The bobblehead company contends that since Schwarzenegger is now an elected official, his image is public domain.
The above statement is the key line.
I think Arnie is going to lose this one as long as the portrayal is "Governor" Schwarzenegger, ad the other offering are as they list them; Kerry, Dean, Wesly Clark, GWB, etc.
I supported arnie when he ran, but he ought to let this go and understand the context of the bubblehead.
ORLANDO, Fla. -- A federal drug agent shot himself in the leg during a gun safety presentation to children and his bosses are investigating.
"And now Iâll demonstrate what NOT to do with a loaded gun..."
The Drug Enforcement Administration agent, whose name was not released, was giving a gun safety presentation to about 50 adults and students organized by the Orlando Minority Youth Golf Association, witnesses and police said.
He drew his .40-caliber duty weapon and removed the magazine, according to the police report. Then he pulled back the slide and asked someone in the audience to look inside the gun and confirm it wasnât loaded, the report said.
Witnesses said the gun was pointed at the floor and when he released the slide, one shot fired into the top of his left thigh.
"The kids screamed and started to cry," said Vivian Farmer, who attended the presentation with her 13-year-old nephew.
"Everyone was pretty shaken up," Farmer said. "But the point of gun safety hit home. Unfortunately, the agent had to get shot. But after seeing that, my nephew doesnât want to have anything to do with guns."
The agent was treated at Orlando Regional Medical Center after the April 9 shooting and returned to work, DEA special agent Joe Kilmer said.
Police ruled the shooting was an accident, but the DEA headquarters in Washington was still investigating, Kilmer said.
Just For Fun
It started out innocently enough...
I began to think at parties now and then-to loosen up. Inevitably, though, one thought led to another, and soon I was more than just a social thinker. I began to think alone - "to relax," I told myself.
-- but I knew it wasnât true. Thinking became more and more important to me, and finally I was thinking all the time. That was when things began to sour at home. One evening I had turned off the TV and asked my mate about the meaning of life, but she just spent that night at her motherâs.
I began to think on the job. I knew that thinking and employment donât mix, but I couldnât stop myself. I began to avoid friends at lunchtime so I could read Thoreau and Kafka. I would return to the office dizzied and confused, asking, "What is it exactly we are doing here?" One day the boss called me in.
He said, "Listen, I like you, and it hurts me to say this, but your thinking has become a real problem. If you donât stop thinking on the job, youâll have to find another job." This gave me a lot to think about.
I came home early after my conversation with the boss. "Honey," I confessed, "Iâve been thinking..."
"I know youâve been thinking," she said, "and I want a divorce!"
"But Honey, surely itâs not that serious."
"It is serious," she said, lower lip aquiver. "You think as much as college professors, and college professors donât make any money, so if you keep on thinking, we wonât have any money!" "Thatâs a faulty syllogism," I said impatiently. She exploded in tears of rage and frustration, but I was in no mood to deal with the emotional drama. "Iâm going to the library," I snarled as I stomped out the door. I headed for the library, in the mood for some Nietzsche. I roared into the parking lot with NPR on the radio and ran up to the big glass doors... They didnât open. The library was closed. To this day, I believe that a Higher Power was looking out for me that night.
As I sank to the ground, clawing at the unfeeling glass, whimpering for Zarathustra, a poster caught my eye. "Friend, is heavy thinking ruining your life?" it asked. You probably recognize that line. It comes from the standard Thinkerâs Anonymous poster. Which is why I am what I am today: a recovering thinker. Now I never miss a TA meeting.
At each meeting we watch a non-educational video; last week it was "Porkyâs." Then we share experiences about how we avoided thinking since the last meeting.
I still have my job, and things are a lot better at home. Life just seemed... easier, somehow, as soon as I stopped thinking.
I think the road to recovery is nearly complete for me.
Today, I registered to vote Democrat!
Posted by: .com ||
04/30/2004 12:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Vile evil thing, this thought. Words, well reasoned with our hearts held open, vile, death. But! Yes but, there is a place,an Ichicoo Park if you will, that stands ready for the thinker. You'll be tested and teased. Your friends will regret your thought. They'll say, "your a thinker," and all will spit and look away.
Yes I've seen it and I'm ready. I stand and spit back.
#3
I'll guess the French response:
"Jewish graves..why do they hate us? Who can blame those who respond to that hate, I mean with the occupation of palestine and......"
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/30/2004 17:38 Comments ||
Top||
#4
My sister's husband was Jewish.
Even since her death I still talk to him..
I remember when we'd hear about the vandalism that occured at the Jewish cemetary here in L A where his grandparents were buried. Either he or one of his brothers would check to make sure their graves were OK.
#5
And they'd define even suggesting that Muslims may have done it as an anti-Muslim attack while having a much narrower definition of anti-Jewish attacks.
#6
my ex-wife jewish by race but not religion. we have two boys together who live with me becuz she have drug problem and end up getting in jail for dealing. im realy piss off when i see antisemetic shit. myself am not jewish tho.
#7
almost forgot. my sister marry palasnian so i have palasnian relatives to but not by blood. always fun when they come over and tell me conspiracy theories.
#8
As defensive as the French are about their language, I'm surprised they haven't passed an ordinance requiring all anti-semitic graffiti to be written in French.
Posted by: Cthulhu Akbar ||
04/30/2004 18:02 Comments ||
Top||
#9
Say what you will but anti-Muslim attacks are a reality and on the rise. Of course doing anything to the perpetrators would require prosecuting other Muslims that would be persecution. Time to fish or cut bait. If the Euro's lock up all the Muslim young men ages 15 to 30, crimes against innocent Muslim women would plummet. Violence against engaged Muslim women could be dramatically curtailed by incarcerating their fathers and brothers until 60 days after the wedding. Also the bride and groom would have to be entered in the Witness Protection Program or something similar.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/30/2004 21:49 Comments ||
Top||
OSLO, Norway (AP) - The founder of suspected terror group Ansar al-Islam, normally cool under pressure, lost his temper when a female Muslim comedian jokingly lifted him off the ground before an audience.
"Suspected terror group"?? Oh, sorry, it's the AP.
Mullah Krekar, the former leader of a fundamentalist Islamic group of Kurds in northern Iraq, was participating in a debate over his new biography Tuesday evening. Krekar, a refugee in Norway since 1991, has become the country's highest profile Muslim after his repeated arrests, court cases, television appearances and now his book "My Own Words."
Soon to be a best-seller.
Comedian and women's rights activist Shabana Rehman - a well-known Muslim here as well - was in the audience for the debate and talked Krekar into allowing her to perform what she called a little test to see if he was a fundamentalist. Pakistan-born Rehman walked onto the stage, grabbed the Mullah around the hips, and lifted him up.
"A man who can be carried by a woman can't be a fundamentalist," Rehman said to howls of laughter.
Good, humiliation is what hurts these guys the most. That and a bullet.
