility for what happens in it.
The Venezuelans have had several chances to do something about Chavez. They have not. There is no internal resistance. I think the Venezuelans have the government they want. I hope they are also prepared for the consequences.
#3
What a load of crap! If anyone here wants to comment about our lack of commitment to the country, please take the time to study the history of the CNE (your equivalent to the Electoral College).
The reason for not participating is that on November 30, it was demonstrated in front of the assholes from the EU and OAE that the machines could keep a record of who voted form whom. It was suspected when the referendum took place but it was proven now. Our votes were not longer secret or sacred. Would you vote here under same circumstances?
For those interested in reading before commenting here is a link with Venezuelan newspapers and blogs in English.
#4
I agree, democracy has left Venezuela and it is under the firm control of a totalitarian dictator. If I were single, I'd be in violent rebellion. If I were a parent, I'd be protecting my children and supporting the rebellion. I don't see much evidence of an incipient rebellion. Perhaps now it will start.
AS TRAIN No 13 pulls into Dostyk station, the Chinese traders leap off to tout their wares â sunglasses, dancing dolls, Thermos flasks and foot massage machines. More than 2,000 years ago their ancestors came to this pass on Kazakhstanâs border with China â known as the Dzungarian Gate â to exchange goods and ideas on the ancient Silk Road.
Now work has begun on a high-speed rail link passing through the town that is expected to rejuvenate the ancient trade route between East and West. The 2,500-mile (4,000km) rail link to the western borders of Kazakhstan will become the fastest land route between Asia and Europe. When completed in 2010, the $5 billion (£3 billion) project will take freight, and eventually passengers, from China, via Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Turkey, to Europe in just ten days, its proponents say.
The Eurasia Land Bridge will also significantly strengthen Chinaâs hand as it battles with Russia and the United States for influence in Central Asia in a modern version of the 19th-century âGreat Gameâ.
Looking at a map of the world, the railway seems logical enough. Kazakhstan sits at its very heart â a huge expanse of flat desert and grassland five times the size of France, stretching all the way from China to the Caspian Sea. âBuilding here is easy; you wonât see a mountain for hundreds of kilometres,â Kanat Zhangaskin, the vice-president of Kazakhstanâs national railway company, told The Times. âIt makes perfect sense to reopen this ancient trade route.â
At the moment most of the estimated £120 billion of goods traded between China and Europe are transported by sea, which usually takes 40 days, or on the Trans-Siberian railway, which takes 15 days.
The Chinese Government is trying to move manufacturing to its western hinterland to iron out a dangerous income disparity with its eastern seaboard and exploit new markets in Central Asia. Hu Jintao, the President of China, has given the Kazakh project his personal backing and state-controlled Chinese companies have pledged billions of dollars in investment. China is also investing $750 million in upgrading its own railway line to Kazakhstanâs border.
The only snag in the plan is the route west from Kazakhstan. The logical choice would be across southern Russia and Ukraine, but Moscow fears that the new railway would take business away from the Trans-Siberian. Another problem is that railways in the former Soviet Union were built with a wider gauge track than that used in Europe and China, to slow down any invasion. Kazakhstanâs new railway will use the narrower 1,435mm gauge and will run alongside the older 1,520mm gauge tracks.
The favoured route now is to duck south into Turkmenistan, through Iran and into Turkey, which offers the added advantage of a potential link to the Persian Gulf; but that depends to a large extent on the questionable political stability of Iran and Turkmenistan.
He argues that Kazakhstan needs the railway for itself to transport oil and minerals to Chinaâs vast market. âThe trade flow is already rising; we need it fast,â he said. This year trade at Dostyk is expected to hit 11 million tonnes; and work is almost completed on the first 198-mile stretch of the new railway.
Critics say that the idea is nothing but a pipe dream, but for the residents of Dostyk, ten hoursâ drive from Almaty, it offers a rare glimmer of hope. âA few years ago there was nothing here,â said Talgat Kurganbayev, a 42-year-old railway worker: âNow you see the goods coming from China and you can see thatâs where our future lies.â
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/05/2005 00:00 ||
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It'll work: the Chinese are borrowing a page out of Abraham Lincoln's book for developing the West by building a fast and easy transportation system.
HONG KONG - Authorities in Hong Kong have put 300 names on a blacklist of people barred from entering the Chinese territory during a World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting this month, a media report said on Sunday.
Local police, immigration chiefs and Interpol had jointly worked out the blacklist, the existence of which the government denies, and which sources said contains many South Korean names, the Sunday Morning Post reported.
Members of the militant Korean Peasantsâ League regularly clash with police during demonstrations, and one member stabbed himself to death in a protest at the last WTO ministerial meeting in Cancun, Mexico in 2003.