Krekar, who comes across as calm and tolerant in public appearances, exploded with rage and grabbed the microphone. "She does not have the right to touch me. She is showing contempt for me. I can't accept this," the Oslo newspaper Aftenposten quoted Krekar as saying.
"Ooooo, she gave me cooties!"
The mullah threatened a lawsuit, and demanded that all the photographers in the hall erase any pictures of him being lifted. But the images were broadcast on television and published in newspapers.
Snicker
Rehman said the point was to see his reaction. "If he is as tolerant and relaxed as he presents himself, he didn't need to react so strongly," she told the newspaper. "One who is not a fanatic would have gone along with such a joke."
Exactly, fanatics don't have a sense of humor. Fatawa in 3..2..1..
Posted by: Steve ||
04/30/2004 9:54:07 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11133 views]
Top|| File under:
#4
"She does not have the right to touch me. She is showing contempt for me. I can't accept this," the Oslo newspaper Aftenposten quoted Krekar as saying.
Having never seen Krekar (that sounds like one of the Martians in Santa Claus Conquers the Martians), I assumed he was a short, spindly little runt. But he's apparently not going hungry in Norway, so Shabana Rehman must be a butch lass. I don't think I would have wanted to get that close to the little mullah, if you know what I mean.
#9
Krekar . . . exploded with rage and grabbed the microphone. "She does not have the right to touch me. She is showing contempt for me. I can't accept this"
S-s-s-hee-eees a GIRL!
The mullah threatened a lawsuit, and demanded that all the photographers in the hall erase any pictures of him being lifted. But the images were broadcast on television and published in newspapers
Published? Oh shoot, they shoulda kept them private, and later used the pix to extort $$$$ from this fool
Speaking of which, the newest joke making the rounds is that the Norwegian Olympic Committee has requested to the IOC that Mullah-lifting becomes an Olympic competition by 2008. We should have a strong team
Yes, a good idea, but you must have a standardization of Mullah proportions to make competition fair. Remember all the controversy over the center of gravity of javelins some years back.
#26
Being lifted by an unveiled woman; its like islamist kryptonite, you lose all your Mullah superpowers. We need to send this chick into Najaf for a televised arm-wrestle with Sadr. Or maybe she could be Iraq's first governmental liason with Sistani--she could probably spin that withered old holy man on her finger like a basketball.
Jacques Chirac, the French president, has put renewed pressure on Tony Blair over the proposed new European Union constitution by arguing that any state that fails to ratify it within two years of signature must quit the EU.
As the EU prepares to greet ten new members tomorrow in its biggest ever act of enlargement, Mr Chirac told reporters in Paris that he backed a proposal for a "ratify or quit" clause to be written into the text of the constitutional treaty which is expected to be concluded by heads of government in June. Mr Chirac's comments come ten days after Mr Blair surprised the political establishment and his EU partners by pledging a referendum on the constitution, which many commentators believe would be hard to win.
Mr Chirac told a press conference in Paris that a "ratify or quit" clause was "obviously a rather blunt guillotine blade". But the president added: "It is perhaps a positive solution. It ought to be negotiated into the constitution. I am not against the idea that there should be an instrument for friendly pressure on countries that reject the constitution because, at the moment they do, they'll block all the others."
I actually agree with Chirac -- ratify or bail.
British officials said last night that Mr Chirac appeared to be reviving a proposal first made by the European Commission last year for the new treaty to contain such a clause.
The officials said they expected the proposal to be tabled next month in the final stages of talks on the treaty but were confident it would be rejected by the UK and other member states seeking to hold such a referendum. "This isn't negotiable," said one Whitehall figure. "There are several EU governments - for example the Netherlands - which would not want to be in the position of having to contemplate leaving the Union if they lost the referendum."
Nevertheless, the UK officials conceded that Mr Chirac's call for a "ratify or quit" clause was a sign of how serious the stakes could be for the UK's future in Europe if there was a No vote in a British referendum.
Might be just what the EeeeeUuuuu needs, a couple of members being forced to quit over this constitution.
Mr Chirac has himself been under intense pressure to call a referendum in his own country. Yesterday, he told reporters that he "would not be rushed into taking a premature decision" on the matter.
"I must consider carefully what to say to the Little Peopleâ¢!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/30/2004 1:40:29 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
If the Brits are smart, they'll vote no and quit subsidizing inefficient French farmers with their tax dollars pounds.
You want a common market, Britain? Make one with us.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/30/2004 2:46 Comments ||
Top||
#2
More tales from the farce side.
Could someone (Aris) explain to me why the EU needs a constitution in the first place??
Posted by: Rafael ||
04/30/2004 3:02 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Rafel - so that France and Russia can collect taxes from all of Europe - they have bled their own populations dry.
#5
Rafael> There are actually two issues contained in your question: First, why a new treaty is needed (regardless of whether we'll call it a constitution or not) and secondly, why are we calling it a "constitution" or "constitutional treaty".
The new treaty is for starters required if we want the EU to expand further in size, to take Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia and even more states. The treaties until now provide too far veto powers in individual states -- moreover there was weird play with the vote numbers that gave truly bizarre and unproportional powers to the two middle-sized countries (Spain and Poland), to the injury of both smaller and larger states. The new treaty would simplify the situation by calling for a "double majority" (of populations and of states) akin to the two-house system of the US Congress (though in the EU this double-majority system will be connected to the Council, not the Parliament). Other matters like the rotating presidency -- in a union of 6, 10, 12, 15 that's workable. In a union of 25 it is simply not and it most definitely ain't workable in a future union of 35 or so.
(Actually the troubles to ratify the constitution is why I've started thinking that expanding the EU before installing the new constitution was a big mistake. We should have ratified first, and then the countries that still wanted to join should be allowed in.)
In other matters, the new treaty would help as simplification -- instead of having this treaty to tell about protected rights in the union, and this other treaty to tell about movement in the union, and this piece of treaty to tell us about trade issues in the union, and this other piece to tell about the law-making of the union, now everything having to do with the workings of the union will be contained in a single piece, no matter how abnormally long it will be. :-)
As to the second issue -- why we are calling it a "constitution"... well, it's the honest thing to do. It is one, serves all the functions of one -- refers to the rights of the citizens, describes the balance of powers, establishes the instruments of judiciary/legislative/executive authority. And ofcourse it's a further step, no matter how small, down the way to federalism.
#6
Hundreds if not thousands of trees dead in printing the thing and no one ever thought of this?? Only, of course everyone will join up front, if they decide to leave after, here's what we'll do.
The French president, has put renewed pressure on Tony Blair over the proposed new European Union constitution by arguing that any state that fails to ratify it within two years of signature must quit the EU.
#8
Anonymous2U> "and no one ever thought of this?? "
Um, thought of what exactly out of all the things mentioned in this thread?
If you are referring to the "ratify or quit" scenario, the problem yet again is that the EU unfortunately can't currently force the UK to leave if UK doesn't itself agree to it. So they'll first have to make the countries unanimously agree to a "ratify or quit" arrangement and *then* allow them to make the choice of the two.
There is simply no way to parody the ânewâ JFK anymore. He does it all for you!
Friday, April 30, 2004 11:19 a.m. EDT
More Kerry Car Troubles: âPurple Heart 3â Vanity Plate, Outsourced SUV
Unlike most combat vets, Sen. John Kerry has never been shy over bragging about his wartime experience.
Really? I never noticed that! Which war did he fight in, again?
But even we were surprised to hear that his 1985 Dodge is plastered with vanity plates that read "Purple Heart 3."
I guess âRambo 3â was already taken...
The Boston Heraldâs Howie Carr has done some research into the Kerry familyâs fleet of vehicles and has turned up some interesting details.
Howie Carr, the Boston Blowtorch. Heâs been riding Kerry for at least 20 years; heâs the Dean of all things Kerry.
Apart from the Purple Heart plates, Carr has discovered that Kerryâs wife, Teresa, is hiding another family SUV at their estate on Nantucket, in addition to the Chevy Surburban the Heinz Kerrys keep at their Idaho mansion.
And for this one, the would-be first family decided to outsource.
The plates on the British-made 1997 Land Rover Defender driven by the woman who wants to be Americaâs next first lady read MOZMBQ - a reminder of the country Heinz Kerry recently lamented she wished sheâd never left.
Thatâs because the French donât build SUVâs.
"I canât believe my family left Africa and came to this country," she griped to the New York Postâs Cindy Adams two weeks ago. "I canât believe I ever even married an American."
No, The-REEEEE-Za, he married your portfolioyou. Thereâs a difference.
The plates on Teresaâs 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee read HZ 57, a reference to the company whose management has spent the last few months sending out letters to the media insisting it has nothing to do with her.
They donât call them vanity plates for nothing!
And it turns out thereâs another outsourced car in the Kerry familyâs vehicular portfolio. The stepson of the Democratsâ man-of-the-people candidate tools around in a nifty 2002 Porsche 911.
Iâm sure he saved up all his pennies for that rig. Looking forward to his radio show today (WRKO, 680 AM; I think itâs simulcast on www.howiecarr.org).
#4
MW - I was wondering about that myself. MA plates carry six letters / numbers; maybe it's the front plate, since you don't need the state issued plate in the front if your car was registered after 1998.
#6
But even we were surprised to hear that his 1985 Dodge is plastered with vanity plates that read "Purple Heart 3."
Were you surprised to hear that he has a 1985 Dodge? That's almost twenty years old! And Teresa has a 1994 Jeep? That's ten years old. See? They are "of the people". They can't afford new cars!
#7
Hmmmm. I'm as surpised as Newsmax and Limbacher because Kerry already disavowed those short cuts to rotation Purple Hearts as well as any other medals and ribbons he received. Unless the Navy handles these different from the Army,then it was really one Purple Heart with two oak leaf clusters, but that probably wouldn't fit on a vanity plate.
#8
MW and Raj - I'd imagine that the plate was actually "PRPL HT3" or something like that. I don't think any state lets you have enough letters to write out the whole damn thing.
#9
To clarify - I slapped a Boston Celtics plate (not a state issued plate) on the front of my Intrepid because the law says I don't need to have state issued plates on the front and on the back because my car was registered before 1998 (MA grandfather clause). I was speculating that perhaps he had on a specialty plate besides the state-issued vanity plate because I took 'Purple Heart 3' literally. They did spell out the other plates' abbreviations, though, so that was my interpretation.
And were going to be on on WXFM in Chicago and WRGB in Ohio and WFHU in Pittsburg - Yaaarrrrrgggg
EFL:
Dean preps for talkshow 04/29/2004
Wed Apr 28, 8:00 PM ET
Josef Adalian, STAFF
Dr. Phil could soon be sharing the Paramount lot with another doc: Howard Dean..., the former Democratic presidential candidate is mulling the idea of hosting his own syndicated gabfest. Heâs hooked up with ex-Big Ticket TV topper Larry Lyttle ("Judge Judy") and longtime political consultant Gerald Rafshoon, who would likely serve as exec producers of a pilot for any such project.....
Dean is in Hollywood this week, and heâs taking meetings with execs at Viacom-owned Paramount Domestic Television. Lyttle is still based on the Par lot, and heâs helping Dean make the connection with the studio.
imagine sponsors for this:
Throat Drops; anxiety pills and could Dennis Kucinich be a substitute when Howard is on travel..oh please, pretty please;
#2
Is he going to give an audio feed to Air America, or is he going to stick to a real broadcast network?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/30/2004 13:30 Comments ||
Top||
#3
I can hear the theme music already . . .
Mister Dean-man, bring me a scream
Make it the loudest that there's ever been
Ever since the recount we've been ranting all over
Please tell me the Bush administration is over
Mister Dean-man, I'm so alone
Don't have no other moonbats to call on the phone
Please turn on your magic broadcast beam
Mister Dean-man, bring me a scream
Posted by: Mike ||
04/30/2004 13:56 Comments ||
Top||
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/30/2004 17:28 Comments ||
Top||
#9
"Goggi Grant ear worm"
Wrong ear: "Mister Sandman" was recorded by The Chordettes
"Although the four women's arrangements owed more to the Andrews Sisters than doo wop, they did, unlike many of their peers, prove fairly adaptable to the rock era. First establishing themselves with the huge (and non-rock) pop hit "Mr. Sandman" in 1954, they continued to chart in the last half of the 1950s and the early 1960s, often with covers of rock and R&B songs. The #2 1958 hit "Lollipop" was the biggest of these."
"Gogi Grant... scored one of 1956's biggest hits with the song "The Wayward Wind." The same year, Grant was voted Most Popular Female Vocalist by Billboard magazine."
[Bio excerpts from All Music Guide, whose pages, unfortunately, can't be linked directly. And yes, I have too much time on my hands this evening!]
Posted by: Old Grouch ||
04/30/2004 19:28 Comments ||
Top||
Even more good economic news via the rails following up the post I made earlier this year.
The nationâs freight railroads are seeing a rise in business and expect to hire more than 80,000 new workers over the next six years, the Association of American Railroads said yesterday. The rail industry, which employed 221,000 workers at the end of last year, has a work force that is significantly older than the United States as a whole. About 40 percent are expected to retire over the next decade. Retirements are surging, partly as a result of legislation enacted in 2002 that lowers the age workers can retire with full benefits from 62 to 60 with 30 years of experience. Norfolk Southern Railway Co., for example, is recruiting for conductor trainees Monday and Tuesday in the Ramada Inn in Washington, Pa. It also is hiring in Altoona, Conway and Harrisburg,[PA,] spokesman Rudy Husband said yesterday. Husband said Norfolk Southern alone expected to hire about 2,000 people this year, most of them in primary train service positions. NS recruiters are looking for electricians, machinists and conductors.