It's not just the SKor anarchists that are the problem. How many Euro and American names on the list?
If those on the list try to enter the southern Chinese city they will be sent back, and if they cause trouble they could be jailed in a detention centre set up in a downtown prison especially for WTO rioters, the report said.
Getting thumped by Chinese police and put into a Chinese detention camp might make clear to the anarchists how good they have it in the West .. .. .. naaaah.
Security has been tightened around Hong Kong in anticipation of trouble at the December 13-18 meeting, which is expected to attract some 10,000 protesters and opponents to globalisation. Pavement slabs have been glued down and park benches removed to prevent rioters from using them as weapons or projectiles during clashes.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/05/2005 00:00 ||
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All WTO summits should be held in Singapore. I'd pay to see some of these a##holes get a few lashings.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/05/2005 6:24 Comments ||
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I post this to show Rantburg regulars what a crossfire really looks like.
LAHORE: Hafiz Zubair, a 22-year-old who was caught in crossfire at a shop where he was buying fish, died in Mayo Hospital on Sunday.
Duty officer said Syed Arid Shah and his brother Syed Ali Shah had a monetary dispute with Muhammad Siddique running a fish shop at Garrhi Shahu Chowk. Two days ago, the two brothers and their two accomplices fired at Siddique after an argument, injuring Hafiz Zubair. The body has been sent for autopsy and a case has been registered on the deceasedâs father Muhammad Mahmoodâs complaint.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/05/2005 00:00 ||
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Environmental researchers are preparing to capture what they call a new, mysterious species of carnivore on Borneo, the first such discovery on the wildlife-rich Indonesian island in over a century.
Swiss-based environmental group WWF said on Monday its researchers photographed the strange animal, which looks like a cross between a cat and a fox Meow-yiff? , in the dense, central mountainous rainforests of Borneo. "This could be the first time in more than a century that a new carnivore has been discovered on the island," said the WWF in a statement.
The mammal, slightly larger than a cat with red fur and a long tail, was photographed twice by a camera trap at night. Locals and wildlife experts who viewed photographs of the animal, which has very small ears and large hind legs, Hillary? said they had never seen such a creature before and were convinced that it was a new species, WWF said.
Researchers hope to confirm the discovery by setting cage traps to catch a live specimen, but warn that Indonesian government plans to clear the rainforest to create the world's largest palm oil plantation may interfere with plans, WWF said. No Foxcat blood for Palm Oil!
The proposed plantation scheme, funded by the China Development Bank, is expected to cover an area of 1.8 million hectares, equivalent to about half the size of The Netherlands, said the WWF, formerly known as the World Wide Fund for Nature.
The potential new species of carnivore in Borneo would be the first since the discovery of the Borneo ferret-badger in 1895, the WWF said. Pictures of the animal were first taken by WWF researchers in 2003, the photos kept unpublished by the WWF as research continued. The WWF decided to make public the photos with the release of a book about Borneo, to be published on Tuesday.
A lawsuit filed by the American Atheists in U.S. District Court on Thursday seeks to remove steel crosses that dot roadways throughout Utah and memorialize Utah Highway Patrol troopers who have died in the line of duty. The suit has drawn harsh reaction from family members of the fallen troopers and promises to be the source of an emotional battle.
The crosses, which stand about 12 feet high and bear the trooper's name and the UHP insignia, were erected starting in 1998 and serve as a memorial for 14 troopers who have died since 1931. About nine of the crosses are on public land and all of them are placed near the spot where the troopers lost their lives.
Plaintiffs Stephen Clark, Michael Rivers and Richard Andrews in conjunction with the American Atheists Inc. also seek to have the UHP symbol removed from the crosses. "The presence of the UHP logo on a poignant religious symbol is an unconstitutional violation of the United States Constitution. It is government endorsement of religion," said Rivers, Utah director for American Atheists.
Rivers said the purpose of the suit is to eliminate religious symbols used by government agencies and placed on government land. American Atheists claim to have a membership of 30 million people. They are not opposed to memorials, just the crosses. "We feel the department of transportation, by allowing the Utah Highway Patrol Association to pick a religious symbol is unfair. We think it should be totally secular with no religious theme," Rivers said. "[The cross] is a Christian religious symbol. People will look at those and automatically assume that religion is a part of it."
But the Utah Highway Patrol Association, a nonprofit, private organization, doesn't see it that way. "The crosses are used as an international sign of memorial similar to those in Arlington National Cemetery," said Sgt. Todd Royce, who served as the association's president in 2002. "As a trooper, it makes me feel bad that it's even an issue. I know a couple of these troopers that have fallen and it's personal to us. We would hope the memorial of these troopers wouldn't be tarnished by any means."