The average salary at large Class 1 railroads was $61,895 last year, the association said. Maintenance workers typically earned $48,853 while conductors averaged $67,128. Locomotive engineers earned an average of $76,162, peaking at about $110,000. Although railroad workers enjoy competitive pay, their work can be physically demanding and is often performed outdoors. Schedules must accommodate 24-hour operations.
Posted by: Dar ||
04/30/2004 7:55:09 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
If fuel costs continue to rise look for the railroads to win back even more freight business from the trucking industry. With the newer high horsepower locomotives and the abilty of a small crew to move large loads of freight long distances in comparision to trucks this is almost a no brainer. This is a trend that has been building ever since the intermodal system really came into its own.
NEW YORK, April 29 /PRNewswire/ -- In what may be a surprising move to some political circles, Democratic Presidential Candidate Senator John Kerry has issued an invitation to former Democratic Primary nutball rival Rev. Al Sharpton to address this summer's Democratic National Convention in Boston. Senator Kerry makes his comments tonight in an exclusive one-on-one interview with BET NIGHTLY NEWS anchor Jacque Reid at 11 p.m. ET/PT as a prelude to a special two-part series with BET airing Monday, May 3 and Tuesday, May 4. The interview was taped earlier today with Senator Kerry during a campaign stop in Philadelphia.
The following are excerpts from Senator Kerry's comments to BET NIGHTLY NEWS about whether Rev. Sharpton would be an invited speaker at the Democratic National Convention:
On Rev. Al Sharpton as a Speaker at the DNC ...
Kerry: "I hope so. Sure ... That's my call ... If he wants to do it, he can do it ... Let me just say to you ... if he wants to do it, I'd like him to do it. I think he'd do a terrific job. I think he'll add something ...
there's no plea bargin necessary. It's my invitation."
On Rev. Sharpton's Impact on the Presidential Campaign Season ...
Kerry: " ... He certainly earned the right to be part of this process with 1% of the primary vote, and I think he can be very, very helpful in motivating people, in helping to register people."
Kerry is going to make Dukakis look sublime.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/30/2004 1:36:01 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Too Funny!! The Drudge report said yesterday that Kerry needed "to get some color", that minorities were miffed because his campaign was "too white". So THIS is Kerry and the DNC's idea of diversity: inviting AL Sharpton to speak and calm the little brown people.
Hmmm..Condi Rice/Colin Powell, senior members of cabinet v/s inviting Al Sharpton, America's number 1 huckster???? Is it possible for the Dems' to sink any lower?
(CNSNews.com) - One of Americaâs most prominent federal prosecutors sought changes to the 1995 "wall" memo authored by then-Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick, but most of the concerns expressed by U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White over the barriers erected between criminal and counter-intelligence investigations were rejected. According to documents obtained by CNSNews.com, White, who was the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, spelled out her concerns shortly after Gorelick wrote the memo establishing the new guidelines for federal investigations. The reply that followed came from Michael Vatis, deputy director of the Executive Office of National Security, with Gorelick signing off on Vatisâ language.
White was concerned that Gorelickâs new guidelines for investigations had made it too complicated for the FBI to contact the U.S. attorneyâs office and launch a probe of suspicious activity. White suggested that only the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review at the Department of Justice needed to approve such an investigation, and not the departmentâs criminal division.
However, the Vatis/Gorelick memo offered a blunt reply. "I recommend rejecting this change," the June 19, 1995 document stated. "[A] USAO (U.S. attorneyâs office) should not be notified of a national security investigation -- particularly one that has not yet developed into a criminal case -- without the approval of the AAG (assistant attorney general), Criminal Division."
The Vatis/Gorelick memo also addressed Whiteâs reservations over how the new investigative guidelines would impact a probe under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). White contended that once the Justice Departmentâs Criminal Division had decided that criminal law enforcement concerns existed in a FISA investigation, the appropriate U.S. attorney should be contacted.
Vatis rejected this notion as well. "Notifying the USAO as soon as law enforcement concerns exist -- but before Crim. thinks that the investigation should âgo criminalâ -- is simply too early," the document stated.
The June 19, 1995 memo from Vatis/Gorelick was included in a batch of documents released Wednesday by the Justice Department in response to a request by U.S. Senators John Cornyn, (R-Texas) and Lindsay Graham, (R-S.C.). The senators, in a joint statement, asked the department to "provide key Gorelick documents" in response to the September 11 Commissionâs "failure to hear testimony from a key Clinton administration Justice Department official (Gorelick), preventing the Congress from receiving a full accounting of intelligence and enforcement procedures that led to the tragic attacks."
A separate statement, released by Cornynâs office late Wednesday, charged that the newly released documents "substantially discredit former Deputy Attorney General -- and current 9/11 Commission member -- Jamie Gorelickâs claims of limited involvement in the promulgation of âthe wallâ separating counterintelligence and law enforcement agencies. "Specifically, the documents show that she was substantially involved in the development of the information-sharing policy and contradicts statements that the departmentâs policies under the Clinton-Reno administration enhanced, rather than restricted, such vital information sharing," Cornyn stated.
"These documents show what Iâve said all along: Commissioner Gorelick has special knowledge of the facts and circumstances leading up to the erection and buttressing of âthat wallâ that, before the enactment of the Patriot Act, was the primary obstacle to the sharing of communications between law enforcement and intelligence agencies," Cornynâs statement continued.
Can't wait for her to testify under oath about her thoughts on these memos.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
04/30/2004 12:49:18 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11131 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
She wont testify and that will put an end to this farce. Americans know its a farce and partisans will want a new venue for attack. I think (and has anybody seen this slim ball lately) Dick, miserable failure, Gephardt should renew his bid for the golden trophy.
#4
boy..this backfired on the Dems' way beyond the Bush Administration's wildest dreams. I'm glad this happened as these hearings will be a treasure trove for the historians. They got the info, under oath, and while memories were still fresh and documents still undestroyed.
#5
Mark Steyn put it best I think. The reason why these 9-11 commision is not getting the notice in the public as it "should" is because you can't drive while looking in the rear view mirror. There is fighting in Fallujah and Najaf, there is still work to be done in Iraq, and Congress' big obsession is what did and did not happen 2 and 3 years ago.
Posted by: Ben ||
04/30/2004 4:59 Comments ||
Top||
Kerreyâs behavior during the 9/11 hearings â hectoring witnesses, mugging for the cameras, delivering a windy monologue to Dr. Condoleezza Rice ("Dr. Clarke") and then complaining about his time being "eaten up" â has been abominable. But it was Kerreyâs shameful TV appearance on Monday night alone that should disqualify him as a commissioner on a federal panel investigating the deadliest enemy attack on American soil.
Catapulted back into the limelight thanks to the mass murder of 3,000 innocent men, women, and children, Kerrey took advantage of his terrorist-induced celebrity to appear on Comedy Centralâs The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Now, it would be one thing if Kerrey used his privileged position to inform Stewartâs younger audience of the gravity of the 9/11 panelâs task. But instead, Kerrey yukked it up. First, he dished with Stewart about President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheneyâs upcoming private meeting with the commission. When Stewart mocked the presidentâs "buddy system," Kerrey guffawed: "He is bringing his buddy, thatâs exactly right, for safety." Emboldened by audience applause, Kerrey riffed that it was more like "Screw you, buddy." Asked by Stewart whether people were really blaming each other over the terrorist attacks during closed hearings, Kerrey snorted: "Oh, Jee-zus, yeah." More audience approval. (Taking the Lordâs name in vain is always good for a few cheap laughs.)
Next, echoing a profanity uttered earlier in the show, Kerrey blurted out with a clownish grin: "Life is [expletive bleeped]." When Stewart proposed that Kerrey ask the vice president, "What the [expletive bleeped] is wrong with you people?" Kerrey cracked up and promised to use the question. And when Stewart called Attorney General John Ashcroft a "big [expletive bleeped]," Kerrey chortled some more.
Posted by: Wuzzalib ||
04/30/2004 12:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11125 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
...THEN the guy walks out on President bush's testimony at the hearings yesterday - after they complain that he wasn't going to spend enough time there.
CMOH or not, Kerrey's a jackass. He can kiss his VP slot with Kerry goodbye.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/30/2004 0:17 Comments ||
Top||
#2
He's still steamed that Debra Winger dumped him.
Humor is only angry humor. A truly unhappy camper.
#3
You know I was flim flamed by this average Joe in the early hearings, latter it became apparent that he was, is, a bore. He and I could easily get along as long as we watched the home team win.
There are too many people with their hand in the till, and too many politicians with a vested interest in pretending that the United Nations is something like the United Federation of Planets, instead of the corrupt-yet-inept dictatorsâ defense fund that it really is. [Emphasis added]
As Glenn would say, "Ouch."
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/30/2004 12:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under:
#2
If I were the King of the planet I'd go to the UN and say "how much and how long"? When the UN said how and how I'd pull out my check book and say " but how much would you take"!
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Myanmar's opposition party on Thursday expressed rare optimism that pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be released from house arrest in time for a constitutional convention next month. The National League for Democracy also said party members will likely attend the constitutional convention, which was called by the military government. The party will send a letter to the junta Friday with some conditions for attending the May 17 convention, party spokesman U Lwin told reporters.
Among the demands is that Suu Kyi, the NLD general secretary, and party vice president Tin Oo be released from house arrest before the meeting, he said. "I strongly believe that it (the releases) will take place before the National Convention in view of the current improvement of relations between the NLD and the government," he said.
U Lwin did not elaborate but the comments indicated that the party apparently has been given some kind of assurance by the government. Until last week, U Lwin had been saying he did not expect Suu Kyi to be freed anytime soon.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/30/2004 12:44:04 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under:
Around 250 people, mostly women, protested Wednesday against state-run Iranian TV for airing a series that promoted polygamy, saying it was evidence that the hard-line Islamic state was trampling womenâs rights. Wearing brightly colored clothing as opposed to the traditional head-to-toe black chador, the women gathered at a building in central Tehran to denounce policies by hard-liners that seek to restrict women to roles such as obedient housewives.
"Our gathering today is a voice of protest against the trampling of our rights and promotion by television of polygamy," woman rights activist Parvin Ardalan told The Associated Press. Women activists launched a protest campaign last month after state television, controlled by hard-liners, aired a series titled "Another Lady," on which a woman introduces her friend to her husband for marriage....
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
04/30/2004 12:06:08 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11131 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
a woman introduces her friend to her husband for marriage....
God, which snappy remark to use? So many come to mind.
Naaahhh. I ain't touching that one with a 50-foot tuning fork.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/30/2004 0:29 Comments ||
Top||
#2
C'mon Barb, I dare you. I double-dare you!
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/30/2004 0:31 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Me too Barbara- I await your snappiest of remarks.
#4
Maybe they are into menage a trois. I keep reading about it happening in cults these days. I've got a holiday farm in a hippie area, and it seems to be quiet common around there.
It is rumoured that the wiccans even trawl local pubs for males to take part in ceremonies of the Moon Godess, at certain times of the year. I hasten to add, I've always had the bad luck of turning up the week after these ceremonies take place. So I can only tell what I've been told.
#5
Now, Steve and BigEd, I'm trying to be nice. Set a dignified tone for Rantburg, and all that.
Though I can't help but wonder why she hates her friend that much.... :-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/30/2004 2:33 Comments ||
Top||
#6
I've always had the bad luck of turning up the week after these ceremonies take place.
Ah, tipper, I've seen that movie. The males usually get sacrificed to one of the old gods at the end.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/30/2004 8:50 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Tenet - how are those weapons caches and timing coordination efforts with the opposition coming along? Hmmmmm? You are doing more than sitting on your hands here, right?
The Tehran city council has ordered the mayor to place "within 15 days" a plaque outside the German Embassy in Tehran commemorating the victims of chemical attacks from the same war, "Iran" reported on 28 April. Iran accuses Western powers, including Germany, of having sold Iraq chemical weapons in the war. The move is seen as a response to a plaque placed outside a Berlin restaurant last week that accuses Iran of murdering dissidents there in 1992.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
04/30/2004 12:02:43 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Who Will Win? Axis of Weasels vs Axis of Evil
Reality TVs newest suspense!
#2
They better not mess with us. We'll go for the 'nuclear.' Can you say, simultaneous Jumbotron message in every MLB ballpark over 4th of July weekend?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/30/2004 3:42 Comments ||
Top||
#3
No perceived slight is too small for the Mad Mullahs' notice, regardless of the truth. Playing at "diplomacy" must be an endlessly fascinating and thrilling game for them.
Basically, the Islamic âscholarsâ took an image from an excavation in NY and placed a giant skeleton on it and said
1. that it came from Saudi Arabia and
2. that this proves the hadith verses about Adam being 90 feet tall.
This was published in the normative news as just another news article.
EFL-------------
Giant human skeleton found in Saudi Arabia
By Saalim Alvi from Riyadh
Apr 22, 2004, 12:04
Recently gas exploration is going in the desert of south east region of Saudi Arabia . This desert region is called Empty Quarter , which means in Arabic "RAB - UL -KHAALEE"; this body has been found by ARAMCO exploration team. This proves what Allah SWT said in QURAN about the people of AAD nation and HOOD nation.
They were so tall, wide and very power full that they were able to pull out big trees just with the one hand. But what happen after when they become misguided and disobeys Allah SWT, Allah SWT destroyed the whole nation...
Posted by: mhw ||
04/30/2004 10:08:52 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11125 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
This would explain the lack of trees in Saudi Arabia: the damn giants uprooted them all.
It could also explain certain behaviour patterns we see today. Being 90 ft. tall, their heads would be closer to the sun and therefore, their brains would overheat.