And now you can see where the American Atheists are going: eventually, we'll need to eliminate crosses, the Star of David, etc. at national cemeteries.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/05/2005 12:13 ||
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As an atheist, I find this sick, twisted and perverted. This group needs killed. Leave the crosses alone. And by the way, leave Christmas alone too, or I'll club you with a baby Jesus!
#4
Wonder if its going to take a similar group and a brain dead federal judge to order the removal of the crosses from Arlington to finally get Congress to impeach a few robe wears to settle the issue and quit trying to pass the buck. Remove a couple and the judiciary will certainly get the message. Don't wait for the appeal process. Shock and awe can be effective. They'll whine, they'll cry, but their behavior will be modified. Maybe then they'll remember 'Consent of the Governed' in their deliberations.
#7
American Atheists claim to have a membership of 30 million people.
Are they claiming all of us atheists as members? Like a wise man said: "What do you mean 'we', kemo sabe?" Keep your identity politics under yer ugly little hat.
#10
My first question to an lawsuit is, do the "Plaintiffs" have standing (a legal term meaning that they were personally harmed by the act)? If not (I assume the 3 atheists probably have never even been to Utah, or at least have not seen the crosses and been "offended"), then this case should be thrown out faster than you can say "Die you liberal scum." (BTW, that was the reason the original Newdow suit over "under God" in the Pledge was thrown out...he had NO standing, as he was suing on behalf of his daughter, whom he did NOT have custody of, and whom didn't mind saying the Pledge as-is, because she herself is a Christian).
Posted by: BA ||
12/05/2005 14:05 Comments ||
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Why do athiests' wishes have to be catered to, but nobody else's? Where is the equal protection under the law? Where is the fight over suppressing the "free expression" of religion? There is no such wording in the Constitution as "Separation of Church and State" - only the injunction not to create a State religion. It's time to reverse a stupid decision that has been detrimental to this nation for 30+ years now.
While we're at it, we need to shoot a bunch of lawyers that hate Christianity and want to see it outlawed or forced underground in the United States. They are definitely enemies of the Constitution, and of the people it represents.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/05/2005 14:07 Comments ||
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Also note that the article leads you to believe that 5 of these crosses are on PRIVATE PROPERTY and that the Association that chose the symbol is a Private, Non-Profit organization, which is not subject to the same "Church/State separation" as official gov't is. In other words, this is like suing me if I put up a private memorial on my own property to memorialize Ronald Reagan and used the symbol of the Office of the President in the memorial. Also, note it happened in Utah (something like 85% Mormon), so I don't think this case has legs. However, all it takes is 1 black robe to "say" otherwise.
Posted by: BA ||
12/05/2005 14:09 Comments ||
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Where were these limpdicks when we needed them?
We could have used them a month or two ago when the Sheehanoids were placing crosses in a Crawford Tx field for their faux 'memorial' to the troops. Faux church-state separation outrage, meet faux memorial - crosses in, crosses out.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/05/2005 00:00 ||
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So demand has become flaccid?
Posted by: Jonathan ||
12/05/2005 1:20 Comments ||
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Yep. Pretty limp.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/05/2005 11:08 Comments ||
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Competition from Chinese herbal remedies is stiffening, plus the market is swollen with excess product.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
12/05/2005 12:19 Comments ||
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I don't think Pfizer's worried, though. They're expecting a spurt pretty soon.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/05/2005 12:41 Comments ||
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#5
Rigid pricing policies have proven difficult for consumers to swallow. Erection of entry barriers has reduced product penetration and inflamed the competition. I recommend a stimulus package of implanted incentives in order to snatch more market share. This will engender swifter arousal of renewed activity and lubricate alternate distribution avenues to enhance more fluid exchange of saleable assets.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
An 85-year-old Canadian man spent hours inside his impounded car in freezing temperatures after his vehicle was ticketed for illegal parking and then towed to a police compound, police said on Thursday. Police in the western city of Edmonton, Alberta, said frost had obscured the car's windows and a tow-truck driver, unaware of the elderly man sitting in the driver's seat, took the car to the police compound. The incident occurred Tuesday.
Black bears have rebounded from near extinction in the state but the loss of habitat to development is forcing many of the animals to seek food in populated areas. The hunt, restricted to an area of about 1,600 square miles in the state's northwest corner, is expected to draw thousands of hunters armed with shotguns or old-fashioned muzzle-loading rifles.
DUBAI â Arab leaders should not blame foreign intervention or lack of means for their failure to implement reforms, General 
HONG KONG - Authorities in Hong Kong have put 300 names on a blacklist of people barred from entering the Chinese territory during a World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting this month, a media report said on Sunday.