#2
You betcha. I LOVE this shit. I can't find the links, but there were some great Far Side cartoons along this line. While looking, I ran across this hysterical thread of "artifacts" supposedly found on Mars by the rovers. Check it out (the whole long thing) for some excellent laughs.
#5
Along these lines, the Michigan Historical Societyis running an unusual exhibit this summer: all of the artifacts are fakes. Back in the late 1800s, a handful of people scammed a lot of cash out of people by manufacturing crap they claimed to have dug up locally. They even planted some of them in local Indian mounds, then steered the marks to those sites so they'd be found "on site".
Fortunately, they weren't very clever scammers (guys, clay pots should be baked), and every artifact they created had the same mark on it somewhere.
I'm planning on getting up there to take a look at it; this is probably the only time this many of the fakes will be on display.
#7
Since area relationships are a square function and volume relationships are a cube function mathematically the whole notion of a proportionally shaped human being of such size is ludicrous.
#8
I've left specific burial instructions. I'm gonna be buried with several lbs Apalachee pottery shards, an assortment of Barber coins, my Leica and an el cheap calculator. I'm not gonna make it easier for the 25th century folks.
#15
I'm thinking it will be a disaster no matter what happens....I'm counting on it. Fact is, most people/reporters, etc. in Mass. dislike his arrogant ass
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/30/2004 14:41 Comments ||
Top||
#16
Frank G - How can they stand to listen to him talk with that pompous inflection in his voice?
#17
Yes! Chineese Porcelin. Thanks! BTW I'm serious. It'll be fun for students in 800 years or so.
Course the archive of this blog might screw the deal. Hmmmm. Okay.
After almost two and a half decades anchoring ABC News' "Nightline," Ted Koppel says he is surprised that anyone could think that his special "The Fallen," scheduled to air Friday night, is a ratings ploy or an attempt to make a political statement.
"No, no! Certainly not!"
For 40 minutes Friday night during sweeps week, Koppel will read the names and show the faces of American servicemen and women who have died in the Iraq War. Initially, "Nightline" was going to air the names of the 500 Americans who died in combat, but Thursday the program announced plan to expand the Friday broadcast so it could include the 200 Americans who died in non-combat situations.
Radio talk shows and newspaper columnists have criticized Koppel's plans. Sinclair Broadcasting, which owns 8 ABC affiliated stations in Columbus, Ohio; St. Louis, Mo.; and some smaller markets, said it would not air the "Nightline" broadcast. The company's memo said, in part, "Despite the denials by a spokeswoman for the show, the action appears to be motivated by a political agenda designed to undermine the efforts of the United States in Iraq."
They must read Rantburg.
ABCÂ responded, "The 'Nightline' broadcast is an expression of respect which simply seeks to honor those who have laid down their lives for this country. ABC News is dedicated to thoughtful and balanced coverage and reports on the events shaping our world with neither fear nor favor -- as our audience expects, deserves, and rightly demands."
I'd still like to believe that.
Interviewer:You have been quoted in the press, most specifically The New York Daily News yesterday, as saying that you were initially concerned that this program not make a political statement.
Koppel: Not only initially, I still am. I don't want it to make a political statement. Quite the contrary. My position on this is I truly believe that people will take away from this program the reflection of what they bring to it. I think it is just as possible for a staunch supporter of the war to come away from this program very moved and content that it was done as it is for someone who is an opponent of the war to come with exactly the same feeling. I also have no illusions. I think it's entirely possible that people who hold those differing points of view will watch the same program and come away wishing it had not been done.
More at the link.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/30/2004 1:15:17 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under:
#2
If the show was truly non-political,Nightline would have included the Afghanistan casualties.
Letterman has Hillary on Friday night.2 shows I won't watch.
Posted by: Stephen ||
04/30/2004 1:39 Comments ||
Top||
#3
I think any attempt from liberal TV to honor the fallen should be applauded but at the same time, ABC should be placed under a microscope for ANY attempt to place this event in ANY political context.
Real people have lost their family members in this war, and they deserve reverence and respect not only towards them but towards those still in the field, still fighting: the friends of the fallen.
Those people deserve every chance they can get to survive this war and so do the rest of us. Those fallen didn't die for nothing; they died to protect Ted's right to bash Bush and his agenda, and my right to call ABC on any attempt to politicize this event.
If NightLine can't uphold a simple standard of decency, then perhaps they should rename themselves the Jerry Springer channel for all the seriousness I will regard their news team henceforth.
It's more like Koppels' fallen and he can't reach his morals.
If he had any.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/30/2004 2:37 Comments ||
Top||
#6
After almost two and a half decades anchoring ABC News' "Nightline," Ted Koppel says he is surprised...
Ted, I think those two and a half decades might have something to do with peoples' skepticism.
Posted by: Rafael ||
04/30/2004 2:59 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Koppel is going to read about 500 names which I estimate to be the approximate number of Americans killed due to America's dominant leftwing media propagandists, the DIM presidential hopefuls and TEDDY "Shit-spewing Traitor" Kennedy giving the enemy HOPE we would turn tail and run given enough bloodshed.
#11
The timing sucks from the viewers' Point Of View.
May sweeps/Ratings. Plus Ted's left Of Center personal politics.
If Ted and Company are really serious. ABC should set aside the 'Nightline' advertising profits for the Sweeps Month's shows.
Set up a fund for the families of those fallen. Donate those profits. Then ask for contributions to be made to that fund at the commercial breaks!
Posted by: Jack Deth ||
04/30/2004 13:21 Comments ||
Top||
#13
Since Nightline can do 500 KIAs in Iraq in 30 minutes perhaps they'd be interested in the following corpse counts and the estimated times required to do them too:
"In closing, I would like to quote for you the words of Captain Kate Blaise of the U.S. Military. Captain Blaise served in Iraq as a member of the 101st Airborne Division and suffered the loss of her husband Mike who was killed while also serving in Iraq. In commenting on exactly the type of practice which "Nightline" intends to employ, Captain Blaise had this to say:
"I was watching the news, watching this anti-war demonstration and they were reading off names of soldiers who had fallen in Iraq and they read off my husband's name. That made me very angry because he very strongly believed in what he was doing and they were using his name for a purpose that he would not have approved of."
And guess what? There is an anti-war demo in San Francisco today that is doing this exact same thing. Does anyone think these asshats care a whit about our soldier's well-being?
All one has to do is go back over the last week's reaction by the anti-war leftists to Pat Tillman's death. That tells you EVERYTHING.
#16
Koppel on Hannity -
Summary - forgive the typos please
Koppel Denies Sinclair's charges.
Says that show may have been inspired by Life magazine from 1969, but Life's impact on Vietnam debate was minimal.
Believes show "in context" because over 200 of the last years over 250 shows.
Is he saying, "just another Iraq show?"
Denies again the show is intended to be anti-war.
"We are doing it in a dignified and classy way."
- Koppel
Hannity asked Koppel if there can be a genuine disagreement?
Koppel is starting to (cry) complain of censorship.
Hannity reminds Koppel that censorship would involve government action. Koppel is forced to admit that Sinclair's actions are legal. Changes censorship to inappropriate.
Hannity says he will watch, and tells Koppel he hopes it was done "right"
#17
Eric Hogue, substituting for Hugh Hewitt, has just talked to a Sinclair Networks spokesman, Mark Hymen (sp?) who said they are trying to contact Koppel, to no avail. Also Koppel apparently appeared on Franken's Air America show today. What did he say there?
Anybody out there got an inside with Hannity to contact him, and let him know that Howdy Doody may have BS'd him BIG TIME???????
April 30th, 2004 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Treasury 10-year notes headed for a sixth weekly loss after a government report showed inflation is quickening, raising speculation the Federal Reserve will increase its key interest rate in the third quarter.
An index the central bank uses to forecast inflation rose at an annual rate of 2 percent, the most since the third quarter of 2002. The release fueled expectations the Fed will boost rates to keep rising consumer prices from slowing the economy. Growth was 4.2 percent, less than the 5 percent median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of economists.
``Itâs time to sell,ââ said Yasutoshi Nagai, an economist at Daiwa Securities SMBC Co. in Tokyo. ``This is not a good time to be holding Treasuries. Inflation pressures are rising and so are Treasury yields.ââ
The benchmark 4 percent note due in February 2014 fell 4/32, or $1.25 per $1,000 face amount, to 95 20/32 at 11:15 a.m. in Singapore, according to Cantor Fitzgerald LP. Its yield rose 2 basis points to 4.56 percent. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.
The 10-year note yield may rise to 4.7 percent by the end of May, Nagai said. He forecasts the Fed will raise rates in August, bringing forward his prediction for an increase in September. The U.S. unit of Daiwa is one of the 23 primary U.S. government securities dealers that trade directly with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Posted by: Jesika Espinola ||
04/30/2004 12:53:38 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Inflation pressures are rising and so are Treasury yields.
#2
darn...I was hoping someone would comment on this. Correct me if I'm wrong - but doesn't this show that the economy is doing well. Aren't they sayint that the interest rates are being raised to prevent the economy from growing TOO FAST???
And considering the other Espinola family dire prediction post that the oil prices are going up (again correct me if I'm wrong) wouldn't that tend to make the economy SLOW DOWN.- thus depress the need to raise interest rates and thus mean the economy is even stronger.
And when buying bonds - a higher yeild is a good thing! So isn't the reason you should sell because you are shorting them - knowing that next week you use that some money to buy a bond with a higher yield??
April 30th, 2004 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil futures rose in New York after gasoline soared to a record for a fourth day yesterday amid predictions the U.S. will run short of fuel this summer. Demand for the motor fuel last week rose 3.1 percent to 9.3 million barrels daily, which was 11 percent higher than the same week last year, the Energy Department said Wednesday. Consumption is running at a record pace, and the nationâs fuel reserves are below normal with the driving season a month away.
``Gasoline is the leader,ââ said Steve Taylor at New West Petroleum Inc. in Sacramento, California. ``As long as inventories of gasoline remain tight people will bet that demand is going to be strong for crude.ââ
Crude oil for June delivery rose as much as 23 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $37.54 a barrel in after-hours trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $37.47 at 9:57 a.m. Sydney time. June crude fell 15 cents, or 0.4 percent, to settle at $37.31 a barrel yesterday. It traded as high as $38.18 in floor trading Wednesday after the departmentâs weekly inventory report showed gasoline stockpiles rose less than expected.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
04/30/2004 12:55:04 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11130 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
It's a quagmire!! Hey Mark Espinola, poster of dire economic news, did you undergo a sex change between this post and the one about treasury yeilds? Or is your sister Jesikkka Espinola just helping you to scare the voters?
#2
Hey Mark Espinola.I don't get it. In the comments section, you post comments supportive of Bush and the WOT..yet here, you and your *cough* sister, Jesika Espinola, post the overly dire economic news.
#3
``As long as inventories of gasoline remain tight people will bet that demand is going to be strong for crude.ââ
I'm not an economics guru, but this seems like pure speculation to me. If supplies are "tight", I sure as hell aren't aware of it, except reading about it in the news, as what happens before the gas gets delivered to the filling station is transparent to me. Some sort of shortfall would mean that there's not enough gas being made to meet demand, right? Well I haven't seen any gas stations with a "NO GAS" sign out in front, so what's the deal?
#4
I'm puzzled that gasoline consumption is up 11% over last year. It's extremely hard for me to believe this country is burning that much more this year than last. Or did this refer to the total expenditure on gas, which seems about right.
(2004-04-29) -- Rep. Jim McDermott, D-WA, explained yesterday that he had omitted the words "under God" while leading House colleagues in the Pledge of Allegiance because he had learned the Pledge before 1954 when the phrase was inserted by an act of Congress.
Later, a spokesman confirmed that Mr. McDermott also often forgets about the 1964 Civil Rights Act, because when he was in grade school it was still legal to discriminate on the basis of race.
"The Congressman also needs repeated reminders that Alaska and Hawaii are states, since they werenât when he was a child," the unnamed source said. "Which also explains why he visited Iraq and praised its leadership before the war. Rep. McDermott learned about Iraq before it fell under Baâathist control, and he just forgot that it was ruled by a ruthless, bloodthirsty dictator for decades."
Posted by: Korora ||
04/30/2004 12:41:26 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11129 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I went to a 'hot talk' radio community show about 4 months ago that featured Jim Big Hair. What a child. This guy is a minor. His fame is based on his ability to get elected by Seatle empties.
A high school intellect at most. But shrewed like a snake.
#2
McDermott forgot "Under God", Civil Rights Act, more.
He ought to hold a rally next to the office of the Socialist twit with the sign discussed yesterday. If they are both single and straight, maybe we can fix 'em up! Birds of a feather. Remember? Baghdad Jimmy can perform "Constituent Services"
Later, a spokesman confirmed that Mr. McDermott also often forgets about the 1964 Civil Rights Act, because when he was in grade school it was still legal to discriminate on the basis of race.
Itâs a universal love story - she fell for the boy next door. But their romance has had an otherworldly outcome: the 18-year-old woman who ran off to marry the man of her dreams is now locked up at Kabul womenâs prison, being held for the crime of defying her familyâs wishes.
Behind these crumbling prison walls, in series of cold, crude cells where women sleep eight to a room, lies a medieval reality that sits just across the street from Kabulâs bustling downtown district full of shops where foreign visitors pick up carpets and leather jackets. Angela, who fears having her real name used, is one of many of those imprisoned here for so-called "love crimes" - relationship choices that, while unremarkable in the developed world, are grounds for imprisonment here.
Angela had known Jani Alam, a neighbor, all her life, and the two wanted to marry. But her father had other plans. He made a match for Angela with a man about 40 years her senior. After Angela was sent to the province of Wardak to be with the man in an exchange for a bride price, Angela was miserable and ran away almost immediately. "People said to me, âLook how your father is cutting deals over you,â " Angela blurts out. She takes a corner of her black headscarf and wipes her face and eyes, blurred by a watery glaze that comes from constant crying. "So I left."
When she came back to Kabul, she and Jani Alam decided to elope. But when they tried to go to a municipal office to have a civil marriage, the officials there informed her father. Without his permission, they would not marry the young couple. Angelaâs father wouldnât agree to the marriage. And because the young couple had run off together, they were considered to have already cohabited, making them adulterers. Now theyâre both stuck in jail - he in another building on the same prison grounds.
During a visit late last fall, well over half of the 28 women in this prison were here for similar reasons. With the country still in a state of postwar flux, the law itself is fuzzy on the subject; a mix of ancient traditions and cues from sharia, or Islamic law, rule instead. Afghan law does not explicitly state whether people can choose whom they want to marry. To marry without parental consent, a young woman must be older than 16, or for a young man, 18. .... Eloping, however, can officially be treated as a crime.
"Thatâs often because payment has been done as part of the engagement to someone else," she explains. "If thereâs an engagement that takes place and money is exchanged and a woman runs away, sheâs in breach of the law. Sometimes, a woman is in jail for her own safety," she says, in need of protection from family members with the couple for defying parentsâ wishes. Police and the women themselves are often unaware of a limited number of shelters where they can turn for assistance.
Afghanistanâs new Constitution, adopted last December, promises that men and women will have equal rights. But some womenâs rights advocates had hoped for far more explicit provisions. It will take years before the civil law is reviewed and applied to such cases, says Borrey. In the meantime, Medicam Mondiale is providing legal aid for women in prison, working with local lawyers to help in their cases. Of 66 cases theyâve taken on so far, theyâve won the release of 40 women, she says.
They are also trying to prevent the next generation of tragic stories by changing the way marriage contracts are made, giving women the right to initiate divorce in certain circumstances.
Angelaâs Afghan lawyers - who are paid by Medicam Mondiale - are visiting the prison today. It seems Angelaâs father has a compromise to offer. If she says Jani kidnapped her, she will be released. But that, of course, might mean that the man she loves will rot in prison while she goes free - relatively speaking. Sheâs not sure of her safety once sheâs outside the prison. "At first, my father said he would kill me for this," says Angela, the daughter of a policeman. "Now he says heâs not going to kill me. But I donât know if I can trust him."
Light dawns.
To get out, she must sign documents she canât read - she has never been to school - blaming it all on Jani. "I have to say he abducted me. My father wants him in prison," she sobs. "My father says, âYou will be released, and I will tell the people in the area that he was a bad guy and itâs his fault.â And even if I do find a way to marry Jani, then my life will be terrible because my father will be like an enemy to me."
Rana Said, a white-haired prison warden, grimaces sympathetically. At 42, sheâs been working in law enforcement for 20 years. In comparison with life under the Taliban, she says, things are better. She and the other female prison guards are no longer expected to drag female prisoners accused of adultery off to the public stadium to be whipped or stoned. But, she says, women still have no power in Afghan society, and cannot make life decisions such as whom to marry without their fathersâ consent.
"There is no respect for women here, whether sheâs working or at home. Rights are something on paper," says Ms. Said. "It doesnât really matter what women want." She looks around at the decrepit brown walls that are falling into a deeper state of decay. "Sometimes I regret that I took this position," she says.
Indeed, for a salary of $20 a month, Said finds herself in what may be one of the saddest workplaces in Kabul. The prison feels like Wuthering Heights meets Dungeons and Dragons - a combination of epic love stories and Spartan quarters. Lacking indoor plumbing, the women draw water from a pump in the dirt courtyard. There is intermittent electricity, and no glass on the windows, making it particularly cold for the 15 children here, some of them infants.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
04/30/2004 12:13:51 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11129 views]
Top|| File under:
Spirit of American -- and the Blogs world -- you know about it --
From Lt. Smash:
But hereâs the good news: enough equipment was delivered to outfit EIGHT Iraqi television stations, and it will be packed up and on its way to Iraq by Saturday afternoon -- only 23 days after the initial public request for funds was issued.
You see, we CAN make a difference!
Latest results -- posted now -- $319 short for that $50,000 --
Get there --- your neighbor isnât gonna do it... itâs up to us. Ten bucks from half of us here, would make that goal.
Our Marines are about War on Terror.
Posted by: Sherry ||
04/30/2004 12:22:11 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under:
Posted by: JerseyMike ||
04/30/2004 12:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I think that Charles Rangel would be surprised at the attitude of many affluent people. My older brother and I graduated from Phillips Academy (Andover) in the early eighties. In his class my older brother and one other classmate attended service academies after graduation. They were the first two students to attend service academies from that school in a number of years - possibly since Frisbees and tie-dyed became popular on campus - In my class, one year later about five of us attended service academy's.
I don't know whether the trend continued at Andover, but I attended an extra year of High School to better prepare for USNA at the midwestern school, Western Reserve Academy (WRA) where my father has taught at since the late sixties. (He continues to teach there even though he is now in his late sixties.) His school serves as a good gauge of the attitudes of the Midwestern affluent because WRA is one of the few boarding schools in the Mid West.
The year that I re-graduated from high school, I was the only student from WRA to matriculate to a service academy. Since my class service academies have become more and more popular. The last several years WRA has probably averaged close to ten students in each class that have chosen to attend service academies. The graduating class size is under 100 students.
At least in my small sampling size of rich kids, ten percent are patriotic enough to attend service academies rather choosing to become leftist disciples at conventional universities.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/30/2004 4:06 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Hell of a good read. BTW I think black people should be more careful of the people they show support to. There, I said it and not being black that makes me a hopeless racist. But the truth is I don't go down that road anymore.
#3
What Rangel was ranting about was true when I entered the USAF in August, 1972. In the waning years of Vietnam and the last chorus of the swan song for 'McNamara's 100,000'. The era of Category C Draftees. Mostly black and Hispanic. Most from inner cities.
Thankfully, the All Volunteer Force came around and the quality, integrity and esprit of people began to soar.
It's been soaring ever since. For the simple reason that there people WANT to be a part of something larger and more important than they are!
I can't count the number of Enlisted people who have Graduated College. Either through Extension (Correspondence) Courses. Attended Embry Riddle or Johns Hopkins and have gone, either smiling. Or kicking and screaming to OCS!
Being better Officers (Mustangs) and Leaders overall. For having been in the Enlisted Ranks and having a much better rapport with guys and gals who do the Heavy Lifting.
Let there be a Draft. And you'll see a sudden uptick in 'accidents' amongst the 'Slackasses' and 'Non-Hackers' that will make your head swim.
For the simple reason that 'Volunteer Soldiers' of today don't want Non-Volunteers around!
Posted by: Jack Deth ||
04/30/2004 15:06 Comments ||
Top||
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.
